"Gu Yuan?"
Uemiya Ji seemed to have sensed something.
"Are you planning to harm me?"
Gu Yuan didn't reply, but just stared at Shang Gongji, seemingly deep in thought.
The stone door behind them slowly opened, and a dazzling golden light shone from within, so radiant in the darkness.
It was far superior to the light emitted by the fake fire core and the refining pot.
"Hey... what are you waiting for? Help me up!"
"Don't worry, Gu Yuan. Although I don't know how you got the recipe and were able to refine a second-tier magic weapon, don't be too concerned."
"This Wuxin City is the territory of my Shanggong family. As long as you follow me from now on, not only will you be able to reach the second tier, but... even becoming an academy elder will be a piece of cake!"
"Is that so...?"
"Yes, that's right."
Shang Gongji forced a smile. "We've never been enemies. To be honest, I admire you. You were just a top scholar, yet you managed to get this far."
"As for the Fire Shield, that was due to an extremely urgent situation, I understand..."
Having said that, Gu Yuan suddenly laughed.
In the next instant, Gu Yuan picked up a sharp pebble that had fallen to the ground with lightning speed and threw it at Shanggong Ji.
Just as the pebble was about to hit Shang Gongji, a faint burst of fire uncontrollably erupted from Shang Gongji's heart, blocking the pebble for him.
"this...."
Shang Gongji also looked completely bewildered.
"It really is a fake fire core."
"You recognize this?!"
Gu Yuan did not answer Shang Gongji's question, but instead reminisced about the past...
The old master of the Shanggong family was quite a figure in his previous life. I still remember that when Wuxin City was breached in his previous life, it was this old master of the Shanggong family who emerged from seclusion.
Leading the disciples of the Shanggong family, they fought valiantly against the death cell, hoping to break it down. At that time, a special magical artifact called "Pseudo-Fire Heart" appeared out of nowhere.
With this item, even first-tier cultivators of the Shangguan family could unleash considerable combat power. Furthermore, its low cost meant that many low-tier cultivators were able to endure long periods in death row thanks to this power...
Gu Yuan had naturally suspected that Shang Gongji must have many ways to protect himself, and that pebble was a test.
Now it seems that this is indeed the case.
The passive rescue capability just now is a characteristic of the pseudo-core of fire. It is precisely because it completely imitates the "core of fire" in terms of function that it is so amazing.
With just ordinary fire and some simple materials, one can refine a "pseudo-fire core".
This is the understanding of fire that the Shanggong family has accumulated over a hundred years.
but....
The recipe for this pseudo-fire core was ultimately lost due to the defeat and death of Wu Xincheng, with no one from the Shanggong family surviving.
Later, although disciples of the Tianyan Martial Sect researched and developed a formula for the pseudo-fire heart, it was far less affordable than that of the old master Shanggong.
but....
Because the formula was thoroughly studied, people quickly discovered a fatal flaw that both the fake and genuine Huoxin had!
That is, both types of fire hearts devour and replace the "heart" inside the cultivator's body.
During normal cultivation, this fire core can assist cultivators in improving their understanding of fire and their absorption of spiritual energy.
However, during battle, this item, whether it is a magical artifact with a spirit or without one, requires "spiritual power to drive it".
This "spirit" is not that spirit.
Although magical artifacts possess spiritual power, they almost all require spiritual energy to activate. Once the spiritual energy is exhausted, even magical artifacts with spiritual power will lose their power.
The Fire Heart has replaced the cultivator's heart. So what would happen if the spiritual energy within the Fire Heart were completely exhausted and the heart stopped functioning?
The answer is self-evident.
The monk's life would also come to a standstill.
Gu Yuan's attack was a test of two things: first, to find out if Shanggong Ji had a pseudo-fire heart.
Secondly, he wanted to see what would happen. Gu Yuan had added a clause to the previously agreed-upon contract, which stipulated that the contract would become invalid once the collective exit was found.
But there's no guarantee that Shang Gongji won't try to be clever and secretly modify the content, or use some underhanded tactics.
But after that attack, Gu Yuan was not harmed by the backlash, and nothing bad happened.
So it seems that the contents of the contract were indeed correct. He was really out of his mind back then. But even if Uemura Kichi added something to the contract at that time.
Gu Yuan wasn't worried that no one would notice...
The next step is quite simple.
Gu Yuan didn't plan to take action himself, since no one knew how many trump cards this little ancestor still had.
Gu Yuan was well aware that his health was already in a very bad state.
Unlike Shanggong Ji, who possessed a pseudo-fire heart, he was at most overloaded. The pseudo-fire heart had torn apart his surface skin, and now his spiritual power was exhausted, causing him to fall into a deep sleep.
However, if its life is threatened, the pseudo-fire core will consume its reserved spiritual power to protect its true form.
And this is also the most fatal flaw of the pseudo-fire core!
While a true Fireheart will protect its master, it does so with restraint. Once the reserved spiritual energy drops to a certain level, it will no longer consume spiritual energy to protect itself.
Wait for my spiritual energy to recover before making any further decisions.
The pseudo-fire core, however, will continuously deplete until the original body dies!
Gu Yuan walked towards the black earth statue and began to rummage through its trophies.
Just as Shanggong Ji was about to get up, he found that his limbs were unusually weak, and the muscle tissue torn by the raging fire had not yet recovered.
It will take quite some time before they can move around.
Shang Gongji didn't actually understand this pseudo-fire core. He had originally planned to ask the old man for guidance after becoming a cultivator.
But this death row inmate was undoubtedly an accident.
However, Uemura Ji was actually quite relieved.
It was all thanks to this death row cell; without this extraordinary encounter, I might never have caught up with Shang Gong Changqing in my entire life.
Suddenly, Uemiya heard some unusual sounds.
The sound, seemingly caused by bones rubbing together, made Shang Gongji's hair stand on end.
"Eat... to replenish."
Not far away, the three-armed monster had somehow stood up again!
"You...you're not dead? Gu Yuan, what did you do? Why is this monster doing this?!"
When she turned to look at Gu Yuan again, she found that Gu Yuan had disappeared somewhere!
"Gu Yuan!"
At this moment, Shang Gongji was filled with despair, and saw the monster crawling on the ground, searching around.
His eyes and nose seemed to be destroyed; his face was covered in a bloody mess of rotten flesh, with only his mouth opening and closing.
Unable to move, Shanggong Ji could only watch helplessly as the monster approached him little by little, while the pseudo-fire heart began to frantically consume its stored spiritual power, releasing a fire shield to defend itself.
The monster clawed and thrashed about frantically, showing no sign of stopping even though its three arms were already charred....