Chapter 1032: Stuck On?

The arrogance that had been on Gu Yue's face was gone. It took him half a day to barely crawl out of the shadow of defeat.

The saying 'the higher you climb, the harder you fall' could not be more apt for Gu Yue.

But Gu Yue was indeed talented. After half a day, he finally managed to pull himself together and focus on his duel with Ren Dong.

His goal was simple: to get up from where he had fallen.

He needed to regain his confidence from Ren Dong; otherwise, after today's alchemy duel, he, once the brilliant alchemist of Yungao City, would likely fade into obscurity.

Who on earth is that young girl? Gu Yue's streak of 3,420 consecutive wins ended just like that?

Yeah, it feels like a dream. After Master Qingyunzi, Gu Yue was the first alchemist genius to win so many consecutive matches. I almost thought he could reach Master Qingyunzi's level!

Speaking of which, 'Moistening Without Sound' is a flame control technique created by Master Qingyunzi himself. Could this young girl be connected to Master Qingyunzi?

That... impossible? I've never heard of Master Qingyunzi having a disciple!

With over three thousand consecutive wins, no one would question Gu Yue's strength. That Xiao Ruyan could defeat him only meant she was stronger.

But now, everyone began to take an interest in Ren Dong's strength.

The gossips had already learned that Ren Dong was Xiao Ruyan's junior brother. So whether Gu Yue would fall twice in the same place was something worth looking forward to.

The alchemy duel began. This time, Gu Yue pulled out all the stops, hoping to push his abilities to the limit.

But everyone's attention was focused on Ren Dong.

"Again, the rain moistens all things silently!"

Soon after, exclamations of amazement arose once more.

"The legendary realm! Again, the legendary realm!"

"My heavens, what kind of person could have trained such a terrifying pair of senior and junior disciples?"

When the alchemy was finished, the Alchemy Emperor once again inspected the pills.

"Gu Yue, high-grade pill; Ren Dong, supreme-grade pill! Ren Dong wins!"

Hearing this conclusion, Gu Yue collapsed to the ground, as if all his strength had been drained, utterly dejected.

Although he had barely steadied his mind, the shadow of his previous defeat still lingered in his heart.

Under such circumstances, it was already no small feat that he could still produce a high-grade pill. It was just that his opponent was Ren Dong.

The Ren Dong of today was completely different from the arrogant Ren Dong of years past.

After more than a decade of tempering, he had grown into a true grandmaster. His alchemy skills were now in no way inferior to Xiao Ruyan's.

He had gone over three thousand matches without a single loss, and now he had lost two in a row—the blow was too great for him.

"Heh heh, you're still ten thousand years early to surpass Lord Qing Yunzi! Your streak of over three thousand wins has little substance; you simply never met a true opponent! Lord Qing Yunzi, in his day, challenged the genius alchemists of the entire Divine Realm almost single-handedly! And you—what kind of stir have you caused? So... learn to be reverent!" Xiao Ruyan said coolly.

Gu Yue seemed to have lost his soul, utterly unable to accept the truth.

When a person falls from the pedestal, such a huge落差 can easily shatter them. Gu Yue was clearly in that state now.

In recent years, he had been lauded to the skies by all of Yungao City, hailed as Qing Yunzi's successor.

But today, after losing two consecutive matches to Xiao Ruyan and Ren Dong, his strong confidence was directly shattered.

Seeing Gu Yue's state, Xiao Ruyan couldn't be bothered to argue with him. To be honest, she had no desire to take such a person as a disciple.

"Forget it, I'm magnanimous and won't hold your offense against you. Junior brother, let's go," Xiao Ruyan said.

Ren Dong nodded and walked off the stage with Xiao Ruyan.

"Wait!" Before they had gone far, Gu Yue suddenly shouted from behind.

Xiao Ruyan and the other turned around, about to speak, but Gu Yue's face darkened as he said, "I, Gu Yue, mean what I say. Since I lost to you, I'll accept the bet and admit defeat!"

"Thud..."

Gu Yue directly kowtowed loudly and said, "Master!"

"Thud..."

"Master!"

"Thud..."

"Master!"

Gu Yue kowtowed three times and called out 'Master' three times, without any hesitation.

His straightforwardness caught Xiao Ruyan somewhat off guard. In that moment, her impression of Gu Yue improved slightly.

It seemed this guy was just an ignorant youth with an inflated ego, unaware that there are always greater talents beyond oneself.

But honestly, his alchemy skills were still quite formidable.

Though his foundation wasn't as solid as theirs, it was still rare among the younger generation.

Seeing this, Xiao Ruyan waved her hand and said, "Alright, alright, let's end this here. Losing two alchemy duels is no big deal. Knowing shame and then striving for excellence is what a true man does."

Xiao Ruyan put on the airs of an old scholar, actually acting as if she were the master and lecturing Gu Yue.

She didn't expect Gu Yue to say seriously, "I, Gu Yue, keep my word. I lost these two matches fair and square, and I'm convinced! From now on, I, Gu Yue, am Miss Ruyan's disciple! Master, please accept your disciple's bow!"

With that, he kowtowed again as a formal apprenticeship bow.

This caught Xiao Ruyan off guard. She quickly waved her hands and said, "No, no, I'm not qualified to take disciples. I haven't even graduated myself!"

But Gu Yue scrambled to his feet and said, "We had an agreement; how can you go back on your word? With so many peers as witnesses today, how could I, Gu Yue, be a person who breaks his promise? No matter what, I am already your disciple. Wherever you go, I will follow!"

Hearing this, Xiao Ruyan's face darkened. Was this guy sticking to her like a plaster?

Not far away, Ao Qian watched the scene and couldn't help but chuckle, "This kid has good judgment. He wants to apprentice under Miss Xiao, probably aiming for the大人! To bounce back from the shadow of defeat so quickly, he's indeed a promising talent."

Ye Yuan smiled and said, "For him, these two matches might be a new beginning. If he had really completed five thousand consecutive wins, the road ahead would have been even harder. When he breaks through to the Alchemy Emperor realm, he might find it's nothing special. He probably underestimated the strength of Alchemy Emperors before."

Ao Qian and the others deeply agreed with Ye Yuan's words.

Just because Ye Yuan could crush over five thousand Alchemy Emperors didn't mean others could do the same.

After all, Alchemy Emperors were the pinnacle of alchemists in the Divine Realm, and their strength should not be underestimated.

"大人, what should we do about this? Should I go knock him down so he doesn't stick around?" Ao Qian said.

Ye Yuan waved his hand and said, "Let him be. I want to see how sincere he really is."