Bai Ning Bing returned from the fight victorious, but she had a haggard expression. One glance from Fang Yuan made her realize what she needed to do even if she didn't want to do it.
"Surely, you've realized it by now," Fang Yuan said to her. "You may have been able to beat that person, but it was still with a large amount of difficulty. If you want to compete properly, you're going to have to break through to Rank 5."
Bai Ning Bing had been hesitant to advance that far, simply because it would worsen the condition of her Northern Dark Ice Soul Physique. Once she reached Rank 5 Peak Stage, there was no advancing further to try and contain it. At that point, it was do or die, and if she didn't have an Immortal Gu that she needed, she would end up dying from the tribulation of the extreme physique.
However, the intensive fighting had put a strain on her aperture that she wouldn't otherwise have faced if she hadn't been constantly activating her gu worms. The only way she could lift the pressure upon her aperture was to advance in rank.
As for advancing to Rank 6, the only way she could do so reliably was by having an Immortal backer. Fang Yuan had made it clear just how terrifying her tribulation would be - and the worst part was that it sounded bad enough to be true. There was a chance he was lying, but it fit with all that she knew as well.
And so, the further she advanced, the more dependent on Fang Yuan she would become.
She did not trust Fang Yuan one bit.
However, it was also clear while staying here within this blessed land that this was probably the best bargaining position she would ever get with regards to dealing with him. She could not trust him for a second once they moved out, but while they were here, he was going to have to take care of her. So, she simply nodded along.
She didn't get a break, but during her next fight, Fang Yuan gave her a Rank 4 Ambition Gu, and she broke through. She broke through a major realm in the middle of battle.
"What kind of skill is this?"
"Breaking through in the middle of a fight...?"
"I've never seen it before!"
"The ten extreme physiques are truly terrifying!"
"...so this is why she was chosen to participate despite being only Rank 4..."
The other candidates whispered among themselves.
With Bai Ning Bing now possessing true Rank 5 primeval essence - which was nearly bottomless - as well as a set of complementary Ice Path gu worms provided with Fang Yuan's help, she was nearly unstoppable. In combination with her own battle genius skills honed over her long stay in Shang Clan City, she ended up taking one of the top spots, defeating every single candidate save for two of them - a Fire Path Gu Master and a Sword Path Gu Master, both of whom she was unable to win against.
Then again, those two were actual battle-hardened veterans. Most Gu Immortals had brought along refinement specialists, assuming that the Tian Ji blessed land contest would naturally involve refinement in some way. They hadn't anticipated a variety of challenges and so many of the people Bai Ning Bing went up against had lived mostly sheltered lives within the Immortal's apertures.
Even with that said, Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing were still near one of the top spots and were awarded more points that they could use if they wished.
There was no consolation prize for this round of fighting. However, the land spirit did agree to heal all of their wounds as well as let them rest before the next event would be announced.
It was easily clear by this point that this was a true righteous path inheritance and quite a benign one at that. The chances of death or severe injury were rather low, as a matter of fact, nearly everyone would have some gains from it.
For the next event, the land spirit appeared before them and took out a jar. It was filled with various gu worms, and he reached inside and picked up one at random.
"For this round, I wanted to keep things a little... spicy," the land spirit said. "Each of these gu worms has a different kind of task written on them, and whichever one gets picked, that is the one that you will all have to do!"
That was how the tournament was going to proceed. It wasn't just a single round of fights; it became clear that this was supposed to be a very extravagant tournament that would take place over the course of several months, if not years, within the blessed land. Merely being good at one thing was not enough. Some events were planned while others would be pulled at random.
Various aspects of life, not just Gu Master cultivation, were being tested as well.
"Aha! So, for this round," the land spirit said, "this will be a poetry reciting competition! The use of gu worms is prohibited. Each of you will take turns composing poems one after the other, and points will be rewarded based on the quality of those poems alongside originality. Although derivations of known poems are allowed, they will still be marked harshly when compared to pure originals."
"Leave all of this to me," Fang Yuan said to Bai Ning Bing.
Fang Yuan, naturally, had several famous poems from Earth which he could recite as his own. Bai Ning Bing had also heard of Fang Yuan's talent when it came to poetry, so she stepped aside.
Many of the other contestants were speaking anxiously to each other. They had certainly not planned for this sort of contest, and some of them were unsure who they should send forward - the mortal or the Immortal partner. This was one of those situations where being a Gu Immortal was not necessarily an advantage, especially since they could not use their gu worms.
The first round began.
Fang Yuan stepped up first.
"A merry mermaid sings beneath the waves,
Her soft voice, to whispers ocean gave;
It drifts above unto the distant shore,
Yet fades when reaching sands forevermore.
A world beyond her touch, beyond her claim,
Where earth and tide are never quite the same;
Of waters deep and grassy seas,
Of realms unseen, untold in mystery.
Her song bears legends carried far and wide,
Of souls long lost to time's cruel tide;
Of ages past, of lives no more to be,
Yet living still in whispered melody.
O mermaid fair, thou dancer in the deep,
Whose joy the restless ocean tides keep;
O queen who reigns beneath the boundless seas,
In gliding grace and endless reveries.
O mermaid, thou who frolics beyond my sight,
A fleeting dream that fades with morning light-
Come, sing to me, and through the darkened night,
Serenade my soul to gentle slumber's flight."
Many people were astounded by not only how fast Fang Yuan had managed to say it, seemingly composing it on the spot, but also the profundity of said poem.
Then the second round began. Fang Yuan was just getting started.
"O fairest love, you are the hearth of my home,
Radiant as fertile earth newly sown.
Your hair flows soft as silken thread,
Your smile - thirty-two pearls, in gentle milky spread.
Your skin shines smooth as polished jade,
Your eyes outpour a richer draught than mead ever made.
Your lips, like cherries fresh with the morning dew,
Hold sweetness no season could undo.
I long to keep you ever near,
To bind our days, to make them dear-
To call you mine, in love and grace,
And find my rest within your embrace.
May your beauty shine like stars at night,
A constant, soft, eternal light.
A warmth that graces all I see,
A presence vast, yet home to me.
So take my hand, let fate align,
And let your soul forever entwine with mine."
By the third round, there were many contestants who simply couldn't keep up and were disqualified.
Fang Yuan had something ready nearly instantly:
"The songbird sings within her cage,
Singing with neither grief nor rage;
A quiet tune, forevermore,
Unchanged from all the days before.
She dreams not loud, yet deep within,
There stirs a world where she's never been -
A sky unseen, a boundless page,
Beyond the bars of her gilded cage.
And lo, one day, the lock gives way,
The door unseals to open day;
With trembling heart and fragile breath,
She stands between the known and death.
She glances out with fearful sight,
Then dares to test her hidden flight;
Her wings unfold - uncertain, wide -
To fall… or claim the waiting sky.
For one brief beat, all time stands still,
Between the fall and soaring will;
Then freedom flickers - fierce, unbound -
As she escapes both cage and ground.
Into the vast, the great unknown,
No longer caged, no longer owned."
After that, by Round Four only three people were left.
Fang Yuan was undeterred.
"A maiden doll sits beneath the moonlight pale,
Her visage wan, as lifeless as the veil
Of death itself; yet silver radiance streams,
As though shaped from distant dreams.
In silent tune with stars that stray,
She stirs to life at night's returning sway;
With each ascent of moon in shadowed bloom,
She wakes anew, a flower from the gloom.
And there she greets her lover, swift and bright,
Who takes her hand and dances through the night;
Beneath the stars they weave their fleeting grace,
Time held at bay within that dark embrace.
Till cruelly sun ascends with burning breath,
And tears her from that twilight, back to death;
She fades once more to slumber, cold and deep,
Where silent shadows guard her endless sleep.
Yet still she waits, through day's unyielding reign,
For night to come and loose her bonds again -
That she, once freed again beneath the darkened sky,
May wake, may love, may dance, may speak, may cry."