Chapter 5268: Competing on True Abilities
“Rank nine Martial Exalted level? You hid your cultivation? No, that’s not right. You possess the Heavenly Bloodline. Does the earlier thunder have anything to do with you? Did you just make a breakthrough?” Mo Yuhan asked.
Chu Feng smiled in response. He didn’t say a word, but his silence was already an answer in itself.
“Where did this brat come from? I’ll tear you into pieces!!!”
A furious killing intent flared. Zhou Yan’s eyes turned purple as a purple aura enveloped his body. He had consumed a potent forbidden medicine to enhance his fighting prowess.
Mo Yuhan’s eyes widened in shock at the sight. She knew that she was no match for Zhou Yan in his current state.
However, Chu Feng didn’t bother to dodge Zhou Yan’s attacks at all. With a flick of his wrist, he drew the Immemorial Hero’s Sword and thrust it at Zhou Yan.
Pu!
The sword moved so quickly that it plunged into Zhou Yan’s neck before the latter could even react. Both Mo Yuhan and Zhou Yan were stunned at the sight.
Chu Feng was the only one who remained calm.
“I could have spared you if you didn’t try to kill me,” Chu Feng said.
Without waiting for Zhou Yan’s response, he flicked his wrist.
Pu!
Fresh blood splattered along with the movement of the Immemorial Hero’s Sword. Zhou Yan’s head was sent flying in the distance. Just like that, one of the top prodigies of the Totem Galaxy had fallen.
Mo Yuhan’s pink eyes widened in shock. It was not that she hadn’t considered the possibility that Chu Feng might be able to defeat Zhou Yan, but she didn’t think that Zhou Yan would lose in such a manner.
It was a crus.h.i.+ng defeat for Zhou Yan!
She also noticed Chu Feng’s Divine Power, which explained why he was able to defeat Zhou Yan so easily.
In other words, Chu Feng was able to raise his fighting prowess by three ranks on top of his rank nine Martial Exalted level cultivation.
“Young master Chu Feng.” Mo Yuhan suddenly bowed to Chu Feng.
“What are you doing?’ Chu Feng asked.
“I have previously underestimated young master Chu Feng, but you were willing to overlook my folly and lend me a helping hand. You have my deepest grat.i.tude,” Mo Yuhan earnestly said.
Chu Feng chuckled. “Miss Mo, you need not be too bothered by it. I, Chu Feng, have never cared about how others view me.”
Mo Yuhan was surprised to hear that. She hadn’t noticed it before, but Chu Feng was very different from other juniors. She had seen plenty of juniors who acted arrogantly despite being weak themselves just because they had a strong background.
And those who were strong and had background often flaunted their strength as if they were afraid that others wouldn’t know about their might.
Chu Feng was very different from those people. He was strong but he wasn’t interested in showing off. He had only made a move back then because someone had provoked him, and this time around, it was to help her.
He didn’t reveal his cultivation even when others were underestimating him because he wasn’t bothered by their perceptions.
It was not like she hadn’t seen powerful cultivators who kept a low profile, but this was the first time she was seeing one amongst the juniors.
“Young master Chu Feng, please accept this. It’s a token of my goodwill.” Mo Yuhan walked up to Chu Feng and presented him with a Cosmos Sack.
Chu Feng looked into the Cosmos Sack and saw that ten beads forged out of martial power inside. Each of them harnessed energy comparable to the crystal he had just a.s.similated. Even if they weren’t enough for him to make a breakthrough to Half-G.o.d level, they would still be of tremendous help to his cultivation.
It was a generous gift.
“Since Miss Mo doesn’t want to owe me a favor, let’s call it even with this,” Chu Feng said.
“…”
Once again, Mo Yuhan was surprised by how decisively Chu Feng had accepted her gift. Most people would have at least declined the gift once out of courtesy before finally accepting it.
Chu Feng is indeed different from most other people, Mo Yuhan thought.
“Young master Chu Feng, Zhou Yan’s background is not to be trifled with. You should feign ignorance on this matter. I’ll announce to others that I was the one who killed Zhou Yan,” Mo Yuhan said.
“Miss Mo, you’re surprisingly slow-witted,” Chu Feng said.
Mo Yuhan’s face reddened in anger. She had proposed such a measure out of goodwill, but Chu Feng was insulting her over it.
“There’s no one else here. It’ll suffice for us to destroy his corpse. There’s no need for us to claim responsibility over Zhou Yan’s death,” Chu Feng said.
“But the Totem Dragon Clan will know about it. After all, we’re in their formation,” Mo Yuhan said.
“I don’t know whether the Totem Dragon Clan is truly aware of what’s happening in here, but even if they are, what makes you think that they would feel obliged to reveal the truth? And if the Totem Dragon Clan plans to divulge the truth, they wouldn’t go with your version of events. Your lies would be meaningless either way, no?” Chu Feng said.
“…” Mo Yuhan was rendered speechless. Now that Chu Feng had broken down the situation for her, her suggestion did seem a little foolish
Chu Feng flicked his hand and collected Zhou Yan’s body.
Due to his inability to use spirit power here, he was unable to absorb Zhou Yan’s origin energies just yet. He could only take the entire corpse with him and settle it once he was out of here.
Seeing the lack of hesitation in Chu Feng’s actions, Mo Yuhan could tell that he was a veteran in this.
“Shall we travel together?’ Chu Feng asked.
“All right,” Mo Yuhan replied with a nod.
The two of them began making their way toward the light pillar.
“Did you enter an ancient hall earlier?” Mo Yuhan asked.
“That’s right,” Chu Feng replied. “Did you meet that light figure too?”
“I did.”
“Did you take her test?”
“She only said a single word before sending me out.”
“A single word? What did she say?” Chu Feng asked.
“Unqualified.” Mo Yuhan lowered her head gloomily.
“Well…” Chu Feng scratched his head awkwardly. He realized that he had accidentally struck her sore spot.
“What about you?” Mo Yuhan asked.
Chu Feng hesitated for a brief moment, but he decided to tell the truth. “I took her test and cleared it.”
Had Chu Feng said that before the earlier incident, Mo Yuhan would have thought that he was bragging, but she now thought that there was some credibility behind his words. Even so, she couldn’t help but feel a little conflicted.
Chu Feng cleared a test that I was unqualified for?
“Did you receive anything?” Mo Yuhan asked out of curiosity.
“Nothing at all. I was sent out right away,” Chu Feng replied.
Mo Yuhan narrowed her eyes in doubt. “Are you sure that you really cleared the test?”
“I think so,” Chu Feng replied with a smile.
He knew that his claim that he had cleared the test but didn’t receive any rewards sounded untrustworthy too, but he wasn’t bothered as to whether Mo Yuhan trusted him or not.
Soon, the two of them arrived at the light pillar. Over a hundred people had already gathered in the vicinity, and more people were arriving in droves.
Chu Feng’s attention fell on the bottom of the light pillar, where fifteen tall towers stood. These towers were stacked like a pyramid, with eight towers at the very bottom, four in the second layer, two in the third layer, and one at the top layer.
On top of the highest tower was a token inscribed with the Totem Dragon Clan’s insignia and the words ‘The Strongest Late Martial Exalted Level Cultivator’.
All of the towers had doors, but only the doors of the bottommost eight towers were opened. There were some people standing in front of the doors.
Two people were standing in front of the first tower.
One of them was a confident-looking junior who was at rank eight Martial Exalted level, but there was a bitter look on his face. It looked almost as if he had encountered a huge problem. He would occasionally glance at the person standing next to him, only to sigh again and again.
The person next to him was an elder carrying a huge box on his back. Chu Feng could tell right away that the huge box was no ordinary box—it was a sword sheath. On top of that, the old man had a token hanging on his waist that carried the words ‘Brokensword Mountain Manor’.
Without a doubt, the elder was the famous Ouyang Canjian.
It was no wonder why the junior had such a bitter look on his face. He was probably feeling unconfident to have to face Ouyang Canjian as his opponent.
There was a familiar face in front of the second tower—Tang Xiu. He was still waiting for an opponent.
The third, fourth, sixth, and seventh towers had two people standing in front of their gates, meaning that their opponent had already been confirmed. The fifth and eighth towers only had a person each, similar to the second tower.
The one standing in front of the fifth tower was an old granny.
The one standing in front of the eighth tower was a little monk dressed in a kasaya. He had an extremely youthful appearance that suggested that he was much younger than the other juniors here. His tranquil expression looked oddly adorable on his childlike face.
The monk’s peculiar appearance and lack of reputation made him a topic of discussion, for the challengers knew that everyone who had advanced this far was a prodigy in their own right.
However, the ones who generated the most discussion were still none other than Ouyang Canjian, Tang Xiu, and a man named Xu Tianjian.
Xu Tianjian carried a silver sword on his back, and he was rumored to be the strongest junior beneath Half-G.o.d level. It was worth noting that he was acknowledged to be the ‘strongest’ instead of just ‘one of the strongest’, which well reflected his immense strength. Even Tang Xiu and the others recognized his t.i.tle.
Many believed that the final duel would be one between Ouyang Canjian and Xu Tianjian. The two of them happened to specialize in swordsmans.h.i.+p, so many were looking forward to their showdown.
By this point, Chu Feng had already roughly deduced the rules.
The tournament was boiling down to one-on-one battles from this point onward. Only sixteen people could partic.i.p.ate in the battles, and the last one standing would receive the strongest token.
Weng!
All of a sudden, the second and the eighth tower released a surge of teleportation energy that enveloped Chu Feng and Mo Yuhan.
“s.h.i.+t!” Tang Xiu cursed.
Chu Feng finally understood why those people were standing in front of the towers. They had been chosen by the formation.
Under the power of the teleportation energy, Chu Feng was teleported to the second tower, where Tang Xiu was standing.
“That fellow sure is unlucky to have Tang Xiu as his opponent.”
“The two of them seem to be acquainted.”
“So what if they are acquainted? This is a battle to decide the strongest late Martial Exalted level cultivator! Do you really think that Tang Xiu will go easy on him? Considering how none of us have heard of that fellow, he probably isn’t too strong. I reckon that the formation simply made a mistake here. There’s no way he could be a match for Tang Xiu!”
The crowd chatted amongst themselves.
Tang Xiu looked as if someone had shoved c.r.a.p down his throat.
Chu Feng looked at him and said, “What a coincidence.”
Despite having a tight frown on his face just a moment ago, Tang Xiu quickly slapped on a smile and answered, “It sure is a coincidence.”
As if deciding that his att.i.tude wasn’t subservient enough, Tang Xiu even lowered his back and clasped his fist. “Allow me to congratulate Brother Chu Feng for claiming the t.i.tle of the strongest in advance!”
“What in the world is Tang Xiu doing?”
The crowd couldn’t understand why Tang Xiu was congratulating Chu Feng when the two of them were enemies. Could this mean that Tang Xiu was giving up on the tournament? If he was going to give up here, why did he even join the tournament in the first place?
Most people eventually concluded that Tang Xiu was just being humble.
However, what Tang Xiu did next made them do a double take. He raised his hand and loudly announced, “I admit defeat.”