Liu Feiyan was the granddaughter of the Elder of the Pavilion of Swords. She was spoiled. Even Qin Shaoyang, the eldest Senior Brother, would give in to her. Xiao Chen could have said he wasn"t interested in a sword duel with her, but he had simply walked away in front of so many people. How could she not be furious? She stamped her foot and yelled, "Stop right there! Did I say you can leave?"Xiao Chen continued to act as if he hadn"t heard her. An infuriated Liu Feiyan stomped her feet forcefully and shrieked, "Take this, you coward!" She transformed into a green light and flew toward him.
The onlookers yelped in surprise. The sword moved at such an incredible speed that it looked like Liu Feiyan was determined to stab Xiao Chen to death. The Elder of the Pavilion of Swords inwardly cried in alarm. Even though Feiyan was now a Core Forming Realm cultivator, she was no match for Xiao Chen. It was likely that she would suffer in his hands. His body blurred out of sight as he dashed as quick as lightning toward them. Unfortunately, he was a step too late. In the end, the tip of Liu Feiyan"s sword still pierced Xiao Chen"s back.
She wielded her sword at a speed rarely seen in this world. When it came to swordsmanship alone, not even Qin Shaoyang was her rival. Moreover, her Falling Jade Sword was forged by the famous swordsmith, Ou Ye from the Archean Eon. It was no ordinary sword. Its fierce aura dominated before it even arrived in the enemy"s face.
Unfortunately for her, Xiao Chen possessed a Divine Sense that was ten times sharper than ordinary people. He knew like the back of his hand every sword movement that she made, which direction she was aiming at, and how much strength she was using.
Just as the tip of the sword was three inches away from Xiao Chen"s back, he subtly moved his body to the left and Liu Feiyan instantly lost her target. Underneath her was the thousand-step stairs. Having not expected that he would dodge her, she instantly lost her balance.
When she was about to fall down the stairs, Xiao Chen leaned forward and reached out to grab her wrist. He tugged on her hand with strength and pulled her back so that he firmly caught hold of her slender waist. Their chests, even their faces, were almost pressed together. Liu Feiyan was both ashamed and furious. She raised her sword, about to strike.
Xiao Chen put his fingers together to pinch the blade of the sword. He smiled. "Miss Liu, I did you a favor by pulling you up and yet you wish to kill me?"
He didn"t move as he spoke, still leaning forward and not letting go of Liu Feiyan. By then, the Elder of the Pavilion of Swords and a few hundred Xianyong Sect disciples had arrived to witness this. Fury instantly rose in the Elder. Were it not for Fengxi holding him back, he would have already gone up to Xiao Chen and slashed him into pieces.
The male disciples who had a crush on Liu Feiyan were also raging. They wanted nothing more than to get down there and kill Xiao Chen. Both furious and ashamed, Liu Feiyan struck his waist with a palm attack. Despite knowing that he would surely shove her down the stairs after this attack, she couldn"t be bothered with the consequences now.
Her palm attack was fairly strong, instantly sending a numbing sensation down Xiao Chen"s lower half. Just as he was about to instinctively release Liu Feiyan, he suppressed the numbness and forcefully sent her back to the platform. She fell to the ground. Even though she didn"t know why he didn"t take advantage of the moment to shove her down the stairs, she was still mad. When she tried to attack him again, the Elder of the Pavilion of Swords intervened with a dark expression. "Enough! Have you finished making a fool of yourself?"
Liu Feiyan stomped her feet and protested coquettishly. "But Grandpa…" She pointed to Xiao Chen"s back as she said, "I challenge you to a life-and-death battle at the central square of Xianyong City in three days! You"re a coward if you don"t show up!"
Right then, some male disciples began echoing her words. "Don"t dodge if you have the guts!" They were sure that their Sixth Junior Sister had merely underestimated Xiao Chen earlier. In an actual battle, Xiao Chen undoubtedly wouldn"t be able to even withstand ten of her attacks.
Only a dozen or so disciples who had witnessed Xiao Chen"s swordsmanship yesterday knew that something very bad was about to happen.
Ignoring the shouting and jeering behind him, Xiao Chen reached out and waved. No one knew if he was bidding them farewell or answering the challenge.
Back in the city, Xiao Chen went around asking about the Changyin Mountain Range and got all sorts of versions. Some said that the place was transformed out of the body of a great G.o.d from the Archean Eon after death. Some said that it was the result of the terrain change caused by the great war thousands of years ago.
What surprised him was that the Changyin Mountain Range didn"t simply link the East and Middle Continents. It entwined around the entire Middle Continent, crossing dozens of nations and linking even the major lands of the West, South, and North Continents. Moreover, whenever the mountain range crossed, dark clouds were sure to follow with fine weather nowhere to be seen.
Xiao Chen couldn"t help frowning. According to the ancient records, the Five Continents were separate ent.i.ties divided by oceans a long time ago. However, at some point in history, the Changyin Mountain Range appeared and seemingly forcefully linked the Five Continents together.
More and more, he had the feeling that someone had purposefully laid down a formation using the continents. The mountain range where Fengxi found the ancient scroll was located thousands of miles away from here, in a nation called Cangming. It appeared that there were quite a few remarkable events that stirred up the entire nation happening in Cangming State. That would make it his next destination, so he could find the other half of the scroll.
The two of them strolled around the city until the sunset. Like a little fairy, Murong Xian"er bounced around in high spirits as she walked. She attracted quite a few doting gazes. Xiao Chen smiled. Perhaps such a carefree Xian"er was the true Xian"er. He wished she would always stay this way.
It was nighttime when they returned to the tavern. Xiao Chen carefully scanned the map in his left hand to determine the road to his next destination. Simultaneously, he also considered the fact that his Master had once visited the Human World a thousand years ago. If the Immortal King"s skeleton he saw today had been deceased for more than a thousand years, that meant there was a chance that it wasn"t his Master. However, it was anyone"s guess as to why the skeleton possessed his Master"s breath.
The next day, after putting everything into order, Murong Xian"er propped her chin on her palms while sitting at the table. Seeing that he was packing up, she said, "Aren"t you going to duel Sister Feiyan the day after tomorrow?"
Xiao Chen chuckled. "What"s the point of the duel? So what if I win or lose? It"s just a child"s game."
"But she made it clear that you"re a coward if you don"t go."
Xiao Chen shook his head with a smile. He placed his folded clothing into his bag and replied, "I have seen too many pampered and haughty young ladies like her. You know how arrogant Shangguan Yan is. In the end, I still managed to subdue her completely. We don"t have to bother with Liu Feiyan."
Murong Xian"er blinked. "I will tell Sister Yan that when we get back."
Stunned, Xiao Chen soon shook his head and smiled. He hoisted the bag on his shoulder and pulled Murong Xian"er out of the door. After settling the bill at the counter, the two of them walked out to the street. Sure enough, the news had already spread far and wide about Liu Feiyan"s duel with Xiao Chen. Quite a few gambling houses were even taking bets on the winner.
His appearance had also been described after two days. Thus, the moment they stepped on the street, a crowd began to gather around them.
"Excuse me, are you Xiao Chen? What do you think about your upcoming duel? Do you feel a lot of pressure?"
"Even though the number of people betting on Liu Feiyan"s victory has exceeded 10,000 today, you mustn"t despair. Even if you lose..."
"Sorry, you got the wrong person." Xiao Chen hastily pulled Xian"er away from the crowd, wondering who the h.e.l.l these people were. Before the crowd could regather, he speedily found a horse carriage service, booked a carriage, and made his way out of the city.
Meanwhile, in a small courtyard inside the Xianyong Sect, Qin Shaoyang said, "Sixth Junior Sister, are you really going to duel him? Our Master had given his orders yesterday. Even if we can"t find the other half of the scroll, we"re to head to the Cangming State as soon as possible and start our investigation. There"s no time to waste. Moreover, next month there"s also..."
Liu Feiyan raised her hand. "Enough! No matter what, I"m teaching that b*stard a lesson!"
The moment she recalled how Xiao Chen treated her in front of everyone yesterday, she felt a bitter resentment. Little did she know that the person that she despised to the core was comfortably lying inside a horse carriage while enjoying the scenery outside the city.