Gu Shiyou

　　Night fell.

　　It had been one month and three days since the Gui Yaun sect had arrived in the Blazing Mountains. More than ten thousand warriors had already gathered, resulting in countless tentages and torches surrounding the base of the mountain. At that moment, Teng Qingshan, Guan Lu, and Ji Hong were having a discussion in their tent.

　　“There are more and more experts gathering here.” Ji Hong frowned and said, “Just counting experts from the 《Earth Ranking》, there are already six whom I recognize! As for those from the 《Hidden Dragon Ranking》 and 《Young Phoenix Ranking》, there are over ten of them altogether. Furthermore, there are also many experts who are not listed on the 《Earth Ranking》, yet are not far off in terms of their capabilities! Qingshan, Guan Lu, we are in trouble now!

　　It was truly quite troublesome!

　　Currently, the sects with the strongest presence were ‘Qing Hu Island’ and ‘Xiao Yao Palace’ respectively. These two sects were amongst the top eight sects of the Nine Prefectures.

　　The Gui Yuan Sect was far smaller in comparison to these two big sects.

　　Guan Lu frowned and said, “Martial Granduncle, while Qing Hu Island and Xiao Yao Palace have deployed many experts, they are out in the open. I’m more concerned for the experts who are hidden in the dark! Afterall……Over ten thousand warriors have already gathered here. Xiao Yan Palace and Qing Hu Island only have around a hundred men. Who knows if there are any extraordinary experts hidden amongst the crowd.”

　　Ji Hong nodded.

　　“Commander, will the Black Fire Spirit Fruit attract the attention of innate masters?” Teng Qingshan suddenly asked.

　　“Innate?” Ji Hong was stunned for a moment before he smiled and shook his head. “The Black Fire Spirit Fruit is useless to innate masters. Moreover……look, did Xiao Yan Palace and Qing Hu Island send any of their innate masters? There are too few innate masters in this world. Too few! They have a reputation to maintain. If an innate master were here, we would give it to him without a second word! Would he dare to take it?”

　　“If an innate master wanted a spirit fruit, wouldn’t it be easier to enter the desolate land to search for it? There are almost no traces of humans in the desolate land, but there are plenty of treasures! If one has the capabilities, he should get it from the desolate lands himself.” Ji Hong said.

　　Teng Qingshan began to understand.

　　The desolate land was a forbidden area to ordinary warriors, but it was nothing to innate masters. Maybe, only monsters, such as demonic beasts, would be able to be of a threat to the innate masters. Of course……A person like Qingshan, with the strength of a hundred and eighty thousand Jin in his arms, could also be considered a monster himself.

　　“One month and three days.” Teng Qingshan frowned as he said, “The Black Fire Spirit Fruit should be maturing soon.”

　　“Hmm.” Ji Hong was also worried. “The Red Scaled Beast should have a height of two Zhangs after such a long time. I reckon that the Black Fire Spirit Fruit will be maturing within another ten days to half a month’s time. To date, no one has managed to locate the Black Fire Spirit Fruit. Once the Red Scaled Beast eats the Black Fire Spirit Fruit and evolves, it would have the ability to annihilate us!”

　　It was hard, even for an innate master to penetrate through the scales of a Red Scaled Beast that had evolved.

　　The Red Scaled Beast at that stage would be a really terrifying demonic beast.

　　“Martial Granduncle, I reckon that even if someone has found the place, he would also keep it a secret for himself and not spread the news.” Guan Lu spoke out.

　　Teng Qingshan, Ji Hong, and Guan Lu had no other option but to wait.

　　When the chance appeared, they would snatch it; if not, they could only hold it in.

　　“Black Fire Spirit Root!” Teng Qingshan was full of thirst for the Black Fire Spirit Root. It was an opportunity for him to strengthen his physique.

　　While the three of them were chatting.

　　“Someone is challenging Gu Shiyou! Brothers, hurry up.” Voices came from the men of the Black Armored Army who were outside the tent. This caused Teng Qingshan and company to exit the tent. Upon leaving the tent. they saw a circle of people gathered to the west, and at one glance, they could tell that there were at least a few thousand men already gathered. Most of the warriors staying at the Blazing Mountains, had gathered there.

　　“Let’s go.” Ji Hong’s tone held a bit of expectation.

　　“Gu Shiyou!” Guan Lu’s eyes gleamed.

　　Ji Hong glanced at Teng Qingshan and smiled. “Qingshan, this Gu Shiyou should be the only expert from the younger generation across the whole Nine Prefectures who could possibly be on par with you! Now that there is someone challenging him, you should take advantage and get a good look at his abilities.”

　　“I have yet to see him make any moves.” Teng Qingshan could not help but feel curious.

　　This Gu Shiyou is the young master of Yangzhou’s first sect, ‘Qing Hu Island’. He is currently twenty-eight years old and is ranked first on the 《Hidden Dragon Ranking》, and forty-eighth on the 《Earth Ranking》! He is the cream of the crop amongst the youngest generation across the Nine Prefectures. Across the Nine Prefectures, there are many young men who hold him in high regard and set him as their goal to defeat.

　　“Listed on both rankings?!” Teng Qingshan and company from the Gui Yuan Sect squeezed through the crowd quickly secured a large spot for themselves.

　　Most warriors would give way upon seeing people from the Gui Yuan Sect.

　　And of course, Teng Qingshan, Ji Hong, and Guan Lu stood right in front, where the view was the clearest.

　　Teng Qingshan could tell with one glance that there was a cool looking man in a green top, holding a black spear, standing in the middle of the space that was tens of Zhang wide. He was clearly the one who was ranked first on the 《Hidden Dragon Ranking》, the young master of the Qing Hu Islands, ‘Gu Shiyou’, and his opponent, a middle-aged man, who used a staff.

　　Hu! Hu! Hu!

　　The movement of the staff was like surging waves as it struck towards Gu Shiyou

　　Gu Shiyou stood on the spot, the black spear in his hands immediately became tens of black shadows, each blocking the movements of the staff.

　　“Her~~”

　　That middle-aged man leapt from the ground, holding the staff with both of his hands, as he smashed down from mid-air with an aura that seemed to be able to split open the skies and earth.

　　“What a powerful move.” Teng Qingshan silently praised.

　　“Boom!”

　　A big hole, one Zhang deep and a couple of Zhang wide, appeared on the surface of the ground, as mud and chips of rock were sent flying. That Gu Shiyou, on the other hand, had long shunned to the side.

　　“Thirteen Swing of the Angry Sea!” The middle-aged man bellowed.

　　Each swing was faster and heavier than the previous strike!

　　……

　　“Commander, who is this middle-aged man with such powerful and intense skills with the staff?” Teng Qingshan was slightly surprised. He had thought that this match would be an easy win for Gu Shiyou, but did not expect Gu Shiyou to be pushed back by the challenger.

　　“I do not recognise this person either.” Ji Hong was puzzled as well.

　　Ji Hong then exclaimed, “There are many experts who’ve trained hard in this world. For instance, Wu Yue spent twenty years on his training in one shot. Once he displayed his prowess, he was able to be ranked within the top ten in the 《Earth Ranking》. This middle-aged man, who is using the staff, must also be an expert who has spent many years in training!”

　　Teng Qingshan praised silently.

　　There were many experts who had gone through difficult training and did not usually publicly display their skills in public. Once they did, they would choose to do so under big occasions and have a public challenge to spread their fame in one go.

　　“Boom!”

　　Another strike of the heavy staff pushed Gu Shiyou back more than ten steps. He looked surprised as he watched the middle-aged man in front of him, who was wearing plain clothes and looked like a mountain dweller.

　　“Where the hell did this expert come from?” Gu Shiyou was bewildered. Being ranked first on the 《Hidden Dragon Ranking》 and forty-eighth on the 《Earth Ranking》, obviously there would be many people who wanted to challenge him. He was open to challenges as well, but each time he accepted a challenge, he would definitely inflict heavy injuries, cripple, or even kill the other party.

　　Of course, there would still be many experts who were after fame and were not afraid of death.

　　This middle-aged man was one of them.

　　It is just that the other party seemed to be stronger than him. From the start, the middle-aged man had gained control of the battle as he dished out heavier and heavier hits with his staff. The intense pressure overwhelmed Gu Shiyou.

　　“Bang!”

　　Gu Shiyou made an effort to block another hit from the staff, but was thrown back into the air and upon landing, he stepped back a few paces shouting, “Stop!”

　　The middle-aged man with a sallow looking face held onto his staff as he looked at Gu Shiyou.

　　“I admit my defeat in this battle.” Gu Shiyou said calmly.

　　There was instant uproar from the people surrounding them.

　　The middle-aged man also laughed as he said, “Young Master’s spear skills are also admirable. Till now, I have yet to inflict any injuries on Young Master.”

　　Gu Shiyou smiled as he said, “I still do not know brother’s name.”

　　“I, I am Hua Chizhu!” The middle-aged man smiled and replied in an especially loud voice. The warriors around them started to talk amongst themselves, mentioning ‘Hua Chizhu’. To be able to get Gu Shiyou to admit his defeat, the capabilities of this ‘Hua Chizhu’ was undeniable. Seems like there would be another expert listed on the 《Earth Ranking》.

　　Gu Shi You smiled and turned to head back to his own camp.

　　“Young Master!” People started to gather around him.

　　“Let’s head back.” Gu Shiyou instructed. He lowered his head to look at both of his palms. They had turned red and blood was permeating from them.

　　“What terrifying staff skills.” Gu Shiyou exclaimed to himself. He was aware that if he had not admitted defeat, his spear would probably have been sent flying in the next hit. Both his hands were already in so much pain, that they were numb.

　　……

　　Another strong warrior had appeared and defeated an expert from the 《Earth Ranking》. This made the warriors surrounding them very excited. The name ‘Hua Chizhu’ would spread across the world very soon. While many of the warriors were full of envy for Hua Chizhu, they were also hoping to be able to do the same for themselves one day.

　　To be able to spread his name across the world, it would be worth it even if it was at the expense of his life.

　　The next day afternoon, Teng Qingshan led his subordinates as they combed through the Blazing Mountain in detail.

　　“The staff skills of the Hua Chizhu was really intense! And looking at it, he probably had not exerted his full strength yet.” Teng Qingshan exclaimed to himself while he was searching. He had already thought of the notion of challenging Hua Chizhu. “While Gu Shiyou tried very hard, he probably had yet to display his best skills. With close to ten thousand warriors watching them, he did not waver in his decision to admit his defeat! This person……has a future that is inestimable.”

　　Looking up into the sky, it was already late.

　　It was probably another two hours to noon.

　　“Qingshan, we’ve been searching for so long. Where exactly is that Red Scaled Beast hiding? Even though there are over ten thousand people looking for it, they still could not find it. Not even the Black Fire Spirit Fruit.” Teng Qinghu felt helpless as he said this.

　　Teng Qingshan also frowned as he started to think.

　　Suddenly, Teng Qingshan recalled that in his first encounter with the adolescent Red Scaled Beast, he had chased it up onto a tall mountain before it had jumped off the cliff.

　　“That’s not right!”

　　Teng Qingshan’s heart skipped a beat, “When I was chasing the adolescent Red Scaled Beast, it had felt that its life was in danger. It would definitely have chosen a safe route. There are so many mountain peaks in the area, why would it choose that particular one? Moreover, I had followed right after it had jumped down, why was I not able to find it when it was merely a few seconds difference? Did that valley have a unique trait?”

　　“Follow me!” At Teng Qingshan’s order, they all headed for the valley that Teng Qingshan had been to back then.

　　In the valley.

　　“This Black Fire Spirit Fruit is really hidden in such a secretive place. Who would have thought that the entrance is in this place?” A lean man climbed out from a shorter cliff on the opposite side of the valley, which was covered with vines. Underneath the vines was a hidden den. The lean man was feeling proud of himself.

　　At present, he was the only one who was aware of where the Black Fire Spirit Fruit was hidden.

　　“Hmm hmm, if it keep an eye on it daily and don’t tell others, this Black Fire Spirit Fruit will be mine! Although my skills are bad, even if I am not able to snatch it from the Red Scaled Beast, at least I will still be able to eat the Black Fire Spirit Root. By then, I will also become a First Rate Warrior myself.” The lean man was feeling proud.

　　But his face suddenly paled as he saw at a group of men a short distance away. The leader of the pack, a man dressed in black and holding on to a spear, was staring at him.