Chapter 234: Murderous Intent Revealed
Wang Qinian, the true inheritor of Wanren Peak, looked at Lin Feng’s matches from up on the pavilion. He frowned slightly and said, “What is Lin Feng doing? He lost nine matches out of fifteen. Is he doing this on purpose?”
Luo Kedi also felt it was strange when he heard this. “His opponents were mostly ranked above the hundreds. With his strength, he should have been able to defeat them easily.”
Wang Qinian said, “When you go down later, ask him what’s going on. Tell him to do his best to obtain a spot in the top ninety. I have a feeling that this mission will be very beneficial for us. After it is completed, we should be able to raise our strength to another level.
The battles on the arena continued. The top ten rankers on the Wind Cloud List were now far ahead of the people behind them. They were now on a completely different level.
As the sun was setting, the battles on the arena reached the final rounds. The top ten rankers still had not met each other in battle. It could now be confirmed that this was the arrangement of the Elders’ Assembly.
However, given that these ten people had the same number of points, how would they be ranked?
“The top ten rankers are indeed extraordinary. They are much stronger than I imagined,” Zhang Lie sighed as he muttered to himself irresolutely.
Mu Heng did not say anything when he noticed that Zhang Lie was still stuck on the issue from before. The strength of the top ten had indeed exceeded his expectations. However, he believed Xiao Chen had the strength to be amongst them.
There was no reason for this belief, it was just his intuition.
Suddenly, Liu Suifeng whispered, “Did you notice? That Wanren Peak’s Quick Saber Lin Feng lost ten rounds in a row. What is he doing?”
Was there such a thing? Xiao Chen had not noticed at all. However, regardless of what Lin Feng was thinking, he would not be able to cause any problems. Perhaps if it was the past, Xiao Chen might need to utilize some tricks to obtain a swift victory.
However, after he used the Flowing Light Flower and increased his comprehension abilities, there had been a qualitative leap in his strength compared to after he came back from the Spirit Mines.
Xiao Chen said indifferently, “Just ignore him. If he wishes to challenge me, I will give him an unexpected surprise.”
When the afterglow of the setting sun dyed the west horizon completely red, the battles on the drill grounds were all completed. The top ten core disciple rankers had obtained victory in all their fifteen fights and were tied in the first position.
At the end, everyone felt somewhat regretful. After all, the fights everyone wanted to watch were evenly matched fights of high levels.
The chief examiner gestured and Xiao Chen and the other new core disciples slowly walked to the center of the drill ground. It was time for them to accept the challenges of the last ten ranked core disciples.
Although the level of this fight was not high, it was somewhat worth watching as well. The people who were fighting to protect their status as core disciples would do everything they could and battle with all their strength.
Although Xiao Chen and the others would not lose their status as core disciples if they lost, they would lose the rewards they had obtained earlier according to the rules. The purpose of this was to prevent them from giving up and cheating.
Such rules guaranteed that both sides would fight with all their might without holding back. Otherwise, they would suffer huge loses.
“Strange, why is Wanren Peak’s Lin Feng up there? He is the second strongest core disciple of Wanren Peak. Even if he is not ranked in the top ninety, he should not be amongst the bottom ten!”
“You can’t figure out something so obvious? You are too stupid! The bottom ten core disciples can choose their opponent. He is definitely dissatisfied after being defeated by Ye Chen last time. He must be here to take revenge.”
“That is interesting, Lin Feng is already an Inferior Grade Martial Saint. His speed is somewhat famous in the entire Heavenly Saber Pavilion. His strength should be similar to Ye Chen’s.
“En, that should be so. I heard that during their last fight, Ye Chen won because of a trick and so Lin Feng was not convinced of his lost. Otherwise, he would not have given up on his matches and dropped his rank by more than three hundred positions.”
The crowd was all surprised by Lin Feng’s appearance. However, when they thought of the reasons behind it, they were not overly astonished. After all, every cultivator had their pride.
The new core disciples lined up several meters away from the bottom ten core disciples who also stood in a line.
Lin Feng placed his hand on the saber hilt. His black eyes revealed a murderous intent as he stared at Xiao Chen. He had withdrawn his aura, storing up strength.
If looks could kill, Xiao Chen would have died a hundred times over already.
The chief examiner glanced at both sides. Then he pointed at the people on his right and said, “If you lose this time, you will lose your status as core disciples. I hope you will make full use of this chance and put in your all.”
“Now, from the left to right, come out one by one and choose your opponent.”
The first person of the left, Zhang Yue, revealed a somewhat joyful expression when he heard this. Being able to pick his opponent first gave him an advantage that did not need to be explained.
Contrary to that, the expressions of the three people on the right became significantly more unsightly. One could imagine which opponents would be left for them. It would definitely be the three people no one wanted to face—Mu Heng, Zhang Lie, and Xiao Chen.
Zhang Yue immediately stepped forward and pointed at Liu Suifeng. “I choose him to be my opponent.”
This person had pretty good insight, Liu Suifeng was indeed the weakest of the ten of them. However, Xiao Chen did not think that Liu Suifeng would lose for sure. His chances of winning were about fifty percent.
“Do not hold anything back, the opponent is likely to come at you with full force from the start.” When Xiao Chen walked past Liu Suifeng, he whispered to him.
Liu Suifeng nodded gently. He was the first to be pointed out by the opponents, this made him look bad. Everyone here had some pride, they would not want to be belittled in front of everyone.
Zhang Yue was only a Superior Grade Martial Grand Master, he was comparable to Liu Suifeng. He did not have any advantages in terms of cultivation realm but he had a richer combat experience.
It was indeed as Xiao Chen had expected. Zhang Yue executed his strongest move as soon as he stepped up, intending to catch Liu Suifeng unprepared. However, Liu Suifeng was ready and met that move with equal force without suffering a disadvantage.
Their cultivation realms were about equivalent, no one had any clear advantages. In the end, it was a matter of who had the stronger mental state.
Whoever could maintain their calm for longer and not reveal a weak point would be the one to obtain the final victory.
After the two of them exchanged more than two hundred moves, there was still no clear victor emerging. Zhang Yue slowly started to get anxious, the pressure on him was much stronger than the one on Liu Suifeng.
Zhang Yue’s moves started to turn fiercer the longer this dragged on. Liu Suifeng had a tranquil look in his eyes and his heart was as calm as still water. Liu Suifeng continued to block Zhang Yue’s torrent of attacks and eventually found a weak point.
Liu Suifeng immediately executed the secret technique of Qingyun Peak—Profound Wind Chop. He knocked Zhang Yuet out of the arena and obtained victory.
The chief examiner walked over to Zhang Yue and removed the gold identity token that hung on his waist. That token represented his core disciple status but it was removed despite Zhang Yue’s dissatisfied expression.
“Continue on, next!”
The fights continued on. The remaining core disciples learned from Zhang Yue’s mistakes and they all became more cautious. The fights were quite even, with both sides having victories and loses.
“I choose him!” When it was Lin Feng’s turn to choose an opponent, he pointed directly at Xiao Chen after he stepped into the arena.
Xiao Chen was not surprised. He leaped up gently and landed firmly in the arena.
When Xiao Chen got in the arena, the anger displayed in Lin Feng’s eyes calmed down instead. He gathered his strength and raised his strength. He was storing up his power without releasing it.
“If I cannot defeat you in five moves, I will admit defeat.” Lin Feng enunciated this word by word as he looked at Xiao Chen’s indifferent expression.
Xiao Chen found this funny. He said placidly, “Would defeating me in five moves give you a sense of accomplishment? Since you have made so many preparations and dropped yourself to the bottom ten to fight with me, I shall give you this chance.”
“Fight!”
The moment the referee spoke, the aura that Lin Feng had been suppressing completely exploded out. The aura of an Inferior Grade Martial Saint surged toward Xiao Chen.
“Stormy Gale!”
After the previous lesson, Lin Feng did not give his opponent the chance to make the first move. After he released his aura, he immediately executed the Martial Technique he was proud of.
He struck out with his saber and 6.6 meter long saber Qi flew out repeatedly. They flew toward Xiao Chen in a torrential manner, like a stormy gale. A strong wind blew on the arena. One could even faintly hear the sound of a torrential rain.
Xiao Chen had underestimated this person slightly. The state of wind and state of rain in this saber have been comprehended by Lin Feng to Small Perfection.
The horrifying saber Qi had the speed of the wind and the density of rain; wind and rain worked together. As the rain fell, it borrowed the might of wind to move even faster.
The frantic saber Qi did not leave Xiao Chen with any time to think, they arrived before him instantly.
Before the saber Qi got near, the wind from the saber caused Xiao Chen’s clothes and hair to flutter about. When the wind struck his face, it stung mildly.
“Dang!”
Xiao Chen did not dare to be careless. He drew the snow-white Lunar Shadow Saber and released a surging saber light, shattering the first saber Qi.
Saber Qi was the biggest difference between a Martial Saint and a Martial Grand Master. A Martial Grand Master could only condense saber light. However, a Martial Saint could initiate a ranged attack after a saber light was condensed.
In regard to quality and quantity of Essence, Xiao Chen and Lin Feng were not far apart. In fact, the quality of Xiao Chen’s Essence was slightly stronger.
However, saber light and saber Qi differed by a grade. To deal with a saber Qi condensed with fifty percent of his opponent’s strength, Xiao Chen had to use sixty percent of his strength.
Even so, Xiao Chen’s rate of Essence recovery was much faster than his opponent’s. Hence, he did not care about the exhaustion speed of his Essence. He smiled gently and executed the Azure Dragon Cloud Soaring Art.
His figure flickered around the arena and left behind afterimages. It was difficult to differentiate the real from the fakes and his true body could not be found. Saber Qi after saber Qi were smashed apart by Xiao Chen and scattered in all directions.
Although Lin Feng knew this move would not deal any significant damage to Xiao Chen, he had not expected Xiao Chen to break it so easily.
“Swallowing Cloud Drinking Rain!” Lin Feng shouted and the wind and rain suddenly stopped. The remained saber Qi returned to Lin Feng’s body with a ‘shua’ sound.
Xiao Chen reappeared and looked at Lin Feng leaping over. He said softly, “Four more moves…”
“Cut the crap! This move will settle you!” Lin Feng said ferociously as blue veins popped on his forehead.
Right after he spoke, Lin Feng’s saber was already above Xiao Chen’s head. Xiao Chen did not dare to be careless. The whirlpool in his Dantian span faster.
Six drops of pure Essence dripped out and instantly turned into a torrent of surging Essence that flowed along the meridians in his arms into the saber blade.