797 Fire, come

"Ah!" Yun Qiao'er exclaimed as she widened her black eyes. She watched helplessly as she lost control of the Earth fire that she had painstakingly refined. It was already flying towards Yang Zishan. "My Earth fire!" Yun Qiao'er turned anxious as she hurriedly circulated her Yuan Qi in a bid to summon the Earth fire back. But she was much weaker than Man Dao, so how could she compete with Yang Zishan? "You… You… " Yun Qiao'er nearly became a weeping beauty. She had just joined the Earth Fire Hall, only a few days earlier than Yi Yun, so she had never experienced such bullying before. The intense competition between Earth Fire Hall disciples far exceeded Yun Qiao'er's expectations. "Yang Zishan! Do you still consider yourself a man after bullying a young lady?" Man Dao angrily cursed Yang Zishan, having realized that he could neither control his flame nor help Yun Qiao'er. Yang Zishan guffawed and said, "Man Dao, why are you saying such retarded words? In a warrior's world, there is only weak and strong. When has there been a consideration between men and women? If you are weak, shut up and take a good beating. Saying such words that are no different than a shrew shouting abuse on the streets will only make people look down on you." Once Yang Zishan said this, the surrounding Earth Fire Hall disciples began to laugh heartily. The factional battle in the Luo clan had always been intense. Although the Luo clan knew of the situation, they ignored it and allowed it to proceed. After all, only competition gave birth to the strong. "Come over!" Yang Zishan tapped at the Earth fire that Yun Qiao'er refined, causing the second Earth fire to also seem to have a mind of its own. The two Earth fire sparks were already completely under Yang Zishan's control. He joined his hands together, merging the fire sparks together. It went from two fire sparks to a small flame. This small flame slowly floated towards Yang Zishan. It was already completely out of Man Dao and Yun Qiao'er's control. "Senior Brother Man Dao, I… " Yun Qiao'er was close to tears. She was naturally aggrieved having been bullied in such a manner. This was a flame that she had painstakingly refined. There was only a short period of time that the Spirit of the Earth Fire burned at its strongest every year. Missing it would greatly affect her cultivation progress. Man Dao nearly crushed his teeth from gritting them. He hated himself for being useless. He had always treated this newly arrived junior sister as a true younger sister. He had taken care of her, hoping that she would not be bullied in the Earth Fire Hall, but now, he had implicated her. At that moment, the small Earth fire flame was already in Yang Zishan's hands. After snatching Yun Qiao'er's flame, Yang Zishan looked at Yi Yun. He said with a teasing tone, as though he was a cat playing with a mouse, "The newly arrived Junior Brother Yi, aren't you going to mine for fire? Why don't you try mining a plume once?" Yang Zishan's mockery caused all the Earth Fire Hall disciples around him to burst out into laughter. His intentions were clear — with him here today, none of Fairy Black Bamboo's disciples were to mine for fire. If Yi Yun were to mine for fire, it would naturally be snatched away. "Hey new kid, mine one." "Come on, do your best at mining. Don’t stand on ceremony!" Yang Zishan's junior brothers began booing as they poked fun at Yi Yun. From their point of view, Yi Yun was likely worse than Yun Qiao'er, so he was naturally nothing to speak of in front of Yang Zishan. Upon seeing this situation, Yi Yun only smiled. He did not begin to mine the fire, but he said instead, "I'll just take a look first. There's no hurry." "What?" Hearing Yi Yun speak such self-mocking words as though he was humiliating himself, Yang Zishan's junior brothers all laughed hysterically. This new kid sure was a wonder. It was inconceivable for him to say such words considering the circumstances. He even said that there was ‘no hurry’? Man Dao's face was already red. To be bullied this badly, he really wanted to charge up and engage in a huge battle. However, he knew that the three of them put together were no match for Yang Zishan alone. After grasping 'Fire-Spirit Transmutation' laws, Yang Zishan enjoyed a qualitative leap over his control over Earth fire. A sneer suffused on his lips as he looked at Man Dao who was full of killing intent. "You want to fight? You can choose to have a gambling fight with me. I'll give you a handicap of a hand!" Yang Zishan knew that even though Man Dao was a hot-tempered and simple-minded person, Man Dao would not be stupid enough to bet with him again after losing a gambling fight with him previously. After all, the stakes were not small, something Man Dao could not afford to lose. Hence, he deliberately provoked Man Dao by giving a hand's handicap! With this said, the surrounding Earth Fire Hall disciples around Yang Zishan immediately began to boo. "This trash. Even if Senior Brother Zishan gives him a handicap of a hand, he would definitely not dare to accept it." "With just this bit of guts, if I had any say, he should just honestly go home and be a farmer!" The bunch of Earth Fire Hall disciples began to sneer sarcastically. Man Dao clenched his fists tightly, causing the veins on his fists to bulge. At that moment, he was like a simmering volcano! He was feeling hate, but he could still endure it! He knew very well that after Yang Zishan gained insights into Fire-Spirit Transmutation, his strength had improved greatly. In the previous gamble fight, Man Dao became deeply aware of the differences in their strength. He had not made any significant improvements recently, so if he were to truly battle Yang Zishan, he would still lose despite a handicap! If he lost another match, not only would he lose all his possessions, he would also be ridiculed by Elder Heaven Scorpio's disciples. He would be mocked for his stupidity and how he overestimated his strength. If that happened, his confidence would be destroyed. He had to bear the humiliation he received today. He could not suffer in the future because of a fit of anger. As Man Dao was being ridiculed while Yun Qiao'er looked pitiful, Yang Zishan was mostly done refining the Earth fire in his hands. Yang Zishan was a person who liked to make his power be felt. In front of his junior brothers, and in front of his enemies, he showed off with boundless enthusiasm. Hence, he spared no effort to use 'Fire-Spirit Transmutation' laws. Although it was draining on his Yuan Qi, it also allowed him to refine the Earth fire at a faster speed. In less than a minute, Man Dao and Yun Qiao'er's Earth fire was about 80% refined by him. Of course, Yang Zishan did not do it with great ease. 'Fire-Spirit Transmutation' was extremely draining on the body, but thankfully, as long as he refined this Earth fire, the energy within it would replenish his stamina, allowing him to continue mining for fire. Noticing how things were pretty much over and that staying behind was only inviting humiliation on themselves, Man Dao gritted his teeth and said, "Let us go! Junior Brother Yi, I'm sorry. I wanted to bring you here to mine for fire and show you how it’s done but we ended up meeting my enemy. Not only did I not teach you how to mine for fire, but you also can't mine it now." Man Dao sighed. Even a girl like Yun Qiao'er was not spared by Yang Zishan, what more Yi Yun? As disciples of Fairy Black Bamboo, there was no hope for Yi Yun to mine for the fire under Yang Zishan's watchful eyes. He planned on protecting Yi Yun and Yun Qiao'er, but with the way things had played out, he was truly a failure. However, Yi Yun shook his head and he did not wish to leave. Instead, he said, "Senior Brother Man Dao, Yang Zishan's Earth fire is almost done refining." Oh? After a momentary shock, Man Dao turned to look at Yang Zishan. In order to play up his ability, Yang Zishan had worked hard at using 'Fire-Spirit Transmutation' laws, doubling the speed at which he refined the Earth fire, so it was nearly 90% done. Yang Zishan was about to swallow the Earth fire into his stomach! Man Dao did not know why Yi Yun said such a hanging sentence. Was he waiting for Yang Zishan to finish refining the Earth fire? What else could they do other than watch Yang Zishan show off? In the moment that Man Dao was pondering over Yi Yun's words, Yang Zishan was done refining the Earth fire. With a laugh, he opened his mouth and he was about to swallow the Earth fire. He did not even bother wiping the sweat from his forehead. The Earth fire was already in the bag. At that moment, a wicked smile suffused on Yi Yun's lips. He had waited so long, all for this moment. He looked straight at the Earth fire that was about to be swallowed by Yang Zishan. With a thought, he interfaced his spiritual energy with the Purple Crystal and targeted the plume of Earth fire. Weng! The Earth fire suddenly quivered. Having been attracted by the Purple Crystal's power, it came to a halt immediately. At that moment, Yang Zishan's mouth had just closed, but because of the Earth fire stopping, it caused him to only swallow empty air. "What?" Yang Zishan was stunned as he did not know what had happened to the Earth fire. As for the other Earth Fire Hall disciples around him, they were also stunned momentarily. What was the profound reason behind Yang Zishan’s failure at swallowing the fire? At that moment, Yi Yun stretched out his hand and gently waved at the Earth fire. "Fire, come!" "Whew!" With a howl, the flame in front of Yang Zishan tore through the void. It flew hastily towards Yi Yun, like a rabbit that had escaped from its cage. Yang Zishan stared with widened eyes. What was going on?