However, right when Xuanyan was about to succeed, the incomplete form of the Gu worm in his hand suddenly burst apart.
Xuanyan’s expression changed. "What—?!"
Yani’s eyes widened slightly as she stared at the vessel.
Junior brother Xuanyan’s refinent... had also failed.
"Junior brother Xuanyan, are you alright?" Yani rushed toward him the mont she saw him collapse to the ground from the backlash. Her mind did not even have ti to think. By the ti she reached him, she had already taken out a pill and pushed it straight into his mouth.
Xuanyan coughed from her rough action. "Senior sister... do you always shove things into people’s mouths like that?"
Yani glared at him. "If you keep talking, I’ll push another one in. Now swallow it."
Xuanyan did not argue further. He quickly swallowed the pill as the dicinal energy spread through his body, calming the chaotic fire energy caused by the failed Gu refinent. The pain inside his ridians slowly settled.
At that mont, i Lingyao appeared beside them. Unlike Yani, she showed no concern for Xuanyan’s condition. Her eyes calmly swept over the refining vessel filled with black ash before shifting toward Xuanyan’s hands, carefully observing the faint burns left by the backlash.
So... he failed on purpose? i Lingyao thought quietly.
For soone with her experience, it was not difficult to notice the problem. Xuanyan’s failure had not looked like a real mistake in refinent. The collapse of the Gu embryo had occurred at a very precise mont, almost as if it had been done intentionally.
However, i Lingyao did not say anything. Her gaze slowly moved toward Yani instead.
At this mont she was more curious about one thing—what Xuanyan had hoped to gain by doing this. After watching the entire duel, she had already seen enough of his ability. His control over the refining fla had far exceeded her expectations.
Because of that, his failure did not disappoint her in the slightest. Rather than interfering now, i Lingyao simply chose to remain silent and observe. Whatever Xuanyan’s purpose was, she wanted to see how the situation between the two of them would develop first.
And Xuanyan truly did not have enough energy left for a second attempt. The long refinent duel had already drained most of his ntal strength. Maintaining such precise control over the spiritual fla for nearly an hour had pushed his concentration to its limit. Even now, his spiritual energy remained unstable from the earlier backlash. If he forced himself to refine another Gu in this condition, the result would almost certainly be another failure.
Yani was in no better condition. During the duel she had already lost several sets of materials after failing at different steps of the refinent, and each mistake had consud precious ingredients. By the end of the duel, the materials left on the table were no longer enough for her to attempt the recipe again. After nearly an hour of refining inside the duel, both of them had reached the final step... yet both had failed.
Thus, the refinent duel ended in a draw.
According to the duel rules, when neither side managed to win, there were only two possible outcos. One option was for both parties to take back their wagers and treat the duel as if nothing had happened. The other option was to still carry out the wagers they had agreed upon before the duel and exchange them between both sides.
i Lingyao slowly exhaled and looked at the two of them.
"Since neither of you managed to succeed and the failed the refinent, the duel ends here," she said calmly. "Take your wagers back and stop glaring at each other."
Yani did not reply imdiately. She lowered her gaze slightly, quietly weighing the two options in her mind.
Part of her still wanted Xuanyan to accept the wager. If it remained valid, she could still place restrictions on him and stop him from using that matter to threaten her again about her feelings toward Lingling.
She wanted everything between Lingling and herself to remain exactly the sa as it was now.
But agreeing to that also ant Xuanyan would gain the right to ask for anything from her in return. Knowing Xuanyan’s personality, she was almost certain that whatever he requested would only make her life more troubleso in the future.
After thinking for a mont, Yani finally spoke. "Maybe... we should have a rematch another day?"
No." Xuanyan replied as he tried to sit up straight on the floor. The earlier backlash had left his body weak, but his voice remained calm.
"Senior sister, are you sure you want to place another wager in an alchemy duel?" he continued. "You still sound very confident about defeating . In my opinion, it would be better if we simply accept each other’s wagers."
Yani looked at him silently for a mont.
Xuanyan, however, already understood what Yani wanted from her wager, so accepting it did not trouble him. In fact, he preferred that outco. If Yani also agreed to his wager, it would give him an opportunity to make so progress with her and confirm sothing important.
He still needed to know whether Yani was truly a heroine or not. If both sides accepted the wagers, she would likely agree more easily to his request. It would not feel like a one-sided favor, but rather an exchange between the two of them.
Xuanyan urgently needed a new heroine to earn system points. Just that morning, the system had given him a harsh reminder about Tang Lishen’s rapid growth. Waiting passively for opportunities like the one with Lingling was no longer enough.
If he wanted to stay ahead in this ga, he needed to take action and gain system points as quickly as possible.
"We will both fulfill each other’s wagers," Xuanyan said after thinking for a mont. Then he looked at Yani and added calmly, "Senior sister, if you have any objections, you can say them now. Master was our witness before the duel, and she can decide if there is a better solution."
As he spoke, his gaze slowly shifted toward i Lingyao.
i Lingyao simply nodded. Seeing this, Yani’s lips twitched slightly. She remained silent for a mont before finally accepting the outco. Deep down, she could not deny the truth of the duel.
Junior brother Xuanyan had almost defeated her. Throughout the entire refinent duel he had not even used a single mortal-grade technique to attack her. In the end, she had lost control of the refinent by her own mistake.
Xuanyan’s fla control had been even more stable than hers, and he had not made a single visible error during the entire process.
If not for the bad luck at the final mont, the victory should have belonged to him.
Seeing that the matter had been settled, i Lingyao finally spoke. "Anyway, both of you should go freshen up first. Your minds are exhausted after the duel." Her gaze then shifted toward Xuanyan.
"Xuanyan, co back after you are done. I have sothing to discuss with you."
"Yes, Master," Xuanyan replied respectfully.
He bowed slightly before turning to leave. Yani also stood up and followed him out of the hall. Neither of them spoke as they walked away. The long refinent duel had drained most of their ntal strength, and at that mont both of them simply wanted to rest and recover.
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