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The Six Immortals
(六道仙尊)

by

Ting Fei Yun

(云霆飞)
 Synopsis

Six circles exist between the heaven and earth.

Bi Fan, weak and lonely, grows little by little and takes the
world by surprise.

As the wars for power, glory, fame and money rage on, ‘The
Six Immortals’, a tale of Love, Hatred, Regret, Passion, Rivalry
and Self-Sacrifice unfolds.
 Chapter 1 – Wan Snake Cave

The heavenly blue sky oversaw as fog and mist curled around
the Quinyang Mountains creating a picturesque shade.

A small lonely figure was busy at work inside the medicine

orchard, and occasionally, his hand would wipe the sweat off his
forehead. His name was Bi Fan.

Just looking at his weak body ignited a sense of pity, but in

the Tian Yu world, vanquished of all compassion, no one would
sympathize with him.

Bi Fan was an orphan who came to Quinyang School as a child

and had been adopted by an old man at Quinyang School of
medicine to look after the medicine orchard. He had never
known his parents.

Immediately after adopting him, Old man Xing named him Bi

Fan (Completely Ordinary).

Now 14 years old, Bi Fan still looked like an eleven year old
owing to the malnutrition.
 In the year that preceded Bi Fan’s adoption by the old man, Bi
Fan suffered hardships that were beyond description.

Status of a medicine orchard boy is awfully low, lower than a

sweeper who sweeps the floor, but the nursemaid cooked good
food, where could he find that?

Medicine orchard farming required a great deal of expertise. It

was a difficult task with a lot of pressure.

Inability to finish the task meant severe punishment, his wage

might get cancelled and any fight would be futile.

From time to time, upon completion of the task, the old man
would give some rewards, among these rewards was Dan
(synthesized pellets which granted physical strength).

Bi Fan could certainly use some physical strength, but he had

never had the good fortune.

Old man had handed over the management of the Orchard

and rewards to Zhu San, only to make things even more difficult
for him.

In the absence of the old man, Bi Fan answered to him.

As soon as the old man would go away, trouble followed Bi

Fan, not only did Zhu San make things difficult for him, but
other boys would also constantly bully him.

“Bi Fan, can you help me look after these purple stem grass,
it’s very easy, great to have you helping me.”

“Idiot, hand over the Zhi Flower, if you make a mistake, you
will regret it.” (Zhi is plant root used in Chinese medicine)

Bi Fan was very skinny as compared to the other boys at the

farm and they had nicknamed him “idiot”.

In reality Bi Fan wasn’t stupid at all, or incapable of

understanding things, he just pretended to be, so he would
receive lesser blame for his faults.
 One day, Bi Fan was assisting a guy named Daniu. He asked Bi
Fan to take care of a Zhu vermilion fruit but he accidentally
broke a leaf.

After Daniu found out about the incident, he rushed to the

orchard to catch hold of Bi Fan.

“Idiot, what did I tell you? You broke the Zhu vermilion fruit,
now I’ll break your arm!”

Then, Daniu pounced in Bi Fan’s direction giving him no time

to dodge, and within no time, his strong and well-built arms
grabbed Bi Fan. One could clearly see that Bi Fan was no match
for him.

“What…..?”

Then with one strong push, Daniu dislocated Bi Fan’s slender

arm, leaving him in agonizing pain. He trembled and
shuddered, but he couldn’t dare to complain.

“Patience, tolerance…..” these words repeated in Bi Fan’s

head.
 In the world of Tian Yu, strength was the supreme law and
above everything.

Bi Fan was weak, weaker than even the most ordinary men, in
fact, fragile would be the most appropriate description for him.

Perennially being a target of bullies, he had come to master

the art of tolerance.

Once he had attempted to resist a group of boys at the

orchard, and as a result of that, it took him a month to
completely recover from the consequences.

Since then, Bi Fan had become slower, lonelier, and even

more of an “Idiot”.

Bi Fan was always required to assist the other boys in taking

care of their tasks, especially the ones that required constant
attention.

He was never able to achieve his annual quota because he had

to take care of the work assigned to the other boys as well.

In the two years that had come to pass, nothing good had
come his way. His only benefits were that he had learnt a lot
about the growing conditions of various herbs, more than any of
the boys in his company.

In the eyes of the world, Quinyang School was a paradise, but

for Bi Fan, it was nothing short of hell.

He wanted to escape from the Quinyang Mountain, but the

lofty mountains were very steep. He would never be able to
escape as he was far too weak.

The day Bi Fan feared the most every year, had come. It was
time to hand over the herbs to Zhu San. He not only had to take
care of his herbs, but those of other boys as well.

Bi Fan hadn’t completed his assignments for 2 years. If he

faltered this year too, the consequences would be grave.

Zhu San had already told Bi Fan that he would tear him to
pieces if Bi Fan didn’t submit his assignment on schedule.
 Bi Fan’s life depended on this, but he was desperately failing.
His assignment was harder than most boys, and to be able to
complete it along with helping other boys was nothing short of
wishful thinking.

Zhu San’s ferocious appearance gave Bi Fan goose bumps.

Zhu San was fat like a melon and his walk shook the ground
and there was always a ferocious look on his face. None of the
other boys were a match for him and everyone feared him as
well.

Zhu San would start collecting the herbs in 2 days and there
wasn’t enough time for Bi Fan to finish his assignment.

Growing herbs meant following a process rendering Bi Fan

totally helpless. All he could do was sit and wait for the
punishment, and hope that he could beg his way out with Zhu
San.

Bi couldn’t sleep that night, and first thing in the morning, he

heard a noise outside.
 “Not good!”

Zhu San was on his way, followed by a crowd waiting in

anticipation, to see the herb collection.

Each time the herbs were collected, Bi Fan’s shack was

bustling with excitement, because each time he failed to deliver
the herbs on schedule, he would face punishment.

“Idiot, first you turn over the herbs, and then explain why
you didn’t come out to greet Zhu San”.

“Idiot, you did not complete the assignment again! You are
such a useless person that even your existence is the waste of
food.”

A lot of boys had gathered to watch Bi Fan’s punishment.

Bi Fan quickly ran out of his shack, and bowed his head, his
fleeting eyes flashed with a light of resentment.
 Zhu San didn’t pay any attention to Bi Fan, as he finished
scanning Bi Fan’s orchard, and said, “Bi Fan you are getting
bolder day by day, you seem to have finished only a third of the
assignment, this is not going to work. You have forged the path
of your own doom.”

His tone was extremely cold, as his hand lashed out in Bi Fan’s
direction to slap on his thin body.

For Bi Fan, there was no place to hide, nowhere to run.

Zhu San was more powerful than anyone and even a normal
person could not take his hit unscathed then how could he?

It would be foolish to think that Zhu San’ fat body was a

hindrance to his agility, because once he moved, his speed was
beyond match.

Bi Fan didn’t react as Zhu San’s palm hit him.

“Bang!”
 Bi Fan went flying 10 meters into the air, he emitted scarlet
blood as he hit the ground, unable to move, he felt dizzy.

Zhu San had cultivated his power using the Yun Shi (stone
inscriptions that grant power), and the power bestowed upon
him was enough to kill a tiger. Zhu San only used a third of his
power, but for Bi Fan, it felt as if he was about to die. (In the
Tian Yu world, Yun Shi was a very important refined material
that had high density, heavy and was extremely rare. The fist
contained the great might of 1000 Jin. In the world of Tian Yu,
Yun Shi was specifically designed to test the strength of
practitioners.)

In the Tian Yu world, practitioners were divided into fetus

category, emerging from the womb category, magical powers
category, and going all the way up to the Immortal spirit
category at the top. After reaching the immortal spirit category,
one would be able to rise above the 6 Jies (realms).

The 6 Jies (Kingdoms or realms) consisted of Buddhist Jie,

devil Jie, spirit Jie, world of immortals, magical Jie and chaos
Jie.

Fetus category was again divided into nine layers, first layer
was heavy strength (Qiang Zhuang), second layer was growing
strength (Xu Li), third layer was martial strength (Wu Li),
fourth layer was inner breath (Ne Xi), fifth layer was inner
organs (Zang Fu), sixth layer was brave (Yong Wu), seventh
layer was spiritual intelligence (Ling Hui ), eighth layer was
enormous strength (Ju Li) and the ninth layer was the
transformation (Tui Bian).

The first layer, Heavy Strength, granted an enormous

physical strength, where the practitioner would undertake
training to achieve the strength of 200 Jin, which was far more
than what ordinary people could ever achieve.

The second layer granted the ability to store energy, where

the practitioner would consume Dan which strengthened their
bones till they had effectively stored up to strength of 600 Jin.

The third layer, Martial Strength, was the layer which

granted enough strength to be able to surpass the strength of
1000 Jin. After reaching this layer, one could join the ranks of
the practitioners (martial artists).

After reaching the fourth layer, inner breath, practitioners

studied the teachings of Buddha and were able to store their
vital breath inside their body and produced qi, which could be
used as an explosive surge of power, greatly enhancing all
aspects of the body. One had to reach this stage to be genuinely
considered as a martial artist.

As far as layers of inner organs, brave, spiritual intelligence,

enormous strength and transformation were concerned, only
people like Zhu San could hope to achieve it.

If one was able to produce inner breath, he would

immediately be accepted as a martial disciple, irrespective of age
or build and his status would see an enormous rise.

Bi Fan hadn’t surrendered himself to mediocrity and kept on

striving to work hard and practice, but his body was just too
weak. He couldn’t even match the strength of the people at the
first layer. So being constantly bullied was not something
surprising.

“Bi Fan, your body is not suitable for practicing, so give up.”
This was what the old man had always been suggesting him.

But Bi Fan never gave up and continued to increase his

training volumes, only to yield negligible results.
 “I don’t want to do minor jobs forever, I don’t want to be
bullied eternally, I want to be strong, I will transform in to a
man of ….” Bi Fan’s inner voice would scream as he would lose
consciousness during training.

“Zhu San, Bi Fan has fainted, he might die soon, what do we

do now? Should we throw him into the Wan Snake Cave?” A
boy approached to examine Bi Fan’s condition with a pleased
look on his face.

Throwing him into the Wan Snake Cave would be equivalent

to destroying his corpse and so too so effortlessly and this would
also be much less troublesome for them.

Zhu San waived his fat hand and commanded 7-8 boys to
throw Bi Fan behind the mountain.

Behind the Quinyang Mountain was an enormous cave, dark

and bottomless, inside it were countless poisonous snakes. It
was known in the Quinyang School as the Wan Snake Cave
(cave of ten thousand snakes). In Quinyang School, generally,
the traitors and enemies were thrown into the Wan Snake Cave
which was considered as the most vicious punishment.
 The people of Quinyang School trembled with fear at the
reference of the Wan Snake Cave.

The Wan Snake Cave’s opening was only 100 meters in

circumference, but you could smell its stench from far away.

Just the smell of the cave was enough to make most people
dizzy and Wan Snake Cave had so much poison inside it that it
could clearly be sensed from the outside.

The boys would not dare to go too close to the Wan Snake
Cave, so they elected the 2 strongest boys from among
themselves who then talked and laughed as they walked away
carrying Bi Fan towards the cave.
 Chapter 2 – The Strangely Wonderful Lotus

“well….”

Bi Fan did not know how long he had been unconscious.

“Ah!….” he cried out in pain, as severe pain shook his body.

Bi Fan tried to move, only to discover that his whole body had
fallen apart, he was unable to move even an inch.

Gently moving one part of the body at a time was possible, but
the pain was unbearable.

Bi Fan’s life meant absolutely nothing to anyone. As soon as

he was in coma, the boys at the orchard abandoned him and
threw him into the cave.

There were a lot of forks (side roads) inside the Wan Snake
Cave, forks are very slimy and moist. These naturally occurring
structures are exceptionally good for the survival of snakes.
 The fork that Bi Fan had fallen into was not very steep but
extremely smooth, because of which he had slid a long way
down.

Knocks and bumps on the way down were inevitable, but

unfortunately for him, not fatal.

Bi Fan’s fragile body was broken in at least a dozen places,

having survived till now was nothing short of a miracle.

Incapable of movement, coupled with intense pain made it

impossible for Bi fan to even fall asleep. All he could do was look
around from the corner of his eyes.

After days, maybe weeks, in the pitch-black darkness, he saw

a faint light drizzling like rain at a distance.

He gnashed his teeth to hold back the pain; he tried changing

his body’s angle in hope of moving forward.

His plight was already hopeless, but Bi Fan nevertheless

couldn’t abandon hope.
 He still had faith, that if he showed strength and resolve, he
could still survive this.

He struggled for an hour; his clothes were drenched in sweat

and sweat dripped from his forehead like raindrops.

Bi Fan stubbornly groaned in pain, he groaned and groaned.

His persistence eventually paid off, Bi Fan had found the

proper angle to move forward.

A perfectly straight purple stem whose top seemed to be

infused into the sky appeared in front of his eyes. He looked up,
the purple stem was over 5 meters tall, on top of the stem was a
flower, a huge flower.

Radius of flower was at least 1 meter, complete with 36 petals,

black and white in color. 18 petals were black, 18 were white.

Bi Fan looked at this exquisite flower as its glistening white

petals lit up the surroundings.
 Purple stem had round disk-like green leaves that resembled a
lotus. But these leaves were smaller than lotus.

Next to the green leaves was a pool of milky white liquid, the
liquid constantly produced bubbles. The bubbles were
dissipating into a mist which was being absorbed by the white
petals.

“Wannian spirit milk!” Bi Fan was astonished beyond

description, he had heard of the Wannian spirit milk, so he
instantly recognized it.

Bathing in the essence of Wannian spirit milk was enough to

completely change a person’s body.

Moreover, the Wannian spririt milk was capable of

harmoniously mixing with various herbs while refining Dan. It
greatly increased the power of Dan making it a lot more
effective.

Bi Fan did not have the slightest clue what this odd shaped,
black and white, lotus like flower was, let’s just call it ”yin yang
lotus”.
 As soon as he saw the Wannian spirit milk, hope surged
through his existence.

Consuming a single drop of it would make his physique

immeasurably superior, his body would finally be fit for
cultivation.

It was Bi Fan’s dream to practice, his dream was right in front

of him, yet out of reach.

The wannian spirit milk was less than 15 meters away, but in
Bi Fan current condition, it felt like it was across a far horizon.

As Bi Fan’s body reluctantly moved, moving the next inch was

becoming harder than the previous one. The pain kept growing
exponentially.

“I must not give up, I will not give up, never….” The new
found hope in Bi Fan urged him.

Bi Fan, brimming with excitement, forgot about the pain. A

line of blood trailed him as he continued to creep forward.

Suddenly the white petals starting radiating again, a thick

mist floated above it. The cave shimmered in its light, as its
fragrance drifted around the cave.

As he inhaled the scent, his spirits lifted. Even the pain started
to subside.

He pushed himself to crawl forward, surprisingly, moving a

few centimeters was a lot less painful now.

But Bi Fan’s excitement was short lived. As his nose filled with
stench, he heard a rustling sound.

“Poison!” he guessed.

As countless snakes emerged, Bi Fan saw the true colors of

poison. Amongst these were pythons, as thick as a bucket.

“This cannot happen to me”, Bi Fan still didn’t want to give

up. He couldn’t move as countless snakes crept closer.
 Fear flooded Bi Fan’s conscious. Regardless of so many snakes,
Bi Fan did not lose confidence. But he was just a 14 year old boy,
injured, incapable of movement.

The snakes went right past his side, paying no attention to

him. They were obviously attracted to the exquisite scent of the
flower.

Bi Fan relaxed as the tails of those thick pythons swept away.

“Ah!…” Bi Fan exhaled a sigh of relief.

The power of a python was more than that of Zhu San. His
body, unable to bear the exhaustion, started to fall apart, and let
out a loud crackling sound as his bones shattered.

There was still a long way ahead, and Bi Fan started to lose
consciousness.

As Bi Fan’s internal organs smashed to pieces by his cracking

bones, coincidentally, the yin yang lotus stooped down. Blood
from his body splashed and landed on top of the exquisite
petals.

The yin yang lotus instantly absorbed his blood. And

suddenly, the black petals emitted a black light, and gave off a
dark gas.

The dark gas became even darker as it reached out and started
to lift Bi Fan’s body in the air.

Upon seeing the black gas, the snakes were overcome with
fear. They started to crawl away; even the pythons were no
exceptions.

Then the black petals ejaculated several black threads, these

threads enter the bodies of the snakes in no time and the snakes
vanquished. The threads continued to expand for a while then
rescinded back inside the black petal.

Bi Fan knew that no one will believe what he was witnessing

for he, himself found it hard to digest. He was now afraid of
facing the same fate as the snakes.
 After finishing its task, the black petals moved a few times,
they seemed awfully excited.

Soon after, the black petals began to collect the dark gas, and
Bi Fan found himself falling to the ground as the gas cloud
around him loosened.

The white petals shot a pure white mist that started taking the
shape of an enormous cocoon encompassing Bi fan.

Inside the white cocoon, Bi Fan fell into a serene sleep. As the
white mist entered his shattered body, it began to heal.

The white fog’s ability to heal was miraculous.

Bi Fan, who had been on the verge of death started breathing

evenly, color returned to his pale face.

For 5 days and 5 night, the white mist didn’t go back into the
petal as it remained there, surrounding Bi Fan.

Slowly the mist began to fade away as Bi Fan still hovered

above the ground.

Over the past 5 days, his injuries had fully healed, but Bi Fan
was still asleep.

In the last five days, Bi Fan had completely transformed. He

had gained at least 20 centimeters in height, his body had
become a lot sturdier, his skin had become white, and very, very
shiny.

He had completely changed, almost as if he had been reborn.

So much so, that even if the old man Xing resurrected from his
grave, wouldn’t be able to recognize him.

The yin yang lotus began acting up again, it’s and leaves began
moving forward. It came in contact with Bi Fan and in a flash,
disappeared without a trace.

After the yin yang lotus disappeared from the cave, the cave
became dark again, very dark.
 Chapter 3 – The Three Treasures

“ok..”

Bi Fan issued a comfortable sigh as he woke up.

As he opened his eyes, he was surprised to find himself at least

3 meters off the ground, floating mid-air.

“Ah…!” Bi Fan screamed, as he fell down.

With a splash Bi fan fell into a pool of Wannian Spirit Milk.

Bi Fan swallowed several big mouthfuls as he fell into the

liquid.

After struggling for a while he realized that the few feet of

Wannian Spirit Milk was insufficient to drown him. The pool of
Wannian Spirit milk was deep enough to reach his chest.
 The pool had a radius of over five meters, Bi Fan was amazed
to find such a massive amount of Wannian Spirit Milk.

“I am freely able to access so much Wannian Spirit Milk” Bi

Fan was amazed, he could barely believe his luck, he felt like he
was dreaming.

For such a long time he had fantasized about Wannian Spirit

Milk, but could never procure it. But now, he had found so
much of it, he couldn’t contain his happiness.

Bi Fan gulped several mouthfuls of the Wannian Spirit Milk,

in fact he kept drinking till he couldn’t swallow any more of it.
Wannian Spirit Milk had an amazing healing ability but it
wasn’t an easy substance to digest, it gave Bi Fan a headache.

It took some time for Bi Fan’s head to clear up. To his

surprise, he realized that he could see the objects around him
even though it was very dark. Slowly as his vision got brighter,
he could see everything distinctly.

Bi Fan rubbed his eyes in excitement, amazed at his new-

found nightvision.
 After he calmed down a bit, he started walking towards the
shore, one step at a time.

“Splash” he went flying into the pool of Wannian Spirit Milk

once again, as his foot slipped over a slippery circular object at
the bottom of the pool.

Bi Fan felt somewhat strange, this thing didn’t seem to

resemble a stone, what was it doing at the bottom of the pool?

Out of curiosity, Bi fan bent over to pick up the object. The

object turned out to be a purple colored bottle gourd. The top of
the bottle guard carried an unusually delicate engraving of a
bagua map.

The purple bottle gourd instantly captured his attention. He

looked at it closely but couldn’t identify its meaning.

Bi Fan liked this purple bottle gourd, this would enable him to
carry some of the Wannian Spirit Milk with him.

Bi Fan reached the edge of the pool and opened the bottle
gourd’s cork and turned it upside down, only to find that it was
empty.

So he quickly started collecting the Wannian Sprit Milk in the

bottle gourd.

Bi Fan was very excited as he watched the Wannian Spirit

Milk flow into the purple bottle gourd.

Even though the Wannian Spirit Milk had given him a

headache, he wanted to carry as much of it as possible.

Although a lot of the liquid had already flown into the small
bottle gourd, it was still taking in more of the Wannian Spririt
milk. It’s Capacity baffled Bi Fan.

“Could this be a magic utensil?” he speculated.

He had faintly heard about magical tools from the monastery

located beneath Quingyang door.

Even the most inferior of martial artists were said to be

making use of such tools. In fact, most martial artists in the
fetus jie were said to use such tools.

Such tools could be used to provide power to martial artists.

Using such tools made the fetus practitioners a lot more
powerful, the better the quality of the tool, the more power it
could provide.

It is said that there are magical tools, tools of such

extraordinary strength that they are capable of providing
enough power to destroy countries.

But these were all myths, and Bi Fan had never believed in
them.

Bi Fan picked up the gourd and looked inside it, to his

surprise, it seemed bottomless and empty.

Whether the gourd was magical or not, made no difference to

Bi Fan, as long as it could collect more of the Wannian Spirit
Milk. He continued to pore more and more of the liquid into the
gourd.

He continued to collect Wannian Spirit Milk in the gourd for

an hour, even the pool seemed to reduce in quantity but the
gourd still appeared empty.

He wrapped the purple bottle gourd around his waist, then

secured the hold by wrapping it around a few more times from
the fear of losing it.

At last, Bi Fan started looking around for a way out.

He recalled his encounter with the snakes earlier and figured

that maybe that’s why the cave was called the Wan Snake Cave.

Bi Fan did not want to stay in the cave for long, he had
survived this long due to good fate or karma, but he did not
want to push his luck too far.

Suddenly, he found a wall which had a weapon thrusted into

it, so deep, that only its hilt was visible.

Bi Fan ran over to the wall and saw a silver ring hanging from
the handle with the help of a string.
 Without a moment’s hesitation, he untied the ring and wore
it, assuming that it was valuable.

The handle was red in color; it appeared as if it had blood

flowing inside it. The blood appeared to be gleaming as if it was
infused with rays of pure light.

Bi Fan hesitated for a moment, then he reached over and

grasped the handle in his hand.

The size of the handle seemed just right for Bi Fan, it appeared
as if the handle was tailor-made for him. For some reason, he
felt like he was holding someone’s hand rather than a handle,
he could feel the blood flowing through the hilt.

Bi Fan pulled hard at the hilt in an attempt to pull it out.

The weapon however, did not even budge. No matter how

much force he applied, it always seemed to bear the same result.

What to do now?
 He wasn’t going to give up so easily; he knew that it wasn’t
the weapon’s fault.

“Maybe the weapon needs to identify its master by blood!” Bi

Fan contemplated as magical weapons often shared a bond of
blood with their masters. So he decided to try it out.

Bi Fan bit his index finger and dropped the blood onto the
handle.

As soon as the handle came in contact with his blood, the

handle absorbed it. And suddenly, it issued a gleaming ray of
light that encompassed Bi Fan’s hand.

Without a warning, the handle started sucking in Bi Fan’s

blood quickly; he found his body was shrouded in a thin layer of
blood-like mist. The blood loss was clearly affecting Bi Fan, he
was scared.

Bi Fan weakened, his vision started to blur and he could no

longer raise his hand to hold the handle.

Fortunately, the handle stopped leeching onto his blood in

time. Otherwise Bi Fan would have definitely died due to
excessive blood loss.

The technique worked. Not only could Bi fan hold the

weapon, he could also feel its presence, almost as if the weapon
was connect to his mind.

The weapon’s name was Xue Ren(bloodshed). It had belonged

to the devil monarchs for generations. The weapon continued to
impart information to Bi Fan, it even told him the secret
fighting techniques of its previous masters.

The weapon then emerged out of the wall and placed itself
firmly in Bi Fan’s grip.

Xue Ren had a long handle, it was magnanimously heavy, the

double-edged sword appeared as if it was only single-edged. At
the front of the sword were six sharp teeth; tooth shaped and
hollow shaped, as if they were customized to suck onto
someone’s blood.

Upon seeing the thirst for blood inside Bi Fan’s eye, Xue Ren
seemed awfully pleased.
 Bi Fan wasn’t sure if he could move, but he was sure that Xue
Ren was not just any other magical weapon. Magical tools and
weapons were not supposed to have a mind of their own, their
only function was to boost their master’s strength.

Bi Fan rested for a while, he wanted to try giving his blood to

the ring and the bottle gourd. He wanted to see if they too
would recognize him as their master.

He thought for a long time, but he decided to drop the idea for
the time being, he had lost too much blood, to try it now could
turn out to be very dangerous.

As he looked at the three treasures, he wondered if there could

be more of such magical treasures hidden in the cave, he
continued to search as he wanted more.

Eventually, he was disappointed to realize that the cave was

empty.

As he had been in an excited state of mind this entire time, he

had forgotten about the yin yang lotus and didn’t realize that it
had disappeared from the cave.
 After searching the cave for almost half a day, he remembered
about the yin yang lotus.

Bi Fan was sure that the yin yang lotus was no ordinary thing,
as even the Wannian Spirit milk, such a precious and rare
commodity hadn’t disappeared the way the yin yang lotus had.

This entire time, Bi Fan didn’t see a single snake, he wondered

where they all went.

And then all his injuries were now cured, his body as good as
new, only significantly stronger.

All this left Bi Fan completely bewildered, he didn’t know

what to make of this, or how and why this happened to him.
 Chapter 4 – Tianyuan Ring

Bi Fan knew that he couldn’t stay in the cave any longer, his
top priority now was to find a way out.

Even if he didn’t encounter any more snakes, surviving inside

the cave, wouldn’t be possible without food.

The cave had only one way out, the same path from where Bi
Fan had been thrown in. The path that lead to the exit was at an
upwards angle of approximately sixty degrees.

Bi Fan tried to climb, but the path was extremely smooth and
glossy, he realized that no matter how much effort he puts into
it, climbing with his hands wasn’t going to work.

“How did I forget about Xue Ren?” Bi Fan realized, pleasantly

surprised.

Just the thought of it made Xue Ren present itself in Bi Fan’s

hand.
 Bi Fan picked up Xue Ren and started hacking small pits to
make his way up the cave, slowly and steadily.

After some time, he dug a bigger pit so he could settle down

and rest for a while.

If the Xue Ren’s previous owners found out that Bi Fan was
using their famed weapon Xue Ren to dig pits, they would
definitely rise from their graves.

Digging so many pits had made him tired, he decided to wait

for a while, catch his breath, and then continue on his path.

Bi Fan had no idea how long the passage was, he had been
continuously digging for over an hour, he still couldn’t see any
sign of the exit, or any light.

Suddenly, Bi Fan heard a rustling sound, he became very

nervous, his body was cold with sweat.

“Snakes!”
 Bi Fan was extremely afraid of snakes, he had spent ten long
years at Quinyang Door, so naturally, he had heard an awful lot
about the Wan Snake Cave.

Wan Snake Cave was the Qingyang Mountain’s most frightful

location, just the thought of it made people tremble with fear.

So being inside the cave made him feel very uneasy, he had
been on the edge the entire time.

Bi Fan ran up some steps and realized the path ahead of him
was covered with numerous snakes, big and small, so many,
that counting their number wasn’t possible.

“AAH!” Bi Fan was so scared that he almost lost his balance,

he continued to breathe heavily as he tried to calm himself
down.

Bi Fan was not willing to give up, but he was full of

resentment.

“ARGHH!” Bi Fan roared, “I cannot die, never……”

 Just then, Bi Fan’s eyes flashed a dark gas, and it violently
surged out of his body.

Those vipers rustled, almost as if they were afraid of Bi Fan,

they started crawling away from him.

Bi Fan was completely puzzled by this incident, he had no idea

how it happened.

He didn’t think much into it, getting out of the cave was his
top concern right now.

Since the encounter with snakes, Bi Fan accelerated his work,

he kept digging, tirelessly.

Finally, after two hours, Bi Fan got the first glimpse of

daylight, he felt very relieved.

Soon, Bi Fan reached the end of the channel, he looked down

at the path as he stood at the edge of cliff, he felt like cursing.
 After much difficulty, he had finally managed to climb on top.
Now, he was presented with another challenge.

The path that connected the cave to the exit, was around ten
meters long, extremely smooth and glossy. On top of that, it was
studded with snakes, snakes that weren’t moving away upon
seeing Bi Fan.

Instead of complaining, Bi Fan started to think, he need to

figure out a way.

He was on top of the cliff, below him was a bottomless abyss,

on top of that, numerous snakes stood in his path, taking one
wrong step could mean the end of his existence.

Bi Fan stood there for a long time and observed, but he

couldn’t come up with a fool proof method, the only way out,
was to take the risk.

Even though he had managed to come up the passage, he

wasn’t ready to make such a bold move.

After a few hours of crossing the channel, Bi Fan had realized

that his strength and endurance had been greatly enhanced, and
his body had become a lot sturdier.

Bi Fan did not know that the yin yang lotus was the reason
that his injuries were healed, he thought it was because of the
Wannian Spirit Milk that his body had undergone this
phenomenal alteration.

He thought to himself, with his new found strength, and the

additional safety of Xue Ren, crossing this hurdle might only
require a fraction of his ability.

He continued to rest for a while, once he regained his

strength, he began to climb.

He applied the same technique, he cut out a portion of the

wall, using it as leverage to place his hand. Step by step he
started his ascend.

Because this wall was a lot steeper than the channel, the
difficulty of climbing it, was at least 10 times greater.

By the time Bi Fan had climbed half of the wall, he felt

exhausted, his clothes were drenched in sweat.

His teeth were gnashed together to prevent him from

screaming in pain as he continued to struggle, sweat streamed
into his eyes and mouth, but he continued forward, ignoring it
all. His hands and fingers were bleeding, but Bi Fan was too
busy to bother himself over it.

“Hoof!” he gasped as he finally exited the cave. He screamed

and cheered even though he did not have any energy left in him.

“AARGHHH!!!” he roared for a while, venting out all his

agitation and anger.

After all, there was no one living on this side of the hill, so he
wasn’t bothered about disturbing anyone.

Before he had time to rest, the thought of the Wannian Spirit

Milk came into his head, Bi Fan had kept it in the bottle gourd
which was tied to his waist.

Bi Fan had forgotten that his hands were bleeding, some of his
blood dripped onto the bottle gourd.
 The purple bottle gourd shone with a purple light, due to Bi
Fan’s blood, it was actually trying to identify its master’s blood.

“This is also a magical utensil!” Bi Fan cried out in excitement.

Like Xue Ren, the bottle gourd also connected to his mind and
gave him some information about itself.

The bottle gourd was named Babao (eight treasures), it had

been in the possession of Buddhist immortals for generations,
its function wasn’t just to carry treasures, but wine as well. It
had fourteen different sections inside it, each to hold a different
kind of wine.

In addition to this, the bottle gourd also told Bi Fan how to

operate it, how to add contents to it and how to take them out.
It also gave him a picture as to how he could store items inside
the gourd.

Bi Fan realized the he can refine and store sacrifice in it and

they could later be used to boost his body at a time of need.
 To successfully refine a sacrifice, he would need the complete
knowledge of the bottles gourd’s interiors. It contained sixty
four sections in total, ten of which were meant to carry wine
and an additional four if the wine lovers made it overflow.

Furthermore, there was also a small space inside it where the

Wannian Spirit Milk could be stored.

Babao also taught him the various ways to manipulate itself,

Bi Fan realized that he could easily store large pools of water
inside Babao in a flash without any trouble, using just his mind.

He had been playing around with Babao for a while, but then
he realized that he had been standing right next to the cave, so
he quickly moved away.

He went to the forest where he decided to stop and rest.

Inside the Wan Snake Cave, he had found three treasures, two
of which were definitely magical in nature. So now he wanted to
know about the ring’s origin.

After experiencing Babao, Bi Fan knew that not all magical

objects require a huge amount of blood to identify their master.

He put Babao aside and dropped a drop of blood onto the

faucet of the ring, the ring instantly absorbed his blood.

Bi Fan now connected to the ring and found out a lot about its
origination.

The Tianyuan ring, was a secret library. Tianyuan house was

one of the ancient factions, and this ring was a source to their
secrets. The treasure of knowledge inside the ring was vast and
endless.

Nevertheless, the Tianyuan ring still had an awful lot space

inside it, and it would continue to increase as the strength of its
master increased.

In addition to this, the Tianyuan ring had several other

functions, but Bi Fan was not strong enough access them for the
time being.

After linking to the three objects, Bi Fan’s excitement had died

down.
 So he began to think about the next step.

He really wanted to leave the Quinyang Mountains, but at

present he knew he wasn’t strong enough.

If he stayed here, he could not reveal his identity to anyone,

not that people would believe him anyway. In just a few days, he
had gained 20 centimeters in height, and his body had become a
lot sturdier. Even his face structure had changed, his face was
no longer sleek and slim but a lot more resolute, furthermore,
his skin had become many shades fairer.

Even Bi Fan couldn’t recognize himself, let alone others.

Just then Bi Fan heard the sound of danger nearby, a frail

shout; it appeared like a woman was in the middle of a combat.

Bi Fan decided to take a closer look, he cautiously moved

closer to the sound.

Through the under bush, Bi Fan saw a woman dressed in pure

white clothes, her hair were as white as snow, fighting with
three large bears.

Bi Fan’s line of sight was being blocked by a large bear, but he

could see that the woman had an elegant body , her posture, the
way she attacked and retreated was extremely graceful, it
almost appeared as if she was dancing. She was definitely an
expert.

Bi Fan was not able to see her clearly, but her figure
transcended anything he had ever seen.

Hiding in the bushes, his eyes continuously and

unceremoniously gazed at the woman, her waist, her hips. He
remained there, mesmerized.
 Chapter 5 – The Woman Turns

The woman in white was holding a sword, her agility reflected

her smartness, and her movements were subtle.

Defeating a bear would require a formidable amount of

strength, even if a bear managed to wrap a single paw around a
man, he could instantly crush all the bones.

The woman in white seemed afraid to let the bear close, as the
bear’s skin, was as hard as iron. She hit the bear with her sword,
the bear backed away momentarily, but not even a single fur on
its body was scathed.

As Bi Fan attentively watched, the sword in the woman’s hand

flickered, he was astonished when he realized that the sword
was double-edged, he knew that this woman was about as strong
as any in this territory.

He wondered how extraordinary this bear must be, that even

a double-edged sword can’t hurt it. He stared at the rough skin
that covered its flesh.
 “Xiaofeng, come back, there is nothing you can do about such
a large bear” a melodious, and extremely sweet voice called.

The sound of another person surprised Bi Fan, he hadn’t

realized that there was another person in the vicinity.

The woman in white withdrew; she took a few side steps to

ensure that she stayed away from the bears.

“Miss, this bear’s skin is too thick, I wish I had a magic

weapon, I could have dealt with it then.”

“You, kid, you have peeped enough, now come out of there”
the woman who had spoken earlier, spoke again, clearly
directing her words towards Bi Fan.

Bi Fan smoothed out his clothes to make sure that he was

dressed properly, and then he walked out of the bush.

As he came near, he saw the two women standing side by side,

two tall girls, their posture reflected their pride, by the looks of
it, he guessed their age to be around sixteen or seventeen.
 The one who had been dueling with the bears was still holding
the sword.

The girl’s eyebrows were pale, she had a small nose, a long
mouth and her skin was as white as snow. Her eyes were fixed at
Bi Fan, still on guard, anxiously, which made Bi Fan nervous.

The other girl comparatively, was maybe ten centimeters

taller, she had big eyes and willow-colored eyebrows, an oval
face, a cherry like nose, color as white as snow and tender lips.

She issued qualities that were very rare, like a flower in snow,
qualities that seemed unworldly.

Bi Fan had no idea what she was thinking; the look on her face
had not changed.

Bi Fan had never seen such beautiful woman around here

before, he was ecstatic.

“What are you doing out here in the wild, you could get
killed” the woman who had been fighting the bears yelled. The
other girl open her mouth to say something but kept it to
herself.

“Ladies, my intention was not to peep, I just happened to be

passing by, so when I heard the sound of fighting, I came closer
to take a look. I didn’t mean to offend you, please forgive me” Bi
Fan quickly said.

The two tall girls’ eyes were fixed at Bi Fan as if they were
trying to see through him.

“Are you from Quinyang? Why are you here in the

mountains?”

Bi Fan hesitated; he did not know how to explain things.

“Miss has asked you a question, answer her question

immediately!” the girl still hold her sword looked at him
ferociously.

Bi Fan decided to truthfully narrate his story: “I work at the

medicine garden for boys, because I was unable to finish my
task, the manager, Zhu San knocked me into coma, when I woke
up, I found myself here in the mountains.”

He made no mention of the Wan Snake Cave.

The girl still staring at Bi Fan asked: “you would dare to lie?”

“No, please try to see the truth miss!”

“Your eyes are clear, so I doubt if you’re lying, once we return,

we will enquire into this matter, and you seem to know the ins
and outs of this area as well.” The woman reasoned, and then
asked: ”What is your name?”

“My name is Bi Fan.”

“You will accompany us to Quinyang door, if you speak the

truth then later you can come with us to Yunufeng and help me
take care of the medicine orchards there.”

Hearing the name of Yunufeng alarmed Bi Fan.

 Yunufeng is the overlord of Quinyang Door, and is considered
to be the best place to learn martial arts in this region, its
master was Yan Yu Si. It was forbidden to enter the mountains
without Yan Yu Si’s permission.

Bi Fan concluded that the woman in front of him must be Yan

Yu Si.

Yunufeng was not only known across the country for its
beautiful landscapes but was also worshipped for its nine
talented martial art schools. One of which was the Xuannu
palace door(school).

Bi Fan thought that running into Yan Yu Si could be his

ultimate achievement.

“Miss, you really want to take him to Yunufeng?” the girl

named Xiaofeng asked with some urgency, as she wasn’t at ease
when it came to Bi Fan.

Yan Yu Si said: “Xiaofeng, upon our return, you will

investigate Bi Fan’s situation, but in secrecy”.
 “Yes! Miss.”

Bi Fan finally relaxed, and shifted his attention from Yan Yu

Si to the mountain ahead. If he could reach Yunufeng, then, in
the future he need not worry about his identity.

As far as Zhu San and the other boys were concerned, Bi Fan
had no intention of letting them get away. Sooner or later, they
would have to pay for what they did to him.

“Let’s head back to Yunufeng.”

Yan Yu Si was awfully fast on her feet, Bi Fan was running as

fast he could but was still only barely able to match her pace.

Bi Fan knew that the difference in his strength and that of the
two women, was far too great.

Yan Yu Si slowly kept increasing the speed and nodded with

satisfaction to see that Bi Fan was able to keep up somehow.

Yan Yu Si followed Bi Fan’s movements closely, from time to

time she would look at him from head to toe, she knew he
wasn’t ordinary at all, but was unaware of it himself.

She told Bi Fan to stay inside Yunufeng at all times as it will be

easier to find him later on.

The Quinyang Mountains did not have just one peak, it was a
collection of several peaks. One such peak was the headquarters
of Quinyang Door.

Yunufeng was at a height of fifteen hundred meters, its

greenery was the shade of jade, decorated with groupings of
beautiful fragrant flowers.

They followed the snaking trail to the hilltop very quickly and
finally reached Yunufeng.

The Yunufeng summit, only had a few bamboo sheds and a

few girls, who were sitting around a set of small tables and
giggling.

Upon seeing Yan Yu Si return, the girls got up and greeted her
“Miss is safe and sound.”
 “Please continue” waved Xiaofeng.

Several of the girls dispersed in confusion, occasionally gazing

and sizing up Bi Fan.

No man had ever stepped into Yunufeng, Bi Fan was the first.

Yan Yu Si after returning to Yunufeng had gone inside a

bamboo shed and closed the door. She didn’t come out after
that.

“Bi Fan, find yourself a suitable piece of land and build a

bamboo shed. Remember, don’t already consider yourself a
citizen of Yunufeng, if I find out that you lied, I will throw you
down the hill.”

“Yes!” without saying much, Bi Fan started to look for a

suitable piece of land.

If he did not build a shed quickly, then he would have to sleep

out in the open. At night, a lot of dew settled on to the Quinyang
Mountains, furthermore the wind got much colder; sleeping out
in the open was no joke.

Bi Fan quickly found a piece of land, land suitable for building

a shed. He found a place at some distance from that of Yan Yu
Si’s so he could stay away from trouble.

Yunufeng only had girls, so they might all possibly avoid Bi

Fan.

Bi Fan was awfully conscious of his status, he couldn’t even

dream of comparing himself to Yan Yu Si, but to even compare
himself with Xiaofeng, a mere slave girl was of no use, for she
too was an awful lot stronger than him.

Bi Fan had no noble merits, at least none that he was aware of.

Moreover, Bi Fan was now capable of practicing martial arts,

with the hope of cultivating in the future. It was important for
him to do so now, so he could at least reach the status of some of
those girls.

Yunufeng had a lot of bamboo; Bi Fan, using the resources at

hand and was able to finish building his shelter before nightfall.
He had set up a humble bamboo shed, he finally had a place to
take shelter.

Bi Fan was very satisfied with his shed; it was a lot better than
the one he occupied in Quinyang Door. Moreover, now he
wouldn’t have to worry about getting bullied at night.

Bi Fan slept soundly that night, he even dreamt. He dreamt of

practicing his way to become a peerless master, and he dreamt
of marrying Yan Yu Si.
 Chapter 6 – Longevity Burst

Bi Fan was accustomed to getting up early in the morning, so

he got up early and continued to build his bamboo shed.

He figure that in the future, when he leaves the Yunufeng, the

long term inhabitants of this place would benefit from it.

He however, was unaware of the fact that Xiaofeng had

already done her inquiry and indeed, had found out that Zhu
San had beaten him unconscious and thrown him behind the
mountain.

Xiaofeng had used her sources to find out that Zhu San along
with the other boys at the orchard had beaten Bi Fan up, and
carried him behind the mountain to get rid of him.

However, Bi fan’s cover was circled around a lie. But Bi Fan

was confident that even if someone found out that he was
thrown into the Wan Snake Cave, he would somehow be able to
explain himself.

“Xiaofeng, you will help Bi Fan settle down, if I’m not around
for any length of time, you will pay special attention to him, in
addition to your existing responsibility of taking care of
Quinyang Door. You will also teach him Wan Zu fist (boxing)
technique, and keep in mind his whereabouts, and later you will
be responsible for teaching him the successive techniques. ” Yan
Yu Si had decided, after finding out that Bi Fan had been
truthful.

Wan Zu fist might sound very domineering, but it was only

considered an introductory technique, and was no secret either
in Tian Yu world, as it had been circulated for generations
around the world.

Since Wan Zu fist had spread so much, naturally ever place

had its own unique style of doing it.

Wan Zu fist, is used to increase the strength of a martial artist

in order to make their bodies suitable for further training.

Bi Fan was working with a lot of energy and his shed looked a
lot better.

Soon enough Xiaofeng came to Bi Fan and told him, : “As long
as you stay in Yunufeng, you will be required to take special care
of the medicine orchard, if you ever need anything, you can
come to me.”

“Yes! Yes!…..” Bi Fan nodded, humbly.

Xiaofeng was very satisfied to see Bi Fan’s obedience.

“I will go and take a look at the medicine orchard, and take I

will extra care of any special herbs or potions.”

Yunufeng had a large medicine orchard, it had various herbs,

and hundreds of species, of these, at least a dozen or so were
extremely valuable.

Bi Fan was given a large amount of work, but he didn’t

hesitate. Compared to his past, this was going to be an easy task,
and on top of that, he was only required to look after the
Panacea(Legendary magic potions).

Xiaofeng gave Bi Fan some reading material on Wan Zu fist

and permitted him to leave so he could practice.
 Xiaofeng, whose full name was Yu Xiaofeng, tended to Yan Yu
Si, as her personal maid.

Incapable of going to Xuannu palace to practice with Yan Yu

Si, she always stayed in the mountains and looked after
Yunufeng on Yan Yu Si’s behalf.

To call Xiaofeng a servant would be inappropriate; she was

very powerful and quite popular with others.

After he was handed the Wan Zu fist technique’s book, he got

very excited and returned to his residence.

Ever since he was a child, he had always dreamed of practicing

martial arts.

But his physique was poor, he was not able to practice, and
even if he was able to practice, he would have never been able to
learn secret martial art techniques.

But now, his physique had changed, he was strong and

healthy, he was able to practice and learning secret martial art
techniques could be possible in the future. He had a run of good
luck in the darkest of moments.

Bi Fan could barely contain his excitement; he opened the

Wan Zu fist technique book and began reading.

In the past, in order to take care of herbs and Panacea, he had

learnt a lot about them from ancient texts, and now they were
finally going to come in handy.

Wan Zu fist technique was actually quite simple; it consisted

of a total of twelve strokes, which were designed to work
different parts of the body to enhance strength.

In the Wan Zu fist book that had been given to him, pictures
were illustrated above and their explanations were given below,
making it very easy for him to understand.

After Bi Fan had carefully gone through the text several times,
he finally began his first practice.

Long fist….splits….legs sweep…crane wings….

 Bi Fan was very serious, and one by one, he started polishing
his technique and style.

After a day’s labor, Bi Fan had already managed to form a drill

for Wan Zu fist.

Unaware of his progress, he still felt very relaxed, but his

strength had increased beyond his knowledge.

Bi Fan did not know how strong a force he could muster, but
he reckoned that he might have surpassed the two hundred jin
mark.

Strong body, that had always been Bi Fan’s dream,

unconsciously was now turning into a reality, Bi Fan still
couldn’t believe that he was living his dream.

Practice. Practice and then some more practice…..

Bi Fan was so excited, that he forgot about food and sleep, he

kept practicing till late at night.
 Bi Fan knew that he wasn’t strong enough to go up against
Zhu San yet, he was aware that it’s too soon to take his revenge.

But Bi Fan was very stubborn, right down to his bones, he

wanted to increase his strength as soon as possible, so he could
take finally take his revenge.

The next morning, a servant arrived at his shed to deliver

food, Bi Fan had just finished practicing.

The communal food in Yunufeng was pretty good, which was

a huge plus as he wouldn’t have to cook with his own hands,
giving him more time to practice.

After breakfast, he went to the medicine orchard; today was

his first day as the in charge of the medicine orchard. He
decided that the situation of the nursery should be clearly set in
his mind; it would come in handy if a problem arose in the
future.

Bi Fan didn’t want to stay in Yunufeng for long. He was aware

that if other workers starting asking questions about his past,
then it might not be possible for him to survive in Yunufeng.
 Medicine orchard had a lot of Panacea inside it, Bi Fan
observed them very carefully, and he examined each and every
plant.

Pruning, weeding, fertilizing, transplanting……

Bi Fan knew this all too well, he was able to do these tasks
with great skill and efficiency.

He spent the entire day inside the medicine orchard, even

though he had put in a hard day’s work, Bi Fan was still in a
very good mood.

Xiaofeng was still looking after Bi Fan, every day she came to
deliver his meals, regardless of whether Bi Fan went to work or
not, this left Bi Fan with a lot of time to practice.

Once Bi Fan had familiarized himself with the work, he was

able to finish the work that had been assigned to him in just a
few hours and he could allocate the rest of the day to himself.

Bi Fan was trying to enhance his strength as soon as possible,

he didn’t waste any time resting, and his focus was on his
practice.

Perhaps the Wannian Spirit Milk had also made him very
energetic, because sometimes he would practice till late night
and still wouldn’t feel tired.

Furthermore, his power was increasing rapidly, and along

with that his speed.

Every day he could feel his strength improving, Bi Fan was

extremely excited, that goes without saying.

Not only that, every day Bi Fan’s body was becoming sturdier,
the fragile old Bi Fan ceased to exist.

As time flew, Bi Fan had now been in Yunufeng for a month

now. Yan Yu Si had left Yunufeng a few days ago, but before
leaving she had advised Bi Fan to prepare for the entrance
exams of the martial art schools.

At that time, Bi Fan had thought that his ears were not
functioning properly; he thought he had misheard her.
 Yan Yu Si could see the greatness in him, in less than a month
his power had reached 800 jin, he was already strong enough to
store energy and wasn’t far from being considered in the
‘martial strength’ bracket.

There was a time when Bi Fan was considered an absolute

waste, he was incapable of practicing, his strength was lesser
than that of an average person.

Before leaving, Yan Yu Si had personally given Bi Fan a secret

message — longevity burst.

In Quinyang, longevity burst was considered an introductory

technique to store energy inside one’s body. If done correctly, it
could greatly increase a person’s internal energy; this was a sign
that a person was a disciple of martial arts.

Although it was only an introductory technique, Bi Fan knew

that the boys at Quinyang Door will never be able to learn it.
Even Zhu San would not be able to learn the secret technique of
longevity burst.

Yan Yu Si had given Bi Fan this information with an ice cold

look. Bi Fan however, had seen this in a completely different
light, he was overwhelmed with emotions.

After breakfast Bi Fan really wanted to go out and practice, he

really wanted to get back at Zhu San for those insults.

Unfortunately, Bi Fan was asked to wait until he reached the

‘martial strength’ mark, for the time being, he was asked to
concentrate on Wan Zu fist technique only.
 Chapter 7 – He Announces His Return

As soon as he got back to his residence, Bi Fan started

practicing.

He didn’t care if he was being considered a genius or

something; he just considered diligence to be a crucial thing.

Cultivation was a tough road, like rowing a boat against the

current, if you stop, you move backwards.

This had been Yan Yu Si’s sincere advice to Bi Fan; she hoped
that it would take him to great heights in the future.

He would practice Wan Zu fist during the day and during the
night he would mull over the ancient methods of blood devils.

The ancient technique of blood devil included inner breath; a

person would have to hammer their body into shape in order to
refine strength. This technique was all one needed.

It was said that using blood devil technique, a practitioner

could possess a person by simple knowing their name. The
practitioner could then make the said person, obey any
command; this allowed practitioners to quickly kill their
targets.

Bi Fan knew from Quinyang Door that the blood devil

technique was not known to many people and was also a
forbidden technique. So naturally, no tried to execute it.

Even though Bi Fan would soon be capable of practicing, he

was determined to find out what the blood devil technique was
capable of doing, although it would be a shame if he was caught.

So he decided to study for some time and see for himself, if it

was possible to practice it.

After several nights of research, Bi Fan discovered that he

would be able to practice several techniques of ancient blood
devil, as long as people are unable to judge by his inner breath,
so he decided to try it out.

Bi Fan found that ancient blood devil technique included

several things such as poison, overcast, immense power ups,
which later on could be used in a life threatening situations.
 So eventually Bi Fan decided to learn the ancient blood devil
technique, he would schedule those practices in the middle of
the night to avoid being seen.

Bi Fan was convinced that there was nothing like the devil’s
path, it was all about strength for him.

He hadn’t been brainwashed by anyone to follow the devil’s

path, he just wanted to be able to protect himself.

Bi Fan thought that as long as he doesn’t reveal it to anyone, it

was highly unlikely that he would be caught.

Ancient blood devil technique was indeed extraordinary. Bi

Fan had only started refining his body and strength, which was
only the first step; he was capable of doing Wan Zu fist a lot
faster now.

Once he had tasted the sweetness, he could not give up on the

ancient blood devil technique.
 Ten days passed in the blink of an eye, Bi Fan’s power was
increasing rapidly, his Wan Zu fist power had reached over nine
hundred and ninety jin, he was only a whisker away from
‘martial strength’ status.

But he felt stagnated, he couldn’t get a breakthrough no

matter how hard he practiced, he was unable to increase his
strength even temporarily.

Hence, Bi Fan decided to explore alternate ancient blood devil

techniques to increase his power.

Inability to expose his inner breadth was causing a hindrance

to his practice of the ancient blood devil technique.

Moreover, practicing a technique without taking its

advantages could assist the enemy.

Ordinary practitioners had no interest in inner breadth; they

only learnt martial arts to refine their body and exercise.

Today, Bi fan had just finished looking after the Panacea in

the medicine orchard and returned to his residence only to find
Xiaofeng standing outside, dressed in white. She looked very
beautiful.

Xiaofeng, for her age, looked distinctly mature, her good

looks, specially her proud chest invited glances from fantasizing
men.

Although Bi Fan still looked young for his age. A few people
were looking at them.

“Xiaofeng, what can I do for you?” Bi Fan greeted her.

Xiaofeng was surprised to see the change in Bi Fan, but she

was aware of the people glancing at them: “Bi Fan, have you
finished your work for the day?”

“Yes I have completed my work for the day.”

“Then, can you do me a favor and go away from the mountain

for a few days for collectingand delivering supplies? Yunufeng is
responsible for delivering supplies to your old friends in case of
sickness, but since Yunufeng only has women, I don’t have an
option but to ask you for help. ”
 Xiaofeng was speaking naturally without any trace of doubt.

“Sure, no problem.” Bi Fan instantly agreed.

Bi Fan was all too familiar with the location where supplies
were given, the White Plains. There were many houses around
the White Plains, mostly occupied by slaves, these people mostly
did the odd-jobs, a lot of boys from the orchard also lived
around the White Plains.

Bi Fan was supposed to go and examine the situation of his

‘old acquaintances’, he could not help but think about the
orchard’s steward, Zhu San and his colleague, Daniu, two of his
biggest bullies.

They had left a very deep mark on Bi Fan, one that he will
never be able to forget.

Xiaofeng, casually looking at Bi Fan, said: “Bi Fan, kindly also

take some clothes for yourself, you have a big body, so you will
require a bigger size of clothing.”
 To Xiaofeng, it may have been just a casual remark, but it
warmed Bi Fan’s heart, this was the first time anyone had
spared a thought for him.

“Thank you, Xiaofeng.”

This was the first time that he was leaving the Yunufeng in
almost half a month.

Even though the journey down the mountain was bumpy, Bi

Fan’s spirit soared.

“Daniu, Zhu San, you two dogs, just you wait, I have suffered
enough because of you two, now it’s time for payback.”

His heart cried for revenge as he walked down the mountain.

White plain is the outermost part of the Quinyang Mountains,

a variety of materials were brought in from the outside and
stored there.

It was a very busy area, always bustling with noise; the

personnel in charge received a constant stream of supplies.

After arriving at the plain, there was no hurry to get supplies.

As he strolled around, Bi Fan decided to visit the medicine

orchard.

Going back to the place where he had spent over a decade of

his life, he felt a sad sensation.

This place was a sad memory for him, he didn’t want to ever
return, and he wasn’t even willing to consider it.

But there could be some people who might miss him; he had
to pay a visit.

Out of those two bullies, Daniu was the one whose behavior Bi
Fan could never forget.

So, Bi Fan decided to see his ‘old friends’, and announce his
return.
 Daniu’s body was strong as an Ox, even though he didn’t
practice; he still had a strong body.

Daniu would often beat Bi Fan up, so he would help him in

taking care of his tasks.

When he reached the orchard, the boys were having their

meal; Bi Fan quickly scanned the place for Daniu, and found
him feasting on his food.

“Daniu, I’m back!” Bi Fan shouted.

Daniu raised his head, and his eyes opened as wide as that of
an Ox, looked at Bi Fan, but completely failed to recognize him.

“Who are you boy? Can’t you see that I’m eating my meal, you
dared to annoy me, I will kick your life out of you!”

Daniu didn’t like to disturbed when he was eating, it made

him very, very angry.
 “It’s Bi Fan, you recognize me, right?” Bi Fan smiled.

Daniu muttered “I don’t recall anyone by that name, are you

deliberately trying to pick a fight?”

Daniu, along with all the other boys were so accustomed to

calling him ‘Idiot’, that they had completely forgotten his real
name.

“Ah yes, well, you don’t even remember me, I’m the guy you
used to bully and call ‘Idiot’, you haven’t forgotten that, have
you?”

“No, how can you be ‘him’, you look nothing like him, but…
Idiot is dead.” Daniu shook his head.

Bi Fan said: “Daniu, do you remember that day two years ago,
you broke my hand, just to test your strength and….”

He wanted to recite a few more incidents from his miserable

past; things that even a lifetime wouldn’t be enough, for him to
forget.
 “It’s you, Idiot!” Daniu’s mouth fell open in shock; he stared
at Bi Fan as he was look at a ghost.
 Chapter 8 – Greedy

Bi Fan slowly came close to Daniu; Daniu was very frightened

and tried to stay back.

Daniu still couldn’t believe that people could actually return

after being thrown into the Wan Snake Cave and Bi Fan also
looked as if he had undergone several changes.

Bi Fan walked closer and said: “Daniu, you threw me into the
Wan Snake Cave; you never thought that I would be able to
come out of it. I was afraid and helpless, so I secretly vowed,
that if I ever survive, I would get back at you, and make you
suffer a hundred thousand times more than you made me
suffer.”

“Now, finally I have managed to return, so today you will

suffer the first installment of your penance.”

Bi Fan was frowning, and his eyes had fire in them.

Daniu could not retreat, he couldn’t move, as immense fear

crippled him, all he could do was murmur: “Don’t punish me, it
wasn’t me…… it wasn’t me…… Zhu San ordered us to make
things difficult for you….”

Daniu’s pupils were dilated, his mouth wide open, he was

frightened.

Bi Fan didn’t pay any regard to mercy; he walked directed

towards Daniu, and pulled his arm.

“You pulled off my arm once; today I’ll break your limbs, so
that you can sense the taste of disability.”

Bi Fan with all his agility, skill and technique, pulled at the
Daniu’s limbs and dislocated them, one by one. He broke all but
a few joints.

Daniu couldn’t scream as he fainted with the pain.

Bi Fan used the ancient Blood Devil technique, this technique

could be used to break the wrong bones and tendons of the
enemy as a means to torture them; in addition, it could also be
used to control the enemy.
 Bi Fan was able to fully utilize his skill for the first time, and
backed with near ‘martial strength’, the results were amazing.
Bi Fan was very satisfied.

He wasn’t done yet; Bi Fan splashed a bucket of water over

Daniu, and woke him up.

“AH!……” Daniu woke, and immediately screamed out in

pain.

Bi Fan picked up some dirt from the ground and stuffed it into
Daniu’s mouth, so he couldn’t say anything.

Bi Fan had woken Daniu up, so that he could enjoy the taste of
pain, as it grew stronger and stronger.

“Daniu, I’m not done with you yet, I’ll be back for you, you
cannot die; I will not let you die. And you tell Zhu San, I will
come to see him soon.” Bi Fan said with a smile on his face.

Bi Fan strode away, he could taste his revenge in Daniu’s

muffled screams; he felt good.
 Time was running out, so Bi Fan decided to go and pick up the
supplies.

“Every half a year, there is a contest for practitioners who

aren’t enrolled into martial art schools. If you win the contest,
you become a disciple of the secret martial arts at Quinyang, and
you can then learn from the masters and practice the sacred
teachings, I also heard that the top ten also get Dan as a
reward.”

“Unfortunately, I’m three years too old to participate, but you

are just the right age. Grab this opportunity and fight in the
tournament.”

“We are trying to practice, let’s hope for the best results.”

In six months, the Quinyang schools of martial arts will

conduct their annual martial arts contest to sort and select the
best martial artists from outside the schools, only the good
fighters participate, and only the extraordinary ones are taken
in as secret disciples and are trained in martial arts.

Under normal circumstances it is vital to practice the inner

breath technique to become a disciple of the secret arts and
sometimes one can also get in if they lose but manage to
impress.

Outside practitioners, to put in bluntly are usually servants

and slaves; fatigued, they are usually not capable of achieving
the position.

These people keep arguing about becoming disciples of the

secret arts.

But once you become a disciple of the secret arts, you can
practice the sacred teachings; your power and status see an
enormous rise.

Moreover, once someone becomes a disciple of the secret arts,

they receive Dan on a monthly basis which helps them achieve a
stable physical state and growth.

Even though some practitioners like Zhu San behave

aggressively, if they want to be accepted as a disciple, they
would have to conduct themselves with high integrity.
 Bi Fan couldn’t help as his heart raced at the thought.
Moreover, six months was enough time for him to achieve the
‘martial strength’ status.

If Bi Fan could reach the ‘martial strength’ status, it would

increase his chances of getting a pretty good rank; he could
easily win some Dan and might even be accepted as a disciple.

Bi Fan quickly collected the supplies, two large bags.

Earlier, Bi Fan had seemed a little anxious, but now he was

very relaxed, he could carry the bags with great ease.

Yunufeng was at a towering height, Bi Fan was able to

mountaineer to the top with two large and heavy bags, this was
an indication that Bi Fan was within the reach of “martial
strength’, as most people would not be able to do the task.

Night had already fallen, by the time he completed the task.

Once he returned, he washed himself and began his

homework.
 “Bi Fan, you are progressing really fast, even with two large
bags, you were able to return to the mountain before nightfall.”
Xiaofeng told him in a surprised tone.

This she had said intentionally to encourage him as she

realized that he might be close to ‘martial strength’.

Since Yan Yu Si had asked her to take proper care of Bi Fan,

she would naturally not slack in her role, so this behavior was
rather interesting.

Each day, Bi Fan was either doing an important task or taking

care of the herbs, but in recent days, he had noticed that almost
twenty three Panacea had gone missing.

As he checked the soil for marks, he became even more

suspicious “It’s strange, it seems that a small animal comes
during the night, and eats the Panacea.”

That night, even though Bi Fan hadn’t finished his

homework, he stayed behind in the orchard to guard the herbs
and get to the bottom of the situation.
 Bi Fan held his breath, stood there motionless. It was quite
late at night when he finally saw movement.

All he could hear was a ‘rustling’ sound the grass was making,
and then suddenly, a white lightening flashed in the orchard.

Bi Fan with his night vision could see everything, very

distinctly, then suddenly, a small animal like creature appeared
in his view.

The small animal was slightly bigger than the size of a fist,
covered in white from top to bottom but showed no signs of
clothes.

It looked like a ferret, but also resembled a chinchilla in some

ways; it had two beards that resembled the ones that dragons
have.

It had big, cute, clever eyes.

“A Long Diao!” Bi Fan was shocked for a moment, he knew

just enough about them to recognize one.
 Long Diaos are said to have to same blood as dragons, adult
Long Diaos are said to have the ability to fly; they are clever and
like feeding on rich foods mixed with poison. They possess a lot
of poison.

It had a pair of small and exquisite paws, quite adorable but

sharp as a blade.

Bi Fan wanted to catch the Long Diao; Long Diaos should only
be caught straight after their birth, so that they can be tamed.

He was extremely careful as he approached closer, and then

pounced.

Long Diaos can be very quick; in an instant he sensed Bi Fan’s

presence and dashed out of his way.

But the Long Diao didn’t want to leave; he was now at some
distance from Bi Fan. He looked at Bi Fan with his cute, watery
eyes.

Obviously, the Long Diao was hungry and hadn’t had any food
earlier, so he naturally didn’t want to leave.

If Bi Fan moved, the Long Diao moved. If Bi Fan remained

stationary; the Long Diao also did the same.

Just one man against one Long Diao, it was turning into a
stalemate to Bi Fan’s frustration. He would never be able to
catch the Long Diao like this.

Suddenly, Bi Fan’s eyes lit up as an idea struck him. He pulled

out a ginseng from the orchard and threw it at the Long Diao.

The Long Diao didn’t even get scared, but lashed, flying
through the air and caught the ginseng in his mouth.

The Long Diao turned beautifully in the air and landed

steadily on the ground. He didn’t even startle a single grain of
sand.

The little creature still didn’t leave; his front paws were
humane enough to hold the ginseng. He quickly ate it, like he
was eating a giant carrot, making a ‘puchi’ sound.
 After several bites, the Long Diao ate the ginseng clean and
resumed looking at Bi Fan with a helpless look in his eyes.

Bi Fan Scoffed: “You’re really greedy, ah!, little guy.”

He again pulled out a ginseng and threw it towards the Long

Diao. The garden had a lot of ginseng, so even if a few went
missing, no one would notice.

The Long Diao with his elegant figure and movement, quickly
grabbed the ginseng, and with the ginseng dangling in his
hands, quickly left.

Bi Fan couldn’t even react, even in the night sky he couldn’t

even see the white Long Diao, he wanted to chase after the Long
Diao but he was no match for his speed.
 Chapter 9 – The Fierce Duel Under The
Mountain

The next night, Bi Fan stayed back in the orchard, even

though he was in the orchard, he continued to practice and
waited for the Long Diao.

Finally in the middle of the night, the Long Diao appeared, as

he saw Bi Fan standing there, he didn’t scoop out the Panacea
without his permission.

“Creek…” the Long Diao gave Bi Fan a pitiful look, his eyes
looked very cute.

Bi Fan had always been lonely as a child; his peers had always
been ignorant towards him and often bullied him.

Therefore, he really liked the Long Diao and wanted to keep

such a cute creature as a pet.

“Little man, how about you follow me? And every day you can
eat the Panacea.” Bi Fan tried to tempt the Long Diao.
 Long Diao’s eyes looked at Bi Fan, as he jumped up and down,
almost as if he was trying to say ‘I want to eat the herbs, give me
some Panacea.’

Bi Fan shook his head with a smile, pulled out a ginseng and
threw it towards the Long Diao.

The Long Diao caught the ginseng; it was like eating a large
gourmet meal to him.

As soon as he finished the ginseng, the Long Diao moved a

little closer to Bi Fan, his paws kept gesturing for more.

“Here you go.” Bi Fan laughed and threw another ginseng

towards him.

The Long Diao didn’t leave immediately, but he waited till he

had finished his meal.

Since then, every night the Long Diao would come, he would
eat only two ginseng, not more, but always waited for Bi Fan to
toss him the ginseng.
 Ten days down the road, Bi Fan had gotten to know the Long
Diao a bit, its meal times, and he could even touch it now.

Bi Fan found calling him Long Diao to be a boring, so he

named it ‘Greedy’.

After finishing his meal, Long Diao would play around with Bi
Fan for a while and then leave.

Bi Fan was very happy that he had come to close to the Long
Diao.

In time, Bi Fan realized that the Long Diao was exceptionally

clever and even though he couldn’t speak, he was very good at
expressing himself.

One day, Bi Fan was looking after the Panacea in the orchard,
when Xiaofeng came to see him.

“Bi Fan, will you go down the mountain tomorrow to the

town and help us buy some makeup supplies?”
 “No problem Xiaofeng, but who will take care of the orchards
if I’m not here?” Bi Fan reasoned.

Bi Fan had wanted to go down the mountain for a while now,

but he couldn’t; now he finally had that chance.

Xiaofeng stated to Bi Fan: “I will arrange for someone to look

after the orchard in the morning for the duration of your
absence. I’ll allow you to take the Red-Crowned Crane with you;
it will allow you to travel down much faster. Naturally, the
Crane will bring you up upon your return.”

“Well, I’ll be grateful to you” Bi Fan said, unable to control his

excitement.

Xiaofeng left, she gave Bi Fan some silver (currency) before

she left.

After she was gone, Bi Fan started dancing with excitement. It

took him along time to calm down, and then the thought of
Greedy came into his mind.
 If Bi Fan was gone, there would be no one to take care of him,
he felt sorry for the Long Diao.

Later that night, Greedy came again. After Bi Fan fed him, he
said: “Greedy, I’m going down the mountain tomorrow, do you
want to accompany me?”

Greedy stared at Bi Fan, trying to distinguish if what he was

saying was true or not.

“Greedy, I really have to go down for a few days, will you

come with me? You will need some food to eat, so I will bring
some for the road.”

Bi Fan really hoped that the amusing Long Diao would come
along; he really wanted to pet him.

“During my absence, someone else will be looking after the

orchard, so it’s going to be hard for you to eat the herbs, and
you will have to be very careful if you don’t want to get caught.”

Bi Fan was practically trying to bribe the Long Diao into

accompanying him, he was trying to use all sort of measures to
spoil him.

Bi Fan had whined a lot over the last few days, and the Long
Diao had been a great audience. If he had said those things in
front of other people, the atmosphere would have been very
strange.

Finally, the Long Diao stood up and nodded his head.

“Great!” Bi Fan was extremely excited, he hugged the greedy

Diao, and tossed him up in the air, just the way a kid does with
his favorite toy.

Then Bi Fan started to prepare an inventory of food for the

Long Diao. The medicine orchard had so much Panacea that it
wouldn’t matter.

Bi Fan was very selectively picking his food, there were a lot of
different types of herbs, he didn’t want to attract attention by
plucking too many of the same kind.

He had the Tianyuan ring with him, so he wasn’t worried

about storing the Panacea.
 Greedy Diao realized that Bi Fan was preparing his food, so he
gladly jumped onto Bi Fan’s shoulder and kept pointing at his
choices with his paws.

The next morning, Xioafeng sent the Crane to Bi Fan’s

residence, so it could carry him down.

The crane stood over two meters tall and its wide-open wings
spanned almost three meters in width.

The Red-Crowned Crane could rip apart a tiger in terms of

strength; in fact it was as strong as the fourth division of the
fetus Jie, “inner breath’. Furthermore, the crane could be used
to systematically increase a practitioner’s strength.

It was the first time Bi Fan had seen a crane up close, he had
seen other ride crane in the past, and he had been very envious
of them.

He had never expected to be able to ride a crane so fast, he

thanked his wonderful luck.
 After he had been thrown into the Wan Snake Cave and
survived. He had witnessed a major twist in fate; his luck had
been constantly doing him favors.

Bi Fan would have thanked Zhu San if he didn’t hate him so

much. If Zhu San hadn’t knocked him a coma and thrown him
into the Wan Snake Cave then Bi Fan would still be stuck at the
Quinyang orchard, fearing the other boys and would have had
no hope for a future.

Bi Fan was very nervous when the Crane took off. His hands
were tightly clutching the body of the Crane.

The Long Diao had adorably hid himself in the Bi Fan’s arms,
only his head protruded out; he had a curious look on his face.

Flying at high altitudes, Bi Fan felt as if he was travelling the

world like an eagle.

The Crane was pretty fast, and in no time it brought Bi Fan to

the foot of the hill. It landed down for Bi fan to get off and then
flew up again. It quickly disappeared from Bi Fan’s line of sight.
 On the outer side, the Quinyang Mountain is very spacious. It
was wide enough for two carriages to walk side by side, the
material were transported from the outside world to Quinyang
via this route.

The Quinyang town was still ten miles away, so Bi Fan got up
on his feet and started walking.

Bi Fan didn’t have the slightest idea of the outside world, this
was the first time he had ever been able to see it, the plants and
flowers on the outside seemed so beautiful.

Bi Fan hadn’t gone very far when he heard the sound of

fighting coming from the woods nearby.

Bi Fan always curious to see trouble, decided to go and see for

himself.

He softly and quickly moved towards the sounds.

There was a clearing out in the woods; two individuals were

engaged in a duel. They fight was very intense.
 One person was a long double-edges sword while the other
was making use of a double-edged machete (broadsword). Their
swords brilliantly reflected the light from above; it was obvious
from their fighting that the two individuals were very strong,
far stronger than Bi Fan.

Bi Fan held his breath, for he was afraid of being discovered.

Both the fighters were extremely strong, their swords

shimmered, strong winds were sweeping trees aside and dust
was blowing in all directions.

Their weapons were quite extraordinary, they were cutting

through trees like a knife cuts through melons.

“When will I have such enormous strength?” Bi Fan

refreshingly sighed.

Both fighters were in the middle of a decisive duel, they were

going all out. Their strengths were almost at par with each
other and soon they were both injured. But they continued to
fight with no regard for their own safety.
 “They will both die. They are going to kill each other….” Bi
Fan kept repeating softy.

The Long Diao was very smart and kept watching silently, he
didn’t make a single sound.
 Chapter 10 – Longevity Burst In Practice

“Bang!” came a loud noise.

In the middle of the forest, the two fighters had come in

contact again; blood was spilling from their mouths.

The two people, who had been standing firm just a moment
ago, were again pouncing at each other in duel of life and death.

Incessant fighting had tired both the fighters, they had

gradually started becoming instable, and their stamina had
started giving in.

Finally, the two fighters hit each other at the same time, dealt
their blows, bled and fell to the ground.

The fighter with the double-edged sword masterfully pierced

his sword through the other fighter’s stomach leaving his
mouth open, almost as if he wanted to say something couldn’t
and then cut is sword upwards at a devious upwards angle,
killing his opponent.
 The double-edged sword fighter’s shoulder had been split
open by the machete and had hit his blood vessels. Blood was
spraying out his arms.

They both fell to the ground, eyes wide open. They looked like
they were dead but still wouldn’t close their eyes due to some
remaining grievance.

Bi Fan hadn’t gone very close to the fighting as he didn’t want

to be caught sneaking. He didn’t know the identities of two
fighters, nor had he been able to hear their dialogues.

Regardless of their death, Bi Fan knew that the two fighters

might have some valuables, so naturally he wanted to take
them.

In the Wan Snake Cave, Bi fan had found three treasures.

Bottle Gourd, to hold liquid, Tianyuan ring to hold knowledge
and materials. As far as Xue Ren, Bi Fan simply couldn’t use it
for now, even if was able to, he would first have to find an
enemy, after all, it was a magic weapon.

To find two dead fighters in the middle of the forest with their
weapons still on them was nothing short of finding a treasure.

Walking around the country side without any weapons to

defend himself with, was not only impractical but also quite
dangerous.

Bi Fan resolutely walked over to the scene, as his mouth

continuously muttered: “Please don’t haunt me, I will let you
rest in peace.”

He first walked over to the fighter who had the broad sword
stuck in his arm, pulled it out and incorporated it into the
Tianyuan ring, he decided to look at it carefully later.

Bi Fan turned his body over and found nothing but a single
golden pouch hanging by a silk thread.

“Yin yang pouch!” Bi Fan gasped with amazement.

Yin yang pouch wasn’t exactly a treasure but could be very

useful for practitioners.
 Yin yang pouch is a very basic magic utensil but not
something that an average practitioner could procure easily.

Only the core disciple would have a yin yang pouch like this
one.

Bi Fan was overjoyed, he didn’t check what was inside the

pouch and quick incorporated it into the Tianyuan ring.

Plus, the man who had been fighting with the broadsword was
also fairly strong and could have some valuable items of his
own, Bi Fan eagerly walked over to his body.

The Sword stuck in his stomach looked really handy, received!

He bent down to search the dead body.

Suddenly, the man actually sat up, with a fierce look on his
face. In a hoarse voice, he said: “Go to hell!”

The man hit Bi Fan with his palm, vomited some more blood
and then fell down again, this time, completely dead.
 “Bang!” Bi Fan felt as if he had been hit with a hammer, he
flew out and fell down on the ground.

Even though this was only a fraction of the dying man’s

strength, it was enough to mortally injure Bi Fan.

Bi Fan didn’t feel good, he felt like his internal organs were
shifting, then suddenly a lot of blood sprayed out of his mouth.

He lay there, on the ground, unable to move, the pain kept

increasing with every passing second.

“In the future, I will not be so careless, I will sure that the
dead are really dead.” Bi Fan secretly vowed.

Bi Fan didn’t know the secret healing techniques of inner

breath, so it would be difficult to heal his injuries, and natural
healing would take a long time.

“I must fight back; I must try the longevity burst technique.”

Bi Fan decided.
 Here, in the wilderness, danger could surprise you at any
time; Bi Fan needed to finish his task as soon as possible.

Bi Fan had known the technique long enough to know it

thoroughly; he started concentrating his mind and heart, and
started initiating the process.

It goes without saying that to practice ‘inner breath’ one

would have to reach the peak of ‘martial strength’, and Bi Fan
was still about 2000 jin short of that. So Bi Fan was still a long
way out.

In order to restore his injuries, Bi Fan would have to practice

the entire summary of the longevity burst technique.

The hardest part however, would be to draw air into his body.

In order to practice the technique, it was a must to absorb the

aura of the outside body into the practitioner’s body. First step
would be attracting the spiritual influence of the world into the
body, which was very difficult, and had a very low success rate.

Even though he was at the peak of ‘growing strength’, it

would still be very hard to absorb the aura, and his chances of
success were very low.

Bi Fan was very helpless, like a horse who is about to die and
needs medicine, he could only try.

He needed to make the longevity burst work, he started aura

induction.

Only at the peak of ‘martial strength’, a practitioner’s body is

strong enough to sense the aura with ease.

Bi Fan tried to hold his concertation, and to his surprise, he

could clearly sense the aura floating around in the air.

“How can I feel so much of aura?” Bi Fan could not believe

himself.

Even though Bi Fan had drunk a lot of Wannian Spirit Milk,

and his body’s constitution might have changed, the Wannian
Spirit Milk cannot influence a person’s talent.
 Bi Fan stabilized his mind, which was a key factor to practice
the technique, and started absorbing the aura into his body.

“Aura is going inside my body, inside my body!” Bi Fan

hesitated a bit as he started absorbing the aura.

Spiritual influence is like strands, methodically arranged

strands, and they started entering his body.

Once the aura starts enter the body, then it’s easier to go
forward, according to longevity burst technique, the aura
provides a power line to the body, and one needed to let the
aura run through the body for weeks, before letting it travel to
the pubic region for storage.

In order to play of safe, Bi Fan had let the aura run through
his body for thirty six times before he had begun storing it
inside the pubic region.

After Bi Fan had completed the first part, he was both

surprised and delighted.

Surprised, because he could barely believe that it was actually

happening, he was actually succeeding in practicing the
technique.

So Bi Fan continued to perform the technique. If you store a

certain amount of aura, then you heal up quickly.

Bi Fan couldn’t delay himself, he continued to perform

longevity burst tirelessly, and continued to enjoy absorbing the
external aura.

As the aura ran through his body, he felt warm and

comfortable; he almost wanted to say it out aloud.

Had anyone witnessed him performing this feat, Bi Fan would

have gotten into trouble, as people might have thought that he’s
performing some sort of evil technique.

At Bi Fan’s current status (growing strength), practicing the

longevity technique was full of dangers, and the probability of
success was very low.

Bi Fan however, was not able to practice it, but also succeed,
and that too very smoothly.
 Even the geniuses of the Quinyang Mountains were said to
have taken at least ten days to perform the technique
successfully. Whereas, Bi Fan had managed to do it in the first
attempt, so naturally if he tried to tell anyone, no one would
believe him.

In a few hours, Bi Fan had saved enough auras to start the

healing process. So he initiated the healing.

In order to cure the injury, Bi Fan would have to make the

aura reach the core of his body.

Bi Fan started mobilizing the aura inside his pubic region to

keep his organs warm.

With the aid of the aura his injury started recovering at an

enormous pace, and he could feel the pain gradually subside.

After an hour of performing the heal process, Bi Fan had

completely recovered from his injury.
 So Bi Fan stood up and shouted: “You were almost dead, and
still you made me suffer so much pain. You deserve to be eaten
by wild beasts; they should devour your entire corpse.”

First he confirmed that the two fighters were dead, and then
he walked over and searched their bodies, and took their
valuables.

With the yin yang bag stored inside the Tianyuan ring, he
casually dug a pit big enough to bury the fighter and then
quickly left the woods.
 Chapter 11 – Inventory Rewards

Once he was away from the woods, he could not wait to check
the contents of the yin yang pouch, but first he needed to find a
safe and secret spot.

He had two yin yang bags; he couldn’t tell which one would be
more rewarding so he just took one out randomly.

Since the previous owner was dead, refining the yin yang
pouch went very smoothly.

After refining, Bi Fan started looking for items inside the yin
yang bag.

The yin yang bag didn’t have a lot of space, only two cubic
meters in volume, inside it were a few magical tools, more than
ten porcelain bottles, three books, several Panacea and some
refining materials.

Apart from the Panacea, Bi Fan couldn’t distinguish good

from bad items.
 So Bi Fan decided to start with the books, he picked them up,
one was about the origination of the Tian Yu world, the second
was about identifying Panacea and refining Dan (pellets, refined
from various herbs, created to grant physical benefits) and the
third recorded the arts of double-edged sword usage.

The yin yang pouch also contained some gold and silver,
debris, and food. But none of this attracted Bi Fan’s attention.

Bi Fan looked at these books and guessed that they might be

the core of knowledge of the Quinyang door(sect or school)
disciples.

Bi Fan opened the book that spoke about identifying Panacea

and refining Dan, and he started reading it very carefully.

Bi Fan’s memory had never been very efficient, he simply

couldn’t remember the interdependence of Panacea to create
Dan, and it had taken him a long time and several readings of
the same book to memorize things.

But now, Bi Fan found it a lot easier to remember things, in

fact surprisingly, he never forgot what he read.
 It contained information about refining Dan for ‘fetus’ jie and
’emerging from the womb jie’. It contained information about
how one could use magical instruments to help refine Dan for
the use of these two jies. The information was very, very
detailed.

Bi Fan also kept an eye out for stranger as he continued to

read the book for almost three hours, once he felt that he could
identify the Panacea and instruments, he stood up.

Although he wanted to look again, he felt as if the contents of

the book had been printed onto his brain.

Bi Fan extracted those porcelains and began identifying them

to check his knowledge.

He open a vase, as he sniffed it, a light fragrance came out.

Then he poured out a small amount and started examining it
carefully.

“Solid Fu Dan (Dan for internal organs)!” said Bi Fan in

amazement.
 Solid Fu Dan could be used by practitioners at the ‘inner
breath’ stage, it could be used the peak at the peak of ‘inner
breath’ to breakthrough to ‘inner organs’ stage.

Bi Fan counted, a full thirteen dosages of the Solid Fu Dan, he

was surprised at its quantity.

He put the Solid Fu Dan inside the Tianyuan ring.

He opened another vase and started identifying it; it was a

Dan pertaining to the ‘spiritual intelligence’ layer, but
contained only six dosages.

This Dan was custom made for the ‘spiritual intelligence’

layer and could be used by practitioners at the peak of the
seventh layer to breakthrough to the ‘enormous strength’ layer.

Bi Fan was extremely excited and quickly finished identifying

all the Dan.

He now had a variety of pellets in his possession, ‘inner

breath’ Dan, ‘inner organs’ Dan, ‘Spiritual intelligence’ Dan,
nine types of ‘transformation’ Dan, healing Dan, Dan to bathe
essence, and Dan to change his bone structure.

These Dan(or refined pellets) could be used to great effect,

healing all kinds of injuries, and rising through various layers,
but only at the right time. From ‘inner breath’ to ‘inner organs’,
‘inner organs’ to ‘brave’, ‘brave’ to ‘spiritual intelligence’ and so
on, in addition, the nine types of transformations Dan could be
very useful, plus, he also had Dan that could be used to increase
bone strength and Dan to bathe essence.

The healing Dan, Bathing essence Dan, Bone Dan were Dan
dedicated to the ‘rising from the womb’ Jie and were extremely
valuable.

Just finding these three valuable Dans had left Bi Fan very
excited.

With the Dans now incorporated into the Tianyuan ring, Bi

Fan started taking out the instruments and tried to identify
them.

There were five instruments inside the Yin Yang pouch but
only one was magical.
 The magical instrument was a bell shaped object and was
name Devil’s bell. Devil’s bell, once swayed, issued a sound that
could be used to confuse the enemy’s mind.

This bell however, was somewhat in despair, and temporarily

unavailable for use. It still hadn’t come to terms with its
master’s demise.

He incorporated all the items of the Yin Yang pouch into the
Tianyuan ring and started refining the other Yin Yang pouch.

This Yin Yang pouch contained many instruments, nine of

them to be exact. Even though none of them were magical in
nature, they were still very valuable. These were some of the
instruments that all core practitioners must have.

There were several Dan for helping practitioners grow from

one layer to another, the highest Dan available here, was also
bone Dan.

There were three books here as well, one talked about the
origination of world, the second taught ‘dance of mist’, and the
third taught the basics of ‘free burst technique’.

The Dance of mist and free burst were techniques of bygone

eras and were extremely powerful, almost like a wonderland for
practitioners, very precious, and not somethings that
practitioners just accidentally stumbled upon. They were
almost like rumors, very secretive.

If the strong swordsmen in Quinyang door found about the

treasures that Bi Fan had acquired, they would try to take them
from him, by the force of their blades and Bi Fan would die a
very unnecessary and cheap death.

Of course, no one would come to know, he transferred the

item from the Yin Yang pouch into the Tianyuan ring.

As he was extracting the refining material from the pile, he

even found a bronze token; it was as big as a fist and carried the
inscription of ‘mist’ word, in a great artistic manner.

Bi Fan looked at the other objects and threw them inside the
Tianyuan ring.
 Finally, Bi Fan took out the two swords, and started
differentiating them.

The double-edged sword turned out to be a low-grade light-

ray double-edged sword whereas the machete, unexpectedly,
was a magical weapon.

The owner of the light-ray double-edged sword was definitely

a disciple of the Quinyang door, so Bi Fan couldn’t use the
weapon for the fear of being questioned about his acquisition of
the weapon. However, he wasn’t sure about the identity of the
machete’s owner; still he would have to careful while using it.

Moreover, at Bi Fan’s current strength rating, using a magic

weapon would be a complete waste; he didn’t have enough
strength to operate them properly.

Bi Fan had obtained fourteen different tools, which were

suitable for his current position.

They were mostly considered common and ordinary and he

could use them without turning any heads.
 Bi Fan chose the light-ray sword to defend himself, and some
silver colored armored clothing to wear.

The silver colored armor was far too beautiful, so he wore it

on the inside and put the light-ray sword inside the Yin Yang
pouch so he could readily use it against enemies.

Magical tools did not need much refining; one could offer a
sacrifice(usually, the blood of the person, who wishes to use
them) to refine and use them.

After going through the contents of the inventory, Bi Fan was

in a good mood and continued to walk down the mountain road.

As the curtains of the night descended, Bi Fan decided to

hurry up and reach the town as he did not want to spend the
night in the wilderness.

Quinyang town is the area of the mountain where all the

trading form the outside world happens, materials were
consistently being transported around, and it was a very busy
scene.
 Quinyang town had thirteen large and small inns for
travelling exchange peddlers to stay the night in.

Bi Fan casually went looking for an Inn and picked one out,
rented a room and went straight to the dining hall.

At this time, it was the peak dining hour, the hall didn’t even
have any empty tables.

Bi Fan could go somewhere else to have dinner, but it would

be too time consuming.

As glanced around, he found one small table which was

occupied by only one young man, so went over.

“Hello brother, can join you?” Bi Fan asked him courteously.

The young appeared to be only fifteen or sixteen, but look

very cultured and sat in a very elegant manner.

Bi Fan carefully glanced at the young man in order to

determine his strength, even though he couldn’t pin point, he
certainly knew that the young man was fairly strong.

“Please!” the man complied, showing no sign of bother.

Bi Fan didn’t care, he only needed a place to sit and eat his
food. Anyway, he had a lot of things he needed to look at later.
 Chapter 12 – The Friendly Jing Feng

Bi Fan asked for beef first, then a few more dishes and then a
pot of wine.

There was a lot of wine in the bottle gourd but under the
influence of wine, Bi Fan had a habit of raising his cup.

Anyway, the bottle gourd mostly contained spiritual and

medicinal wine, and medicinal wine had a very strong smell, Bi
Fan didn’t want to smell like a complete drunk.

Bi Fan had just started to eat, when the Long Diao popped out
his head from under Bi Fan’s shirt.

“Hey!” Someone from a nearby table exclaimed in surprise:

“look at that, its young Long Diao!”

“Brother, you recognize a Long Diao, well; this one is the

greediest one ever.” Bi Fan said and laughed.

Throughout his life, Bi Fan had never had any friends, even if
someone talked to him; it was usually accompanied by a dull
look.

But right now, it didn’t seem so. So Bi Fan wanted to talk a bit
more with him.

“Creak!” Long Diao jumped onto Bi Fan’s shoulders as he

issued a protest.

“Little Brother, my name is Jing Feng; would you like to sell

your Long Diao to me?” The stranger cordially asked?

Bi Fan shook his head and replied: “Brother Jing Feng, Greedy
is my friends, I would never sell him.”

“Since you do not want to sell, I will not insist. Your build is
pretty good; you must be a disciple at Quinyang door. My
Door(school) is within Quinyang, I’m a disciple of Nei Men
Door, and you can always find me there if you ever need help.”
Jing Feng slapped his back in a friendly gesture.

“My name is Bi Fan; I practice outside the authority of

Quinyang Door.” Bi Fan replied in excitement.
 Jing Feng was the first person who had ever tried to be friends
with him, in fact, no had ever been this friendly with him.

Of course, even though Jing Feng might become his friend, he

still didn’t want to give up the Long Diao.

Selling the Long Diao would fetch him a very good price, as it
was the ideal thing to impress women. Jing Feng didn’t have too
many interests, but he liked chasing after women.

Naturally, Jing Feng had some morals, like he wouldn’t rob

someone else’s woman, he always used the mantra “gentlemen
always opts not wins over”, in fact he didn’t even like fooling
around with other people’s women.

Jing Feng’s attention was directed towards Bi Fan but

occasionally he would glance over at Greedy.

Whereas, Bi Fan was very hungry, so he was busy gobbling up

his food.
 Greedy did not like these things, well, apart from the wine. Bi
Fan gave him a small cup of wine to drink, after drinking it, the
Long Diao started feeling a little dizzy. He kept shaking his head
in a manner that looked very adorable.

To look at the irresistibly cute Long Diao, anyone would start

contemplating means to get their hands on it.

Jing Feng believed that there was nothing in this world that
wasn’t for sale; the price simply had to be enough to fill one’s
heart’s desires.

“Bi Fan, my little brother, you must have something very

important to do here, right?” Jing Feng started to enquire.

Bi Fan replied: “Nah, nothing important, just came to the

town to buy some daily items.”

“Oh? Then you probably have no interest in learning about

the news surrounding Ting Feng valley?” Jing Feng questioned.

Bi Fan didn’t know what the Ting Feng valley was or where it
was located.
 So he listened as Jing Feng explained, Ting Feng valley is a
place where practitioners go to make transactions.

Ting Feng valley was thousands of miles away from Quinyang

Mountains and was the nearest market place to Quinyang,
where martial arts practitioners could go and make sales or
purchases. There were a lot of people there, who could even
repair broken tools; it was very busy all year round.

Bi Fan had heard enough, he really wanted to visit the place,

but then the thought of Yunufeng crossed his mind and he
hesitated.

Jing Feng laughed: “Don’t worry, Bi Fan, I have a few divine

essence seals, so we can travel very quickly.”

“Of course,” Jing Feng took out two divine essence seals and
gave them to Bi Fan: “You need to travel with a companion who
knows how to use them.”

He delightedly received the essence; he was even more

delighted when he realized that he had found a few of them in
the Yin Yang pouch, only he had no idea what they were and
how they could be operated.

Bi Fan could not resist the temptation, and eventually agreed

to accompany Jing Feng to Ting Feng valley.

“Great! It’s going to be a lot of fun, we will leave tomorrow

morning.” Jing Feng said with a pleased look on his face.

Jing Feng’s eyes had been continuously on the Long Diao and
his heart kept wishing for a way to get him away from Bi Fan.

After the meal, Bi Fan decided to take a walk and then

returned to his room.

After returning to his room, he practiced for a while and then

decided to read the three rare books he had acquired earlier.

He started with the book that talked about secret art of using a
double-edged sword, it mostly talked about techniques that only
core disciples could practice, at his current level, and he would
not be able to practice them.
 However, Bi Fan read the book again; he wanted to memorize
it by heart.

‘Dance of mist’ is an agility trade secret, Bi Fan read it again,

but could barely remember, as his underlying concepts weren’t
clear, so he couldn’t comprehend the technique.

However, there were some basic techniques involved in the

‘dance of mist’ that could be used for dodging and shifting
positions. Bi Fan memorized them.

And then, Bi Fan picked up the ‘free burst technique’ book

and started reading it.

Bi Fan was astonished to find that ‘free burst techniques’

comprised of several techniques from ‘inner breath’ and
’spiritual intelligence’. In addition to this, ‘free burst’ could be
practiced as early as the ‘inner breath’ level, but it would be
extremely difficult.

‘Free burst’ had basically been born from ‘inner breath’

techniques, but the variations used, made the techniques deliver
formidable power. However, one needed to be at least as strong
as ‘spiritual intelligence’ to practice them properly.

Bi Fan tried practicing the first technique of the ‘free burst’,

‘the immortal finger’, ‘the immortal finger’ technique was used
to concentrate power on the tip of the finger and then hit the
opponent with a huge impulse, but he couldn’t feel the force
being concentrated.

Having memorized the three books by heart and started

practicing some of the techniques.

He started practicing some of the fundamental footwork

movements of ‘the dance of mist’. Soon he realized that the
footwork involved was very delicate and would require a lot of
practice before it could be used in a fight.

Obviously, it would take a long time to master the

fundamental footwork of ‘the dance of mist’, as it contained
several delicate movements.

Later he tried practicing ‘the immortal finger’ again. Power

needed to be concentrated on to the tip of the finger and then,
could be directed as a burst of force towards the enemy. This
burst could be used to a fatal effect. Moreover, it would be
invisible to the enemy.

However, even at ‘inner breath’, a practitioner would only be

able to harness a small amount of force, one would have to
attain ‘spiritual intelligence’ before this technique would really
demonstrate its purpose.

He practiced until dawn, but unfortunately wasn’t able to

succeed in implementing the ‘the immortal finger’ technique.

Bi Fan groomed himself and walked out of the room, he knew

that Jing Feng would be waiting in the hall downstairs.

He headed downstairs and met a smiling Jing Feng, who

greeted him: “Brother Bi Fan, you haven’t even had breakfast
yet, come on, let’s go and get something to eat, and then we will
leave for our journey.”

His eyes were fixed at the projection that was protruding from
Bi Fan’s chest, as the Long Diao lay inside, sleeping.

They quickly ate their breakfast and then left the inn.
 Jing Feng taught Bi Fan the method to use the divine essence
seals. One had to allow the wind to rush by as they use the
essence.

As soon as he started using the divine essence seal, it felt to

him like his legs were floating through the wind, he had never
experienced such speed.

He followed Jing Feng, as the scenery around them flashed by.

Jing Feng laughed, “So Brother Bi Fan, how does it feel?”

He looked at Jing Feng and poked his back gratefully.

Since last night, Bi Fan had grown fascinated with the ‘the
immortal technique’, he was constantly looking for an excuse to
use his finger. He had been doing a variety of things; pick his
nose, trying to catch flies and so on, especially touching his chin
in search of hair, only he hadn’t grown a beard yet.

Time passed quickly as they raced through their route.

 “Brother Bi Fan, we will have to ease up on the seal, up ahead,
and go slower, through the woods. Otherwise there is a chance
that we might get attacked by someone” Jing Feng said, giving
any further explanations.

Bi Fan stopped immediately, and looked around but didn’t

find anything strange about this place, except, not a single soul
was in sight, it was completely isolated.

Suddenly, it struck him, is Jing Feng trying to dupe me?

Maybe he wants to steal the Long Diao.

And in an instant, Bi Fan become very careful, he was on full

alert.
 Chapter 13 – A Profitable Transaction

Jing Feng said: “Follow me, the valley out here is a maze, do
not get lost.”

Bi Fan followed him very closely, but he wouldn’t dare to

trust him blindly. He knew nothing about Jing Feng’s
background, so naturally, he was worried.

Bi Fan was very careful, after all, he had suffered a lot of

humiliation at the hands of people all his life. It had become
really hard for him to trust people.

Bi Fan closely followed Jing Feng as he took a sharp left and

then several right turns, and then suddenly, he could see their
destination.

All three sides were covered with lofty mountain ranges,

leaving only one path to go in.

Once he entered it, the size of the basin astonished him, there
were several building all around and people were constantly
going in and out. The whole basin was bustling with
excitement.

“Welcome to the Ting Feng valley, if you see anything you

like, you can always tell me, I have some savings” Jing Feng
said.

The practitioners were using spar (crystal stones) as currency;

however, the most precious of items were being bartered.

The two Yin Yang pouches that Bi Fan had acquired earlier,
had some spars in them, but mostly low-grade. He took some
time and counted them. He had one hundred and thirteen spars
and approximately three thousand low-grade spars.

Low-grade spars could be traded for their grade counterparts

in the ratio of hundred to one; similarly, a high grade spar
would fetch a hundred low-grade spars. These were the basics
that revolved around the exchange of the currency, and Bi Fan
was well aware of it.

Ting Feng valley was a very liberal place; no identity

verification was required to enter.
 As soon as he entered the Ting Feng valley, he could hear the
sounds of transactions and bargaining, peddlers advertising
their products and so on.

“High grade magical instruments available for barter with a

double-edged sword of similar workmanship.”

“Herbs from hundred year old tree trunks, interested people

can come and have a look.”

Jing Feng heard the magical instruments peddler and walk

over to him.

“What about this jade fan? How much for it?”

“Products will only be traded for swords, not spar” the middle
aged man coldly replied to Jing Feng.

Jing Feng looked at the jade fan, his eyes were gleaming, he
didn’t have a sword to trade, but he still wanted the jade fan.

Jing Feng imagined himself holding the fan; he would have

looked very handsome, and thought that he could make others
jealous.

Bi Fan wanted Jing Feng to get the fan, and even though he
had a high grade double-edged sword, he didn’t want to help
him out in making the barter.

He wouldn’t reveal his valuables to people whose true

intentions weren’t clear to him.

This Bi Fan was well aware of; in fact he was a little more
cautious than most people.

Jing Feng reluctantly put the fan down and walked away.

Ting Feng valley was very wide, it had a lot of streets and
these streets were studded with stalls.

These stalls had some really fantastic items on sale. Pellets of

Dan, rare books, copies of martial arts techniques, Panacea to
refine medicinal drugs, magical instruments, weapons and so
on.
 Bi Fan had always embraced the idea of expanding one’s
vision, so every now and then he would go into a vendor’s booth
and inquire about article, articles he had no intention of
purchasing.

Recently, Bi Fan had acquired a lot of precious items, these

items had raised his standards, and he was no longer interested
in ordinary items, which would have earlier acquired his
attention.

Jing Feng said: “Brother Bi Fan, if you like any items, let me
know, I’ll buy them.”

Jing Feng was very smart, and Bi Fan was aware of it. Bi Fan
knew that if he took too many favors from Jing Feng then it
would be embarrassing in the future to refuse him some rights
over the long Diao.

“No, its fine, really. I have some ‘spars’, so if the need arises, I
can use them.” Bi Fan said, shaking his head.

Jing Feng looked awfully confused, he could not understand

how Bi Fan had acquired spars, and why was he so interested in
magical tools, especially considering that he probably wasn’t
even at ‘inner breath’ stage, so he wouldn’t be able to use them
properly.

Bi Fan on the other hand was very enthusiastic, he was mostly

inquiring about items out of curiosity, from the beginning he
hadn’t had the intention of buying any of the items he had
inquired about.

Jing Feng had bought a lot of small items, but he didn’t look
satisfied, he still wanted to buy the jade fan, he had been
enchanted by it.

Bi Fan and Jing Feng entered a booth that had a lot of books.
There were a total of eighteen books there.

Bi Fan started examining the books, some of them were meant

for ‘fetus’ jie but most of them required the practitioner to be at
least as strong as the ‘inner breath’ layer to be able to make use
of them properly.

He had already executed longevity burst once, and knew that

this barrier wasn’t always true.
 Bi Fan considered the options for a while. There was a book by
the entrance, its title was written in beautiful calligraphy,
‘Divine seals’. The title seemed to be portrayed in a very
arrogant manner, the book was had a golden cover, a very
bright golden cover. The golden color of its cover dazzled in the
light but the book only spoke about some basic fundamentals,
and didn’t have of anything of much value in it.

“Sir, how much for this ‘Divine seals’ book?” Bi Fan asked.

The old man, wasn’t used to be being called ‘Sir’ and felt
flattered.

“Young man, if you wish to purchase this book, you can have
it for ten spars.”

Bi Fan was about to make the transaction, when Jing Feng

interrupted: “Brother Bi Fan, this book only speaks about some
fundamental concepts, even though it has a golden over, it does
not make this book worth ten spars. It’s worth much lesser.”

“Young man, I will rephrase my asking price, you can buy this
book for five spars, and it’s almost the same as my buying
price.” The old man spoke.
 The old man seemed to be telling the truth, one could see that
the book’s cover was extremely delicate, it was obvious that it
required a great deal of effort. Although the book didn’t contain
any valuable information, but spending a few spars to study it,
was okay.

Bi Fan quickly agreed: “Well, I’ll take it.”

He took out the spars and bought the book.

After leaving the booth, Jing Feng whispered: “Brother Bi

Fan, you lost a lot of money on that deal, that book was worth a
lot lesser than what you purchased it for. Please next time let
me negotiate.”

“It doesn’t matter, as long as the book has use to me, five
spars won’t make much of a difference.” Bi Fan said expressing
his difference in opinion.

If the items had no use for him, then even the most precious
items were a complete waste, and he wouldn’t spend a single
spar to buy them. However, if the item had a use for him, he
wouldn’t mind spending a little extra, as long as he felt that the
price was justified for his requirement.

Jing Feng didn’t agree with Bi Fan’s statement, but decided

not to argue with him. It wasn’t his money anyway.

As they continued to stroll down the market, Bi Fan would

stop at almost every stall and examine the articles very
carefully. Based on the knowledge he had acquired, he would try
to distinguish the quality of the items.

Suddenly, Bi Fan came to stop at a vendor’s booth where he

saw a slightly damaged armor. This armor didn’t seem to have
anything special about it; in fact it looked quite ordinary, with
some pieces of magical units attached inside it.

Even though it was his first trip here, he had already

formulated some tricks.

He picked up a piece of magical instrument and asked: “How

much for this one?”

He carried a casual look on his face, if he showed any signs of

likeliness to the object, then he would make an easy target.

He picked up another magical tool and looked it over.

The stall owner looked at him as if he was a sheep waiting to

be slaughtered.

“This is a very high grade instrument, only the best materials

were used to make this, it’s the best in the entire region. But
since you are like my little brother, I will let you have it for a
bargain, only five hundred spars.” The stall owner articulated,
over-exaggerating the quality of the product.

The item he held in his hand was clearly an average item and
was by no means of the best quality in the entire region.

That stall was quite dark inside, and was charging a fairly
high price for general items.

Bi Fan put the item down “I don’t have five hundred spars to
buy this product.”
 The stall owner realizing that Bi Fan isn’t a complete fool,
decided to lower his price: “Two hundred spars, this is the best
price you will ever get for such a high quality product.”

“Two hundred spars for this, is still high, but if you throw in
this broken armor, then I can give you two hundred spars.” Bi
Fan picked up the broken armor.

The inside of the armor was awfully shabby along with some
shiny parts.

The stall owner hesitated for a second, and then agreed.

The repairs on the inside of the armor were probably going to

cost less than ten spars. And the two items put together were
now worth a lot more than two hundred spars.

With the deal reached, Bi Fan collected his two purchases. His
tactic had succeeded and he had made a profitable transactions.

Jing Feng had been watching from the side lines and wanted
to interrupt Bi Fan, but decided to keep his mouth shut.
 Since the conversation that had followed the purchase of the
book, Jing Feng had realized that Bi Fan was very stubborn and
wouldn’t stop at anything.
 Chapter 14 – The Three Lists Of Jiu You

Bi Fan collected his purchases and continued on, looking for

any other useful products at different stalls, but couldn’t find
anything of use.

Jing Feng stayed with Bi Fan the entire time. He was watching
Bi Fan closely, but couldn’t understand Bi Fan’s interests. To
him, Bi Fan was a complete mystery.

Jing Feng’s slightly arrogant attitude had, by now, changed to

a humble one.

“Brother Bi Fan, you spent two hundred spars on broken piece

of armor and an item that could have been purchased for a lot
lesser, why?” This question had been tormenting Jing Feng, so
he asked.

“I just felt that the tin used in the armor was good enough to
provide some defense, when needed.” Bi Fan casually replied
back.

Bi Fan didn’t want to disclose much, he wanted to keep his

head down in this place, as he didn’t want any trouble.

Jing Feng didn’t ask any further questions and they continued
to enter and exit stalls.

The Ting Feng valley had everything.

Bi Fan had kept his eyes open, and was picking up things
quickly.

Bi Fan wasn’t rashly spending money; he only sought items

that had a particular use to him.

Unfortunately, most stalls were meant for veteran martial

artists and didn’t have too many things he could use.

But luckily, he had found an armor he could make use of.

Ting Feng valley had a lot stalls, Bi Fan and Jing Feng spent
the entire day wandering around.
 “Brother Jing Feng, we will have to go back tomorrow, I can’t
stay away for long.” Bi Fan said.

Jing Feng replied, “Well, we can come back later when we get
an opportunity.”

He still wanted to get his hands on the jade fan, the only
transaction that he hadn’t been able to make. This had been
torturing him the entire time.

In the evening, Bi Fan and Jing Feng decided to find a hotel.

In the dead of the night, Bi Fan took out the armor, and
carefully studied its interiors. He was right in assuming that the
armor’s core was concealed with an ingenious mirroring magic,
and would be able to provide some energy, along with defense.

However, Bi Fan couldn’t identify how such a soft and humble

armor had been covered with a magic of this kind. And even
though the armor appeared soft, its defensive capabilities were
quite amazing.

He tried the armor, it was very soft, and felt very comfortable,
Bi Fan was very satisfied.

Early next morning, Bi Fan and Jing Feng were ready to leave.

Ting Feng valley had a lot of good things, but they didn’t have
the time to go shopping. So they had decided to leave early, to
avoid being distracted by the stalls.

Jing Fend hadn’t been able to buy the fan yesterday, which
had made him very sad. He was still a little gloomy.

While they were walking towards the exit, they saw two
young men walking towards them.

Jing Feng’s expression changed a bit, as he continued to walk.

One of the men, pale-faced, smiled and said: “Hey! It’s the
great Jing Feng!”

His cynical tone and Jing Feng’s reaction were clearly

indicating that this man was trouble.
 “Jiang Wen, don’t gloat, I will beat you in the next
tournament”, Jing Feng coldly relied back.

Jiang Wen laughed: “Oooo, I am scared, but I’ll still take you
on. But hey, I’m afraid that I won’t get to beat you again and
again, once I become a core disciple.”

“Humph!”, Jing Feng puffed his cheeks as he walked away.

Bi Fan caught up with Jing Feng and asked: “Who was that
arrogant guy?”

“Jiang Wen, of ‘rising sun’ palace school, he beat me in the

last Qianlong tournament. He tricked me, and since then, every
time we meet, he arrogantly rubs it in.” Jing Feng said.

“Qianlong tournament? What’s that?” Bi Fan asked.

Jing Feng explained: “The schools in the Jiu You city select
some of their students to participate in the Qianlong
tournament, last time, I was awarded the third position, and
Jiang Wen was second.”
 Bi Fan knew that ‘Jiu You’ was a massive city, with a
population exceeding eight million, and within the city, there
were at least a hundred martial art schools.

Quinyang Door fell under the jurisdiction of ‘Jiu You’ city and
was regarded as one of the good schools in the region, but not
the best.

And Xuanu Palace was considered one of the best schools in

Tian Yu.

Jing Feng explained to Bi Fan that, Jiu You releases three

different lists for three different competitions, the ‘fetus’ list,
the ‘emerging from womb’ list and the ‘magical powers’ list.
The winner’s name would be entered in the imperial listings.

Jiu You was one of the strongest territories, and to win such a
tournament, would make a person very famous.

Bi Fan couldn’t help but long to be on that list, but his

strength wasn’t even enough to compete with the average
disciples of average schools, let alone win such a big
tournament.

But now, Bi Fan’s heart was set on a new goal; to win the
Qianlong Tournament.

Bi Fan vowed to reach new heights and get his name on that
list.

Bi Fan was convinced that with his new found motivation, he

will be able to work even harder.

Who had earlier been just an orphan, Orchard farmer, now

dreamt of a very comfortable life.

Now, Bi Fan’s path was set, but it was studded with numerous
difficulties and obstacles. He would have to climb them, one by
one.

Bi Fan had secretly vowed to become strong. He didn’t want to

go back to those earlier days, and a life full of humiliations.

With the help of divine essence seals, Bi Fan returned to the

Quinyang town in less than a day.

“Brother Jing Feng, I have to go back to the hills, would you

like to come with me?” Bi Fan asked.

“You go ahead; I need to do somethings in order to get ahead

of Jiang Wen. In the next tournament, I will beat him.” Jing
Feng said, his eyes reflected his perseverance, brimming with
passion and fight.

Bi Fan said: “Take care Brother Jing Feng, I will take your
leave now.”

Bi Fan said his good-byes, and alone rushed back to the

Quinyang Mountains.

Because he had been practicing ‘the dance of mist’ footwork,

his speed had increased, and he was able to cover up the
distance faster.

Before nightfall, Bi Fan managed to arrive at the foot of the

hill.
 Bi Fan took out the tokens that Xiaofeng had given him and
took the crane up the mountain.

Riding the red crowned crane once again instilled a sense of

tranquility in Bi Fan. He couldn’t help but think about his
future.

Bi Fan was already practicing some ‘inner breath’ techniques

now; he wanted to reach the ‘inner breath’ layer as soon as
possible.

After returning to the mountain, he would get back to his

training, and try to become a disciple.

He was determined to become a disciple as he was aware of

their status in society; he was more motivated than he had ever
been.

The minimum requirement to enter the Qianlong tournament

was ‘brave’ layer, which was still a very long way ahead.

As his mind raced through, he didn’t realize that he had

already reached his destination.

Bi Fan had already wrapped up the packages at the time of

departure, and quickly jumped out of the crane with the
package.

On his second time down the mountain, he had acquired a lot

of new valuables; he still had no intention of disclosing that
information to anyone.

Bi Fan knew that like Jing Feng, most people here too, would
be baffled by his acquisitions.

“Bi Fan, you’re back. Did you get everything?” Xiaofeng

greeted him, seeming somewhat happy.

“Xiaofeng, everything you had asked, is inside this, although

I’m not sure what it really is.” Bi Fan replied as he handed over
the parcel.

Xioafeng parted saying: “Bi Fan, you work very hard, go and
rest till tomorrow, then resume taking care of the medicine
orchard.”
 Bi Fan, after his return, began practicing every day, even
harder than before.
 Chapter 15 – The Selection Begins

As time passed, Bi Fan started taking ‘inner breath’ Dan. And

now he could even practice longevity burst properly.

‘Inner breath’ Dan in the beginning had given a warm effect,

which then, rapidly circulated throughout his body.

With the Dan helping him break the layer barriers, Bi Fan was
now moving up very quickly.

After consuming the Dan pellets, he could feel a significant

rise in his strength.

Soon enough, he could practice the ‘Dance of mist’, ‘immortal

finger’, backed by ‘inner breath’ strength, practicing martial
arts was now, a lot easier.

Late night, he would practice ‘blood devil’ technique, in

secrecy to improve his physical strength.

Regardless of any layer, physical strength was an important

thing.

Most practitioners concentrated their practice of ‘blood devil’

technique to increase internal physical strength. Some extreme
practitioners would even take small amounts of poisonous
substances to increase internal strength.

After concluding his practice, Bi Fan would take out some

time to study the ‘divine seals’ book.

Bi Fan had purchased the book with the sole principle of

gaining knowledge about ‘divine seals’, so he could identify
them at the required time.

Even though the book only contained very basic knowledge of

‘divine seals’, it was still very intellectually portrayed.

As he would study, time would simple fly by, and a bright sun
would illuminate the sky.

Bi Fan would freshen up while Greedy slept, and then he

would go to the medicine orchard to take care of his
responsibilities.
 The Panacea in the orchard didn’t give him much trouble,
making his life easier.

Yan Yu Si was well aware of Bi Fan’s ambition, and was kind

enough to give him less work so he could concentrate on his
training.

And Bi Fan looked after those precious herbs as if they were

his own property.

On any given day, Bi Fan would be found crouching over the

herbs, inspecting them, caring for them, until he was satisfied
with the result.

He was living a busy life, his passion for martial arts wouldn’t
let him sleep and his days were spent looking after the orchard.

And in a flash, three months had passed away. Quinyang door

disciple selection tournament was fast approaching.

After three months of rigorous training, Bi Fan’s strength had

greatly increased.

His strength was at the peak of ‘inner breath’ layer.

In addition to this, Bi Fan was already able to execute ‘the

immortal finger’ technique. However, the target would have to
be closer than one meter to cause any kind of damage, but
nevertheless, Bi Fan was ecstatic about his progress.

This technique was Bi Fan secret weapon, and could prove out
to be very critical under duress.

Moreover, he had also been practicing ‘the dance of mist’, but

at his current level, he was still unable to perform the technique
efficiently.

He was still unable to practice the teaching from ‘the double-

edged sword’ book. He was afraid that in the moment of need,
he might not be very handy with a sword, as some of the trade
secrets in the book could potentially be used to great effect.

Bi Fan still continued to practice the ‘blood devil’ technique,

so much so, that he and his practice of the technique were
practically inseparable.

He continued to read the ‘divine seals’ book, but still hadn’t

tried to put it to use.

Strength is the key, but for exceptional rise in strength, one

needs to make use of Dan.

One day, Xiaofeng came to see Bi Fan. She smiled at him as she
asked: “Bi Fan, very soon the tournament for selection of
disciples will commence. Would you like to participate in it?”

“I will go and give it a try.” Bi Fan nodded energetically. Bi

Fan’s heart was set on it, he wanted to go and see the
tournament for himself.

At his current level, getting selected into a school wasn’t going

to be a problem, but he wanted to get a good ranking.

A good ranking would be accompanied by rewards, Dan

pellets or even magical equipment. And not to forget, glory.
 And if he performed really well, and some good school fancied
him, then he could even become a core disciple.

The disciple in such schools fared much better than others.

They received better resources for all kinds of trainings. Also
the tutelage offered in top graded schools was much superior,
which would make his progress faster, much faster.

Xiaofeng looked as Bi Fan with a sense of surety, and said:

“With your strength, you will surely make it as a disciple; I have
no doubt about it, so you should definitely take part.”

After she finished speaking, she turned around and started

walking away, as gracefully as always.

Xiaofeng had a very slim figure; Bi Fan couldn’t help but stare
at her as she walked away.

It’s not that Bi Fan had any ill intentions for her; he was just
simply admiring the sight.

The schools in Quinyang organized these tournaments ever

year to select their disciples. And every year, many participants
would register, and would come prepared, having trained hard.
On top of that, many experienced participants, who had
previously tried and failed, would also return. Many respected
elder martial artists would also come to watch.

No naturally, to be named into the top few in such a

tournament would gain a lot of respect.

Neimen School had a great reputation, and was considered a

very powerful school. If a young martial artist reflected a lot of
potential, even Neimen School could be tempted into taking a
new student.

So naturally, Jing Feng was quite popular. He had ranked

third in the Jiu You list, the first ever from any Quinyang
School.

Neimen school students were often as strong as the ‘brave’

layer and went as high as the eighth layer, ‘enormous strength’.
Jing Feng, last year, had already crossed into the ninth layer,
‘transformation’.

Jing Feng, aged only fifteen, was considered to be an

immensely talented youngster in Quinyang.
 Not only this, Jing Feng also had a great deal of combat
experience as well.

In the list of young generation martial artists in Quinyang,

many considered Jing Feng to be second only to Yan Yu Si.

However, he was most popular amongst the women; all they

would talk about is how suave he is, and how handsome he
looks.

With the contest, a lot of people had started discussing about

Jing Feng.

Even the women in Yunufeng kept whispering about Jing

Feng.

The more Bi Fan heard about Jing Feng, the more he started
to admire him.

Simultaneously, it also motivated him to surpass his targets,

he would practice even harder.
 The selection tournament was scheduled to take place in three
days.

The selection tournament would take place in the Ming Fung

valley, as the site was large enough to accommodate the number
of spectators who would come to watch.

Xiaofeng after giving him the idea to participate in the

tournament, she personally accompanied him there.

Most women in Yunufeng were also going to spectate the

tournament. However, their goal wasn’t to cheer Bi Fan on.
They only desired to see Jing Feng in action.

After the completion of selections, i.e. the tournament, there

was a huge possibility that Jing Feng might make an
appearance.

Many female students had gone to Ming Fung Valley just to

catch a glimpse of the charming Jing Feng.

Bi Fan reached the Ming Fung valley with Xiaofeng and saw a
sea of people. The place was very crowded.

Quinyang region had a lot of practitioners, tens of thousands

maybe. So such a large gathering wasn’t very surprising.

In fact, this really was nothing. The contests for Neimen

school students usually exploded with excitement and were
immensely popular, sometimes, as many a million people would
come and watch.

It was the first time that Bi Fan had ever seen such a huge
crowd, he was appalled, and his mouth hung open in
amazement.

Xiaofeng smiled at him and said: “Bi Fan, don’t get so worked
up, relax…. relax…”

“I am not nervous….” Bi Fan muttered. But in reality, he

obviously was. His sweaty clinched fist gave him away.

Xiaofeng decided to help Bi Fan relax and started giving him a

shoulder massage.
 “Ah….” Bi Fan exhaled loudly, he felt a little uncomfortable,
but kept his mouth shut, and continued to enjoy the beauty of
the service being delivered.
 Chapter 16 – Cheered On

The selection for disciples was actually quite simple. It only

had two rounds.

Firstly, a practitioner would have to lift a stone to

demonstrate strength; doing so successfully would send you to
the next round.

The second round was an arms drill, a combat round. Two

participants would have to go up against each other; in this
round not only strength, but skill also mattered. This round was
very exciting for the spectators.

Every year, hundreds of participants would enroll for the

selection process, so there was a lot of fresh blood. But the
standard required for entry into Quinyang schools was very
high.

This year was no different. The deputy of the Quinyang

schools selection committee approached the center stage.

Ling Xin Ya, had an amazing physique, that commanded so

much authority, that people wouldn’t even dare stare at him.

He was in the ‘emerging from womb’ Jie and was considered

one of the best in the entire Jiu You region.

Ling Xin Ya, raised his hand high, and entire crowd paused
their chattering and suddenly the valley became silent.

“Rules are as usual, let the selection of disciple begin.”

He was a no nonsense man, at his order, the selection had

officially begun.

The contestants had lined up for the registration process, and

were well aware of the eyes that watched them, and hence bore
themselves in a disciplined manner.

Bi Fan strolled his way back to the end of the line.

Xiaofeng before heading off to the viewer’s stands, whispered

in his ear: “Good luck, Bi Fan.”
 As she left, the wind blew and carried her fragrance to Bi Fan.

Intoxicated, Bi Fan took a deep breath.

Bi Fan was surrounded by many other people, who were all

looking at him with envy and jealousy. Most of them had never
seen such a beautiful girl.

“She’s really very beautiful. Is she your girlfriend, brother?” a

young man standing behind Bi Fan asked.

Bi Fan didn’t reply to the question, but gently nodded his

head, and thought to himself: “This herd of perverts shall not
be allowed to harass Xiaofeng, if they realize that I’m not her
boyfriend, these hell bound creatures will pounce on her like
hungry hounds.”

Bi Fan knew that if Xiaofeng ever found out about this, then
she would flip out at him on the spot: “How dare you, you cheap
bastard?”

Even though Xiaofeng wasn’t Bi Fan’s girlfriend, he didn’t

want any other men to get close to her. This seemed to be the
case with most men. After all, men can be a bit possessive and
protective.

The man saw Bi Fan nod and realized that he might be

participating alone, and asked him: “Brother, do you know any
other beautiful women that you could introduce me to, later at
the bar.”

Bi Fan didn’t speak, just blankly nodded his head in reply. He

coolly ignored all the guys standing around him as their faced
turned a shade of disappointment.

First round was rather easy, contestants would have to lift a

piece of rock, there were ten rocks and ten participants were
asked to do their rounds simultaneously. It wouldn’t take much
time to finish this round.

Anyone who was serious about participating in the selection

would be easily able to clear this round, lifting the stone up very
smoothly.

The stone, was obviously quite heavy, lifting this stone up was
an indication that the participant was capable of breaking layer
barriers by force.

People above cheered on as a man named Tieniu Zhuang took

to the platform. He didn’t just go for one, but lifted threes
stones as high as his chin at the same time. He was making a
statement, a very bold statement. The other participants looked
on, stunned.

Bi Fan was looking at him, and could make out that Tieniu
wasn’t even at ‘inner breath’ layer, he was just naturally gifted
with a great amount of physical strength.

Ling Xin Ya had been watching the performance of the

contestants carefully, sometimes shaking his head, sometimes
nodding in judgement.

Soon, Bi Fan’s turn came. He slowly walked up to the stone

and easily lifted it. He just wanted to cross the level; he didn’t
have intention of making a statement.

“Bi Fan of Yunufeng has cleared the round.” The announcer

announced on the mike.
 Many people had heard of Yunufeng, they also knew that
Yunufeng was one of the best places to practice in Quinyang.

At the same time, everyone knew that Yunufeng never

accepted male students; they looked at Bi Fan with a sense of
confusion and surprise.

Although Bi Fan hadn’t tried to reveal the true extent of his

prowess, nothing remains hidden from the experienced eyes of
Ling Xin Ya.

Ling Xin Ya could make out the Bi Fan had broken through
several layers by now, and that too at such a young age. As he
nodded at Bi Fan, Bi Fan recorded this moment in his memory.

After the first level was over, the number of contestants had
reduced to four hundred and fifteen.

Now it was time for the second round. Combat.

The organizers used chits to randomly draw out names and

assigned them a number, one, two, three and so on.
 Bi Fan got one hundred and thirty five, so he would have to
wait a while.

Ming Fung valley had only ten rings, and even if they were
being used simultaneously, it would still take time to finish the
process.

Most of the participants hadn’t even reached the ‘inner

breath’ layer, and hadn’t started practicing any serious martial
arts techniques as of yet. So most fights were purely physical
and lacked any technical display.

The combat round was boring. Bi Fan, he almost dozed off at

one point.

Finally, Bi Fan’s turn came. He found out that his opponent

was Teiniu Zhuang.

“Hello, I’m Teiniu. Pleased to meet you.” He bent slightly

gesturing a sign of respect for his opponent, as was the custom.

Bi Fan did the same: “Hello, I’m Bi Fan, pleased to meet you.”
 Bi Fan started moving around the ring, he could make out that
Teiniu was a very strong guy, he had to be careful.

“Little brother, Bi Fan, here I come, watch out.” Teiniu

shouted a warning, as he suddenly pounced at Bi Fan.

“This man thinks that anyone who’s smaller in size,

irrespective of age, is his little brother.” Bi Fan couldn’t help but
think to himself.

Teiniu charged at him with his arms outstretched, he wanted

to grasp Bi Fan in a hold. Teiniu was almost two meters tall, and
was fairly strong; it would be very difficult to break free from
his grip. Bi Fan sidestepped, unwittingly putting ‘the dance of
mist’ footwork to use, and he instantly went on to his side.

Bi Fan pushed Teiniu with his palm. Even though Bi Fan

hadn’t used much force, Teiniu’s momentum was enough to
throw him outside the ring. Teiniu balanced himself, looking
somewhat puzzled. He couldn’t understand how Bi Fan been
able to thwart his attack so easily, he wasn’t this careless.

“Wow, that’s good!” A lot of people cheered him on.

 At first, everyone had thought that Teiniu was going to win
easily, no one considered Bi Fan to be a match for him, and even
Xiaofeng was no exception.

But the situation had changed quickly. But Teiniu wasn’t

going to accept defeat this easily.

“Agile, with a good sense of combat, he’s worth cultivating.”

Ling Xin Ya nodded and smiled at Bi Fan from his seat.

Teiniu shook his big head, straightened himself, and then

charged again towards Bi Fan.

“AAARGHHHH!”

He shouted as he ran towards Bi Fan, with a great deal of

momentum.

Teiniu’s fist was as big as a bucket; he directed it straight at Bi

Fan’s face.
 Bi Fan didn’t move, not until Teiniu’s fist had gotten very
close, and then he smoothly slid sideways, to open up Teiniu’s
attack. Then with a lightning fast speed, he grabbed Teiniu’s
arm and pushed him.

“Ah…Ah….” Teiniu cried out in pain as Bi Fan skillfully beat

him again. He fell down on the ring.

“Amazing!” “Wow!” “Wonderful!” the crowd applauded.

Bi Fan’s mind was a complete blank, and his spirit was flying
high, he felt as if he had been sleeping all his life and had
suddenly woken up.

He could not believe that all these people were cheering and
applauding him.

In combat, there were no winners or losers. It was just a way

for the schools to identify new talent.

The contest between Bi Fan and Teiniu was a high quality

display and was being applauded by the crowd.
 As Bi Fan strode off the stage, people applauded him again.

Honestly, Bi Fan was very nervous, even slightly embarrassed,

he had never had so many eyes watching his every move.

And not forget, he felt very excited, he might just be accepted

into a school. He had never thought that he could stand in a ring
and fight, and not only that, but also win.

“I’ve finally taken the first step, and now in the future, I must
work harder to rise higher and higher. I will practice harder,
enhance my strength, and become even stronger, the strongest
of my generation.” Bi Fan vowed to himself, his blood boiling
with encouragement.

“AAAARGHHH!!!”

Bi Fan shouted out, he roared out all those years of frustration

and humiliation that had been flaming inside his soul.

After he roared, he felt very relaxed, having vented out all this
anger.

And suddenly Bi Fan felt as if he was new person altogether,

full of fighting spirit and self-confidence, with his humble
status, tossed back over his head.
 Chapter 17 – Cheers For Jing Feng

Selection process for disciple ended soon, but that wasn’t the
end of it.

Those who had been selected could now participate in the

rankings tournament.

This year, a total of three hundred and eight nine contestants

had been chosen as disciples, and could now participate in the
tournament.

To participate in the tournament, one would have to register

separately.

One would have to win at least the first three matches before
having a shot at the top ten. The top ten would get rewards
based on their rankings.

“Bi Fan, you quickly go and register yourself, hurry up, go

quickly. Otherwise,……hmmmm, you looked good” Xiaofeng
delicately shook Bi Fan’s hand, her eyes dazzling.
 “I will go and register myself, and I will try to fight for the
first place.”

Bi Fan wasn’t blind to his low-status, he wanted to make a

name for himself, and he wanted to get more combat
experience. So naturally he wasn’t letting go of this
opportunity.

In the world of cultivation, having a low-key profile wasn’t a

very good thing. He needed a good school to select him;
otherwise his chances of improving his strength would go down
by a lot.

There was no point in being talented, he needed to show

people what he was capable of, only then he would get the
proper support and training. And only then, his strength would
grow by leaps and bounds.

Even though Bi Fan had gained a lot of knowledge in recent

times, he needed more.

After ‘inner breath’, each subsequent layer became harder to

crack through. One would require a great amount Dan pellets at
regular intervals and moreover, a teacher’s guidance.

Even before participating in the disciple selection, Bi Fan’s

heart was already set on the ranking tournament; he wanted to
get a good ranking, for rewards, and respect.

Registrations ended very quickly. Only a hundred and eighty

participants enrolled, mostly lured by the attractive rewards.

The prize for the first position was top grade magical
instrument, ten pellets of ‘inner breath’ Dan and three pellets of
‘inner organs’ Dan.

The second prize was top grade magical instrument, eight

pellets of ‘inner breath’ Dan and one pellet of ‘inner organs’
Dan.

Third, was rewarded with a high grade magical instrument,

and five pellets of ‘inner breath’ Dan.

Fourth to tenth place was given either magical instruments or

‘inner breath’ Dan pellets.
 The more gifted a fighter was; the higher reward he would
get.

The rewards that the top three got were a lot better from the
rest of them. Practicing with these resources at hand would
ensure that these three would always stay ahead of the rest of
them.

Bi Fan didn’t care for such rewards. The Tian Yuan ring had
enough resources in it to take care of his needs. He just wanted
to impress the high-ranked schools in Quinyang, so he could get
the proper training.

Even though he knew some secret techniques for using a

double-edged sword, he was afraid to reveal it to people.

The tournament began, and only three stages were set up for
this, so the schools could carefully watch and judge the
contestants.

Bi Fan’s number had been drawn towards the end, so he sat

with Xiaofeng, and waited for his turn.
 Suddenly a group of girls started making loud noises.

“Ah! Look its Jing Feng. Jing Feng has finally arrived!”

“Look, Jing Feng is so handsome.”

….. ……..

The arrival of Jing Feng had caused a chaos, the girls were
going crazy about him, and even those sitting in front of Ling
Xin Ya were shouting and screaming.

Jing Feng had a serene look on his face, as he swayed his fan.
His graceful movements made the crowd even more excited and
they cheered and screamed for him even louder.

Bi Fan hearing all those cheers and screams felt very lowly.

“Jing Feng has a very loud reputation, he’s very well

admired.” Said Bi Fan, secretly envious of Jing Feng.
 He addressed Xiaofeng and asked: “Is that kind of shouting
and cheering really necessary?”

Earlier Xiaofeng and the other girls from Yunufeng had been
sitting very quietly, but now, they too seemed to be very
excited. Even Xiaofeng was gossiping with the other girls.

“Xiaofeng, not only does Jing Feng look really handsome, he’s
also extremely strong, what else does a girl want in a man.” One
of the Yunufeng girls was whispering to Xiaofeng.

Xiaofeng looking somewhat unconvinced replied: “I would

like to see him fight once.”

Her beautiful eyes couldn’t help but steal a glance at Jing

Feng.

Bi Fan watched as Xiaofeng looked at Jing Feng, and his heart

surrendering feeling sour.

Jing Feng had arrived in the Ming Fung valley earlier and
knew that Bi Fan would be in the crowd somewhere; he spotted
Bi Fan and started walking towards Bi Fan.
 Most of the Yunufeng girls had come to the selection to get a
glimpse of Jing Feng, watching him walk towards them, left
them speechless and their mouths, hung open. Their obsession
for Jing Feng was taking over.

Even Xiaofeng’s face was red with excitement, as she said to

herself: “Is he coming in my direction, what will I say to him.”

As she whispered this, the shouting and cheering started

getting even louder; Jing Feng was getting closer.

As Jing Feng got closer, Xiaofeng could feel her heart beat
faster and faster.

Jing Feng was really handsome, and really strong too,

everything a girl wanted, even Xiaofeng was no exception.

Bi Fan had noticed how Xiaofeng was becoming very self-

conscious; he couldn’t help but feel envious of Jing Feng.

Bi Fan was fond of Xiaofeng, he was very fond of her, a feeling

that Bi Fan hadn’t been able to understand.

On top of that, Bi Fan was very well aware of his low status,
and had a very low self-esteem. Love was a luxury he couldn’t
even dream of.

And Xiaofeng had been very kind to Bi Fan. So naturally, he

took a liking to her, and couldn’t imagine another man getting
close to her.

Jing Feng came over, looked at Bi Fan and smiled.

Bi Fan stood up and greeted him: “Brother Jing Feng, nice to

see that you have returned from your training.”

“I just returned, but I never imagined that Bi Fan would be

tossing such big guys around the ring like that.” Jing Feng said
with a smile.

The two of them chatted as the girls looked on in amazement.

They were curious about Bi Fan and Jing Feng’s relations, many
of them were suddenly interested in knowing more about Bi
Fan.
 Bi Fan was talking to a public figure and now had a much
sturdier body; he was attracting a lot of female attention.

Jing Feng chatted with Bi Fan for a while, and then parted
ways. A lot of Neimen students were here, and Jing Feng needed
to meet them too.

Jing Feng had barely just left when Bi Fan realized that
Xiaofeng had been staring at him with a look that said: “How do
really know him?”

All the other girls too were looking at Bi Fan curiously,

making him feel very uncomfortable.

“I met with in Quinyang town and then we went to Ting Feng

valley together.” Bi Fan explained.

Xiaofeng questioned him: “Why didn’t you tell me, what

happened between the two of you?”

Watching Bi Fan talk to Jing Feng like that had made Xiaofeng
very skeptical, she could sense that something might be fishy.

“Nothing really…” Bi Fan said, “We stayed together for three

days, after which we parted ways, I came back to mountain, and
he left for his training.”

Most of the women were looking at him superciliously; they

weren’t very convinced with his explanation.

The rankings tournament was much more exciting than the

selection combats, and from time to time, exhibited some
excellent fights.

“Nice!….” the crowd burst applauding.

Bi Fan glanced around to the ring, just as a very young

participant had picked up his big and bulky opponent in his
arms in a very powerful stroke, leaving his opponent to struggle
in vain.

“He seems to have broken through to ‘inner breath’ layer, if

you have to fight against him at some point, be very careful.
‘Inner breath’ practitioners can be very strong and making even
the slightest mistake can be the difference between winning and
losing.”

“Understood” Bi Fan replied, making a note of the name of the

young fighter on the stage. Li Shu.
 Chapter 18 – Forces Collide

Bi Fan had been watching the contests carefully, and had

noticed that there were several participants who were lingering
around ‘inner breath’ layer.

But when Bi Fan tried to compare himself with them, he

figured that he’s probably stronger than them.

And suddenly Bi Fan was booming with confidence, he hadn’t

realized the true value of his own strength, he always thought
that he was average.

“Bi Fan of Yunufeng, report to arena number three.”

Finally it was Bi Fan’s turn to take the stage.

“Bi Fan, good luck, the prestige of Yunufeng resides on your

shoulder.” Xiaofeng waved at Bi Fan as he started to walk
towards the stage, encouraging him.

Bi Fan strode towards the stage confidently, but his mind was
very alert.

His was blood boiling with passion, but mind, cool and calm.

As Bi Fan entered the ring, his opponent was already present.

He looked prepared, full of fighting spirit, but his mind seemed
a little worried.

Disciples would have to register a good winning streak before

they were allowed to enter the next round, so no one would
easily accept defeat, which made the contest even more
entertaining and competitive.

After the two made their gestures of respect, the fight

officially began.

Both the fighters immediately started exchanging blows,

deploying Wan Zu fist boxing technique. It was evident that
both the fighters had been practicing very hard.

“Bang!” Bi Fan at last managed to connect one.

 Bi Fan stood his ground, while his opponent retreated a few
steps before steadying himself again.

They were attacking each other recklessly, with no regard for

their own safety.

The participant that got two points first, would be declared

winner.

They both kept punching like wild animals.

Bi Fan wasn’t trying to make any fancy moves, and was simply
trying to land a punch on his opponent’s body.

So much so that Bi Fan hadn’t even tried to dodge to the side

of his opponents like he had done earlier.

Engaged in combat, they both were fully concentrated on

their fight.

And then suddenly, Bi Fan managed to land his second, a hard

one this time. His opponent flew a good two meters before
falling to the ground, but immediately stood up again.

“Bi Fan of Yunufeng wins!”

The opponent stepped down, and a new contestant entered

the ring.

Bi Fan still used the Wan Zu boxing technique, and with ease
was able to replicate the result of the previous fight.

At this early level in the competition, technique wasn’t very

important, however, strength was a key factor to success.

Anyway, most fighters here were barely at ‘martial strength’

layer, and their techniques weren’t very refined either.

Bi Fan estimated that he should be able to lift four stones,

making him one of the strongest contestants in the tournament.

Even though Tieniu was naturally gifted with massive

strength, wouldn’t be able to compete with Bi Fan.
 He would only have to careful against participants who had
entered ‘inner breath’ layer, being careless around them could
turn into a very costly mistake.

Bi Fan was able to register three consecutive win with ease,

and smoothly made the cut.

“Well done Bi Fan!” Xiaofeng cheered and clapped loudly for

Bi Fan.

Watching Xiaofeng cheer for him, distracted Bi Fan’s

thoughts, but he quickly shook his head and decided to focus his
attention at the task at hand.

Xiaofeng was almost like a goddess, and way beyond the reach
of an ordinary orchard farmer. The difference in their status
was far too great.

Bi Fan lived in reality; he wasn’t going to let himself get

deluded so easily.

Soon, the first round finished, leaving twenty eight

participants for the second round.

In the next round, the rules were slightly different. Only one
fight would take place and the winner will advance to the next
round.

Bi Fan was randomly allocated the number fifteen, so he

would have to fight number sixteen.

Three rings were being used simultaneously, so it wouldn’t be

long before Bi Fan’s turn.

Teiniu was allocated number two, so his fight was the first
one to start, on stage one.

His opponent was fairly strong too; he had been able to lift
two stones.

After the formalities, the fight started and Teiniu shouted as

he charged at his opponent wildly. He managed to grab hold of
his opponent.
 “Ah…… Ah……” the contestant struggled for a while,
writhing in pain, but couldn’t break free and ultimately
admitted defeat.

Teiniu won, flashed a smile, revealing his disgusting yellow

teeth; he looked rather scary. The females in the arena didn’t
even want to look at him.

The second batch of contestants came in to the ring, Li Shu

was amongst them. Two of these six had crossed into ‘inner
breath’ layer and won their fight rather easily.

As the third round started, Bi Fan was called to stage two.

Unfortunately, Bi Fan’s opponent was a guy called Wang

Feng. He too had crossed into the ’inner breath’ layer.

The two of them glared at each other, ready for a battle.

Wang Feng had seen Bi Fan’s agile displays and wouldn’t be

careless enough to stand idly.
 Bi Fan was aware of Wang Feng’s plan, but didn’t care, he was
going to play this match purely on physical strength.

Both the participants started boxing with each other.

Bi Fan touched his chin, and then dashed at Wang Feng with
all his might.

His punch aimed at Wang Feng’s face, was more like a gale
with an edge of a knife.

Wang Feng wouldn’t dare stand up to such a powerful punch

and leaned sideways to dodge.

Bi Fan swiftly changed his body’s momentum to the left and

suddenly his punch was now again aimed at Wang Feng.

Because Bi Fan had been practicing ‘the dance of mist’

footwork, he could change directions with great ease. His body
was capable of making such smooth, subtle movements at great
speeds, that most people wouldn’t even be able to evade his
attacks.
 Wang Feng unable to dodge Bi Fan’s sudden change in
direction, desperately punched back. Their fists collided with
each other’s.

“Bang!” Bi Fan used the full force of his body to stabilize

himself, took a step back.

Wang Feng however, had barely managed to cope with his

sudden maneuver, went back five or six steps.

Bi Fan hadn’t been able to deploy his full strength to this

attack; otherwise Wang Feng might have ended up a lot worse.

Bi Fan burst forward again, planning on using even more

strength this time, employed Wan Zu fist boxing.

He volleyed an array of punches, directed at Wang Feng’s face.

Each, more ferocious and more pressing than the last one.

Wang Feng had already reached the end of the ring, in

attempts to dodge Bi Fan’s punches. Now he had nowhere to
hide, nowhere to run.
 He used everything he had, and exploded back at Bi Fan with a
powerful punch.

They both groaned as their fists came together again. Bi Fan

was pushed back, he went back at least ten steps before
regaining his balance.

Wang Feng was much worse off; he directly went flying out of
the ring.

Obviously, with the balance of power on his side, Bi Fan

prevailed.

“Bi Fan wins!”

Bi Fan had won again, this time beating an ‘inner breath’

layer opponent. He looked at the crowd as they cheered and
praised him.

However, in one corner, sat a man; glaring at Bi Fan with a

cold and gloomy look in his eyes; as if his heart was wishing to
tear Bi Fan apart.

Zhu San was the biggest bully Bi Fan had ever known. Not
only had Bi Fan survived the Wan Snake Cave, he had also
become a lot stronger, which made Zhu San very mad.

He had come to the valley to watch the tournament, and

accidently stumbled upon Bi Fan. It was exactly like Daniu had
described, Bi Fan was a changed man.

Zhu San was shocked to see Bi Fan; his heart was brimming
with a desire to kill Bi Fan, once and for all. But Bi Fan had
become a lot stronger, much stronger than him, eliminating Bi
Fan now, would be a lot harder. He would need a proper plan.

Bi Fan felt as if someone was glaring at him, he turned around

to see Zhu San sitting in the crowd.

As their eyes met, Bi Fan smiled at Zhu San. A chill ran down
Zhu San’s spine; intimidated, he got up and left in a hurry.

“He has seen me, this can turn into a problem, I need to find a
way to kill him.” Zhu San walked away, thinking to himself.
 Bi Fan paying no attention to Zhu San, strolled back to
Xiaofeng’s side.

Zhu San was nothing compared to Bi Fan, Bi Fan could crush

him whenever he desired.

Bi Fan had already become a disciple, and if he did well in the

tournament, he could end up joining a high class school. His
reputation and status in the society would be greatly raised. An
allegation such as killing an ordinary outside practitioner, like
Zhu San, wouldn’t make any sense to people.
 Chapter 19 – The Contest Rages On

Soon the round came to an end, the fourteen participants that

were left in the competition, advanced to the next round.

The ballot drew Bi Fan to be the first number and so his fight
started on the first stage.

Bi Fan’s opponent was much weaker, hadn’t even made it to

the ‘inner breath’ layer yet, making it an easy contest, and
allowing Bi Fan to move ahead with ease.

In this round, both Teiniu and Li Shu won their fights easily;
the other four participants who won their fights were also
lingering around ‘inner breath’ layer.

Since there were only seven contestants left, one of them

would be getting a bye, allowing him to go directly to the next
round.

A name was randomly picked from the ballot and Teiniu was
awarded the bye. He started laughing on the spot, flashing his
yellow teeth, which give others a sense of nausea. Teiniu
obviously didn’t seem to care much.

This time, Bi Fan’s opponent was a man name Yang Lin. He

had already crossed into ‘inner breath’, had a plump build and
carried a sneaky smile on his face.

“Bi Fan; pleased to meet you.”

“Yang Lin; pleased to meet you.”

Bi Fan’s tone was very firm. As soon as the fight started, Yang
Lin charged at Bi Fan very quickly, his movements symbolizing
his love for violence.

It was obvious that beating Yang Lin wasn’t going to be an

easy task, and Bi Fan would have to seize any opportunity he
could find.

He attacked Bi Fan employing ‘Iron plate bridge’ technique,

and Bi Fan dodged it. Yang Lin quickly steadied himself and
turned around to face Bi Fan again.
 Bi Fan attacked with a sweeping kick, his legs moved at a
lightning fast pace. Energetic and vigorous, he managed to
connect the strike.

Yang Lin rolled over and fell to the ground, unable to dodge Bi
Fan’s counter.

Yang Lin got up immediately, looking slightly embarrassed.

He took out a dagger from the folds of his clothes. It appeared

to be a low grade magical weapon.

“Bi Fan, you’re still going to lose. You might be stronger, but
you will kneel before my dagger.” Yang Lin said, feeling rather
proud.

Bi Fan, in a cold voice retaliated: “I’d like to see you try.”

Bi Fan habitually touched his chin, as if poking his beard,

which he obviously didn’t have. This gesture of his looked
rather funny.
 Many of the girls sitting in the stands chuckled at his action.

“Bi Fan, what are you touching your chin for?” Muttered one
of the Yunufeng girls from the stands.

Yang Lin, still holding his dagger, charged at Bi Fan at an

amazing speed.

Bi Fan, who was usually easy to scare, stood there motionless,

poking his imaginary beard.

Xiaofeng screamed: “Bi Fan, what are you doing, get out of
there quickly!”

As the dagger came uncomfortably close to his body, Bi Fan

unveiled a sly smile. His right hand came forth at a lightning
fast speed, his two fingers moving directly towards the
attacking dagger.

“Bi Fan, you silly boy; you think you can thwart a dagger with
just your fingers. Even though it’s a low quality magical
weapon, it’s still a magical weapon! ” Most of the spectators
commented.
 Bi Fan quickly used his ‘inner breath’ strength to cast out ‘the
immortal finger’, not to attack, but to defend.

With the ‘the immortal finger’ coming to his defense, and he

caught the dagger right between his two fingers.

Bi Fan’s fingers looked like they were made of gold and jade,
sparkling and translucent at the same time.

Yang Lin’s dagger stood motionless between Bi Fan’s fingers,

no matter how hard Yang Lin tried to retrieve it.

Bi Fan raised his left hand and punched Yang Lin in the face.

Yang Lin had obtained this dagger with great difficulty and
didn’t want to lose it at any cost.

“Boom!”

Bi Fan connected the hit perfectly; Yang Lin’s eye looked as

black as a panda’s.

Yang Lin shook his head, concussed and dizzy; he didn’t even
know where he was walking, his hands still tightly clinching his
dagger.

“Go on!” Bi Fan said as pushed Yang Lin. Yang Lin was thrown
out of the ring, along with his beloved dagger.

“Ah!! Amazing!!…”

“Handsomely done! Are his fingers made of diamond or

something?”

“Miraculous, fearless, he actually used the dagger to his

advantage with those fingers!”

…. ……. ……

The crowd went ecstatic after Bi Fan display, Bi Fan was in the
limelight again.
 Bi Fan didn’t pay any attention to any of it, and with an
expressionless face, strolled back towards the stands.

Ling Xin Ya looked over at Bi Fan from his seat and said: “This
boy keeps a cool head on the battle field, looks like a very
exciting talent. He is still young and innocent, could be
vigorously trained into something great.”

He immediately called out to his servant and asked him to

investigate into Bi Fan’s life.

“Bi Fan, show me your fingers.” Xiaofeng said, and without

bothering to wait for his response, grabbed his fingers and
looked at them carefully.

“Hey, not even a single scratch! How did you do that?”

As his hand was being held delicately by Xiaofeng’s soft and

warm hands, he felt very comfortable.

He closed his eyes, feeling intoxicated, and didn’t even hear

what she was saying.
 Xiaofeng let go of his hand and said: “Say something, will
you?”

“What?” Bi Fan asked bewildered.

“How did your hand not get hurt?” Xiaofeng was staring at Bi
Fan, puzzled.

Bi Fan replied: “I caught the dagger right between the fingers,

and managed to avoid the blade.”

“I think there more to it than that.” Xiaofeng retaliated, her

eyes filled with doubt.

“I’m telling the truth.” Bi Fan tried to defend himself.

Soon, the other fights were decided, Li Shu won his fight with
ease. The other participant to go forward was a boy named Zhou
Feng.
 With the last four remaining, there was now going to a stiff
competition for ranking, as the difference between third and
fourth place was a massive one.

The numbers were drawn once again, and Bi Fan was matched
with Teiniu. Li Shu would go up against Zhou Feng.

For the next round, only one stage was set up, so everyone
could watch the fights carefully.

First, it was Bi Fan vs Teiniu, Bi Fan had just come onto the
stage when suddenly, Teiniu said: “I give up!”

Then, he turned towards Bi Fan and laughed: “You’re too

strong; I’m no match for you.”

A close look at Teiniu’s teeth was enough to kill a man, even

Bi Fan couldn’t help but feel a little nauseated, and he hurriedly
stepped down the stage, as if his life depended on it.

Teiniu looked puzzled as he walked off the stage.

 Then it was time for Li Shu versus Zhou Feng, after the two
made their salutes, the contest began.

The winner in this fight would be competing against Bi Fan

for first place, so naturally Bi Fan was watching very
attentively.

Zhou Feng and Li Shu were both considerably strong, and the
two of them fighting against each other made for a very exciting
contest.

As the fierce contest unveiled in the ring, the spectators in the

stands cheered louder and louder.

Li Shu and Zhou Feng were both using very simple martial
arts techniques, but the fight was very exciting, they were really
getting the crowd going.

Bi Fan was watching their fight very carefully; he wanted to

get a good feel of their styles.

It was no secret that if he could figure out how these two

fight, then later it would be very useful for him. He could use
this knowledge to gain an extra edge and use it to win.

Li Shu and Zhou Feng were charging at each other recklessly,

they had both sustained injuries, it was the semi-final after all,
and they were both giving it their all. In the end, Li Shu
emerged victorious.

Next, a rest for one hour was announced. After the break, first
the contest for the third and the fourth place would take place.

The one hour passed very quickly, Teiniu and Zhou Feng
made their way to the stage.

As Zhou Feng walked onto the stage, one could make out that
he was in considerable physical discomfort, his injuries hadn’t
healed properly.

“Let the fight begin!”

Teiniu again ran for his opponent, trying to put him in a hold,
this was his only trick.
 Zhou Feng on the other hand, was a very skilled and flexible
fighter; he dodged Teiniu and tried to open his attack up.

Zhou Feng hit Teiniu with his palm.

Teiniu had no skill, but had a very sturdy body, even though
he took the hit, it barely made any difference to him.

“Hey!” Teiniu grinned as once again went for the hold.

He grabbed Zhou Feng by his feet and succeeded in

completing his hold.

Even though Zhou Feng was very quick in the beginning of

the tournament, the injuries in the previous fights were taking
their toll; he had become a lot slower. And this time, he was
unable to dodge Teiniu.

“I admit defeat.” Zhou Feng said, looking depressed.

If he hadn’t had to fight Li Shu earlier, he would have beaten

Teiniu quite easily.
 The award for the fourth place was very lowly compared to
the third. The difference was the same as fourth and tenth
place. And Zhou Feng’s face was dull with disappointment as he
walked of the stage.
 Chapter 20 – Number One

Next up, was Bi Fan versus Li Shu for the first position, both
fighters came onto the stage at the same time.

“Bi Fan; pleased to meet you.”

“Li Shu; pleased to meet you.”

As the contest began, Li Shu was the first to launch his attack,
his pace thunderous; his action, violent.

Bi Fan had no intention of going head-on; he used ‘the dance

of mist’ footwork, and conveniently dodged to the right side of
his attacker.

A Quinyang school senior exclaimed: “What great agility Bi

Fan has, I have never seen anything like it!”

“This really isn’t anything great, it’s only the most basic of
footwork, but he’s practiced it very thoroughly, and that’s
what’s making it so useful. He is using it to great effect, even if
such a basic footwork is practiced to the highest extent, can
prove to be very useful in achieving big things.” Ling Xin Ya
commented.

Li Shu couldn’t do anything about Bi Fan’s pace and agility,

and he was running out breath. He was attacking with more
urgency now, and even more desperation.

After his fight with Zhou Feng, he had sustained several

injuries. It was impossible to recover from them in one hour.

Since Bi Fan’s opponent had given up without a fight, he was

already at an advantage.

Li Shu was fighting with desperation; he needed to end this

quickly. The longer the fight wore on, the lesser his chance of
winning.

Bi Fan still had no intention of colliding with Li Shu, he was

dodging Li Shu’s attacks. His agile footwork, made it look very
easy.

As Li Shu’s pace became slower, Bi Fan’s eyes resonated his

opportunity. The time to strike was almost near.

With Wan Zu fist boxing, he went straight for Li Shu’s body.

Finally Bi Fan was launching a counter attack, and even

though it was the most simplest of moves, his expertise and
strength made it formidable.

Li Shu was broken and hurt, and at this time, it looked as if he

was being bullied around by Bi Fan.

Li Shu side stepped Bi Fan, he wouldn’t dare to go head-on

now.

“AAARGH!!!” Li Shu didn’t even retreat as he charged straight

back at Bi Fan, not allowing himself even a moment to catch his
breath.

Li Shu had slowed down, even looked tired, and could barely
stand straight.

In the end, Li Shu was unable to dodge Bi Fan’s next counter.

 Bi Fan was very skilled with Wan Zu boxing. Li Shu’s already
injured body couldn’t withstand the hit, and he was
immediately knocked onto the ground. An entire day of fighting
had finally got to him.

Bi Fan was declared winner, and the tournament ended.

Xiaofeng shouted loudly: “Well done, Bi Fan! Good job!”

The crowd cheered him on, not only had he had won the
tournament, he had given an excellent performance, winning
the support of many people and schools.

Bi Fan stood in the ring, brimming with emotions; it seemed

like yesterday when he was just a fragile orchard farmer, cursed
to be bullied for the rest of his life.

Today, not only had he been selected as a disciple, he had also

won the tournament.

This moment felt very unreal to him, almost as if it was a

dream.

It was a while before Bi Fan finally walked off the stage.

He knew that this was just the beginning, he still had a long
way to go, and he needed to look ahead.

Bi Fan walked very slowly towards receiving the trophy; he

knew he couldn’t let this get his head. He still had a long way to
go.

He hadn’t reached his destination; he still needed to work

very hard.

“The tournament has now ended, congratulations to the ones

who ranked high, and those who didn’t, don’t despair, keep
practicing.” Ling Xin Ya said.

Soon, the prizes were awarded; Bi Fan was the last to receive
his.

First prize, a top grade magical instrument, ten ‘inner breath’

Dan pellets and three ‘inner organs’ Dan pellets. As Bi Fan held
these generous rewards in his hands, a wave of emotions
flurried through his body.

“Bi Fan, would you like to enter the devil Jie (territory) for
training?” Ling Xin Ya asked.

“Enter the devil’s territory?” Bi Fan asked, alarmed. He had

no idea what was going on.

The devil’s territory was a region where experience martial

artists would go for training. Some schools would send their
younger disciples to the devil Jie to learn discipline and to train.

Neimen School required their new recruits to undergo one

month of training in devil’s territory.

If they survive this training, then they are officially accepted

as students, and their status in society as well as the treatment
they get would be greatly improved.

Obviously, the only reason Ling Xin Ya would ask him this
was because he wanted to accept Bi Fan as a student.
 Ling Xin Ya stated: “As long as you can survive in the devil’s
periphery for a month, I’m willing to make an exception and
accept you as a student at Neimen School. Think it over.”

“I won’t let you down.” Bi Fan responded without any

hesitation.

As far as he was concerned, there was nothing to think about.

The choice was clear.

To become a student of a man of Ling Xin Ya’s caliber was

something Bi Fan had never imagined.

If he became a student of Ling Xin Ya, then no one would ever

suspect him for the death of Zhu San, when the time came.

But right now, it was time to practice and learn; otherwise the
road ahead could be rough.

“Very well then. After you have passed one month in the
devil’s territory, come and find me at the Yangshan summit.”
Ling Xin Ya took out a golden token from his pocket and handed
it to Bi Fan.

Bi Fan took the token, bowed and said: “Thank you, deputy
sir. I will pass the test you have set for me at any cost.”

“Devil’s territory… no matter how dangerous it might be, I

will survive in it at any cost.” Bi Fan told himself as he stepped
down from the podium.

It was getting late and the selection tournament was over, so

the crowd had begun to disperse. Tomorrow, the student’s
tournament would begin.

“Bi Fan, that was very well done, you were amazing!”
Xiaofeng congratulated Bi Fan as she smilingly patted him on
the shoulders.

Bi Fan was too excited to speak, so he just smiled back at her.

Jing Feng strode over towards Bi Fan and said:

“Congratulations Bi Fan for winning the first prize.”
 “Thank you Jing Feng.” Bi Fan smiled.

Jing Feng’s females fan following was still lingering around

him like wild animals, obsessed.

Even Xiaofeng couldn’t help but stare at Jing Feng for a while,
before she finally turned her head the other way.

Jing Feng asked, “Bi Fan, did he just ask you to break through
to the devil’s territory for training?”

Bi Fan nodded as he asked: “Yes, how do you know that?”

“Well, I guessed that after your astonishing display today, the

deputy would never let you go to any other school. It would be
very strange if he did.” Jing Feng laughed.

Xiaofeng asked in a surprised tone: “Really Bi Fan, the deputy

actually wants to take you as his student?”

“Yes, but only if I pass a month in the devil’s territory.” Bi Fan

replied.

Xiaofeng laughed as she playfully said: “Bi Fan, this is

amazing, you are going to have a very bright future. Don’t
forget us, especially the girl who took care of you.”

“Xiaofeng, I will never forget you. If Yunufeng hadn’t taken

me in, taught me everything I know today, I would still be
farming orchards.” Bi Fan replied back with all his heart.

He really didn’t want to leave Yunufeng. He would never be

able to forget the kindness that Yan Yu Si had shown him.

Jing Feng started shaking his fan again, attracting even more
attention from all the girls around.

“Bi Fan, I will take your leave now. Remember to watch the
tournament tomorrow. And hey, cheer for me.”

“I will be here for you tomorrow, Jing Feng” Bi Fan said,

touching his chin again.
 “Jing Feng, we will also be cheering for you….” The girls
surrounding Jing Feng said as he tried to flee the scene,
seemingly embarrassed by his female fan club.

“He is literally a household name, then why does he get

embarrassed so easily… ” Xiaofeng said as laughed.

Even though she was making fun of Jing Feng, the smile on
her face was proof enough that she only meant it as a
compliment.

Bi Fan could sense that Xiaofeng liked Jing Feng. A sinking

feeling took over his heart.
 Chapter 21 – Watch And Learn

The devil’s territory was massive in size; some considered it to

be boundless. There were a lot of cities on the borders; Jiu You
was one such city.

The devil’s territory was full of demons, and all kinds of

goblins, witches and other evil beings. This place was always
reeking of trouble.

The devil’s territory was a good place for all levels of

practitioners to gain experience and train. Several schools even
sent ‘fetus’ level students into the devil’s territory.

In Jiu You city, a lot of schools had made it compulsory for

their new recruits to survive in the devil’s territory, so they
could learn discipline.

Schools in Quinyang had the same rule; a new student would

have to survive a month inside the devil’s region before starting
training with the school. No exceptions were made, not even if
student belonged to an influential family.
 This was done to improve the self-control of the students and
would provide them with valuable experience, which would
make them better over time.

Bi Fan had received all this information from Xiaofeng.

Xiaofeng had taken the charge to mentally prepare Bi Fan for
this test. She also told him about various other things that
happen inside the devil’s territory.

“Bi Fan, if you wish to survive inside the devil’s territory,

then you will need to be very careful. It’s not the demons that
you really need to worry about, but the people. There will be a
lot of people inside the devil’s territory and you will need to be
careful and on guard against them.” Xiaofeng had cautioned
him.

This made sense to Bi Fan, practitioners competing against

each other often held grudges. If such two martial artists
happened to meet in the devil’s territory, then a blood bath
would be inevitable.

“Thank you Xiaofeng, I will make sure that I’m well prepared
before I enter the devil’s territory.” Bi Fan had said.
 That day, in the evening, Bi Fan practiced even harder than
usual. He even started practicing the first technique from the
secrets of double-edged swords, ‘The rainy-flying sword.’

There was always of chance of running into trouble inside the

devil’s territory, and he needed to be well prepared to defend
himself.

‘The rainy-flying sword’ technique was a rather strange

technique. It didn’t involve much use of strength; in fact the
sword would appear as light as a feather, simply leaning to the
sides.

However, it was a very difficult technique to learn, so

naturally, in such a short time, Bi Fan hadn’t been able to get a
good grasp of things.

In order to defend himself, Bi Fan didn’t mind using the

forbidden techniques. He knew that in critical times, when
things got desperate, forbidden techniques could come in
handy.

So, apart from practicing ‘the rainy-flying sword’, Bi Fan also

practiced ‘the blood devil’ technique.
 Next morning, all the girls from Yunufeng were ready to go
out, to see the student’s tournament, and so was Bi Fan.

Of course, most of these girls were more interested in

watching Jing Feng, rather than the tournament itself.

Today Xiaofeng had dressed up all nice and had even put on
some make-up. She looked very beautiful.

Looking at Xiaofeng made Bi Fan’s heart a little sad. He knew

that she had specially put in so much effort into her appearance
today as she might get to meet Jing Feng.

“Am I falling in love with Xiaofeng? No, I don’t deserve

Xiaofeng.” Bi Fan was a little surprised that this thought had
even come into his mind.

“Xiaofeng has been very kind to me, I’m sure it’s just an
illusion, I’m just very fond of her.” Bi Fan told his heart, in an
attempt to convince himself.
 The Ming Fung valley was even more crowded than it was
yesterday. A large number of people had gathered to witness
that student’s tournament. Even though the tournament hadn’t
started yet, the cheers were already flying in all directions.

“Jing Feng! Jing Feng! You are the most handsome, you are
strongest…” the girls kept shouting after him as he warmed up.

As for the boys, most of them were envious and jealous of Jing
Feng, so they wouldn’t cheer for him much.

“Mo Nan! Mo Nan! Knock out Jing Feng!”

Mo Nan was consider second only to Jing Feng, but he looked

somewhat rugged and violent, so naturally wasn’t a favorite
when it came to the girls. However, when it came to beating
Jing Feng and embarrassing him, he was the best hope the boys
had.

Cheers for Mo Nan were louder, even overshadowed those for

Jing Feng. After all, the number of boys present was more than
girls; hence they were making more noise.
 “Really crazy day, huh!” Bi Fan exclaimed.

Yunufeng girls had arrived a little late, but still managed to

get seats very close to the rings.

Jing Feng quickly spotted Bi Fan and came to join him.

“Bi Fan, you kept your promise.”

Jing Feng had come over to meet Bi Fan so he could get a look
at all the Yunufeng girls, as they rarely ever left the Mountain.
Specially Xiaofeng, as she looked very gorgeous today.

Jing Feng had an accomplished name, and a gifted martial

artist. Furthermore, he really appreciated beauty.

Bi Fan smiled: “Brother, you need to concentrate on your

preparation.”

He couldn’t catch Jing Feng’s gaze, his eyes looked a little

distant.
 “This contest doesn’t require much work” Jing Feng said, in a
relaxed tone.

“Jing Feng, you’re going to win!” A girl shouted.

Jing Feng was already carrying himself as a champion, so no

wonder all the girls were going crazy about him.

Unfortunately, like every other man, Bi Fan couldn’t help but

feel jealous of him.

After the contestants had gathered, Ling Xin Ya took his seat
and announced the start of the tournament.

Ten rings had been set up, and ten sets of officials would be
monitoring and judging the fights.

The contest offered sixteen very generous rewards to the

winners, which attracted a lot of martial artists to participate.

The tournament was being contested by close to a thousand

participants. The ballot would randomly draw out two names,
and the fight would start. The tournament followed an
elimination system, and only the winner would be allowed to
progress to the next round.

The participants would be put in a pool of sixteen, and the

winners would progress to the next pool.

The student’s tournament displayed some excellent fights

between some very talented players, which was the reason it
attracted such a large gathering.

Most of the students were around ‘brave’ layer, even the ones
who were at ‘inner breath’ layer, were stronger than ordinary
martial artists of the same rank as they knew some really skilled
techniques.

To win at such a level, one would require a great amount of

skill.

Bi Fan was already mesmerized, plus, he really wanted see

some new tricks.
 Bi Fan could now easily memorize new things, so he could use
this skill and collect books that illustrated the new techniques
that he witnesses, and then learn them.

And as long as he could a good look at the technique, he would

be able to memorize it by heart with ease.

Even if he wasn’t strong enough to practice these techniques,

it would make it easier to deal with them if he ever encountered
them in the future.

Not just that, the more skills he picked up, the easier it would
be for him to come up with his own variations, which would
very beneficial for him.

Previously, Bi Fan’s memory hadn’t been very strong, but now

he could remember things with ease, which was oddly
surprising.

Bi Fan wasn’t aware that most of the changes in his body were
brought about by the Ying Yang lotus. He believed that it was
the Wannian Spirit Milk that had given him such amazing
talents.
 Xioafeng was sitting beside Bi Fan and was constantly looking
at him as his eyes swept from one ring to the other, studying
and observing the different techniques on display.

She was rather surprised, so she asked him: “Bi Fan, can you
make you what they are doing?”

“Keep looking.” He replied, not even bothering to face her.

He needed to pay a very close attention to the techniques on

display in order to practice them later.

“Bi Fan, you’d be better off picking one stage and watching
the fight. It would help you gain some experience.” Xiaofeng
advised.

“I know.”

Bi Fan’s eyes still not glued to one ring, as he continuously

kept changing his line of sight to get a look at new skills.

“HMMPPHH” Xiaofeng groaned, slightly animated and

offended.
 Chapter 22 – Disgraced

Finally, it was Jing Feng’s turn, and the Ming Fung Valley
came to life amidst deafening cheers and screams.

“Jing Feng! Jing Feng! I love you! You’re the best!….”

All the girls were standing up and cheering for him.

Yunufeng girls were no exception, they were shouting so loud

that Bi Fan felt as if his ear drums would explode.

Xiaofeng wasn’t shouting or cheering but looked seemingly

tensed.

“Maybe I’m over conscious of my status. If I feel slightly

better about my position, then maybe Xiaofeng will like me
more.” Bi Fan tried to reason with himself.

Jing Feng walked onto the stage and took out a top grade
magical weapon, a pike. The pike stood over two meters in
height, and Jing Feng stood there, looking like a tiger. An
elegant tiger, waiting to devour his prey.

This action seemed deliberate on Jing Feng’s part and drew a

lot of cheers from the crowd.

Jing Feng’s opponent was a man named Han Zhuang. He was

a third-year student, big and brawny, but was no match for Jing
Feng. Which he seemed well aware of as he didn’t really seem
interested in even putting up a fight.

“My respected opponent, now’s your chance to make a run for

it.” Jing Feng pointed his pike towards his opponent and
charged straight for him at a thunderous speed.

Han Zhuang, seeing Jing Feng charge, looked terrified, and

stripped of any desire to fight.

“I give up!”

As his opponent resigned from the fight, Jing Feng stopped

his weapon close to his face and withdrew it to a standing
position. He stood there with his pike next to him, tall and
proud.
 “Jing Feng! Jing Feng! You’re so handsome!”

The girls in the Ming Fung Valley started screaming again,

their voices flooding the arena like a tsunami.

Xioafeng’s beautiful eyes were looking at Jing Feng, the look

in them clearly indicated the attraction she felt for him.

Bi Fan’s head was hung low, his heart, even lower.

Bi Fan liked two women in this world; one was Xiaofeng, and
the other, Yan Yu Si, who was helping him with his career.

Yan Yu Si was not only the master of Yunufeng, but she was
also very widely respected as one the most talented geniuses in
Quinyang. In fact, she was well known and respected in the
Tian Yu world as the master of one of the best schools, Xuannu
palace.

She was so far beyond Bi Fan’s reach that even dreaming of

her seemed unrealistic.
 Relatively, Xiaofeng was a lot closer to Bi Fan and had been
looking after him.

Earlier Bi Fan had never had any hope of improving his

strength but at least now he could afford that luxury.

Unfortunately, she seemed interested in Jing Feng and even

though Bi Fan could consider fighting off others, he knew that
he was no match for Jing Feng. Jing Feng was far too superior
to him in skill, and he could never hope to compete with him.

Bi Fan in his depressed state couldn’t help but think of Yan Yu

Si’s voice and gradually a smile returned to his face as he felt
good again.

The contest progressed very quickly, and most of the skills on

display gradually started repeating. Bi Fan would remain very
relaxed until he found something new, something he hadn’t
seen before.

The Neimen school students were usually much better than

their competitors and relatively stronger than Bi Fan; he was
paying special attention to them.
 Compared to these skills, ‘blood devil’ and ‘rainy-fly sword’
were much darker techniques.

Bi Fan put his thoughts aside, and began concentrating on

memorizing as many techniques as he could.

Xiaofeng looked at Bi Fan’s ecstatic face, she felt her heart

flutter.

Some say that passionate men are the most attractive.

If Bi Fan knew that he was attracting interest from Xiaofeng,

his now calm heart would revert back to a state of turmoil.

The second round was under progress, and Jing Feng made
his way to stage again.

Jing Feng took out his pike and charged straight for his
opponent again, and the fight again was resolved very quickly.
Another easy victory for him.
 Jing Feng was extremely strong and had a decorated name,
and over the years had disciplined himself as a martial artist. He
was already in the ‘transformation’ layer.

Amongst the Neimen students Jing Feng was the deserved

best and by some margin at that. But Mo Nan could still hope to
compete against him.

Even if Jing Feng came across a Neimen student, they would

be too afraid to fight him. Most of them considered him to be
unbeatable.

Jing Feng stood there, tall and proud, undefeated, ready for
any fight.

Mo Nan had been watching Jing Feng carefully; he didn’t care

much about winning or losing. He just wanted to give Jing Feng
a run for his money.

Mo Nan’s eyes met Jing Feng’s and time seemed to freeze for
them.
 Bi Fan looked at the two of them: “I must become stronger,
and sooner or later, I will get there too.”

The contest continued, and there were some excellent displays

of strength and technique.

Jing Feng and Mo Nan were both very talented. And almost
no other fighter was a match for either of them.

In the recent years, Quinyang schools had been unable to

recruit a very large number of genuinely talented fighters. So
naturally, the really talented fighters were very much sought
after.

Because of this, whenever, Ling Xin Ya spotted a talented

youngster, he would quickly inquire into their lives before
accepting them as a student.

Jing Feng again swept his rival outside the ring with his pike
and won conveniently.

Mo Nan wasn’t weak either, he would charge his opponents

like a viper, and his with his double-edged sword assisting him,
would force his opponents to admit defeat.

Jing Feng again took the stage, and knocked his opponent
around till he admitted defeat.

Mo Nan’s feather light sword would reach his opponent’s

throat making them submit to his superiority.

…… …….

The arena was becoming a place to watch out for these two
performers, Jing Feng and Mo Nan, each had their own unique
skill set and their mutual rivalry.

The stands were divided into two factions, the girls were
cheering for Jing Feng whereas the boys were supporting Mo
Nan.

Ming Fung Valley was bustling with excitement, it was

reaching a point where it could be a few days before the noise of
the tournament would stop resonating.
 After one day of memorizing so many different skills, Bi Fan
felt as if head was going to explode.

Most of the participants had been knocked out of the

tournament and were beginning to leave, as the day was coming
to an end, the tournament would continue on the next day.

With the contest over for the day, Jing Feng was again
surrounded with girls, and could help but produce a wry smile.

Yunufeng girls also wanted to butt in, so they dragged Bi Fan

along.

It was obvious that Jing Feng was extremely popular, and they
need Bi Fan to get his attention.

They hadn’t gone too far before being stopped by five boys.

“If it isn’t the beauties of Yunufeng, you should hurry back to

your mountain…” spoke a man with a face as black as charcoal.

Bi Fan on account of everything that had been going on today,

especially after Jing Feng’s display was feeling slightly
provocative.

Xiaofeng said in a cold voice: “what do you want Luo Sheng?”

“Nothing really, I just heard about a male student from

Yunufeng who has a good relation with Jing Feng. A strong and
desirable talent, so I just decided to take a look for myself.”

Luo Sheng turned to face Bi Fan, who would normally do

anything to avoid trouble.

Nope, not today.

Bi Fan took a couple of steps forward, carefully looked at Luo

Sheng and said: “Brother, leave just the way you came, before
you disgrace yourself.”

His words were enough, the Yunufeng girls started laughing,

and even Xiaofeng couldn’t help but produce a slight smile.

The look on Luo Sheng’s face drastically changed, he was

suddenly red and purple with anger.

“Oh, so you think that because you’re friends with Jing Feng,
I won’t touch you? Boy, I challenge you!”

“Oh, so you’ve been a student for years and still go around

challenging new comers if they make you blush, well, given
your complexion, I can’t even tell if you’re blushing or not.”

Xiaofeng was afraid that Bi Fan might accept the challenge.

She wanted to say something as she knew that if he accepted the
challenge, there would be no way out of it.

“I accept the challenge! But …….” Bi Fan suddenly responded.

 Chapter 23 – Prancing Tiger

“Bi Fan….” Xiaofeng spoke up, she was trying to stop Bi Fan
from accepting the challenge, but now she couldn’t do anything,
Bi Fan had already replied, and foolishly gone ahead to accept
the challenge.

Luo Sheng had already entered the ‘spiritual intelligence’

layer and was a well-known disciple at the Niemen school.

Xiaofeng knew that even though Bi Fan was a very talented

fighter, he would still not be able to match up to Luo Sheng.

Luo Sheng was very pleased that Bi Fan had agreed to accept
his challenge and asked: “You were saying something “but”….?”

“Since the challenge was raised by you, I will get to decide the
time and place.” Bi Fan said with a smile on his face.

“Of course, any place, anytime you like.”

Xiaofeng interrupted again: “Bi Fan, set the time for the
match for a decade from now.”

Luo Sheng’s expression suddenly changed, he had no idea

what the situation would be a decade from now.

“Luo Sheng, I don’t require ten years to beat you, I set the
time of the match to one year from now at this disciples contest
next year.” Bi Fan said confidently.

“Well, then in a year from now, I will make you regret today’s
decision.” Luo Sheng replied with a grave look on his face,
looking mostly towards Xiaofeng.

Satisfied with himself, Luo Sheng left with his friends.

“Bi Fan, hesitating to set the challenge for ten years from now
is understandable, but you will at least need three years. How
will you be able to reach ‘spiritual intelligence’ layer in one
year? That’s just not possible.” Xiaofeng scolded Bi Fan,
animatedly angry with him.

“Xiaofeng, I assure you that in a year from now, I will be able

to beat him.”
 Bi Fan needed Luo Sheng to motivate him. If he needed to
win, he would have to train harder, and could use this challenge
to encourage himself.

He had started out much later than his contemporaries,

meaning he would have to put in extra effort. If he couldn’t
even challenge Luo Sheng, then how could he even hope of
competing against Mo Nan or Jing Feng.

Moreover, as he would step outside Quinyang, there would be

several others, others who would be much stronger.

Xiaofeng walked away in anger: “You do whatever you feel

like.”

Her mind was busy thinking: “Bi Fan will have to grow at least
two layers before he can hope to win against Luo Sheng.”

Upon returning to the mountain, Xiaofeng was still angry

with Bi Fan as she continued to sulk, so Bi Fan picked up his
books and continued from where he had left.
 Bi Fan wasn’t aware that Xiaofeng was angry with him
because she was concerned about him.

He picked up the books and started to read.

He started reading about ‘Prancing Tiger’ boxing technique

and ‘Fufeng double-edged sword secrets’, both of which he had
noticed today at the tournament.

He was already capable of practicing ‘FuFeng double-edged

sword secrets’.

The technique contained seventy two strokes, elegant and

light, which would make the sword appear as light a feather.

In the tournament, a lot of students had used these

techniques, and Bi Fan had tried to memorize as much of them
as possible.

Bi Fan kept replaying the techniques in his head till he was

sure he remembered them by heart.
 Bi Fan was not very anxious to start practicing so soon, so
picked up the ‘prancing tiger’ and started reading it very
carefully.

‘Prancing tiger’ boxing technique was a firm and ferocious

technique that had not originated from the Quinyang region. In
fact, the technique itself was very different from the usual
Quinyang techniques.

Most of the techniques practiced in Quinyang were agile and

elegant. These techniques usually required the martial artist to
be as fast as lightening.

In fact, even Jing Feng’s display with the pike was also very
unusual for a Quinyang student.

Bi Fan spent some time to memorize the ‘prancing tiger’

boxing technique thoroughly.

Afterwards, he decided to start practicing the ‘Fufeng double-

edged sword secrets’ first, as he had already been practicing
‘rainy-fly sword’, and the two techniques were quite similar in
nature.
 It was imperative for him to increase his strength. ‘Fufeng
double-edged sword secrets’ could prove to be a lifesaving
technique, and he was still some distance away from being able
to make use of ‘prancing tiger’ technique properly.

He practiced for most of the night, and managed to learn over

twenty strokes, but was still far being proficient with their use.

The next morning, Bi Fan got up early to take a look at the

medicine orchard, so he could look at the panacea, and found
that Greedy had made a meal out of two more of them.

Bi Fan would personally dig out the herbs for Greedy, if the
Long Diao dug them out on his own; it could harm the other
Panacea as well.

After completing his work, he met up with Xiaofeng and left

for Ming Fung Valley to watch the tournament.

Watching the tournament was very important for Bi Fan, not

only could he gain some valuable combat experience, but also
get a glimpse of various new skills.
 Memorizing different skills would help him with his practice
and combat experience would pay dividends at a later stage in
life.

If it wasn’t for these reasons, he wouldn’t have gone to

tournament. He had no interest in enjoying himself; he wasn’t
as lively at heart as the other people.

Ming Fung Valley was bustling with even more excitement as

compared to yesterday, as most of the martial artists had been
eliminated leaving only the stronger ones standing.

The elimination rounds continued after the grouping process.

Jing Feng and Mo Nan were both able to clear their pools with
ease.

As the tournament progressed through to noon, the top

sixteen had already been picked.

The tournament offered some very generous rewards,

incentives for the top six were a lot better than the following ten
positions. Obviously, the rewards for the top three positions
were the most lucrative.
 First reward was obviously the best, a top grade magical
weapon enough to make any participant go crazy.

In addition, the top three would be getting up to ten pellets of

nine different types of Dan. After winning the championship,
with the help of these rewards, it would make it a lot easier to
break into the ‘emerging from womb’ category.

Normally, it would be very difficult for a student to obtain

such high level Dan pellets, and one would have to make a
substantial amount of contribution to the schools for such
rewards.

These rewards were enough to tempt any student.

In addition, the winner would be allowed to pick their weapon

of choice as their prize from the Quinyang arsenal, which made
the reward even more maddening.

In contrast, the second position would get a magical weapon

along with nine pellets each of eight different types of Dan.

The students who had made it to the top sixteen were gearing
up for the battles ahead, they all wanted to end up as high as
possible.

These participants were the elite ones, and were extremely

strong and skilled, much more than Bi Fan. And Bi Fan was
ready to learn as much from their displays as possible.

This level would be decided in a wheel like fashion, each

contestant was up against his entire fifteen opponents. Each
participant would have to fight three fights and the total
aggregation of points at the end of the fights would determine
the champion. If two fighters had the same points then their
head to head points would be the deciding factor.

At midday, a one hour break was announced, and after much

trouble, Jing Feng was somehow able to get rid of his female fan
club and came to sit beside Bi Fan.

Even though Jing Feng had come to chat with Bi Fan, his
attention had been more towards Xiaofeng’s body.

He seemed to be attracted to Xiaofeng’s good looks, and was

continuously looking at her body, making it obvious that he was
interested in Xiaofeng.
 Most of the other Yunufeng girls were seemingly envious of
Xiaofeng, but since they considered her to be their sister, they
wouldn’t try causing any trouble.

Moreover, most of them were happy enough to get a chance of

getting close to Jing Feng.

Only Bi Fan was in a gloomy mood. He wished he could run

away to some distant place so his heart could find some peace.
 Chapter 24 – The Champion

Jing Feng’s first opponent was fairly strong. He had already

reached ‘spiritual intelligence’ layer.

Unfortunately for the latter, Jing Feng was in the

‘transformation layer’, and his pike made the match even more
hopeless for his opponent. Even though Jing Feng’s opponent
was fairly strong, matching Jing Feng’s strength and his
powerful weapon at the same time was futile.

With his weapon to aid him, Jing Feng ended the fight in just
five strikes, winning a huge amount of applause from the
crowd.

Jing Feng managed to win his fight with ease.

Mo Nan managed to win his fight with just as much ease as

Jing Feng. In fact, it seemed that Mo Nan was trying to draw a
parallel with Jing Feng as he seemed determined to finish his
fight in five strikes, same as Jing Feng.

However, Mo Nan’s fighting style was very different from

Jing Feng’s; his attacks were fast and elegant, complying
exceptionally well with the general fighting style of the
Quinyang region.

Jing Feng on the other hand preferred to go with strength. He

used his wild and overbearing strength to defeat his opponents,
with was unusual for Quinyang disciples. And he managed to
use his weapon to a formidable effect.

Mo Nan and Jing Feng represented the young and upcoming

generation of Quinyang martial artists, and were two very
highly objectified personalities.

Most people present were anxious to watch the two of them

compete against each other.

To be honest, apart from Mo Nan and Jing Feng, the

Quinyang schools had nothing much to show for. Most of the
other students were in ‘spiritual intelligence’ layer, which could
only be considered moderate from the general standards, and
wasn’t enough to attract much attention.

Bi Fan was gaining a lot from this tournament.

 After the final sixteen had been selected, this final round had
exhibited some excellent and fierce fights, which had enabled Bi
Fan to gain some very valuable experience and a lot of new
tricks to memorize.

With the knowledge of these new techniques and some very

valuable combat experience, Bi Fan’s own future practice would
become a lot smoother.

Xiaofeng was watching Bi Fan as he took in everything he

could, and couldn’t help but secretly admire Bi Fan.

“So diligent and studious, he really might be capable of

becoming one of the strongest of his generation.”

As the rounds went on, both Mo Nan and Jing Feng

maintained their unbeaten streak.

Finally, towards the end of the tournament, it was time for

Jing Feng and Mo Nan to fight against each other.

This fight itself was basically the championship; the winner of

this match would be crowned the champion.
 Mo Nan and Jing Feng both came on to the stage, their eyes
watching each other’s movements, crying for battle.

“Jing Feng! Jing Feng! You’re going to win…”

“Mo Nan! Mo Nan! You can beat him…”

Jing Feng was a thorn in the armpit of the male disciples and
they desperately wanted Mo Nan to win.

Jing Feng’s charm on the other hand made the girls go wild,
who otherwise weren’t much interested in the fighting.

Most of the couples standing in the crowd parted ways to

cheer for their fighter, as most of the boys were hoping for Jing
Feng to lose.

At the referee’s signal, the fight began, but both Mo Nan and
Jing Feng stood still, eye-balling each other.
 “Mo Nan, Mo Nan! Hear all you friends cheering for me. Not
so charming now huh?” Mo Nan said.

Jing Feng’s reply wasn’t audible.

But whatever Jing Feng said, was clearly enough to make Mo

Nan very angry, as his face turned red.

“Fufeng double-edged willow!” Mo Nan was the first one to

launch an attack.

“Divine despot, rushing thunder!” Jing Feng launched his

attack in full force almost simultaneously.

Mo Nan’s attack seemed as light as feather, but its exceptional

speed made it very dangerous.

His fighting style was the epitome of Quinyang’s martial arts.

Jing Feng’s ‘rushing thunder’ attack was equally quick and

awfully ferocious.
 Mo Nan was well aware of Jing Feng’s style, and wasn’t
foolish enough to take his strike head on.

Mo Nan’s sword appeared like a serpent, quickly changing

directions to avoid Jing Feng’s swinging pike and constantly
aimed at his chest.

Jing Feng couldn’t afford to be careless as he swung his pike,

retreating.

Even a very small mistake in this fight could prove to be very

dangerous.

If Jing Feng made even the slightest mistake, Mo Nan

wouldn’t hesitate from making a meal out of him.

Mo Nan was easily able to dodge Jing Feng’s pike and was
managing to close in on Jing Feng at every opportunity.

Mo Nan’s was far too agile from Quinyang’s standards.

 And his exceptional sword-play was even more challenging.

Mo Nan was constantly looking for opportunities to close

down Jing Feng.

Jing Feng on the other hand was trying to retreat, so he could

make room to execute his powerful strikes.

As the fight started, Mo Nan had managed to gain the upper

hand, leaving the spectators marveled.

Bi Fan had been watching very carefully, and couldn’t help

but admire Mo Nan, specially his agility; he was nothing short
of marvelous.

Bi Fan was trying to draw comparisons between Mo Nan’s

footwork and the ‘dance of mist’.

Mo Nan’s display was hugely beneficial for Bi Fan.

And Mo Nan’s ‘Fufeng double-edged willow’ technique was

even more educative for Bi Fan.
 He has just started practicing ‘Fufeng double-edged sword’ but
had been unable to understand it completely, but now things
were becoming clearer.

Jing Feng had been at a disadvantage so far, and had been

constantly forced to retreat, making him very angry.

“Divine Despot – Thunder Fury!”

Jing Feng finally found room to make his move, he raised his
pike and countless thunderous bolts enveloped the ring.

Jing Feng wasn’t strong enough to provoke really harmful

thunder to attack his enemy with.

But even then, the noise of the thunder was deafening.

The ‘thunder fury’ enveloped the whole ring, and Mo Nan had
nowhere to hide, all he could do was dodge it and repel it.
 “Dhumm…. Dhummm…” successive collisions with the
thunder forced Mo Nan to retreat.

Jing Feng’s pike was constantly aimed at Mo Nan, as he kept

attacking, forcing Mo Nan take back steps in quick succession,
while giving him no space to breathe.

The fierce winds that were emanating from the ring were
simply amazing; Bi Fan could barely see the fighting.

Mo Nan was extraordinary, and with the help of his agility,

didn’t allow Jing Feng do any damage for a long time.

But with time, Jing Feng’s attack only got stronger and even
fiercer.

Mo Nan was somehow able to dodge for the time being but
wouldn’t be able to last very long.

Between the two of them, Jing Feng was stronger than Mo

Nan, but Mo Nan was quicker on his feet.
 Over time, the pros and cons of both the fighters would
become clearer.

Jing Feng was looking good at the moment, and seemed to be

taking control of the situation, no wonder all the girls were
going crazy about him.

Whenever Bi Fan took a moment out to look at Xiaofeng, all

he saw was the splendor with which her eyes watch Jing Feng.

At the moment Bi Fan’s mood wasn’t so bad, so he wasn’t sure

if he really like Xiaofeng or he was he simply very fond of her.

When it had come to love, Bi Fan had wanted it to be Yan Yu

Si, but he knew that he couldn’t even think of getting her, not
even in a distant dream.

As Bi Fan continued to watch the contest, Jing Feng had

established a very firm upper hand, Mo Nan was being
suppressed, Mo Nan was running out of space to move into, the
result of this fight wasn’t very far now.

Mo Nan and Jing Feng had fought each other several times,
and Jing Feng had always managed to beat him, but Mo Nan
had never given up.

“I accept defeat.” Mo Nan had nowhere to go, no place to hide,

so he accepted his defeat with a straight face.

“You gave up!” Jing Feng replied, his face calm, not delighted.

The contest came to an end soon enough and Jing Feng was
crowned the undisputed champion.

Even the boys around the ring, still feeling jealous of Jing
Feng, couldn’t help but cheer for him.

Strength was everything; strength could win over anyone,

even the enemy.

Today, Bi Fan had learnt a lot, even more so than yesterday.

While the others were screaming and cheering, Bi Fan kept his
head down, he was trying to recollect all the fighting he had
seen, all those wonderful images filled up his mind.
 Bi Fan’s memory was amazing, he felt as if he was witnessing
everything again, allowing him to retrospect the day’s events in
detail.
 Chapter 25 – A Conspiracy Brews

After returning to Yunufeng, Bi Fan began practicing daily.

He had memorized several new techniques and had started

practicing some of them, a few days had passed and with every
passing day, he felt more and more comfortable with these new
skills.

He had learnt a lot about ‘Fufeng double-edged sword’ from

Mo Nan’s display and had been practicing it very frequently,
and to his surprise, was able to master the technique in a rather
short span of time.

Presently, the sun had already set and Bi Fan was ready for his
nightly practice.

He had been very excited with his progress regarding his

sword play and couldn’t sleep much even if he wanted to, so he
decided to take Greedy to the orchard for his meal.

The orchard, under Bi Fan’s care was coming out really well,
with all kinds of herbs growing healthily, and Greedy would still
get his two herbs a day.

Bi Fan’s life had taken a very calm note; he was practicing

steadily every day, preparing himself to take on the devil’s
territory.

On the other hand, after watching Bi Fan at the selection, Zhu

San’s life had been turned upside down. He too, was having
sleepless nights, but his reasons differed.

“I must kill Bi Fan. He has been accepted as a student by the

deputy, and sooner or later, will become exceptionally strong
and influential. If I don’t kill him now, then he is going to get
me later on for sure.” Zhu San was willing to consider any and
all means to eliminate Bi Fan.

Zhu San had been carrying a very gloomy look on his face
these past few days, constantly thinking about his new problem
and trying to contemplate means to sort it out.

“I need to find a man who has an axe to grind with Bi Fan. But
this man should be strong enough to take on Bi Fan. Where will
I find such a man in Quinyang….”
 Zhu San shook his head thinking: “No man from Quinyang
would dare to break into Yunufeng and kill Bi Fan. But I need
him dead as soon as possible. He becomes stronger with every
passing day.”

The thought of Lou Sheng sprouted into Zhu San’s head. Not
only was Lou Sheng a core student of Neimen school, he was
also the grandson of a very influential monk.

Bi Fan had disgraced Lou Sheng after his victory at the

selection and everyone at Quinyang was aware of it.

Lou Sheng wasn’t the kind of man who would take such a
disgrace with ease, and would be definitely holding a grudge
against Bi Fan. This meant that he could be tempted into killing
Bi Fan.

Zhu San decided to use this feud, after all, who better to kill Bi
Fan than such a powerful and influential man, and even if
somehow Bi Fan managed to prevail, he would end up making
even more powerful enemies.

Lou Sheng resided at the ‘peak of light’ and that way exactly
where Zhu San needed to go.
 Zhu San knew that the guard at the gate wouldn’t let him
through, and he couldn’t trespass into the vicinity in bright day
light. So after a bit of struggle, he somehow managed to get a
message across to Lou Sheng.

Since the message spoke of Bi Fan being a common enemy,

Lou Sheng was naturally interested in knowing more.

Bi Fan had just barely managed to become a disciple and was

already challenging Lou Sheng’s authority. This wasn’t even
remotely acceptable to Lou Sheng and he had been looking for
means to teach Bi Fan a lesson.

Lou Sheng asked Zhu San to meet him at the ‘peak of light’
and came personally to greet him.

“I heard that you requested this meeting with Bi Fan in mind,

make it quick. You are causing an obstruction in my training
and if I’m not satisfied at the conclusion of this meet then the
consequences will be severe of you.” Lou Sheng said in a very
cool voice.
 Zhu San’s face turned purple with fear, making him look even
uglier.

Zhu San would not dare to talk any nonsense at this point, so
he quickly got to the bottom line and said: “Bi Fan has only just
started practicing a few months ago, and in a very short span of
time managed to become strong enough to win the selection
tournament. He is moving up too quickly.”

Lou Sheng listened carefully to everything that Zhu San had

to say, his expressions changing constantly.

“Zhu San, isn’t that your name? You’ve managed to offend Bi

Fan, and now you’re afraid that he’s going to take his revenge
on you. So now you have come to ask for help in order to get rid
of him, but what’s in it for me?” Lou Sheng smiled.

Zhu San suddenly became very excited and his face reflected
it: “Lou Sheng, you are such a respected….”

“Don’t give me any of that, I have agreed to fight Bi Fan at the

tournament next year, and I will emerge victorious, that is the
only possible outcome.” Lou Sheng stated, interrupting Zhu
San.
 “Lou Sheng sir, I’m willing to offer all my saving in return for
this favor.” Zhu San said, gritting his teeth.

“No, no…. I’m not interested in your savings, but I heard that
you’re managing a medicine orchard, and I would require a
good amount of Panacea for my training…” Lou Sheng said,
shaking his finger.

As soon as Zhu San heard Lou Sheng’s demand, he felt foolish

of himself.

“If you do not agree to my terms, then you will be going down
sooner or later.” Lou Sheng stated.

Zhu San was mad with fury and looked at Lou Sheng: “Lou
Sheng sir, please give me some time to arrange the Panacea you
require.”

“You can take your time, you can leave now.” Lou Sheng said,
although it sounded like more of an order.
 Zhu San quickly left the ‘peak of light’ and his heart rained
curses at Lou Sheng: “I gave you vital information, and instead
of helping me, you want to extort Panacea from me with
threats. I curse you; I curse that you never be able to practice
another day.”

Zhu San fat body looked like a ball, clumsily shaking down the
mountain.

“What do you plan on doing, young one?” Spoke a man named

Li Yu Feng, a senior disciple at the ‘peak of light’.

Li Yu Feng had been over hearing their conversation, but

hadn’t spoken out until now.

“Bi Fan is an evil doer. If Zhu San is telling the truth about Bi
Fan, that means that Bi Fan must have encountered some sort of
a miracle in the Wan Snake Cave which is the reason he has
been able to progress so quickly in such a short span of time.
Moreover, there is no saying where he could go from now, as
nothing about his encounters in the cave is known, I need to get
rid of him quickly.”

Lou Sheng said as his eyes reflected a lining of haze and his
fists were clenched so tight that his veins sprouted out.

Li Yu Feng warned: “Young one, think of things from a long

term perspective. Killing a fellow disciple in Quinyang is a very
serious crime, and is known to be punished very severely. Be
careful.”

“Don’t worry about it, he dared to challenge me, I will bury

him while his body still draws breath.” Lou Sheng replied in a
very cold tone.

Meanwhile Bi Fan was busy with his practice in Yunufeng,

and knew nothing of the developments in the outside world. He
was completely unaware that Zhu San had been setting up trap
for him, and was just sitting there and waiting for him to walk
right into it.

His practice with his sword play had been coming out very
well. He was practicing both ‘Fufeng double-edge sword’ and
‘rainy-fly sword’. He was confident that both these techniques
would come in handy at a later stage.

He was extremely happy that he was now capable of

generating a lot more force with the ‘immortal finger’, but even
then, at his current level, he couldn’t go much further than the
first move of the ‘free burst’ techniques.

‘The immortal finger’ after all, was only a basic foundation

level move in the ‘free burst’ technique.

‘The dance of mist’ and ‘free burst’ at the end of the day were
techniques that required a practitioner to be in the ‘emerging
from womb’ category before the practitioner could fully make
use of them. So Bi Fan presently, was only able to practice the
very basic moves.

Even so, at present, even the basic moves were enough to take
care of his enemies.

Recently, Bi Fan had also started practicing the ‘prancing

tiger’ boxing technique. But the ‘prancing tiger’ boxing, again,
required him to be a lot stronger before he could employ in
properly in combat.

But Bi Fan continued to stubbornly practice the ‘prancing

tiger’ boxing as he was sure that it would help him increase his
strength and the skill would come in handy in a fight, if it was
ever needed.
 With a blooming mood, Bi Fan was preparing himself for the
battles ahead.

Nowadays, Bi Fan had already reached the peak of ‘inner

breath’ layer, and need to find a way to break into ‘inner
organs’ layer now.

He practiced harder and harder as he needed to bottleneck

through to the next layer without wasting any time.

Bi Fan was running short on time, so he decided to go away

from the mountain, so he wanted get some outside experience
which might help him break through to the next layer.

As far as going into the devil’s territory was concerned, Bi Fan

decided to wait until he had broken into the ‘inner organs’
layer, just to be safe.

Bi Fan decided to see Xiaofeng before departing from the

mountain for his practice.
 Chapter 26 – A Bitter Encounter

Upon finding out that Bi Fan wished to go down the mountain

for training and to gain some experience, Xiaofeng gave him her
permission.

Next morning, Bi Fan was ready to set off, along with Greedy.

Xiaofeng personally came to see him off: “Bi Fan, take care of
yourself.”

Bi Fan boarded the red-crowned crane, and waved good bye,

his eyes gleamed with a hint of moisture.

The crane took off and flew out of sight and into the horizon
at a very quick pace, and soon Bi Fan was at the foot of the
mountain.

The last time Bi Fan was in the region, he had managed to

procure an awful amount of items.

Bi Fan hadn’t really used any of these items yet, but wasn’t
against the idea of using them for the purpose of his training.

Bi Fan had a lot of ‘inner organs’ Dan pellets and could use
them to quickly break through to the ‘inner organs’ layers.

But Bi Fan didn’t want to use them too early, as he didn’t want
to build up his strength on a shaky foundation. Hence, he had
been waiting for the opportune time to use these subsidiaries.

While on the road to Quinyang town, Bi Fan decided that it

was time to go on a shopping spree in order to make
preparations for the road ahead.

In possession of the Tian Yuan ring and two Yin Yang

pouches, Bi Fan knew that storing all that he needed and even a
little extra wouldn’t be an issue.

Soon after, Bi Fan planned on taking off to Ting Feng valley;

he needed to buy a few items before going into the devil’s
territory.

Bi Fan intended to use his strength to survive in the devil’s

territory. The entry into the devil’s territory was regulated,
there was a registration process that would mark the entry and
exit time of anyone entering the region. So Bi Fan knew that he
wouldn’t have to worry about any proof of the time spent in the
region.

Bi Fan decided against using the divine essence seals he

possessed.

He wanted to travel on foot, just to experience the

countryside.

Bi Fan had already bought a map of Jiu Yu territory, as he was

afraid that he might not be able to find the place on his own.

He decided to rest in Quinyang town for a while before setting

off again.

The path was rocky and rugged, the road was surrounded by
soaring peaks and the sound of water flowing in the river
nearby made it a very pleasant journey.

“It’s so beautiful!” Bi Fan thought to himself, mesmerized by

nature’s charm.
 Just as he was appreciating the scenery, he suddenly started
feeling uneasy in his gut, like something was about to happen.

And suddenly, Bi Fan was on high alert, ready for anything at

any moment.

In front of him lay the passage of going into the forest, a dense
forest with tall and towering trees all around.

As he got closer to the forest, Bi Fan’s earlier tranquil state of

mind had now drastically changed.

However, upon reaching the entrance of the forest, Bi Fan

decided to go inside, without the slightest trace of hesitation.

It takes more than just luck to become powerful, one requires

many other virtues, such as willpower, valor, and wisdom.

If Bi Fan had backed off from going into the forest because he
was afraid, then where would he find the courage he would
needed for the thousands of other obstacles that waited out
there for him in the devils’ territory.

With the light-ray double-edged sword in his hand, Bi Fan

moved forward quickly, paying extreme attention to his
surroundings for any sign of trouble.

“Haha, you’re a careful one, aren’t you?” suddenly a man

laughing rather heartily came out of the woods and walked into
Bi Fan’s path.

The man, covered in black from head to toe, seemed awfully

strong and exuded a strong negative vibe.

Needless to that this man was a rather strong martial artist

was judging by the aura he expelled, a follower of the devil’s
ways.

Bi Fan’s mind was shaking with fear as he could make out that
the man in front of him was at least one or two layers above his
strength.

The man on the other hand, was at ease, and seemed to like
this game of cat and mouse that he had been playing with Bi
Fan. Moreover, he seemed to be appreciating the fearful look on
Bi Fan’s face.

But well, Bi Fan turned out to be a disappointment on that

note, as he calmed down soon enough.

“Looks like you’re here to kill me, what are you waiting for
then? Are you afraid of me?”

This infuriated the man: “Boy, you look like you’re in a hurry
to die. But I won’t make it that easy for you. First I will beat
you, and then torture you in more ways than you can count. I
won’t allow you die even after you have lost all will to live.”

Bi Fan lashed at the man, putting ‘Fufeng double-edged

sword’ technique to use.

Bi Fan had already learned all the seventy-two strokes of the

‘Fufeng double-edged sword’ technique, and now was his
chance to put it to use.

Bi Fan had managed to incorporate the ‘dance of mist’

footwork with his sword play, making his attacks very quick,
graceful and effective.

The man suddenly took out a very dark colored broadsword,

and managed to repel Bi Fan’s attack.

“Boy, you have done a good job learning the ’Fufeng double-
edged sword’, but your strength is no match for mine.” The
man said as he repelled Bi Fan’s attack, seeming exceptionally
relaxed.

“He’s in the ‘spiritual intelligence’ layer!” Bi Fan realized in

that shocking moment.

This man could indeed kill Bi Fan with ease, he was stronger
than most of the core disciples of Quinyang schools, and was at
the same level as the top students in Neimen.

Bi Fan had never fought such a strong opponent before, and

things weren’t looking good for him.

Bi Fan knew that things were going to get very complicated

here; he had gotten himself into a very tricky situation here.
 “Well, By, since, you have just realized the true difference
between our strength levels, surrender. And I will make this
easy for you.” The man said, overly arrogant of his ability.

Bi Fan, presently, was at the peak of ‘inner breath’ layer, and

the gap in their strengths was three layers. Even with all the
skills and techniques that Bi Fan was aware of, he couldn’t think
of any that would allow him to cover up such a massive
difference.

Even while his mind was busy thinking of a way to get out of
this situation, he didn’t let his hands sit idly. He kept attacking
his enemy with his sword.

Even though he knew he would lose, he still, couldn’t admit

defeat.

The man on the other hand, seemed to be intentionally

teasing Bi Fan, as he constantly blocked Bi Fan’s every attack
with ease, but didn’t launch any counter-attacks.

This seemed more like a training exercise for Bi Fan’s cool-

headed opponent.
 Bi Fan started increasing the force of his attack in an orderly
fashion.

Bi Fan barely had any combat experience, but still was able to
fight like an experienced fighter.

This was Bi Fan’s second attempt to attack him with ‘Fufeng

double-edged sword’ technique, which his opponent didn’t
seem to appreciate, and he started launching counter-attacks.

Credit to the man’s ‘spiritual intelligence’ strength and his

broadsword, he easily started suppressing Bi Fan, leaving him
breathless.

Bi Fan decided to change his attack, and started using ‘rainy-

fly sword’ technique.

Bi Fan attacked his opponent head-on, with all his might.

“This one still needs work….” The man retaliated with a

sudden force, and damaged Bi Fan sword with his attacks.
 The difference in strength of the two fighters was too huge,
and there seemed no point in taking this fight any further.

“Boy, you’re no match for me; I could crush you this instant.”
The man stated, with a mad and violent look his face.

Bi Fan realized that he was no match for this man in terms of

sword play, so cast his sword aside and decided to go with the
most proficient skill, Wan Zu fist boxing.

“Let’s have some fun shall we?” The man cast aside his
broadsword as he sneered at Bi Fan.

Bi Fan wasn’t afraid of using Wan Zu fist and had several

patterns of attack.

Since his opponent was intentionally making fun of him, Bi

Fan launched a full force attack.

His attacks were a mixture of Wan Zu Fist, ‘dance of mist’ and

‘prancing tiger’ boxing’. He even tried to use the ‘immortal
finger’ and the blood devil techniques in a haphazard fashion.
 He was mainly relying on Wan Zu fist, the ‘dance of mist’ and
blood devil techniques for attacking and used ‘prancing tiger’
and the ‘immortal finger’, only to sneak a surprise.

The man seemed to be enjoying the fight, so naturally, wasn’t

using much of his strength, as he wished to prolong the fight.

Especially since Bi Fan had used the blood devil technique, the
man was even less anxious to finish the fight and his face had
visibly lit up.

The blood devil technique was secret martial art technique

that was only used by darker martial artists, and had managed
to take him by surprise.

He was really enjoying himself, and wanted to see the exact

extent of Bi Fan ability.
 Chapter 27 – Threads of Black Gas

Bi Fan had learnt a lot of new moves in recent times that he

hadn’t been able to put to use in a fight, until now, but as fight
wore on, he was able to use all those techniques seamlessly.

His strength seemed to have increased a bit, but, was still no

match for his opponent.

Bi Fan had been using blood devil technique to its full extent
and rather ruthlessly.

He kept repeating the same tricks again and again, as he had

nothing new in his arsenal.

“Boy, you are a practitioner of the sacred way but

surprisingly, you’re using the devil’s techniques. I’m amazed,
and I might be tempted to let you go, if you surrender yourself.”

Bi Fan was quite sure that he shouldn’t trust a devil’s

follower. Surrendering to this man will only make things worse
and death will be upon him sooner.
 “Tell me who sent you and I will surrender.”

Up till now Bi Fan had no idea why he had been attacked in

this fashion, so he figured that he should at least know why this
is happening to him.

“Boy, if I tell you, then I will have to kill you, but …… if you
do not surrender, then you…..” the man looked at Bi Fan coldly,
his glance reeking of threat.

“It’s obvious that I’m only a beginner compared to you, and

yet you’re afraid that I will get away from you.” Bi Fan
reasoned.

“Well, you’re right. Since you’re about to die, I might as well

tell you. I met him outside Quiyang, I didn’t bother to ask his
name, but he was rather fat. You figure out his identity.”

“Zhu San, he would even be willing to collaborate with a

devil’s follower to kill me!” Bi Fan said, surprised.

“Now you will surrender to me, right?” The man asked,

somewhat anxious.

“Ha ha….” Bi Fan laughed as he stated: “I will die before I

surrender.”

He was standing tough to the end; he didn’t want to die a

cheap death.

“Then die!” the man gnashed his teeth and attacked Bi Fan’s
face with blow that came with a gale as sharp as the edge of a
knife.

“Why God?! Why would you give me a hope for a better life
and then obliterate it in this way? Why could you have not left
me in the mediocre state that I was in? Why did you give me
false hopes?!”

Bi Fan heart roared with rage, his eyes red, bloodthirsty.

“Die in hell!” Bi Fan poured every last bit of spiritual influence

inside his body in this final attack as he recklessly charged his
opponent.
 “Boom!” the impact was devastating, Bi Fan fell backwards as
blood splashed out of his body.

Bi Fan swallowed a lot of blood, but wanted to get up again

and fight on.

The man on the other hand was sure that Bi Fan’s death was
only a matter of time now and didn’t seem to be interested in
attacking him again.

He extended his hands towards Bi Fan, in an attempt to take

him alive.

Bi Fan had almost given up, and he made no attempts to dodge

as his attacker grabbed him.

“ARRGHHH!!” He suddenly started struggling again, but

couldn’t break free now.

“Boy, surrender yourself, or else you will die.” The man said,
angrily.
 “ARGHHH!” Bi Fan roared again, like a wild animal. His mind
was almost on the verge of unconsciousness.

Suddenly, threads of a black gas emerged from within Bi Fan’s

body and rushed into his attacker’s body.

“OW! OW!…” the devil’s follower issue started issuing

screams, earth shattering screams.

He drop Bi Fan, and started rolling on the ground in pain, his

face started getting distorted and his body started curling into a
ball, like that of a prawn.

Bi Fan’s hands were still stiff in a flurry, he had no idea what

was happening, but still he wasn’t going to give up, not till the
very end.

Suddenly, the man’s body started withering down and slowly

dissipated into nothingness. All that was left behind was his
skeleton, clothes, weapons, his broadsword, and a Yin Yang
pouch.

The threads of that black gas hung over Bi Fan’s body. They
seemed rather excited for a while, and then dissipated back into
Bi Fan’s body.

Bi Fan completely unaware of his surroundings, relaxed on

the soft ground as his body gave in to the exhaustion and
injuries.

Then, after a long time, Bi Fan opened his eyes again, and
looked around.

“Hey! I didn’t die!” Bi Fan said out loud, in a surprised tone.

“That’s the man’s clothes, weapons and a Yin Yang pouch!”

Bi Fan got up, and started looking around, trying to make

sense of things: “Looks like my ancestors came to my rescue!
And also the enemy’s treasures have been left behind for me!”

“Unknown ancestors! Thank you!” BI Fan shouted loudly.

After Bi Fan had calmed down a bit, he started looking at the

remains of his attacker.
 The dress was low grade, the broadsword was good quality,
other things were mostly useless, but Yin Yang pouch was good
even if it didn’t contain anything useful.

Bi Fan knew that his injuries were pretty serious and he need
to heal.

He climbed up a tall tree nearby, lay down on a branch,

swallowed a healing Dan pellet and started practicing Longevity
burst to restore his health.

Two hours later, Bi Fan’s injuries had healed completely

owing to the healing support provided by the Dan pellet.

Bi Fan jumped off the tree, feeling normally agile.

The battle with the devil’s follower had been a very fruitful
encounter from one perspective for Bi Fan. His martial arts
techniques had improved by a lot, he had been able to use them
in battle like never before.

Bi Fan had gained a lot of experience through this fight, and

even though he didn’t feel the need to hurry, he started on his
way right away.

His boxing was as smooth as the wind, and his sword play,
vivid.

He had learnt a lot new skills in the past few weeks and had
just been able to understand the true extent to which he could
use them.

Bi Fan kept replaying the fight in his mind as he continued on

his path.

Bi Fan quickly got out of the forest and reached a small town,
it was already evening and he felt that he could use some rest.
So he decided to rest there for the night and then carry on his
journey the next morning.

In the evening, he spent some time recalling the fight, and

then began practicing again.

After such an extreme battle, Bi Fan felt that he might have

become strong enough to breakthrough to ‘inner organs’ layer.
 Later that night, he kept trying hard, but still couldn’t make
the breakthrough. However, he felt as if he was almost there,
and should be able to make the breakthrough soon enough.

The next morning, after a hearty breakfast, Bi Fan set off

again.

Since Bi Fan’s motive behind travelling on foot was to

experience the country side, he didn’t worry much about
anything and continued on his way, enjoying the journey,
almost like a tourist.

After a while, Bi Fan started feeling as if he was being

followed.

There were many other pedestrians on the road, and Bi Fan

had no idea about this tracker’s identity.

Bi Fan wanted to speed up his footsteps a bit, as he felt that he

was being watched constantly, and the feeling was only getting
stronger with every passing moment.
 He had felt something similar right before running into the
man in the woods. However, this time, the feeling was a lot less
intense.

“How is it that I have such a strong sense of danger?” Bi Fan

thought to himself, amazed with his instincts.

After everything that had happened, Bi Fan couldn’t help

being a bit skeptical.

In general, as the practitioner becomes stronger, the ability to

sense danger also becomes stronger.

Bi Fan wasn’t strong enough to possess such ability at present.

But even then, he had a very powerful ability to sense danger,
which he found quite surprising.

Whether the danger was real or not, Bi Fan was prepared.

If the enemy was real, then Bi Fan was ready to defend himself
and even launch a counter attack.
 Bi Fan kept pretending as if everything was normal and
continued walking on his path, but he kept an eye out for any
trouble that might await him.

Bi Fan was baffled; he had only just got down from the
mountain, why were so many enemies waiting for him?

The devil’s disciple was sent by Zhu San to kill Bi Fan, but
what about this new threat, Bi Fan was both anxious and
curious.

Bi Fan started walking towards a more desolate part of the

town, in an attempt to draw out his enemy.

Sooner or later, there would be a confrontation, and Bi Fan

preferred if there were less people around when it happened.
 Chapter 28 – The Trio’s Sneak Attack

The desolate path that Bi Fan was now on had no trace of

habitation.

Once he had managed to walk a distance, he realized that

there were three young men who had decided to follow in his
path. The three of them were dressed rather nicely.

All three of them were fairly strong individually, and much

stronger than Bi Fan.

Since the area was uninhabited, the three quickened up their

pace and were able to outflank and intercept Bi Fan very
quickly.

“Boy, are you Bi Fan?” A white-faced man asked.

Bi Fan responded in a cold tone: “That’s correct. I’m Bi Fan,

and you must be street performers.”

Bi Fan knew that he was in trouble again.

 Two of the three men were in ‘Brave’ layer and the other one
was at least at the peak of ‘inner organs’.

Even his yesterday’s opponent was no match for their

combined strength.

He was very lucky to have gotten away with his yesterday’s

encounter, and today, the odds were stacked even higher
against him.

“You’ve got guts!” One of the three said. The trio was aware
that Bi Fan is in the ‘inner breath’ layer and they
simultaneously, in a no nonsense fashion prepared to charge Bi
Fan.

Bi Fan responded to their actions accordingly, without fear.

With his light-ray double-edged sword, Bi Fan employed the

‘Fufeng double-edged sword’ technique to a formidable effect,
thanks to the learning that Mo Nan’s display had imparted.
 His light-ray sword glittered like a shooting star, cutting
through time and space. He started attacking all three of them
at the same time, his body moving as fast as lightening and
somehow seemed to have gained an upper hand by surprise.

Bi Fan’s sword play was surprisingly difficult to deal with, and

the three men circled back to take a stand together.

The three hadn’t expected much of Bi Fan and were taken by

surprise due to Bi Fan proficiency, only managing to defend Bi
Fan’s attacks.

“Ah!… Ah!…” The three of them snarled repeatedly as he

attacked them.

“Bi Fan, you will never be able to beat us, it’s not possible.
You’re going to die. Your strength is no match for ours.”

Then, the three of them attack simultaneously, with power

and speed to get themselves of their current predicament.

Out of the three, one took out a double-edged sword; another

employed a knife and third one attacked using his bare hands,
using boxing techniques.

The three of them had been fighting together as a team for

some time, made obvious by their perfectly synchronized
attacks.

Bi Fan immediately started falling back, using ‘Fufeng double-

edged sword’ technique and every now and then resorting to
boxing to defend himself.

Bi Fan was willing to employ any and all means to confront

his enemies.

Even though Bi Fan had become a lot more proficient with his
combat skill after yesterday’s fight, today he was struggling to
cope up.

The fierce attacks of his opponents had put Bi Fan under a lot
of pressure.

The tremendous intensity of the fight was making in difficult

for Bi Fan to find any room to breathe, and as the fight wore on,
Bi Fan’s body started tiring and his movements became slower.
 “I cannot lose! I cannot die! ….” Bi Fan said to himself, in an
attempt to pump up his game, as his perseverance still persisted
in his heart.

Soon, Bi Fan had sustained several injuries, but thanks to the

‘dance of mist’ footwork, he had managed to avoid any severe
damage to his vital body parts.

“ARGHHHH!” Bi Fan roared, trying to boost his morale, and

began attacking in a frenzied fashion.

Bi Fan was giving it his all, and even though his three
opponents were stronger, they were somewhat timid.

As soon as Bi Fan started attacking with ‘the immortal finger’

attack, the three of them started back up a bit, visibly afraid to
confront him.

‘Rainy-fly sword’! ‘Prancing tiger’! ‘The immortal finger’

Bi Fan started attacking with his tricks, but targeting only

person, he needed to find a scapegoat.

Bi Fan concentrated his fire on the weakest of his opponents,

forcing the man to constantly retreat and finally managed to
connect ‘the immortal finger’, leaving his target bleeding and
hurt.

“Boy! You dare to hurt our brother, now you’re dead!” The
other two furiously launched attacks at Bi Fan.

“Boom!” Bi Fan somehow managed to evade the sword, but

was hit by the strong display of boxing.

His counterpart’s boxing was formidable.

Bi Fan flew out, as blood sprayed out of his body. The blood-
spray filled the air around him, creating a grossly spectacular
image.

The blood meant that Bi Fan had seriously injured a vital

organ.
 Bi Fan quickly started feeding aura into his body to restore his
damaged body parts. The restoration started happening faster
than expected and it seemed that his body had become a lot
stronger all of a sudden.

In an instant his body was healed to great extent, leaving Bi

Fan surprised, he thought to himself: “Seems like I have broken
into the ‘inner organs’ layer, very timely at that.”

Of course, Bi Fan didn’t reflect this on his face; he continued

to carry a seriously injured look on his face, ready to pounce his
unsuspecting opponents at the opportune moment.

Unlike the devil’s disciple, Bi Fan had no idea as to who had

sent these men after him.

Bi Fan hadn’t thought of asking yet, an enemy is an enemy. It

was a matter of life and death and he couldn’t afford even the
slightest of mistakes.

“Boy! We’ll give us this. You’re strong. But you’ve managed to

offend people you should not have offended.” The man who had
delivered the hit said, as he slowly walked towards Bi Fan.
 Bi Fan still carried to look of an injured man on his face, not
revealing his state to his opponents as he was preparing to sneak
a surprise attack.

Although the men hadn’t revealed their benefactor, Bi Fan

had already guessed that he wasn’t the same one as the other
day’s.

The only man that Bi Fan knew he had offended was Lou
Sheng.

Even though Lou Sheng had agreed to fight him at the

tournament, in front of everyone the following year, it seemed
that he had still sent an ambush party to kill BI Fan.

It seems that Bi Fan had managed to anger Lou Sheng a lot

more than he had initially anticipated.

His opponent’s fiercely playful eyes looked at the ground

where Bi Fan lay, occasionally vomiting a little blood, trying to
cover up his surprise attack.

Bi Fan was confident that with the increase in his strength, he

will be able to at least seriously injure his opponent. However,
in his previous state, when the difference in their strengths was
two layers, his attack might have gone in vain.

“Boy! I’m going to beat you till you can’t feel any pain
anymore!”

As the man reached within one meter, which was Bi Fan’s

attacking range, he slowly raised his hand, ready to attack.

‘The immortal finger!’

Bi Fan put all his strength into this surprise attack.

“Bang!”

His strong attack took his enemy by surprise and poked a

small and bloody hole in the man’s throat and the man fell
down to the ground.

“You…you…. ” he put his hand over his neck, as blood lashed

out. His eyes were full of remorse and reflected an endless sea of
resentment.

Eventually he gave in to the pain and died, but his eyes still
remained open, staring at the endless sky.

“Brother! Brother!……”

The other two men cried out in pain, their eyes red with rage.

“Bi Fan, you will pay for this with your life!” The man in
‘brave’ layer said in anger.

He threw himself at Bi Fan, his double-edged sword, aimed

straight at Bi Fan’s face.

“You still think I’m afraid of you!” Bi Fan speedily got up and
charged at him opponent with his sword.

Two men collided with each other, their strengths equally

matched.
 Bi Fan’s strength had increased a lot; his attacks were a lot
stronger now, almost twice in strength.

As for the other man, he had sustained several injuries earlier,

and was tending to his wounds and hence was in no shape to
assist his companion.

“Brother, you must kill this guy to avenge our brother!” He

roared to cheer his companion.

Bi Fan suddenly withdrew back, away from his opponent and

started circling him, with his arms spread open.

“Divine essence seals! Assist my body!”

Bi Fan made use of divine essence seals and charged his

opponent once again.

Bi Fan attacked his opponent in a brave move, and with the

speed provided by the essence seals, started stifling his
opponent very quickly.
 Chapter 29 – The Battered Jade Book

Confronted with Bi Fan’s frenzied counter attack, the last of

his standing opponents seemed completely confused.

Even though the man was much stronger than Bi Fan, the
fashion in which Bi Fan had used the divine essence seal had
reduced the gap in their effective strengths to a bare minimum,
due to the increase in his speed.

Bi Fan’s knowledge of martial arts was superior to most other

practitioners, especially techniques like ‘the immortal finger’,
‘rainy-fly sword’ and ‘blood devil’, weren’t common or
ordinary, and weren’t exactly known to most people.

Bi Fan’s opponent apparently didn’t have such a diverse

arsenal of attacks, and even though he was stronger, his
technical knowledge was only mediocre. Bi Fan’s attacks had
left him under enormous pressure.

Now, suddenly the situation had completely changed, and Bi

Fan was gaining control of the fight.
 “Boss! Kill him, attack him. You have to take revenge for your
brother’s death.” The man who had sustained injuries earlier
shouted out, in a desperate attempt to cheer his companion on.

However, his current state of surprise had left him very

unsettled, and the man’s fighting had also taken a back step.

Suddenly with his sword in his right hand, Bi Fan attacked

with the ‘rainy-fly sword’ towards the left hand of his opponent
and blood sprayed all over.

With another strike, this time the ‘blood devil’ technique’s

‘blood palm’, Bi Fan managed to finish off his opponent. His
sinister hit had left the whole ground drenched in the blood of
his opponent.

Since Bi Fan had already taken care of two of the men, leaving
behind a witness to tell the tale of this encounter would only
bring trouble, and he would now have to kill the witness in
order to keep this encounter a secret.

In this fight, Bi Fan had used up a lot of his secret tricks, out
of desperation, the knowledge of which, if ever reached his
enemies, would only cause trouble in the future.
 Taken by the surprise, as his opponent had tried to dodge the
sword, but failing to do so completely, he had fallen prey to Bi
Fan’s palm.

“Arghh…” The man had shouted out loudly, his face deformed
under the effect of the pain.

Then with a bursting sound, more like a crackle, he had fallen

to the ground.

His body was now drenched in his own blood, leaving him in
great pain, so much so that his eye balls seemed like they would
pop out, but he was still alive.

The scene was so terrible that Bi Fan was having a difficult

time holding back his own vomit.

“Boss! Are you okay? Boss…..” The injured man’s face

revealing the fear his mind contained, tried to drag his injured
body away, in a vain attempt to escape.
 Bi Fan lunged over, and with one strike of his sword, took the
man’s life.

As he looked at his blood soaked hands, he decided that he

would never use the ‘blood palm’ attack unless it was a matter
of life and death. This secret technique was far too sinister to
use in any other situation.

The screams of the man were echoing too loud and were
beginning to creep Bi Fan out. In order to alleviate the suffering
of the man, Bi Fan took mercy on him and ended his life
quickly.

The three men didn’t have any Yin Yang pouches or any other
things that were of much value, just a few instruments and
weapons. Bi Fan threw them inside his Yin Yang pouch and
moved on.

As he continued on his way, he didn’t encounter any more

trouble, just like a bonny sailor on a voyage.

Soon, Bi Fan had reached the entrance maze to the Ting Feng
valley, and since he had memorized the path, he didn’t have any
trouble finding his way even without any help from anyone.
 Ting Feng valley was as lively as always and the moment he
entered, he started hearing the hawkers.

“Quickly come and take a look, Dan pellets, magical weapons,

come and take a look!”

“Remarkably rare books going out in exchange of magical

weapons, very desirable! Hurry!”

Most of the noise was created by practitioners who due to lack

of money couldn’t afford to buy what they needed at were
always hoping to make a barter transaction. The loud
advertising of their offers subdued the hawkers and
shopkeeper’s voices.

Bi Fan would walk over to these people, and see what they had
to offer, just in case they had somethings that he needed.

This time, Bi Fan had arrived in the Ting Feng valley, mainly
to buy purifier Dan pellets, as it would be helpful in his
preparations.
 However, since he was in no hurry, he casually strolled
around, checking out the stalls.

After his last visit, Bi Fan knew that even if he didn’t purchase
anything at these stalls, gathering information always came in
handy.

Bi Fan had only even visited the valley once before, so this was
a rare visit, and an opportunity.

No matter his interest in the item, Bi Fan would inspect it

carefully, and then ask the price, even if he never intended to
buy the product.

“How much for this damaged book?” Bi Fan asked, holding

golden rimmed book jade colored book, with binding threads
hanging out, making it obvious that the book was missing pages
at the front.

Even though the title was missing, but Bi Fan was inspecting
the book with some interest.

The shopkeeper was an old man, who seemed partially blind

in one eye. He looked over at Bi Fan and replied: “This is a very
important book; it speaks about refining body strength, it very
important to make breakthroughs to different layers. Only
three pages are missing at the front. It costs a hundred low
grade spars. I always tell the truth to my customers.”

“Well, often the front pages are the most important, as they
speak of the basics, with those missing, who would pay a
hundred spars for this?” he put the book back in its place and
got up to leave.

Out of experience, he knew that if the shopkeeper was

interested in selling, then this move would definitely get him to
bargain.

He knew that most of the permanent shopkeepers wouldn’t

try to fool a customer as it will create trouble from angry
customers in the future.

A hundred spars, even if low quality, wasn’t a small amount,

and even though the book seemed interesting, Bi Fan wasn’t
willing to spend so much on it.

A fragment of the book was missing, and since it was the pages
at the front, the book’s value was greatly reduced. So even if the
shopkeeper offered a discount, the price would have to come
down very steeply for it to be worth the purchase.

“Little friend, don’t go, lets discus the price. How about I give
you a 20% discount? That sounds fair. It’s a great bargain!” The
old man grinned, pulling Bi Fan back in.

Bi Fan shook his head: “If the first page hadn’t been missing, I
would have paid the entire hundred spars, but with the first
page gone, I could encounter problems as I might not
understand the book properly. I think I’d be better off buying a
completely intact book. ”

Bi Fan pretended to walk away again, leaving the shopkeeper

anxious: “Little friend, okay, so be it. Just give me twenty spars,
and you can have the book, that’s actually my cost price.”

“Ten spars, that’s my final offer. If you are okay with it, then
I’ll take the book, otherwise you keep it.” Bi Fan was very
straightforward this time.

The old man looked on for a moment, starting at Bi Fan trying

to see if he would still be willing to negotiate. But in the end,
sighed and gave in: “Ten spars, it is. The book is yours.”

With the deal reached, Bi Fan moved on to another stall.

Half a day had passed, Bi Fan had visited several stall, but
hadn’t found anything interesting so far.

“Little brother, you need Dan pellets? I have all kinds

available with me, all kinds of Dan pellets, as long as you have
the money to pay for them.” A fat middle-aged man said.

Bi Fan glanced at the stall; there were several jars inside the
stall, so maybe it was worth a look.

“Do you have a purifier Dan?”

“Purifier Dan? Do you want a regular purifier? Or something

even better? I have a lot of variety here, even sunset jade
purifier Dan.” The fat man enquired with a smile.

Sunset jade Dan is capable of purifying all most all kinds of

poisonous substances, and is a top quality purifier Dan.

As soon as he heard Sunset jade purifier, Bi Fan was interested

in knowing more, Yellow springs purifier was the best one but
Sunset jade purifier was one of the best alternatives.

“Only sunset jade? How about Yellow springs?” Bi Fan asked.

He asked this with the intention of letting the shopkeeper

know that he isn’t an amateur and knows what he’s talking
about.

“Little brother knows his purifiers; there is no doubt about

that.” The fat man laughed. “One Sunset jade purifier costs
eighty spars (low quality), that’s definitely worth the money!”

Bi Fan shook his head with a wry smile, he didn’t know the
market price of Sunset jade purifiers, and at eighty spars a piece,
he wouldn’t be able to buy a large quantity.

Sunset jade purifier would be very helpful in preparing Bi Fan

to enter the devil’s territory.
 “Okay, I think I’ll ask around that come back to you later.” Bi
Fan replied, as he wanted to enquire around a little bit more.

“Don’t worry brother.” The fat man smiled at said. “The price
can be discussed, how many tablets do you require? If the
amount is significant, I can give you a discount.”

“The price is too high, I need a hundred of them, but I don’t

have enough money.” Bi Fan said.

The Fat shopkeeper squinted, thought about it for a while and

said: “I’ll give you the best price, five thousand spars for one
hundred tablets of Sunset jade purifier Dan. You can ask
around, my price is the best you will get.”

The fat man had a very serious look on his face, one could
make out that he wasn’t lying.

Bi Fan knew that at a critical time, these purifiers could turn

out to be a lifesaving commodity, but he didn’t have enough
spars for a hundred of them.
 However, he needed these purifiers quite badly, so he wanted
their price to go down a little further, as he didn’t have enough
spars with him. But if he sold out everything he had to spare, he
could manage to get around seven thousand spars in total.

Bi Fan had managed to kill a few people, and had collected the
spoils from the battles, these he knew would fetch him a few
thousand spars at least.

Bi Fan knew the value of spars, and they weren’t very easy to
come around either, so he needed to save as much as he could
for the future.

“Can you try to reduce the price a little?” Bi Fan asked, in

hope of reducing his buying cost.

The fat man shook his head: “If I reduce the price any further,
I will make a loss. I can’t do that.”

“Is it possible to exchange for magical tools?” Bi Fan thought

of the weapons and tools that he had in the Yin Yang pouches.
He knew that some of them were useless to him and would be
better off being traded for purifier Dan pellets.
 The Fat boss replied: “Of course, take out the things, let me
take a look. And I’ll give you a valuation.”

Bi Fan started taking out the various things that he had

gathered, in total he had about twenty eight items, amongst
which, four were top grade instruments.

Bi Fan needed the light-ray sword and the silver armor for
himself. Also he wasn’t willing to part with his championship
reward. The machete was also valuable to him, and so was the
devil’s bell. But the others, he was willing to part with them.

As the fat man saw Bi Fan take out all these items, he was
almost in a state of shock. His eyes seemed as if they would pop
out.

It took him a while to compose himself. After he did so, he

started looking at the items one by one and started their
valuation.

Bi Fan was aware of their market worth, but for reasons

beyond Bi Fan’s comprehension, the fat man was valuing these
items slightly above their market price.
 Ultimately, the fat shopkeeper valued the items at four
thousand and two hundred spars, so Bi Fan took out the
remaining eight hundred spars to complete the transaction and
made the purchase.

With the deal done, the fat shopkeeper looked very happy:
“Little brother, what is your name?”

“I don’t wish to disclose my name.”

Bi Fan didn’t want his name linked to the sale of these items,
if anyone ever came looking and found out about him, then he
could get into trouble.

“Little brother, whenever you come to Ting Feng valley in

search of Dan pellets, always enquire from me once.” The fat
man called after him loudly.

Bi Fan had purchased everything he needed, but didn’t want

to leave the Ting Feng valley immediately afterwards. He hasn’t
sure when he’d be able to visit again, so he wanted to stroll
around a bit more.
 Bi Fan visited almost every stall he could, enquiring prices,
and tried to memorize them.

Bi Fan knew that the more he knew about the prices of various
items, the lesser the chance of being fooled.

Bi Fan asked the price of Sunset jade purifier at another stall,

but still couldn’t figure out why the fat man was so happy after
the deal.

Bi Fan was trying to take a look at as many books as possible,

in the hope of memorizing their contents to some extent.

But the shopkeepers normally didn’t appreciate this, as soon

as they realized that someone is trying to read or even carefully
inspect the book, they would take it back, so people couldn’t
read them properly.

Bi Fan must have looked at almost ten books, but as soon as he

read past a few pages, the books were recovered by their
owners, and nothing good came off it for Bi Fan.

“Little brother, this book is talks about various animals and

beasts. Would you like to buy it? It costs only five spars, it’s very
cheap.”

“I’ll take it.” Bi Fan took out the five spars and bought the
book.

This was a very commonly available book that spoke about

the various types of animals, beasts, goblins and other creatures
that existed in the world. This was something Bi Fan needed to
know about.

When it came to items he needed, Bi Fan was never stingy.

Bi Fan continued to roam around, buying whatever he

thought was necessary, like bandages to dress wounds, basic
items needed to set up traps, hooks, cables and ropes to climb
cliffs etc.

Everything was in order, Bi Fan had everything needed, he

had entered ‘inner organs’, and now he was fully prepared to
take on the devil’s territory.
- End of Book 01 -
 Chapter 30 – A Robbery On The Way

The devil’s territory was a vast region without any

boundaries, with several cities along its flanks. Jiu You city was
just one of those cities.

The closest entrance point of the Devil’s territory was about

two thousand miles away from Ting Feng valley, but with the
help of divine essence seals, this distance could be covered in
two days’ time.

However, without the use of divine essence seals, this distance

would take about sixty seven days or so to cover on foot.

Bi Fan had decided to spend the night in Ting Feng valley and
planned to leave in the morning. He spent the night studying
about the various types of animals and creatures that he could
encounter inside the Devil’s territory.

There were said to be a lot of beast, and demonly creatures

inside the devil’s territory. Some even had the ability to poison
people, and then there were goblins, which often attacked
people, and some unhappy spirits that Bi Fan would have to deal
with, but this would require him to maintain his composure at
all times.

That evening Bi Fan also spent some time looking at the Jade
book.

The book spoke about various methods to refine and increase

body strength, and was very detailed in nature. A lot of methods
had striking similarities with those of ‘blood devil’ methods,
and some seemed even better to refine strength.

The jade book only had ten pages in it, the first one was
missing, but the next six seemed fully intact. The first page
must have been the index to the rest of the book. The pages two,
three and four talked about methods of practicing martial arts,
whereas the next two spoke about the various methods in which
someone could refine their body.

Bi Fan didn’t practice the teachings of the book, mainly

because he had no time.

He read the book carefully a couple of times, and then spent

some time trying to figure out the differences between these
methods and those of ‘blood devil’ and estimated that these new
methods could bear pretty good results as well.
 Bi Fan decided the he would practice the teachings and
techniques in the jade book once he had the time for it.

Early next morning, Bi Fan exited the Ting Feng valley and set
out in the direction of the Devil’s territory entrance.

People entered at exited the Devil’s territory almost every day,

and a lot of these people visited the Ting Feng valley before
entering the Devil’s territory in order to make their
preparations.

In fact, it is thought that Ting Feng valley’s origination was

due to this reason it self. The people, who set the place up, took
it into account that its proximity to the Devil’s territory would
attribute to its prosperity.

There were a lot of other young men walking on the same

path, and were probably travelling to the entrance themselves.

Most people didn’t know each other, and seemed a little

cautious of striking up a conversation with the others.
 “You, the boy in front.”

Bi Fan looked behind him, to see that there were three guys
walking behind him, who were trying to catch up to him, and
shouting all the while, not in a polite manner though.

Bi Fan turned around and looked, but there was no one else in
the immediate vicinity, so he asked in an undertone: “Are you
calling me?”

“Yes you boy. Don’t peep around.” The voice called out again,
and Bi Fan was finally able to identify the source clearly.

Bi Fan turned to face in that direction and said angrily,

“You’re looking for me?”

Even Bi Fan’s anger was quite tender due to his usually calm
headed personality.

“Yes Boy, don’t play dumb. We saw you yesterday at Ting

Feng valley. You bought a lot of Sunset Jade purifier Dan
pellets, hand them over to us. And you also have quite a lot of
magical instruments in your possession, surrender them to us or
we will kill you.” A white clothed boy who seemed to be heading
this trio stated.

Bi Fan himself had been eyeing other people in the Ting Feng
valley, so he wasn’t were surprised that these people wanted to
rob him.

This wasn’t overly unusual in the Tian Yu world, when it

came to accumulating valuables, many disciples of the Buddhist
ways resorted to robbery, same as the devil’s disciples.

Bi Fan was sure that the three young men standing in front of
him were followers of the Buddhist ways as they didn’t stink of
evil auras.

“So, you want to rob me huh? Well, that depends on whether

you the ability or not.” Bi Fan said in a cold voice.

His light ray sword in firmly in his hand, Bi Fan stood facing
his three opponents with an air of confidence about him.

The young man dressed in white, awe fully stared at the

sword in Bi Fan’s hand, and his facial expression exposed a
shade of greed: “Nice sword, looks like a top grade magical
weapon, I guess that one is mine!”

“Yours? Well, you must have death wish.” Bi Fan stood there
proud, brimming of self-confidence.

After the encounters of the previous few days, Bi Fan’s

strength had seen a significant rise, which was a key factor in
contributing to this new found confidence of his.

He had even managed to overcome opponents, who were in

the brave layer, so he wasn’t even remotely afraid of these guys.
The strongest of the three was the one at the back, and even he
was only in the ‘inner organs’ layer, whereas the other two
hadn’t even reached the ‘inner organs’ layer yet.

“Boy, if you have any sense then surrender the Sunset jade
purifiers as well as the weapons you possess, and you might be
able to avoid your death. Our friend, Jiang Sheng, is the student
of the ‘rising sun’ school, and he’s someone you cannot afford to
offend.” A tall youngster standing behind the one in white
warned.

Bi Fan could make out that these youngsters where somewhat

afraid of going through with their plans as they were trying to
use the names of their backers to threaten him.

Unfortunately for them, they had run into Bi Fan, who wasn’t
moved by their, rather persuasive robbery tactic, even if they
were trying to threaten him with the name of ‘rising sun’.

Bi Fan had no idea who this Jiang Sheng was, as he had never
heard of his name before. Moreover, Bi Fan was already pissed
with this Jiang Sheng for attempting to rob him.

“’Rising sun’ disciples are really good, very difficult to deal

with. I must add, also quite fearless in the face of danger.
Resorting to robbery? Probably comes from the excellent
teaching that they receive.” Bi Fan laughed heartily as he
mocked them.

The complexion of the youngster in white changed: “Watch

your mouth!”

Bi Fan’s mockery seemed to have made the white clothed

youngster realize that if the knowledge of this robbery incident
ever found its way back to the ‘rising sun’ school, then they
could get into trouble.
 As long as one has strength to loot, the person could get away
with it, and keep the plunder. But to fight under the banner of
‘rising sun’ school, that would bring disgrace to the name of the
school, consequences of which could be very severe for the
accused.

This was an unwritten rule in all the schools.

The youngster at the back, stood tall and proud, and hadn’t
made any move yet.

He must be the one they call Jiang Sheng, and he had started
making his way to front of the pack, slowly.

‘Fufeng Double-edged sword’

Bi Fan put his sword to use.

“Pop……”
 For a few seconds, there were unceasing sounds of ripping;
the two youngsters in the front were relieved of their clothing,
thanks to Bi Fan’s sword play. However, their bodies weren’t
scarred or bruised in any manner, as Bi Fan demonstrated his
expertise.

They trembled, probably even wet their pants, but didn’t dare
to move fearing Bi Fan and his sword.

Jiang Sheng, who was still in the process of coming to the

front, after watching this, ceased in his stead.

He found himself drawing a comparison, even if he was

capable of beating his two companions; he was still no match for
Bi Fan.

His eyes clearly indicated that, he knew he was no match for

Bi Fan.

However, Jiang Sheng hadn’t retreated yet; he just seemed to

be caught in a state of dilemma.

Jiang Sheng was analyzing Bi Fan’s skill and strength in his

mind, step by step, and knew it, right down to his core that he
couldn’t beat Bi Fan, no matter how hard he tried.

Jiang Sheng, started becoming a little nervous and started

taking a few steps back slowly.

Both his companions started begging for mercy: “Please let us

go, spare us……”

“Relieve yourself of all your belongings, spars, Dan pellets,

and everything else. If you try to hide any items from me, I will
kill you.”

The two youngsters in front of Bi Fan were reluctant to follow

his command.

Jian Sheng snapped at that moment: “Boy, you dare to

threaten us! Know this; my eldest brother is ranked second in
Qianlong list. Fear for our revenge, and let us go, unharmed or
there will be consequences.”

“I have never heard of the Qianlong list. And let’s assume that
your brother is very strong, but if I kill the three of you here and
now, no would ever know that I was behind this.” Bi Fan
replied, his voice as cold as ice.

Both of Jiang Sheng’s companions started relieving

themselves of their belongings, as soon as the heard the word
‘kill’, fearing for their lives.

Jiang Sheng’s complexion changed to resemble those of his

comrades, his legs started trembling, and it looked like he too,
would start begging for mercy soon.

“Hand over all your valuable items and I’ll let you leave, or
else….hmmmm!” Bi Fan said with a smile.

This time, Jiang didn’t hesitate, and he started putting his

valuables on the ground.

Perhaps Jiang Sheng’s brother was a rather strong man, as

Jiang Sheng was even carrying a Yin Yang pouch.

Bi Fan quickly gathered all the items that were laid out on the
ground, and stepped away from the scene, leaving those three
pathetic youngsters behind.
 As he was leaving, Bi Fan turned around to take a look at
Jiang Sheng, and gazed into his eyes, which were brimming
with poisonous sentiments.

“Brother, we need to find out who this guy is. We need to

avenge our pride.”

Jiang Sheng’s voice stunk of hate: “Let him enter the devil’s
territory. I want him to die in there. Draw a picture of him, and
make sure it’s as realistic as possible….”

“A picture? Why, what are you up to?”

“Are you stupid or something, we are obviously going to put a

bounty on his head. We will have someone kill him for us!”

“Let’s go, we need to make our way to entry point.” Jiang

Sheng said.

Even though Bi Fan hadn’t planned on robbing someone on

the way, the yield of this robbery seemed pretty decent.
 Out of the three, only Jiang Sheng had good quality items, the
other two only had low-grade things. The most precious of all
the items he had managed to loot was the Yin Yang pouch.

The Yin Yang pouch even contained some Dan pellets and
approximately a thousand spars, making the bounty even
sweeter.

Humming a tune, Bi Fan continued on his way, and he didn’t

even use the divine essence seals to speed up his travel. He was
very relaxed, and wished to enjoy the scenery.

The rest of the journey was uneventful, as Bi Fan got closer to

the entrance, the number of people on the path increased.

The devil’s territory wasn’t just an area where martial artists

could train, but it also contained several spots where people
could excavate ores, and several other precious and rare items.

In addition to this, the venom extracted from those devilish

creatures was of an even higher value in some cases.
 As a result of this, the area around the entrance to the devil’s
territory had taken the shape of a small town, always busy as
many martial artists entered and exited the region every day.
Majority of the people staying in this town were from the Jiu
You city and surrounding regions.

This small town was called Xi Guan (Western pass), and even
though it was a very small town, its atmosphere was more like
that of a small city.

Xi Guan was enclosed in two meter high walls, standing

guard, were capable of withstanding attacks by wild beasts. The
city had a total of eight gates in all directions to facilitate easy
access to people.

As Bi Fan strode in and around the town, he saw that there

were a few vendor stall in here as well, just like Ting Feng
valley, but much lesser in number.

All one could see here, was streets lined with stalls, equipped
with various kinds on commodities. Every street was unusually
busy and noisy.

The town’s trading mainly revolved around venoms, corpses

of wild beast, various herbs and Panacea amongst other
specialty items found in the devil’s territory. Weapons and Dan
pellets were also being traded in large numbers, especially
purifiers. However, the same items were being sold here at a
much higher price, so much so that the cost of a single Sunset
Jade purifier Dan pellet was about two hundred spars.

Bi Fan was regretting that he hadn’t bought extra purifiers;

otherwise he could have made a profit by selling them here.

Bi Fan was in no hurry to enter the devil’s territory, so he

continued to stroll around the city, trying to find out the value
of various items, especially those that were specific to the devil’s
territory, as he would factor their worth when accumulating
them inside the devil’s territory.

He knew that this trip into the devil’s territory was going to
be a rare one, and he couldn’t afford to go back empty handed
from it.

Many stores were selling items like horns, skins, meat,

Panacea and other herbs, mineral ores, and most of these items
were priced very high.
 Bi Fan figured that the prices of the items were linked to their
purity, which was divided into various levels.

Even low cost items collected from corpses of creatures inside

the region could sell for as high as ten thousand spars, so it was
no surprise that so many people were willing to risk their lives
by venturing into the devil’s territory.

However, only the stronger demon’s remains had much value

and the stronger the demon, the higher the bounty.

Also some items were rarer than others, so skill wasn’t the
only way to make money here, one would also need luck. Even
the speed with which a demon is killed was a factor.

If the demon was killed very slowly, then the quality of the
extracts would degrade to a huge extent, reducing its market
value.

Bi Fan spent almost half a day wandering around the streets,

and even though he was quite tired, he fancied that he could
make some money.
 On his way back, Bi Fan purchased a few animal extracts and
herbs which were particular to the devil’s territory, as he
figured that their prices were a lot cheaper here than outside.

Even though Bi Fan knew that these items were available in

the outside world, their price here was much cheaper, and
anyway, the Tian Yuan ring had a lot of space, so he knew that
filling it up wouldn’t be easy.

If it weren’t for the limited amount of spar that Bi Fan had in

his possession, he would have made some big purchases.

Bi Fan, since his birth had always had a humble financial

condition, he knew the importance of spars and the rarity with
which he came across any. If there was a chance to earn some
more, Bi Fan would certainly not let to go of it easily.

Due to the limited amount of resources that Bi Fan had, he

decided to only buy items that he was sure of being able to sell
for a profit once he returned to Ting Feng valley.

Within half a day, Bi Fan had spent almost all his spars buying
items he could trade later, and the Tian Yuan ring had a heap of
new additions inside it.
 Chapter 31 – The Black Tiger

Bi Fan stayed in Xi Guan for two days and three nights, during
the days he would go out and try to understand the conditions
inside the devil’s territory, and after sunset, he would practice
his martial arts, in an attempt to prepare himself better for the
adventure ahead.

Bi Fan had already started practicing the teachings of the jade

book to refine his body strength, and the effect was quite
significant. Even though he had only been practicing the first
method, he could already feel an increase in strength, which
was a pleasant surprise.

In the three nights that he had been in Xi Guan, he had taken

out time to practice this new method to the point where he felt
that he was ready to start the second method that the book
spoke off.

Even though the name of the method was unknown due to

incomplete state of the book, Bi Fan had guessed that these
methods were similar to those of ‘blood devil’, but slightly more
advanced.
 The only problem he faced was that the condition of the book
made it very difficult to understand it clearly.

On the break of the third day, after having his breakfast, Bi

Fan made his way to the registrations office to enlist his name.

The devil’s territory was divided into several levels based on

strength, and martial artists would be transferred to the
appropriate sector accordingly. The transfers were random, and
ensured that two martial artists who were at the same level
would be sent to the same level but different regions.

Bi Fan bought a jade tablet, breaking which would indicate

that he wishes to be transferred out of the devil’s territory,
cutting short his originally intended one month stay. This was a
sort of a safety net.

Most people entered the devil’s territory to make money,

hunting wild animals and creatures inside the region, and
almost always took these Jade tablets with them. These Jade
tablets were only available for a price and weren’t cheap either.

But surviving in the devil’s territory without any backup

options was a very difficult task.
 On top of that, it was extremely difficult to identify directions
inside the region, which made it very difficult to find an exit
when needed.

Bi Fan stepped onto the delivery chamber while the inside of

the brains were revising everything he knew about the region.
Then suddenly, he was transferred out into the devil’s territory.

He felt dizzy for a couple of seconds, but an instant later found

himself in the middle of a dense forest.

He opened his eyes to inspect his surroundings, but the tall

and towering trees that seemed to be everywhere, made it very
difficult for him to look very far. The morning sun’s light was
trickling through the canopy, but the light wasn’t enough, and
visibility was low.

The devil’s territory was somewhat gloomy and damp, no

wonder all kinds of toxins were able to flourish in such an
environment.

For the sake of safety, Bi Fan ingested a Sunset Jade purifier

Dan pellet, so he could roam around for the majority of the
day’s length without worrying about being poisoned.

Bi Fan had bought so many purifiers for this purpose only, he

was well aware that if his body was being supported by a
purifier, than the probability of being poisoned would be greatly
reduced.

Bi Fan knew that without such measures, a practitioner with

his experience and skill would require a good amount of luck to
make it out of here alive, so it was money well spent.

Bi Fan, along with Greedy started walking through the

thickets of the forest, eyes and ears alerted in every direction,
searching for wild creatures.

He hadn’t gone very far, when he spotted some Panacea and

herbs growing in the bushes nearby, but these were rather
common and not very valuable either, so he didn’t bothering
picking them up.

He would only collect items that were of value.

 Bi Fan knew that it was a novice mistake to collect everything
in sight, and it would only slow him down.

Greedy was stationed atop Bi Fan’s shoulder, and kept his eyes
shut for some reason, mostly. These ordinary herbs weren’t
good enough to attract his attention either, he would probably
not even consider eating them if he had been hungry for a
decade.

As he had just entered the devil’s territory, Bi Fan was being

extra cautious, and was going very slowly.

Some time had passed by now, and Bi Fan hadn’t spotted a

single creature of any value to him, all he had come across was
some small animals that were of little or no value at all.

Small animals were good for barbecuing and keeping oneself

fed, but otherwise had no financial value.

It was vital to save one’s strength in the devil’s territory.

Squandering energy on things that didn’t matter could prove
out to be very costly if met with a fierce creature.
 The devil’s territory had several goblins and other vicious
creatures inside it, but the areas where they flourished where
designated to ‘emerging from the womb’ martial artists. If such
a creature bumped into someone in Bi Fan’s layer, it would
probably kill the person.

As Bi Fan continued to walk along, sometime later, he heard

the sound of a tiger’s hiss. Bi Fan slowly and cautiously started
walking towards the direction of the sound.

Since the main idea behind Bi Fan trip to the devil’s territory
was to gain experience, his natural instinct was to go and find
out if the wild animal was challenge enough. Also, he was
certain that there wouldn’t be too many other martial artists in
the region that he would need to be careful about, so he could
afford to take the risk of getting into a tiresome battle.

As he crept closer, Bi Fan was finally able to see the head of

the beast. It was a black tiger, a strong and formidable
opponent. From the looks of it, Bi Fan could identify that the
tiger’s strength must be in the ‘inner organs’ layer, which
meant that the tiger was almost as strong as Bi Fan.

“A black tiger!” Bi Fan exclaimed in an undertone.

 An adult black tiger’s strength usually lingered around the
‘inner organs’ layer and apart from being strong, they were well
known for the strong fighting capabilities.

Black tigers were fast, strong in both attack and in defense,

which made them, very difficult opponents to deal with.

Bi Fan was about to enter in this first combat inside the devil’s
region, and that too against such a powerful enemy, he knew he
would have to be extremely careful. The long Diao, as smart as
always, knew that his safety, was in staying as far away from the
fight as possible.

With the light-ray sword in his hand, Bi Fan stood up,

announcing his arrival to the tiger. He gathered his strength,
but for some reason, felt vaguely different.

The tiger upon seeing Bi Fan, growled and then swooped

himself off the ground.

There was very little light that lit the area, as the dense
canopy obstructed the sun, and Bi Fan’s vision was dark.
 ‘Fufeng double-edged sword!’

Bi Fan cast out his attack and directed the blade of his sword
towards the thick skinned belly of the tiger. The tiger, realizing
Bi Fan intention, didn’t dare charge back at him and tried to
dodge his attack.

The tiger, Bi Fan realized would be a much more difficult to

deal with as compared to his initial estimate, as the tiger lunged,
turned and twisted his body in mid-air and managed to sidestep
Bi Fan’s attack, and smoothly landed on his side.

Bi Fan turned to face the tiger again, and with his light-ray
sword in his hand, made another straight dash at the tiger.

The tiger again, somehow managed to dodge Bi Fan’s

ferocious attack. A few hairs from tiger’s skin fell to the ground,
as Bi Fan only managed to give the tiger a shave with his sword
in this attack.

The sword passed so close to his body but still missed, there
was almost no contact and the sword didn’t even change
directions.
 “Strong and powerful!” Bi Fan couldn’t help but admire his
opponent.

Upon realizing that the tiger’s strength was equivalent to the

‘inner organs’ layer, same as him, and physical strength
superior to his, Bi Fan decided that he needs to change his
tactic.

Going with brute strength was going to make the cut here; if
he wished to defeat this beast, Bi Fan would have to employ
some of the more sophisticated techniques that he had mastered
over time.

Bi Fan put all his skills to test against the tiger, using him as a
target for his practice.

Back in Xi Guan, Jiang Sheng had circulated Bi Fan’s poster in

the hope of finding someone who would be willing to kill Bi Fan.

Since Bi Fan had taken all the money that Jiang Sheng had,
only ‘rising sun’ disciples were willing to trust Jiang Sheng’s
word and were willing to try for the bounty on his head.
 Jiang Sheng had promised that the person who manages to
kill Bi Fan will get two thousand spars as a reward upon Jiang
Sheng’s return to the ‘rising sun’ school.

So much so that, Jiang Sheng had even exaggerated the value

of the items that Bi Fan had in his possession, in an attempt to
the temp the people who were going into the devil’s territory, to
kill Bi Fan. Some of the students had been scared off by the skill
and power of Bi Fan, but those who hadn’t, were very willing to
find and kill Bi Fan, for both the bounty on his head and the
rewards that they would get from Bi Fan’s corpse.

Bi Fan hadn’t realized that Jiang Sheng and his friends were
going to prove out to be such a menace in the future, or else, he
would have extinguished their existence from the world there
and then.

“Roar!!!!” The black tiger uttered a terrible roar. His body was
bruised and battered from top to bottom, his skin defiled in
more than dozen places.

Bi Fan was taking full advantage of his marvelous footwork

and had been attacking the tiger nonstop at an amazing speed,
literally making a sport out of the poor animal, giving him no
room to breathe. In fact, Bi Fan was so quick, that the tiger
seemed well aware that any attempt to flee Bi Fan would prove
out to be null and void.

The black tiger had sustained some serious injuries and even
though he had put up a fierce fight, he was clearly no match for
Bi Fan’s skill, and was now torn up, from top to bottom.

“Thank you black tiger! You gave me an opportunity to

practice my skills on you, so I’ll make this easy on you now.” Bi
Fan smiled.

‘Rainy-fly sword!’

Bi Fan focused everything he had in this attack, and countless

strikes befell the black tiger.

“OW!!” The black tiger uttered a terrible scream, as he fell to

the ground. He twitched a few times, barely able to breathe
anymore.

The black tiger’s body had sustained at least a dozen cuts and
wounds on the places where Bi Fan’s sword had met his body.
 The tiger’s skin was quite battered and damaged, but even
then, his meat and bones would still fetch a pretty high price.

Bi Fan quickly incorporated the tiger’s body directly into the

Tian Yuan ring and then left.

A lot of people in Xi Guan had told Bi Fan that sounds of

intense fighting and the smell of blood often provoked other
demons in the vicinity.

At present, Bi Fan had used up almost half of his strength to

kill the black tiger, so he needed to rest, and wouldn’t be able to
continue fighting for long.

Inside the devil’s territory, crisis could arise at any moment,

and preserving one’s energy was critical. Roaming around
injured could be very hazardous, especially if trouble found its
way to someone in that condition.

Not long after Bi Fan’s departure from the scene of the fight,
he started hearing sounds of various beasts coming from that
direction. He could hear their roars again and again.
 “It’s fortunate that I knew the circumstances here before
coming in and left the scene in time, had I stayed behind to peel
off the tiger’s skin there, I would have gotten into some serious
trouble.” Bi Fan thought to himself.

Bi Fan found a tree he could climb, and then atop one of the
tree’s branches, he started practicing to revive his body
strength.

Time was passing quietly, but then suddenly, the Long Diao
made a ‘creaking’ sound, as he tried to issue a warning.

Bi Fan had been restoring his strength at a leisurely pace, and

had managed to restore almost ninety percent of his strength by
now, as soon as he heard the warning, he quickened things up.

He opened his eyes and saw that the Long Diao was standing
between him and almost a dozen snakes. Greedy seemed quite
excited as poisonous foods were his favorite.

There were at least ten snakes in front of the lone Long Diao,
who was ready for a battle of his own, considering himself in
charge of Bi Fan’s protection in this case.
 As he saw Bi Fan stand up, the Long Diao got even more
excited and quickly shot out at an electric pace at the snakes and
quickly returned to his spot, with a snake between his teeth.

Most of the snakes were afraid of the Long Diao and seemed to
be shaking their heads.

Bi Fan on other hand, had no intention of attacking the snakes

himself, and stood there on guard against any sneak attacks the
snakes might attempt to catch him off guard.

Greedy quickly gobbled up the snake’s head and gut, and

tossed the rest of his corpse aside.

He against shot out at the snakes, and returned to his place

quickly, catching another snake this time as well.

Long Diao’s are the bane of poisonous creatures like vipers, in

addition to that, Greedy’s astonishing speed was too much for
the these ordinary snakes to match up to.

Realizing that most of them were about to become a happy

meal for their opponent, the snakes decided to withdraw from
the tree, fearing for their lives. The tree leaves rustled as the
snakes panicked and made a run for it, so much so that, some of
them literally fell off the tree, and onto the ground below.

Anxiously, the Long Diao dropped the snake’s dead body and
decided to pursue the other snakes before they got away.

Bi Fan knew that Greedy likes snakes for his meals, and
decided to help out.

With the help of the ‘immortal finger’, Bi Fan was successfully

able to kill a few on his own.

Soon, the ground was bloody with the dead bodies of several
snakes, as Bi Fan and Greedy had each managed to kill a few,
while some of the more fortunate snakes had managed to get
away.

“Greedy, I’ll help you collect your food, but then, we need to
leave this place as soon as possible.” Bi Fan expressed his desire
to leave in a worried tone.

“Creek.” The Long Diao creaked in approval, meanwhile

holding another snake in his mouth.

His main interest was in the snake’s head and their poisonous
bile, which was stored in their gut. The rest of the snake’s body
was useless to the Long Diao.

Bi Fan quickly incorporated all the remaining carcasses in the

Yin Yang pouch and along with the Long Diao, quickly departed
from the scene.

Originally, he had only restored his strength to about a ninety

percent, and now, after the energy that he had just consumed,
he felt that he must be around eighty percent of his total energy.

Bi Fan found another tree after travelling some distance, and

climbed up again, this time cautious of any venomous presence
in the vicinity.

Soon, he had restored his strength, and decided to look for

more demons and decided that it was time to venture a little
deeper into the devil’s territory.

On the way ahead, Bi Fan plucked a good amount of Panacea,

but hadn’t come across any rare minerals or ores as of yet. Like
veins of Spar ores (Crystal ores), or other kind of rare metallic
ores. These ores were probably located somewhere a little
deeper into this abyss, but Bi Fan’s current vicinity seemed
devoid of these fortunes.

Bi Fan had travelled some distance but hadn’t come across a

second beast till now.

“Well, if there are so many beasts everywhere inside the

devil’s territory, why can’t I find some?” Bi Fan thought, a little
depressed over his fortune.

After a while, Bi Fan heard the burst of howling, which

appeared to be made by wolves.

“Finally, it appears we have found ourselves a pack of

wolves.” Bi Fan forced a smile.

Most wolves inside the devil’s territory were only as strong as

‘martial strength’ layer, and even a pack full of such wolves
wasn’t exactly a good bounty.
 Only the wolves that were as strong as ‘inner breath’ were of
good value for the outside world. Bi Fan was unaware of the
fact, that most of the wolves in this pack were as strong as the
‘inner breath’, and their sheer numbers making them a
dangerous opposition.

Bi Fan had initially decided to give this opportunity a pass, but

as soon as he heard the sounds of close combat fighting coming
from that direction, he decided to reverse his decision.

It didn’t matter much to him, as it didn’t seem like this was

any danger to him, but if he could extend a helping hand to
someone in need, he wouldn’t mind helping. He was many a
things, but stingy, wasn’t one of them.

Bi Fan decided to stealthily examine the situation once before

deciding on the course of his action.

There were at least a hundred wolves in the pack, and the

strongest few of them seemed to around the ‘inner organs’
layer.

This pack was engaged in a fierce battle with a group of five

people, who all seemed to be in the ‘inner organs’ layer.
 Although the human segment involved in the battle was
stronger than their counterparts, they all seemed to have
sustained a good amount of wounds so far from the fight.

These five people were using a very strange kind of martial

arts; their skills were unknown to Bi Fan. He had never seen
such martial arts, and had no idea which school these five
belonged to.

Bi Fan didn’t rushing to their aide straight away, and decided

to hide in the trees nearby and began memorizing their style of
fighting.

These five didn’t seem in any immediate danger for the time
being, and on top of that, Bi Fan was a little uncertain as to
whether they deserved his help or not, so he decided to wait a
while and inspect the situation a little further.

Bi Fan would wait till these five had consumed most of their
energy, just in case they turned hostile and decided to turn on Bi
Fan later.
 Chapter 32 – A Helping Hand

The pack appeared to be led by two wolves, the strongest of

them all, the pack advanced and retreated in an orderly fashion,
pinning the five fighters close together. The wolves were
backing each other up, making it difficult for the five humans to
kill any of them.

The wolf pack hadn’t sustained any serious injuries, whereas

the state of the five men was becoming frailer by every passing
minute. Even though the five of them were very stubborn and
were standing strong, Bi Fan was afraid that they wouldn’t be
able to last a very long time at this rate.

They were inside the devil’s territory, surrounded by a pack of

wolves; even attempting to escape wouldn’t be of much use.

These five youngsters needed something of a miracle to get

out of their present predicament.

The five of them were also cooperating with a decent

understanding, their attacks were seamlessly coordinated, and
every now and then, they were able to kill an ordinary wolf or
two.
 There were at least a hundred wolves in this pack, so a few
dead ones wouldn’t exactly make any difference. Especially
considering that the two chiefs and the other ten strongest ones
were unharmed so far, and they posed the maximum threat.

The two chief wolves along with the other ten strongest ones
were mostly staying away from the fight now, protecting
themselves from incurring any injuries, while allowing the
others to finish the fight.

“Poof!” one of the youngster’s arms’ was hit by a wolf and the
wound started dripping blood.

The five humans were very commendably united, the other

four quickly circled around their comrade, keeping him in
between them, allowing him to bandage his wound.

Unfortunately for them, the five had grown rather tired now,
having used up most of their strengths, and on top of that, they
had sustained quite a few injuries in quick succession. Plus, the
sheer number of their opposition wasn’t allowing them any
room to rest.
 Seeing the wounded state of the humans, Bi Fan decided that
it’s now or never, if he doesn’t rush to their help now, they will
soon be dead meat.

Seeing his opportunity, Bi Fan leaped off the tree he was

hiding in.

In his right hand, wielding his sword, he employed ‘fufeng

double-edged sword’, whereas with his left hand, he cast out the
‘immortal finger’, targeting two of the stronger wolves.

Bi Fan’s attacks landed before he did; a glorious mid-air

display.

“AOOWWW!!” The two wolves’ uttered blood curling shrieks,

unaware of Bi Fan’s presence, they were engrossed in attacking
the five other humans. Caught off guard, they succumbed to Bi
Fan’s surprise attack, and fell to the ground.

Bi Fan had barely landed on ground, he turned beautifully,

accounting to his excellent footwork, and began attacking
another wolf.
 The other wolves spotted his intrusion, as he killed another
wolf.

With the help of his exceptional footwork, which appeared to

hitting its pinnacle, Bi Fan quickly struck down another four
wolves.

“WOOOOOO!!!” The two head wolves simultaneously wailed

furiously, as the charged in Bi Fan’s direction.

“It looks like we are being assisted by an expert. Brothers, lets

quickly seize this opportunity and kill these wolves.” The five of
them weren’t stupid or cowardly; they launched a fierce full-
scale attack, realizing that they had just been presented with an
excellent opportunity to kill the wolf pack.

A good number of the ordinary wolves had been slayed, but

they didn’t pose much of a threat anyway. It was the strongest
ones that were the main cause of worry.

Bi Fan used his agility, somersaulted through mid-air as he

slashed his way through another pair of wolves, and then
quickly retreated, as he realized that the chiefs of the pack were
charging at him.
 Accounting to Bi Fan’s present strength and skill, killing
ordinary wolves, who were only at ‘martial strength’ layer, was
a piece of cake, not to forget, that some of the wolves were even
weaker than that level.

The two furious head wolves were trying to close-in on Bi Fan,

but Bi Fan’s floating fast and nimble footwork, had them
chasing him continuously, as they failed to catch up to him.

In a very short span of time, Bi Fan had already killed ten

wolves, but it was the two strongest ones that posed the
maximum threat, and they were still alive.

Bi Fan had now stopped in his footsteps, as he was now

confronted with the two chiefs of the pack, one on his either
side.

The two wolves were quite strong, and they weren’t going to
be easy to deal with.

“AAAOOOOO!!!” The two wolves howled on his either side, as

they charged at Bi Fan.
 The howls of the two wolves left Bi Fan’s ear drums buzzing.

Bi Fan calmed his head down, as he dodged to one side,

avoiding the incoming attacks.

‘Fufeng double-edged sword’, ‘the immortal finger’….

Bi Fan attacked with full force, as he wanted to finish this

business as soon as possible.

His top grade light-ray sword befell one of the wolves. The
skin of the wolf was as hard as iron, even though Bi Fan’s sword
cut his skin open, his sword didn’t slice through the wolf’s
body.

Bi Fan was slightly surprised by this, but as the other wolf

pounced at him, Bi Fan retreated, avoiding the attack, and was
forced to abandon a good opportunity to finish the other wolf
off.

The attacks of the two chief wolves weren’t exactly top quality
in their merit, and now that one of the wolves’ was injured, the
two of them now seemed a little cautious.

The two of these wolves were as strong as Bi Fan and had

entered the ‘inner organs’ layer. But they were naturally gifted
with very strong skins, making their defense much stronger
than that of an ordinary ‘inner organs’ layer demon. Bi Fan
would have to resort to something a little different to kill these
two.

“AOOO!!! AOOO!!!” The two wolves attacked again, this time,

running parallel to each other, side by side, making it a lot more
difficult to find an opening.

The five injured youngsters had consumed most of their

energy, so, even though they were doing a pretty good job
killing the ordinary wolves, relying on them to kill these
stronger ones wasn’t a realistic option.

Bi Fan hadn’t been able to attack the two wolves of late, and
had been consistently forced to retreat, as he tried to dodge the
attacks of the two wolves.

On top of that, the constant howling of the two wolves was

upsetting Bi Fan’s focus.
 Suddenly, Bi Fan had an idea, and he deliberately slowed
down a bit.

“AOOO!” one of the wolves open his mouth to howl again.

As soon as he did, Bi Fan turned around and cast out the

‘immortal finger’ aimed straight at the wolf’s mouth.

“Boom!” The wolf’s head exploded and blood splashed all

around. The wolf’s corpse landed on the ground ahead of him
attributing to his forward inertia.

‘The immortal finger’ is an extremely sharp and concentrated

attack, it pierced through the wolf’s arteries and windpipe,
killing him in an instant.

The other wolf realizing the odds of his survival, turned

around and made a dash to save his life.

“Oh, so you want to run away? Well, that won’t be so easy!” Bi

Fan chased after the wolf, ‘the dance of mist’ footwork being
called into action.

In a flash, almost like a mirage, Bi Fan intercepted the other

wolf.

The wolf watched Bi Fan’s movements with an angry

expression of his face. He kept his mouth shut, well aware of
what the result of howling could prove out to be.

“That smart huh!”, Bi Fan was impressed.

However, faced with just one wolf now, Bi Fan was spoilt for
choices.

‘Fufeng Double-edged sword!’

Bi Fan cast out his attack at a very quick pace.

Even though he wasn’t able to kill the wolf in an instant, his

attacks were certainly giving the wolf a headache.
 Bi Fan’s light-ray sword wasn’t exactly vegetarian in nature,
the attacks left the wolf scared and blood stained.

Faced with enormous pain from the wounds, the wolf still
wound dare open his mouth to howl, as his bloodshot eyes
glared at Bi Fan.

The wolf pounced at Bi Fan, his throat wide open, his jaws
directed at Bi Fan’s throat. The wolf’s eyes reflect his fear of Bi
Fan’s finger.

“Well, that’s the end of that!” Bi Fan snorted in a cold voice.

His light-ray sword was ready for the beast.

With seamless power, Bi Fan cast out one of his most powerful
sword attacks, ‘Rain-fly sword!’

The five youngsters had been dealing with the other wolves,
and had been able to manage with them with ease, and were
going to be done with their end of the fighting soon.
 The way Bi Fan had dealt with those two wolves, especially his
skill with the sword, had left the five of them dumbstruck.

Most of them were not very far away from Bi Fan in terms of
strength, but his sheer skill placed him in a league of his own.

As the wolf saw Bi Fan’s sword blockade the way in front of

him, the color of fear filled his face, but he had launched
himself at a pace where it wouldn’t be possible to back off now.

The wolf, in a determined effort, accelerated his pace further,

as he desperately needed to snap Bi Fan’s neck into two.

Bi Fan charged back at the wolf, his body bringing a gale along
with it, his sword pointed straight at the wolf.

His light-ray sword, pointed straight at the wolf’s throat,

pierced straight through it.

“Poof!”

Bi Fan and the wolf had met mid-air, Bi Fan sword went
straight through the wolf’s throat and then the rest of his body,
as it passed cleanly through the insides of the wolf.

With a crash, the wolf landed on the ground, his belly cut
open, and blood spilled all over the floor and Bi Fan.

The wolf was dead long before his body hit the ground.

The five humans were astonished to see the skill of Bi Fan,

they were both impressed and scared of him.

Bi Fan wiped the blood off his sword and then off his face.

“Many thanks brother, you are our saving grace! May we ask
your name?” One of the youngsters asked, he was skinny and
had a delicate and humble look on his face.

“Relax, there is no need to thank me.” Bi Fan smiled.

“My name is Li Zi Yun, we all hail from Jiu Yu City.”, the

young man who spoken up earlier stated. “You saved us all, we
will remember this act of kindness.”
 Bi Fan said: “My name is Bi Fan, I’m a disciple of Quinyang,
please don’t say thanks, I only hunted these wolves so I could
collect the rewards from their bodies. Is it alright with you all if
I keep the carcasses?”

“Without a doubt, you deserve this.” Li Zi Yun said with a

smile, trying to cover up the disappointment of the financial
loss.

Even though Li Zi Yun wanted a share of the profit, but

wouldn’t dare say a word against Bi Fan, as the five of them
were pretty seriously injured and had consumed most of their
energy. He was well aware that they would be no match for Bi
Fan, and hence, didn’t want to upset him.

Bi Fan quickly, and a bit rudely, started incorporating the

dead bodies into the Tian Yuan ring.

Witnessing Bi Fan incorporate almost twenty of the dead

wolves into the Tian Yuan ring, left Li Zi Yun and his friends
completely baffled.
 A Yin Yang pouch had a lot space, but even then could only
incorporate a maximum of twelve wolf carcasses, but they
realized that Bi Fan evidently had other resources as well.

Even though Bi Fan had said that he was a student of

Quinyang, they figured that it may not be true.

Li Zi Yun and his friends were afraid that if they question Bi

Fan further, as they far too scared of offending Bi Fan. They
were under the impression that Bi Fan was intentionally trying
to keep his identity a secret.

But they wouldn’t dare to try and get to the bottom of this as
they were too afraid to ruffle Bi Fan’s feathers and provoke his
anger.

They were scared that if Bi Fan got angry, he could easily kill
the five of them, following which he could take their treasures
and all the remaining dead wolves, some of which he might
leave for them right now.

Wolf fur and meat were capable of fetching a good amount of

spars and could turn out to be potential reason for a fight here,
and the devil’s territory was a common place for robberies and
murders.

Bi Fan incorporated some of bodies of the wolves into the Tian

Yuan ring and then quickly disappeared into the forest.

If he wanted to, he could have killed Li Zi Yun and all this

friends with ease, but he felt that he could justify robbery, so he
didn’t do it.

Watching Bi Fan disappear into the forest gave a sense of

relief to the five youngsters.

“Bi Fan is too strong, it’s highly unlikely that he is an ordinary

disciple.”

“Yes, he’s probably trained by an elite at Quinyang, otherwise

how could he possibly be carrying so many Yin Yang pouches.”
Li ZI Yun reasoned, completely unaware of Bi Fan’s real
resources.

He paused for a while and then continued, “Let’s quickly peel

off the skins of the left over wolves and get out of here.”
 Li Zi Yun was well aware that they didn’t have the luxury of
storing as many carcasses as Bi Fan could and they would only
be able to collect a few of the remaining of the carcasses.

They only collected the most valuable skins; they flayed them
and quickly left, as the smell of blood from the ruins of the
battle was far too gross to remain there for long.

Once Bi Fan had gone some distance, he started searching for

a place to practice and restore his energy.

The fighting had seemed effortless and even though he hadn’t

incurred any injuries, he had still consumed majority of his
energy in the battle.

But most importantly, Bi Fan had gained a great amount of

experience from the fight and knew that he needed to restore
his energy.

“I need to restore my strength….” Bi Fan knew that he needed

to restore his strength, his body needed the energy back to be
able prepare himself for any future fights.
 “It seems that the best way enhance strength is to battle.” Bi
Fan thought to himself.

Soon the curtains of night would fall, and the night time was
the most dangerous inside the devil’s territory, as that was the
time that most demons came out to feed.

Bi Fan decided to abandon the idea of venturing further into

the devil’s territory and was looking for a tree so he could take a
break.

As the night approached, the devil’s territory got even

gloomier, the chilly wind blew and leaves rustled.

Bi Fan saddled himself in and started practicing.

The practice of the ‘inner breath’ techniques was the most

important, also the most important to succeed at; this process
took time and need to be approached step by step. Dan pellets
helped, but still needed one to be able to practice purely on the
basis of their skill set.

Bi Fan didn’t take any of the ‘inner organs’ layers pellets and
decided to take his time practicing the ‘longevity burst’
technique to restore his energy.

As he started practicing, he could slowly feel the energy being

stored into his body, he felt very satisfied by the overall output
the day had produced.

After he was done restoring his body energy with ‘Longevity

burst’, he started practicing the new techniques from the jade
book to enhance his strength.

After today’s battle, he could feel the increase in his strength

as a benefit.

He felt that if it wasn’t for his current strength level, he would

not have been able to kill the two wolves the way he had
managed to.

Even though Bi Fan had travelled a fair distance, he was still

afraid that five youngsters that he had rescued earlier might try
to kill him.

This kind of thing was very frequent in the Tian Yuan world,
so it wouldn’t exactly be surprising.

Physical strength was an important thing, and had many

benefits, it increased the ability of a martial artist to last in
battle, and furthermore, if the person ran out of strength in
battle, they would be able to defend themselves, owing to the
increased defense strength.

Increase in physical strength was like an insurance policy and

was an important thing the he needed to secure for the future.

Bi Fan had been always concentrated on increasing his

physical strength and dove straight into his practice.

Bi Fan knew that couples with his skills sets, he was at least
strong as the ‘brave’ layer.

Bi Fan was ecstatic with his current state but then was
suddenly interrupted by the growls of a tiger.
 Chapter 33 – The Mysterious Valley

Tigers are one of the strongest of animals, and at night, they

become even more dangerous.

As he listened to the tiger hiss, Bi Fan estimated that the tiger

was already as strong as the ‘inner breath’ layer, and was soon
about to become even more strong.

Bi Fan gently leaped off the tree and quickly rushed in the
direction from which the sound was coming.

It wasn’t easy to come across such strong demons in the

devil’s territory, and he didn’t want to miss such a good
opportunity to hone his skills.

Bi Fan quickened his pace. His pace matched that off a leopard
as he leaped through the forest looking for his next game.

After a few moments, Bi Fan finally spotted the tiger.

The tiger stood about two meters in height and his body was
about four meters in length. The tiger had white fur, his four
powerful limbs made no noise whatsoever, as he quickly moved
through the forest looking for food.

“Now that’s one good tiger! If only I could turn him into my
ride! He could probably move as fast as the wind.” Bi Fan
praised the tiger.

It was such a pity that this thought could not be turned into
reality. It was incredibly difficult to tame the wild animals
inside the territory and a lot easier to kill them, but only in
comparison to the former.

The tiger’s body was brimming with energy due to the change
in the atmosphere.

Bi Fan spent some time, slyly comparing himself to the tiger

and figured that he might not be able to match this one, and
certainly not in these conditions.

Due to his proximity to the tiger, Bi Fan wouldn’t even dare

breathe heavily, and kept his breathing to a bare minimum,
while maintaining his distance with the beast.
 Soon, the tiger spotted a wild boar he could hunt. The boar
seemed to be about two hundred pounds in weight, but even
then, soon enough found its dead body dangling from the tiger’s
mouth.

The tiger hunted the boar down with an alarming efficiency;

he threw himself at the boar and finished it off in a single strike.
This tiger was going to be a lot more difficult to deal with when
compared to the wolves Bi Fan had managed to kill earlier.

At present, Bi Fan wouldn’t dare to take any action against the

tiger, for he was far too scared. So he followed the tiger, as he
made his way back to his cave. Bi Fan waited and tried to
examine the situation at hand before deciding the course of his
actions.

The tiger’s cave was very large in size, about three meters
high and four meters wide. It appeared very deep, although it
wasn’t possible to make out its exact depth from Bi Fan’s
current location.

As he saw the tiger enter the cave, Bi Fan loosened up a bit.

He found a tree that directly overlooked the cave, climbed up

and decided to just stay and observe his intended target for a
while.

While the tiger was going to enjoy his meal, Bi Fan was only
going to sit on top of a branch and wait, patiently.

Suddenly, the Long Diao popped his head out and made a
creaking sound, while his eyes remained fixed at the cave.

Bi Fan quickly covered the Long Diao’s mouth as he was too

scared of disturbing the tiger.

“Don’t make loud noises, Greedy. There is a very powerful

tiger inside that cave.” Bi Fan whispered.

As the Long Diao understood what Bi Fan was trying to say, he

didn’t make any further sounds, in fact he didn’t even jump
chaotically on his shoulder, but continued to look at the cave
eagerly.

It took Bi Fan a few seconds to understand: “There must be

something very good inside the cave, otherwise Greedy
wouldn’t be so excited.”
 But the thought of the demonly ferocious tiger that resided
inside the cave, made Bi Fan think of giving up and turn around.

This tiger wasn’t an ordinary one, and had become even

stronger at night. Bi Fan couldn’t find the confidence to go up
against a beast like this one.

Greedy’s animated look appeared to indicating that there

could be some very precious herbs inside the cave, giving up on
which wasn’t that easy for Bi Fan.

Bi Fan was hesitating from going into the cave, but he didn’t
want to turn his back on this opportunity either, so he stayed on
the tree and waited.

He waited till dawn, but as soon as he saw the light, he

decided to take action.

He burst towards the cave, unaware of the situation inside,

but knew that it was certainly very dangerous for him.
 As he stood at the entrance of the cave, he had no plan in his
mind, and had no idea what he was going to do next.

Greedy was becoming increasingly impatient, so it was

evident that whatever he was sensing inside this cave was going
to be of great value.

“You’re going to have to stay calm for a while, at least till the
time I can assess the actual situation.” Bi Fan grudgingly
explained.

Greedy immediately calmed down, but his eyes looked full of

expectation, which made him look even more adorable than
usual.

Bi Fan stood at the entrance of the cave, and peeked inside.

The cave was very dark on the inside and felt very gloomy, on
top of that, Bi Fan couldn’t see very far into the cave, and hence
had no idea what he was walking into.

Bi Fan bent down, picked up a stone and threw it inside the

cave.
 “Bang!” he heard a loud sound.

The tiger was still having his delicious meal, and upon being
interrupted, became very furious all of a sudden.

“Roar!!!” a deafening one at that. Bi Fan’s ear ached with the

pain from the sound.

Bi Fan could see the shadow of the white furred tiger

emerging from the cave, and at a pretty alarming rate at that.

Bi Fan reflexively retreated and hastened back, but the tiger

was quicker and soon emerged out of the cave.

The tiger with his eyes fixed at Bi Fan, issued a low pitched
roar, as he prepared himself to launch an attack.

Goosebumps all over his body, Bi Fan quickly drew out his
light-ray sword, ready to defend.

“Roar!” With another roar, the tiger charged towards Bi Fan.

 The tiger’s bloody, angry mouth was wide open was ready to
tear Bi Fan apart.

Bi Fan calmed down, and with a cool head, pointed his finger
straight at the tiger’s mouth, ready to use the ‘immortal finger’.

He had used this trick to slay an ‘inner organs’ wolf

previously, so he naturally felt like giving it a try again.

Unfortunately, the tiger was a lot stronger, and had a lot more
energy flowing inside his body; he made a turn in mid leap and
got out of the way of Bi Fan’s attack, while his long tail swept in
Bi Fan’s direction.

His tail issued a gushing sound as it swung through the air.

Bi Fan’s body retreated as he brought his sword to the front.

“Bang!” Bi Fan felt that he might have been able to cut open
the tiger’s mouth had he been able to connect with the tiger’s
mouth with such force. The force was so great that Bi Fan
almost dropped the sword.
 The tiger’s eyes were set on Bi Fan, his tail was barely
scratched, and Bi Fan had only managed to shave off a few hairs
from his tail.

“Outstanding energy! Amazing physical strength!” Bi Fan

said, shocked.

This tiger was far too strong, this was a bad deal.

Up against such a powerful opponent, Bi Fan needed to focus

his entire attention at the task in hand; he couldn’t afford any
distractions here.

The tiger seemed even more provoked now, and threw his
flexible body at Bi Fan once again.

‘Fufeng Double-edged Sword!’

Bi Fan managed to connect a few strikes in quick succession,

but his hits didn’t go past the tiger’s skin, and it didn’t seem like
he had managed to seriously injure the tiger, maybe not at all.
 It was obvious now that this tiger was in the ‘brave’ layer, and
accompanied by his strong and flexible body, he was going to be
a lot more difficult to deal with as compared to a ‘brave’ layer
human opponent.

Suddenly, the Long Diao jumped off the tree he was hiding on,
dashed sideways, and sneakily dodged his way into the cave.
Fortunately, Bi Fan saw this, as he was standing directly
opposite to the cave, facing its entrance.

Bi Fan frowned; he had no idea what the Long Diao was trying
to do, and also, he was a little worried for the Long Diao’s
safety.

In order to distract the tiger’s attention, Bi Fan started

attacking the tiger with full force. ‘Rainy-fly sword’, ‘the
immortal finger’, ‘blood devil’ and ‘prancing tiger’, all put to
use, as he launched a quick attack.

His strikes were not meant do any deed in terms of merit, but
were merely there to buy the Long Diao some time.

Bi Fan’s agility was hitting its peak, but even then, he was
unable to hurt the tiger.

Bi Fan had managed to connect his hits to the tiger’s body

several times, but even then hadn’t hurt the tiger severely;
however, he did manage to anger the tiger even further.

The tiger on the other hand was trying to bite, pounce, grab,
swept his tail, roared and growled…..

The tiger was also using a great amount to strength and

energy in the fight, but since Bi Fan was so agile, he was
managing to slip through the tiger’s proverbial paws every time
he was in a position of crisis, literally.

Bi Fan had been engaged in combat with the tiger for a long
time now, and even though he was holding his own, he knew
that being able to continue for much longer won’t be very good
for his sake. Thankfully, soon, the Long Diao emerged out of the
cave.

If this fight turned into a death match, then irrespective of the

result, the fight would be a dangerous one, for both parties. It
might be possible for Bi Fan to beat the tiger but even then, he
would suffer severe injuries, a price not worth paying under the
circumstances.

Taking such a risk would definitely mean severe injuries, no

matter the end result, which was nothing short of suicidal
inside the devil’s territory.

Bi Fan was tangling with the tiger when he saw the Long Diao
coming out of the cave. He felt a wave of relief surge through
him as he saw his friend return from the cave safe and sound.

As the tiger pounced at Bi Fan again, Bi Fan quickly got out of

the way, and made a run for it, fleeing into the forest.

It was finally time to get out of this fight, a little later might
be a little too late.

The Long Diao as smart as ever, was following Bi Fan in full

speed, jumping from tree to tree, as he didn’t want to risk
running on the ground for the fear of the tiger.

The enraged tiger obviously wasn’t going to let Bi Fan get

away that easily, and he started after Bi Fan.
 Bi Fan scuttled his way between trees, making sure that the
path he picked was studded with obstacles. After all, this tiger
was a fairly fast beast, and it wouldn’t be easy to out run him.
But then again, Bi Fan was far more agile and on top of that, the
tiger’s large body made it difficult for him to intertwine his way
through such an obstacle-studded path, and soon Bi Fan was out
of his fight.

Once he was safely away from the tiger, Bi Fan stopped to

catch his breath, and the Long Diao jumped onto his shoulder.

“Greedy, did you find whatever it is that you were looking

for?”

“Creek….” The Long Diao responded excitedly. But from the

looks of it, it was obvious that Greedy had already eaten it, and
Bi Fan still had no idea what this herb was.

Bi Fan wanted to ask more questions, but the Long Diao

climbed into his arms and straight away, dozed off.

“Please don’t tell me that you’re about to evolve?!” Bi Fan

said, completely astonished.
 After all said and done, if all this leads to the evolution of the
Long Diao, then it was all worth it.

“Roar! Roar!….” The tiger roared relentlessly, wildly, and as

loudly as he could, making it obvious that the tiger had finally
realized that the treasure he was guarding, was now gone.

“Tiger, I’ll come back for you in the end, and by that time, I’ll
be strong enough, and I’ll get you then.” Bi Fan said, walking
away from this fight, for now.

The devil’s territory was vast and borderless, and moreover,

there was no shortage of shelter.

Bi Fan found a place he could rest for the night, and set off
early next morning once again.

After entering the devil’s territory, it is vital that the

practitioner should go looking for demons to fight in order to
improve their strength and skills; otherwise the trip would be
fruitless.
 Bi Fan hadn’t entered the devil’s territory to simply be eligible
to become a disciple; he needed to enhance his strength as
quickly as he possibly could.

Under these heavens, strength was the most vital aspect of

survival.

If he didn’t have the strength, then the others would continue

to beat him up to the point where he wouldn’t even be able to
recognize him own image.

As he continued to wander through the forest, he would stop

and pick up any valuable herbs that he could get his hands on.

The devil’s territory was humongous in size, and even though

there were many people inside the region, due to its sheer size,
it wasn’t easy to come across other humans.

Bi Fan had been in the devil’s territory for three more days
since, during which he had killed five demons and about a dozen
animals but still hadn’t run into a single human being.

Bi Fan would spend the days hunting demons and he would

rest at night. It was important to give his nerves a little rest as
his days inside the devil’s territory were hectic and tense due to
all the fighting.

These three days had been very tiring for Bi Fan, he had
managed to gather a good amount of resources and his strength
had also seen a good, strong rise.

Bi Fan was both miserable and happy.

The Long Diao hadn’t woken up since, and as result, Bi Fan

felt bored all the time, and so, he spent every waking minute
hunting demons.

Just now, Bi Fan was chasing a wild leopard, and he followed

the leopard in to a large canyon like valley.

The valley was kilometers wide, with cliffs on either side. The
canyon was covered with tall and towering trees, and the trees
on top of the cliffs were home to various precious herbs.

The leopard it seemed had nowhere else to run to, and he was
too afraid to fight Bi Fan.
 Bi Fan stood at the entrance of the ravine for a long time,
speechlessly so.

The entrance to the valley was very well hidden, if he hadn’t

followed the leopard here, he would have never been able to
find it himself. In fact, even after finding it this once, he knew
that finding it again wouldn’t be easy.

The passage that led to the valley was very narrow, and the
canyon wasn’t visible from the starting point. The channel was
slanted slightly downwards, zigzag in nature, and had several
side roads; it would take hours to find the right path.

But Bi Fan was here somehow, and he was really amazed at its
grandeur.

This great valley was home to some magnificent flowers,

birds, and a river stream, it was nothing short of paradise.

As he looked up, he couldn’t tell exactly how high the cliffs

were, but he could make out that one would need to be at least
in the ‘emerging from the womb’ category to climb up and
down such steep cliffs.

But it was highly unlikely that a person in the ‘emerging from

the womb’ category would ever be able to find their way here,
which was a very shameful thing considering that they would
benefit very greatly from the valuables that this place had to
offer.

Generally, the stronger martial artists were sent deeper into

the devil’s territory, so it was highly unlikely that he would
bump into someone from the ‘emerging from womb’ category
here.

As a proof of that, the herbs that were growing on the trees of

cliffs were still unpicked.

As Bi Fan realized this obvious fact, he felt a surge of relief.

For the sake of insurance, Bi Fan didn’t start picking up the

herbs that he could as he wanted to take a look around, to
ensure that there was no danger.

He had no idea where the leopard had run off to, but he
wanted to kill it, just to ensure that it doesn’t sneak up behind
him later on.

He walked into the jungle, with his sword in his hand, very
careful of any dangers that might await him.

The aura here was far too strong and it was difficult to tell if
there was any evil presence like goblins lurking around. If that
was the case, Bi Fan would gladly turn around and flee.

Along the way, Bi Fan spotted several precious herbs and

Panacea, but he could only recognize a very few of them.

The aroma from some of the herbs was very intoxicating,

which was lifting his spirits to some extent, and it felt like his
internal energy was vibrating.

Some of these herbs were precious and were necessary

ingredients in high grade Dans. However, Bi Fan had no idea
exactly how much spar he could get for these precious herbs.

Bi Fan saw a rainbow colored fruit a little distance away and

decided to pick it.
 This rainbow colored fruit took a century to blossom and then
another century to be ripe for picking. Moreover, it was a very
important ingredient in a very expensive and divine Dan, which
made it extremely valuable.

“Roar!” Bi Fan was still reaching out to pick the fruit when he
heard a deafening roar, so loud that he thought that his ear
drums would burst, and his mind was shook with fear.

Just listening to its roar, Bi Fan was certain that this demon
was so powerful that he would not be able to fight it.

Bi Fan decided to abandon picking up the fruit and ran

straight for the entrance of the valley.

As he dashed for the entrance, Bi Fan picked up a few herbs

that he could get his hands on.

He could feel a tremendous force inside this valley, a force so

powerful, that just being in its proximity was making it difficult
for him to breathe.
 Bi Fan couldn’t neglect such a presence, and he wouldn’t dare
going back in. He ran out back into the passage that had led to
this valley. He could feel the pressure reduce as he made his way
out.

He had no idea what was lurking inside this canyon, but he

wouldn’t dare to find out either.
 Chapter 34 – The Sound Of Thunder

Bi Fan was in a state of shock, the fear of the beast that

inhabited the ravine still lingered in his head. Maybe the beast
wasn’t as strong as he had anticipated, or maybe the it was, who
knows, could even be a goblin.

Even though there were many precious herbs and Panacea

inside the valley, Bi Fan, for the fear of the monster that lurked
the valley, decided to suppress his desire of going back in and
continued to walk his way out through the passage.

Bi Fan had an amazing memory; just following the leopard on

the way in, was enough for him to memorize the path. But
walking out now, he was careful, so he could make sure that he
wouldn’t forget this route, as it was definitely something that
he would want to come back for, later in the future.

There were many extremely rare and expensive herbs and

Panacea inside the canyon, and that was something that Bi Fan
couldn’t ignore. His heart just yearned for the day when he
would be strong enough to take on the demon that possessed the
valley, and when that time comes, Bi Fan would return to this
mysterious valley once again.
 Once he had exited the secret passage that had led to the
valley, Bi Fan climbed up the tallest tree that he could find, and
carefully tried to identify the location, so that he would never
forget this place’s location.

There were tall and towering trees everywhere, remembering

directions in a place like this was a very difficult task, so Bi Fan
decided to mark the tree with a seal for reference.

Once Bi Fan was sure that he had memorized the location of

this mysterious canyon, he decided to leave. He turned around
and looked at the passage one last time; he was still reluctant to
leave.

Fortunately, the Long Diao was still asleep, had he seen so

many precious herbs, he would have never wanted to leave that
place.

He hadn’t walked away too far from the entrance of the

valley’s passage when he saw some humans at a distance.

There were three of them, teenagers, walking carefully

through the jungle. They all seemed reasonably strong, and he
could tell that they were around the ‘inner organs’ layer mark.

“I really don’t like this place, I don’t want to stay here for
long, and I’m already missing the beautiful world outside.” One
of the teenagers, dressed in bright colored clothes muttered.

A sturdier looking teenager stated: “Ling Shao, unless we

become disciples, we will never be able to enjoy the company of
the beautiful women we all want.”

The bright-clothed youngster smiled as said: “Imagine if we

could get the rewards that Jiang Sheng has offered for the head
of that boy, and all the magical weapons that boy possesses! We
would all be very rich, just imagine the life we could all have
then!”

“I know, but it’s so difficult to find people inside the devil’s

territory.”

“But as long as we can find him, we should be able to kill him

easily.” The sturdy looking youngster replied confidently.

Bi Fan was hiding at a fair distance from those boys, but he

could hear what they were talking about clearly enough.

“It appears that Jiang Sheng is desperate for revenge, so much

so that, he is even willing to spend money on a reward for my
killing.” Bi Fan thought to himself, feeling humbled, moved by
emotions.

However, after all the practice that Bi Fan had gotten since
entering the devil’s territory, his effective strength was as good
as ‘spiritual intelligence’ layer, attributing to his amazing skill
set, so he wasn’t really scared of these guys.

Bi Fan knew nothing about these three youngsters, and he

didn’t feel like making any more enemies for no good reason, so
he decided to let them go.

But maybe the heavens above disagreed with him, and

suddenly a black, bucket-thick python snaked up behind Bi Fan.
A python that size could be a very difficult enemy to deal with.

Bi Fan had taken a Sunset Jade pellet some time ago, which
should still be giving him protection, but he decided to not take
any chances, and popped in another one.
 In addition to being extremely strong, a python has another
very powerful weapon in its arsenal, poison.

The minute Bi Fan saw that big bad python, he knew that it
was no longer possible to hide anymore; he quickly got out of
his hiding spot and made a dash, in an attempt to get away from
the viper.

He wasn’t very far away from the three youngsters and they
heard the commotion he had just made. As soon as they heard
the sounds, they ran in to check out the situation.

When they saw the python, they instantaneously decided to

flee as well.

“Look, isn’t that the same guy that Jiang Sheng wanted
dead?” The sturdy looking teenager exclaimed loudly.

“Yeah, he looks exactly like the boy in the picture!” The

bright-clothed boy agreed, surprised.

“Ling Shao, what do we do now?” The sturdy looking

teenager asked the bright-clothed boy. It seemed that the other
two youngsters were relying on the leadership of this one.

The leader’s eyes were fleeting, fists and teeth clenched and
he seemed to be making up his mind about the course of their
action and eventually said: “Let’s follow the python around,
sneakily. That way we can collect the valuables from its
victims.”

“Ling Shao, you have one amazing brain my friend, what a

wonderful idea you have just come up with.” The third and
somewhat plump boy praised his comrade.

The three of them hid in the under bushes nearby and silently
watched as the python caught up with the escaping Bi Fan, and
the fight ensued.

The python was indeed a formidable creature, he was using

his thick and powerful tail in a sweeping motion to attack Bi
Fan, his strike was so powerful that it was uprooting all the
bushes and shrubs in its path. Not something Bi Fan seemed
very happy about.

Moreover, the python had an extremely rough and strong

skin, Bi Fan tried to defend the strikes with his sword, but his
light-ray sword didn’t seem to be doing anything to the snake’s
skin. It appeared that the best Bi Fan’s weapon could do was
scratch the viper, and would by no means, cause any serious
harm.

Bi Fan was being forced to retreat, constantly. He was

defending with all his might, using ‘Fufeng double-edged sword’
technique to his best ability.

In fact, Bi Fan was so focused on the fight, that he forgot all

about the three youngsters from earlier and had no idea that the
three of them were watching him.

“Bang!” All of a sudden, the python’s sweeping tail hit Bi Fan.

Bi Fan went flying into the air and blood splashed out of his
the spot where the tail had struck him.

The minute he hit the floor, Bi Fan quickly mustered his

strength and rolled over, picked himself up and tried to make
another attempt to flee, this time, in the direction where the
three teenagers were hiding.
 “Don’t tell me, does he know that we are hiding here? Is he
trying to lead the python to us?” The bright-clothed boy
frowned.

“No way, just look at him, he seems to have sustained some

serious injuries, he is definitely panicking and making a run to
save his life, that’s all.” The sturdy looking boy reasoned.

“I hope you are right!” The boy replied: “Thankfully he is

injured now; otherwise he would have been a handful to deal
with.”

The moment the python saw Bi Fan escaping, he started after

Bi Fan, not ready to let go of his prey so easily.

The trio could no longer conceal themselves at their present

hiding spot and quickly taking advantage of the diversion,
stormed out of their hiding spot and attacked the snake’s body.

In actuality, the three of them wanted to kill Bi Fan first, but

since, Bi Fan was running in a random, haphazard fashion, they
ended up attacking the python first.
 The teamwork of these three was quite exquisite, their blows,
very powerful. But even then, they couldn’t inflict any fatal
injuries to the python but still at least managed to gash the
python’s belly.

“HMMPPHHH” The python violently swept his tail again,

uprooting every spec of flora that obstructed its path.

The chubby boy wasn’t quick enough to get out of the way and
unfortunately took the hit.

He flew into the air, hit a tree and fell to the ground.

It appeared that he might not be able to fight any further,

which meant that it was just the two other boys against this
lethal viper now.

“Fatty!” The sturdy looking youngster called after his friend.

The bright-clothed boy’s face showed no emotions what so

ever, his eyes were fixed on the python, his heart cold, but not
his feet.
 This python was in the ‘brave’ layer, at least. This meant that
he was going to be extremely difficult to deal with.

The fat teenager had injured himself rather seriously, which

meant that the pressure on his two standing comrades was
much higher now, and the odds were stacked against their
favor.

Bi Fan had managed to find himself a hiding spot and was now
watching the fight from a distance, having injured himself in
the action.

His heart was yearning to find out who wins the battle that
was enraging in front of his eyes.

The python suddenly emitted a gas, which was poisonous in

nature. The two youngsters quickly popped a purifier each and
retreated to get themselves out of the cloud of this poisonous
smoke.

The python’s thick and brutal tail continued to sweep left and
right, splitting and smashing everything in its path.
 The two youngsters were finding it hard to breathe and were
being forced to constantly retreat.

The bright-clothed youngster looked furious, he gnashed his

teeth and shouted: “Go to hell!”

Just then, he threw a small, dark spherical object, only as big

as thumb in dimension, at the snake and quickly retreated.

“Fall Back!”

The sturdy looking youngster really didn’t need to fall back

this time, but it seemed that he was sensing that something
terrible was about to happen.

The chubby one was injured and immobile, his facial

expression depicted a shade of helplessness.

Bi Fan had no idea what this small, dark object was, but seeing
the others retreat, he too quickly moved further away from the
fight.
 “Boom!” A loud noise erupted from the scene.

An enormous explosion detonated, which reached as high as

the trees. The force of the explosion was such that, the two
youngsters, who were retreating, were thrown away.

The chubby youngster was much worse off, several shards

found their way to him and were buried into his body, injuring
him further and reducing his chances of survival.

Bi Fan was at a fair distance from the fight, so he wasn’t

thrown away but its force, but his ears were buzzing from the
sound of the explosion, and he could barely hear anything apart
from the ringing sound from the side effects of the explosion.

“That was…. Was that?! The five sounds of thunder!” Bi Fan

looked on, in a state of absolute horror.

The five sounds of thunder was weapon that was synthesized

by some of the martial art schools, and even though it didn’t
carry the strength of an actual person, it’s effect was
devastating, like that of a bomb.
 The strength and effect of the five sounds of thunder was
almost the same as that of the strike of an ‘enormous strength’
layer martial artist.

Bi Fan had heard about this devastating weapon from Jing

Feng, but now, he had seen its effect first hand.

The python was at the center of the explosion and it was very
highly improbable that he survived it. The smoke and dust from
the explosion hadn’t cleared out yet, so it was difficult to make
out the actual situation.

“Auhh…” The bright-clothed and the sturdy teenagers pulled

themselves to their feet.

The sturdy teenager looked at the other one and said: “You
used the five sounds of thunder… that was our only insurance.
It’s a very expensive weapon and costed a lot of money….”

“As long as we can get the rewards from killing that boy that
Jiang Sheng wants dead or get a crystal nucleus from this
python’s dead body, we should be able to recover our losses and
then some.” The bright-clothed teenager replied.
 The Sturdy teenager said: “I don’t know what happened to
chubby; he had already been injured pretty severely, not sure if
he survived that one.”

The two of them were so excited at the moment, that they

didn’t seem to care at the very least for their companion. They
didn’t seem much bothered with him and it appeared that they
were considering him extra baggage at present, irrespective of
him being dead or alive.

Soon enough, the dust settled down a bit, and the center of
the explosion was faintly visible.

The python was dead; his dead body was surrounded with
flesh and blood. At the center of his carcass was a shiny crystal,
just lying there in all the blood.

“The python is dead and still there is a crystal nucleus!” The

bright-clothed youngster exclaimed.

The two of them were completely unaware that Bi Fan was

following them, as they sprang towards the pit to collect their
reward from the battle.
 Crystal nuclei were very precious. The python had been
fighting for some time now, but that didn’t exhaust his nucleus,
for it was filled with aura. While they had managed to obtain a
nucleus, they had still used up the five sounds of thunder, but
still on the whole, they stood to make a small fortune in the end.

The bright-colored teenager was preparing to go into the pit

to pick up the crystal personally.

Bi Fan suddenly saw his opportunity, jumped up from behind

them and into the pit and took the crystal away, right from
under their nose.

“Boy, you dare snatch our crystal! You’re dead!” The sturdy
youngster announced his judgement in fury.

Bi Fan grinned slyly: “Well, even if I hadn’t taken your

crystal, would you have not tried to kill me for the bounty on
my head?”

“Since you already know, go die in hell!” The bright-clothed

boy whooshed in Bi Fan’s direction, his sword ready to stab Bi
Fan.
 His companion acted harmoniously and attacked Bi Fan from
the other side, cutting him off and forcing him to retreat.

Bi Fan dodged, and dodged again, and then with his sword in
his hand, charged for his bright-clothed opponent.

‘Rainy-fly sword!’

He cast out his most powerful sword attack, and with all his
strength.

Before Bi Fan had snatched the crystal, he had already made

up his mind about killing the witnesses.

In the preceding fight with the python, the bright-clothed boy

had used up more than half of his energy, and on top of that, he
had sustained some minor injuries when their bomb detonated.

He tried to draw his sword to block Bi Fan’s incoming attack,

but he was half a beat slower in response.

The light-ray sword slipped past his block and went smoothly
into his throat. The youngster’s mouth was open; his angry eyes
stared at his killer, full of regret.

“Ling Shao!” The sturdy teenager shouted: “You’re alright,

just pretend that everything is okay, you will lead us out of here
and we will be rich soon!”

“Yes, well, it’s a little too late now.” Bi Fan smiled.

The immortal finger! Prancing tiger!

With two quick and consecutive attacks, Bi Fan stormed

violently for his remaining opponent.

The sturdy teenager went into a shock, as he realized that he

was too slow to avoid Bi Fan’s strikes. The immortal finger
pierced straight through his chest, poking a bloody hole in it,
and scarlet colored blood drained out his body.

Then, Bi Fan’s fist followed in to the hole made by the

immortal finger, making the hole even bigger and killing the
last standing man of the trio.
 Bi Fan lightning fast attacking had ended this fight in the
blink of an eye.

Amongst these three teenagers, only the bright-clothed boy

had a Yin Yang pouch. Bi Fan quickly collected everything that
was of use and decided to go elsewhere before looking into his
rewards.

Bi Fan tossed the bodies of the three youngsters into the pit
and covered their remains with some dirt, in the hope of
concealing them from the wild animals, for he didn’t want them
feeding on their bodies.

He wasn’t being compassionate, but nonetheless, his morality

didn’t allow him to leave their bodies for the wild animals to
feed on.

After collecting everything, Bi Fan quickly left the scene.

So much noise was very likely to attract other people and

various demons to this location, and Bi Fan needed to recover
his strength.
 Just because the fighting had ended quickly didn’t mean that
he hadn’t consumed any energy.

While leveling the trio to the ground and previously fighting

the python, Bi Fan had spent a good amount of energy and had
also sustained some minor injuries, so it was very important for
him to recover and restore his body state to normal.

There was a constant threat to life inside the devil’s territory,

whether from humans or demons, so it was very important to
keep yourself fit and ready for a fight at all times, if one wished
to survive this place.

Bi Fan quickly disappeared into the jungle, searching for

hiding place so he could practice and revive.
 Chapter 35 – The Fierce Ape

Bi Fan had barely left the scene and soon after, five humans
arrived at the scene of the explosion.

These five humans were covered with dust. It seemed that

these people were trying very hard to camouflage themselves
according to their environment, probably not having the
courage of fighting their way out of the devil’s territory.

“Well, there is snake skin here and dead bodies of humans as

well. It appears that the snake was killed by the explosion and
one of the humans too, looks like he was killed in the explosion.
However, the other two humans seemed to have been killed by a
human only. It could be that there was a crystal nucleus within
this python’s body and the people responsible for its death
started fighting over it, amongst themselves.”

One of the human, a rather handsome one, was checking the

perimeter of the explosion and analyzing the situation.

Another man, a slightly older one added: “Your analysis

sounds fairly correct, but there is another possibility. Maybe
there were two different groups involved here, and one of the
two could have left alive, and certainly with a solid reward.”

If Bi Fan had overheard their analysis, then he would have

definitely been very impressed.

By just looking at the scene, these people were able to identify

exactly what had happened, so it was rather obvious that these
men weren’t amateurs, in fact, it would be fair to assume that
these men were very experienced.

“Let’s not waste our time analyzing this; Jiang Sheng was
insulted by somebody. We must find the boy responsible and
kill him, Jiang Wen has personally requested it, we cannot
return empty handed.”

The speaker was wearing a jade colored hat, and had a very
fair complexion. He was also a disciple of the ‘rising sun’ school.
His name was Gu Yu and was the leader of this group.

“Gu Yu, are we going to let go of this opportunity? There

could be a very serious reward if we track these people down!”
The handsome looking man insisted.
 “No, the ‘rising sun’ has rolled out this order to every disciple
in their network, so we need to find and kill that boy.” Gu Yu
shook his head: “Jiang Sheng has a lot of influence in the school
and this is a big thing, a lot of our superiors are eagerly waiting
to see what happens next and we must make sure that we
succeed at this task.”

…. ….

Bi Fan on the other hand, had finished his recovery and had
set out on a new journey, completely unaware of the fact that
the ‘rising sun’ school had asked its huge network to find and
kill him. Traps were being laid down for him and his life was in
more danger than it had ever been.

Bi Fan had been keeping a watch on an ape, this ape was

around the ‘brave’ layer, and Bi Fan hadn’t attacked him yet.

This ape was almost thirty feet in height, was mighty in

stature, and his body was visibly as strong as iron itself. He was
extremely violent in nature and wasn’t going to be easy to deal
with.
 He had been watching this ape for some time now and as soon
as he saw an opening, he took his chance and tried to advantage
of the situation.

This time, Bi Fan decided that he’s not going to use his sword,
keeping in mind the physicality of the ape’s skin. Using his
light-ray sword on such a tough skin wouldn’t yield much
benefit, so he decided to practice his boxing skills against this
one.

Wan Zu boxing.

Bi Fan attacked the ape with his best boxing combinations.

Even though Wan Zu boxing was only an entry level

technique, but at Bi Fan’s level of expertise and strength, it
would still prove out to be a very powerful weapon.

“Boom!” He landed a punch. The ape’s towering body

remained fixed in its place, Bi Fan’s on the contrary shook, and
he fell back a few steps before he could stabilize himself again.
 “Amazing power and strength!” Bi Fan patronized his
opponent in a gloomy undertone and charged at the ape again.

The ape snarled loudly and swept his forearms to catch Bi Fan.

Bi Fan with aid of his mystical footwork managed to get out of

the way, side stepped the ape and readied to attack the ape
again.

He was considering this ape to be a punching bag and was

using him to practice his boxing.

The ape had a very strong body but his strong and mighty
body wasn’t as flexible or fast as Bi Fan’s, and he was failing to
catch Bi Fan, repeatedly.

Bi Fan was fighting with more and more vigor. He even

started using techniques like ‘prancing tiger’ and ‘the immortal
finger’, but even then, it appeared that he saw causing no harm
to the ape.

Soon, he could feel that he had used up almost half of his

energy, so he decided to immediately escape.
 The ape chased him for a while, but since he figured that there
is no point chasing such a quick target, he decided to give up.

Bi Fan found a place where he could safely restore his energy,

and recover his strength.

Soon, after he was done, he decided to go out again. A thought

came into his head, that fighting is the best way to increase
strength and practicing his boxing has always given the best
results.

“I should go after the ape again, such an amazing ‘sandbag’ is

very difficult to find.”

Bi Fan went out searching for the ape again, and found him
sleeping in his nest.

Bi Fan suddenly sprung up. This woke up the ape, and as soon
as he saw Bi Fan, his eyes suddenly changed colors and were
now, red with fury.
 “Boom!” The ape hit out again. He was aiming for Bi Fan, who
got out of the way, so he only managed to break off a part of the
tree that stood next to him.

“Wow, what amazing strength. I wish I could kill him and

peel off his amazing skin.” Bi Fan secretly smacked his lips with
greed.

This time, Bi Fan was fighting even more violently and the
battle was becoming increasingly fierce by every passing
minute.

His attacks landed on the ape’s body like rain drops, but even
then were unable to do any harm to him. On the other hand, the
ape’s temper was becoming more and more explosive.

But Bi Fan didn’t care even the slightest bit; he had found
himself an excellent punching bag. It was time for some serious
practice.

The idea was to learn and practice, Bi Fan was learning a lot
about using his boxing skills against a taller opponent. He even
tried ‘prancing tiger’ boxing technique later.
 ‘The immortal finger’ had also seen some improvement; his
attacks were more powerful now.

Bi Fan was employing every technique he knew, and every

move he had was becoming more and more powerful, thanks to
his new punching bag.

However, ‘the immortal finger’ used up a lot of energy, so Bi

Fan was using it very judiciously.

If only Bi Fan ever managed to reach the magical powers

category, then he would be able to use the ‘the immortal finger’
at will, and the power, impossible to even imagine for him right
now.

Not only that, Bi Fan was paying special attention to his

‘dance of mist’ foot work and was learning a lot, perhaps at this
rate, it wouldn’t be very long before he would be able to practice
other, more sophisticated moves.

This was a rare encounter, and this ape was so beneficial for Bi
Fan, and he naturally didn’t want to miss this opportunity and
was ready to maximize the benefits.
 The ape was extremely strong and his body was almost
invincible, to an opponent like Bi Fan. But then again, he was
too slow compared to Bi Fan, and Bi Fan was easily able to toy
around with him.

The ape’s eyes were purple with rage; he was beginning to

realize that he was destined to become a punching bag for Bi
Fan.

Perhaps one day, if Bi Fan became really strong and managed

to make a big name for himself, he would tell people about this
ape, his ‘punching bag’ and maybe, it would make for a very
funny and popular tale.

For five consecutive days, Bi Fan made the ape drain his
strength as he trained on him.

In these five days, Bi Fan’s physical strength had increased to

almost three Yun Shi (stones used to measure strength). His
inner energy had also seen a massive increase, and at full
capacity was around five Yun Shi, which meant that at the
combined strength of eight Yun Shi, Bi Fan had nearly reached
the ‘spiritual intelligence’ layer.
 This wasn’t the only good news, due to the increase in
strength; Bi Fan would now be able to practice the second
technique of the ‘prancing tiger’. ‘The immortal finger’ was
even more devastating than ever before, and at this rate, soon,
Bi Fan would be able to practice some of the more complicated
steps from the ‘dance of mist’.

“Thank you my friend. Now, I’d like to say good bye to you.”
Bi said as he walked away.

As the ape realized that Bi Fan was finally leaving, and

hopefully not returning, the ape shouted out, venting his
frustration while his eyes indicated a hint of joy.

Bi Fan had tortured the poor soul to such an extent that he

had wondered if Bi Fan would ever leave him alone.

The devil’s territory was a place to practice and gain

experience, and Bi Fan wasn’t willing to leave without some.

In these five days of battling the ape, Bi Fan had already

gained enough strength to kill the ape, but decided not to, just
for the sake of it, so he could practice more.
 Bi Fan’s whims were as transient as the clouds.

The Yin Yang pouch that he had procured from the three
teenagers had proven to be more valuable than expected. Not
only had he gained the nuclei which he had stolen from their
kill, their bag also contained a dark, spherical capsule-ish object.

He hadn’t expected their pouch to contain another one of

those formidable bombs, but then he remembered the look in
the eyes of their leader, as he killed the boy, regret, probably
from not being able to use the weapon against Bi Fan as well.

Having personally experienced the might of the five sounds of

thunder, Bi Fan was sure that it could have easily killed him.

Bi Fan hid the bomb in his inventory; this one could prove out
to be a lifesaving entity, an insurance policy.

Bi Fan was much faster now, and accompanied by the massive

increase in strength, he felt that he was almost flying.

As he felt his majestic strength rush throughout his body, he

roared. He was now on the lookout for his next target.
 While the demons and animals were difficult to deal with,
humans were still better for practice, as they often had very
unique sets of skills which, was always good for gaining more
experience.

Suddenly, Bi Fan heard sounds of fighting coming from up

ahead, amongst these were screams of humans as well, there
was definitely a fierce battle taking place somewhere nearby.

Without the slightest hesitation, Bi Fan quickened up his pace

and disappeared into the forest that lay ahead of him, looking
for more trouble.

There was a river, and this gurgling stream had wide open
stretches of land on both its banks.

On one side, there was a bonfire that looked like it was semi
extinguished. This was definitely being used to roast meat for
meals, but the items on the grill seemed burnt.

It appeared that a bunch a humans were probably having a

little picnic party along the river and were most likely attacked
by wild animals. Everything smelt of a skirmish.

Bi Fan kept looking around and finally saw it.

A little further in the clearing, six humans were huddled

together in a circle and were surrounded by about twelve bears.
Three of these bears were in the ‘inner organs’ layer whereas
their leader was in the ‘brave’ layer.

Out of the six humans, one was around the ‘brave’ layer
whereas all the others were around the ‘inner organs’ layer,
which made this team a very strong one, but unfortunately for
them, their opponents were even stronger.

Bears are gifted with skins as strong as apes and on top of that,
their bodies are a lot more agile in comparison.

The fight seemed to have just started, so neither side had seen
any casualties so far.

Bi Fan climbed up a tree so he could get a complete view of the

battlefield.
 The six humans were fighting in a style which he was very
familiar with. It didn’t take him long to realize that these
humans were from ‘the rising sun’ school.

“They are probably looking for me!” Bi Fan thanked his

fortunes, seeing the plight of his enemies.

An evil smirk widened his face as he formulated a plan of

action.

Out of the six, five were Gu Yu and his party, and seemed to
have been joined by another member.

Gu Yu was the strongest of them, with his strength in the

‘brave’ layer, but he wasn’t just strong, he was also a very wise
man, and thus was leading this party.

The bears had ambushed these disciples in an organized

manner, and if it wasn’t for the capable command of Gu Yu, the
six of them would already be dead.

If the six of them would have scattered and fled, they would
have most certainly been dead by now, their best chance was to
gather their strength and make a stand, even if they were
marginally weaker or at a disadvantage.

Gu Yu and his party were not as strong as the bears, but they
weren’t very far behind either. Gu Yu had already sent a signal,
a special signal that only ‘rising sun’ disciples used, asking for
urgent help. So, if these guys were able to hold their own for
some time then they might be able to survive if their
reinforcements arrived on time.

In order to kill Bi Fan, many of the ‘rising sun’ disciples had

entered the devil’s territory, and many of them might be willing
to extend a helping hand to Gu Yu and his comrades in this hour
of need.

“Brothers, hold on, our reinforcements will be arriving soon.”

Gu Yu shouted, in an attempt to raise the morale of his
comrades.

The bears were very well organized, and were good at combat.
They advanced and retreated in unionized fashion, defended
each other, and were suppressing their opponents with easy,
leaving them no room to breathe.
 Moreover, considering that they were being led by a beast that
was in the ‘brave’ layer, made matters even force for the
youngsters, as even Gu Yu wouldn’t dare go head-on against
them as he would be at a disadvantaged position.

Bi Fan was relishing this opportunity, Gu Yu was fairly strong

and the others were almost as strong as Jiang Sheng.

He was getting an excellent chance to understand and

memorize their fighting style.

Once he had understood their fighting style, it would be a lot

easier to deal with them later on.

“Ah!” one of the ‘rising sun’ disciples managed to stab a bear

with his sword and another bear quickly slapped him on the
arm.

With his arm injured and bloodied, the disciple wouldn’t be

able to fight for till be bandaged himself.

Gu Yu was quick to respond, and promptly put the boy in the

middle of their circle to protect him. But with only five
members of the crew fighting against the bears, their odds of
winning were even lesser.

“We do not aim for a kill, because if we get them, they also get
us. So we don’t hurt them, because we can’t afford any more
injuries. If one more person gets injured, we might not be able
to stand up to them.” Gu Yu ordered his men.

These bears were very intelligent, especially their leader, none

of them were trying to fight Gu Yu, and were concentrating
their efforts on the other four.

The leader of this bear pack was so strong, that only Gu Yu

could hope to contend against him, the other stood no chance
whatsoever.

The leader of the bears attacked in full force, leaving Gu Yu no

option but to face him, and the formation of the humans
suddenly became very chaotic.

The other bears quickly seized the opportunity and launched a

fierce attack at the other, leaving the others in a state of
compete panic and desperation.
 Fortunately, they weren’t very weak either, and were strong
enough to hold their own, considering that most of them
weren’t injured very seriously. In fact, even if they lost a couple
of men, they were all still good enough to continue fighting for a
while.

“Follow me, we need to make our way to that big rock over
there.”

Gu Yu, even in such a desperate state had the vision to form a

plan, impressive.

The other five, fighting the bears cautiously to avoid any

injuries, started making their way to the rock by the river.

Gu Yu’s intentions were intercepted by the head bear, and he

increased the intensity of his attacks.

Gu Yu applied one trick after another, and managed to zig zag

his way through the battle field and found his way to the front
of the boulder and re united with his fellow disciples.

Backs against the boulder, Gu Yu seemed relived, after all,

now he only had to deal with attacks from three sides, not four.

They had just started to relax a bit, when the bears launched a
ballistic attack, in full force, backed by their powerful bodies,
not something that Gu Yu and his men had foreseen.

The impact of the attack caused a rush in the ranks of Gu Yu

and his men, as they suddenly realized that they were at a
greater disadvantage now.

Now, they had nowhere to run, no place to fall back to, and
would now be forced to deal with the bears head on.

After all said and done, the physical prowess of a human’s

body was no match for that of a bear’s.
 Chapter 36 – Common Enemy

Impacts from the attacks of the bears was very heavy but,
fortunately for the group, Gu Yu was standing between them
and the chief bear, and it was evident that he could stand a
while longer without much trouble.

“We need to stand tough; help from our school will be

arriving soon.” Gu Yu encouraged loudly, raising everyone’s
morale.

Gu Yu stood facing the ‘brave’ layer bear directly, and was

facing the impact of his attacks, his teeth were clenched, but he
couldn’t afford to reflect his adversity in his actions much, as it
would sink the morale of his team to the bottom, in which case,
casualties would be inevitable.

Bi Fan, who was sitting and watching from a tree at a distance,

could understand this very clearly. Meanwhile, his face wore a
cold smile.

Since ‘the rising sun’ school had made his life so difficult, he
wasn’t afraid to strike back.
 He was a lot stronger now and had almost reached the
‘spiritual intelligence’ layer. Using that strength, he leveraged
himself down to the ground and gently ducked behind a
boulder.

The bear and Gu Yu’s group were both engaged in a fierce

battle so no one paid any attention to the quietly approaching Bi
Fan.

As he reached closer to the battle field, Bi Fan snuck behind a

boulder. He was almost ready to execute his plan. He picked up
a handful of pebbles, as the smile on his face became even
wider.

Bi Fan chose the man standing next to Gu Yu as the first

target, and raised his finger as he threw a pebble into the air.

He used ‘the immortal finger’ to direct the stone at his

intended target, with an astonishing force, the diseased stone
hit its target and a piercing scream resonated in the battle field.

“Quickly, get down!” Gu Yu was really strong and was fighting

with everything he had, but even then he was able to spot that
shooting stone.

He wanted to pull his companion aside, and out of that

shooting stone’s path, but he reacted a little too late.

“AAHHHH!” Gu Yu’s companion screeched a blood-curling

scream.

The boy’s arms were still hanging by his side when he hit the
ground. A hole had been poked into his arm, right at the spot
where the stone had pierced his body, and blood gushed out.

“What humans? Even a human is helping these bears against

us?!” Gu Yu was furious.

He tried to estimate the origin of the stone based on the

orientation of his comrade’s body. His eyes searched around in
vain as he failed to find this new opponent.

Bi Fan, who was hiding behind a rock, laughed as he ignored

Gu Yu’s predicament.
 This wasn’t a time for morality or righteousness, if Bi Fan
hadn’t found a way to deal with these ‘rising sun’ disciples, then
they would have come looking for him sooner or later. So this
was more like a pre-emptive measure to sort his troubles a little
early.

Gu Yu and his delegation seemed to have almost lost this fight

now, as the odds were far too unfavorable for them.

Moreover, Bi Fan had also succeeded in distracting their

attention from the bears that were in front of them, as they
were trying to keep an eye out for any more surprise attacks.

The bears read this situation and reacted very intelligently,

and they suddenly launched a wave or ferocious attacks, taking
advantage of the situation.

Gu Yu’s companions were sustaining injuries in quick

succession, but were somehow still standing tough. Gu Yu, in
comparison, was slightly better off.

“We must stand tough; reinforcements will be here any time

now.” Gu Yu hadn’t given up yet and tried to raise the morale
verbally.
 “Don’t mess with me, otherwise, I swear you devil, I will
make sure that you pay for these sins later. Believe me; you will
curse your fate.”

Bi Fan ducked out of his hiding spot again, popped a few stone
into the air, this time four of them and shot them at the people
who were engaged in combat.

“Smack!” Gu Yu’s reacted sharply as the tip of his sword

stabbed the stone, breaking it into pieces.

The other reacted much slower, and the stones hit their
targets.

Bi Fan didn’t manage to kill anyone this time around, but did
enough to slow them down further, leveraging the fight against
their favors even further.

The bears seemed convinced that they would be able to shred

the humans in front of them to pieces with ease, as they roared
for victory and charged for their preys.
 The look on Gu Yu’s face changed drastically, almost as if he
was ready to abandon his companion, like he was ready to make
a run for it.

“You want to leave? Well, not so easily.” Bi Fan grinned slyly.

With his finger ready to cause chaos, he started lashing out

bullets of stones at Gu Yu, making it even more difficult for him
to escape, as he stood there, surrounded by bears.

His companions, were even worse off, they quickly got divided
and disbanded and were basically standing corpses now.

The bears would show them no compassion, for humans were

just another source of food to them.

They quickly killed the others, leaving Gu Yu alone, standing

in the middle of the entire bear squad.

“You evil, attacking me sneakily! Show yourself to me and I

swear that I’ll cut you to pieces!” Gu Yu roared, his eyes red
with rage.
 Bi Fan curled his lips, but didn’t speak up. Anyway, Gu Yu was
already as good as dead, so why should he bother wasting the
skillfulness of his tongue.

His hands were itching to see if the bears were treating Gu Yu

properly or not.

“Boom! Ah!…” there was a sound of a violent collision, which

was followed by muffled screams from time to time for a little
while.

It took a while before the sounds from major movements

stopped, leaving only the sounds of bones being crushed by the
bears.

Bi Fan snuck out to take a look; Gu Yu’s dismembered corpse

was being devoured by the bears as they tore his body to pieces.

Gu Yu was already dead, so Bi Fan took some steps back and

went towards the forest, but he didn’t go too far, he found a tree
close by and climbed up, as he waited for the bears to leave.
 Gu Yu and his companions were fairly strong, which means
that they might be carrying some very valuable items with
them. And once the bears were gone, Bi Fan could go back and
collect the spills of the war.

A while later, once the bears were done eating all they wanted
to, and had grabbed the left overs between their teeth, they left
the scene.

As soon as the bear were out of sight, Bi Fan leapt off the tree
and onto the ground underneath it.

The ground of the battlefield was stained with blood and

human flesh, a terribly frightful sight.

Bi Fan held back his vomit as he bent over and seized the
weapons from the ground, he collected all the spar that he could
find and even picked up a Yin Yang pouch that was still intact
and not bloodied.

He was putting his loot away when he heard the sounds of

chatter coming from nearby and realized that the source was
coming closer.
 “Is that the reinforcements from ‘the rising sun’ school?” Bi
Fan quickly made a move and hid himself in the bushes nearby.

Soon, three young men appeared along the borders of the

clearing.

“Gu Yu and the others should have been here? What

happened, why aren’t they here?”

“Let’s look down by the river, Gu Yu and his company was

very strong, very highly unlikely that something went wrong
with them.”

As he overheard their conversation, Bi Fan was sure that these

people were ‘rising sun’ students.

“Come on, there are signs of a fight over there, and also there
seems to be a lot of blood.”

The three youngsters quickly made their way to the boulder

where the final fight had taken place. As they looked at the
bloodstained scene, the look on their faces changed very
drastically.
 “It seems that Gu Yu and his company ran into some serious
trouble here. It appears that they were all killed by bears and
then, were eaten.”

“Look, based on this path of blood trail, it seems that the bears
dragged the remains of their bodies in that direction. The blood
hasn’t dried out yet, which means that the bears would not have
gone too far, should we follow them?”

“No let’s not, even a party as strong as Gu Yu’s couldn’t stand

up to these bears, then we too might suffer the same fate.”

“No, ah what? Their weapons are gone as well, and even their
money, all of it! How could that be?”

The three teenagers looked around for a bit but didn’t find
anything valuable, and their faces were now frowning.

The bears would not have any use for weapons, so they
obviously wouldn’t take them. It was apparent to them that a
human had arrived at the scene before them and had taken
away all of their possessions, including their weapons and
money.

“Let’s look around, whoever picked up their possessions,

could not have gone too far. Gu Yu’s sword was a top grade
weapon, we cannot let that fall into the hands of any other
school.”

These three youngsters were extremely smart, even with all

the blood around, they could still spot the footprints of the thief
and realized that he had gotten away.

As soon as he realized that they would try to pursue him, Bi

Fan quickly left the scene.

These three would have to soon go back, and it was important

that they reported back to their superior in time, for they would
tell the ‘rising sun’ school that Gu Yu and his friends were killed
by bears.

Bi Fan at this point didn’t want to take the initiative to

complicate matters even further. However, if someone tried to
attack him, he would fight back, and his counter attack would
be fatal.
 But these three teenagers had a very important role, so he
didn’t want to provoke any trouble with them, because he
needed them to go back and explain that Gu Yu and his friends,
fell prey to a group of wild animals.

The three teenagers looked around for a long time, but they
couldn’t find anything substantial, so they had no choice but to
leave.

They had no interest in avenging Gu Yu and his friends, all

they wanted was their weapons and their money.

Bi Fan found a quiet place to sit, so he could take a look at the

loot. Actually, he didn’t really care about the weapons or the
money, his main interest was in the Yin Yang pouch.

This Yin Yang pouch should have belonged to Gu Yu as only

good students had enough resources to buy them. Bi Fan opened
the pouch, and he found a lump containing almost three
hundred spars in it, along with some other items. Apart from
that, there were three low grade weapons and two books.

Bi Fan was only interested in the books, so he took them out

to take a look at them. One of the books was about the secret
techniques of cultivation of inner energy at the ‘rising sun’
school and the other one spoke of the ‘rising sun’ double-edged
sword fighting methods.

Both of these books spoke of techniques that were usually

imparted to medium level students, which meant that they
would impossible to procure using any other methods. The
‘rising sun’ double-edged sword fighting technique was almost
at par with ‘Fufeng double-edged sword’ technique.

Bi Fan didn’t want to practice the methods taught in these two

books, but wanted learn them anyway, as they would increase
his knowledge and improve his skills.

The problem with using these two techniques was obvious. If

the ‘rising sun’ school ever found out that he knows their secret
methods, then he would be in a lot of trouble.

However, if he managed to mix their style up a bit and merge

it into ‘Fufeng double-edged sword’ technique, then nobody
would be able to make out the connection. Bi Fan put
everything away, and got up, feeling pleased with himself.

Bi Fan knew that ‘rising sun’ students were looking for him,
searching his trail, lured by the reward that was offered for his
death, but he wasn’t worried about it.

With the increase in his strength, his confidence in his ability

had also seen a massive rise.

Moreover, most of the people who had entered the devil’s

territory in his search were obviously not very strong. This was
rather obvious to him, as no serious martial artist would come
looking for him in the devil’s territory for only a thousand spar,
which was the bounty on his head.

Feeling no pressure from the ‘rising sun’ students on his trail,

he continued to venture deeper into the devil’s territory in the
hope of finding a suitable demon to train on.

Now-a-days, even ‘brave’ layer demons weren’t capable of

putting much pressure on him, so he needed to find a ‘spiritual
intelligence’ layer demon for his training and to refine his
strength and skills.

In this part of the devil’s territory, only a very few demon

were as strong as the ‘spiritual intelligence’ layer, and in most
encounters, the people who met with them, ran away for the
fear of death.

Bi Fan had been looking for one of those for a while now, but
he still hadn’t found a demon as strong as the ‘spiritual
intelligence’ layer yet. He was confident that he could even try
and take on five or six of them at once, without much effort. So
obviously, the ‘brave’ layer demons posed no threat to him
whatsoever.

Bi Fan was getting stronger with every passing day, making

rapid progress in his strength and skill alike, which meant, that
his martial art was improving greatly.

At this moment, Bi Fan had been inside the devil’s territory

for almost two weeks now, and his strength had almost doubled
up since his entry.

His physical strength had gone up to four Yun Shi, owing to

the first method that he had learnt from that battered jade
book.

His body’s inner energy was soaring even higher, and had
reached almost six Yun Shi, which meant that, a total of ten
Yun Shi, put him at the peak of ‘Spiritual intelligence’ layer.
 A while ago, when Bi Fan was at the peak of the ‘inner breath’
layer, he was already good enough to go shoulder to shoulder
with his peers, and was commended for his excellence; imagine
what it would be like now.

He had been feeling the effects of his practice from the

methods mentioned in the jade book, but unfortunately for him,
the book was incomplete.

“’Spiritual intelligence’ demon, please show yourself quickly,

I can’t wait anymore!” Bi Fan’s heart yearned in prayer.

His strength was on the verge of breaking through to the next

layer, so he needed to practice harder. He needed to make this
breakthrough, so he could practice the ‘immortal finger’ to its
maximum potential.

Bi Fan preferred fighting his way through to the next layer in

comparison to using Dan pellets to make the breakthrough, as it
helped build a stronger foundation for the next layer.

As he was thinking of all these things, he heard the humbling

roar of a beast at a distance.

He didn’t know what kind of a beast had made that sound, but
he knew that this kind of a roar would have scared him a while
ago, which meant that the beast was obviously a very strong
one.

Bi Fan, extremely excited, rushed towards the direction of the

sound.

“Finally, I have found a beast strong enough!”

 Chapter 37 – The Nefarious Chimera

He ran as fast as he could, as he was afraid that the demon

might wander away and he’d miss his chance.

Suddenly, he felt arms moving around his chest, like those of

a little guy. The Long Diao was finally awake.

Bi Fan was a lot more worried about Greedy’s wellbeing, when

compared to finding a suitable demon to train on.

Bi Fan held up the Long Diao and looked at him carefully,

almost as if studying him. He found very little change in his
friend, his head was still very small, only his white hair had
become even whiter, almost to the point where they seemed to
be glistening and his eyes, his big bright eyes, looked even more
quick-witted now.

“Greedy, are you hungry? Here, take this, eat up.” Bi Fan took
out two herbs from the Tian Yuan ring and gave them to the
Diao (I finally figured, its English equivalent, A Marten).

The Marten took the two herbs in his hands and gobbled them
up quickly. Even after eating his regular meal, he was looking at
Bi Fan pitifully, like he was trying to say that he hadn’t had
enough yet.

“Greedy, I never thought that after your evolution, you would

become even greedier. Ah” Bi Fan said, laughing meanwhile.

The Marten ate up two more herbs before looking satisfied

and then, even managed a burp or two.

“Greedy, if you keep eating like this, one day, I’ll go bankrupt
feeding you.” Bi Fan laughed as he patted his pet’s head.

“Creek….” The Marten creaked, expressing dissatisfaction, as

if he was saying ‘I don’t eat that much’.

The Marten looked so adorable, that Bi Fan couldn’t help a

smile: “Greedy, you need to find a place to hide, I’ve located a
very powerful demon and I’m on my way to fight it now.”

Another huge roar from the beast ringed in the forest and Bi
Fan accelerated his pace once again.
 After a while, Bi Fan was able to finally get a look at the beast.

His fair were blazing red, his body formation like a lion,
almost twenty feet in height, and thirty feet in length, which
extended to almost forty feet owing to the serpent like tail that
it had on its rear. The beast looked awfully terrible and scary.

“A Chimera! ” Bi Fan was taken by surprise.

Chimeras were very powerful, awfully nefarious demons, they

had very powerful bodies and their tails were exceedingly toxic
in nature. A magical powers level Chimera was capable of
breathing fire as well, which made them a very lethal opponent.

Bi Fan recovered from the shock once he realized that this one
was only in the ‘spiritual intelligence’ layer.

The fighting capabilities of this breed far exceeded those of

the other demons in the same layer, and if this Chimera was
even one layer higher than its present stage, Bi Fan would have
surely fled by now.
 The Chimera had clearly come out to hunt for food, an
obvious fact, considering that it had its paws and all of its fifty-
six teeth deep inside the flesh of a rhino, which was gasping for
its last breaths.

Bi Fan didn’t react immediately, because he wanted to follow

this demon around for a while, so that he could locate its cave,
which he suspected must be somewhere nearby.

Usually a demon as strong as this one, were often known to be

find accommodation around some sort of a treasure which they
guarded with their lives, like a bunch of rare herbs or a crystal
mine.

As long as Bi Fan was able to follow the Chimera back to its

residence, he could get his hands on that treasure as well.

When the fighting would begin, the Marten could use the
opportunity and sneak into the cave and steal the treasure.
Now, obviously, the treasure would have to be fairly small in
size for the Marten to be able to seize it by himself.

The Chimera picked up the rhinoceros in its mouth, with his

teeth firmly dug into the dead animal, and made its way
through the forest at a very quick pace and with exceptional
ease, considering he had a rhino dangling from its mouth.

Bi Fan followed the Chimera from a distance, while being

extremely careful, as he didn’t want his presence known to the
demon.

He followed the Chimera for roughly an hour, and finally they

arrived at a very deep lying valley. The Chimera put down its
prey on a flat stone tablet and began enjoying his meal.

Right about now, when the Chimera was hungry, would be

the best time to fight it, as it meant that he was low on energy.

Soon after arriving here, the Marten had been finding it hard
to conceal his excitement, which meant that there was
obviously something very nice here.

Bi Fan put the Marten down, and then marched out of his
hiding spot.

“Roar!!!” The Chimera opened its bloodied mouth and let out
a bellow of rage when he spotted Bi Fan.
 While a nefarious Chimera is enjoying its meal, one should
abstain from interrupting it. But since that didn’t stop Bi Fan,
the Chimera went wild with anger, and its eyes, red with rage.

Bi Fan hadn’t even made a move yet, and the Chimera’s tail
had already sweeping left and right.

Its dark tail was thick and strong, and in addition to this, it
also was acutely poisonous and spiked at the end with barbs.

If these barbs managed to penetrate one’s skin, then they

would inject a very dangerous poison into the body of the
victim.

Even though Bi Fan had already taken a Sunset Jade Purifier,

he was still afraid of that sweeping tail. He was afraid that the
Sunset Jade purifier might not be enough to nullify the toxin
that this beast could inject into his body.

Even without factoring in the toxins, the Chimera’s tail was

fairly dangerous. He swept it around with such enormous force
that taking a hit of that would be very unpleasant.
 Bi Fan was very concentrated at the moment, mentally. He
brandished the ‘dance of mist’ footwork and managed to dodge.

The Chimera’s tail had a sweeping radius of about one meter,

and he had swept it at a decent height. The tops of all the
boulders in that vicinity broke, and sprinkled to the ground.

Bi Fan inwardly smacked his lips; he needed to be more

careful, if he wanted to get out of this in one piece.

Bi Fan sped up his movement, as he would need to get closer

to the Chimera before he could launch any sort of an attack,
something the Chimera’s tail would make a difficult task out of.

“Bang! Bang!….” The Chimera kept sweeping its tail wildly,

and the trees and boulders in the vicinity were paying the price.
Its tail had managed to sweep off chunks of moss from the tree
trunks while the boulders were much worse off.

Bi Fan was awfully fast, and was managing to avoid that

sweeping tail consistently, but it required a great deal of
concentration on his part to do so.
 Presently, Bi Fan was only about two meters away from the
Chimera, so he took out his light-ray sword and cast out the
‘Fufeng double-edged sword’ attack.

‘Spiritual intelligence’ layer demon such as this one, are gifted

with extremely hard skins which made it very hard to hurt
them. On top of that, they also had a lot of inner energy which
meant that they could continue fighting for a long duration.

Bi Fan’s light-ray sword was a top grade weapon, but when

attacking a demon such as this Chimera, it was only capable of
shaving off a few strands of hair from the target’s body.

But Bi Fan didn’t care much, he needed the Chimera to hone

his martial art skill and wasn’t really interested in killing the
beast.

So, one human against one Chimera in a fight, well, this was
turning out to be a very fierce battle.

So, one human against one Chimera in a fight, well, this was
turning out to be a very fierce battle.
 The Chimera was incapable of using its tail at targets in close
proximity, but it also had a very large mouth, which had very
sharp teeth, and then, claws, which were its most aggressive
weapons in war.

Grab, bite, thump, pounce…

The Chimera was willing to employ any means and any part of
his body from head to toe.

Bi Fan was extremely agile and quick on his feet, and normally
he would use ‘the immortal finger’ finger to save himself if he
was caught in a moment of crisis, but hadn’t done that so far in
this fight, as he hadn’t sustained any injuries.

Using ‘the immortal finger’ meant consuming a lot of his

inner energy, so Bi Fan was judicious with its use, and only
resorted to it in moments of grave crisis, to bail himself out.

The Chimera on the other hand was completely enraged by Bi

Fan. He roared and roared, constantly storming towards Bi Fan,
ready to shred him to pieces.
 Bi Fan side stepped its attack, and intentionally backed away.
He intended on leading the Chimera away from the valley and
into the forest, this way the Marten could conduct his covert
operation peacefully.

Soon, Bi Fan had managed to draw the Chimera away from

the valley and into the forest.

Once inside the forest, the Chimera’s tail was confined due to
all the big trees around them, which meant that he couldn’t use
it as freely as he was able to earlier, which meant that Bi Fan
could relax a bit.

The Chimera had a very strong body, but in this environment,

the sheer size of its body reduced his agility.

Bi Fan was now fully concentrated on practicing his martial

arts, using all kinds of sword techniques to attack. He cast the
same skills out, again and again, trying to increase the efficiency
of his attacks.

Using the same tricks, he tried to change the angle of the stab,
tried varying the force and intensity and practiced on.
 This was one of the benefits of having a sparring partner, for
practicing in itself wasn’t enough, one also needed to explore.

It requires a very strong opponent to practice with if one

needs to increase strength while being able to find the best
combination of moves, angles, or trying to find a new style of
fighting.

Finding demons in the devil’s territory was easy, but

something as powerful with skin as rough and hard as this
one’s, made for the best of sparring partners.

Bi Fan kept an eye out for the Chimera’s attacks and dodged
them effectively, but apart from that, he was having a jolly good
time, he had already cast out the same moves almost a dozen
times.

Apart from swords play, he had even resorted to melee

attacks, and had already tried to use the Wan Zu boxing style,
punching and pounding.

The Chimera was completely enraged, mad and violent by

now. Even though he wasn’t injured, but his inability to tear Bi
Fan to pieces was driving it mad, which reflected in its fighting.
 “Roar!” The Chimera made an unexpected move and severed
the trees in the immediate space.

The tall and towering trees fell down, giving the Chimera
sufficient space to move around. Scared, Bi Fan dodged his way
away from the Chimera.

“Creak….” The Marten creaked, announcing that he had

returned from its operation, but Bi Fan had no idea whether he
had succeeded or not.

Bi Fan had expended most of his inner energy and decided

that it was time to withdraw.

Especially considering that the Chimera was even angrier

now, Bi Fan figured that it’s in his best interests to find a
temporary refuge and restore his strength.

As Bi Fan turned around and made a run for it, the Chimera
decided to pursue him, still angry at Bi Fan’s intrusion.
 The Chimera was really quick on its feet, forcing Bi Fan to
scurry, in a completely disarrayed fashion. Bi Fan was trying to
pick his path through the most obstacle studded routes,
choosing to make his way through areas where the trees were
clustered close together.

The trick finally worked. Due to the sheer size of the

Chimera’s body, he was unable to intertwine his way through
the forest like Bi Fan. And since Bi Fan was taking his detours
through areas where the density of tree population was at its
maximum, the Chimera was slowed down further and
eventually gave up.

Bi Fan finally got rid of Chimera and breathed a sigh of relief,

and the Marten showed up by his side.

Inside the forest, the Marten was one of quickest animals,

even Bi Fan couldn’t hope to keep up with his pace here.

A black lotus was dangling from the Marten’s mouth. The

lotus was the size of a wash basin and the Marten was holding it
from its stem, between his teeth.

The black lotus was flickering and shimmering, making it

appear as if the lotus was blazing with a dark black fire.

Bi Fan had inadvertently seen something like this before and

knew that this was a very precious flower. An extremely rare
breed of flora which could be best described as extremely
poisonous.

This lotus was even more toxic than the Chimera, and its
poison contained a great amount of aura. This lotus’s poison
was classified as a Mysterious level entity, which meant that it
would most certainly be a favorite for the Chimera that it was
stolen from.

Plants, including poisonous ones that contained aura inside

them were classified into nine categories, as yellow, mysterious,
earth, sky, king, emperor, Imperial, aged, and legendary. And
further, depending on their potency, they were divided into
four more sub categories.

The Chimera was probably guarding this lotus as he needed

this nefarious breed of flora for his evolution at some point in
time.

“Greedy, here, let me have a look.” Bi Fan reached over to the

Marten, excitedly.

Bi Fan had barely ever touched a Mysterious level Panacea; the

ones that he had been planting all his life were mostly yellow
level herbs as he had never been given the responsibility of such
precious herbs at the orchards.

The last time he had seen a mysterious level herb, was inside
that Mysterious ravine that he had accidently ventured into.
The rainbow colored flower that he had tried to pick up on his
way out was in considered similar in ranking as this one.

However, this nefariously poisonous Lotus was extremely

rare, even more so than that flower which took centuries to
bloom.

The Marten was a little reluctant to hand it over, but did so

any way.

Bi Fan picked up the lotus very carefully, he wrapper its stem

in cloth before holding it in his hands.

He was preparing to take a close look at the black Lotus when

suddenly, out of his body, emerged silk-like black threads, and
all of a sudden, enveloped the black lotus in their grasp.

This was the first time that Bi Fan was conscious when the
black thread had come out of his body. He was completely
unaware of their existence; his heart skipped a beat as he looked
on in absolute horror at the black silk threads that were coming
out of his body.

The black silk threads scared the Marten as well, who ran,
petrified, screeching and squeaking long the way.

The black lotus started melting and eventually disappeared,

even its stem vanished into nothingness.

The black silk threads that had emerged from his body looked
even shinier now, than they had emerging from his body, and
soon after, disappeared into his body, leaving no trace of their
existence.

Bi Fan stood there for a long time, motionless, speechless.

How could black silk threads like those ones be coming out of
my body? What were those black silk threads? Why did those
threads absorb the black lotus?

Bi Fan’s heart and mind were filled with doubts and fears.

“Creak….” The Marten creaked from a distance, looking

rather annoyed. This lotus was supposed to be his treat, not
only did it contain an amazing amount of aura; it was also
extremely poisonous; just what a growing Marten likes.

The disappearance of the black lotus had certainly made the

Marten angry.

On top of that, he also seemed very scared of the black silk

threads that had emerged out of Bi Fan’s body and wouldn’t
dare come near Bi Fan, for now.

The Marten made another squeaking sound, almost as if he

was yelling at Bi Fan, as Bi Fan touched himself, to ensure
himself that nothing strange was going on now.

“Fortunately, no one was harmed.” Bi Fan breathed out a sigh

of relief.
 “However, what were those black silk thread at the end of the
day? And how did they get inside my body? Will they remain
there?” Bi Fan was completely puzzled and his head was
exploding with questions.

Bi Fan carefully examined his body, which showed no trace of

any kind of abnormality, and he couldn’t make any discovery
regarding the existence of the threads. He started introspecting,
meditating, trying to search the depths of his mind for any
knowledge of this incident, he needed to know.
 Chapter 38 – Death Of An Enemy

Due to Bi Fan’s strength, looking inside his body wasn’t going

to an issue for him, but it was the first time ever that he was
peeping into his body.

Flesh, blood, arteries and organs were all very strong, but
nothing out of the ordinary.

He started looking into his pubic region. The public region

inside his body was covered in a drizzling white mist, which
obviously, was his inner energy and aura.

“How? How’s that even possible?! There’s a lotus inside my

pubic region! I haven’t seen a lotus like that one since…. the one
I saw inside the Wan Snake Cave!” Bi Fan was left awestruck in
that moment of discovery.

There was a lotus inside his pubic region, petals, eighteen in

count, color, black and white. Its huge petals hovered above the
white fog, like they were being supported by his inner energy.

The lotus looked somewhat dispirited, like it was low on

moisture.

The black petals were marginally better off, and slightly more
flamboyant than the white ones.

Bi Fan was certain that this was the same lotus that he had
spotted inside the Wan Snake Cave, that same strangely
wonderful Yin Yang lotus.

But he was completely clueless as to how the lotus entered his

body.

There had been many doubts in Bi Fan’s mind about the cave
and that incident, but things were become clearer now.

His body had been completely altered after the incident inside
the Wan Snake Cave; he was beginning to realize that the Yin
Yang lotus was the reason for this sudden change in his
physique and not the Wannian Spirit milk.

Bi Fan tried to sense the Yin Yang lotus, he even tried

interacting with it, but the communication failed as the lotus
did not respond. It appeared that he would have to try a second
time a little later and for the time being, he would have to
suffice by slowly studying the lotus.

Bi Fan decided to stop looking inside his body, and opened his
eyes, only to see that the Marten was still carrying an angry look
on his face, which instantly made Bi Fan laugh.

“Greedy Marten, well, come on, I’ll fix you the best quality
herbs” Bi Fan smiled and said: “Come on to my shoulder now, I
would like to find a private spot to practice.”

“Creek….” The Marten shook his head, still too afraid to come
close to Bi Fan.

Bi Fan knew that the Marten was a little frightened at the

moment, so he did not insist on it: “Alright, why don’t you
follow me. But don’t get lost.”

Bi Fan didn’t venture out very far away from the Chimera’s
lair and found a suitable place nearby so he could practice and
restore his energy in peace.

Just a while ago, the Yin Yang lotus inside his body had
swallowed that poisonous black lotus that the Marten had
obtained from the Chimera’s lair. As a result of this, it seemed
that his body’s inner energy had gone up to some extent, and
had broken into the next layer. Now, his inner energy was
almost in the ‘brave’ layer, on its own accord.

Once he was done restoring his inner energy, Bi Fan took

some time out to practice as well. He began thinking about his
fighting, the lessons he had learnt, the most suitable moves, and
how to make those moves even better and more efficient, and
how to make his attacks even more dangerous and powerful.

It took Bi Fan another five hours of rigorous training before

he was satisfied with the results, which was followed by another
restoring session.

He stretched out his arms and legs a bit; his bones issued a
flurry of crackling sounds loud enough to attract attention from
people, if any had been standing near him.

“Ah, that feels good!” Bi Fan said out loud.

The Marten had been standing cautiously at a distance the

whole time, and wouldn’t squeeze himself into Bi Fan’s arms for
a nap like he used to earlier.

Bi Fan beckoned to the Marten: “Greedy, come here, don’t be

scared. The black silk threads won’t come out to kill you, if that
was the case, then they could have done it long ago..”

The Marten listened to what Bi Fan was trying to explain,

hesitated for a bit and then finally chose to trust Bi Fan and
jumped onto his shoulder.

The Marten kept looking left and right, still terrified of the
black silk threads, ready to flee at a moment’s notice. The
serious look on his face was rather hilarious.

When the black silk threads did not emerge for a while, the
Marten’s taut nerves finally loosened up a bit and eventually, he
fell asleep on Bi Fan’s shoulder.

Bi Fan pacified the Marten; just to make sure that it had fallen
asleep, and then started preparing himself to go a few more
rounds with the Chimera.

After being unable to chase Bi Fan down, the Chimera had

returned to its food and had decided to vent its anger out on the
dead rhino by gobbling the whole of it.

Soon after, it had returned to its cave of residence, only to

find that the precious black lotus that it had been guarding, was
now gone.

The Chimera was quick to realize that Bi Fan had a part to

play in the disappearance of the lotus, igniting new flames of
hatred for Bi Fan in his heart.

When Bi Fan approached its cave, the Chimera was taking a

nap but woke up as soon as he realized that there’s movement
nearby.

The Chimera rushed out of its cave and furiously roared at the
unknown passerby. But once he realized that the trespasser was
Bi Fan, his rage touched new heights.

Without any explanations or delays, the Chimera charged for

Bi Fan, and launched a ferocious attack.

It’s a good thing that the Marten was away from the fight, as
the force of Bi Fan’s attacks was much greater now.

Although, his attacks still weren’t good enough to seriously

injure the Chimera, but since he could attack with much more
force than before and at a higher frequency as well, the Chimera
was obviously in greater pain.

“Boom!” The Chimera in lieu of its anger, cast out a direct

attack at Bi Fan.

Bi Fan side stepped and managed to dodge the attack, and the
Chimera ended up hitting a tree, which broke.

“Wow! What amazing strength!” Bi Fan exclaimed.

Even though at a physical level, Bi Fan was no match for the

Chimera, and was nowhere near as tough as the beast, his agility
and flexibility far exceeded that of the Chimera’s, and this
particular environment favored those traits in a fight, especially
when fighting up close.

Bi Fan made sure that he was always close to the Chimera

while they were entangled in their duel. This way, the
Chimera’s tail goes out of the equation, in fact, as opposed to
being its most vicious weapon, it kind of got in its way, making
things even harder for the monster.

Generally speaking, a Chimera such as this one, uses its tail in

a fight to cause the maximum damage to the enemy, but since
the tail was being used to a negative effect in this fight, the
Chimera had no option but fight with very limited resources
and, to barely half of its maximal capacity.

On the other hand, if the Chimera was capable of breathing

fire, then Bi Fan would have been rendered helpless.

Bi Fan’s strength had seen a decent increase and he was

casting out various moves with higher efficiency and a lot
smoothly than before, while his body was dripping wet with
sweat.

Bi Fan’s strength had seen a decent increase and he was

casting out various moves with higher efficiency and a lot
smoothly than before, while his body was dripping wet with
sweat.

“Prancing Tiger’s second style ‘sea of tigers!’” Bi Fan roared as

he charged towards the Chimera with the intensity of a tiger,
with the entire strength of his body condensed into one single
punch; a punch, which was headed towards the Chimera.

Strength erupted from Bi Fan’s body as he charged for the

Chimera.

The Chimera had a huge physical structure, but even then,

the Chimera was forced back a few steps.

However, surprisingly, the Chimera still wasn’t hurt much

and lashed straight back at Bi Fan.

The Chimera’s bloody mouth was wide open, ready to

swallow Bi Fan whole.

‘The Immortal Finger’

Bi Fan held the attack back until the Chimera had closed him
down, and then with his finger aligned with the Chimera’s
body, Bi Fan unleashed a fierce, condensed strike of ‘the
immortal finger’ straight into the inner lining of the Chimera’s
mouth.
 “Wooo…” The Chimera wailed and screamed, again and again
as the injury that he had sustained wasn’t a very light one.

“Since you have managed to injure yourself seriously, you are

no use to me anymore.” Bi Fan said in a very cold voice.

He launched another attack of the immortal finger, a very

intense one this time as well; well aware of the fact, that the
Chimera wouldn’t be able to dodge it.

“Hey, you are smarter than I gave you credit for, and you
might still have some fight left in you.” Bi Fan said, with a
surprised look on his face as he watched the Chimera side-step
his intended final attack.

Bi Fan continued to attack the Chimera without any pauses,

and whenever the Chimera made a mistake or gave Bi Fan any
room to take any advantages, Bi Fan would launch a mortal
attack.

The Chimera would open its mouth from time to time to spit
out the blood that was accumulating inside its mouth from the
wound that he had sustained. It was evident that the pain was
unbearable and the Chimera was visibly afraid of Bi Fan.

The Chimera had been fighting Bi Fan for a long time now and
that too without any benefits in an unfavorable environment.
On top of that, Bi Fan’s agility was causing a major headache for
the Chimera by restraining him sufficiently that the only way to
continue fighting was to defend. If the fight ensued for much
longer, the situation would only worsen for the Chimera.

The Chimera’s morale was already down the drain and Bi Fan
was launching lethal attacks in quick succession, fully intending
to finish this fight, along with the Chimera, as quickly as
possible.

Suddenly, Bi Fan heard a noise; it seemed that the sounds

from the fighting had managed to attract a few people in their
direction.

Bi Fan didn’t even bother to finish off the Chimera, and

without any hesitation, escaped into the forest.

Bi Fan left, and Chimera just stood there looking puzzled as he

didn’t expect to outlive this day. Nonetheless, he looked visibly
happy to have survived long enough to see another day.

As his opponent had already left, the Chimera lay down on the
ground, trying to hold back the pain, as he slowly tried to heal
himself.

The Chimera lay there quietly, but that didn’t mean that it
wasn’t angry, just that its present condition was forcing him to
suppress that anger for now.

It goes without saying that demons are brutal by nature, a

Chimera is far more tyrannical in its attitude than an average
monster, as it shows no sympathy when it tears apart another
demon for its meals.

The Chimera hadn’t fallen short of Bi Fan’s strength. It was

simply that the Chimera was no match for Bi Fan pace, and all
his attack were going in vain as Bi Fan was able to dodge them
with ease, again and again, every single time.

The Chimera’s blood-red eyes, flashed a shade of bitter

hatred, and not just for Bi Fan, but for the entire human race
jointly.
 Bi Fan on the other hand, hadn’t run away very far, and had
found himself a hiding spot nearby, ready and awaiting any
opportunities.

“I don’t know who these humans are, or what they are

capable of, but I most certainly know what this Chimera can
do.” Bi Fan managed to pilfer a smile.

The Marten had also returned to its place of Bi Fan’s shoulder,

and was somewhat puzzled by Bi Fan’s behavior.

Soon, seven humans emerged inside the forest and into Bi

Fan’s line of sight.

“Hey, these people are from the ‘rising sun’ school!” Bi Fan
recognized three of them. The three of those seven were the
same ones that he had seen at the river basin the other day, in
fact, the three of them had even attempted to track him down
on the basis of his footsteps.

These people had chosen to be his enemies, and since they had
a death wish, then, in this case, he wouldn’t mind helping them
along. The only thing that he was uncertain about, was whether
they were all ‘rising sun’ disciple or not.
 “My impression is that they are all ‘rising sun’ disciples, in
which case, I wouldn’t mind if they fought the Chimera. For me
it’s even better if both my enemies suffer some collateral
damage.” Bi Fan secretly thanked his stars.

“From the looks of it, it appears that a very fierce fight had
taken place here, but now, there appears to be no movement
whatsoever. However, from the looks of things, it’s hard to tell
whether the fight reached its conclusion or not.”

“I don’t know what kind of a demon made these marks, but I

can be sure of one thing, and that’s that this demon is a very
strong one. Just look at all the trees in this area, whoever was
involved here, managed to break them down.” They marveled
as they gazed at their surroundings.

“Everybody be careful. The Demon probably survived this

fight; we need to be on our guard.” A relatively aged man said.

The unscrupulous chatting of these people had already

disturbed the healing Chimera.
 The Chimera was a lot smarter than these people and without
making any sounds, had managed to hide himself in the forest,
and was now, waiting for an opportunity to strike and take
them by surprise.

The Chimera’s heart was trying to hold back a rage of fury as

he vowed to wipe out the entire human race.

The Chimera was overly familiar with these surroundings and

conveniently managed to sneak to the back side of these seven
humans without exposing his presence.

The seven humans tried to track down the people involved in

the fight and slowly walked their way through the area and into
a valley. They were very careful, as they were afraid of being
attacked by the surviving demon.

The seven humans decided that they need to scatter a bit, to

search for clues.

The Chimera crept closer to the group of seven, stroked it

poisonous tail and launched it at the neck of one of the humans.
The human didn’t even issue any sounds, as he stood there,
being strangled to death, alive.
 The man’s gear landed on the ground below as he was lifted
into the air, and made a ringing sound.

“Be careful, what are you doing?” One of the other six turned
around to look. He halted the moment he saw his struggling
companion being swept away by the vicious tail of the Chimera.

He immediately cried out in fear: “ A demon! People we need

to get out of here now!”

The other five turned around and looked at the Chimera as

well.

The Chimera was already exposed, so he swept its tail in full

swing.

“Quick, get out of the way! That’s a Chimera! Its tail is

extremely toxic!” One of them was obviously quiet experienced
as he was able to identify the threat.

The six of them tried desperately dodged the attack, even if

some of them had no idea as to what the threat was in the first
place, and fortunately for them, none of them got injured.

“Quick! Run into the jungle, or we do not have any chance of

survival.” A young man shouted out to his companions.

The Chimera launched several attacks in quick succession. His

attacks didn’t bear any fruit, which intensified his fuming anger
further and he charged for them in full force.

The six of them had never been in such a tight spot before,
they ran and stumbled, frantically, in an attempt to make their
way to the forest ahead.

“ARRRGHHH!!!” The Chimera was really angry, and he

wasn’t going to let these people escape so easily.

The Chimera quickly caught up with one of the remaining

humans and rolled his tail at the man.

Once the Chimera’s tail hits its target, survival for the same,
was rather difficult. As the terrified man saw the tail sweeping
in his direction, he screamed: “Help me brothers!”
 Another one of Bi Fan’s enemies was now dead.

The five others were quick to comprehend the meaning of

that sentence and without even looking back; they sped up as
they ran for their lives.
 Chapter 39 – Capitulation

The Chimera’s tail swung one more time and forcefully

twisted itself around the neck of the man. The noise of his
crackling neck was audible to a fair length of distance as the
man breathed his last breath and passed away, shutting his
begrudging, hateful eyes for the last time.

The remaining five people, who were running haphazardly in

every direction, trying to escape the Chimera’s wrath, decided
to quicken up their pace.

“ARGHHH!………” The Chimera issued another deafening

roar; loud enough to put that of a lion’s to shame.

The remaining five people, who were trying to escape at

thunderous speeds, came to an instant halt, as the fear of the
Chimera’s roar ran chills down their spines. Bi Fan was well
aware that when this Chimera roared with so much intensity,
then, its next strikes would be even fiercer, but he didn’t seem
to care much about it anyway.

The Chimera had already launched itself after the remaining

five humans, fully intending to deliver them to the same end as
their last two comrades.

The five remaining humans realized that facing the Chimera,

was their only option and attempting to flee would be the
equivalent of courting death.

Bi Fan quickly found his way to the back of the fight, ready to
cause all sorts of trouble for them.

Bi Fan sneakily watched from his hiding place, and observed

that they were all from the ‘rising sun’ school, even though only
a teenager, surprisingly, one of them was as strong as ‘spiritual
intelligence’ layer.

‘Spiritual intelligence’ layer practitioners usually prefer going

into the second layer of the devil’s territory. So it was rather
obvious to him that he had entered this part of the region to
search for him.

Bi Fan’s eyes, brimming with murderous intentions were

concentrated on the battle ahead of him.

Bi Fan thus far, had only seen relatively weaker ‘rising sun’
students, who were mostly around the ‘inner organs’ layer, so
he was very attentively watching some of their more
experienced disciples while they displayed their skills, as the
grave battle ensued.

Jiang Sheng, Jiang Wen, these two names had been encrypted
into Bi Fan psyche, and he wanted to leave the two of them for
the last.

A teenager wearing a purple jacket seemed to be leading this

group, they advanced and retreated at his command and were
able to hold the Chimera off, for now.

In fact, since they were fighting in the woods, the Chimera’s

movements had been greatly restricted and he was unable to use
his body to its full extent. Plus, the Chimera had been injured
earlier, in the battle with Bi Fan and hadn’t fully recovered
from it, which meant that the Chimera was actually leaning
towards a defeat at the moment.

The man with the purple jacket couldn’t help but contain his
joy as he realized: “The Chimera seems to be showing some
weaknesses, if we work harder, we can kill it and we have
already established the upper hand.”
 The Chimera was covered in fur and flesh from head to toe,
both of which were very precious, its tail, in particular, would
fetch a very high price.

The man in the purple jacket kept shouting encouragements

at his comrades as they attacked the Chimera with elated spirits,
suppressing the beast.

The Chimera had been fighting non-stop for a long time now,
and things were getting even worse for him. With every passing
second, his hatred for Bi Fan only grew stronger and stronger; if
it hadn’t been for the amount of energy that he had consumed
in fighting Bi Fan, he had been able to make an easy game out of
the humans in front of him.

“Harder! We almost have him now!” The man in the purple

jacked roared.

“Chimera, it seems that you are going to require my help to

finish this job after all.” Bi Fan said; ready to intervene in yet
another fight.

He popped up a few stones into the air and launched them

straight at the five humans with the aid of ‘the immortal
finger’. Bi Fan had decided to name this attack, ‘a snap of the
fingers’, a rather appropriate name.

As he heard the sounds of the stones piercing through the air,

the Chimera was certain that Bi Fan had returned and had
already launched an attack. As he realized that he would also
have to deal with Bi Fan along with these five, he couldn’t
contain the fear that hit his heart and it reflected on his face.

He was just preparing to try and make a run for it, when one
of the stones whooshed past him and it dawned upon him that
this hail of bullet stones was directed at the humans and not
him.

The Chimera was visibly confused; he had no idea why Bi Fan

was doing this and simply couldn’t understand the sudden
change of course this fight had taken.

‘A snap of the fingers’ was a very dangerous attack, as the

stones were pelted at very high speeds with incredible accuracy,
making it very difficult to dodge, or even thwart the attack.

The man in the purple jacket easily crushed the stone that was
directed at him, but the others weren’t strong enough and fell
prey to Bi Fan’s strike.

“Ah! Ah!…..”

Blood-curling shrieks filled the atmosphere as the four of the

five humans were hit by the stones and sustained injuries. In
fact, two of the four had even lost grip of their weapons, leaving
them with no way to retaliate the incoming attacks.

The man in the purple jacket was furious: “You scumbag!

Attacking us sneakily!”

“Putt-putt…..” were the only sounds he heard in response as

more stones found their way into the battle field.

Bi Fan launched several successive attacks, as he reproduced

the stunt.

The man in the purple jacket decided to quit cursing and

started concentrating on dodging the attacks.

The four others were finding it harder to dodge the attacks

with every passing minute, as they had already sustained
injuries. This forced the man in the purple jacket to combine
forces with them and aid them in shooting down the stones,
rather than fighting off the Chimera.

The Chimera was a little slow to react, but once it realized

that he had been gifted with an opportunity, he brazenly
launched a brutal attack at the humans, exposing its ominous
nature.

“Ah…. ” another screech echoed, as another one of the injured

teenagers met his fate.

The looks on the faces of the remaining teenagers had

changed drastically; they were all looking for means to escape.

Even the youngster in the purple jacket, who had thus far
been helping his comrades, seemed to be searching for an
avenue of escape, willing to abandon his comrades, ready save
himself at the cost of their impending deaths.

Although these teenagers were all from the same school, they
obviously had no profound emotional connections; they were
more than willing to abandon their friends in dire situations, if
it meant that they could live to see another morning’s sun.

Bi Fan had seen enough in this world, but even then he

couldn’t help but shun such a behavior on their part.

His hands hadn’t slowed down at all, in fact, his fingers had
been snapping all the while, and stones were being launched at
the humans unceasingly.

Since, the last time, when Bi Fan had used this technique, by
the river, he had been picking up the appropriately sized stones
and had been collecting them in the Yin Yang bag, making it
very easy for him to get access to them when needed.

Bi Fan’s hands were doing the job of a machine gun, hailing

bullets of stones at his enemies.

Bi Fan had been prioritizing the youngster in the purple jacket

with his attacks, forcing him to focus his attention on dodging
the stones rather than trying to escape.

The Chimera had managed to deliver the other three

youngsters to their final destinations in quick successions,
which meant that the youngster in purple now stood there,
facing the Chimera, alone.

The Chimera had managed to deliver the other three

youngsters to their final destinations in quick successions,
which meant that the youngster in purple now stood there,
facing the Chimera, alone.

“My human brother, I have done nothing to wrong you, so

don’t collaborate with this demon against me.” The youngster
in the purple jacket announced out loud.

Even though the youngster was in a mortal situation, the look

on his face, deceptive of this fact, was quiet gentle.

Bi Fan replied in a cold voice: “My brother, asking me for help

won’t work, but you can try begging the Chimera if you wish to
survive, maybe that will help your case instead.”

“You despicable little creature, come out and fight.” The

youngster in the purple jacket was furious after hearing Bi Fan’s
reply.
 Bi Fan chuckled: “If you think I’d ever help you against this
Chimera, then you’re gravely mistaken. I’d rather enjoy myself
as you slowly crawl towards your death.”

The Chimera had already kill four of his comrades in quick

succession, but the anger that had been smoldering inside it’s
heart hadn’t cooled down at all, in fact, had been flamed even
hotter.

“OWWW” The Chimera threw itself at the youngster, its

murderous bloody mouth, wide open like a sacrificial bowl,
ready to nip off the youngster’s head.

The teenager in the purple jacket was still recovering from Bi

Fan’s cold and sharp tongued replies, and he barely managed to
dodge the attack, but quickly prepared to launch a counter.

In the current scenario, the youngster in the purple jacket was

all alone, against a ferocious Chimera which had Bi Fan helping
it out. He could make out that Bi Fan was fairly strong and that
taking them both on at the same time wasn’t going to be
possible for him.

The Chimera had been on a very successful killing spree and

was quite excited, high on confidence and self-belief.

Bi Fan was in no hurry to kill this one off, and instead of firing
stones at him, he started concentrating on observing his martial
arts.

The youngster was using all kinds of ‘rising sun’ techniques

very optimally, and his strength was nothing short of
formidable.

Bi Fan had been doing a lot of reading on the ‘rising sun’

techniques, using the book that he had procured, but hadn’t
been able to get a grasp of its essence. But as he watched the
youngster display some of those styles, thing started becoming a
lot clearer to him.

Bi Fan had been wanting to learn the ‘rising sun’ techniques

to enhance his own style of sword fighting and hoped that it
would help him increase the efficiency of ‘the immortal finger’
as well.

The youngster in the purple jacket had been using his skills
very efficiently to such an effect that the Chimera was finding it
very difficult to deal with him.
 Bi Fan had already figured out all that he needed to know, and
decided that it was time to end the life of another ‘rising sun’
disciple.

‘A snap of the fingers’ and two stones went flying again.

The stones made their way straight for the eye balls of the
youngster.

The youngster was fully concentrated on fighting the Chimera

when he suddenly heard the sound of the stones piercing the
air. He knew he didn’t have the time to dodge this time, so he
quickly covered his vital organs, hoping to minimize the
damage.

“Ah!….” Even though the youngster managed to protect his

eyes, he couldn’t get out of the way completely. The stones hit
him in the face, poking open, two bloody holes, as they
embedded themselves in his handsome face.

The youngster in the purple jacket covered his face with his
hands as the pain took over and he completely forgot about the
Chimera that stood before his closed eyes.

The Chimera seized this opportunity and grasped the head of

the youngster. In one single strike, the Chimera snapped off the
youngster’s head in a terribly frightful scene, as blood splashed
all over the ground.

Once the Chimera was done, it roared out as loudly as it could,

venting out all of its frustration. Once he was done, he turned
around to sneak a look in the direction from which the stones
were being fired from and the color of fear returned to his face.
The Chimera quickly started to leave, not even bothering to tow
away the bodies of its kill.

“Big Guy, you know I will find you…” Bi Fan came out of his
hiding spot, smiling and walked over to the dead bodies of the
deceased ‘rising sun’ disciples.

Each of these people had only been carrying a very small

amount of spars, and Bi Fan collected them very quickly.

The youngster in the purple jacket was obviously a core

disciple of the ‘rising sun’ school, and had a Yin Yang bag in his
possession, a gift which Bi Fan kindly accepted.
 Bi Fan started walking towards the Chimera quickly, fully
aware that the Chimera had quite possibly consumed all its
energy, and now would be the most the fortunate time to kill it.

The Chimera, grabbed at one of the humans bodies that was

lying near it and with the body dangling from its mouth,
quickly started to leave the scene.

The Chimera was too slow at this moment, and Bi Fan could
easily catch up any time he wanted.

“Big guy, don’t try to run now.” Bi Fan shouted as he started

to close the gap between them very quickly.

As soon as the Chimera realized that Bi Fan had decided to

chase after it, he decided to lose the human carcass that was
dangling from its mouth and started running at full capacity.

Bi Fan complying with the Chimera accelerated his own pace

and continued chasing it.
 The Chimera had a huge body, hence was at a huge
disadvantage as the huge trees tarried his escape plans.

Bi Fan on the other hand, was very cleverly picking the most
optimal paths to close down the Chimera and was catching up
very quickly.

Abruptly, the Chimera came to sudden halt, turned around to

face Bi Fan, making it clear that he had no intention of escaping
any further.

Bi Fan figured that the Chimera was up to something funny

and was very vigilant, on guard, prepared for any attacks.

The Chimera suddenly revealed a very ugly smile, and while

looking at Bi Fan with its pitiful eyes, closed its forepaws on the
ground beneath, almost as if he was bowing down.

Bi Fan was taken aback by this gesture as he had no idea what

the Chimera was doing.

“Whrrrrr…..” The Chimera produced a very subdued roar,

more like purr, as it slowly creeped to the ground.
 Bi Fan was even more confused now, and even more alert than
before.

Unexpectedly, and boldly, the Marten came out of his hiding

spot, issued a creaking sound and started making gestures
incessantly.

The Marten had been communicating with Bi Fan using

gestures for a long time, so Bi Fan could understand what the
Marten was trying to say.

The Marten was trying to tell Bi Fan, that the Chimera was
really scared of Bi Fan, and was begging him for mercy, no
wonder the Chimera was acting in such a docile manner.

“So, Big guy, you want me to spare your life? Well, not so
easily…” Bi Fan said with a strong smile on his face.

The Chimera’s eyes were filled with hope. The feel of those
eyes wasn’t something that Bi Fan could simply ignore.
 “Big guy, you will have to follow me or….” Bi Fan said with a
smile, his body language reeking of a threat.

The Chimera hesitated, after all, he was a demon, and a

mighty powerful one at that, surrendering wasn’t even
remotely in its nature.

The Chimera was a very proud and arrogant creature. On top

of that, it’s every cell permeated with rancor as far as Bi Fan was
concerned, so he naturally didn’t want to surrender to his will.

However, it was evidently clear to the Chimera, that if he

didn’t surrender to Bi Fan’s whims then Bi Fan wouldn’t
hesitate to kill him.

“Big guy, you have to think logically, there is no harm in

following me. I will even provide you with a nucleus to charge
yourself up, if you’re willing to let me train on you.” Bi Fan
smiled.

“Creak….” The Marten was bouncing vivaciously in an

attempt to try and persuade the Chimera.
 The Chimera stared at Bi Fan and at the Marten for a long
time, still hesitant.

Bi Fan was extremely patient, and continued to look at the

Chimera, harboring his ill intentions.

“Humm….” Finally, the Chimera lowered its head,

symbolizing his surrender and its eyes reflected its compliance.

Bi Fan was in a frenzied state of exaltation: “But first, you will

have to offer me your spirit!”

The Chimera obediently exposed the strands of its spirit,

which Bi Fan collected. Now, if the Chimera ever showed any
signs of malice or disloyalty, Bi Fan could fragment these
strands of his spirit, and cause the Chimera a massive amount of
damage.
 Chapter 40 – A Breakthrough

Later, Bi Fan sat on top of the Chimera’s back as the Chimera

led him through the forest. Bi Fan couldn’t help enjoying the
leisurely ride, feeling incredibly pleased with his position.

As the Chimera led him through the forest, Bi Fan came across
several demons, but none of them were strong enough to attract
Bi Fan’s attention.

The demons they came across were only ordinary; none of

them were in the ‘brave’ layer, let alone any higher. Fighting
with such opponents wasn’t going to bear him any results.

Unfortunately for Bi Fan, in this part of the devil’s territory,

the number of demons that were in the ‘brave’ layer, or higher,
was very low.

The Chimera made its way through the forest in a very

smooth fashion, meaning that Bi Fan could concentrate on
meditating and practicing while he rode the Chimera’s back. He
needed to make every minute count.
 Bi Fan’s strength had been growing stronger and stronger, but
he wasn’t satisfied yet. On the contrary, he was becoming more
assiduous towards it with every passing day.

He knew that he had started very late in life as compared to

his competition, and hence needed to snatch every second and
utilize it for practice.

Moreover, just recently, the Silhouette figure of Yan Yu Si had

popped into Bi Fan’s head, and he couldn’t help, but wonder
what she was up to.

Yan Yu Si was in charge of the Xuannv palace, and her

strength was nothing short of tyrannical.

Bi Fan wanted his strength to transcend that of Yan Yu Si, so

that his name could also be taken alongside a genius martial
artist like her.

Bi Fan was willing to make any and all kinds of sacrifices to

become a successful martial artist.

Recently, Bi Fan’s inner energy had already broken into the

‘brave’ layer and his physical strength was on a rise as well.

Once he breaks through to the next layer, his fighting capacity

would see a massive rise. So much so that even if he ran into a
whole group of ‘rising sun’ disciples, he need not worry about
the consequences of the encounter.

Sometime later, Bi Fan asked the Chimera to stop, and asked

him to guard Bi Fan.

Bi Fan settled against a tree and started to practice.

This time, Bi Fan decided to take a Dan pellet to help him

make the breakthrough.

The Dan pellet was a very strong one, and as he swallowed it,
a huge amount of aura surged throughout his body.

Holding such huge amounts of untamed aura inside one’s

body can be very painful and Bi Fan clenched his teeth, as he
tried to subdue the pain. He started practicing Quinyang
longevity burst to absorb the aura that the Dan pellet was
providing.
 Quinyang longevity burst was a very low level method to
absorb aura, so, the absorption rate was very slow and the he
couldn’t utilize the entire Dan pellet.

Unfortunately, even though he was in the ‘spiritual

intelligence’ layer, he couldn’t refine aura at the speed which he
should be able to.

Even though he had only ingested a ‘brave’ layer Dan pellet, it

took him about an hour to assimilate its aura.

In fact, he couldn’t harvest all of it, and almost half of the

pellet went waste. Bi Fan could feel its effects, a significant rise
in his inner energy, but not enough to break through to the next
layer.

Bi Fan had sufficient Dan pellets to break through to the next

layer, and since he needed his inner energy to breakthrough to
the ‘brave’ layer, it only made sense to take a ‘brave’ layer Dan.

Once he was done absorbing the pellet, he decided to wait a

while before ingesting another one.
 Bi Fan started practicing his martial arts, and continued to
practice till he had depleted all of his inner energy.

With the Chimera standing guard, watching his back, Bi Fan

wasn’t worried about being harassed by demons or other
humans and could easily continue his practice in peace.

After consuming up all his inner energy, Bi Fan started to

restore it, and continued the process till his inner energy was
fully restored.

He repeated this process several times, to maintain a form of

purity, meaning, without taking Dan pellets. If one took too
many Dan pellets to increase strength and break through to the
next layer, it often ends up causing a heterogeneous mixture of
inner energy inside a person, which tends to effect the future
growth very negatively.

Bi Fan decided that it was time to take a second ‘brave’ layer

Dan pellet. He ingested the pellet and began refining the aura.

This time, the refining happened at a much faster rate and he

was able to harvest a significantly higher percentage of the
pellet.

Bi Fan was not rushing into things, and he continued to

practice as it was a necessity to have a strong base.

In the two days that passed, Bi Fan had already consumed

about eight ‘brave’ layer Dan pellets. It takes time to process so
many pellets and on top of that Bi Fan needed to practice as
well, in order to maintain a pure energy structure in his body,
so he only took the pellets to support his practice instead of
using them as an alternate.

In these last two days, Bi Fan had accumulated enough inner

energy to make the breakthrough and bottleneck to the next
layer.

Bi Fan was preparing himself for the final practice, ready to

make the breakthrough to the next layer.

“Chimera, no matter what happens; make sure that I shall not

be disturbed.” Bi Fan issued very clear and strict orders.

A backlash is very dangerous. Once a person is on the verge of

breaking into the ‘brave’ layer, they must be extremely careful.
When the strength is higher, so is the risk; and when such is the
case, a person shall not be disturbed. In fact, most people would
never opt to do such a thing inside the wild due to the fear of a
backlash.

Bi Fan was awfully bold, in fact, if he told people that he tried

to break through the bottle neck to next layer inside the devil’s
territory, then most people would simply refuse to believe him.

The Marten was also standing close to Bi Fan, guarding him.

With everything set and prepared for the final practice, Bi Fan
started the practice for the breakthrough.

Quinyang longevity burst’s speed depends on the energy that

surges out of the pubic region, and Bi Fan was careful that he
didn’t lose his concentration in doing so.

Currents of energy charged through his body in a steady flow

as he prepared to make the breakthrough. Things were going
very smoothly, and it was only a matter of time before he would
bottleneck to the next layer.
 However, when a practitioner hits the bottleneck, the body
suffers a huge amount of pain and the person in question must
show a great amount of restrain to continue practicing through
it.

It requires a great amount of will power, courage and a lot of

strength to make such a breakthrough and even then, the task
isn’t an easy one.

Bi Fan could tolerate the pain, so he tossed all these thoughts

aside and concentrated solely on his practice.

He had been practicing nonstop for three and half hours and
mid-way, several demons had tried to approach him, but the
Chimera chased them all away.

The Chimera was strong enough to reside in the ‘spiritual

intelligence’ layer, and was considered a hegemon, an absolute
feudal chief, so ordinary demons wouldn’t dare to come
anywhere near it.

“Boom!” his inner energy finally cleared the final checkpoint,

bottle-necking to the next layer.
 “Boom!” his inner energy finally cleared the final checkpoint,
bottlenecking to the next layer.

Torrential currents rampaged throughout his body as his

inner energy expanded exponentially.

Bi Fan was really excited: “I have finally reached the ‘brave’

layer, and soon I’ll be in the ‘spiritual intelligence’ layer. Then
I’ll be able to practice the free burst techniques and my strength
will rise much faster”.

“AAAAA!!!!” Bi Fan stood up and roared, as sweat carelessly

dripped down from his body, to the ground beneath him.

The Chimera and the Marten rushed to Bi Fan’s side. Their

faces were reflecting the pleasure they were feeling after
watching Bi Fan succeed.

The Chimera had already decided to follow Bi Fan, so it was

also in his best interests if Bi Fan’s strength increased.

Bi Fan considered the Marten to be a family member, so he

was glad to see the Marten rejoicing in his success.
 “Come, let’s keep going forward!” With the increase in
strength, his confidence was also increasing. In fact, even his
temperament had also seen a drastic change; he had become
much calmer by nature now.

Bi Fan jumped up to take his place on the Chimera’s back and

the Marten too, hopped up on top of the Chimera’s back, who
then started moving forward in long strides.

Bi Fan hadn’t set a specific target or even a time frame.

Bi Fan didn’t care if his stay in the devil’s territory exceeded a

month, as Bi Fan had entered the devil’s territory to gain
experience, so if he felt that the devil’s territory didn’t suffice
his needs anymore, he would naturally want to exit the region.

Nevertheless, Bi Fan needed to spend at least a month inside

the Devil’s territory, a term over which he had no control.

Bi Fan had just broken into the next layer, but now he needed
to find some opponents so he could gain some stability.
 Along the way, they encountered several beasts. Bi Fan and
the Chimera killed as many as they could get their hands on,
regardless of the beast’s strength. The Carcasses of their victims
were then incorporated into the Tian Yuan ring.

Bi Fan now had a total of five Yin Yang pouches; however, the
space was still finite in some terms.

Anyway, now, with the Chimera as his new companion, Bi

Fan couldn’t sell off these carcasses in the open market. These
carcasses were going to be used for satisfying the Chimera’s
massive appetite, in fact, several more would be needed for that
purpose.

Since, they were collecting food for the Chimera; he in

particular, was putting a lot of effort. But whenever animals
saw the Chimera looking to make a meal out of them, they
quickly made themselves scarce.

Anyway, Bi Fan was only looking for a strong enemy, so he

didn’t care much if the Chimera’s violent appearance sacred the
weak ones away.

The Chimera on the other hand was awfully carefree while

roaming around in the wild.

On the way, they even encountered a small group of humans,

who instantaneously bent down to the ground in surrender,
awfully terrified of the Chimera.

The moment they had seen a teenager sitting on top of the

Chimera, their shocked faces had reflected several different
emotions simultaneously, including those of envy and
admiration.

Bi Fan decided that he won’t harm these boys. These

youngsters belonged to some other school, and after all said and
done, he didn’t need any more enemies.

The youngsters were terrified by the pace at which the

Chimera gusted pasted them.

It took them a long time to recover, mentally, from the

encounter and they continued to discuss it for a long time.

“What kind of a demon was that? He was so strong and so

fast! I could barely move….”
 “That was a Chimera. A Chimera is a very powerful and
ferocious demon, I have no idea how that human managed to
subdue one. He’s one lucky guy.”

“If that guy managed to subdue such an enormous beast then

he is definitely very strong as well.”

“That’s probably true, but I don’t know which school he

belongs to. Xuan Wu Ji topped the Jiu Yu list, is it possible that
he is more powerful than Xuan Wu Ji?”

“Highly unlikely, after all, Xuan Wu Ji topped that list several

years ago, and this person seemed a little too young to compete
with the likes of such a genius.”

“If you give him a few years, then it might be possible

someday. I mean that Chimera of his, can grow into a very big
and powerful beast, and if his strength advances into the
‘transformation’ layer, then it might be possible that he could
actually break into the ‘emerging from the womb’ category
someday.”
 ……

Bi Fan didn’t hear their discussion, in fact, by the time they

started discussing this, Bi Fan’s company had already wandered
far away from them, owing to the Chimera’s speed.

No one knew how the devil’s territory came to be, although

there were several legends that spoke about the same. Some say,
that some sort of a disagreement was settled here, and that this
area was ground zero of an ancient battle.

Numerous spirits prevailed here, so much so, that for

thousands of years, no one even dared to venture anywhere
close to this region. Then slowly, over the years, tall, towering
trees started growing, animals started living here, and gradually
turned into beasts, goblins, and other forms of evil demons, and
this is how the devil’s territory became what it is today.

However, in the present day, there is no written record,

making all such legends and folklores nothing more than myths,
and completely untraceable.

No spirits were ever reported in the devil’s territory.

Although, one thing was certain, the amount of aura inside the
devil’s territory far exceeded the aura that lingered in the world
outside.

No one knew the reason, but if humans stayed inside the

devil’s territory for long periods of time, then sometimes, they
would go berserk, as if they had been possessed. Even the
demons that were present inside the devil’s territory were far
more violent in nature than the ones present outside, but never
acted like they had been possessed by evil spirits.

It is for this reason that humans never stayed inside the

devil’s territory for too long a time frame and so the devil’s
territory had been cordoned off by a unanimous vote.

Do evil spirits and ghosts really exist?

Several people suspected that they do, but no one had ever
been able to prove it.

Bi Fan had heard a lot of rumors related to the devil’s

territory, but he had laughed them off.

For a long time now, people had fancied the idea of the devil’s
territory being an ancient battlefield, but no one had any proof
or clues to support the argument.

Attempting to get to the bottom of this argument was only

going to waste time and cause grief, and hence wasn’t worth it.

Bi Fan knew that he is only a man, and men have their own
consciousness, and Bi Fan’s consciousness kept telling him to
increase his strength.

Even if there was an ancient treasure trove hidden in this

region, Bi Fan was practical enough to know that it would be
more beneficial to train and upgrade his strength than going on
a wild goose chase.

“Wooooo!” the Chimera had just hunted down a wild tiger

and issued a roar out of excitement.

Recently, the Chimera had become more and more active; it

appeared that tagging along with Bi Fan had proved out to be a
good choice. Unlike the past, he was no longer just eating and
sleeping, sleeping and eating; he was no longer leading a
monotonous life.
 A Chimera is born to fight, they like the excitement, and they
really like to fight.

The only complaint that the Chimera could register, was that
every time they encountered a strong opponent, Bi Fan would
rush out ahead to fight it, which meant that the Chimera
couldn’t enjoy himself to the optimal limit.

Suddenly, there seemed to be a massive surge of oppressive

energy coming from the deepest abyss of the devil’s territory,
like evil forces were leaking from within.

Bi Fan was thankful that his heart was still beating after that
shocking moment, and even the Chimera was, visibly, shivering
with fear.

“What was that?” Bi Fan asked, shocked.

This incident, it seemed wasn’t limited to their surroundings,

and other demons and disciples in the devil’s territory had also
sensed this sudden surge of energy.

People, animals, and demons alike, were curious. And once

the spirits had calmed down, everyone wanted to find out where
this sudden surge of energy had originated from.
 Chapter 41 – Spirits

Bi Fan did not hesitate at all as he climbed on top of the

Chimera and rushed towards the point, from which this evil
aura had erupted.

Recently, Bi Fan had been having a lot of difficulty finding

suitable opponents, and he felt like taking a chance here.

Along the way, Bi Fan decided that it was better to change his
appearance a bit, as he didn’t want to risk being spotted by
‘rising sun’ disciples, as it might lead to unnecessary trouble.

That being said, Bi Fan did not fear ‘rising sun’ disciples, he
simply didn’t want to be delayed on his course to ground zero of
the incident that had just occurred.

Bi Fan had this strange feeling that the things could get really
messy around that area.

“Was the devil’s territory really an ancient battlefield?” Bi

Fan was taken aback as he pondered over the idea.
 In the ancient past, the strength of men far exceeded that of
todays. Their strength was beyond match and so were their
weapons.

If this really was an ancient battle field, then any leftover

weapons that anyone could find, would certainly be
extraordinary by present day’s standards.

Today, the world considered the ‘immortals’ to be an almost

extinct layer, and following their decline, the ‘immortal’
weapons had also faded away. Only a very few, handful of very
powerful factions around the world were rumored to possess a
very small amount of such weapons.

Excited by this thought, Bi Fan kept pushing the Chimera to

accelerate its pace.

The Chimera too was very curious, and so was running as fast
as he possibly could.

Along the way, Bi Fan encountered several humans and

demons, all of whom, where trying to find their way to the
point of origination of this freak incident.
 Bi Fan didn’t want to get involved in any kinds of fights right
now, as getting to ground zero was his top priority at the
moment.

The really surprising thing was that Bi Fan spotted several

‘brave’ layer demons on route. He had no idea why he hadn’t
spotted them previously, maybe they remained hidden from
public sight as they didn’t wish to be disturbed. But owing to
the narrowness of the path, they were forced to come out in the
open to investigate this incident.

If the demons that preferred their privacy were provoked,

then a fierce fight was called for.

Bi Fan was even more excited now; finally, finding new

targets for his practice wasn’t going to be a very difficult task.

Although Bi Fan ran into many humans on the way, none of

them were sitting on the back of a demon, let alone something
as strong as this Chimera. So naturally, Bi Fan was stealing all
the attention.
 Bi Fan’s Chimera gusted past everyone on the way, as he
drifted towards the center of the scene, and eyes balls followed
them.

Ground zero of this outbreak was very deep into this level of
the devil’s territory, and was awfully close to the second level.

Bi Fan’s ride, the Chimera, reduced its run to a walking pace

as they neared their destination.

Bi Fan just stood there, shocked, as he looked at the

surroundings he had just arrived at.

In front of him, were tall trees, tall withered trees. A huge

expanse of the forest had withered down to a stale yellow color.

The evil spirits that had done this were obviously very strong,
but it wasn’t just that, from the looks of it, it appeared that this
outbreak was a pretty violent one.

A few humans and demons had already arrived at the scene,

but no one was willing to take the initiative of leading the way
ahead and into the devastated expanse that lay ahead of them.
 No one knew what was really happening here, no one knew
why and how these evil spirits had appeared or where they had
come from.

The hearts of everyone present were puzzled, but curios, and

they all awaited answers.

Ever since Bi Fan had arrived at this place, he could feel that
the Yin Yang lotus that inhabited his body had been growing
very restless. The black part of the lotus, especially, seemed
very excited.

Under pressure from the Lotus that resided in his body, Bi Fan
jumped off the Chimera’s back, and started walking towards the
area that was enveloped by the spirits.

At present, Bi Fan simply seemed to have no control over

anything. It appeared as if the Yin Yang Lotus was making him
walk and had taken control over his body.

“Greedy, Chimera, stay back, wait for me outside, do not come

in here.” Bi Fan bit his tongue as he tried to gain some control
back to issue orders to his companions.

As he entered the region, he could sense his body being

affected by the spirits in the vicinity, and he simply could not let
the Chimera and the Marten take this risk.

The Chimera was about to follow Bi Fan into the region, but
as soon as he heard Bi Fan’s command, he quickly retreated his
footsteps.

The Marten had wanted to step into the region several times,
but each time, his heart, filled with fear, stopped him. He
couldn’t help as he jumped up and down, hoping to channel out
the adrenaline rush.

Bi Fan, step by step, slowly walked towards the center of the

region that appeared to have been possessed by evil spirits.

All the creature and humans that were present on the scene,
stared at him in awe, as if, he was their pathfinder.

As they watched Bi Fan cross almost twenty meters into the

region without facing any abnormal activity, finally some of the
creatures and humans decided that they too couldn’t wait any
longer and decided to venture into the region enveloped by the
spirits.

“Ah….” Blood-curling screams echoed, as the minds of these

humans and demons were attacked by the spirits. The pain they
suffered was beyond the bearable limit, so they quickly
retreated their footsteps and fell back.

Some six men had rushed into the area at a very quick, but
failed to get out of there quickly enough, and soon fell to the
ground, dead.

The ones who hadn’t yet entered into the region, looked on,
gasping at the scene they were witnessing.

The creatures that were present on scene had been so badly

sacred off by this incident that they backed further away from
the spirits.

The Chimera and the Marten were quiet smart, as soon as

they heard the screams of the ones that had tried to follow Bi
Fan; they quickly realized that no one will be able to follow him
into the region. This also meant that some of them might try to
create trouble for them, as everyone knew that the two of them
were with Bi Fan, so the two of them quickly retreated from
their spots and hid.

“Damn it, how has that person managed to penetrate almost

thirty meters into the region, no one else can even step foot into
it.” A human spoke out furiously.

“We need to find a way to enter the region; otherwise that guy
will take away all the credit.”

The people present outside were getting more and more

anxious. The demons, however, had taken a few steps back, and
had calmed down; they weren’t really interested in magic that
much.

Bi Fan had penetrated a decent distance into the area without

facing any problems so far, so he gradually relaxed a bit.

Bi Fan had penetrated a decent distance into the area without

facing any problems so far, so he gradually relaxed a bit.

Since it was the Yin Yang Lotus that had guided Bi Fan into
this zone, he was sure that the Lotus would ascertain that
nothing untoward happened to him.

Once he had entered about thirty meters into the zone, he

could feel the real strength of the spirits. He could feel their
presence against his body, and he could feel that they were
trying to enter into his mind.

The black part of the lotus finally started acting; silky black
threads started emerging from Bi Fan’s body and started to
absorb the Spirits.

Bi Fan stood there, at the center of a whirlpool, with all the

malignant spirits rushing towards him, frantically.

These spirits were formless, invisible. The humans and

creatures standing outside the zone couldn’t see them, but Bi
Fan could sense their presence.

The Yin Yang Lotus was absorbing the spirits and aura at a
maddening rate. The Black petals were assimilating those evil
spirits whereas the White petals were in charge of absorbing the
Aura.
 Bi Fan could sense that the aura surrounding him was now
thinning out, so Bi Fan decided to walk a little deeper into the
Abyss, as some of the spirits might have decided to stay away
from the demons.

Bi Fan was aware, that the demons and humans, who were
waiting and watching from the outside, may cause his some
trouble later, in fact, he considered a fight to be inevitable and
unavoidable upon his return.

Bi Fan could sense the enthusiasm with which the Yin Yang
Lotus was absorbing the Aura, and he felt that it was best to let
the Lotus take its time.

Bi Fan continued to walk deeper into that forbidden zone, and

the ones that stood outside, looked on, in astonishment at the
freak that Bi Fan was.

“Woah, that’s amazing, it’s as if those evil spirits have no

effect on him.” One youngster wondered in admiration.

“Nah, nothing can stop so many spirits, he’s probably already

been possessed by the spirits.” Another man argued, refusing to
be convinced otherwise.
 “We can’t just stand here and wait; there might be some
amazing treasures inside that area.”

“I have some mind soothing Dan pellets, high price, available

for purchase here.” A man yelled.

Some of the people who were in possession of these Dan

pellets suddenly burst into action. They ingested the pellets and
made their way towards the region that was engulfed by the
spirits.

Perhaps it was the sparse density of the Spirits close to the

entrance that allowed the Dan pellets to nullify the effect of the
spirits and the humans that entered the region now, had already
penetrated about ten meters into the region without much
trouble.

“Hey you there, I’d like to buy some of those mind soothing
pellets.” The people that were standing on the outside were
rushing over to the ones who had these mind soothing pellets,
desperate to enter the possessed region.
 “Over here, one pellet for a hundred spars, how many would
you like to buy?”

“A hundred spar for a single pellet? Are you serious? I have a

family to feed, please can you give me one for lesser.”

There were many people standing on the edge of the possessed

area who had these mind soothing pellets, but what they didn’t
have was courage; the courage it took to enter the spirit
inhabited region that lay in front of them.

Although, at this point of time, such people had been

presented with an opportunity to make a small fortune, and to
them, their fortune, was in selling these Dan pellets for a few
extra spars.

“I have a mind soothing Dan pellet, the pellets goes to the

highest bidder, hurry!” A youngster pulled out a mind soothing
pellet as he advertised his product loudly.

In no time at all, the teenager was surrounded by a flock of

humans, who were bidding for the pellet and the exchange took
place quickly.

Similar scenes were seen in several other places all around

and the whole vicinity was bustling with excitement.

Some people had chosen to gather a little farther away from

the main scene, near the demons, choosing to remain out of this
for the time being, but the glint in their eyes clearly reflected
that they were waiting for the opportune moment to make their
move.

As soon as a person would get their hands on the pellet, they

would eat it and rush into the zone.

Bi Fan had gone further into the region and had almost
vanished from the line of sight of the crowd that waited outside
in anticipation. Bi Fan, at this point had already gone at least a
hundred meters into that possessed territory, if not more.

The deeper he ventured, the denser the aura, the more intense
the spirits. The Yin Yang Lotus was busy, absorbing the entire
aura and the spirits that dwelled.
 Bi Fan didn’t have much of a role to play here, and he
submitted himself to simply inspect the Lotus that resided
inside his body; only to find that Lotus was becoming more and
more lustrous.

And the center of the Lotus seemed to be protruding a bit

now, almost like there was bulge in the middle. But even then, it
didn’t feel as if the Lotus was in an uncomfortable position, on
the contrary, it appeared as if the Lotus was having a jolly good
time, and was continually growing more radiant.

Bi Fan was really curious to see what further changes the Yin
Yang Lotus would exhibit.

After reaching this point, going any further was becoming

very difficult for him, mainly due to all the physical pressure.

Bi Fan had no other choice and he came to stop, so he could

rest for a while, while the Lotus continued to absorb the aura
and spirits in the surrounding region, and then he started
moving further again.

Bi Fan had no idea how far the center of this eruption was, as
he hadn’t yet had any visual contact with its source.
 Those who had entered the region behind him realized that,
as they ventured deeper into the region, the force of the spirits
increased, along with the difficulty and risk involved in going
any further. The smart ones were quick to quit and return back
to the safe zone, whereas some were far too sacred to go any
deeper.

The ones, who had paid a very high price while acquiring the
mind soothing pellets, especially, didn’t want to give up very
easily.

Ten meters…. Fifteen meters….. Twenty meters….

These people were already under a lot of pressure and some of

them were still pushing themselves very hard to go further in.

“Please don’t let the devil possess me!” Many people inwardly
prayed as fear overwhelmed their courageous start.

One strong and courageous man managed to venture almost

twenty five meters into the region, but suddenly, he started
going berserk. He started shouting like maniac as he tore his
clothes apart and pulled at his hair.

“Oh my god! He has been possessed by the devil!” The people

who stood a few steps behind him instantaneously stopped,
looking gloomy and scared, as they watched him die a gruesome
death.

A human had been possessed even after being supported by

the Dan pellet. So now, not a lot of people were willing to take
the risk.

One of them, however, had exchanged all of his possessions to

obtain the Dan pellet and refused to return without any
rewards, and so he continued to walk deeper.

He failed to learn the lesson from the mistakes of his

predecessor, but managed to teach one to his followers.

He too failed to survive, and died a deranged death.

This time, without any sort of hesitation, everyone turned

around and started heading back.
 The people who had sold off these Dan pellets in the first place
were secretly laughing at their customers.

“The man who entered the region first, who was he? Too
courageous, he wasn’t even afraid of the spirits.”

“Let’s examine this situation for the time being instead of

reporting this to our superiors immediately. Maybe it will stop,
or it might get worse too.”

“I remember what that man looks like, if he manages to come

out alive, then we must find a way to cut him off.”

Everyone gathered, was waiting to see what happens to Bi

Fan, but at present, none of them could see him, as he had
already faded out of their visual reach.
 Chapter 42 – Strong Ones Join In

The evil spirits had suddenly appeared out of nowhere and

they were causing quite a scene. Most people who were in Xi
Guan had already spotted the anomaly, and so had the people
inside the second layer of the devil’s territory.

However, the devil’s territory was restricted in some ways.

This meant that the people inside the second layer could not
enter the first layer in the same trip, and this barrier also
prevented the demons that resided in the second layer from
wandering into the first.

“So many evil spirits appearing out of nowhere, this is a bad

omen!” the looks on faces of people who were witnessing this
from the other places, had also changed drastically to that of a
sad one.

“So many evil spirits sprouting inside the devil’s territory! Are
the legends true?”

Several people had gathered to witness this phenomenon and

they couldn’t help but speculate if the rumors were actually
true; the devil’s territory might have been a battlefield in a
bygone era.

If this place really had severed as the grounds for an ancient

battle, then many strong people would have died here. This also
meant that there could still be a few surviving artifacts from
that era; some palpitating hearts yearned to get their hands on
such artifacts.

“There is no certainty, but if this place really was an ancient

battlefield, then there could also be a few immortal weapons
buried there, we must go and survey the area.”

‘Immortal weapon’, this one term was enough, the eyebrows

of everyone present, were already raised.

Immortal weapons Ah! These were weapons of unlimited

power. There was only one known immortal weapon in the
entire world, it was named, Tai Yin. Tai Yun was controlled by
the nine sacred school of Tian Yu.

It was rumored that the weapon was so strong, that it was

rarely ever used. In fact, they say, that the schools only use this
weapon to control the weather.
 Spiritual weapon were considered priceless in Tian Yu, and
even spiritual weapons couldn’t hope to match the power of an
immortal weapon.

No prizes for guessing that if anyone came face to face with an

immortal weapon, they would do anything to get their hands on
it.

Suddenly, the entire bunch of people present at this scene,

starting flocking towards the counter to buy an entry ticket into
the devil’s territory.

The entire Xi Guan town was rushing towards the ticket

counter, to enter the first layer of the devil’s territory.

The person who was responsible for the sale of these entries
didn’t want to comply with their demands, as some of the
practitioners were far too strong to be allowed into the first
layer of the devil’s territory and were usually assigned to layer
two or three.

Only a mortal human, he was unable to ward off the constant

threats of such powerful people, and left with no choice, he
eventually granted them the access to the first layer of the
devil’s territory.

At least a thousand or so, very powerful practitioners, had

managed to buy themselves entry tickets into the devil’s
territory, and as soon as they entered the region, they rushed
towards the possessed area.

These people were applying all kinds of techniques, whatever

it took to get there as quickly as possible. So much so, that some
were even willing to use divine essence seals for the same.

Of course, there were others who were slightly more cautious,

and didn’t break into the devil’s territory so hastily.

If this region had really been a battlefield in the distant past,

then maybe, it wasn’t such a good idea to go in there at this
time.

At this point, Bi Fan had no idea as to far out he had ventured

into this region. Now, he needed to stop for at least twenty
minutes after taking each step, as that’s the time it took for the
Lotus to absorb the spirits and the aura, and this time frame was
increasing with every step he took.
 The Aura density was increasing steadily and the evil spirits
were becoming more and more violent, which was making Bi
Fan very uncomfortable.

If the Lotus hadn’t been in control of his body, then he would

have fled this region a very long time ago.

Evil spirits were entering into his body, which wasn’t a very
comfortable sensation, and even with the Yin Yang Lotus
protecting him, Bi Fan was still in a very miserable state.

Bi Fan couldn’t help the Lotus absorb the spirits or the Aura,
and was basically rendered jobless at the moment. He felt really
bored, and all he could do was inspect the Lotus from time to
time, as it continuously changed in many ways.

After absorbing so many spirits and aura, the Lotus’s petals

had grown much bigger in size, and it glimmered with even
more radiance than before.

Apart from the flower itself, the Lotus’s stamen was also
growing in size, and was beginning to form a proper shape.
 The Lotus’s stamen was also half black and half white in
color, like the Lotus, and looked very similar to a Yin Yang.

There were eighteen holes in the stamen; half of them were

black in color whereas the other half were white. However there
were no seeds in them at the moment.

The Lotus’s stamen was very small in size in comparison to

the Lotus’s body, but its dimensions were constantly growing in
size, and Bi Fan, for some reason, felt that it must be a good
sign.

Actually, Bi Fan couldn’t really be sure, and at this moment,

he was only making things up along the way.

He had no idea whether this Lotus that was concealed in his

body, was a good thing or a bad thing to begin with. But so far,
his heart felt consoled in the fact that nothing bad had
happened to him because of the Lotus.

As the Lotus’s stamen started taking its shape, the Lotus was
able to absorb the aura and the spirits at a much faster rate.
 Bi Fan could distinctly feel it otherwise as well, and he could
sense that the spirits were forming a much bigger whirlwind
around him, as they flocked into his body.

“Was this place really an ancient battlefield? How else could

there be so many evil spirits and so much aura here…” Bi Fan
body may not have been in his control but his mind most
certainly was.

Bi Fan couldn’t help but look forward, wanting to see the

source of this eruption, but he still couldn’t spot it, nor could he
see any valuables in vicinity.

Simultaneously, Bi Fan also kept looking back every now and

then, as he would want to know if he had any company.

A lot of people had managed to get onto the scene, and Bi Fan
was surprised that none of them had been able to keep up with
him.

The people who were at the edge of the zone were even more
anxious than Bi Fan. Bi Fan had been gone for almost three
hours now, and they still couldn’t see any signs of movement
inside the zone.
 Is he dead after all, or is he alive?

This question was the main concern of everyone present and

even the demons looked on in anticipation.

They were eagerly waiting to see him dead and hoped that he
had managed to acquire some valuables, as some of them were
still not willing to return empty handed from this episode.

“What do we do now? He went in such a long time ago, if he

wandered too far away, then it will be very difficult to find him
and his valuables.” A man said anxiously.

“No, I doubt it. The heart of this activity is a fair distance

away, by now he must have reached very close to it. But you see,
the deeper you go, the stronger the evil spirits become. So by
now, they most likely would have entered his body, possessed
him, and killed him. He has to be dead by now.”

“Yes, yes, you are right. The man went in there such a long
time ago; he is most certainly dead by now.”
 “Yes, yes, you are right. The man went in there such a long
time ago; he is most certainly dead by now.”

These people were convinced that Bi Fan was already dead; in

fact, they wanted him to be. These people had not been able to
enter the zone like Bi Fan had, and they simply didn’t want to
believe that another man could be better than them.

These people were talented youngsters from different school,

proud and arrogant, which meant that they were really
dissatisfied with Bi Fan’s capability, and wouldn’t allow
themselves to be subjected to someone’s superiority.

If they felt that anyone was above their level, they wouldn’t
hesitate in killing the person in question to prove otherwise.

While these people were busy waiting, they felt a sudden

surge of strong and powerful people approaching them at high
speeds. They could feel that these new comers were at least as
strong as the ‘emerging from the womb’ category.

These new comers had barely landed, and soon, another

group of similarly strong practitioners arrived at the scene.
 The demons that were present at the scene started shivering
in fear and were left with no choice but to escape, as they simply
couldn’t dare to stay here any longer.

However, these new strong arrivals were least concerned with

the demons, and they were only bothered about the evil spirits,
so they allowed the demons to leave in peace. In fact, most of
them didn’t even bother to glance at the demons.

“Who will tell me what’s going on here with these spirits?” A

large and handsome man asked.

He was in the ‘emerging from the womb’ layer; as his eyes

scanned the youngsters around him whose heads hung low as
they lowered their gaze.

One youngster walked out of the crowd, trembling with fear

and trepidation, and spoke up: “Sir, the evil spirits are very
powerful, we cannot dare to go into the territory ourselves, as
the deeper we go, the evil spirits become stronger and then they
possess us… but….but….”

“But what, say it quickly.”

 “Sir, there was one young man who wasn’t afraid of the spirits
and it even seemed as if they had no effect on him at all. He
ventured into the zone three hours ago and still hasn’t
returned.”

“What?” The big and handsome man exclaimed.

“Sir, I speak the truth. Everyone here can testify to this.”

“One person had entered the zone a long time ago, we do not
know his present situation, and we have no idea whether he is
alive or dead.”

“The guy simply ignored the spirits and continued to move

forward very quickly.”

… …

Many people were speaking on the matter simultaneously.

Very soon, several hundred very strong practitioners had

gathered outside the possessed zone, and many more were on
their way.

“Let’s go into the region and see things for ourselves.”

Eventually, these strong practitioners simply couldn’t sit by

idly and they started preparing to enter the zone.

One man, in one strong leap, jumped into the possessed

region, he leapt almost ten meters in, and continued to stride
inwards at a very quick pace, without being even slightly
affected by the spirits.

Once a person enters into the ‘spiritual intelligence’ layer,

they undergo a significant transformation. They take a massive
leap in terms of strength and energy, even their wisdom
improves a lot.

‘Spiritual intelligence’ was considered a big milestone in the

‘fetus’ category and not one that many people managed to cross
over into.

Once a person has crossed over into the ‘spiritual intelligence’

layer, breaking into the higher layer, and even the
‘transformation’ layer is relatively easier.

Again, breaking into the ‘emerging from the womb’ category

was a big milestone, the inner energy would get transformed
into aura, spirit and there were several other very significant
changes. Also, it was much harder to break into this category as
compared to ‘spiritual intelligence’ and one needed to train very
fiercely to achieve it.

So obviously, the resistance that an ‘emerging from the

womb’ martial artist would have to these evil spirits was much
greater when compared to ‘spiritual intelligence’ practitioners.

One person had already taken the lead and looked well
committed to maintaining it. The others quickly jumped into
the zone, for the fear of falling behind.

Back in the region clear of the possessed zone, there were a

few ‘spiritual intelligence’ martial artists as well. But once a
person breaks into the ‘spiritual intelligence’ layer, they gain a
great amount of self-awareness, and these people knew well
enough that cannot compete with ‘emerging from the womb’
martial artists, so they gave up on the idea of breaking into the
zone that lay ahead of them.
 Twenty meters…. Thirty meters…. Fifty meters……

The people who had taken the initiative to enter the zone
first, had already managed to reach almost fifty meters, but
their pace had now been slowed down considerably, probably
due to the influence of the spirits, which was only growing
stronger.

However, so far, no one had been possessed by the evil spirits.

In a very short span of time, thousands more had managed to

reach the periphery of the possessed zone, and when then saw
that so many of their competitors had already gone in, they
rushed into the zone without even bothering to understand the
circumstances that they were going to face inside.

As far as they were concerned, they were already lagging

behind, and they just didn’t want to fall behind even further.

“Woah! Just look at them, they are so powerful. They aren’t

even afraid of those evil spirits. I have no idea how long it will
take for us to reach their level.”
 “It’s too early to say whether the spirits are affecting them or
not. You see, things start getting complicated with every step
you take, and the deeper you go, the stronger the effect of the
spirits. I’m afraid that soon enough, things might not be looking
so good for them.” A young man rebutted, recalling his own
experience.

His voice, however, was subdued by a blood-curling scream,

and it would appear as if his prediction had come true.

One man, ‘spiritual intelligence’ layer, was rolling on the

floor, holding his head, and it seemed like he was suffering from
an incredible amount of pain.

“Oh my, I think he has been possessed!” Everyone ceased in

their steads.

The man in question, had company, and his friends rushed to

him to rescue him. But by then, he had already lost control over
his mind and he recklessly started attacking everyone around
him indiscriminately.

He tossed around from left to right, and bled at least seven

people that surrounded him, and then eventually fell to the
ground, dead.

“Be careful, evil spirits are getting stronger and stronger. If

your strength is not enough, think for yourself and return.” One
man, ’emerging from the womb’ layer, spoke out loudly to warn
the others.

Many of the people who were below the ’emerging from the
womb’ category, decided to fall back and started retreating as
they didn’t want to die a gruesome death. However, the ones
who were in the ’emerging from the womb’ layer were full of
confidence and didn’t feel that they needed to return at this
point.

Although, there were still some, who were below the

’emerging from the womb layer’, and had decided to carry
forward as they felt that they could handle it.

The idea that this place could have been an ancient battlefield
was so tempting that most men couldn’t resist it.

The people who had decided to continue forward were very

cautious now, as they had already witnessed the possessing of
one practitioner, and slowed their pace down significantly.
 As they moved forward, if anyone felt that they couldn’t
continue any further, they would immediately turn around and
fall back. Although, most of them felt defeated in doing this, but
their hearts were consoled in the fact that they would live to tell
another tale, rather than dying a terrible death in here.

“Ah!….” Another man seemed to be losing control of his

mind.

He clenched his teeth, tried to regain his mind; he was trying

to fight back, his life was at stake.

The formless spirits breached his defenses before he could

reach out for the Jade tablet that could grant him an instant exit
from the devil’s territory.

His screams reached the ears of the brave men who were still
moving forward, and their hearts went cold, mind numb, giving
them goosebumps all over their bodies. Some more
practitioners decided to retreat and turned around.

At present, only three hundred men were left, who were still
moving forward, very slowly, very cautiously and from time to
time, someone would quit and turn around.
 Chapter 43 – Seeds

Bi Fan had no idea that so many other, extremely powerful,

martial artists had joined him inside the zone and were strong
on his trail. His body was being controlled by the Yin Yang
Lotus as he continued to walk deeper into the region, step by
step.

He had no idea how long this would take, but he knew that the
Lotus meant him no harm, so he resigned himself to the Lotus’s
will.

He, however, was very optimistic and curious about the core
of the spirit eruption.

Subjected to such kind of boredom, all Bi Fan could do was

watch the Lotus change in shape and size as it continued to
absorb the aura and the spirits. But now, suddenly, he could see
two grain sized seeds inside the Lotus’s stamen, one black, and
the other, white.

“Amazing, the Lotus is actually bearing seeds, could it be

using the spirits as food?” Bi Fan couldn’t help but wish.
 The Lotus had managed to assimilate a huge amount of aura
and spirits before it had expedited the birth of the seeds and was
still growing bigger.

The Lotus was absorbing the Aura and the spirits much faster
now, but Bi Fan’s forward pace had gone down considerably.

The Spirits formed a storm, sweeping all the dried leaves off
the ground which appeared to be dancing in the storm, as they
surrounded Bi Fan.

Every now and then, a leaf would hit Bi Fan in the face and
cause him a bit of pain.

Bi Fan welcomed this pain, to him, it was relief. It meant that

his body was still his own.

“Look, there’s someone ahead of us, and it looks like he’s still
alive!”

The sound came from a good distance away, behind Bi Fan,

but he could hear it very clearly.
 “Yes, I see him too, but it doesn’t seem like he’s moving. What
if he’s possessed?”

Bi Fan had been taken by surprise, and felt very uneasy now.

The obviously reason being, that he couldn’t control his own

body at the moment.

Several, very strong martial artists had decided to follow in Bi

Fan’s stead and some of them had managed to catch up with
him to some extent. At the moment, they were only about two
hundred meters away from him, and were finally able to see his
silhouette figure.

At this moment, only thirteen of them were still actively

involved in the excavation, as a vast majority of the ones who
had started strong, had eventually given up and turned back
while some had lost their lives to the spirits that lingered in the
zone.

All of these thirteen people were in the ’emerging from the

womb’ layer and they had finally gotten close enough to at least
spot Bi Fan.

“That kid is standing very still, he simply isn’t moving

forward. Does anyone know what we should expect?”

“He has been still for a while now. Could he be dead? I heard
that he was only in the ‘brave’ layer, so how did he manage to
get this far? If what they say is true, then this is truly an
exceptional circumstance.”

“’Brave layer!’ Impossible. There was definitely an error in

the judgement of the people who stated this; it’s almost like a
tiger managed to disguise himself as a pig. We are all in the
’emerging from the womb’ category, and even we haven’t been
able to get that far yet. There is no way a ‘brave’ layer boy did
it.” One of the men snorted coldly.

Indeed, these people were all masters of the art, and though
they had managed to penetrate this deep in the zone, even they
were having a very difficult time moving forward at present.

The man who stood ahead of them was at least two hundred
meters further into the zone, so there is no way that he was only
as strong as the ‘brave’ layer.
 The situation was such, that several ’emerging from the
womb’ layer practitioners had succumbed to the spirits and
died, whereas lower layer martial artists had quit early. Only
these thirteen had been able to persist this far in this forsaken
zone.

“The pressure will only become stronger up ahead, I’m afraid

that we may not be able to go that far.” A man sighed.

“I think that only the ‘magical powers’ layer experts are

capable of exploring the core of this zone.”

“If we withdraw and return now, then those ‘magical powers’

layer experts will come to explore this region later, and
whatever rewards that await us, will be lost.”

All thirteen of them were considering quitting and returning

as none of them wanted to die.

“Crap! Quick, look, he’s not dead yet! He just moved a step.”
One man exclaimed.
 The twelve others quickly shifted their gaze and managed to
get a glimpse of Bi Fan’s movement. They stood there,
speechlessly, with their mouths hanging open, out of shock.

After, what seemed like a long pause, one of them spoke up:
“Is it possible that he’s in the ‘magical powers’ layer?”

“That must be the case, or else, how did he manage to go that

far.”

“You say that he’s in the ‘magical powers’ layer, but what’s
such a strong guy doing in this part of the devil’s territory?”

They all stood there in silence, as no one had an answer to

that.

“Whatever the case is, I will have to go out and report this to
my senior. I have tried, but now it’s time for me to turn back,
what about you guys?”

“Since you’re leaving, we should all withdraw as well.

Anyway, the man seems to be having a difficult time moving
forward, so, he should soon withdraw too. Plus, we are still a
very long way from the center of this activity; it won’t be
possible for him to reach that far.”

These people withdrew and began to return; as they reached

the outer rim, they were already soaking wet with exhaustion.

“Finally, they have returned! We were so worried that they

won’t be coming out.” Someone shouted in a single breath.

“How’s the situation on the inside?” Many people had

surrounded them, and were inquiring to gain some sort of
clarity.

The thirteen people, who had just returned, remained tight-

lipped as they didn’t have much news to share.

They quickly made a dash, and it appeared as if they were

making their way towards the exit.

Many smart people had already started leaving the area, as

they had realized that since they can’t breach the zone, then,
there is no point wasting time standing outside.
 Within moments, most people had already started to leave,
leaving behind only a few hundreds in number, all of whom
were from different schools. The main purpose that these
people were left behind was that, so they could represent and
observe on behalf of their respective schools.

The arrival of such strong people had made Bi Fan very

anxious, but he now was a little puzzled, for he hadn’t expected
them to leave.

Bi Fan couldn’t waste much time thinking about them, as his

suffering was getting unbearable now.

Even with the Lotus protecting him, the shock from the
attacks of the spirits was enough to cause him a great deal of
pain.

“Holy Lotus, please spare me, I’m just a boy, I don’t want to
die.” Bi Fan prayed with all his heart.

The Lotus, however, hadn’t absorbed enough of the aura or

the spirits and had no desire to leave just yet.
 Bi Fan was left with no other choice so he clenched his teeth
and geared up to endure the pain, the limitless, unbearable
pain. His soul was being tortured, his spirit was being
tormented and he felt as if he was going to go crazy and lose his
mind.

If he did lose his mind, he at least wouldn’t have to suffer any

more.

If he did lose his mind, he at least wouldn’t have to suffer any

more.

Suddenly, he regained control over his mind, and he felt the

pain in its most raw state, with all its force.

Bi Fan wanted to scream, vent it out, but the pain was so

extreme that nothing came out of his mouth.

“Endure it!” Bi Fan had always been good at tolerating pain,

for he had suffered so much of it in the past.

The pain was so intense that Bi Fan thought that he would

soon faint. From past experiences, he knew that fainting would
at least relieve him of this suffering temporarily.

The Yin Yang Lotus continued to manipulate Bi Fan’s body

and he continued to move forward.

It wasn’t just his mind that was suffering; his body too was
feeling the pain.

So much aura and so many spirits had been entering his body,
maybe it was too much to handle or maybe some of them had
managed to escape the Lotus. Bi Fan felt as if they were going to
split his body open, from the inside.

Bi Fan was suffering on both ends, ceaselessly.

Suddenly, a method that he had learnt from that battered jade

book, started working on its own. The technique started
refining the Spirits and the aura to enhance his physical
strength.

Bi Fan was so shocked, that he even forgot about the pain and
started inspecting the method, which was in action.
 The method must be a very powerful one; for a second, even
the spirits that were attacking his body crumpled under its
influence, before resuming attacking his body again, while the
technique continued to use them to enhance his physical
strength.

Obviously Bi Fan could feel the improvement in his physical

strength consistently. Even the pain had subsided to a great
extent and he felt very relaxed all of a sudden, relatively.

Since the situation had changed, Bi Fan was now, in no hurry

to leave. If he stayed here, then his strength would continue to
improve, so at present, he was willfully volunteering to subject
himself to the pain he was suffering.

His body was drenched in his sweat and his head was
exploding with pain.

He was happy to continue, as long as it didn’t kill him.

It’s such a pity that Longevity burst is a very low level

technique, which meant that it wasn’t capable of functioning on
its own, otherwise Bi Fan would have loved to use it as well to
enhance his powers further.

Obviously, at present, since Bi Fan had no control over his

body, he couldn’t practice it, as much as he would have liked to.

The Yin Yang Lotus was absorbing the spirits and the aura at a
much faster rate now; the seeds were growing in size at a good
rate and so was the rest of the Lotus.

As time elapsed, things continued to progress at their slow

and steady pace; Bi Fan had, by now lost track of how long he’d
been here, and had no idea as to how much longer it was going
to take.

Bi Fan was roused by the hiss of a tiger from out of nowhere,

and he instantaneously halted inspecting the Lotus that was
inside his body.

A giant black tiger had somehow managed to appear in front

of Bi Fan; the tiger was quite close to Bi Fan, and judging by his
glaring red eyes, Bi Fan could tell that the tiger’s intentions
weren’t very much in his favor.
 The tiger looked at Bi Fan, roared a few times, and then
charged in Bi Fan’s direction.

Bi Fan could tell that this black tiger was awfully strong as his
pace was even faster than the Chimera’s.

Bi Fan exerted his body with all his strength, desiring for it to
move so he could dodge this incoming attack, but his body
didn’t budge, having refused to obey his command.

“It’s over now.” Bi Fan closed his eyes, he had done

everything he could have; he had tried really hard; but now, it
was time to go.

As the black tiger’s bloody mouth was almost upon Bi Fan

head, ready to tear it off the rest of his body, he was suddenly
stopped. Suddenly, the tiger found himself struggling, as his
body hung there, in midair.

Bi Fan opened his eyes, only to be surprised. The black tiger

was being encompassed in a net of silky black threads, which
were beginning to restrict his movements.
 Suddenly, the black tiger started howling in pain, and his
body started to dissipate.

Watching the tiger stripped down to his bones made Bi Fan a

little nauseous.

Soon, even the bones had faded away, and the net broke down
into strands of silky black threads which returned to their place
inside Bi Fan’s body.

Bi Fan felt a bit numb as he tried to fathom the power of these

black silk threads. He vaguely guessed that these odd black
threads might have something to do with the Lotus that resided
inside his body.

Instead of being scared, Bi Fan was pleasantly surprised and

even reassured. There was a force inside his body that was
capable of protecting him in critical moments, and seemed to be
showing up whenever he was in grave danger.

Bi Fan quickly peeped inside his body, hoping to enquire the

occurrence of these threads.
 The Yin Yang Lotus seemed to be busy absorbing the aura and
spirits as normal, and nothing seemed to have changed with
that.

In such a short span of time, Bi Fan could sense that his

physical strength had reached almost six Yun Shi, which was
almost at par with his inner energy.

“Amazing! Now, I can even fight with the ‘enormous strength’

layer.” Bi Fan was overjoyed.

Not only that, Bi Fan could see that the two seeds were now
mellow and ripe.

Apart from this, two other holes in the Lotus’s stamen seemed
to have sprouted a seed, each.

Consecutive surprises had diverted Bi Fan’s mind from the

pain he was in. Had he been in control of his body, he would
have celebrated this out loud.

Bi Fan was standing at a very advanced position inside the

zone and he could sense that spirits were getting even more
powerful and aggressive, which was being testified by the force
of the whirlwind that was surrounding him at this moment.

The wind that was hitting him in the face, felt like the edge of
a knife, sharp.

The Yin Yang Lotus resembled a bottomless pit. Bi Fan had no

idea how many ‘magical powers’ layer spirits, this Lotus had
already absorbed and even then, the lotus still continued to
carry on, without experiencing any massive transformations.

Apart from the two seeds that had formed a proper shape
inside the Lotus’s stamen, the lotus hadn’t changed an awful
lot.

“Keep at it! Keep at it! ….. Just don’t get me killed.” Bi Fan
didn’t care about the pain, at the moment.

The pain hadn’t stopped, but Bi Fan was willing to endure all
of it, his desire to grow strong was providing him with the
strength to endure the suffering.

Bi Fan, however, was beginning to lose interest in exploring

the core of this anomalous activity. The force of the spirits was
already unbearable on the outside of the central region; he
couldn’t even imagine what it would be like, to be at the center
of this activity.

Judging by the torrential cyclone that the spirits formed

around him at present, Bi Fan estimated that he must be fairly
close to the center of the zone by now. The benefits that he
could get from the entire aura that was stored inside the Lotus,
was nothing less than a dream to him.

Bi Fan was just waiting for the Yin Yang Lotus to reach its
saturation point, and then he would quickly exit the zone. His
strength had already improved a lot, so he was more than happy
at the moment.

A man who is never satisfied with what he has, is like a snake

that is trying to swallow an elephant. Too much greed is often
met with misfortunes, and can split one open thunderously.

His mind was just pondering over this notion when he heard
the voice of another human. This one was extremely strong, and
Bi Fan was a little scared, so he wanted to get out of there
immediately.
 The strength he was sensing this time was stronger than the
ones he had felt earlier. The people that he had sensed earlier
were at least in the ‘emerging from the womb’ layer, and even
then, they hadn’t dared to venture this deep into this forsaken
zone. These new comers on the other hand, were coming in
strong.

“Yin Yang Lotus, don’t be so greedy. Your greed is going to get

me killed.” Bi Fan started to lose heart, fearing the worst.
 Chapter 44 – Swept Away

“Woah! Such a young man standing at the heart of the evil

spirits, this is really amazing!” One man exclaimed.

A man whose beard resembled that of a goat’s, creased his

eyebrows as he frowned while speaking up: “This youngster
doesn’t seem to be afraid of these evil spirits and seems to have
been here for a long time now. I would conclude that he’s a
devil’s disciple, right?”

“These evil spirits are really powerful; even we have to

exercise our powers to fend them off. I highly doubt that a man
that young could be capable of lasting here for such a long
time.”

They were some distance behind him, but Bi Fan could hear
their conversation quite clearly, and couldn’t help as gloomy
feeling crept into his heart.

“This is really bothering me, a dark practitioner, practicing

his martial arts in here; it’s quite scary and dangerous!”
 Bi Fan wanted to explain things, but he couldn’t open his
mouth.

Even If he could open his mouth, he wouldn’t be able to

explain things, as he wouldn’t be able to say anything.

All Bi Fan could do, was pray, that these martial artists would
look into his situation before taking any action; otherwise, he
was doomed to die.

“I would like to investigate the situation a little further. This

boy obviously seems to be very strong, and on top of that, we
have no idea who he really is.”

“I too, would like to take a better look.”

Following this, Bi Fan started hearing brisk footsteps, more

than one set, approaching him at a very quick pace.

These people were genuinely very strong, even with the force
of the evil spirits that lingered in this region; they were able to
move forward in the area at such a brisk pace.
 Bi Fan was really worried, as these people were capable of
killing him off in an instant.

“Ah!” The fastest among the new comers issued a miserable

shriek and quickly took a few back steps. “This kid is
demonically strong. The influence of the spirits in this region
isn’t the same as other places, it’s almost tenfold here. I can
barely walk in there, how is he able to do it with so much ease?”

Two other humans, who were right behind him, tested it for
themselves and were shocked when they realized that their
companion was right.

“Scary! Really scary! He’s capable of practicing in that intense

pressure! Could he be drawing support from the spirits as well?”

He was only trying to be humorous, but the others, almost a

dozen of them, were very serious.

If the boy really was drawing energy from the evil spirits,
then things could prove out to be very tricky for these people.
And if such was the case, then the person in question, once, if
successful, could mean bad news for everyone.
 Soon, more than a dozen, extremely powerful martial artists
had gathered around, and even though they were really tempted
to sort Bi Fan out, none of them had the guts to take the
initiative.

Due to the Yin Yang Lotus’s activity, a huge amount of spirits

had formed a massive loop around him. This meant that the
influence of the spirits around him was even greater, more
powerful, and even more violent. So much so, that even these
dozen or so ‘magical powers’ layer practitioners wouldn’t be
able to withstand it.

“Everyone, let’s get a good look at his face, so we can locate

him later. If he really is practicing such dark techniques, then it
is vital that we eliminate him.” One man spoke up.

Bi Fan was incapable of speaking at the moment, but he felt

relaxed. He had changed his appearance a bit on the way here,
to avoid any attention from ‘rising sun’ disciples.

‘Magical powers’ layer, martial artists who were this strong,

were usually the figureheads of the schools in Quinyang. So if
someone got on the wrong side of such men, then bad times
were inevitable.
 “Everyone, should we continue to excavate this region? What
if this place really was an ancient battlefield?”

“Yes, but be careful everyone.”

As he heard them depart, it was clear to Bi Fan that these

people had a very good understanding amongst them, a fact,
made obvious by the nature of their conversations.

But most likely they weren’t from the same school, which
meant that if they managed to find an ancient artifact, then
things could turn sour. Especially if there weren’t enough for
everyone, and if such was the situation, then they all might
start fighting over it.

Often, even if students of the same school managed to find a

valuable treasure, then they would end up fighting over it.

This was such a cruel and deceptive world, in which one

needed to keep an eye out at all times, and be on guard against
friends and enemies, alike.
 “I hope you guys find a huge bounty in here and then die
fighting over it.” Bi Fan secretly wished.

Bi Fan’s heart calmed down a bit, once he realized that it was

only a false alarm.

‘Magical powers’ layer practitioners were regarded

undefeatable in the Jiu Yu region, and people like Bi Fan, were
no more than ants in front of their might and status.

Bi Fan was nowhere near as strong as the ‘magical powers’

layer, which meant that even hoping to contend against men
like these, would only pave the way for his doom.

Bi Fan secretly pledged: “One day, my strength will transcend

yours, and then I will trample the likes of you. On that day, you
will taste the stench of my feet.”

The dozen or so that had been standing close to Bi Fan had

already left the area, leaving behind Bi Fan, who stood there,
with a silly look on his face.

The Jade book’s method was enhancing his strength at a very

fast rate, and was transforming his physical strength
unceasingly.

The evil spirits were still attacking him continuously, but his
body was able to resist them off more tenaciously than ever
before.

The two new seeds that had sprouted inside the Lotus’s
stamen had grown quite big by now and were almost the size of
rice grains.

“Yin Yang Lotus, my brother, let’s quickly get out of here

before they come back, because if they do, we will be in a lot of
trouble.” Bi Fan had put aside the thought of enhancing his
strength of the time being and just wanted to get out of this
predicament.

Strength can rise slowly over time, but it’s of no use to dead
men.

“Boom!” A massive explosion shook the earth and the sky.

The intensity and force of clamor almost sent Bi Fan flying,

and left his ears in a great amount of pain as they buzzed,
depriving him of his hearing ability for a short while.

“Seems like those guys have finally ran into trouble, let’s get
out of here now. They might end up using me as the scapegoat
for their misfortunes.” Bi Fan started to complain.

But, this was far from the end of it. The explosion soon took
the shape of a massive cyclone.

This time, Bi Fan wasn’t spared and he found himself being

swept up by this cyclone.

This time, Bi Fan wasn’t spared and he found himself being

swept up by this cyclone.

The cyclone swept up everything in its path, rocks… trees…

The cyclone swept him up, rendering him completely

helpless.

He could not dodge the other things that had been swept up,
nor could he get out of it. He couldn’t even protect his vital
body part by covering them with his hands.

At present, when his body was undergoing such massive

physical enhancements, Bi Fan really couldn’t afford to sustain
a violent collision. Especially considering the fact, that at
present he was also incapable of using his inner energy to assist
him if needed, and a violent collision would mean the end of
him.

Bi Fan had been swept up really high up in the air, and had no
idea where this cyclone was headed to.

The Yin Yang Lotus continued to avariciously assimilate the

aura and the spirits, completely ignoring Bi Fan’s predicament.
In fact, it didn’t even show any signs of slowing down.

The Yin Yang Lotus was so absorbed in absorbing the aura and
the spirits that, it even failed to return the control of the body
to Bi Fan.

Failing to move even a hairsbreadth, Bi Fan resigned himself

to the will of the whirlwind he was caught in.
 Bi Fan had no idea what had really happed just now, but such
a huge explosion could mean that those martial artists may now
be dead.

He was really anxious to find out what had become of them at

present, whether they were alive or dead.

He was caught in a cyclone with several other objects; trees,

stones which kept smashing into him, and had managed to
knock him unconscious several times, and at present, he had no
idea as to how long he had been inside this tornado.

He would lose consciousness and then, immediately regain it

as another object smashed into him. Incapable of doing
anything, he was forced to endure the inhumanity of the pain
he was suffering.

At last, Bi Fan landed on the ground; his body was completely

torn apart, fractured in more places than he could count.

His body was in such a bad shape that he could even move it,
so he started using his mind to restore his body. He kick started
the method from the Jade book in order to repair his damaged
body.
 As the Jade book’s technique started doing its work, the white
Lotus petals unexpectedly joined in, assisting in repairing his
body and silky white threads started swimming inside his body.

The white silk threads were miraculous in their work; the

pain started to ease quickly as the fractures started to heal at a
very quick pace.

Bi Fan was amazed and he wanted to shout out loud; and he

would have, if his body hadn’t been so badly injured.

With the white petals of the Yin Yang Lotus assisting the Jade
book’s technique, Bi Fan’s body was healing at an amazing rate,
and within a few hours, he was capable of standing up on his
feet with some difficulty.

He stood up and looked around, only to find himself still

inside the devil’s territory.

The devil’ territory was a very dangerous place, more so for

him at the moment, as his body was in a very badly battered
shape. He desperately needed to find himself a secretive place so
he could complete the healing process and restore his body to its
full capacity.

Bi Fan trudged along for half an hour in that presently injured

state of his with great difficulty before he found a place to take
shelter in a cavern under an escarpment.

It took a great amount of effort to enter the cave, as it was

covered with vines on the outside which concealed it from sight.

Once inside, Bi Fan started to practice Longevity burst in

order to repair his damaged body along with restoring his inner
energy.

As he kicked off the Longevity burst, the white petals of the

Yin Yang Lotus, once again started emitting white silky threads
to assist in repairing his body.

The white silky threads accelerated the speed of his physical

recovery significantly and even helped in accelerating the
restoration of inner energy.

“It seems that the white petals of the Lotus have healing
powers. That’s really good for me.” Bi Fan thought, pleased.

It took Bi Fan one day and one night to finish the restoration
process and now, his body was back to its full capacity.

“Arghhh!!!” Bi Fan felt strength surging throughout his whole

body and couldn’t help shouting out.

Bi Fan tested his new found strength for a while and realized
that, at present his physical strength was close to seven Yun Shi,
while his inner energy had already crossed seven Yun Shi.

In this last episode, Bi Fan had to undergo a lot of suffering,

but his strength had improved a lot, so as far as he was
concerned, it was all worth it.

Now, that everything was fine, Bi Fan decided that it was time
to go looking for the Chimera and the Marten. He especially
needed to locate the Marten, as he couldn’t bear the thought of
losing his dear friend.

Bi Fan tried to assess his current position, only to realize that

he was lost.
 He climbed on top of a tree but still couldn’t identify his
present location.

He had been swept away by a tornado; he had no idea how

long he was caught in it or the direction it had taken.

Bi Fan speculated that he must be inside the devil’s territory

at the moment, but had no idea which part he was in.

If by chance, he had been thrown into the second layer of the

devil’s territory, then he was certainly going to be in a lot of
trouble.

In case he was confronted by a strong demon here, he knew

that he would have no option, but to run for his life.

At present, Bi Fan seemingly, had already forgotten about the

Jade tablet, which will allow him to teleport to Xi Guan. Since,
Bi Fan had experienced so many unworldly activities in the
devil’s territory, leaving his mind in a state of chaos; it is
possible that he might have forgotten about the simplest of
things.
 Bi Fan hadn’t gone too far before he bumped into a ‘spiritual
intelligence’ layer beast.

With his new found strength, Bi Fan was able to end the fight
with exceptional ease, and it barely took ten minutes to sort it
out.

Bi Fan was a little worried, in the first layer of the devil’s

territory, ‘spiritual intelligence’ beast were a rarity. But here,
he had barely started out, and he had already bumped into one.
It didn’t take a great mind to deduce that he was probably not in
the same segment of the devil’s territory that he had set out in
at the beginning of his adventure.

Bi Fan tried to suppress all the anxiety and concentrated in

preparing himself for the battles that awaited him, but chaos
still lingered somewhere in his mind.

It seemed that he was going to bump into a fair amount of

really strong beasts here; he decided that he must use them to
temper his skills or else he would regret it later.

Once he had calmed down a bit, he started looking for

opponents to train on.

The beasts in this vicinity were indeed stronger than the ones
he had initially set out in, and in no time, he managed to run
into another strong one. This beast was in the ‘brave’ layer.

Bi Fan didn’t miss the opportunity and quickly killed the

demon.

Along the way, Bi Fan kept an eye out for any precious herbs
he could find, but it seemed that they had already been plucked.

The fact was that, many people entered the devil’s territory in
search of such valuables, so finding one needed a good amount
of luck.

There were a few who entered the region to practice, but even
they made sure that the collected the flesh and skins of the
beasts they kill, to exchange for spar once they exit the devil’s
territory. However, the real treasure for such people was a
nucleus.

Fabulous fate, that’s what it took to find a gold ore or a rare

herb inside the devil’s territory.

Bi Fan didn’t waste much time treasure hunting; he would be

satisfied as long as he could find strong beasts to hone his skills.
 Chapter 45 – JiaoLong Dragon

Bi Fan continued to walk around the forest, very cautiously

so.

Two successive encounters with beasts, that weren’t exactly

weak, meant that he might no longer be in the first layer of the
devil’s territory.

The chances of him being inside the second layer of the devil’s
territory were relatively large, as it is said that the majority of
the demons inside the second layer were around the ‘brave’
layer and demons as high as the ‘emerging from the womb’
could be encountered with here, on occasions.

Of course, the demons as strong as the ‘emerging from the

womb’ layer were lesser in number.

If Bi Fan fatefully bumped into one of them, he would surely

try to escape. But escaping from a beast as strong as ‘emerging
from the womb’ layer wasn’t that easy either.

Bi Fan was more careful than ever before, as he no longer had

the Marten to warn him, or the Chimera to protect him, so now,
he needed to be a thousand times more careful.

He hadn’t gone too far, when he felt the ground shake, which
was followed by a massive sound, as if there was a whole flock of
demons nearby.

“A group of beasts!” Bi Fan didn’t seem scared; on the

contrary, he seemed rather excited.

He immediately rushed in the direction of the sound, even if it

meant that he was going towards a whole group of beasts.

Bi Fan had made his own calculation, but even then, it was
very courageous of him.

As he moved nearer to the sound, he could feel the ground

shake with even greater intensity.

Soon, Bi Fan spotted a herd of wild Oxen. It wasn’t a very big

herd, and there were only eighteen Oxen in the herd.
 Their heads were almost as large as the Chimera’s. Their
heads were adorned with horns, which were almost one meter
in length. While some of the Oxen had one horn, the others had
two.

“Wild Oxen!” Bi Fan was slightly surprised.

One of the books he had read in the past had described an Ox

as a very mighty and fierce beast.

However, an Ox didn’t have the ability to evolve, which

meant that even the most powerful of Oxen could only become
as strong as a goblin, at best. Comparatively, a Chimera was
much better, for a Chimera could potentially evolve in time and
become far stronger.

An Ox was considered a very fierce fighter and a whole herd of

them could potentially be very dangerous for a single human.

“Boom!” A loud noise echoed as one Ox knocked down a tree,

severing it.

Bi Fan secretly smacked his lips; it was time to have some fun.
 Bi Fan circled his way around to the back of the herd and then
leaped up in the air and landed on top of the back of one of the
Oxen, which was right at the back of the herd.

“Mooo!” The wild Ox realized that someone had landed on its

back. The Ox started to complain and started shaking its body,
in the hope of throwing Bi Fan off.

Bi Fan’s hands had already got a firm grasp of the Ox’s horns,
while his legs were wrapped around its belly, as the Ox
continued to sway.

Even then, the momentum of the Ox was so great that Bi Fan

had almost lost his balance a few times.

The Ox was quite powerful, and all Bi Fan could do was hold
on tightly, he couldn’t get off, or even attack the Ox.

“Woah! Cool it.” Bi Fan decided that he needed to subdue the

Ox, so he started to put pressure on the Ox, hoping to force it to
the ground.
 The Ox felt this sudden pressure from Bi Fan, but didn’t lower
to ground; however, it did slow down a bit.

The remaining seventeen Oxen had noticed the sudden

movement at the back of the herd and had already stopped.
They had turned around and had come closer to inspect the
situation, only to find Bi Fan having emerged out of nowhere,
and mounted firmly on top of their companion.

They could not only look on in despair, unable to help their

comrade out.

Bi Fan was busy riding the Ox’s back, which was tossing from
side to side, showing no disdain for the rest of the world.

“Big guy ah? Come on… come on…”

This blatant provocation was all that was need to anger the
Oxen in the herd and their eyes turned red, while their
breathing took a coarse tune.

Wild Oxen were considered extremely strong, in fact, it was

extremely difficult to withstand the force of these beasts if they
collided into anyone headfirst.

Unfortunately for them, Bi Fan had come out of nowhere and

was now sitting on the back of an Ox, which meant that none of
them could do anything about it.

Bi Fan couldn’t possibly hope to match an Ox if it tried to

collide with him, but at present, he was at a great advantage. He
managed to put enough pressure on the Ox, so as to make it
stand still on the ground.

Since he had already managed to subdue the Ox, he lost

interest in it. He looked around and spotted an ‘enormous
strength’ layer Ox, standing on the other end on the herd. He
decided to have some more fun and he leapt off the back of the
Ox he was on.

He used the backs of the Oxen, who were in the way, as

stepping stones and tip toed his way to his new muse, bypassing
the rest from above.

There was complete chaos in the herd, they all wanted to

collide into him, and rip him into pieces, but since he didn’t
land on the ground, their anger couldn’t be realized into action
and they just stood there, helpless, furious.

In a handful of leaps, Bi Fan managed to reach the other end

of the herd, having bypassed the Oxen in between, and landed
firmly on the back of the ‘enormous strength’ layer Ox.

His legs were clamped around the Ox’s belly while his hands
had a firm grasp of the Ox’s sharp horns.

“Moooo!” The Ox went man and wild with fury, and started
colliding with everything in the vicinity, severing even the trees
that stood nearby, hoping to throw Bi Fan off its back.

But Bi Fan had firmly established his position on top of its

back, and was relishing driving the Ox mad.

Bi Fan was enjoying competing with this one; it was so much

fun. He was beginning to really enjoy this contest of brute
strength.

There he was, sitting in the middle of nowhere, at the top of

an Ox, increasing the power with which he was trying to subdue
the Ox.
 Bi Fan kept increasing the pressure, hoping to suppress the
beast, but the Ox was no less, in fact, was amazingly strong. So
much so that, the Ox had barely slowed down, and that naughty
little thing, continued to ram into obstacles.

“Dude, this must feel new to you, ah?” Bi Fan tried to agonize
the Ox further.

But Bi Fan was beginning to realize just how crazy this Ox

really was.

But Bi Fan was beginning to realize just how crazy this Ox

really was.

“Boom….Boom….” The Ox bumped into a couple of trees

successively, breaking them into two. Soon, it began running
into the forest, bumping into trees along the way, severing a
good number of them.

This mad, wild Ox was really powerful and really aggressive.

 Bi Fan’s legs were wrapped around the Ox’s belly, so his body
could distinctly feel every jolt along the way. If it wasn’t for his
hands, which were tightly gripping the Ox’s sharp horns, Bi Fan
would have been thrown off this Ox’s back by now.

The seventeen other Oxen in the herd had initially chased

after them, but had eventually withdrawn.

The Ox’s violent behavior had gotten on the wrong side of Bi

Fan, and he started using ‘the immortal finger’ to beat up the
Ox, as that was the only technique that he could use in this
situation.

The pain made the Ox even more violent and it started to

rampage around the forest with an even greater momentum.

As it rampaged around the wilderness, it obviously disturbed a

lot of other wild beasts.

Some of them, who were weaker than the Ox, simply gave
way to the Ox and then circled back to their holes.

Others, who were stronger, initially gave way to the Ox, as

they too, were afraid of the Ox’s damaging ability in case of a
head-on collision, but later started to chase after them later.
However, even these demons were forced to give up their
pursuit, as the Ox was moving too fast.

However, at the this point, Bi Fan’s earlier playful expression

had drastically changed to a very grave one, for he feared that if
the Ox rammed down the lair of a goblin or a similar creature,
then they certainly would feed him to the dogs.

Suddenly, Bi Fan was reminded of the Jade tablet and his

mood calmed down a bit. Now, it was play time again, and he
decided to take this Ox out for a real ride.

“I’m driving! I’m driving!” Now Bi Fan was really toying with
this Ox; he sat there on top of its back, pretending to be soldier
mounted on top of a horse.

The Ox’s eyes were red with raging fury and its breathing was
getting more and more coarse.

“Moooooooo!”
 The Ox continued to jolt violently, madly. Soon, it rammed
into a large tree, on purpose, in the hope of unseating Bi Fan.

However, Bi Fan was awfully comfortable with all of this; he

had gotten accustomed to all the jolting and bumping; in fact,
he was enjoying it.

“Big guy, getting slower? Hurry up, giddy up horsey!” Bi Fan

giggled and teased the Ox.

The wild Ox was becoming even madder, and kept bumping

into anything and everything that it could lay its eyes on.

This had been going on for quite some time now, and the Ox’s
endurance was paving way for fatigue, as it seemed a little tired
now.

All of a sudden, the Ox jumped into a giant algal bloom,

splashing countless sprays of water and algae, all over the
surrounding area.

This pool of water was very clear, serene and hidden in depth.
 To Bi Fan’s surprise, the Ox was an expert diver, and started
diving into the most latent depths of the pool, and Bi Fan was
forced to consider the idea of withdrawing himself.

Even though the Ox was mad with fury, it still hadn’t lost its
sense of rationality yet. In fact, Bi Fan could tell that it was
fairly smart.

Bi Fan held his breath and grabbed the Ox’s horns as tightly as
he could and prepared for the oncoming assault.

The wild Ox started to tumble inside the water, in the hope of

getting rid of Bi Fan.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a very powerful momentum broke

out of the water, and left the entire pool swirling in its might.
The pool suddenly had a different column of water, turning and
twisting inside it.

Oxen are very heavy in weight, but even then, the Ox went
flying.
 Bi Fan found himself unable to breathe as the water column
hit his body with the force of a hammer, leaving him in
agonizing pain.

“Woah!” Bi Fan was completely astonished for a moment.

Certainly there was a very powerful monster hidden in the

depths of this abyss, one so strong that it could shake the whole
pool up.

The Ox seemed really scared and started swimming towards

the surface, desperately.

Bi Fan and the Ox had just barely reached the surface when,
the surface of the pool exploded open.

“Boom!”

A towering column of water splashed all across the area.

And suddenly, a huge head adorned with a horn, emerged

from the water; it was the head of a massive monster. The
monster seemed extremely big, and one could make out that the
visible part of the monster’s body was barely half of its whole,
but was still almost thirty meters in length. The whole body of
this monster was covered in scales.

“JiaoLong!” Bi Fan exclaimed, terror-stricken.

JiaoLong was dragon by heritage, and was capable of evolving

into a full-fledged dragon. This creature was exceptionally
strong, and in this case, being an adult, deep into the ‘emerging
from the womb’ layer.

The Ox’s limbs went cold and it started to shiver with fear, as
soon as it saw the dragon. So much so, that it even forgot to
escape, and just stood there.

“RRRRAGHHHH” The dragon roared, opened its bloody

mouth and while doing so, revealed its sharp teeth, which
quickly dug themselves into the Ox.

Bi Fan was so sacred that he couldn’t stay here for even one
more second now, as he too, was too terrified, to even move, for
fear had overtaken him as well.
 He quickly pulled out the Jade tablet and disappeared in an
instant.

Before being transferred out, the last thing that Bi Fan saw,
was the Ox dying a miserable death, by being torn into two by
the dragon’s vicious teeth.

Bi Fan felt numb, but couldn’t help secretly thanking his

stars.

If it wasn’t for the Jade tablet, then Bi Fan was destined to

suffer the same fate, as the Ox he had been playing around with.

All of a sudden, Bi Fan found himself in Xi Guan.

“This is really amazing; this Jade tablet makes for an excellent

insurance policy!” Bi Fan was really grateful that he had
purchased one of these tablets.

Bi Fan quickly restored his original look, and went into the
town, as he didn’t exactly feel any need to rush into the devil’s
territory immediately.
 Bi Fan had been inside the second layer of the devil’s territory
for a while and he had no idea what had happened with the evil
spirits. A walk around the town would help him understand the
circumstances a little better.

Additionally, Bi Fan also needed to buy a pet belt. A pet belt

was used to incorporate animals into it, as if they were objects;
it was quite similar to a Yin Yang pouch in terms of
functionality, but slightly cheaper.

The Chimera was too big in size to tag along everywhere. On

top of that, since the Chimera had been spotted with his
disguise around the possessed zone, it was quite possible that
people might recognize it, which could cause him a significant
amount of trouble. However, if he managed to purchase a pet
belt, then he could incorporate the Chimera into the belt and
avoid any problems.

Bi Fan quickly made his way to the trading floor inside the
market, and started searching for a pet belt.

A pet belt isn’t a very common accessory, and was only used
by a very handful of practitioners, as not many of them kept
wild beasts as pets.
 Bi Fan searched for a long time, but couldn’t find one.

Out of desperation, Bi Fan set up his own booth and decided to

use one of the Yin Yang pouches to procure a pet belt.

“Yin Yang pouch for a pet belt! One for one, interested people
may come forth!” Bi Fan couldn’t wait much longer; so he
started shouting as loudly as he possibly could, meanwhile
waving a Yin Yang pouch in his hand to validate the
authenticity of his trade.

In no time, a lot of people had surrounded him.

“Brother, how much for the Yin Yang pouch?”

“Brother, I want the Yin Yang pouch, quote a price for me!”

“To be exchanged only for a pet belt, not for sale!” Bi Fan
insisted, as loudly as possible.
 “Oh, unfortunately, I don’t have a pet belt….”

“Brother, the Yin Yang pouch will fetch you some spars, and
then you can use those spars to buy yourself a pet belt. Trust
me; I will pay a premium price!”

Bi Fan had been surrounded by a lot of people, who, were

trying as hard as possible to get hold of the Yin Yang pouch he
had, and all their arguing was making him dizzy.

“Only available in exchange of a pet belt, not available for a

sale at any cost!” Bi Fan stated out loudly, hoping to reaffirm his
position on the trade.

“Brothers, there is no point doing business with someone who

is that rigid. He’s simply not going to listen.” One distinct voice,
subdued the crowd

[*] ( ps: A JiaoLong dragon is an aquatic dragon. )

 Chapter 46 – Eastern Blue Dragon

Three teenagers clawed their way through the crowd and

slowly made their way to the front.

Bi Fan was glaring at these three, already angry with their

interference.

He just wanted to procure a pet belt. He hadn’t thought that

something as minor as this would spur any trouble; well, bad
luck.

“I will only exchange this Yin Yang pouch for a pet belt. My
product is not available for sale.” Bi Fan said loudly, sounding a
little harsh to be honest.

The boy at the front of the group was rather handsome and
very smart in appearance. He was coldly looking at Bi Fan,
quietly sizing him up.

“Are you the bully who troubled my junior Jiang Sheng?”

 Things suddenly become very clear to Bi Fan; unequivocally
clear. These people were associated with the ‘rising sun’ school,
so they obviously would have been searching for him.

However, he really didn’t care. At present, they were all inside

Xi Guan, where fighting was banned. So, it really didn’t matter
which school they belonged to, they wouldn’t be able to touch
him.

“Who is Jiang Sheng? Please don’t interfere in my business.”

Bi Fan coldly replied.

“Well, you do fit the description. This is ‘rising sun’s’ private

matter, people who have nothing to do with this, may leave. ”
The youngster announced, as a sardonic smile creeped across
his handsome face.

Bi Fan spoke up loud enough for everyone to hear: “It is

prohibited to start a fight inside Xi Guan. If you create trouble,
then I will report this to the authorities.”

That handsome youngster realized that Bi Fan was indeed

right, and fighting inside Xi Guan was prohibited. So now, he
would be forced to give up the idea of straightening Bi Fan out
right now.

“Boy, you’ve picked a fight with ‘rising sun’ students, you’re

doomed to die!”

“Well, about that, is ‘rising sun’, the best school in the world?
What are you guys so arrogant about?” Bi Fan sneered.

A lot of people disliked the ‘rising sun’ school, mainly because

of the arrogant behavior of their students.

However, students from smaller school usually bore this

resentment in silence, as they simply couldn’t dare to provoke
any trouble with the ‘rising sun’ school.

“’Rising sun’ may not be the world biggest school, but it’s big
enough to crush you.” The handsome youngster laughed.

Suddenly someone interrupted their verbal duel, in a very

cold voice: “’rising sun’ is the best school in the world? Ah, well,
I certainly learned something new today!”
 The man who had interrupted seemed extremely strong; he
stood over two meter in height; his physique looked formidable
and his eyes, sharp.

“I think that’s the eastern Blue Dragon! He’s a new face

belonging to the eastern aristocracy, he’s insanely strong, and
he made a huge impact at the Jiu Yu list tournament.”

“They say that the eastern Blue Dragon despises the ways of
tyranny. Could he be here to help this guy out?”

“Who knows, we can’t be sure of it.”

Bi Fan turned towards the eastern Blue Dragon with a look of

gratitude and said: “Thank you brother, for boldly speaking in
favor of justice!”

“Don’t thank me, I just could never understand why some

people rely on the strengths of their fists to get their way in this
world and bully others. Or even worse, rely on the strength of
their backers and deface them as well.” The eastern Blue Dragon
sounded very impressive.
 The three ‘rising sun’ disciples were going green with anger
but they couldn’t dare to mess with the eastern Blue Dragon and
Bi Fan, at the same time.

Firstly, the eastern aristocracy was slightly stronger than the

‘rising sun’ school and secondly, they had no beef with the Blue
Dragon, nor were they interested in igniting one.

So, they swallowed their anger, suffering in silence, and

decided to take it out on Bi Fan later on.

“Well, in that case boy, I’d like to challenge you to a duel,

would you dare to accept my challenge?” the handsome boy
challenged Bi Fan in a very loud voice.

Xi Guan prohibits unorganized fighting, but an arranged duel,

where both parties have agreed to fight against each other, is
allowed.

Bi Fan didn’t respond, he just wanted to purchase a pet belt

and then quickly re-enter the devil’s territory to search for the
Marten and the Chimera.
 “The boy’s a coward ah! I will continue to bully you forever.”
That good looking youngster teased him loudly enough for
everyone to hear it.

“Yes, well, we Quinyang students are so weak that you guys

can bully us all, huh?”

That voice was really familiar to Bi Fan and he instantly

recognized it; he turned around to greet Jing Feng.

“Woah! That’s Jing Feng from Quinyang, he ranked third in

the Jiu Yu list!”

This scene was getting more and more attention, as a lot of

people had recognized Jing Feng; and they were beginning to
discuss him.

“Jing Feng, they say, is almost as strong as Jiang Wen. The

last time they dueled, Jiang Wen barely edged past him!”

“Oh! The kid who was looking for a pet belt appears to be
from one of the Quinyang Schools; no wonder he wasn’t afraid
of these ‘rising sun’ students.”
 “Jing Feng, brother, what are you doing here?” Bi Fan asked,
pleasantly surprised to see his friend.

Jing Feng laughed: “I heard that there was an anomaly

involving evil spirits inside the devil’s territory, so I came here
to explore the area for myself. You came here for your
compulsory one month conditioning, right?”

“Yes, the conditioning is over, but then I lost Greedy towards

the end of my time in there, so now I need to enter the territory
again to find him.” Bi Fan explained.

The two of them were chatting without bothering themselves

with their surroundings and were completely ignoring those
three ‘rising sun’ disciples.

The three of them knew what Jing Feng was capable of, so
they didn’t interrupt, as they were afraid of provoking Jing
Feng.

If Jing Feng lost his cool, then he could kill them off in no
time. Jing Feng was a very powerful and ferocious fighter and it
would be foolish to fall for his carefree and casual attitude.

“Great, then we shall go in together afterwards. I too want to

enter the territory to inspect this anomaly.”

“Of course, my friend.”

“Bi Fan, why don’t you first teach these three flies a lesson
huh? They are quite annoying.” Jing Feng could make out that
Bi Fan’s strength had increased a lot and was confident that he
could beat the three of them.

Bi Fan merely shook his head as he replied: “I just wanted to

quickly get hold of a pet belt, so I can go back into the devil’s
territory and look for Greedy. I didn’t except that this would
turn into such a big disaster.”

“Pet belt.. well I have one. Why don’t you go and teach these
boys a lesson and when you return victorious, you can have the
pet belt.” Jing Feng looked coldly at those ‘rising sun’ students;
especially the handsome one.

Jing Feng had taken an instant dislike to that boy, probably

because he was quite handsome and not on the same side as
him.

“Really? That’s all? Well, that’s not going to be a problem at

all.” Bi Fan was really surprised.

He looked at the handsome youngster and said: “So, where

were we? Oh right…. I accept your challenge! ”

He looked at the handsome youngster: “So, where were we?

Oh right…. I accept your challenge! ”

Bi Fan completely ignored the furious looks on the face of that

‘rising sun’ student, as his face turned ashen: “I’m Gu Feng
from the ‘rising sun’ and you’re going to regret this a little
later.”

Gu Feng was in the ‘spiritual intelligence’ layer and unlike

Jing Feng, had been fooled by Bi Fan’s ‘brave’ layer appearance,
which is why he had dared to challenge Bi Fan.

“Oh well, a little later might not turn out so well for you.” Bi
Fan smiled.
 A lot of people had gathered around them, and they all started
making their way towards the town’s arena.

Along the way, a lot of people got inquisitive about this

gathering and started to join the people who were on their way
to watch this match.

Jing Feng closed in and whispered in Bi Fan’s ears: “Bi Fan,

once it starts, don’t show him any mercy. Use all you’ve got, hit
hard, break him to pieces, and I’ll make sure that you don’t get
into trouble over this later; just don’t kill the guy.”

“Understood. I’ll teach him a lesson, a very nice lesson. I’ll

make sure he never forgets this, anyway, I’ve already managed
to offend some very powerful people inside the ‘rising sun’
school, so I’m not really worried about adding a few more to
that list.” Bi Fan replied.

They reached the arena complex soon. Bi Fan and Gu Feng

had been followed by several hundreds in number. And as the
word spread, more and more people were beginning to join this
huge crowd.
 This was quite unusual, but since a lot of people had entered
Xi Guan, intending to go into the devil’s territory to explore the
situation, Xi Guan was a lot more populous at the moment, and
hence this feud had managed to attract such a huge audience.

Bi Fan and Gu Feng glared at each other, as they made their

way to the ring.

By the time they climbed into the ring, a referee was already
present there.

“Are you ready? Ready, then let’s start!”

The fight started, and Bi Fan didn’t pull out any weapon, as he
had decided to use his fists to face his opponent.

Since Bi Fan hadn’t pulled out a weapon, Gu Feng felt rather

embarrassed to pull one out himself, and contended to use his
fists as well, same as Bi Fan.

“Boom!” Their punches collided. Bi Fan went back a few steps

whereas Gu Feng’s upper body was only shaken up a bit,
momentarily.
 Bi Fan was only attacking tentatively; he hadn’t really used
his real strength in that attack.

“That’s right!” Gu Feng raised his hand high up in the air,

already considering himself the winner.

Gu Feng launched a quick attack, casting out ‘monkey fist’

technique; fast, flexible and agile.

Bi Fan didn’t react in a similar fashion. He cast out Wan Zu

fist, but didn’t move from his position, sincerely playing with
his opponent; he managed to block the Gu Feng’s attacks with
ease.

“You couldn’t even breach my defenses, come on, I’m sure

you’re better than that!” Bi Fan teased his opponent in a very
loud voice.

This made Gu Feng furious, he started attacking Bi Fan in a

frenzied fashion. Bi Fan on the other hand, didn’t seem to pay
any attention to him, remained calm and composed, and easily
managed to block off all of Gu Feng’s attacks.
 “This Bi Fan from Quinyang is really powerful, but he’s only
using a very basic boxing technique. Although what’s really
amazing is that, he is so good at it, that he’s able to use it to
match a technique like the ‘monkey fist’.”

“Gu Feng is really strong, he has even managed to break into

the ‘spiritual intelligence’ layer. ‘Rising sun’ has managed to
recruit an excellent crop of young talented kids in these last few
years.”

“Make a guess, Gu Feng or Bi Fan, whose going to win this in

the end?”

“I bet on Gu Feng, he’s stronger, he’s in a higher layer.”

“I bet on Gu Feng’s victory.”

Out of those who had turned up to watch the match, someone

had even managed to open up a gambling booth, and most of the
people were betting on Gu Feng.

“I bet five thousand spars, I bet on Bi Fan’s victory!” Jing Feng

had actually decided to place a bet himself, and was willing to
bet so steeply in Bi Fan’s favor.

Five thousand spars is a very large sum of money for a

student, and were probably all Jing Feng had in his possession.

The people, who witnessed this daring gamble, were startled.

Bi Fan’s chances of winning were set at one is to three, which
meant that if Bi Fan did emerge victorious, then, Jing Feng
would stand to receive fifteen thousand spars as winnings.

That’s a fairly large sum of money, and even ‘emerging from

the womb’ layer students didn’t have so much money, unless
they were being backed by some very wealthy supporters.

Bi Fan and Gu Feng were involved in a very fast pace fight,

and hundreds of people had gathered to enjoy the contest.
Several had placed their bets, and now, were cheering for their
man.

“Bi Fan, I thought you were in a hurry to enter the devil’s

territory. Well, then get to it, finish this off quickly!” Jing Feng
cheered loudly.
 A lot of people had been surprised to see that Bi Fan was
capable of matching Gu Feng. Now, they were even more
surprised to find out, that Jing Feng was so optimistically
backing Bi Fan to win this fight.

“Can Bi Fan really win this? Is it really possible?”

Many people were beginning to question their previous

judgement. Especially the ones who had bet their money on Gu
Feng, were beginning to get a bit worried now.

The eastern Blue Dragon hadn’t placed any bets, and

continued to watch the match. His empty, fleeting eyes, were
twinkling, as if he could see through Bi Fan’s intentions.

“Bi Fan of Quinyang, sooner or later, you’re going to have to

use your real strength. I didn’t know that there was another
man here, who had such an amazing skill set.”

The eastern Blue Dragon had said this out loud, in a rather
excited frame of mind, and had almost jumping up. The people
watching the match, who were seated close to him, quickly
retreated a few steps and didn’t dare to return to their previous
positions.
 Jing Feng looked at the eastern Blue Dragon, and then,
shouted praise for Bi Fan: “Excellent power, energy and
technique! How long do you plan on toying with this nobody?!”

As soon as Bi Fan heard Jing Feng’s words, he decided that it

was time to quickly finish this fight, once and for all.

He applied his physical strength as well, along with his inner

energy in support. Bi Fan’s total strength was close to fourteen
Yun Shi, which meant that he was strong enough to be at the
peak of ‘enormous strength’ layer.

He cast out the most basic of techniques, Wan Zu fist.

Nevertheless, with such amazing power, it seemed to be
sufficient.

“Boom! Boom!….”

A series of attacks, forced Gu Feng to fall back, again and

again. Bi Fan was too powerful for him, and even though Bi Fan
was in a lower layer than Gu Feng, he was simply rendered
powerless.
 “Go on!” Bi Fan struck again, another punch, and this time,
sent Gu Feng tumbling across the ring.

Gu Feng had been thrown around, disgraced, and maddened

with rage.

The Rising Sun!

Gu Feng pulled out a top grade weapon and decided to use it

even if Bi Fan wasn’t using one. He pointed it straight at Bi
Fan’s punch, ready to stab his fist.

Bi Fan’s fist and Gu Feng’s sword were approaching each

other with a very strong momentum, stopping, at this point,
wasn’t going to be easy.

“Horrible!” The eastern Blue Dragon looked tense, “This

‘rising sun’ student is despicable.”

“Bi Fan is going to lose.”

 “That sword is going to tear off his arm. That ‘rising sun’
student is so fierce, ah!”

Jing Feng wasn’t nervous at all, and he continued to wave his

fan; even managed a sly smile on his face, for he had personally
witnessed Bi Fan’s tour-de-force.

He muttered to himself: “This ‘rising sun’ student is having a

very bad day; Bi Fan has a tendency of springing surprises.”
 Chapter 47 – The Mighty Blue Dragon

Gu Feng’s face exposed a complacent smile, and his two

comrades cheered out, believing that their friend was now going
to win this fight.

Bi Fan’s face no showed no concern in regard to this new

development in the fight, as he open up his fist; his two slender,
stretched out, fingers turned a shade of jade, as they had once
before, ready to welcome Gu Feng’s sword.

Gu Feng’s sword landed right between Bi Fan’s two fingers,

and found itself caught, between his two rock solid fingers.

The sword came to an instant halt; no matter how hard Gu

Feng tried to pull it out, it remained stuck there and Gu Feng’s
facial expression started changing drastically.

“You’re just not strong enough…..” Bi Fan shook his fingers a

bit, as his tone reflected a hint of pejoration.

It appeared as Gu Feng would start spitting out blood out of

anger an moment now. He was exerting all his strength, and it
was hard to tell whether his face was red or purple. His sword,
however, remained clamped between Bi Fan’s fingers;
motionless.

Bi Fan pulled at the sword, and now, Gu Feng stood face to

face with Bi Fan. Bi Fan prepared to throw a punch.

“Bang!” Bi Fan’s punch landed firmly on Gu Feng’s solid chest.

Gu Feng spit out blood as he went flying out of the ring, while
his sword went flying in another direction.

Gu Feng had lost the fight. And the crowd went wild.

Most people had expected Gu Feng to win this match, but the
end result had very sharply contradicted their expectations.

Bi Fan had not only won the fight; he had managed to do it

with ease.

Since the beginning, Bi Fan had only used the Wan Zu fist
technique, which was a very basic fighting style, as opposed to
Gu Feng’s advanced ones, but had still managed to win. This
meant that the people present in the arena, had no idea, as to
what Bi Fan was really capable off.

“How could that be? Gu Feng lost the fight!”

“Yes, uh, I don’t understand this, Gu Feng lost. It was so

obvious; Gu Feng was in the higher layer, this shouldn’t have
happened! How did Bi Fan win?”

“Bi Fan is exceptionally strong, physically. So, his overall

strength must be around the ‘enormous strength’ layer. There
was nothing strange about this.”

“A ‘brave’ layer boy with the fighting capacity of ‘enormous

strength’ layer! He could turn into something amazing if he
manages to advance further!” Many people exclaimed, out of
sheer surprise.

The Blue Dragon and Jing Feng seemed very calm as far as the
result of the fight was concerned. Jing Feng had already seen Bi
Fan’s ability in the past, and the Blue Dragon had a lot physical
strength of his own; so to these two, this was business as usual.
 “Bi Fan of Quinyang wins!” The referee announced the final
result and the crowd quieted down for a second or two, and
then erupted again; louder this time.

A lot of people had bet money on Gu Feng and had lost a lot of
money. So now, they were furious with Gu Feng and started
shouting and spitting in his direction.

Gu Feng, overwhelmed with the crowd’s reaction, decided

that it was best for him to simply leave the scene while he still
could and he dashed out of there with his two companions. He
left in such a hurry that he even forgot to take his sword with
him, which had fallen out of his hand while he was being
thrown out of the ring.

Bi Fan leisurely walked over to the abandoned weapon that

his opponent had left behind, and took custody of it. Well, the
weapon was worth at least a few hundred spars; it would be
such a waste to leave it behind like that.

Jing Feng suddenly realized that he had won fifteen thousand

spars in a matter of minutes, and his face started to reflect a
very vibrant smile; after all, he had just made a lot of money.
 “Bi Fan, this time, I really need to thank you!” Jing Feng
laughed.

Bi Fan replied: “Brother, you’re just being polite now. The

credit goes to you; you were able to identify the real strength in
me.”

“Well, we have to go into the devil’s territory now. So, let’s

head out and see for ourselves as to what the condition is in
there.” Jing Feng said.

“Can I come with you guys?” The Blue Dragon asked, all of a
sudden.

Jing Feng looked at the Blue Dragon but didn’t say anything,
as he quietly sized him up.

Bi Fan thought for a second and then nodded in approval:

“Yes, we can all go together and watch each other’s backs.”

Seeing that Bi Fan had already given his word to the Blue
Dragon, Jing Feng thought its best to not raise an objection.
 The trio purchased a jade tablet each and entered into the
devil’s territory.

Owing to all the trouble that Gu Feng had caused, plus the
duel, Bi Fan hadn’t exactly been able to find out much about the
circumstances inside the devil’s territory. He had no idea what
had happened with the evil spirits in the end, or what that
humungous explosion was about.

Bi Fan was really anxious to find out what had really

happened inside the devil’s territory; especially what had
become of his two companions, the Chimera and the Marten; so
he wanted to get there as soon as possible.

As soon as they entered the devil’s territory, they set course to

the zone that had been possessed by the evil spirits.

On the way, Jing Feng presented Bi Fan with the pet belt that
he had promised, in a very well founded manner. After all, he
had won so much money because of Bi Fan, so he really didn’t
mind giving Bi Fan this gift in exchange.

The Blue Dragon was in the ‘spiritual intelligence’ layer. And

on top of that, he too had a very strong physical body. Even
though he wasn’t as strong as Bi Fan, in terms of physical
strength; his physical strength was still at least five Yun Shi.

Although the three of them didn’t exactly have similar

personalities, they still had similar things on their mind and
soon started chatting amongst themselves to kill time.

It was fairly obvious from the manner in which the Blue

Dragon was talking, that he didn’t exactly have a very affable
personality and in fact, was a bit of a recluse.

“Bi Fan, from what I have learnt so far, I can tell that your
physical strength is more than mine. But what I can’t
understand is; how did you manage to get it this high? What
kind of methods do you use?” The Blue Dragon asked in a very
serious tone.

Bi Fan forced a smile: “Well, maybe when we have some time

in the future.”

The Blue Dragon had stated several times that he belongs to a

military background and Bi Fan didn’t want to get too close to
him at the moment, as he had no idea what this guy was about.
 The Blue Dragon realized that Bi Fan was a little reluctant to
share too much information, so he didn’t press the situation, as
he realized that it may not change Bi Fan’s mind.

“Bi Fan, you were inside the devil’s territory when this
happened, can you tell us what you saw, or what really
happened with these evil spirits?” Jing Feng asked.

“I was training, when suddenly; evil spirits started soaring

into the sky and then all of a sudden, everyone inside the
territory, people and beasts alike, were rushing towards the
zone to find out what’s happening.” Bi Fan slowly started
recounting the event: “Once we reached the zone, I saw that a
lot of people were quite anxious to enter the area and inspect
the situation for themselves. But as soon as we went inside,
people started getting possessed by the evil spirits and
eventually died.”

He paused for a while and then continued: “Left with no

choice, we were forced to retreat back to the safe zone. Soon,
some stronger people joined us there, most were in the ‘spiritual
intelligence’ layer, while some were even as strong as the
‘emerging from the womb’ layer. They entered the possessed
zone, but came back out a little later, having faced several
causalities within their groups and it seemed like they too
hadn’t been able to find out much.”

“After these people returned, they went to fetch their

superiors, who then, entered into the region. But soon, there
was a massive explosion, which was followed by a tornado, and I
got caught up in it. When I woke up, I found myself inside the
second layer. Things got out of hand, and I almost died, so I
used the Jade tablet to transport myself to Xi Guan. It was really
very thrilling to be honest…”

As Bi Fan recounted his edited version of the events, Jing

Feng’s and the Blue Dragon’s mouths were hung wide open in
amazement. It took them a while to absorb everything and calm
down.

As Bi Fan recounted his edited version of the events, Jing

Feng’s and the Blue Dragon’s mouths were hung wide open in
amazement. And it took them a while to absorb everything and
calm down.

“It seems like those evil spirits are really powerful, and even
those freaks weren’t able to wangle anything….” Jing Feng
gasped in admiration.
 “Let’s hurry up; we need to see this for ourselves.” The Blue
Dragon said out loudly.

The three of them increased their pace further and were

floating towards the area, which had been overtaken by evil
spirts, like a wisp of smoke.

“AAAWoooo!!!” Suddenly, they saw a pack of wolves ahead.

Not a lot of them really as there were only twenty one wolves in
the pack. While the strongest of the pack was only in the
‘spiritual intelligence’ layer.

“Excellent! Just what I needed! Stay out of this, these wolves

are mine.” The Blue Dragon announced in a very excited tone.

Bi Fan glimpsed over at Jing Feng, shook his head forcing a

wry smile.

The Blue Dragon took out a dark colored scimitar, which was
almost a top grade weapon and charged straight for the wolf
pack.

His hands were raised high, ready to slice up the wolves.

 The scimitar that the Blue Dragon was holding was fairly
small compared to his size, but it struck with a thunderous
force.

“Boom!” His blade came crashing down on the head of a wolf

and severed it from the rest of its body in an instant; and blood
sprayed almost three meters in every direction.

The Blue Dragon simply ignored the dead wolf and his blade
made its way to the next wolf, quick, urgent and with a
violently overbearing force.

“This kid is really good, fierce and brave. With a bit of

character and perseverance, he can really do very well for
himself in the future.” Jing Feng praised, fanning his face with
his Jade fan.

Jing Feng had replaced his previous fan with a new one, and
this one was also a capable of being used as a weapon. So, now,
he could use it to fan himself and even confront an enemy if
need be.
 Bi Fan laughed: “It seems like the Blue Dragon has a lot of
physical strength and he definitely knows how to use it.”

“Bi Fan, you too seemed to have developed a lot physical

strength. Well, if I remember correctly, then, at the selection
tournament, you were at par with the other participants, in
terms of physical strength. How did you manage to cultivate so
much physical strength in such a short time?” Jing Feng
enquired with a straight face.

“Uh…..” Bi Fan didn’t respond to that, and just stood there,

speechless.

The Blue Dragon was slicing wolves as if they were vegetables.

The Blue Dragon’s moves weren’t very sophisticated at all, in

fact, they were a combination of strength, ferocity, bravery and
were plainly domineering in nature. Jing Feng’s fighting style
was very different; it consisted of graceful movements
combined with strength. The Blue Dragon on the other hand,
used the simplest moves in a very direct manner, and no wolf
was able to ward his attack of.

Soon, the Blue Dragon had killed all the wolves in the pack.
 Jing Feng and Bi Fan just stood there, staring at the scene,
stupefied.

“Jing Feng, Bi Fan, brothers, help me collect these carcasses,

hurry, ah!” The Blue Dragon urged them to help him out.

After such a violent fight, the Blue Dragon seemed to be in a

very cheerful mood.

“Brother, you killed the wolves, so their bodies naturally

belong to you.” Jing Feng smiled.

“Nah, let’s divide them up, you see my Yin Yang pouch only
has a very limited space in it, so I can’t take them all; and
anyway, we might bump into more beasts along the way.” The
Blue Dragon insisted.

Bi Fan and Jing Feng hadn’t declined his offer out of courtesy;
they simply weren’t interested in so many dead wolf bodies. The
two of them were only interested in a nucleus; while so many
dead bodies were just going to occupy a lot of space.
 The chances of getting a nucleus from the dead body of such
lowly beasts were very less. Nuclei were usually obtained from
the carcasses of stronger beasts, like goblins.

The three of them split the carcasses three ways and

continued on their way.

The Blue Dragon had consumed a lot of energy during the

fight, so he ingested a restoration Dan to help him restore his
inner energy and restored himself to full capacity.

Along the way, the three of them bumped into several waves
of beasts and they managed to sort the same out, with
exceptional ease.

Finally, they arrived at the scene, at the zone that was

possessed by the evil spirits.

The region around the zone had been adorned with a good
number of tall and towering trees, but at the moment, most of
them had been damaged, some even severed from the middle. In
fact, some part of the area seemed to be missing a few layers of
earth as well.
 There were a lot of people in the vicinity, standing at the edge
of the zone, but they weren’t daring to go into the possessed
territory.

Bi Fan stated: “Brothers, why don’t the two of you go ahead

and inspect the situation, and I’ll go looking for Greedy.”

The Chimera shouldn’t be seen publically for the time being,

especially around the possessed zone. If people saw him now, Bi
Fan reckoned that some of them might recognize the Chimera
and it could cause him a lot of trouble.

“Go, but be careful.” Jing Feng cautioned him.

Bi Fan turned around and disappeared into the forest. Once he

was away from the crowd, he started using the Chimera’s soul
strands to help him locate the Chimera, by signaling to him.

As long as the Chimera hadn’t wandered away too far, he

would be able to sense it.

The Chimera’s soul’s strands weren’t enough for Bi Fan to

know what condition the Chimera was in, which was making
him very anxious.

Soon, the Chimera responded and his soul’s strands started to

indicate the direction in which he was.

Bi Fan quickly dashed in the direction he was pointed to, and

relief washed over him when he saw his two companions,
unharmed and well.

“Chimera, Greedy, I will have to subject you two to this pet

belt, temporarily. If someone recognized the two of you, then
we could possible get in a lot of trouble.” Bi Fan explained.

The Chimera nodded in approval, almost immediately.

The Marten in the other hand didn’t do so at first, but then

understanding the weight of the situation, reluctantly agreed.

Bi Fan quickly incorporated them into the pet belt, prepared

sufficient food for them and made his way back to the possessed
zone.
 The zone possessed by the evil spirits had witnessed a massive
explosion, followed by a massive storm. The evil spirits,
however, hadn’t diminished at all; in fact, they had only grown
stronger and more violent.

Finally, some of the experts who had gone into the zone came
back out, looking quite gloomy and embarrassed as they hadn’t
been able to find out anything new.

Later, several old men gathered around the zone and

announced that the zone will be cordoned off, meaning that
people will no longer be allowed to enter the zone. Following
this announcement, the people who had been standing there in
anticipation, looked a bit disappointed.
 Chapter 48 – Coincidence

Bi Fan quickly located Jing Feng and the Blue Dragon, and
caught up with them; and they relayed all the information they
had received on the latest developments.

At the source of this anomaly’s outbreak was a deep,

bottomless, cave. A few experts had tried to break into the cave,
which had triggered the explosion Bi Fan had witnessed.

Owing to their humungous strength, the experts had managed

to survive it.

Some of the experts who had decided to seal of the area, were
waiting for more experts to arrive, so they could all go back in
together and finish the task.

Some of the experts present on the scene were from

Quinyang, which is why Jing Feng had been able to find out so
much about what was really going on here.

“What do we do now? This is so disappointing, we can’t break

into the possessed zone now…” The Blue Dragon expressed his
anxiety.

He was a lonesome character, and his favorite part of the day

was when he’d get to practice, or even better, fight. Most people
like him weren’t overly fond of sitting idly or in general,
waiting.

Jing Feng and Bi Fan looked at each other, and chuckled.

“Well, then let’s get out of here. No point waiting here if we

can’t enter the zone.” Jing Feng said, extremely disheartened.

He wanted to enter the zone and experience the evil spirits for
himself, increase his knowledge, explore. He hadn’t expected
that the experts who had arrived here before him would seal the
area off.

“Why don’t we go and hunt some beasts? Owing to this

upsurge of evil spirits, a lot of beasts have come out of their
caves, which means we will have a lot fun.” Bi Fan proposed.

Jing Feng seemed to like the idea: “Well, we did buy the Jade
tablets, maybe this way we will at least be able to recover its
cost.”

It is needless to point out that, as they would get to fight a bit,

the Blue Dragon happily agreed.

The trio left the possessed zone and went looking for beasts
inside the devil’s territory.

Ever since the evil spirits had soared, high, into the sky, there
had been a huge influx of people into the devil’s territory, which
had frightened the beasts inside the devil’s territory. In this
unprecedented situation, many of the beasts had decided to join
forces, in order to protect themselves.

At the moment, it would be fairly difficult to find lone beasts,

and the ones who were wandering alone, were really strong.

Out of the three of them, Bi Fan was obviously the least

experienced one. In fact, Jing Feng and the Blue Dragon, each,
had their ways of tracking down wild beasts, which were quite
effective and useful.

Before long, they managed to track down a sleuth of bears,

and this group was almost thirty bears strong, while the
strongest of them was in the ‘enormous strength’ layer.

“You guys want in?” Jing Feng asked.

“Oh yeah, I’m not afraid of them.” Bi Fan replied, in a very

relaxed tone.

“Of course! I must!” The Blue Dragon was obviously quite

eager.

The trio charged for the bears simultaneously, Jing Feng

wielding his mighty spear, looked like a dragon charging at his
prey, in this case, the bear closest to them.

The Blue Dragon was holding his scimitar, charged the bears
with a fearsome momentum, and looked quite scary.

Bi Fan on the other hand was only holding a regular light-ray

sword, but his daring momentum was enough to scare off the
weaker bears in the sleuth.
 “Boom!” Jing Feng had already spilled first blood, his spear
severing the head of a bear.

“Wooooo!!!….” The bears cried out in fear, again and again, as

they tried to organize themselves into a formation, to attack
their aggressors.

The Blue Dragon added another one to the dead list, relieving
another bear from this world.

Bi Fan wasn’t far behind either; his sword punctured the

throat of a bear, and went straight through.

“Ha…ha….this is fun! Let’s have ourselves a small

competition and see who kills more bears.” The Blue Dragon
laughed.

The Blue Dragon didn’t wait for Jing Feng or Bi Fan’s reply
and stormed straight for the next bear.

Jing Feng and Bi Fan were young, they weren’t just going to
back out and throw the towel; the game was on.
 The mighty spear swept everything in its range!

Jing Feng was leading; hardly any of the bears were strong
enough to match him. He was already almost as strong as the
‘emerging from the womb’ layer, which meant that the bears
really couldn’t hope to contest against him.

The scimitar was dreadful enough to scare any beast!

The Blue Dragon wasn’t using any complicated moves, but he

certainly knew how to use his strength to achieve the desired
end result.

The light-ray sword was slicing left and right!

Bi Fan was using the ‘Fufeng Double-edged sword’ technique,

and every time he swung his sword, the number of bears in the
group reduced by one.
 In no time at all, the three of them had managed to kill all
thirty bears in the sleuth.

“Ha ha, it seems like I won ah!” Jing Feng smiled.

Jing Feng was the strongest of the three, and had managed to
kill the maximum number of bears. In fact, the strongest bear in
the sleuth had also fallen to Jing Feng’s spear.

Bi Fan had almost managed to level with the Blue Dragon. The
Blue Dragon was violent but decisive, and had managed to do
slightly better than Bi Fan.

The three of them split the carcasses between themselves,

whether they managed to obtain a nucleus from the bodies of
these beasts or not, was dependent on their luck.

The Blue Dragon clearly didn’t have much space left in his Yin
Yang pouch to incorporate all the dead bodies of his share. Left
with no other option, he decided to slice out the most valuable
parts of the carcasses.

Jing Feng was slightly surprised: “Bi Fan, how did you
manage to procure so many Yin Yang pouches?”

“Just my luck, brother!” Bi Fan couldn’t explain things in

detail, if he mentioned that he might have even resorted to
murder to procure some of the Yin Yang pouches, then, he
might get into a lot of trouble later on.

Jing Feng understood the situation all the same, so he didn’t

press any further; he too, had pillaged a lot of Yin Yang
pouches, so knew the value of such secrets.

Soon, the Blue Dragon had accumulated all that he could

store, using his scimitar to slice up the dead bears.

They hadn’t gone far, when they started hearing the sounds of
fighting coming from some distance ahead of them. There was a
lot of movement, and they could tell that a big fight was being
waged between a group of humans and beasts.

“Let’s go and check it out.” Jing Feng waved everyone one

forward and the three of them cautiously made their way.

Usually, when a human is fighting a beast, it is considered

rude to peep, it’s almost a taboo.

So obviously, Bi Fan’s trio quieted down in order to conceal

their presence.

Stealthily, they made their forward, and hid in the trees that
oversaw the fight, not very far away from the scene.

A pack of almost a hundred wolves surrounded a group of

eleven humans, and both sides were intoxicated in this full scale
battle.

Jing Feng, apparently, recognized these humans and his eyes

suddenly became very cold, as if he was ready for war.

“Jing Feng, they will find out.” Bi Fan cautioned.

The other side had already found out. At the center of that
human group was a man, whose strength seemed to be at par
with Jing Feng; his strength was formidable; his eyes, looked
over at Jing Feng, sharp.
 Jing Feng smiled: “Let’s go and see what we can do here.”

Jing Feng, light at a feather, jumped off the tree and came out
in the open. Bi Fan and the Blue Dragon, left with no choice,
followed after him.

It was quite obvious, that Jing Feng didn’t just know these
guys, but he also had a history with them.

“Jiang Wen, I never imagined that you would get suppressed

so easily by such ordinary beasts.” Jing Feng laughed, jabbing at
the other side.

It suddenly came to Bi Fan’s realization, that the other side

belonged to the ‘rising sun’ school, and at the head of the group,
was Jing Feng’s old rival, Jiang Wen.

Jiang Wen’s strength was extraordinary; his sword seemed to

be dancing in the breeze, slicing past one wolf after another. If it
hadn’t been for Jiang Wen, the group would not have been able
to withstand such a big pack of wolves for so long.
 “Jing Feng, what are you doing here? Don’t you dare cause
trouble for us.” Jiang Wen warned in a stern voice.

He seemed fairly afraid that Jing Feng, and his party, would
end up assisting the wolf pack and the members in his group
were already preparing themselves for another fight.

As soon as the wolves had seen Jing Feng pop up, they had
separated away from the squadron of humans they were
fighting against, even though they kept glaring at the humans,
they didn’t dare to attack again.

The wolves were smart enough to know that more enemies

wouldn’t be very good for their interests.

Jing Feng laughed: “I was just observing you. It seems that

you’ve gotten a little slower…ha ha…”

Jing Feng’s trio was standing fairly close to the Jiang Wen’s,
like a pride of lions; Jiang Wen’s anger was evident from the
manner in which he was exposing his teeth.
 “Brother, that’s the kid who shamed me.” One of the
youngsters in Jiang Wen’s group pointed at Bi Fan, his voice
reeking of hatred.

That boy was Jiang Sheng, the boy Bi Fan had managed to
offend.
 Chapter 49 – Shamed

Jiang Wen looked at Bi Fan, coldly and his eyes were

brimming with the aura of death.

“Boy, you dared to insult my brother! Things aren’t looking

good for you.”

Bi Fan looked at Jiang Wen indifferently, and twitched his

lips, as he cast the threat aside.

Jing Feng laughed: “Your brother got bullied by a new comer

at Quinyang, he’s a complete waste; he’d be better off dead.”

Jing Feng’s words had easily managed to infuriate the entire

group of ‘rising sun’ students.

Jiang Wen’s face turned ashen as he said: “Jing Feng, you’ve

dared to insult ‘rising sun’ school, now you’re as good as dead!”

“Well, bite me. If you have what it takes.” Jing Feng smiled as
he mocked his rival, while continuing to fan his face.
 The Blue Dragon spoke up: “Brother, do you wish to sort these
guys out as well?”

The ‘rising sun’ students were respectably strong and one

could make out from the Blue Dragon’s body language, that he
was more than willing to take a shot at them.

“Well, I’d hate to deny the wolves a chance first. So for now,
let’s get in the queue.” Jing Feng shook his head.

Even with Jing Feng and his companions out of the equation,
for the time being, Jiang Wen and his boys were in plenty of
trouble as it is.

“I’ll be done with these wolves in no time, then, you’re next!”

Jiang Wen issued another threat.

Jiang Wen employed his true strength this time, and used his
low-grade weapon to a formidable effect, beheading more than
one wolf with every strike.
 “Jiang Wen is using a low grade sword right now, unlike the
formidable weapon he used against me at the tournament. He
won’t stand a chance against me with a weapon like this one.”
Jing Feng stated.

“Relying on powerful weapons to win a fight…what a waste.”

Bi Fan said in a detracting tone.

Jing Feng smiled: “Bi Fan, always remember, weapons are a

subset of a fighter’s strength, never belittle them. Martial artists
desperately search for good weapons and continue to upgrade
them as they progress.”

Bi Fan couldn’t help but recall that he too, was in possession

of some extraordinary weaponry, which he wasn’t capable of
using at the moment. But he was well aware of the fact, that he
simply couldn’t disclose this information to anyone, because if
he did, then he would definitely not be able to retain them for
long.

“I will remember that brother.”

Jiang Wen slashed past one wolf after another as carved his
path towards the head of the pack.
 The others in his company were also fighting with all of their
strength, and the fight seemed like it was going to come to an
end, much sooner than expected.

Even though the wolves outnumbered the ‘rising sun’

students, exceedingly, they didn’t have the same luxury in
terms of strength. On top of that, Jiang Wen had already turned
the battlefield into a slaughterhouse and no wolf was even
remotely capable of matching his strength.

The Blue Dragon was glaring at the skills that Jiang Wen was
displaying, preparing himself for the oncoming war.

The Blue Dragon wasn’t capable of defeating Jiang Wen at

this time, but his goal was to top the Jiu Yu List, so naturally, he
virtually considered Jiang Wen an enemy.

Jiang Wen saw the scorching glare in the Blue Dragon’s eyes
as his heart felt slightly humbled. He simply couldn’t disregard
the Blue Dragon, or underestimate him for that fact.

“Jiang Wen is indeed a very powerful foe; he’s simply

massacring that wolf pack.” Jing Feng praised his nemesis.

If one put aside personal rivalry, then it was evident that

Jiang Wen was an opponent worth praising and his strength
had already reached the ‘transformation’ layer.

“Jing Feng, you’ve already reached the ‘transformation’ layer.

You will probably break into the ‘emerging from the womb’
layer by the time the next Jiu Yu List tournament comes by.” Bi
Fan stated; all smiles.

“’Emerging from the womb’ layer won’t be easy to break into,

it’s a massive threshold and certainly not a very easy one to
cross over to.” Jing Feng shook his head.

The Blue Dragon stated: “It’s better if some people advance;

otherwise the Jiu Yu List won’t be any fun with such silly
opponents.”

The Blue Dragon loved a good challenge, and had quite the
affinity for a stronger challenge.

Jing Feng stared at the Blue Dragon in silence.

 Bi Fan too, didn’t say anything; but he too, was full of fighting
spirit and ready for a war.

“Wooo!….. Wooo!…” Blood-curling shrieks echoed

unceasingly, as the wolves fell to their deaths in quick
succession.

Soon, the twenty or so wolves that remained of the pack,

started to scatter in all direction, hoping to flee from their
oncoming deaths.

Many of the youngsters in Jiang Wen’s contingent were quite

seriously injured and were bleeding profusely.

But in the murderous rage that Jiang Wen was in at the

moment, he completely disregarded his state, and that of his
companions, as he marched forward and came face to face with
Jing Feng.

He was only concerned with Jing Feng. To him, Bi Fan was

not worthy of his attention, and certainly not someone he
would tax his mind over.
 “Jiang Wen, you’ve finally managed to conclude your
previous appointment. That took too much time, you were so
slow, but well, we have an old account to settle.” Jing Feng
continued to fan his face, and smile: “I will grant you one hour
to reinstate your inner energy, before I start bullying you
around.”

Jiang Wen was even more enraged now: “Jing Feng, you are
nothing more than a fly in front of me, how dare you show me
such arrogance?!”

“Well, if we have a go now, I’ll swat you aside like a fly, would
you like to try?” Jing Feng teased, still smiling.

Even as much as he begrudged Jing Feng, Jiang Wen didn’t

respond to that, and turned over to face Bi Fan instead. And he
address Bi Fan in a cold voice: “Boy, you’re no match for me. I’ll
let you gain some more experience before I deal with you.”

“Well, if we have a go now, I’ll swat you aside like a fly.” Bi

Fan copied Jing Feng’s words and his tone very precisely.

Jiang Wen was going wild with blood lust: “Well, then, its
time I teach you a lesson first!”

Jiang Wen had already consumed almost fifty percent of his

inner energy, but he was extremely confident that he could
easily finish off a ‘brave’ layer opponent, even in this condition.

However, he immediately looked over at Jing Feng, afraid

that Jing Feng might intrude.

Jing Feng was well aware of Bi Fan’s capability, so simply

smiled as he mocked Jiang Wen further: “Jiang Wen, in your
current condition, you’re not going to able to match any
Quinyang student. You might as well save yourself the
embarrassment and quit trying.”

Jing Feng knew Jiang Wen well enough to know, that

belittling him would only make him angrier.

Jiang Wen was beginning to lose all filters of control: “I’m

going to sort the both of you out, one by one.”

“Wait, I’d like to go first!” The Blue Dragon interrupted, his

voice sounding more like a war-cry.
 “He’s challenged me, so I should go first.” Bi Fan stated.

Bi Fan simply didn’t want to miss the opportunity of trying

out a ‘transformation’ layer opponent.

“Bi Fan, be very careful of his sword, it might seem like a low-
grade weapon, but it’s exceptionally sharp. Don’t let it touch
you.” Jing Feng cautioned.

Bi Fan nodded as he took out his light-ray sword.

“Boy, you’re dead!” Jiang Wen launched an early strike, and

his sword sent out a massive screen of bright light, completely
enveloping Bi Fan inside its range.

Bi Fan leaned on his back foot, and with almost ghostly

swiftness, backed away from his position, at an incredible pace.

Jiang Wen attacked again, his sharp sword ready to chop Bi

Fan, as it made a bee-line course towards Bi Fan’s face.
 Jiang Wen had already made up his mind and he was
preparing to chop off Bi Fan’s head.

Jiang Wen had already made up his mind and he was

preparing to chop off Bi Fan’s head.

Bi Fan brandished the ‘dance of mist’ footwork, and his body,

seemingly floated away from Jiang Wen’s lightning fast attacks.

Eventually, Jiang Wen’s initial attacks fell through. Bi Fan

decided to launch a quick counterattack, and cast out the
‘fufeng double-edged sword’ technique, as swift as the breeze.

Surprisingly, Jiang Wen didn’t even attempt to dodge the

attack, and simply raised his sharp sword to block Bi Fan’s
attack.

“Despicable!” Bi Fan cursed out loudly, forced to change the

direction of his sword.

Jiang Wen’s sword was too sharp, so much so, that if it

collided with Bi Fan light-ray, the end result of that collision
might not be very good for Bi Fan.
 Bi Fan immediately changed his strategy, and instead of
attacking Jiang Wen, he decided to blindly evade everything
that Jiang Wen was throwing at him; and let his sword pass Bi
Fan’s; unhindered.

His aim was to deplete Jiang Wen’s inner energy. Jiang Wen
had already consumed a large amount of inner energy against
the wolves, and if Bi Fan managed to deplete the rest of it, then
he could easily finish this fight in due course of time.

Jiang Wen wanted to end this quickly, but Bi Fan just wasn’t
giving him an opportunity. Jiang Wen’s footwork was only as
good as Bi Fan’s, which meant that he was finding it hard to
catch up with the evading Bi Fan.

“Quinyang schools are accepting these kinds of students!

What a coward!” Jiang Wen taunted loudly.

The rest of the ‘rising sun’ students started to hoot; it was

pretty hard to make out what they were saying, but they were
definitely cussing at Bi Fan and Quinyang.
 Bi Fan didn’t react to their words at all as he didn’t really
associate himself with Quinyang or its schools.

Jing Feng, however, suddenly seemed to lose his temper: “Bi

Fan, start taking some risks, end this early. Our reputation is at
stake.”

Bi Fan glanced over at Jing Feng’s face and decided to

abandon his initial plan, modifying it to suit Jing Feng’s desire.

‘Fufeng Double-edged sword!’

Bi Fan employed every strand of force in his body as he

launched an attack at Jiang Wen. He raised his sword, readying
it to smash right into Jiang Wen’s sharp weapon.

At the same time, he raised his finger to cast out the

‘immortal finger’. Such an attack, from this close a range, can
be very hard to detect.

Bi Fan’s ‘immortal finger’ attack caught Jiang Wen

completely off-guard, and he was unable to dodge it. The attack
struck him on the underside of his armpit, poking a hole in it,
and blood sprayed out of Jiang Wen’s body.

Jiang Wen quickly distanced himself from Bi Fan, but wasn’t

completely unbridled by him anymore; in fact, his body
language reflected an unexpected fear of his opponent.

Bi Fan had launched the attack with all his strength, and the
effect was rather severe and damaging.

“That move by Bi Fan was really amazing. What an amazing

combination, he completely caught Jiang Wen off-guard!” The
Blue Dragon’s mouth hung open in astonishment.

Jing Feng smiled: “I’ve never seen anyone rise up as fast as Bi

Fan. If he continues to move forward at this rate, then he stands
to have a very bright future waiting for him, ahead in his life.”

As the fight wore on, Jiang Wen became even more fatigued
and incompetent, as he had already consumed almost all of his
inner energy.

Bi Fan had even put away his sword and was using boxing
techniques to attack Jiang Wen now.
 Bi Fan’s agility was hitting its pinnacle, which was making it
very hard for Jiang Wen to catch him; one second he was here,
and then he was suddenly behind Jiang Wen.

Bi Fan was using his flexible and nimble footwork to such

devastating effects, that Jiang Wen simply couldn’t cope up
with him. Jiang Wen’s body was too tired and he just kept
rotating left to right, in the hope of catching Bi Fan.

Bi Fan had comprehensively suppressed Jiang Wen, and his

companions were watching the fight with a gloomy expression
on their faces, while Jing Feng’s and the Blue Dragon’s smiles
were etched from one ear to the other.

“Ha ha! I didn’t expect a fighter as dignified, as the number

two on the Jiu Yu List, to ever be bullied around like this by an
unknown entity. Looks like we missed a good show, but it seems
that we’re just in time for the end; the most exciting parts of
all.” Suddenly, the forest lit up with the sound of an unexpected
laughter.

Almost instantaneously, ten people emerged out of the forest,

led by two very imposing figures, at a very fast pace.
 “Wang Feng of Jiu Yu town and Hong Yun Tian of Tian Shui!”
Jing Feng exclaimed.

Wang Feng had ranked fourth in the Jiu Yu List, right behind
Jing Feng, whereas Hong Yun Tian had ranked fifth.

As soon as Jiang Wen saw the two men, his face turned red
with embarrassment; and it appeared as if he would start
spitting out blood.

Jiang Wen had a fabulous reputation, which had just gone

down the proverbial drain.

“Brother Bi Fan, maybe that is enough for Jiang Wen, this

time around.” Jing Feng said.

Quinyang and ‘rising sun’ were both, schools that preached

the sacred way of martial arts, so under these circumstances, it
wouldn’t be correct to openly murder one another.

Now, two more renowned martial artists were present on the

scene and this massacre needed to come to an end, so as to avoid
trouble later on.

Bi Fan was a little reluctant initially, but as soon as he

understood Jing Feng’s motives, he immediately retreated and
circled away from his opponent.

Jiang Wen’s body sprayed out more blood as his body

trembled with rage.

Today, he had been defaced by an unknown entity, and that

too in front of so many people; this humiliation, was way more
than his ego could sustain.

“Jing Feng, Bi Fan, I will remember this day. I will come back
for the two of you, sooner or later.” Jiang Wen furiously got off
the ground and walked away with the rest of the ‘rising sun’
students.

“Ha..ha…”

The new arrivals and Jing Feng laughed heartily as Jiang Wen
and his party walked away.
 One really didn’t need to look at Jiang Wen’s face to guess his
expression.

“Jing Feng, Bi Fan, you will both die at my hands….” Jiang

Wen swore to himself.

Wang Feng looked at Bi Fan as he said: “Jing Feng, looks like

Quinyang has found themselves another genius, ah.”

“Ha Ha, Well, truth be told, Jiang Wen had already consumed
most of his energy, and then was arrogant enough to challenge
my junior; he was bound to be beaten.” Jing Feng laughed,
fanning his face.

Wang Feng replied: “You’re too humble brother, but it looks

like the Jiu Yu List is going get even more intense this time
around.”

His words seemed to have a very profound meaning, as he

looked at Bi Fan and the Blue Dragon, sizing them up. While the
Blue Dragon glared back at him, his eyes ready for war again.
 Bi Fan’s face on the other hand was expressionless; wooden.
Wang Feng couldn’t see through him, no matter how hard he
tried.

“Has he advanced yet?” Jing Feng asked, as his facial

expression changing to that of a concerned one, almost as he if,
he was even afraid to even say the name of the person he was
referring to.

Wang Feng’s and Hong Yun Tian’s faces too, quickly changed
colored as fear creeped into their eyes. They simply shook their
heads as no words came out of their mouths.

The three men soon separated away from each other, and Bi
Fan just couldn’t hold back anymore: “Brother Jing Feng, who
were you guys talking about, and why were you so afraid of
him?”

“Jiu Yu List’s number one, he simply cannot be beaten. His

name is Wu Ji Xuan.” Jing Feng’s tone comprised of both awe
and fear.

The Blue Dragon was surprised for a second: “Wu Ji Xuan!

He’s the strongest in all Jiu Yu territory. They even say that
he’s one of the strongest in the entire Tian Yu, and he’s just
started school.”

“Wu Ji Xuan, he’s that powerful? I’d really like to meet him.”
Bi Fan’s eyes lit up.

Jing Feng Smiled: “Wu Ji Xuan is a little weird. Plus the gap in
our strength is far too much, to even try competing against him,
so just don’t provoke him.”

- End of Book 02 -
 Chapter 50 – Enormous Disparities

Bi Fan, Jing Feng and the Blue Dragon managed to hunt down
a lot of beasts in a short period of time and, eventually returned
to Xi Guan.

Their venture had been a very rewarding one, and they had
managed to procure an excellent selection of fur, hide, meat and
herbs, which they managed to sell in the open market.

Bi Fan didn’t sell out the meat that he had procured in the
devil’s territory, as he needed it to feed the Chimera, but the
other items that he had gathered fetched him a total of roughly
three thousand spars in total.

Bi Fan had killed a lot of demons, but he still didn’t find a

single nucleus inside the carcasses he had collected; a clear
indication of just how rare and precious a nucleus is.

Jing Feng and the Blue Dragon, likewise, didn’t find any
nuclei in their share of the loot either. Anyway, since, their Yin
Yang pouches weren’t as spacious as Bi Fan’s storage
equipment; they didn’t have an awful lot of items to sell,
comparatively.
 “Blue Dragon, brother, what do you intend to do next?” Jing
Feng asked.

The Blue Dragon responded: “I will continue to train, I need

to prepare for next year’s Jiu Yu List; I need to improve my
standing.”

“It seems to me that you’re going to be a difficult opponent to

face this time around.” Jing Feng smiled: “I’m going to re-enter
the devil’s territory, I need to practice some more as well. What
about you Bi Fan?”

Bi Fan thought for a while, and considering his options, before

he answered: “I will have to go back to Quinyang now, pay my
respects to my new teacher, and learn some new skills.”

“It seems like we will have to part ways now, but hopefully,
we will meet again at next year’s Jiu Yu List tournament.” The
Blue Dragon seemed a little disappointed.

The Blue Dragon didn’t have any friends. He had finally

managed to find two people, with whom he could form a
congenial relationship; but unfortunately for him, all good
things come to an end.

After the trio parted ways, Bi Fan quickly made his way
towards the Quinyang Mountains. He was so eager to get back to
Quinyang, that he even used the divine essence seals.

Bi Fan had completed the mandated time in the devil’s

territory and now, was finally ready to become a real student.

He was going to be accepted as a student by the Ling Xin Ya,

the deputy of Quinyang schools, and he was certain that it
would be very beneficial for him. But, Bi Fan also needed to
resolve some other issues, including his former employer, Zhu
San.

After three days, Bi Fan finally reached the Quinyang

Mountains and immediately set course for Yunufeng.

He had been away for so long, so he felt necessitated to go

back and meet Xiaofeng once.

Once he reached the peak, Bi Fan discovered that the girls in

Yunufeng were quite busy, almost as if they were playing hosts
to a very distinguished guest.

“Is Miss Yan Yu Si back?” This was the first thought that came
into Bi Fan’s mind and his spirits started soaring sky high.

Almost immediately, the image of Yan Yu Si’s noble

appearance popped up inside his mind; as clear as crystal.

Bi Fan’s heart started racing faster and faster, even his face
turned a shade of blush.

“What’s wrong with me?” Bi Fan softly patted his cheeks.

“…. Xiao Yun, Xiao Yun, why is everyone so busy, what’s

going on here?” Bi Fan called out to one of the girls.

Xiao Yun was quite the beauty herself; small in stature, pink
cheeks; she was quite cute.

“Xiao Fan (Xiao means little), you came back! The Miss has
also returned. You must go and pay your respects.” Xiao Yun’s
face visibly lit up, and a dimple studded the corners of her
mouth.

Bi Fan nodded and followed after Xiao Yun.

Yan Yu Si’s residence was distinctly apart from the rest of the
bamboo huts in Yunufeng. As Bi Fan approached her residence,
he could hear the sound of laughter coming from within her
house.

Yan Yu Si’s house seemed to be hosting the presence of a man,

an actual man! And his voice was quite magnificent and
resonant.

“Xiao Yun, is there a man in there?” Bi Fan asked

involuntarily, knowing well enough that it was none of his
business, or his place to ask this question.

Xiao Yun said: “That man in Miss’s senior, he looks awfully

strong, just don’t provoke him.”

“Senior?” Bi Fan whispered loudly; his heart, a little gloomy

once more.
 Bi Fan was even more careful now; he knew well that he
didn’t need any more trouble in his life.

Soon, Bi Fan arrived before the Bamboo house.

Bi Fan hadn’t spoken anything yet, but Yan Yu Si had already

sensed his arrival.

“Bi Fan, come in.”

Yan Yu Si had already heard a lot about Bi Fan from Xiao Feng
and Bi Fan’s status had already improved, a lot, in her eyes.

Bi Fan entered the Bamboo house and quickly glanced at, the
garish and beautiful, Yan Yu Si; Xiao Feng was also present
inside the house.

Yan Yu Si was sitting next to a man, whose nose was hooked

like an eagle; his eyes seemed as sharp as a falcon’s and he had a
very sturdy, imposingly overbearing figure.
 Bi Fan’s eyes briefly met with that man’s and he could sense
the murderous intentions in that man’s eyes.

Bi Fan was quite puzzled; he had just come back and hadn’t
yet done anything to provoke Yan Yu Si’s senior.

“Bi Fan pays respect to Miss.” Bi Fan saluted Yan Yu Si.

Yan Yu Si looked at Bi Fan for a minute as she measured him

up, and then said, smilingly: “Bi Fan, very good, very good,
you’re progressing very quickly.”

“Thank you for the complement Miss!” Bi Fan felt at ease

now, and his face, reflected the pride his heart was gleaming in.

“Humph!” The man wasn’t quite impressed, in fact, he

seemed a little cold. He got up and walked over to Bi Fan.

Bi Fan simply couldn’t react in time enough; he felt as if a

hammer had rammed into his stomach, he went back three
steps, as he almost vomited blood.
 This man was far too strong and far too quick. Bi Fan never
stood a chance against a man like him.

“Not so strong, simply not strong enough. A disgrace.” The

man ridiculed Bi Fan with his opening sentence.

Yan Yu Si’s face turned grave as she spoke up in a cold voice:

“Shaui Ying Tian, senior, that was a little too much, and quite
frankly, unwarranted.”

“Sister, don’t take offense, I was simply trying to test his

strength. I didn’t expect him to collapse in the first blow so
easily.” Shaui Ying Tian smiled.

Bi Fan’s face was pale as he secretly vowed; One day, I will

repay you for this humiliation, tenfold.

He didn’t reveal his heart’s resentment, as he was well aware

that it would only succeed in getting him killed.

“Shaui Ying Tian, please be reminded that this is Quinyang,

not Xuannu palace.” Yan Yu Si reminded his senior, her voice,
as cold as ice.
 Shaui Ying Tian’s eyes were still full of a murderous aura, but
he flashed a smile as he stated: “Naturally sister, but I tend to
not differentiate.”

“Humph!” Yan Yu Si groaned coldly: “Bi Fan, go take some

rest.”

“Miss, Bi Fan requests your permission to leave.” Bi Fan tried

to hold back his body’s pain while concealing the enmity of his
heart, and slowly backed out of her chambers.

“Patience! Tolerance! He is too strong; I won’t be able to

match him.” Bi Fan was obviously aware of his position.

However, this didn’t mean that Bi Fan had thrown in the

proverbial towel, for, he knew that he had just started
practicing, and as long as he continues to progress, there’s
always a chance that he’d be able to avenge this humiliation.

Bi Fan returned to his bamboo and started practicing in order

to restore his injuries.
 Shaui Ying Tian’s attack carried such an intense momentum,
that the arteries and veins inside Bi Fan’s body’s core had
crumbled under the force.

Longevity burst tends to take its time, but with the help of the
White petals of the Yin Yang Lotus, Bi Fan was able to heal his
injuries quickly.

In just an hour, Bi Fan had managed to complete the process

and his body had been restored to its original state, but the
flame of hatred that had been smoldering inside his heart had
only grown hotter.

“Shaui Ying Tian, one day, I will pay you back for this
humiliation, tenfold.” Bi Fan was carrying a very resolute look
on his face.

Bi Fan was mad with fury, so much so, that he didn’t really
care about his enemy’s background.

Bi Fan took rest that night, and early the next morning he
ventured down the mountain. He needed to see Ling Xin Ya as
soon as possible, pay his respects to his new master, and hope
that he could learn some new skills and techniques.
 Yangshan was located on top, of one of the main peaks, of the
Quinyang Mountains.

Lush green cliffs, studded with abundant flora, waterfalls,

birds and animals out in the open….

The road to Yangshan was nothing short of a walk in paradise.

But Bi Fan was not in a frame of mind to appreciate the beauty

of the nature, and he kept staring at the token that he had
received from Ling Xin Ya, until he arrived at the summit.

“Hey look, that’s Bi Fan! Remember him from the selection

tournament? He was the number one; looks like master has
accepted him as a student here.”

“Ah, yes, I reckon that master might take him as a direct

student, an apprentice, in which case, it would be very useful to
have him as a friend.”

Bi Fan’s arrival had attracted a lot of attention, and a lot of

people seemed to be talking about him.

There were many disciples under Ling Xin Ya, some had a
higher status than others; but only the ones who received direct
training from him, could be considered his true students.

After the performance that Bi Fan had exhibited at the

selection tournament, he had certainly managed to acquire Ling
Xin Ya’s attention, so it was possible that he might accept Bi Fan
as a direct student.

“Bi Fan, young brother, please follow me, master wants to see
you.” A sincere looking middle-aged man came up to him and
stated.

One look at the man and Bi Fan could tell that there was a big
gap between the two of them. The man in front of him was at
least in the ‘emerging from the womb’ layer.

“Thank you brother, please lead the way.” Bi Fan replied and
started after the man.

“Turns out that big brother Yang Feng, has decided to escort
Bi Fan to the master personally; he’s definitely going to be
accepted as an apprentice.” Many of the students exclaimed.

“Yes, ah, big brother has been taking care of the master’s
affairs; he acts on his direct command.”

Yang Feng asked: “Bi Fan, young brother, you must have
already completed your mandated time in the devil’s territory
by now?”

“Yes, brother.” Bi Fan answered courteously.

“You’re strength had made an amazing progress, you’ve

already reached the ‘brave’ layer.” Yang Feng was rather
surprised.

Bi Fan replied diplomatically: “As the master had accepted me

as a student, I simply couldn’t afford to slack off; I don’t want to
bring master a bad name.”

“Very good! Excellent! If you need any help, please don’t shy
away from asking me, and I’ll try my best to assist you.” Yang
Feng smiled.
 “Thank you big brother!”

Passing past several caves and numerous houses, Bi Fan

followed Yang Feng into the deepest part of the mountain, the
master’s chambers.

“Little brother, these are the master’s chambers, and

generally people aren’t allowed to come here.” Yang Feng
stated.

Bi Fan looked around, it was a little dark, but he could feel the
strength in the air; and it was quite strong.

“Ah, Bi Fan, come in.” Ling Xin Ya’s called and Bi Fan
recognized his voice in an instant, clear, deep, and forceful.

“Little brother, don’t just stand there frozen, go in quickly; I

won’t be accompanying you any further.” Yang Feng urged.

“Yes!”
Bi Fan proudly walked into the master’s chambers.
 Chapter 51 – Apprentice

The master’s chambers were located in the depths of the

cavern; and the walls on the sides were adorned with pearls,
which acted like night lights, illuminating the spacious vicinity.

Bi Fan had walked almost half an hour, before he had reached

this point, at the end of the cavern. The master’s chambers were
very simple, very humble in design, and only comprised of a
stone table, a few chairs, and some prayer rugs.

Ling Xin Ya was sitting on top of, one of the prayer rugs. His
eyes were closed in prayer.

“Sit down.” Ling Xin Ya instructed; his eyes remained closed,

still.

Bi Fan walked over to Ling Xin Ya, and sat down on the rug
opposite to him.

“Deputy, master, Bi Fan returns after completing one month

inside the devil’s territory.”
 “Your strength has reached the ‘brave’ layer. Good! Very
good!” Ling Xin praised.

“Thank you for the complement master. It means a lot.” Bi

Fan replied respectfully.

“After some time, I will take you to our great masters, and
recognize you as my eleventh disciple.” Ling Xin Ya said:
“Things are simple here, and we don’t have many rules either.
There is however, one rule; never betray the school or the
master. This, you must always remember.”

“Yes master, I will engrave it into my mind and my soul.”

Lin Xin Ya smiled: “Don’t be so tensed, relax your nerves. In

some time, I will give you some techniques that you must learn
and practice, but first, tell me what you already know, so I can
give you something better.”

“I have learnt the Wan Zu Fist, Longevity Burst and ‘fufueng

double-edged sword’ techniques, but apart from this, I have also
learnt some basics of foot works, and ‘prancing tiger’, however,
only two strokes of the latter. I also learnt some techniques to
increase and refine physical strength, so I can temper my
body… ”

Bi Fan concealed some of the techniques from his master, but

he disclosed most of them, especially because he was going to
using these often, so hiding them wouldn’t be of any use.

Mentioning the blood devil technique was out of question;

and it was best to keep the jade book a secret as well….

Bi Fan was quite embarrassed, as he couldn’t disclose

everything to his master, and as a result, was sounding a bit
vague.

Ling Xin Ya pondered for a moment, muttering to himself,

before he spoke up: “You have a pretty good basic foundation. I
will teach you the ‘Floating sword’ technique, and for your
‘inner energy’, you will learn the ‘Fire and Ice Dragon’ burst. As
far as boxing is concerned, you shall learn the ‘swimming
Dragon’ style, which will only be temporary provision, and once
you’ve mastered these, I will teach you more techniques.”

Ling Xin Ya took out four books and handed them over to Bi
Fan.
 Bi Fan accepted these books with both hands, gratefully, and
said: “Thank you master, I will strive hard to learn these
techniques.”

Lin Xin Ya explained: “’Fire and Ice Dragon’ burst, is

something that I accidentally stumbled upon; it complements
the ‘prancing tiger’ fist very well. The ‘Fire and Ice Dragon’ clan
was medieval clan, which vanished over time, but you may be
assured that you can learn their art well. After you’re able to
master this technique, your strength might possibly increase at
a very rapid pace, so I’d reckon that this technique shall suit you
well.”

He paused for a moment, and then continued: “The ’Floating

Sword’ technique is a more advanced version of the ‘Fufeng
double-edged sword’ technique, and is taught only to the senior
martial artists at Quinyang. ‘Swimming Dragon’ style is a very
advanced form, which is only imparted to senior martial artists
and helps in creating, their own custom boxing style; it is
mostly used by ‘emerging from the womb’ layer practitioners.”

“Yes master!” Bi Fan was really very excited now; all of a

sudden, he had been presented with four senior level martial
arts techniques; looks like, being an apprentice of a
distinguished master was going to very beneficial after all.

Ling Xi Ya stated: “If you have any difficulty in understanding

these techniques, you may ask your big brother, Yang Feng, and
he will assist you.”

Bi Fan nodded and said: “Yes master. Using these techniques,

how quickly can I expect my strength to rise?”

“Bi Fan, your strength is already going up at a phenomenal

rate, why do wish to enhance your pace further?” Lin Xin Ya
was somewhat confused.

He paused for a moment and then continued: “Enhancing

strength at a very quick pace isn’t very good either; if your
foundation is unstable, then prospects of future development
might be hindered.”

“Master, yesterday, when I returned to Quinyang after my

training, I visited Yunufeng to pay my respects to Miss Yan Yu
Si. There, I met with Miss Yan Yu Si’s senior, Shaui Ying Tian,
and he hit me. His one, single strike, was enough to knock the
life out of me. I want to promote my strength quickly, so I don’t
have to suffer such disgrace again in the future.” Bi Fan
recounted the previous day’s events in detail.

“Shaui Ying Tian!” Ling Xin Ya was astounded: “He is the

second son of the Xuannu palace, and is one of the strongest
martial artists of our generation, in fact, he’s probably amongst
the top twenty in the entire Tian Yu. He’s even stronger than
some of the practitioners of the older generation.”

“Regardless of his strength, one day I will get back at him for
this humiliation, and he will beg me for his life.” Bi Fan’s
determined look didn’t waiver one bit as he demonstrated his
resolve.

“Good! Now there’s a true Ling Xin Ya disciple.” Ling Xin Ya

laughed heartily: “If you have the courage for it, then go
hunting the Devil’s Race, inside the Devil’s Abyss. But your
strength is not sufficient to enter into the first layer of the
Devil’s Abyss just now, and it would be more appropriate for
you to enter into the Devil’s Abyss once you’ve entered into the
‘emerging from the womb’ layer.”

“Devil’s Abyss! Devil’s Race!” Bi Fan was completely

astounded, as this was the first time he had ever heard of these
terms.
 In the past, he had heard of and even confronted the devil’s
disciples, but he had no idea that there was a sect where the
devil’s race actually lived.

Ling Xin Ya could make out that the Devil’s Abyss had
attracted Bi Fan attention, so he started to explain things to Bi
Fan in some more detail.

The Devil’s Abyss was very different, special, and wasn’t

associated with the sacred way of life. The demons and humans
that lingered in the Devil’s Abyss were far too hostile, and
overly combative in nature, which is why they were not
welcomed into any of the six circles of Tian Yu.

It was for this reason itself that the Devil’s Abyss was formed,
and these extreme beings were gathered together, to dwell
there.

No one had been able to completely explore the Devil’s Abyss,

which is why most parts of it remained unknown to the Tian Yu
World. In fact, this world existed on a completely different
channel, beyond the control of Tian Yu. Naturally, occasionally,
some of the devil’s race managed to enter into Tian Yu, and
these being were wantonly hunted down, and massacred.
 The Devil’s race is a sworn mortal enemy of humanity in
general, and often, humans entered into the Devil’s Abyss to
fight and kill the Devil’s race; Firstly, to enhance strength and
train; and secondly, to earn spars.

The carcasses obtained from killing the Devil’s Race inside the
Devil’s Abyss, often contained nuclei, and apart from this, the
region was also the habitat of some very rare beasts, both of
which were very much in demand in Tian Yu world.

The first layer of the Devil’s Abyss was only recommended for
practitioners who had already entered into the ‘emerging from
the womb’ layer, as the Devil’s race that dwelled in it were very
strong, and bloodshed was inevitable. It is for this reason that,
practitioners below the ‘emerging from the womb’ layer were
not allowed to enter the Devil’s Abyss; as it was extremely
dangerous.

“Bi Fan, If you really wish to enter into the Devil’s Abyss for
your practice, then we must think very clearly and carefully.
Once you’re inside the Devil’s Abyss, you must spend at least
half a month before you can exit it. And any problems you
encounter in there shall be your own to resolve, as no one will
be able to help you in there.” Ling Xin Ya warned, earnestly.
 Bi Fan was certain: “Master, send me to the Devil’s Abyss, and
be assured that I can take care of myself.”

Ling Xin Ya sensed the resolve in Bi Fan’s eyes, and so, he

didn’t object.

“Bi Fan, you must practice for a month first, to prepare. I will
teach you the necessary techniques to get started, and then you
can enter the Devil’s Abyss.”

“Yes, Master!” Bi Fan thought for a second, and agreed.

Entering the Devil’s Abyss after some more training would,

indeed be safer; and more strength would surely act as
insurance, if he ran into trouble.

Subsequently, Ling Xin Ya took Bi Fan to the shrine of the

ancestral master of Yangshan, and Bi fan kneeled in front of
Yang Ding’s shrine, offering his salutations, and was officially
inducted as a Quinyang disciple.

Yang Ding was a legend, who had adorned the realms of men
thousands of years ago. The rumor has it, that he was so strong,
that he had managed to enter into the ‘Immortal’ layer, and
then, in time, had ascended to the heaven, leaving the realms of
mortal men.

Bi Fan had genuine respect for such a great and legendary

figure, and so he bowed down with all his sincerity.

“Bi Fan, always remember this, that apart from being a

disciple of Quinyang School, you are also a son of a Yangshan
now.” Lin Yin Xa addressed Bi Fan, in a serious tone.

“I will always remember that master.” Bi Fan nodded.

“You will practice here, at the summit of Yangshan from now

on, and your senior brother, Yang Feng, will help you in making
arrangements. Additionally, I will also send word to Yunufeng,
of your induction to Yangshan.” Lin Xin Ya added softly.

“Thank you master. I will go and begin my training.” Bi Fan

turned away, and talked towards the exit of Ling Xin Ya’s
residence.

Yang Feng had already arranged a residence, especially for Bi

Fan’s training.

At the Yangshan peak, only a few, very distinguished disciples

had their own personal area for practice, and these disciples
were considered the core disciples of Yangshan.

The hierarchy was abundantly clear; the core disciples, the

normal disciples (Neimen), outdoor disciples, and part-time
helpers; the treatment one received, varied accordingly; and
greatly.

This was done in order to concentrate the resources on the

development of the core disciples. On top of that, this also
helped in developing a sense of competition, which helped in
accelerating the growth of the new and young generation of
martial artists.

Bi Fan had just entered Yangshan and had already acquired

his own personal residence; this feat had attracted a lot of
attention, both in terms of admiration and envy.

However, Bi Fan simply didn’t pay any attention to any of it,

nor did he have any time to care about such trivial things. In
fact, he didn’t even have the time to spare any thought to Zhu
San, let alone anyone else.

Bi Fan just wanted to train, using the gap between himself and
Shaui Ying Tian to a very positive effect. He knew that he
needed to work hard, as he was no match for his virtual enemy,
for he was too weak and too small.

Since the gap in strength was so huge, which he was so well

aware of, he was willing to strive as hard as it took to get there;
as it was not in his nature to give up easily.

Bi Fan’s ultimate goal was to become the strongest, and he

was willing to work as hard, as was needed.

He had already suffered a lot of bullying in his life, and he had

already made decision that he wasn’t going to suffer any more
of it.

At present, Bi Fan was in possession of four new, high-level,

trade secrets. So naturally, he immediately immersed himself in
into training.

Behind closed doors, Bi Fan began learning these new secret

arts.

When Yan Yu Si heard about Bi Fan’s closed-door practice at

the Yangshan peak, her heart somewhat felt at a loss. She felt
very sorry for the way Shaui Ying Tian had behaved.

Shaui Ying Tian had infuriated Yan Yu Si, but she couldn’t
really do anything about it; after all, he was the second son of
the Xuannu palace.

Left with no alternative, Yan Yu Si bid her farewell, and left

the Quinyang Mountains.

She couldn’t control Shaui Ying Tian, and so it was best to

take him away from the Quinyang Mountains; at least this way
he wouldn’t be able to cause any more grief here.

Yan Yu Si had grown up in the mountains of Quinyang, due to

which she associated herself more strongly with Quinyang
schools, than she did with Xuannu Palace. She didn’t like the
idea of Quinyang schools being bullied around like that, even if
it was at the hands for her own senior.
 Yan Yu Si had never imagined that Shaui Ying Tian would
stoop to such activities; and after the way he had treated Bi Fan,
her demeanor towards Shaui Ying Tian had become very cold
and indifferent.

The fact the Shaui Ying Tian had treated such an oppressed
medicine orchard boy, like Bi Fan, in that manner, had
completely disgusted Yan Yu Si.

Shaui Ying Tian didn’t reckon that he’d made an error in

conduct, and in fact, he began to hate Bi Fan even more now.

He saw the new light in which Yan Yu Si was seeing Bi Fan,

and was beginning to regret leaving him alive in the first place.
 Chapter 52 – Abyss Of The Devil’s Race

The ‘Floating sword’ technique didn’t take long to understand

as Bi Fan had already mastered the basics of a similar technique,
the ‘Rainy-fly sword’.

‘Fire and ice dragon’ and ‘prancing tiger’, formed a complete

set. This new ‘inner energy’ refining method suited Bi Fan
perfectly, and the ‘prancing tiger’ boxing technique’s power,
amplified multi-fold with its help.

Bi Fan studied the ‘fire and ice dragon’ technique several

times, and then started practiced it without any hesitation.

As the ‘fire and ice dragon’ burst started running inside his
body, ‘inner energy’ started flowing like waves through the
innermost beings of his body.

The ‘fire and ice dragon’ burst was much faster than the
Longevity burst method as far as restoration of ‘inner energy’
was concerned, but didn’t have the same effect in terms of
healing power.
 The ‘Fire and ice dragon’ Burst, must be a very high-level
method, as it seemed to gelling with high-level martial art
techniques brilliantly, and was providing excellent support in
making them even more powerful.

Ling Xin Ya hadn’t made any mistakes and had picked out the
perfect techniques to suit Bi Fan’s style. After Bi Fan had
understood these new techniques, he started practicing the
‘prancing tiger’ fist again, and could feel the massive increase in
its power.

The fourth book that he had received was about footwork; a

technique named ‘Babu Swimming Dragon’. ‘Babu Swimming
Dragon’, coupled with ‘Swimming Dragon’, formed a very
suitable match for the ‘Floating sword’ technique and could
even be used with the ‘fufeng double-edged sword’ to deliver
great results.

‘Babu Swimming Dragon’ and ‘Swimming Dragon’ were

relatively new techniques and Bi Fan paid special attention to
them.

As compared to ‘Dance of the mist’, the ‘Babu Swimming

Dragon’ was a lot faster, and required a lot lesser effort in terms
of energy, which meant the Bi Fan could use it more freely.
 As far as the ‘Swimming Dragon’ fist was concerned, it wasn’t
as forceful as the ‘prancing tiger’ fist, but still, was an awful lot
quicker when used properly, and required much lesser strength
when used along with the ‘Babu Swimming Dragon’. Bi Fan
deemed the ‘Swimming Dragon’ fist as a more suitable choice,
when it came to hand-to-hand combat, as it required much
lesser energy and strength.

Behind closed doors, Bi Fan continued to practice in full force;

he also dedicated a good amount of time to refine and enhance
his physical strength as well. He would restore his energy when
exhausted, and then get back to his practice; in fact, he barely
rested. Even then, Bi Fan couldn’t help but feel that he was one
step behind the entire time, as if needed more time; he needed
to put more effort, and needed more time still.

In a flash, one month passed by; Bi Fan hadn’t even stepped

out of residence the entire time.

The ‘Swimming Dragon’ and the ‘Babu Swimming Dragon’

techniques were coming through very well, and could be used in
a battle to confront the enemy. The ‘fire and ice Dragon’ burst
was complementing the ‘prancing tiger’s’ starting moves
brilliantly and would come in handy.
 At present, Bi Fan’s inner energy was at the pinnacle of the
‘brave’ layer and he could make the breakthrough very soon.
His strength had been growing as well; in fact, his strength had
already surpassed his ‘inner energy’ and had reached almost
nine Yun Shi.

Bi Fan’s combined strength had reached almost seventeen

Yun Shi, which meant that he had, in a way, encroached into
the ‘transformation’ layer.

Even though he could compete with the ‘transformation’

layer now, but winning against a combatant of a higher layer
would still not be very feasible for him, as the difference in
strength of these two layers was far too great.

However, Bi Fan was confident that with the help of the

armor that he had purchased from the Ting Feng valley, he
would be able to survive inside the first layer of the Devil’s
Abyss.

If he could somehow find a nucleus to power his armor, then

it would enhance its defensive capabilities and make things a lot
easier for him defensively.
 Once he was ready, Bi Fan decided to visit Ling Xin Ya, and
initiate the process for entering into the Devil’s Abyss.

“It’s not recommended, but since you’ve made up your mind,

I won’t stop you. But, be very careful.” Ling Xin Ya cautioned.

Ling Xin Ya took out a Double-edged sword, which was

adorned with purple bird feathers at the bottom of its hilt,
wisteria armor plus helmet and a Yin Yang pouch, and handed
them over to Bi Fan.

“Bi Fan, as your master, it’s my duty to prepare you; and this
equipment might prove out to be life-saving, in case you’re face
with adversities.”

“Thank you master!” Bi Fan was genuinely very grateful, and

he accepted his master’s gifts with both hands.

Ling Xin Ya stated: “First you must go and get ready; request
your big brother, Yang Feng, to help you out with the
arrangements. Come to my chambers tomorrow morning and
I’ll send you to the first layer of the Devil’s Abyss.”
 Bi Fan took his master’s leave and went out to find Yang Feng.
He asked Yang Feng for some water, food, a change of clothes;
the basic necessities of life. Finally……he asked Yang Feng for
some herbs, after all, he needed to prepare food for the Marten
as well.

Yang Feng didn’t even ask once as to what Bi Fan intended to

do with all these things, and he simply arranged for everything
that Bi Fan had requested.

“Thank you, Big brother…” Bi Fan was grateful; in fact, he

was almost at a loss of words.

Yang Feng said: “Bi Fan, be careful once you enter the Devil’s
Abyss. And always remember, that your life is the more
important than anything else.”

“I know, big brother.”

Soon after, Yang Feng told Bi Fan about the things that he had
personally experienced inside the Devil’s Abyss, and some of the
things that Bi Fan might need to look out for.
 Bi Fan listened very attentively, as he was well aware that this
information might vitally save his life someday.

Once Bi Fan returned to his chambers, he opened the Yin Yang

pouch and realized that it contained a lot of spars and Dan
pellets. The Dan pellets included some healing Dan and
antidotes, amongst other high-level Dan pellets.

“Master is too kind to me.” Bi Fan was touched; he felt

overwhelmed with a sense of gratitude.

The Sword that he had just received was much better to the
light-ray sword that he was currently using.

The Wisteria armor was also pretty good. Anyway, his body
would need protection from the enemy’s attacks, and this armor
looked good enough to protect him in moments of need.

A good armor is a like the treasure for the body’s defense.

He was going to enter the Devil’s Abyss tomorrow, and so Bi

Fan started making the final preparations; starting with
revising the new techniques that he had learnt in the past
month.

Equipment, books, Dan pellets; all ready and collated, so they

could be easily accessed in the moments of need.

Once everything was ready, Bi Fan decided to rest for a few

hours, until dawn.

As the sun lit up the bright blue sky, Bi Fan combed his hair,
washed his face and then, made his to Ling Xin Ya’s chambers.

Bi Fan’s mind was riddled with a lot of emotions; excitement,

anticipation, anxiety, fear and curiosity.

“Young Bi Fan, are you ready?” Ling Xin Ya asked in a grave

tone.

Bi Fan answered: “Yes master, Bi Fan is ready.”

“The Yangshan peak’s ancient masters, opened up a channel

to the Devil’s Abyss in a time gone by, however, this is only a
one way passage, which means that the Devil’s race cannot
enter Yangshan through this channel. However, in order to
return from the Abyss, you will require a special medium, a
special conveyor seal. This conveyor seal, you must protect by
all means; for, if this seal is lost, you will not be able to return to
Yangshan. Remember, that the seal must be used only after
spending at least fifteen days inside the Devil’s Abyss,
otherwise, it won’t work and you will end up losing your only
chance of return.” Ling Xin Ya stated.

Bi Fan took the conveyor seal and incorporated it into the

Tian Yuan ring.

Fifteen days… Bi Fan wasn’t just going to hide inside the

Devil’s Abyss, and he fully intended on using this time to
practice his martial arts, hoping that he can break into the
‘emerging from the womb’ layer.

Actual combat was the fastest way to increase strength, and Bi

Fan simply wasn’t going to miss such an excellent opportunity.

Bi Fan planned on extending his stay inside the Devil’s Abyss

as much as possible, unless he was met with a very critical
situation. The Jiu Yu List was less than year away now, and Bi
Fan had his sight set on winning the tournament.
 Ling Xin Ya opened the channel. The channel was very deep,
its end wasn’t even visible, and one simple couldn’t make out
where it led to.

Bi Fan didn’t hesitate as he entered the channel.

The insides of the channel were very dark, and even though Bi
Fan had an excellent night vision, he still couldn’t see a thing.

He floated in the air for a while, for a long while….

He had no idea as to how long he had been inside the channel,

but then suddenly he landed on solid ground.

The second he hit the ground, he quickly put on the armor

that he had purchased at the Ting Feng valley and the Wisteria
armor that he had received from Ling Xin Ya, in order to protect
his body from any immediate attacks.

Yang Feng had told him many things about the Devil’s Abyss,
one of them being that the Devil’s Race could be found almost
everywhere inside the Devil’s Abyss. And sometimes, an
unfortunate practitioner may fall into a group of enemies upon
arrival.

In such cases, sometimes, the practitioner in question could

die instantaneously; a sad and somber death, as the practitioner
may not have even had the time to react and certainly wouldn’t
get to experience the Abyss either.

Bi Fan had just worn the armor, when suddenly; a dozen or so

attacks befell his body.

“Boom! Boom! …..” The attacks were violent and strong; but
fortunately for Bi Fan, he had two good quality armors
protecting his body. Due to the excellent defense that he his
body was being guarded by, the attacks failed to cause any
damage.

‘Rainy-fly Sword!’

With his new sword in his hand, Bi Fan cast out the most
powerful sword technique that he knew the best.

His sword flew and blood sprinkled.

 Bi Fan had already killed at least a dozen beasts in a very short
period, and the floor was soaked in their blood.

Bi Fan hadn’t even had the time to take a look at his

surroundings, as he had managed to land himself in a large
group of creature, which now, surrounded him.

These devilish creature that surrounded him, had the most

grotesque of appearances. In fact, some of them seemed to be
made of black gas, and it appeared as if they could transform
their appearance as well.

With his sword play called into action from second one, Bi Fan
had already managed to kill a pretty large number of the
creature that had initially surrounded him.

The Devil’s creature that surrounded him weren’t very

strong, and most of them hadn’t even reached the ‘inner breath’
layer, so naturally, they didn’t stand much of a chance against
the likes of him.

Soon, Bi Fan had managed to kill the majority of them, while

the rest fled.
 At last, there were no more beasts left to pounce at him and
finally, he could at least glance at his surroundings.

The Devil’s Abyss had its own sky, which was complete with a
Sun; A purple Sun.

The Devil’s Abyss looked relatively gloomier than Tian Yu;

the vicinity was devoid of any vegetation, while the ground
comprised of black gravel and sand.

Since he had first arrived here, Bi Fan had been feeling very
uneasy, as if he simply wasn’t suited for this kind of an
environment; he could feel the chills going up and down his
spine.

He had already slaughtered a lot of creatures, and so he

decided to incorporate the carcasses of the strongest ones into
the Tian Yuan ring.

The Devil’s race that dwelled the Devil’s Abyss sometimes

contained nucleus inside their skulls. But even then, the
frequency wasn’t very high, and they were still a rarity.
 At present, Bi Fan had no time to inspect the carcasses of the
creatures that lay all around him, as he simply couldn’t clean up
the mess that he had made, and he didn’t want any more
creatures to come looking for him, attracted by the sounds or
stench of this massacre.

The Devil’s Abyss was vast and had an awful number of

occupants dwelling inside it. Mostly, humans entered the
Devil’s Abyss in groups, as they would need to rest from time to
time; and having companions meant that someone could watch
out for trouble, while the others rested.

At present, Bi Fan also needed to rest. Left with no other

choice, he summoned the Chimera. And with the Chimera
standing as guard, Bi Fan started restoring his inner energy, as
he decided to rest for a while.
 Chapter 53 – Clouds Of A Dark Gas

The Chimera emerged from the pet belt, seeming extremely

excited.

The insides of a pet belt were obviously quite restraining for

it.

“RAAARGHH!” The Chimera roared loudly, and started

killing everything it could get its sights on.

The Devil’s Abyss was known to be inhabited by extremely

strong demons, but fortunately, Bi Fan had landed in a zone
where the demons weren’t very strong, so naturally, they didn’t
really stand much of a chance against the Chimera.

Bi Fan had already cleared out most of the battlefield, and

now with the Chimera taking over, he could restore his inner
energy and maybe, some peace of mind as well.

The Abyss was a terrifying place, which was almost over

populated with demonic beasts. The population density of the
Devil’s Race was so high in the Abyss that even the strongest of
martial artists would tend to exhaust their energy, and would
eventually need to rest, from time to time, which is why no one
entered this Abyss alone.

Bi Fan, in a frenzy of increasing his strength as quickly as

possible, had entered the Devil’s Abyss alone, and was
beginning to regret the decision a bit now.

Of course, he had taken into account his own formidable

strength, and the fact that the Chimera would be able to assist
him when needed.

But, things weren’t exactly going as planned. Bi Fan’s

formidable physical strength depleted his inner energy at a very
quick rate, which meant that he would need to restore it very
often.

Bi Fan needed to find a way to restore his inner energy while

engaged in fight, and if he managed to figure out a way to do so,
then he could possibly survive the Abyss, even without the
Chimera’s help.

‘Fire and Ice Dragon’ burst couldn’t be employed when

engaged in combat, and he couldn’t use the ‘free’ burst
technique either as he simply wasn’t strong enough to practice
the method.

The ‘Free’ burst technique could be used at the whims of the

practitioner; anytime, anywhere, which is why Bi Fan had been
very attentive while studying the technique.

This method was a very unique one, and unlike most methods
that required a quiet and peaceful environment for practice, the
‘free’ burst method could be used under, almost, any kind of
circumstances.

“It’s important that I break into the ‘spiritual intelligence’

layer soon, ah!” Bi Fan thought to himself.

The Chimera was getting more and more ferocious by the

minute, and had already slaughtered every beast in sight.

Soon, Bi Fan managed to recover almost his entire inner

energy, and so he exchanged roles with the Chimera and took
over, returning the Chimera to the safety of the pet belt, so he
could recover his strength and rest a while.
 Bi Fan even went as far as providing the Chimera with a
restoration Dan pellet to help him speed his recovery.

As time would progress, the battles would only get more and
more intense, so it was necessary for the two of them to be at
their maximum capacity, for the sake of insurance.

The Devil’s race that Bi Fan had encounter so far, hadn’t

posed any serious problems. But for the time being, Bi Fan
decided that it was best to refrain from venturing any deeper, as
he didn’t have any plans in place.

As soon as Bi Fan arrived in the Abyss, he realized the

situation on ground was very different from what he had
expected.

Bi Fan and the Chimera had taken turns in slaughtering the

Devil’s Race that had been wandering in the vicinity, in a roster
of duty, and the area had been substantially cleared out.

During this entire time, the strongest beast that Bi Fan had
come across, was only as strong as the ‘brave’ layer, which at Bi
Fan’s present level, had been a piece of cake.
 “Let’s continue forward and go a little deeper…..” Bi Fan and
the Chimera had both fully restored their inner energies, so Bi
Fan decided that they should march a little deeper into the
Abyss.

“RRRRRRRGGHHH!” Suddenly, a tremendous bellow of rage

shook the atmosphere.

“Amazing momentum!” Bi Fan was astounded for a moment.

Moments later, a black cloud, made of gas, emerged out of

nowhere and started to rage towards Bi Fan and the Chimera.
Constantly changing its shape; dark and gloomy in appearance;
it was awfully scary.

Suddenly, the dark gas cloud took the shape of a gigantic

mouth, and enclosed Bi Fan and the Chimera in its range, and
the two of them felt as if they had been swallowed whole.

Sword out!

‘Rainy-fly Sword!’
 Bi Fan quickly cast a trick to counter this strange attack.

As Bi Fan started swinging his sword, the cloud began to

flutter irregularly, and after altering its shape a few more times,
it dissolved and fell back.

The Chimera, on the other hand, looked rather miserable and

simply stared at this black gas cloud, wearing a terrified look on
its face.

“He He!” A hideous laughter echoed from within the

retreating gas cloud.

Bi Fan’s complexion slightly changed, as he began to carefully

observe the dark gas cloud. He was paying special attention to
even the minutest of energy changes, as he believed that it
would be the key to solving this problem, as that’s where the
core of the cloud must be; the demon that resided within.

This demon was very cleaver, and had cast out a black gas
cloud to conceal his body, prohibiting Bi Fan from pin-pointing
its location.
 On top of that, this demon was also very strong, and must be
in the ‘enormous strength’ layer.

The black gas cloud pounced again, and Bi Fan quickly cast
out the ‘fufeng double-edged sword’ technique, in order to
protect both, himself and the Chimera.

Simultaneously, Bi Fan also cast out the ‘immortal finger’;

and Bi Fan started employing both the techniques
simultaneously, and indiscriminately, to attack this hidden
enemy.

“Awoooo!” Bi Fan had cast out several attacks, and it seemed

as if one of them had struck the target, as a wretched scream
erupted from within that cloud of darkness.

The gas cloud fluttered for a moment and then expanded

rapidly, completely enveloping Bi Fan and the Chimera inside it;
no matter how aggressively Bi Fan tried to stop it.

Bi Fan hadn’t hit the panic button yet as he had already struck
the target once, which meant that demon was concealed
somewhere inside this gas cloud itself. Now all Bi Fan had to do
was locate its exact position.
 However, now Bi Fan wasn’t attacking as recklessly as before,
and knew that it was best to wait for the opportune moment.

But still, he continued to swing his sword left and right; not to
attack his concealed enemy, but to defend himself against any
surprise attacks.

He kept attacking the gas cloud with his sword, but the demon
managed to block off his attacks, as it continued to draw
support for the gas cloud to conceal its location.

Suddenly, the demon launched an attack, fire. This fire was

corrosive in nature, and very powerful; Bi Fan needed to tread
extremely carefully now.

Suddenly, Bi Fan was struck by the fire, still enclosed in the

gas cloud, and he fell to the ground; it appeared that he had
sustained a serious injury.

“He He!” A hideous laughter echoed from through the covers

of the gas cloud, as the demon charged for Bi Fan.
 The Chimera was very worried and seemed willing to risk his
own life to protect Bi Fan.

Bi Fan quickly glanced over at the Chimera, indicating that

that he was only feigning to be hurt, with the hope that this
trick would lure out the demon, and so the Chimera shouldn’t
rush recklessly into his support.

The demon took the bait and lashed towards Bi Fan.

‘Rainy-fly sword!’

The trick worked like a charm, and Bi Fan plugged his sword
into the enemy that was concealed in the darkness.

“Awoo…..” The screams died out soon, indicating that the

demon was dead.

Once the demon was dead, the dark gas cloud dissipated quite
quickly.

The true colors of the demon, that had remained hidden in

the darkness so far, were finally exposed. To their surprise, this
demon closely resembled Bi Fan’s Chimera, and seemed to be a
Devil’s Race equivalent of Bi Fan’s companion.

However, this demonic Chimera was much bigger in size, and

looked quite majestic owing to the black fur that covered its
body from head to toe.

The Chimera pounced in the direction of the dead demon, and

quickly started eating its flesh.

The flesh of this dead, Devil’s Race creature, wasn’t just any
other ordinary meat; it contained energy within; and Bi Fan’s
Chimera started to advance as it quickly gobbled up the dead
demon’s meat.

Bi Fan didn’t squander any time in observing the proceedings,

and quickly started to meditate in order to restore his inner
energy, as he had consumed an awful lot of it in this recent
episode.

“RGHHHHH!!!” Suddenly, the Chimera started roaring in

agony, and its face exposed the color of pain.
 Bi Fan ceased his practice, and opened his eyes, only to
discover that his companion was painfully rolling on floor,
covered in a black fire.

“What’s the matter?” Bi Fan was clueless about these

circumstances, and just stood there, helplessly, too afraid to
take any action.

The fire, which was burning the Chimera’s body, seemed to

getting more and more prosperous with every passing second.
Even though it seemed to be inflicting quite a lot of pain, it
didn’t really appear to be hindering the Chimera’s growth, as its
strength continued to advance.

“Is it possible that the Chimera could be evolving right now?”

Bi Fan speculated.

In fact, the demonic Chimera that he had just slayed, and his
Chimera had made a meal out of, contained a nucleus, which
could turn out to be a good omen when it came to the question
of his Chimera’s evolution.

Bi Fan wasn’t familiar with these turn of events, and had no

idea what would happen if he tried to help the Chimera by
providing him with the nucleus.

A nucleus is an extremely rare and precious article, but it was

worth more if it could evolve the Chimera.

The Chimera was still rolling on floor, screaming in pain,

unceasingly, and had even started to bleed now. Bi Fan couldn’t
help as he continued to circle the Chimera frantically, trying to
find a way to help his companion.

Bi Fan had almost tried to help several times, but didn’t go

through with it.

The Chimera was suffering under some kind of special

circumstances, of which Bi Fan had no knowledge whatsoever,
and he simply didn’t want his actions to make the situation
even more detrimental for his companion.

“Chimera, hang in there, don’t give up!” Bi Fan was secretly

praying that the Chimera would emerge out of this situation
unscathed.

Bi Fan had managed to rein in this Chimera after a lot of

trouble, and there was an awful lot that this Chimera could
develop into. So, naturally, Bi Fan didn’t want it to die so
prematurely.
 Chapter 54 – Evolution

The Chimera’s energy started to change all of a sudden, and

started becoming even stronger than ever before.

Bi Fan retreated a few steps, and then a few more steps, as he

simply wouldn’t dare to go anywhere near it.

The Chimera’s body was also increasing in size along with its
energy.

“RAAARRGHHHHHHH!”

After, what had seemed like an eternity, the Chimera finally

ceased its tumbling and issued a deafening roar.

Reliefs washed over Bi Fan as he saw the Chimera standing up

on its feet, and issue such a thundering sound.

“Congratulations on your successful evolution Chimera!” Bi

Fan laughed, finally, feeling at ease now.
 The Chimera’s energy seemed to undergone a gigantic
growth, and it appeared as if he had already reached the
‘enormous strength’ layer.

On top of that, it appeared that the Chimera’s body had

undergone several other enhancements; however, Bi Fan
couldn’t really identify them properly.

Naturally, Bi Fan was very happy; after all, the Chimera’s

strength had just increased very significantly, which meant that
he had more force at his disposal.

The Chimera, with its head held high, looked upwards

towards the sky and growled out of excitement.

The Chimera’s growls had caught the attention of a lot of the

Devil’s Race, which had flocked over to confront this new
enemy. Bi Fan wanted to see his new and improved Chimera in
action, and didn’t even bother getting into position for battle.

The Chimera didn’t wish to pass on his responsibility either,

and charged at the demons, which had surrounded him.
 He lashed at their bodies, clawed, tearing them to pieces,
while his tail swept right and left…. He was much stronger now,
and even fiercer than before, and as a result, the enemies
present on the battlefield didn’t really stand a chance against
him; singularly, or collectively.

Simultaneously, the Chimera also belched out, a dark colored,

fire, reducing its targets to ashes.

It was abundantly clear that the Chimera’s evolution had also

come with a lot of other perks and abilities, for example, the
ability to breathe fire, which seemed to be awfully corrosive in
nature.

The Chimera’s excitement was overly obvious, as he

continued to wantonly slaughter the Devil’s Race’s creatures,
which had made the mistake of showing themselves to the
Chimera, and were now scattering in all directions, hoping to
get away from this nefarious fire-breathing monster.

Bi Fan observed very carefully for a while, and began to

realize the exact extent of the Chimera’s capabilities. The
Chimera’s fire was so acutely sharp and corrosive, that it didn’t
just stop at reducing its target to ashes, but also managed to
corrode the gravel once the ashes fell to ground; and the ground
was left smoking fumes from the corrosion.

This corrosive flame was so frightening and terrible, that even

Bi Fan wouldn’t dare to go anywhere near it.

In a very short span of time, the Chimera successfully swept

the area clean of the Devil’s race; however, still didn’t seem like
he was done yet.

Bi Fan gave the Chimera some time to rest and to recover its
energy, and then the two of them set off again.

The Devil’s Abyss was vast and boundless, and the first layer
seemed to be home to beasts that were below the ‘emerging
from the womb’ layer, however, their sheer numbers could be a
cause of concern.

Time was running out, and Bi Fan needed to snatch every

minute, and make the most of every possibility, which at the
moment meant that he needed to train as hard as possible, kill
as many beasts as he could find, so he could enhance his
strength and sharpen his skills.
 Bi Fan had been inside the first layer of the Devil’s Abyss long
enough to know that there weren’t any beasts, in here, which
were capable of matching his abilities.

Bi Fan, along with the Chimera, continued to march into the

depths of the of Devil’s Abyss, killing everything they came
across on the way.

There was no other way to it, as this endless Abyss was

inhabited by a Race that wasn’t afraid of death, and they were
more likely to stand and fight, knowing well enough that they
were only mocking their deaths, than turn their back and run
away.

Walking past a group of beasts, undetected, was very difficult.

So if Bi Fan was to wander around the Abyss, he might as well
kill the beasts he came across. Anyway, the price that the
remains of these beasts would fetch in Tian Yu wasn’t low, so it
wasn’t a complete waste of time anyway.

Several days had come to pass, and Bi Fan had already lost a
count of his victims.

The Abyss was inhabited by a wide variety of the Devil’s Race,

most were beasts and animals, but some were even humanoid in
appearance. However, the most absurd creature that he had
come across was the demonic Chimera that had released that
black gas cloud….

He had seen and killed so many of these beasts by now, that he

didn’t really care about their characteristics anymore.

But the ones, whose appearance resembled that of a human

being, were relatively higher in number inside the first layer of
the Devil’s Abyss as compared to the rest of the Abyss.

The most powerful ethnicity that inhabited the Devil’s Abyss

was the infernal dogs, which were quite similar to dragons, and
were known to be a race of awfully gifted fighters.

This race, however, lived in the deepest, most well concealed,

parts of the Abyss, and wasn’t very likely to wander out in the
open very easily.

Generally speaking, the Devil’s Abyss was quite popular in

certain sector of Tian Yu, which meant that a lot of people
entered the Devil’s Abyss to train. However, unfortunately for
Bi Fan, he hadn’t encountered any humans in the several days
that he had already spent inside the Abyss.

The Chimera was an excellent fighting partner, but Bi Fan

couldn’t really communicate with it, and so he spent most of his
day fighting, which was getting quite monotonous.

Now, Bi Fan fancied having a friend by his side, someone he

could talk to, and naturally, couldn’t help thinking of Jing Feng
and the Blue Dragon; he would often wonder about their ware
bouts.

Suddenly, a demonic tiger appeared at a distance; and he

looked awfully strong, so much so, that the other beasts in the
vicinity move out of its way, as it made its way towards Bi Fan
and the Chimera.

Bi Fan quickly prepared himself for a fight.

The Chimera was also quite eager to enhance his strength as

well, and like Bi Fan, he too hadn’t been able find any worthy
opponents.

“Alright, this one is yours.” Bi Fan pointed to the tiger that

was now directly in front of them.

The Chimera growled out in excitement as pounced at his

opponent.

The demonic tiger was quite strong, ‘enormous strength’

layer, and might be capable of testing the Chimera’s strength.

The two looked similar in appearance, their fighting tactics

were also similar, and they were roughly equally matched in
terms of strength as well; so naturally, it was turning out to be a
very exciting contest.

The Chimera’s long and thick tail was providing a slight

advantage, and it seemed like the Chimera would, eventually,
prevail.

It seemed that the Chimera wanted to prove his physical

dominance over his rival, which was probably the reason he
hadn’t resorted to his fire-breathing stunts.

“HUMMMM!!!….” The battle between these two, almost

equally matched beasts, had been raging for almost as hour, and
it appeared like the tiger was going to lose out soon, owing to
the multiple serious injuries that he had already sustained. The
Chimera too had sustained some injuries, but they weren’t
serious in nature.

“Chimera, let’s end this now.” Bi Fan stated, having already

cleaned out the rest of the Devil’s Race that had showed up to
watch the contest.

The Chimera heard Bi Fan’s command and acted accordingly.

“Boom….” A dark flame sprayed out.

The demonic tiger was caught completely off-guard, and

found itself in a position where it was too late to dodge or
defend itself, and was set ablaze.

Kindled in the violent and corrosive fire, the tiger, started to

roll on ground, screaming and screeching.

After a moment’s suffering, the tiger’s body reduced to ashes.

 Bi Fan walked over to check, but nothing had remained of the
tiger.

Bi Fan was desperately looking for a nucleus as he could use it

to power the soft armor that he had purchased from the Ting
Feng valley; this way, he could enhance its defensive capabilities
significantly, which could turn out to be life-saving, in case he
found himself confronted with a stronger opponent.

“Let’s keep moving!” Bi Fan was permeating with a sense of

fervor, and he knew that sooner or later, he would be able to get
his hands on a nucleus.

The Chimera too as awfully excited ever since he had evolved,

and was continuously looking for stronger opponents to match
himself against.

“Bang! Sweep!” The two of them were unstoppable;

invincible.

Bi Fan and the Chimera were taking turns sweeping the floor
with the Devil’s Race that they were encountering, and had
managed to progress through the Devil’s Abyss at a very quick
pace.
 As they gradually ventured deeper into the Abyss, the beasts
that they were confronted with were becoming stronger.

Owing to this, Bi Fan and the Chimera had slowed down their
pace a bit, as they needed to maintain their strength and energy
levels.

This place was no joke, and in case they bumped into a strong
group of the Devil’s Race, at a moment when their strengths
were depleted, things wouldn’t be as easy as they were at
present.

Bi Fan had just started to move up in the world, but hadn’t yet
achieved the status or the dignity that he desired, so naturally
he didn’t wish to meet with any unfortunate accidents.

Bi Fan and the Chimera had rested themselves for a while and
were just preparing to set out again, when suddenly; they heard
faint sounds of a battle being waged some distance ahead of
their location.

“It sounds like humans are involved; we must go and see for
ourselves.” Bi Fan was very excited.

Finally, he had located other humans. Although it wasn’t

necessarily a good thing to come across other humans in a place
like this, but Bi Fan, still, wanted to go and chance his luck.

The Devil’s Abyss was too silent a place, and hunting demons
all day, every day, can turn into a very dry and dull activity over
a span of time; enough to drive a lonesome human mad.

Bi Fan and the Chimera quickly made their way forward,

sweeping past any beasts that they encountered on the way with
ease.

Soon, Bi Fan reached close enough to be able to see the

battlefield, out ahead, some distance away.

He saw a human besieged by a group of the Devil’ Race. This

group of the Devil’s Race was awfully strong, as most of its
constituents were as strong as the ‘spiritual intelligence’ layer,
while some were even as strong as the ‘enormous strength’
layer.
 The human that was involved in the feud was extremely
strong as well, a fact made obvious, by the manner in which he
was dealing with his opponents.

“Hey…..” Bi Fan exclaimed out, as he suddenly recognized the

man’s face.
 Chapter 55 – Competition Among Brothers

Bi Fan stood there with a surprised look on his face, as he

watched the Blue Dragon slice past one enemy after another.

The Blue Dragon’s usual weapon of choice, the dark scimitar,

was slashing past the beasts that surrounded him with
exceptional ease, unrivalled, and his enemies were struggling to
close him down.

“Blue Dragon, brother, such a pleasant surprise to bump into

you inside the Devil’s Abyss, ah!” Bi Fan shouted out loudly, out
of excitement.

Bi Fan, in his state of utter excitement, didn’t realise that the

Blue Dragon was engaged in combat, and disturbing him in this
manner may distract his attention, which could end up very
badly for his friend.

As soon as the Blue Dragon heard his friend’s voice, he looked

over and in the process, got distracted from his current
engagements. The beasts he was fighting against, quickly took
advantage of the situation and launched a fierce attack at him.
However, owing to his unparalleled responses, the Blue Dragon
was able to recover from the attacks and managed to dodge
them, avoiding any serious injuries.

“Brother Bi Fan! Good to see you. Come on and help me sort

these guys out, and we can chat later on.” The Blue Dragon
called out loudly.

“Sure! Chimera, let’s go!” Bi Fan laughed.

This time, Bi Fan and the Chimera, both launched into action
simultaneously, and began slaughtering the beasts.

The Chimera was a formidable opponent, even when he didn’t

employ his corrosive fire. He was strong into the ‘enormous
strength’ layer, and the Devil’s Race’s beasts simply weren’t
strong enough to match him, a fact, which was being
demonstrated by the ease with which he was killing his
enemies.

The Chimera’s powerful tail, especially, proved to be a very

useful weapon, as it was capable of sweeping vast expanses of
the battle field.
 Bi Fan’s strength wasn’t weak either; in fact, his purple
feathered sword slashed past his enemies without any
obstructions, and was a paragon of invincibility.

Soon, with the Chimera and Bi Fan providing support to the

Blue Dragon, the pressure on the Blue Dragon eased up.

“Brother Bi Fan, you got here just in time, I was afraid that I
might start to lose control of his battle.” The Blue Dragon
smiled.

“Oh come on, don’t undermine your ability. With your

strength, resolving this issue is only a matter of time.” Bi Fan
complimented.

The Blue Dragon was quite surprised to see the Chimera, and
it had been reflecting on his face. So he asked, out of curiosity:
“Brother, how did you managed to subdue such a beast, he
really is very powerful!”

The Blue Dragon’s tone wasn’t devoid of envy, but comprised

of admiration as well. It was awfully difficult to subdue beasts, a
feat which Bi Fan had managed to accomplish. So naturally, the
Blue Dragon wished to know the secret, as he too wanted to
have a powerful beastly companion of his own.

“I was just lucky; otherwise, it’s impossible to capitulate such

a beast.” Bi Fan smiled; his reply didn’t reflect any pride, or
arrogance, over his achievement.

“Luck is just a subset of strength.” The Blue Dragon stated.

Even thought the two had been chatting, the speed at which
they had been killing their enemies hadn’t reduced at all.

In no time at all, the number of beasts that surrounded the

two of them had reduced to zero, and so, the two of them looked
at each other, and had a hearty laugh.

“Brother Bi Fan, please go on and select half of the carcasses

you wish to take, and I’ll take the rest of them.” The Blue
Dragon offered.

In a place like the Devil’s Abyss, the most precious loot was a
nucleus. But it wasn’t possible to identify if a carcass contained
a nucleus, unless the body was dissected first.
 The Blue Dragon didn’t mind letting Bi Fan chose first, as he
knew that it all came to down to chance, and luck, in the end.

“Brother, you killed the majority of them, so it’s only fair that
you get to take your picks.” Bi Fan smiled; he felt it would be
cheap to accept this generous offer.

The Blue Dragon was a maverick headed man, and so he

didn’t indulge in any further formalities, and quickly selected
his half of the loot.

Bi Fan politely collected the other half and incorporated them

into his storage facilities.

As far as the question of a nucleus was concerned, it was all a

matter of chance.

“Dragon, brother, why did you come to the Devil’s Abyss?” Bi

Fan asked.

“Same reason as you brother.” The Blue Dragon smiled.

 “Ha ha…. I guess we are both here to upgrade our strengths
then. Well, let’s not waste any time and continue forward.” Bi
Fan laughed.

He hadn’t expected to run into a friend inside this Abyss, and

so at present, he found himself in a very cheerful frame of mind.

“Sure, but let’s first meditate for a while. We must restore our
energy levels.” The Blue Dragon stated.

And so they started to mediate and practice. The journey up

ahead might be more perilous, and so, it was important for the
two of them to very careful.

Soon, the two of them had restored their energy levels, and
they set off in search for an adventure.

The Devil’s Abyss was a mysterious place with several beasts,

just waiting to be forayed.

“Dragon, brother, how long have you been inside the Abyss?”
Bi Fan asked.
 “I came here a few days ago, around the same time as you I’d
reckon.” The Blue Dragon replied.

“It seems like we are only loitering around here. Let’s try to
find a place where we can find stronger opponents, as they
would be more suitable for our training.”

“There are two of us, plus the Chimera, and even the
strongest demons inside the first layer are below the ‘emerging
from the womb layer’, so we should be able to deal with
anything in here.” The Blue Dragon was bursting with
confidence.

Normally, the demons inside the first layer wouldn’t be any

stronger than the Fetus layer.

However, each layer also had its demon king, a boss, which
was an awful lot stronger than any other beast in that layer.

In case Bi Fan and the Blue Dragon ran into a demon like that,
they would surely try to escape without making any attempts to
confront it.
 Bi Fan was strong enough to deal with the regular demons
that prevailed inside the Devil’s Abyss, in fact the gap in
strength was so much that, they didn’t even stand a chance
against him.

But when it came to the layer’s Boss, the gap in strength was
far too great to even hope for a chance of victory; however, this
time, it would Bi Fan’s turn to be on the shorter end on the
stick.

The Blue Dragon was roughly around the same mark as Bi

Fan, and wouldn’t be able to compete against a demon as strong
as the layer’s King.

The Blue Dragon’s statement was based on the optimism, that

considering their combined strength, they should be able to
escape such a situation without much trouble.

Bi Fan smiled: “That’s right brother, we are invincible.”

The Chimera roared loudly, and excitedly, in agreement.

The two of them were so strong together, that they were able
to march on into the Abyss without any problems at all, and
were also able to maintain a fairly high energy level the entire
time.

The Blue Dragon, it seemed had come prepared with a lot of

Ying Yang pouches this time around, as he didn’t waste any
time dissecting the carcasses for only valuable parts, the way he
had before.

Although he was a little surprised to see the amount of

carcasses that Bi Fan was able to incorporate into his Yin Yang
pouches, but still, he didn’t ask any questions, as he knew that
Bi Fan didn’t always share every detail.

Bi Fan would first use his Yin Yang pouches to collect the loot,
but would furtively transfer them into the Tian Yuan ring later
on, as his Yin Yang pouches simply didn’t have enough storage
space inside them.

Thanks to the Tian Yuan ring, carrying a massive bulk load of

items wasn’t an issue for Bi Fan.

Unfortunately, Bi Fan still wasn’t strong enough to use all the

features of the Tian Yuan ring.
 If one wasn’t strong enough, then it was best to keep valuables
out of the public sight. Or else, there would come a time, when
someone would make an attempt to covet the said valuables by
using force, and it would be very difficult to fend such people off
without strength; so in a way, and combination of weakness and
wealth, was a robbery just waiting to happen.

So obviously, Bi Fan hadn’t told anyone about the items that

he procured from the Wan Snake Cave, not even Jing Feng or
the Blue Dragon.

Walls have ears and news travels very quickly within these
walls….

Bi Fan knew this fact well, and so, he was always very careful
and kept his mouth sealed, very tightly.

“Brother Bi Fan, I hadn’t noticed earlier, but it seems that

you’re progressing even faster than I had imagined. I reckon
that you might have surpassed me by now. I’m going to practice
even harder now, I don’t want to be left behind.” The Blue
Dragon said out loud.
 “I was mostly just lucky, but advancing further isn’t as easy as
I thought.” Bi Fan shook his head.

Indeed, Bi Fan’s enhancement could be credited to luck, to a

very large extent, and also his ability to take risks. But both of
these factors were difficult to reproduce over a length of time,
and repeatedly at that.

“No matter, I want to practice some more…..” His voice

hadn’t even faded yet, as he quickly lashed out towards another
flock of the Devil’s Race creatures; his scimitar slashing,
hacking, chopping demons, relentlessly.

Bi Fan was also quite pumped up, and naturally didn’t want to
fall behind either.

Bi Fan and the Blue Dragon were good friends, but they also,
mutually, relished competition. It is for this reason, that if they
were ever to come across each other in the Jiu Yu List, as rivals,
they would definitely not hold back.

It was this similarity in mindset, which had allowed the two

of them to connect with each other, which is why they had
become such good friends.
 Jing Feng likewise, enjoyed the spirit of a healthy competition
amongst brothers.
 Chapter 56 – Bei Ming’s Lone Leaf

As soon as Bi Fan joined the fray, the Blue Dragon became

even more aggressive and competitive. The game was on, to see
who kill more beasts.

“Brother Bi Fan, let’s see who wins this time, but don’t hold
back, ah!” The Blue Dragon stated out, competitively.

His ambition was his drive, and the factor that fueled him to
practice as aggressively as he did.

The Blue Dragon had a very lowly status within the Eastern
Aristocracy, and he had suffered a lot of abuse at the hands of
others, within his family, as a child, which is why he was so cold
and removed as a person. He had worked very hard to improve
his strength, hoping to make amends for his status in the
family.

Gradually, with time, the Blue Dragon began to receive some

attention from the hierarchy of the family, but, many members
of his family still looked down upon him, owing to his identity.
After all, he was a bastard; an illegitimate child.
 The Blue Dragon had never known his mother; while his
father, was one of the heirs to the Eastern Aristocracy, who had
a very unusual and casual life-style. He had several wives, and
had almost twenty children. His father had never given any
attention to him as a child, and the Blue Dragon had grown up
without any affection, or attention.

His identity was the reason behind his competitive nature.

The Blue Dragon had sworn that he will become the strongest
amongst the younger generation of the Eastern Aristocracy,
pledging to surpass all his contemporaries.

The Blue Dragon was leaving no stone unturned, and was

nothing short of a killing machine at the moment.

Bi Fan, too, was a young man, and was as competitive as the

Blue Dragon, and so he decided to take these competitions more
seriously than he did before.

With his purple-feathered sword drawn, he employed the

‘fufeng double-edged sword’ technique to its best, and the
unstoppable sword swung left and right, slaughtering
everything in its path.
 The Chimera hadn’t joined the two of them, and had stayed
back, away from the battle. The Chimera needed to maintain his
energy in order to protect the two of them, in case they ran into
trouble later on.

These Devils’ Race’s beasts were out of luck; they had

managed to run themselves into two such competitive and
strong youngsters, and their momentum quickly started to
topple over as they their number thinned out.

The Blue Dragon and Bi Fan seemed really excited to fight

beside one another, and were killing their enemies while
practically having a laugh at the same time.

“Brother Bi Fan, you seem to have steered yourself in to a

different gear now, you’re killing them a lot faster than me, and
I’d reckon that you might have overtaken me by now.” The Blue
Dragon complemented Bi Fan in a loud voice.

“I doubt it, you got started before I did, and you’re still in
front.” Bi Fan laughed.

They were laughing while enthralled in a very aggressive

competition, making it a very strange scene.
 If their competition had any audience, then the poor
bystanders would have felt awfully strange about these
proceedings.

Blue Dragon and Bi Fan were keeping a count of their kills,

and would discuss the numbers often, which would only fuel
further propulsion as they would increase their speeds to keep
up with one another.

Soon enough, they had managed to kill of the entire flock of

the beasts that had stood in front of them. In the end, the Blue
Dragon came out to be the victor of the competition, as he had
killed a few extra beasts, but then again, he had started a little
earlier than Bi Fan.

Bi Fan had killed slightly lesser demons, but wasn’t taking his
defeat personally, and looked quite relaxed about it.

Bi Fan said: “I lost.”

“I think I lost this one, after all, I had already killed several of
them before you joined in.” The Blue Dragon laughed.
 They didn’t go any further into it, and simply laughed it off.

“Brothers, your strength is really good, ah!” A sudden and

unexpected voice alarmed Bi Fan and Blue Dragon, and the look
on their faces changed drastically.

This unknown arrival was awfully strong, and had probably

been watching for a while. But for some reason, Bi Fan and the
Blue Dragon hadn’t taken any notice of his presence, until now;
a strange thing, considering the strength of this youngster.

The Blue Dragon’s eyes were ice-cold and emotionless as he

asked: “Who are you?”

“I’m Lone Leaf from the Bei Ming School. Brothers, don’t be
so alarmed; it seems that fate has brought us together; we can be
friends.” The youngster was had a very elegant appearance; he
was quite handsome and smart looking, in general.

“Bei Ming school, that’s a member of the Jiu Da sect!” Bi Fan

and the Blue Dragon were shocked for a few seconds.
 Lone leaf smiled: “I was merely born into the Jiu Da sect, but
I’m not a core disciple of the Bei Ming School; not until I break
into the ‘emerging from the womb’ layer, which is the
minimum requirement to enter the School’s core as a disciple.”

Bi Fan and the Blue Dragon were, once again, taken by

surprise; they knew that the Jiu Da sect wasn’t the same as the
rest of the sects. But they weren’t aware that the standards were
so high, that one needed to enter the ‘emerging from the womb’
layer to become a core disciple there.

The Jiu Da sect was not the same as the rest of the sects in Jiu
Yu City, in fact, they were considered beyond comparable.

Lone Leaf was very strong, and was at least as strong as the
‘Enormous strength’ layer, but even then, wasn’t strong enough
to become a student of Bei Ming School. This was a clear
indication of just how strong the young generation of the Jiu Da
sect was.

Bi Fan simply couldn’t imagine a sect as strong as this one.

Recently, Bi Fan had undergone a massive rise in terms of

strength and ability, and felt quite pleased with his new found
status. But suddenly, he wasn’t feeling that proud anymore.

He simply didn’t feel so big anymore, as the Jiu Da sect wasn’t

even willing to accept students, who were, stronger than him.

The Blue Dragon felt the same way, but, at the same time was
raging with a willingness to fight; he simply didn’t want to be
looked down upon by anyone.

“Brother Leaf, even someone as strong as you hasn’t been able

to get in, then, an ordinary Neimen student like me can only
feel humbled.” Bi Fan smiled.

Bi Fan had learnt in his travels, that sometimes it was better

to talk humbly in order to avoid running into trouble and get
his way with people.

“You are too kind Brothers; moreover you are also quite
strong, and abundantly talented. If you have the desire to join
the Jiu Da sect, then I’d say that it’s only a matter of time before
you make the cut.” The Lone Leaf said: “Brother, I don’t know
your names yet.”
 “Eastern Blue Dragon!” The Blue Dragon introduced himself
in a cold tone.

Bi Fan said: “I’m Bi Fan. I request that you guide us in the

right direction here, brother.”

“Brother, you are very polite. Please, allow me to help you

out, in case you need any assistance.”

Lone Leaf sounded very forthright and earnest; but Bi Fan and
the Blue Dragon, still, couldn’t lower their guards around him.

“Blue Dragon, Brother Bi Fan, What do you intent to do next,

do you wish to break into the deeper into the first layer and
fight stronger demons of the Devil’s Race there?”

Bi Fan and the Blue Dragon knew where this was headed, and
wanted to refuse the offer before it came their way. But Lone
Leaf spoke up before they could get the words out.

“Brothers, this must be your first time into the Devil’s Abyss. I
have been here twice before; follow me, and I’ll take you to the
best places, rather than wasting time here.”
 Blue Dragon and Bi Fan, both, wanted to move into the
deeper, stronger parts of the Devil’s Abyss, but neither of them
knew the way, so they were just randomly fighting whatever
they could find.

“I really want to go deeper into the Devil’s Abyss to gain good

battle experience, but you see, one person isn’t enough in those
regions. It requires at least two good fighters to go there; with
the three of us in a team, things will work out even better. I
sincerely hope that the two of you join me.” Lone Leaf invited
the two of them to join him in a very earnest tone, seemingly
devoid of any falsehoods.

Bi Fan and Blue Dragon, quickly, exchanged glances for a

moment, and then Bi Fan nodded as he accepted the invite:
“Sure, we will go together in to the depths of the Abyss and gain
some valuable battle experience.”

“That’s really good news.” Lone Leaf was overjoyed: “The

deepest parts of the first layer, of the Devil’s Abyss, is often used
by several students of the major Schools to gain good battle
experience, so it is possible that we might run into some
students of rival schools. So please stay away from me in such a
case. If they find out that you’re cooperating with me, then you
may run into trouble later. So apart from being careful of the
demons, you must also take precautions against the humans
there.”

“Thank you for warning us brother, we will be careful.” Bi

Fan replied.

Blue Dragon asked: “Do a lot of youngster from the Tian Yu

world enter the Devil’s Abyss?”

“Yes, of course. There are many layers inside the Devil’s

Abyss, to suit all kinds of needs of different kinds of martial
artists. The competition within the students of the major sects
is very fierce; and if we don’t progress fast enough, then we are
kicked out. So we often enter into the Devil’s Abyss to train, and
sometimes to hunt beasts for spar only as well.” Lone Leaf
explained.

Subsequently, Lone Leaf mentioned some things that he felt

would come in handy, and the two of them listened very
carefully and made a note of the same.

The Devil’s Abyss was a very dangerous place, and it was

necessary to sail ships, in here, with extreme caution.
 Blue Dragon and Bi Fan weren’t blindly arrogant youngsters;
and understood the fact, that there were a lot of people, who
were stronger, and more knowledgeable than them.

They could make out that Lone Leaf was imparting the
knowledge that he had gained from personal experiences, so
they naturally didn’t want to miss the opportunity to learn
these new things.

“I think we are ready to go now.” He told them everything

that he needed to, and then started leading the way ahead.

Bi Fan and Blue Dragon started after him, but carefully,

without lowering their guards.
 Chapter 57 – Beleaguer

Lone Leaf led the way, with Bi Fan and Blue Dragon following
his footsteps, along with the Chimera, and the four of them
quickly sped through the Devil’s Abyss.

Lone Leaf didn’t stop to fight any of the beasts they

encountered on the way, and ran directly past them, as he
simply chose to ignore their presence.

As they watched Lone Leaf’s strides, Bi Fan and Blue Dragon

were even more surprised with him, than they had been before,
and it was awfully clear to them that he was really strong.

“Brothers, there is no point in killing these beasts, as the

chances of getting a nucleus are very low. In comparison, the
beasts in the deeper parts of the first layer are mostly over the
‘spiritual intelligence’ layer, which means that the chances of
getting a nucleus will be much higher there.” Lone Leaf
explained.

Bi Fan asked: “If most of the beasts are above the ‘spiritual
intelligence’ layer, then what will we do if we run into a large
group of them?”
 “Don’t worry; the beasts in the deeper parts of the layer are
often aware of their own territories. And even if they are living
in large groups, they mostly come out alone to hunt for food.”
Lone Leaf smiled.

Along the way, their party came across several people. Even
though Lone Leaf didn’t seem to recognize any of them, he still
didn’t seem willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and
show some trust.

Lone Leaf didn’t talk much on the way; in fact, he didn’t even
stop to help out any of the people they encountered on the way,
even if they seemed to be in trouble.

Blue Dragon and Bi Fan were aware that they were relying on
Lone Leaf and his expertise, so they didn’t raise any objections.

“Don’t help anyone you don’t know personally. Things are

very complicated inside the Devil’s Abyss. What might seem like
a ‘call for help’, might prove out to be a trap in the end.” Lone
Leaf explained.
 Blue Dragon and Bi Fan listened carefully, and nodded in
understanding.

Lone Leaf belonged to a distinguished sect and seemed to

know an awful lot about the Devil’s Abyss. Blue Dragon and Bi
Fan, were learning a lot of new things from him.

Bi Fan and Blue dragon weren’t carrying a holier-than-thou

attitude, and modestly benefitted from the advice that Lone
Leaf was giving; so much so, that they even asked questions, if
they didn’t clearly understand something.

From time to time, Lone Leaf would nod in approval, as he

seemed to be continuously evaluating the two of them.

Originally, Lone Leaf was somewhat looking down upon Bi

Fan and the Blue Dragon, as they belonged to smaller schools,
but now, his opinion of them was changing.

Suddenly, the three of them heard sounds of fighting coming

from up ahead, and they quickly dashed in the direction to
check things out.
 The three of them quickly reached close enough to get eyes on
the fight. A fight was being raged between a group of Devils’
Race creatures and a young man, dressed in bright white
clothes, and the beasts weren’t exactly doing too well at the
moment.

“That’s Tian Feng from the Jian Shen School!” Lone Leaf
spoke out, in an astonished tone.

Bi Fan and Blue Dragon, were visibly surprised when the

heard the name Jian Shen School.

Jian Shen School was the Quinyang equivalent of Bei Ming

and was a member of the Jiu Da (The nine major, most
prominent schools) sect, and was known to be an incredibly
powerful sect.

Each and every student of the Jian Shen School was an expert
in their own right, as they were only inducted into the School
after they reached the ‘emerging from the womb’ layer.

Moreover, the students also needed to have a very strong base

to begin with. Owing to this, strong base, the students were able
to advance further quickly, which is what had helped the Jian
Shen School build such a strong base, and a formidable
reputation.

Bi Fan and the Blue Dragon, were just beginning to

understand what the nine major sects were all about. Prior to
the information that they had just received from Lone Leaf,
they had no idea what the Nine Major Sects were about; all they
knew was the names of these Jiu Da schools.

“Is Tian Feng extremely powerful?” Blue Dragon asked Lone

Leaf, out of curiosity.

Lone Leaf revealed: “Tian Feng isn’t that powerful; to tell you
the truth, we have matched swords several times in the past,
and were neck to neck with each other on every occasion.”

“Oh? Do you want our help in getting rid of him?” The Blue
Dragon exclaimed.

“Really? If the two of you help me out, then the three of us,
could easily get rid of him, without any problems at all.” Lone
Leaf’s face suddenly lit up.
 Bi Fan put his hands down: “Brother Leaf, we belong to very
small Schools; we don’t want to go around stirring up trouble
with such powerful Schools.”

Blue Dragon clearly understood what Bi Fan meant, but he

couldn’t shelve the inner most desires of his heart. He wanted to
challenge the students of such powerful Schools, to prove his
worth, and didn’t want to miss such an amazing opportunity.

“Bi Fan, Blue Dragon, Brothers, if the two of you help me in

killing off Tian Feng today, then I promise you that we won’t
leave behind any traces that could cause trouble later on, as long
as we succeed in killing him. If fact, I won’t even take my share
in the loot, and you can keep all of his valuables to yourself. I
just want him gone. Moreover, I will also give you both a low-
grade weapon as a reward for your help. What do you say?”

Lone Leaf tried to read Bi Fan and Blue Dragon’s faces as he

offered them their rewards on success.

Bi Fan and Blue Dragon, looked at each other; they were

tempted, both of them.

Lone Leaf was quick to realize that they two of them could be
tempted into helping him murder Tian Feng, so he promptly
took out two low-grade weapons and handed them over to Bi
Fan and Blue Dragon.

“I’ll give you the rewards before-hand. They belong to you

from now on, irrespective of whether we succeed or not.”

Bi Fan and Blue Dragon, hesitated for a second, but then

ultimately, accepted the gifts.

Good weapons were hard to come by for them, as they didn’t

belong to big Schools. They were merely students of smaller
Schools, which unlike the Jiu Da Schools, didn’t have so many
resources.

If they managed to kill off Tian Feng, then they could get their
hands on an even bigger bounty.

This was the one point that was tempting the two of them into
taking the risk of killing a Jian Shen student.

Tian Feng was, indeed, roughly at the same level as Lone Leaf
and had attained the ‘enormous strength’ layer.
 Bi Fan was sure that the three of them would be able to put an
end to him without much trouble, which is why he was willing
to agree to this idea. Things were much simpler when it came to
the Blue Dragon; he just simply wanted to fight Tian Feng.

Lone Leaf was very happy to see that Bi Fan and the Blue
Dragon had accepted his offerings.

Lone Leaf laid out the strategy: “Bi Fan, Blue Dragon,
brothers, we will wait till we all get in position. We will
surround him from all sides and then launch a surprise attack.
We must not let Tian Feng get away, or else we will have to deal
with some major problems later on.”

“Understood!” Bi Fan and the Blue Dragon, distinctly

understood the fact that if Tian Feng managed to escape, then
the two of them won’t just have to deal with him later on, but
his sect as well; who were certain to wreak havoc into their
lives.

Once the three of them were done plotting, they split up, and
put the plan into action.
 Bi Fan was responsible for flanking Tian Feng from the right
side; whereas Blue Dragon was in charge of the left side. Lone
Leaf would attack Tian Feng from the rear, while the beasts he
was engaged were nicely blocking the way ahead of him, and
effectively helping the trio’s cause by, completely trapping Tian
Feng in a circle of enemies.

“Attack!” Lone Leaf waved on the attack, and the three of

them charged out at the same time.

Tian Feng quickly realized that he was about to be ambushed.

Tian Feng turned around and the look on his face changed,
very drastically in a split second, as he saw Lone Leaf charging
in his direction.

“Lone Leaf, I never imagined that you would resort to hiring

help in order to deal with me!”

Tian Feng was flustered and exasperated; he was in a state of

complete disarray.

“Tian Feng, fate has brought you in front of me today. You’re

out of luck. If I kill you inside the Devil’s Abyss, no one will ever
be able to trace it back to me. So, thank you for making this easy
for me.”

Lone Leaf unleashed a direct attack on Tian Feng; Fierce and

merciless.

Bi Fan and Blue Dragon had also launched their attacks in

simultaneous fashion. Bi Fan’s purple-feathered sword and Blue
Dragon’s Scimitar, sharp and ready to shed blood.

Tian Feng focused his attention fully on Lone Leaf, as he

didn’t think Bi Fan and the Blue Dragon, would be able to do
him much harm.

If Bi Fan and Blue Dragon were allowed to get started, they

would be able to exhibit why they needed to be feared.

Bi Fan and the Blue Dragon’s attacks were not as fierce as

Lone Leaf’s. But even though they weren’t as strong as Lone
Leaf, the difference wasn’t that great; a fact that was made
obvious by their momentum.
 As soon as he assessed their momentum, Tian Feng realized
that he had been undermining Bi Fan and the Blue Dragon. Tian
Feng knew that he was almost at the same level as Lone Leaf,
but with two more, such powerful people assisting his enemy,
his attackers would overwhelm him in no time.

Now, trapped between demons on one side, and a human

combatant closing down from, each of, the other three, Tian
Feng was sure that he didn’t have any chances of winning this
fight.

Tian Feng immediately assessed the situation and made a

quick decision, which he felt would suit him best.

Thirty Six Stratagems – If all else fails, retreat.

Of all Thirty Six Stratagems, fleeing is the best.

Tian Feng rushed straight into the flock of the Devils’ Race’s
creatures; he was going to use them as cover for his escape.
 Chapter 58 – Deliberate Complications

“Bi Fan, Blue Dragon, Brothers, surround and kill him; we

cannot allow him to get away!”

Lone Leaf had shouted their names out so loudly, that it

became clear, that he had intended Tian Feng to hear them as
well. And now, Bi Fan and Blue Dragon, were left with no other
alternative but to do as Lone Leaf had commanded, and hunt
Tian Feng down.

Bi Fan and the Blue Dragon’s hearts rained curses at Lone

Leaf, as they charged after Tian Feng. Their pace didn’t slow
down one bit, as they made their way through the flock of the
Devil’s Race.

The Chimera still stayed away from the fight, as he waited for
Bi Fan’s command.

Tian Feng said: “Bi Fan and Blue Dragon, it’s still not too late.
There’s still time for the two of you to turn around and leave, or
else I will make you pay for this later.”
 Tian Feng was smart enough to realize that Bi Fan and the
Blue Dragon, weren’t awfully close to Lone Leaf, and a wedge
could be driven between them.

Lone Leaf, suddenly, became very nervous as he was afraid

that Bi Fan and the Blue Dragon might turn around and run
away.

But fortunately for his cause, Bi Fan and the Blue Dragon,
were the kind of people, who, if once their sights on something,
wouldn’t cower easily.

Bi Fan and the Blue Dragon continued to kill and behead the
beasts, as they made their way towards Tian Feng.

Lone Leaf calmed down as he realized that his allies weren’t

going to abandon the mission so easily, and he immediately
increased the pace of his pursuit.

The expression on Tian Feng’s face changed again, as he

realized that he couldn’t drive a wedge between these allies so
easily, as it meant that he was still in a whole lot of danger.
 Tian Feng was covered in blood, and had no idea as to how
many beasts he had already slaughtered. But what he did know
was the fact, that he had used up and awful lot of energy doing
just that.

With Lone Leaf and his two allies, closing him down, Tian
Feng’s chances of survival weren’t looking too good.

Therefore, he decided to change the direction of escape, and

maneuvered his way towards Blue Dragon, as he realized that
the Blue Dragon was surrounded by the maximum number of
beasts, which would give him the best chance of making an
escape.

Unfortunately for him, the Blue Dragon was awfully strong,

and smart, and as soon as the Blue Dragon realized his
intentions, he increased his pace, and started to clear his
surroundings even faster, which meant that Tian Feng was
being encircled even faster now.

Seeing that he was being hemmed down quickly, with Bi Fan

closing in the fastest, Tian Feng, unexpectedly, drew out a
purple-hilted sword and with the help of this new weapon; he
started to slice his through the beasts at a very fast rate.
 Tian Feng had just created an opportunity for escape, owing
to this new, exceptional, weapon.

“That is not a fetus layer sword! How could that be? That
sword cannot be united with a practitioner unless the
practitioner has reached the ‘emerging from the womb’ layer.”
Lone Leaf was shocked for a moment.

“That’s sword definitely isn’t a fetus layer sword, and it’s so

terrifyingly strong! How did he ever manage to get that?” Bi Fan
exclaimed.

“Some powerful swords can be used even if they haven’t yet

bonded with the practitioner by blood, which seems the case
here. The effect of the sword won’t be the same, but it’s still
going to be quite difficult to deal with.” Lone Leaf explained.

The Blue Dragon stated: “Who cares, let’s just kill him and
take his sword!”

The three of them charged like hungry wolves to hunt their

prey down, but Tian Feng was making his way through the
beasts much faster than them at the moment.
 Tian Feng was too fast, and the trio simply couldn’t keep up
with him. They just watched, helplessly, as he made his through
the flock of beasts, and away from them.

“Bi Fan, Blue Dragon, no matter which schools the two of you
belong to, I will find out and make the two of you pay for this.”
Tian Feng laughed.

Bi Fan sneered: “Trying to get away? Well, no so easy.

Chimera, get him! But be careful of his sword.”

As Tian Feng was charging his out, through the Devils’ Race
creatures, the Chimera suddenly appeared in front of him, and
puffed out his dark fire.

Tian Feng had noticed that the Chimera is awfully strong, but
he didn’t know much about it, other than that, so he quickly
decided to take shelter.

“WOOOO!!…” Tian Feng ducked out the way, and the flame
hit the Devils’ Race beasts that stood behind him. These beasts
simply couldn’t dodge their way out; they screamed, and
wailed, as they were reduced to ashes.
 A chill ran down Tian Feng’s spine as he saw the fire’s effects.
He simply couldn’t imagine being subjected to something like
that.

Tian Feng immediately took a U-turn, as he simply couldn’t

dare to go past the Chimera.

The Chimera’s involvement had changed a lot things; he had

mistakenly thought that the Chimera was a random beast and
belonged to the Devils’ Race’s side.

Tian Feng rushed in the other direction and soon opened up a

path from himself.

But as soon as he was ready to make a dash, the Chimera

appeared right in front of his escape route.

“Damn it! How did this beasts figure out my intentions?! I

quickly need to find another way now; I can’t believe that this is
happening to me.” Tian Feng cursed out, in a very gloomy voice.

Tian Feng changed his route once more and started to slash
his way past the beasts.
 The Purple-hilted sword was very powerful, but it also
consumed a lot of Tian Feng’s energy while in use. Tian Feng
was stuck in crossroads, and he needed to find a way out
quickly, or else he would be in a lot of trouble.

Just as he had begun to carve out another bloody path, out of

the battlefield, the Chimera showed up in front of him once
more.

Tian Feng was furious: “Die you Beast!”

Tian Feng raised his sword high, as he charged for the

Chimera.

The Chimera dodged Tian Feng’s attack, and simultaneously,

belched out another spray of flames, which obstructed his path,
making it impossible for Tian Feng to escape past him.

This delay was all that Bi Fan, Blue Dragon, and Lone Leaf
needed to catch up to Tian Feng, and now, Tian Feng was
completely surrounded.
 “Tian Feng, there’s no way out now, just admit your defeat.”
Lone Leaf exposed a complacent smile.

“Fuck you! If I’m going to die, then I’ll take someone with
me!” Tian Feng spurned.

Lone Leaf smiled: “Then it’s time for you to die at my hands.”

Lone Leaf attacked forestalls, but Bi Fan and the Blue Dragon
weren’t slow to respond either; and the three of them charged
at him, almost at the same time.

Tian Feng suddenly turned towards Bi Fan, and charged at

him.

Bi Fan’s strength would appear to be the weakest amongst the

trio, so naturally Tian Feng tried to carve his through Bi Fan.

Even if he was able to push Bi Fan back, just a little bit, then,
there was still a chance of making an escape.

His Purple-hilted sword pierced through the air, at lightning-

fast speed, as it made its course towards Bi Fan’s throat.

The Immortal Finger – Two Finger Trick!

Bi Fan waited till Tian Feng’s sword was almost upon him,
and then, instantly his right hands’ two fingers sprung up, and
caught the sword in between them.

Tian Feng, unexpectedly, found his sword clamped between Bi

Fan’s fingers. He anxiously, and desperately, pulled at his
sword, in the hope to setting it free.

But his sword remained stuck; motionless. The look on his

face began to change as he simply couldn’t understand, as to
why this was happening; human body is as soft as a fruit, not
hard as an iron.

Blue Dragon and Lone Leaf were equally shocked, as this was
the first time that they had seen this stunt; the first time up
close in Blue Dragon’s case. Even they were quite surprised and
scared, as they could only imagine what Bi Fan would do to their
weapons, in case they ever attacked him.
 Tian Feng let go of his sword, and launched a melee attack at
Bi Fan.

Tian Feng attacked with full force; the strength was so

amazing, that the gale which accompanied it, made Bi Fan’s
clothes flutter.

Bi Fan collected the sword with his right hand, as his left hand
formed a punch to meet the incoming attack.

“Boom!” A loud noise erupted as their punches met, and Tian

Feng was pushed back a few steps. Bi Fan, however, stood his
ground; he didn’t even shake.

On the face of it, it would appear that Bi Fan was only hitting
the pinnacle of the ‘brave’ layer, but in reality, owing to his
physical strength, he was inching closer to the ‘emerging from
the womb’ layer.

Tian Feng had made a mistake, which had left him completely
bewildered; he simply hadn’t realized that Bi Fan would have
such amazing physical strength.
 Tian Feng had made a very critical mistake at a very critical
time, and this could prove out to be a lethal one.

He was still retreating from the collision, when Blue Dragon

and Lone Leaf charged towards him.

“Bang!….” Tian Feng took two successive blows to his body;

he spat out blood, as he was thrown to the ground.

“Tian Feng, time to die!” Lone Leaf howled, as he charged for

his nemesis, with his sword raised, ready to deal the final blow.

Out of nowhere, a loud voice interrupted Lone Leaf: “Lone

Leaf, how dare you? How dare you try to surround and murder
a Jian Shen Student, huh?”

The expression on Lone Leaf’s face changed all of a sudden, as

he recognized a familiar voice; the voice of Gou Ming, Tian
Feng’s senior.

“Everyone stop! Now’s not the time to kill Tian Feng.” Lone
Leaf calmed down in an instant.
 Gou Ming’s arrival had changed the dynamics of the situation,
and Lone Leaf simply couldn’t callously murder Tian Feng
anymore. At the moment, if he decided to push forth with his
original intentions, then the news of this incident was sure to
leave this Abyss, and things could get really troublesome for
him later on.
 Chapter 59 – Another Fierce Battle

As soon as Bi Fan and Blue Dragon heard Lone Leaf’s words,

they realized that the situation demanded immediate action,
and the two of them halted in their steads.

Lone Leaf had originally intended on killing Tian Feng, but

now, he was reconsidering his moves.

The new-comer, Gou Ming had already reached the pinnacle

of the ‘transformation’ layer and was only a step away from
entering the ‘emerging from the womb’ layer.

“Block my way and I’ll kill you!” Gou Ming lashed out in Tian
Feng’s direction, his sword, drawn and raised, as he tried to
rescue his junior.

The Blue Dragon, with his scimitar in his hand, and no fear of
anything under the sun, charged straight back for Gou Ming.

Bi Fan, similarly, prepared his Purple-feathered sword,

casting out ‘Fufeng double edged sword’ technique, and
elegantly lunged in Gou Ming’s path, drifting as smoothly as the
wind.

Gou Ming desperately wanted to rescue his junior, Tian Feng,

but was forced to clash swords with Bi Fan and the Blue Dragon.
The two of them were very strong, and he was forced to
concentrate his attention on them, unable to belittle them and
rush past, as he had originally wanted to.

Relief washed over Lone Leaf as he watched Bi Fan and Blue

Dragon intercept Gou Ming, and ruthlessness returned to his
body language.

Lone Leaf was almost at the same level as Tian Feng, and Tian
Feng, as opposed to him, had already used up most of his
energy. On top of that, Tian Feng had been injured quite
seriously, which meant that he simply couldn’t compete against
Lone Leaf in his present state.

“Brother, help me……” Tian Feng didn’t even have the energy
to get up and try escaping again. So he just lay there, and cried
for help.

Unfortunately for him, Gou Ming was being held back by Bi

Fan and Blue Dragon, and simply couldn’t forge a path past
them.

“Bang!” Lone Leaf raised his sword high, and brought it down
upon Tian Feng’s head, severing it in one strike; mercilessly.

As soon as Lone Leaf finished off Tian Feng, he rushed over to

help his allies, and tried to outflank Gou Ming, not even sparing
any time to collect the loot from Tian Feng’s body.

Tian Feng’s possessions were very valuable, but Lone Leaf had
already promised them to Bi Fan and the Blue Dragon, and he
simply couldn’t dare to go back on his word; especially, not after
he had witnessed what Bi Fan was really capable of.

Watching Tian Feng being murdered right in front of his eyes,

made Gou Ming obscenely mad: “Lone Leaf, how dare you
murder Tian Feng? Tian Feng’s elder brother Tian Yu will make
you pay for this!”

The expression on Lone Leaf’s face changed gravely as soon as

he heard the name Tian Yu.

“Kill him, and you guys can keep his valuables as well!” Lone
Leaf announced in a loud voice.

Gou Ming simply couldn’t be allowed to live, or else, Tian Yu

would find out, what happened to his brother, and would come
looking for Lone Leaf.

The fearful expression on Lone Leaf’s face was enough to

express the severity of the situation to Bi Fan and the Blue
Dragon. They didn’t care who Tian Yu was, but the fear he
instilled in their ally’s heart, was enough to make them
understand the gravity of their predicament.

They could clearly understand that if Gou Ming was allowed

to leave, then Lone Leaf would get in a whole lot of trouble. But
moreover, they themselves would end up in the same boat as
him; eventually.

They understood well enough that if Jian Shen came after

them, then the forces that supported them wouldn’t back them
anymore. In fact, they were afraid that, their own backers
would hand them over to Jian Shen School.

“Gou Ming shall not be allowed to leave the Abyss alive.” Bi

Fan, Blue Dragon, and Lone Leaf, were all clear on this idea, as
they surrounded Gou Ming.

Meanwhile, Bi Fan had also indicated to the Chimera, that he

shall hide somewhere in the vicinity, close by, and stay prepared
to launch an attack at even the shortest of notices.

Gou Ming was really strong, and could stand his own, even in
this situation, when he was faced with three opponents at once.

“Lone Leaf, you simply can’t kill me. I can leave whenever I
feel like, and there’s nothing that you can do about it.”

Gou Ming was so confident of himself, that he was sure he’d

be able to get out this situation. Moreover, he also wanted to
take Tian Feng’s body with him.

“Yes well, let’s see!” Lone Leaf sneered.

He knew that he could never kill Gou Ming. But this new
found confidence of his was accounted to the fact, that he had
witnessed Bi Fan’s real strength.
 Bi Fan was far stronger than Tian Feng, and was almost as
strong as Gou Ming. On top of that, with Blue Dragon and the
Lone Leaf assisting Bi Fan, Lone Leaf was sure that Bi Fan
should be able to kill Gou Ming.

Gou Ming was completely unaware of Bi Fan’s real abilities,

and was as gullible as his deceased compatriot; and hence,
remained completely unaware of Bi Fan’s plans.

Lone Leaf winked at his allies, and then, launched a full scale,
fierce, attack at Gou Ming.

The Blue Dragon was more than equal to it. With his scimitar
in his hand, he amplified the Lone Leaf’s charge.

They were both aware of the fact, that they weren’t strong
enough to kill Gou Ming. Understanding the circumstances,
they both decided that they must create as many opportunities
for Bi Fan as they can.

As he realized the intentions of his allies, Bi Fan, too,

launched a fierce attack, employing ‘Fufeng Double-edged
Sword’ technique, with much more force than before.
 Bi Fan was taking into account, that if Gou Ming was smart,
then any unusual activity on his part could give rise to Gou
Ming’s suspicions. And then, Gou Ming would pay a lot more
attention to him, than he was at the moment.

So, Bi Fan continued to use the usual moves, but with more
force than before, same as Blue Dragon and Lone Leaf.

With Blue Dragon, Lone Leaf and Bi Fan, all attacking in full
force, Gou Ming found himself struggling a bit.

At first, Gou Ming had intended to take Tian Feng’s body with
him, as he didn’t want his compatriot’s wealth falling into
enemy hands.

But, as the fight wore on, he was beginning to consider

abandoning that thought; and along with it, Tian Feng’s body.

“I don’t know which schools the two of you belong to. But
what really baffles me, is that, why haven’t I heard of you guys,
given you’re this strong?!” Gou Ming was really surprised with
Blue Dragon and Bi Fan’s display of strength, and was curious
about their origins.
 Bi Fan and Blue Dragon, had been able to achieve these levels
of strength at such a young age. This was no ordinary feat, and
would have gained them a fair amount of recognition anywhere;
even in a Jiu Da School.

As far as Bi Fan and Blue Dragon were concerned, a public

reputation, or lack thereof, was attributed to the fact that they
hadn’t been able to figure out the ins and outs of the martial
arts world.

“Lone Leaf, you’re lucky that you’ve managed to find yourself

two such powerful allies. So, I’ll let you go this time, but mark
my words, Tian Yu will find you, and make you pay for this
later.” Gou Ming decided that it was time to leave, but he made
sure that he marked his departure with a threat.

Lone Leaf announced loudly: “Gou Ming is going to make an

escape; stop him at all costs!”

He launched a very fierce attack, and charged for Gou Ming.

He gave the attack everything he had, so much so, that he even
abandoned his own defense.

Blue Dragon and Bi Fan interpreted the message loud and

clear, and launched out violently at Gou Ming, completely
surrounding, and suppressing him.

Faced with three such powerful and violent opponents, Gou

Ming was temporarily forced to concentrate all his attention on
defending himself, rather than figuring out an escape route.

“You’re very good, but this won’t be enough to kill me!” Gou
Ming yelled out.

“Kill him!” Bi Fan and his allied kept pushing, not giving Gou
Ming any room to escape.

The longer they would be able to keep him enthralled in the

fight, the more favorable the situation would become for them.

Gou Ming, after all, was only but a lone man. Forced to fight
three such powerful enemies, meant that he would have to
consume a lot of energy, which meant that the longer the fight
wore on, the harder it would be for him to escape. And, even if
he was somehow able to escape in time, we would have
consumed so much energy, that the Devils’ Race’s creature,
would eventually hunt him down on his way out.
 Additionally, a battle as fierce as theirs had attracted the
attentions of a lot of strong beasts. In fact, the four of them
were almost completely surrounded by the Devil’s Race inside
the Abyss, at the moment.

With so many beasts present on the scene, making an escape

would be even harder for Gou Ming now.

Gou Ming’s facial expression was becoming uglier with every

passing minute.

“I cannot struggle like this for long now; this can turn into a
real ship-wreck for me.” Gou Ming thought to himself, feeling
very gloomy.

Crucifix Deception Sword!

Gou Ming finally cast out a top-level Jian Shen sword

technique. This technique was so difficult to procure, that most
outside martial artists never got their hands on it.

The ‘Crucifix Deception Sword’ was an exceptionally fast

technique, and it appeared like his sword had turned into a ten-
faced cross-bladed weapon.

Gou Ming launched several waves of this technique in quick

succession, and all three of his enemies were forced to back
down a bit.

Gou Ming had been focusing most of his attention on Lone

Leaf, and almost half of his attacks were targeted at him.

Bi Fan would appear to be the weakest by the looks of it, and

hence was the target of only a very small percentage of the
attacks.

Bi Fan continued to defend using the ‘Fufeng Double-edged

sword’ technique, but started to use more strength, and could
deal with Gou Ming’s attacks easily.

Suddenly, Bi Fan cast out the ‘Rainy-fly sword’ technique, and

made a bee-line course for Gou Ming.

Gou Ming was just about to make a run for it, and Bi Fan
simply couldn’t allow him to do that.
 Gou Ming had just managed to open up a path through Lone
Leaf and Blue Dragon, and preparing to make the most of it and
flee, but suddenly, he felt goosebumps rising all over his body.

“Danger!” Gou Ming’s heart warned him, and it started to

beat much faster than before.

He trusted his gut without any hesitation, and gave up the

idea of making a move for escape. He quickly turned his sword
in Bi Fan’s direction.

Gou Ming’s reactions were so fast, that he, somehow, was able
to match up to Bi Fan’s attack.

“Boom!”

Gou Ming had never imagined that Bi Fan would be so

powerful, and as their swords met, Gou Ming almost lost the
grip on his sword.

“Who the hell are you? You have so much hidden strength!”
Gou Ming was shocked.
 Bi Fan replied: “Why don’t you go and find that out in hell!”

Bi Fan continued to build up on his advantage, giving Gou

Ming no space to breathe; no space whatsoever.

Blue Dragoon and Lone Leaf were beginning to get a little

anxious, but were relieved, and glad, to see that Bi Fan had
finally shifted gears. They followed in his stead, and launched a
full-scale attack.

Gou Ming shifted all of his attention towards Bi Fan. His face
even reflected some fear of Bi Fan.

Bi Fan continued to increase the pressure; happy to instill that

fear in his opponent’s heart.
 Chapter 60 – Komodo Dragons

Bi Fan was so excited that he even started boxing a bit, casting

out ‘prancing tiger’ to suppress Gou Ming.

Although, he still hadn’t used ‘the immortal finger’ yet, as

that was his secret technique; an unexpected one as well, so it
served him as an insurance policy of sorts.

And even though he was very excited, he only revealed about

fifty percent of his hidden strength.

He was waiting for the right moment to use his real strength,
so he could take Gou Ming by surprise, and finish him off in a
single strike.

The Blue Dragon and Lone Leaf were playing it smart as well,
and were working hard to create opportunities for Bi Fan.

The pressure on Gou Ming was increasing continuously, and

so was the consumption of his energy. In fact, at the moment,
he was barely able to hang on to the proverbial ropes.
 Crucifix Deception Sword!

Gou Ming attacked with his best technique once again, and
repeated them over, and over. He cast out almost a dozen or so
attacks, in quick succession, making Bi Fan the target of the
majority of his attacks.

“Almost there!” Bi Fan had waiting for this moment for a long
while now. He was relying on the defensive capabilities of his
armor to fend off Gou Ming’s attack, and then use the opening
to make the final move.

As soon as he saw the opportunity, he made a bee-line course

for Gou Ming, completely ignoring all of his attacks. His target
was obvious; Gou Ming’s head.

Bi Fan forced his way through the facets of the incoming

attacks, and charged for Gou Ming’s head.

‘Rainy-fly Sword!’

Bi Fan launched his strongest attack, with all his strength, as

he prepared for the final assault.

Gou Ming has just cast out his strongest attack, which had
consumed almost half of his remaining energy, while he had
intended to save the rest of it to make his escape.

Gou Ming had estimated that by the virtue of the strength of

his attacks, he would be able to suppress Bi Fan and his allies,
long enough to make an escape.

Bi Fan on the other hand, had his own plans in place, and
launched a very fierce counter-offense, completely disregarding
Gou Ming’s attacks.

Gou Ming had launched his attack in high-spirits, hoping to

obstruct Bi Fan.

“Boom!” A loud noise erupted as their swords met.

Bi Fan didn’t hold anything back this time, and his purple-
feathered sword crashed down with all his might.
 Without any dramatic suspense, Bi Fan’s sword, mercilessly,
slashed Gou Ming into pieces.

The Blue Dragon and Lone Leaf, had charged behind Bi Fan,
prepared to finish this fight. But they came to a sudden halt in
their steads, as they realized that Bi Fan had already done it,
singlehandedly. They just stood there; staring at him,
speechlessly, with their mouths hung wide open.

It took a while for the Blue Dragon to calm down and collect
his nerves, and then he said: “Brother Bi Fan, it seems that you
have more hidden strength than I thought. I’m going to have to
work much harder, if I aim on matching you someday.”

“Brother Bi Fan, you really are very strong. Your strength, I’d
reckon might be very close to the ‘emerging from the womb’
layer, it will be awfully difficult to find suitable opponents for
you here.” Lone Lead stated in praise.

Bi Fan forced a smiled: “Thanks for your help brother;

otherwise I would not have met a worthy opponent like Gou
Ming.”

An endearing low-key profile, can lead to a benevolent rule.

 Bi Fan wasn’t as brassy as most people, and wasn’t overly fond
of the lime-light either.

Lone Leaf said: “Now that the battle is over, please divide the
wealth amongst yourselves, so we can get out here quickly. If
someone else spots us, we might land ourselves in more
trouble.”

The Blue Dragon stated: “Brother, since you stifled both the
men, you deserve more credit. So, I’ll take Tian Feng’s wealth,
and you take Gou Ming’s.”

Between Gou Ming and Tian Feng, Gou Ming was obviously
the stronger fighter, so naturally would have more valuable
possessions. His weapons too, were stronger and more valuable
than those of Tian Feng’s.

And anyway, Bi Fan had already taken Tian Feng’s most

prized possession, the Purple-hilted sword. The Blue Dragon
proactively backed out of asking for the weapon, and allowed Bi
Fan to take over its ownership in good spirits.
 Bi Fan didn’t resort to too many formalities either, as he was
awfully aware of his own humble background. He would need to
rely on his own strength to procure his wealth, as he didn’t have
any wealthy backers to support him.

Bi Fan quickly stripped Gou Ming’s carcass of any valuables,

and then they left the scene, leaving the dead bodies for the
Devils’ Race to feed on.

The trio continued on their way. Lone Leaf was obviously in a

very cheerful mood, as he had just been able to get rid of his
nemesis.

Along the way, he made willing attempts to befriend Bi Fan.

He could spot the potential in Bi Fan, which was a very valued
asset in this world.

Friendships with people, who have a potential for growth,

could prove out to be very useful in the future.

Blue Dragon and Bi Fan also wanted to learn more about the
‘ins and outs’ of the affairs in the martial world, and so the trio
continued to talk along the way.
 They hadn’t gone too far from the scene of the fight, when
they bumped into another flock of beasts.

This group of the Devil’s Race was comprised of one kind of

species only; Komodo Dragons.

These creatures weren’t really Dragons, nor did they have any
connection to Dragons, or their lineage. They had gotten this
name due to the resemblance in appearance, and the fact that
they could stand up to the name, as they were awfully strong.

They were known to be good at combat, and on top of that,

had a very coarse and thick skin, and a very powerful body.

Hundreds of such Komodo Dragons had obstructed their path,

and had quickly managed surround the three of them.

“War or Withdraw?” Lone Leaf asked.

“War!” Blue Dragon roared; no surprises there.

Bi Fan didn’t say anything, as leaving, really, was never an

option.

“ARGHHH!!!” The three of them charged out simultaneously,

and started slashing left and right.

Bi Fan had, once again, asked the Chimera to stay away from
the fight. The Chimera obviously wasn’t very happy about being
kept out of the battles, but obliged nonetheless.

Devil’s Abyss was always brimming with danger. Not being

able to sustain good energy levels, can be an additional reason
for concern, and adds to the danger.

A friendly and powerful Chimera, hiding in the shadows,

ready to pounce at the first sign of danger, can be a killer move
against any enemy, which can come in handy in a tight spot.

Plus, every now and then, Bi Fan would need to restore his
energy after exhausting it during battles. The Chimera, then,
would be able to stand in as a guard, and protect him with a full
reserve of energy, as it didn’t participate in the battles.

And even if someone saw the Chimera while it was in hiding,

they would simply consider it another Demon inhabitant of the
Abyss, without ever imagining that it could be someone’s pet; a
mistake that Tian Feng had also made.

The Komodo Dragons were pretty strong, so much so, that the
weakest in the group seemed to have reached ‘inner breath’
layer, which was fairly commendable. But the real danger, here,
was their sheer numbers.

Bi Fan, Blue Dragon and Lone Leaf, all, charged out very
boldly and bravely, like tigers charging down a mountain, and
continued to push forward.

But soon, the three of them found themselves separated from

each other, isolated, and surrounded by these Lizards. As the
pressure started to increase, it became more and more difficult
to kill these beasts.

So, Bi Fan started to secretly employ his real strength, every

now and then, as he swept his immediate surroundings clean,
when the pressure increased beyond a limit.

Blue Dragon’s aggression took to a new level as the pressure

increased, and he also started to come up with new techniques
to deal with the Lizards that surrounded him.

Lone Leaf wasn’t going to fall behind either, and found his
own ways to deal with the situation, and the three of them
continued to slaughter the lizards.

The three of them were fighting very strong, and it didn’t take
long for their combined kill count to reach hundred.

But, there were a lot of ‘enormous strength’ layer beasts in

this group as well, which was beginning to make things harder
for them, and on top of that, there were at least three Lizards,
that had already reached the ‘transformation’ layer.

The ‘transformation’ layer Lizards were distinct, majestic.

Their bodies were almost twenty meters in length, and their
front claws seemed very sharp. Their teeth were awfully long
and appeared as sharp as razors. Their tails were long, thick,
and awfully powerful.

The first of these ‘transformation’ layer Lizards, roared, and

roared again, as it made its way towards Bi Fan.
 It seemed that the Lizard had a very keen sense, and could
make out that Bi Fan was capable of causing the maximum
menace.

Since the Lizard had already reached the ‘transformation’

layer, its momentum was nothing short of brutal; awe-
inspiringly so.

Bi Fan focused his entire attention on this one Lizard, as he

knew that he would need to be careful in dealing with this one.

This Lizard, it would appear, was one of the Chiefs of the

pack, and the other Lizards, which had been surrounding Bi
Fan, began to disperse, as they made room for the
‘transformation’ layer, and joined their companions in adding
pressure on Blue Dragon and Lone Leaf.

The Blue Dragon and Lone Leaf, were, as it is having a

difficult time dealing with the ‘enormous strength’ layer
Lizards, but were now being eye-balled by the other
‘transformation’ layer Lizards as well.

The water was beginning to go over their heads, and Bi Fan

knew that he’d have to resolve this duel very quickly.
 Bi Fan and the head Lizard came face to face, readied for this
confrontation, and charged for each other.

Bi Fan’s purple-feathered Sword, made a beautiful arc as it set

on a course towards the Lizard’s eyeballs.

The Komodo dragon had a rough and thick skin, which meant
that its natural defense would be pretty hard to breach.
However, its eyes, weren’t shielded with the same thick skin as
its body, and hence, were points of weakness, which could be
exploited.

The Lizard had anticipated this move, and was already ready
for it.

As soon as Bi Fan launched his attack, the Komodo swept its

long, and thick, tail in full force.

The Lizard had already reached ‘transformation’ layer, and on

top of that, had such a strong and powerful physical body. It
was even stronger than Gou Ming; much stronger.
 Bi Fan simply couldn’t go in head-first anymore, and so he
redirected his pace to dodge the incoming tail.

The Lizard’s tail hit the ground, and managed to split a crack
in it, and crumbles of stone and sand splashed everywhere.

Bi Fan’s expression changed marginally, and he secretly

thanked his stars.

The Lizard’s tail was extremely rigid and inflexible, which

meant that once it was drawn out, it couldn’t be withdrawn
very easily. His own armor, on the other hand, had a very
strong defense, but even then, it would not be possible to avoid
the shocks from the impact, if the tail hit him.

The Lizard lashed its tail in Bi Fan’s direction, once again,

with more ferocity than before. It seemed that missing its
target, had made it even more furious, and ferocious than
before.
 Chapter 61 – Komodo Annihilation

Bi Fan employed ‘the dance of mist’ footwork to dodge the

Lizard’s tail, and then quickly cut inwards, in order to get close
to him.

The Lizard’s tail was one of its most powerful weapons, and
the only way of eliminating it out of the equation was to get
close to it.

Bi Fan glided through the distance that separated them, with a

ghostly swiftness, and managed to get close enough to his
enemy to reduce the threat of its tail.

However, he hadn’t completely eliminated the threat from its

entire arsenal yet, as the Lizard’s front paws and teeth, were
razor sharp, and could be used to a terrible effect.

The Chameleon roared as Bi Fan closed in on it, and opened its

bloody mouth to tear Bi Fan’s body to pieces.

“Wanna bit me huh? If I were you, I’d worry about my teeth

first!” Bi Fan sneered.
 A snap of the Fingers!

A stone bullet lashed out of Bi Fan’s hands, and crashed into

the Lizard’s teeth.

“Bang!” the collision gave rise to a very crisp sound.

The Stone that Bi Fan had used, turned to dust as it hit its
target, but managed to do it job, and shattered the Lizard’s
teeth.

“EEEEEEE!!!” The Lizard issued a blood-curling scream, and

its paws lashed out in Bi Fan’s direction.

Using his purple-feathered sword, Bi Fan started to block the

incoming attacks, one after another.

The Blue Dragon and Lone Leaf weren’t exactly having a walk
in the park either. The ‘enormous strength’ layer beasts that
they were up against, were testing them to the limits. Not to
mention, that they were also being eye-balled by other Lizards
that were waiting on the sidelines for their turns.

At present, Bi Fan was very worried about the outcome of this

battle. He was well aware of the fact, that if things don’t change
quickly, and the fight remains a stalemate, like it was at the
moment, then, things could end very badly for him and his
friends.

Blue Dragon and Lone Leaf, were, as it is, having a very

difficult time in dealing with the ‘enormous strength’ layer
Lizards that they were confronted with, which meant that, he
would have to rely on his own strength to alter this precarious
predicament.

At the moment, the four most powerful Lizards of the flock,

three ‘enormous strength’ layered and one ‘transformation’
layer Lizard, their chief, were still going strong, which needed
to change very quickly, if the trio wanted to get out of this
unharmed. However, there was some good news, the other two
‘transformation’ layer Lizards seemed to have lost interest in
the battle, and had left the scene.

That certainly eased the pressure to some extent, but Bi Fan

was still engaged in a fight with a ‘transformation’ layer
Komodo, and needed to do something about this, very quickly.
 Bi Fan knew that he’d need to use his full strength, if intended
on finishing this fight in time.

“ARGHHHH!!” Bi Fan roared; his body’s muscles began to

form a bulge, and it appeared as if he’d suddenly gained a
centimeter of height.

“Time for you to Die!”

He cast out the ‘Fufeng Double-edged Sword’ Technique,

using his purple-feathered Sword, and charged forward.

He employed his entire strength this time, in each and every

attack, and as an end result, the effect of the blows increased
threefold.

“ZHUM….ZHUM….” Bi Fan sword landed blows on the

Komodo dragon’s skin, like hailstones on a windscreen. The
Lizard had a very rough, and thick scaled, skin, but it still
couldn’t prevent Bi Fan’s sword from gashing wounds into its
body.
 The Komodo screamed, as its body started to bleed from the
numerous wounds that Bi Fan had just inflicted.

One of the ‘enormous strength’ layer Lizard that was still

standing on the side-lines, charged towards Bi Fan, hoping to
help out his chieftain.

Bi Fan knew, that owing to this new addition into the fight, it
would be much harder to kill the chief Komodo.

However, Bi Fan didn’t panic, and on the contrary, remained

very calm and started attacking the new-comer all the same.

The more you practice your skill in tough situations, the more
you tend to learn, and grow.

And since, he was using his true strength; he was able to deal
with multiple enemies, with surprising ease.

Blue Dragon and Lone Leaf were astonished to see Bi Fan’s

display, and Blue Dragon spoke up: “Brother Bi Fan, how much
hidden strength do you really have? You’re able to deal with
both of them at once!”
 “You’re not so bad yourself brother. Let’s see who wins this
time!” Bi Fan smiled.

Since the ‘enormous strength’ layer Lizard that had been

eyeing Blue Dragon and Lone Leaf, was diverted to Bi Fan, the
pressure significantly decreased on them, allowing them fight
more freely than before.

Blue Dragon and Lone Leaf weren’t willing to fall behind Bi

Fan in any sort of a competition, and managed to find some
extra strength in order to keep up, as they unleashed ferocious
attacks at their respective enemies. Their attacks were good
enough to allow them an upper hand, in no time at all.

Bi Fan knew that the two of them were quite juvenile in that
respect, and provoking a competition would only increase their
output.

Bi Fan decided to deal with the ‘enormous strength’ layer

komodo first, as he knew that it would be more difficult to kill
the leader, while it was being so fiercely protected by its
subordinate.
 Bi Fan aligned his positioning with that of the ‘enormous
layer’ Lizard, and started to launch one wave of attack after the
other.

Bi Fan dealt several blows in quick succession; but the

Komodo continued to fight back, and so, Bi Fan continued to
add to his enemy’s list of injuries.

The Komodo’s Leader realized that its subordinate was having

a tough time, and so it lashed out at Bi Fan, in the hope of easing
some of the pressure off its brethren.

But Bi Fan’s speed had no match on the battlefield, and he

dodged the attacks with ease. Not only that, he even kept
himself away from the Chief Lizard, and stuck with the
retreating ‘enormous strength’ Lizard.

Prancing Tiger Fist! Fufeng Double-edged Sword! Rainy-Fly

Sword!

Bi Fan continued to launch attack in quick succession, which

kept hitting their target non-stop.
 The Komodo became more of a sandbag, as Bi Fan thrashed it
back and forth the battlefield. The Komodo had been belching
out a lot of blood, for a while now, and it eventually breathed its
last gasp of air.

The remaining of his opponents, the leader of the Komodo

dragons, roared, and roared, upon losing it subordinate.

Blue Dragon and Lone Leaf had also succeeded in pinning

down their respective ‘enormous strength’ opponents.

But the two of them, hadn’t yet succeeded in finishing the

competition off, as they too were being ambushed by other
remaining Lizards of the group, which was obviously making
things very difficult for them.

“Buck up guys, I’m already done with one over here!” Bi Fan
announced in a loud voice.

Blue Dragon replied: “Don’t get ahead of yourself Brother, you

still have one more to go.”

“True. We still have a match left here.” Bi Fan laughed.

 Coping up with the leader, now that it was injured, was a lot
easier than before.

Swimming Dragon! Babu Swimming Dragon!

Bi Fan began to test out his newer techniques, as he decided to

employ a new strategy now.

He even mixed up some of the ‘Prancing Tiger’ moves in

between the attacks.

Although, Bi Fan’s punches couldn’t match the sharpness of

his Purple-feathered sword, but his boxing, owing to his sheer
strength, was still capable of dealing an enormous amount of
damage.

The Komodo Leader was forced retreat, again and again,

unable to cope up with Bi Fan. Soon enough, he started to vomit
blood, and it appeared that his inner organs might have suffered
heavy damage.
 This was a very good sign for Bi Fan, and Bi Fan responded by
increasing the intensity of his attacks. Damaging the Komodo
dragon’s inner organs, was an excellent alternate method to kill
it off.

The Komodo Leader’s skin was so thick and hard, that it

wouldn’t be easy to slash past it, even with the help of the
Purple-feathered Sword.

So, Bi Fan decided to go with brute force this time. He had

picked his choice well, and it started to bear results very soon.

Bi Fan, physically, was a lot stronger than the Chief Komodo,

which meant that he could kill it off, even with his bare hands,
if need be.

Bi Fan’s attacks were being stopped by the Komodo’s scales,

but the impact was still hurting the Komodo’s internal organs.

Soon enough, after being forced to retreat in defeat,

repeatedly, and unsuccessfully so at that, the Komodo tried to
flee.
 “Bailing out huh? Too late for that now!” Bi Fan lunged
forward again.

Blue Dragon and the Lone Leaf had already finished their
opponents, and were busy clearing out the rest of the
battlefield, which mostly comprised of weaker Lizards.

Bi Fan started casting out the ‘Immortal Finger’ attack,

clandestinely, each and every time the Lizard issued a roared.
The attacks were fired into the Komodo’s mouth, as these
attacks were intended to hurt the damaged insides of the
Komodo.

The Komodo had a very tough skin, but obviously, its insides
weren’t cut out of the same cloth.

“EEEEEEEEEEE…………” The Komodo screeched relentlessly,

as blood belched out of its mouth.

Prancing Tiger – the second technique – Sea of Tigers.

Bi Fan cast out another new move, and hundreds of lightning

fast punched befell the Komodo’s body.
 “Boom! Bang! Boom!” The komodo vomited blood non-stop
for a while, and then, eventually submitted itself to Bi Fan’s
supremacy, and fell to the ground; and remained there;
motionless.

“Oh yeah! That’s done!” Bi Fan shouted out in excitement. He

turned around to realize that Blue Dragon and Lone Leaf had
already finished off their opponents, and had almost cleared out
the rest of the battlefield as well.

“Brother Bi Fan, you were one step too slow.” Blue Dragon
smiled: “But, I’d say, that ultimately you still win.”

Bi Fan smiled back: “I was one step behind you, in the end…
so another draw, I’d reckon.”

Bi Fan quickly started to incorporate the bodies of his best

kills into his Yin Yang pouch; Killers keepers, that was the
division policy.

Blue Dragon and Lone Leaf, were both, a little jealous to see Bi
Fan acquiring the carcass of the strongest Lizards, as the
chances of finding a Nucleus is always higher in the carcasses of
stronger Demons.

Even though they were a bit envious of Bi Fan, they still

couldn’t do anything, after all, they had decided on the division
policies beforehand.

Moreover, they weren’t exactly going to raise any objection

now, especially after they had seen Bi Fan’s real ability.

Bi Fan had just collected the ‘enormous strength’ Lizard’s

body, and was strolling over to that of the ‘transformation’
layer Lizard’s when, an unexpected laugh interrupted him:
“Haha…. That carcass belongs to me, leave it here and leave. If
you wish to live, that is.”
 Chapter 62 – Dare To Draw Out A Blood
Oath?

Bi Fan quickened up his footsteps, owing to this new,

unexpected, unknown, strong arrival, and quickly incorporated
the body of the Chief Komodo into his Yin Yang pouch.

The man stepped out in the open; he had a bearded face, with
net-like sideburns, and looked as if he was, at least, in his
thirties.

“Whisker Wang!” Lone Leaf was shocked.

Blue Dragon was curious, and so he asked: “Do you know

him?”

Blue Dragon was pointing his finger in the direction of this

new entrance, the bearded man.

“Wang Zhong. He’s very famous. He goes by the name

Whisker Wang. He is one the most popular geniuses of the
young generation, and well deserves his reputation.” Lone Leaf
answered.

Lone Leaf explained further, but it sounded like he was

talking more to himself than Bi Fan and Blue Dragon, as his
voice wasn’t really coming out, due to fear: “Wang Zhong has
no loyalty to any Sect, nor does he have a master. He’s only
twenty-three, but he looks as if he’s in his forties. He is one of
the strongest of our generation, so much so, that he has even
beaten some of the renowned young martial artists of the Jiu Da
Sect, with just a wooden sword. He’s a formidable young talent,
and exceptionally difficult to beat.”

“Who are you? I have never heard of you before.” The

bearded man grinned, his voice sounded almost demeaning in
its tone.

“Bei Ming’s Lone Leaf, you wouldn’t have heard of me.” Lone
Leaf replied.

Lone Leaf seemed prepared for Wang Zhong to attack him at

any moment, and his arms were tightly clenched.

“Indeed. I have never heard of you before. Get out of the

way.” Wang Zhong walked right past Lone Leaf.
 He was marching straight towards Bi Fan, at a brisk pace, and
his eyes seemed filled with a murderous aura.

“Hand over the body of that Komodo dragon, or I’ll kill you,
and then take that carcass off yours.”

Wang Zhong had a very deep and powerful voice. His every
step demonstrated his momentum, and power, and was
beginning to oppress Bi Fan with his sheer presence.

Wang Zhong’s inner energy was hitting the pinnacle of the

‘transformation’ layer. And on top of that, he seemed quite
strong physically as well.

Bi Fan could feel his tremendous energy, and his formidable

physical strength. But it wasn’t just that, there was something
else about him, it was the way he was walking, and the way he
was talking. Powerful and confident; like he had nerves of steel.

This guy wasn’t the same as Gou Ming, Wang Zhong was a
very experienced fighter, and had experienced countless battles.
It reflected in his body language, which reeked of fighting spirit,
and murderous intentions. He was definitely a stronger
opponent than Gou Ming; a much stronger opponent.

On the other hand, Bi Fan had just settled a battle, and a very
fierce one at that. Although he had already ingested a recovery
Dan pellet, it would still be a while before he would be able to
fully recover his strength.

If he engaged in combat with Wang Zhong at this time, then

he would surely start at a very great disadvantage.

Bi Fan’s mind was racing; he needed to find a way to stall

Wang Zhong; he needed to find a way to buy himself enough
time to recover his energy and strength.

“Wang Zhong, isn’t that right? So, you want the Komodo’s
carcass huh? Why don’t you come and get it?” Bi Fan
challenged.

Bi Fan was holding his purple-feathered Sword in his hand,

look-ready for a fight. No matter how strong the opponent is, he
should never appear weak; he needed to keep Wang Zhong
guessing.
 Bi Fan’s cool contempt got to Wang Zhong, and his heart
started to doubt itself.

Truth be told, Wang Zhong wasn’t really sure if he would

have been able to kill off those two Komodo dragons all by
himself, and with as much ease, as Bi Fan had displayed. So
naturally, he wasn’t sure as to what Bi Fan was really capable of
doing, and what other tricks he could have up his sleeves. On
top of that, Bi Fan had just emerged from a tough battle, and
was still ready for another one; Wang Zhong simply couldn’t
dare to take a big risk without analyzing the situation first.

Wang Zhong had been practicing by himself for a long time

now, and he had learnt to trust his instincts well.

“Trying to scare me huh? That’s not so easy boy.” Wang

Zhong continued to approach Bi Fan, but his pace had slowed
down now.

Bi Fan smiled: “Whisker Wang, are we just going to stand or

are we going to have a contest? Are you afraid that I’ll beat you,
or are you afraid of dying?”

Blue Dragon and Lone Leaf had also exhausted most of their
energy, and wouldn’t be able to provide much assistance to Bi
Fan at the moment, which Bi Fan was well aware off. He knew
that he was on his own here.

“A contest? Looks like we are talking of a bet now?” Wang

Zhong suddenly sprouted interest in a bet.

Wang Zhong believed that life was a gamble, and he,

absolutely, loved gambling; so much so, that he was known to
gamble with his life during fights.

He thought of himself as a gambler; a natural born gambler.

Now, he could see the hint of gamble in Bi Fan’s challenge,

and he would certainly be very happy to accept it.

Bi Fan noticed this change and stated: “I see that you’re a big
man, quite strong too. Ah, you can definitely fight. Let’s have
ourselves a contest. Whoever wins the fight, wins the rewards,
of course, unless, you have any other proposals?”

“What’s at stake?” Wang Zhong’s eyes were squinty.

 “If I lose, you can take the Komodo’s carcass. If I win, you
leave us alone, and the never bother us again.” Bi Fan stated.

“The stakes are too small; there is no point in such a small

bet.” Wang Zhong shook his head.

Wang Zhong could make out that Bi Fan too, was a little
cautious of him, and even a little scared. And, so he too, was
trying to get under Bi Fan’s skin.

Bi Fan needed to raise the stakes, for he was afraid that if he

didn’t, Wang Zhong might attack them without any hesitation,
in which case, he could easily kill the three of them off, and
then take their wealth.

There was only one law here; the Law of the Jungle.

Wang Zhong, especially, had a very profound understanding

of this idea, and if given the chance, wouldn’t hesitate to take
advantage of it.

Wang Zhong had no backers, no background, and no master.

His practice was solely dependent on the resources that he
looted.

He really wouldn’t mind killing a few people for the sake of

his strength’s enhancement.

“Yes well, then, let’s raise the stakes!” Bi Fan sneered: “What
do you say? Do you dare to raise the stakes?”

“Game on!” Wang Zhong’s facial expression was constantly

changing, as he was trying to ascertain Bi Fan’s true intentions.

“Nah, you won’t be able to.” Bi Fan condescended in a cold

voice.

He needed some more time, he had managed to restore a good

amount of energy, and would be able to make a stand against
Wang Zhong at this point; but he still needed more time, to be
certain of a victory.

Wang Zhong laughed: “Who says I cannot? How about this

huh? If I win, all three of you become my loyal subordinates,
and follow my orders to the letter. You would do exactly as I’d
tell you to.”

Blue Dragon and Lone Leaf’s faces suddenly changed colors,

they were both considered emerging talents of their generation,
and they most certainly wouldn’t be willing to allow
themselves, to become stakes for a gamble on another man’s
bet, especially, not at the cost of their freedom.

Bi Fan said: “Wang Zhong, you raised an unfair bet. I can only
promise on my part. They are just my friends; I cannot call
shots on their lives.”

“That’s alright, I’ll kill you first. And then I’ll kill them, and
then I’ll just take all your riches. Plain and simple.” Wang
Zhong smiled.

Lone Leaf retaliated out of anger: “Whisker Wang, don’t show

me such arrogance. You will not last long once the Bei Ming
School comes for you.”

Wang Zhong pointed at Lone Leaf: “Are you threatening me?

But this simply what it is like, if you do not agree, then, I’ll kill
you first, and then deal with him later on.”
 Blue Dragon, looked back and forth, at Bi Fan, then at Wang
Zhong , and then at Bi Fan again; and then eventually spoke up:
“I believe in my Brother. I’ll put my faith in Bi Fan’s strength.”

Lone Leaf’s teeth dug deep into his lips, and his fleeting eyes
flickered and flashed, reflecting the predicament of his mind.

Bi Fan spoke up: “Thank you brother, for trusting me. And
believe me, that I will not take your freedom as a joke…”

Bi Fan thanked Blue Dragon with the hope of tempting Lone

Leaf, he needed as much weight as he could possibly get.

In a real fight, Bi Fan would have a difficult time, but a contest

was different, there was no threat to life, and words had a way
of affecting such fights.

Lone Leaf finally made up his mind, and spoke up: “Well, I
promise as well. I’ll agree to Bi Fan’s terms.”

“Wang Zhong, here, we have all promised. Now, if you lose,

you will submit yourself to my leadership, and vice-versa; this is
our blood oath. The stake is a blood oath, so no one can back out
of it later on.” Bi Fan stated.

After his remark, Blue Dragon, Lone Leaf and Wang Zhong, all
three of them were taken aback; and their expressions reflected
it.

Lone Leaf and Wang Zhong, especially, were suddenly taken

aback, as they never really intended on fulfilling their promises,
and would have gone back on the bet whenever it suited them,
which had completely changed now.

Once a Blood Oath is drawn out, there is not much room to

back away to.

In this world, a Blood Oath was a very powerful and

mysterious vow. If one decided to violate a Blood Oath, then
initially, things would carry on forward as normal, with no
reflections of the violation. But as time progresses, the
defaulter’s life would eventually be turned upside-down and
everything would start going against the same.

Bi Fan had completely turned the tables, with the help of the
Blood Oath card, and had successfully managed to buy himself
an awful lot of time.
 Chapter 63 – A Snap Of The Fingers

Bi Fan could see that Wang Zhong was taking his time to make
a call, and he definitely didn’t mind it, as it meant that he could
restore more of his energy.

“Devious boy, you think you can scare me with your

gimmicks. That’s not so easy huh. I promise you all, I will swear
a Blood Oath.” Wang Zhong bit his lips, as he agreed.

Although Wang Zhong had a notorious reputation, this was

one commitment even he couldn’t dare to back out of. Once
those words were said, there was no going back.

He was regretting it somewhat, as he hadn’t been able to stifle

Bi Fan into doing his will.

“Good! I, Bi Fan, swear by my blood, that if I lose today’s

contest, I will willingly subject myself to Wang Zhong’s
leadership.” Bi Fan bit his middle finger, and made it bleed, as
he swore his pledge.

Wang Zhong also made his Oath. Blue Dragon hesitated for a
second, but then made his Oath as well.

Lone Leaf was the only one present, who hadn’t yet made his
Oath. He very much believed in Bi Fan’s abilities, but he was
aware of the fact that Bi Fan had just emerged from a tough, and
exhausting, battle. And on top of that, Wang Zhong had a
reputation for defeating even the strongest fighters of their
generation.

Bi Fan was more than happy to see Lone Leaf stall, as it meant
more time for him, to prepare himself for the contest.

Wang Zhong sneered: “Bei Ming kid, you better swear your
Oath right now, or else, I will kill you right here, and then go
about settling out my contest with your pal.”

Lone Leaf’s expression changed to a very grave one, as he

eventually made his Oath.

No matter what happens, it was vital to stay alive.

“Good! Now that we have all made our Blood Oaths, let’s talk
about the contest. Bi Fan, you say that you’re better than me,
how do we decide?” Wang Zhong could feel that he was stronger
than Bi Fan, and felt that he had a pretty heavy advantage over
his opponent. And hence, was arrogant enough to allow Bi Fan a
chance to make the first suggestion; a pretentious generosity on
his part.

Bi Fan thought for a while, and then he said: “We will both
take a small stone, of the same size, and then use them to see
who’s more powerful.”

Wang Zhong’s facial expression changed slightly, as he

couldn’t understand this contest, and so he asked: “How will
use the stones to determine the winner?”

“You see that tree one hundred meters away? We will both
stand here, and throw the stones at the tree, whoever manages
to embed the stone deeper in to the tree, wins. This contest,
won’t just test strength, but will also test skill. Unless of course,
you have a better idea.” Bi Fan explained.

Wang Zhong thought for a second: “Well, I’m game!”

Wang Zhong had been born with a natural gift for physical
strength, and over the years, with hard work, had managed to
build his inner energy as well. So naturally, he was confident
that he was going to win this contest.

Bi Fan’s heart starting singing as Wang Zhong accepted his

challenge, but he kept his poker face up.

Bi Fan’s secret technique, A Snap of the Finger, which

employed ‘the immortal finger’, was immensely powerful and
accurate. He was sure of his victory, and an easy one at that.

They picked up a stone each, and the contest official began.

Bi Fan and Wang Zhong, took their positions about one

hundred meters away from the tree. They were both very
strong, and very skilled. So naturally, aiming and firing wasn’t
going to be an issue.

“Wang Zhong, why don’t you go first?” Bi Fan made a gesture

for his opponent to go first.

Wang Zhong wasn’t exactly the kind to indulge in formalities,

and so he prepared himself. He held the stone in between three
of his fingers, and mustered all his strength and energy.
 “Whoosh!” A very crisp sound followed as the stone left his
hand.

The stone flashed through the air, and embedded itself into
the tree.

“Poof!” A loud sound emanated from the tree as the stone dug
itself into it, with a force so amazing, that it made the tree’s
branches and leaves shake.

“Your strength is amazing.” Bi Fan complimented his

opponent; it was a genuine one as well.

Blue Dragon’s and Lone Leaf’s faces were looking overly

gloomy all of a sudden now. If Bi Fan lost, then the two of them
would have to subject themselves to Wang Zhong’s whims; a
reality, which would be very difficult for the two of them to
accept.

Wang Zhong had managed to embed the stone fairly deep into
the trunk of the tree, and he was visibly happy with his
performance.
 “Your turn.” Wang Zhong smiled, but his smile wasn’t a very
polite one, in fact, vicious, would be the correct description for
the smirk on his face.

Bi Fan placed the stone in between his fingers, and prepared

himself. He employed all his strength and cast out the
‘immortal finger’, secretly.

“Ah!” Bi Fan put every ounce of energy that he had, and let
the stone fly.

The stone left his hand silently. But, it pierced through the
air, at the speed of lightening, almost invisible to the naked eye.

Bi Fan’s face was calm and composed, as he felt very relaxed

and reassured of his performance, even if the result hadn’t yet
been declared.

Wang Zhong’s face, on the other hands, had completely

changed colors. He saw the speed of the stone, and realized that
he might end up losing the contest, and his freedom along with
it.
 “Poof!” The stone made a slight sound as it inserted itself into
the trunk of the tree, but the sound was barely audible.

Then, two more, ‘puck’, sounds were heard. The first one,
was a result of Bi Fan’s stone managing to pierce its way
through to the other end of the trunk, and out; and the second
one was accounted to his stone hitting the tree that stood
behind the target.

“Hahahahaha!” Lone Leaf erupted in ecstasy: “Wang Zhong,

you lose!”

Lone Leaf was so excited, that started to jump and down, like
a bunny.

Blue Dragon looked at Bi Fan and nodded, in relief. He had

been so nervous the entire time, that, he had even forgotten to
breathe.

Wang Zhong simply couldn’t believe his eyes, and he ran over
to the tree to take a closer look at things. He carefully inspected
the situation, again, and again, and again.
 Bi Fan’s stone had penetrated straight through the middle of
the trunk, and through to the other side. There was no mistake
about it, Bi Fan had won.

“Tell me how you did that?” Wang Zhong walked directly

over to Bi Fan, and stared him in the eye, as he asked his
question.

Bi Fan smiled: “Ready to admit your defeat now?”

Wang Zhong had gone pale, and he said: “I lost, and now, I’m
your loyal follower.”

“Good! That’s very good; I’ll tell you how I did it.” Bi Fan
smiled.

Bi Fan had just procured the services of a very strong man,

and so, obviously, he was in a very cheerful mood.

Anyway, they had made a Blood Oath; so naturally, he was

convinced that Wang Zhong wouldn’t dare to go back on his
word.
 Even if he tried to plot against Bi Fan and cause his harm, then
he would end up suffering the backlash of the Blood Oath.
That’s just the way it was, this was no joke!

Bi Fan was ecstatic on defeating and acquiring Wang Zhong.

Blue Dragon and Lone Leaf, were both, very happy as well, as
now, they weren’t afraid of becoming Wang Zhong’s
subordinates.

Wang Zhong starred at Bi Fan and accused: “You resorted to

cheating! That qualifies as cheating?”

“No that doesn’t, the means of throwing the stone weren’t

restricted.” Bi Fan stated.

“You’re a devious little boy.” Wang Zhong looked extremely

depressed.

“Well, we are all, roughly, the same age here, so let’s address
each other as Brothers, Brother Wang.” Bi Fan smiled.

Wang Zhong was furious: “No boy, I will not call you
brother.”

“You will not call me boy; you will address me as ‘Brother Bi

Fan’!” Bi Fan said: “And that is my command!”

“Brother Bi Fan, congratulations on getting yourself such a

powerful assistant.” Lone Leaf walked over to shake Bi Fan’s
hand.

Bi Fan smiled: “Thank you!”

Bi Fan could barely contain himself. He had just managed to

acquire the services of such a powerful fighter. Wang Zhong was
even stronger than the Chimera, just a little bit though, but
would still be more valuable.

The Chimera had a lot of room for growth and evolution,

which meant that it had a lot of potential for the future
enhancements. But even then, it could not do the things a
human could, nor did it have a human’s intelligence; it simply
wasn’t a human being.

Wang Zhong was incredibly strong, and with the help of

sufficient Dan pellets, he could easily advance to the ‘emerging
from the womb’ layer in no time.

However, at present, Wang Zhong was very depressed, which

was reflecting on his face; he had lost the bet; a bet, which he
was sure that he, was going to win.

“Bother Wang, you will never regret this. Practicing with me

will get you much better results than practicing alone. ” Bi Fan
said: “I will help you in acquiring the required Dan pellets for
your practice, and will help you increase your strength; instead
of hindering it. I will not force you to join my School or Sect, so
you will be at liberty to exercise your own free will in that
matter. However, I might ask you to help me out every now and
then.” Bi Fan said.

Wang Zhong said: “Now that we have made a Blood Oath, I

will, naturally, have to follow you wherever you go, but I will
never join your School, you can be sure of that. I don’t like
restrictions.”

“No problem.” Bi Fan could tell by his personality, that Wang

Zhong was going to need some time to digest the reality, and
that he wouldn’t do so very easily either.
 In time, he would have to win over Wang Zhong’s confidence
and faith, and only then, he would able to truly convert him
into his real right-hand man.

Bi Fan was unaware of the changes in his temperament. He

hadn’t noticed that he becoming more and more confident of
his own abilities.

Soon, once things had calmed down a bit, Blue Dragon, Bi Fan
and Lone Leaf, started to meditate and restore their inner
energies, after all, they had consumed most of it.

Devil’s Abyss was always brimming with dangers, and so it

was very important to maintain a good level of inner energy, at
all times.

It took almost three hours for the three of them to fully

recover their energy.

As they set off again, the Chimera joined them, adding to their
ranks.

As soon as Wang Zhong saw the Chimera, he lunged in its

direction, ready to slice it, but Bi Fan intervened.

“This isn’t a random beast, this Chimera follows me, do not

attack it.”

Wang Zhong’s heart felt very uneasy after he realized the

Chimera’s true strength. He began to realize, that he never
really stood a chance. Even if he had attacked the trio, instead of
entering into a bet, the Chimera would have attacked him from
behind; and he would have ended up dead.

“This boy is really sinister!” Wang Zhong secretly, and

silently, rained curses at Bi Fan.
 Chapter 64 – San Yuan School

Wang Zhong had entered into the Devil’s Abyss several times
in the past, in order to promote his strength and skill.

He relied on combat for his development, as he wasn’t being

supported by any martial art Schools, nor did he have any
money to buy Dan on his own.

So obviously, Wang Zhong was very familiar with the Devil’s

Abyss, so much so, that even Lone Leaf’s knowledge was no
match for his.

Bi Fan asked Wang Zhong, if Bi Fan could provide him with

some Dan pellets to help him break the bottleneck to the next
layer. And Bi Fan was really surprised when Wang Zhong flatly
refused his offer.

“I rely on practice to break through the bottlenecks. I want to

prove to those Big School boys, that I’m better than them, even
without the use Dan pellets.” Wang Zhong had replied.

It was evident from his tone that he disdained the big martial
arts schools. Perhaps he had suffered a lot at the hands of the
students of big martial art Sects, which was probably the reason
he didn’t get along very well with Lone Leaf.

Since Wang Zhong had refused the offer, Bi Fan decided that
it was best to no insist. After all, everyone had their own ways
of going about things, and he believed that people should always
be allowed to exercise that right. But, obviously, people should
also be able to take ownership of the consequences of their
actions.

In fact, even Bi Fan wasn’t very fond of taking Dan pellets to

break though the bottlenecks, and only used them as a last
resort.

He had always believed that using Dan pellets to promote

strength might backfire later on, and may obstruct future
enhancements.

The impact, however, may not be very adverse; but Bi Fan’s

strength was growing at an excellent pace right now, and he felt
that such a risk was simply not required.

At the moment, Bi Fan was progressing so fast, that he wasn’t

using any kinds of Dan to support his practice, and was very
happy with the results.

Although Lone Leaf didn’t like Wang Zhong, but he still

respected, and admired, his tenacity and his strength.

Everyone wanted to break through the bottlenecks as quickly

as possible, and so, using Dan pellets for support, had become a
trend.

Moreover, Dan pellets didn’t really show any side-effects over

short durations, so people often took them, even when they
weren’t required, unless of course, they didn’t have the money
to afford them.

With the addition of Wang Zhong, Bi Fan’s delegation had

become a lot stronger, and after some discussion, they decided
that they should venture a little deeper into the Abyss.

They encountered a lot of beasts on the way, and were able to

deal with them easily.

Since the members of the platoon were quite strong, they

were able to rotate the fighting between themselves, which
allowed them to kill the beasts much faster, while being able to
maintain a good energy level as a whole.

The Chimera didn’t get too many chances, as it was asked to

remained concealed in the shadows during most of the fights,
just in case something went wrong.

Wang Zhong continued to curse Bi Fan, in his mind, all along

the way: “Despicable, insidious, sinister….”

In reality, Bi Fan’s intentions, were never to be cunning or

sinister, he simply, was a very cautious and careful man.

He was far more cautious than an average person, probably

because he had suffered so much in the past that he simply
couldn’t trust people anymore, and so, he wasn’t willing to take
any chances.

A while later, they bumped into a group of humans. This

group had five members in it, four men, and woman. They were
all quite young, and quite strong.
 Within this group, the weakest member had already reached
the ‘spiritual intelligence’ layer, whereas, the strongest one
seemed to be at the peak of the ‘transformation’ layer, and was
roughly at par with Wang Zhong.

“San Yuan’s Wu San and Wu XiuLi!” Lone Leaf recognized

them in an instant, and seemed quite surprised to bump into
them.

Wang Zhong, it was obvious, had recognized these people as

well, but he merely twitched his lips, and ignored them all
together.

The Blue Dragoon asked: “What’s San Yuan, I have never

heard of them before?”

His volume wasn’t very loud, but was still, loud enough for
the other party to hear him clearly.

“Lone Leaf, Wang Zhong, what are the two of you doing
stirring trouble together, and watch your friend, he isn’t very
polite. You should teach him some manners and etiquettes.”
The leader of the group spoke.
 His name was Wu San. He looked more like scholar than a
fighter. He had a very smiley face, but his smile was more likely
to give people an ulcer than butterflies, as it reeked of
mischievous intentions.

Wu San wasn’t the strongest member of the group, but looked

like the wisest of them all, and so, was a well-deserved leader.

Wang Zhong raised his eyebrows, twisted his head half-

sideways, but didn’t respond.

Lone Leaf replied: “The reason why we are travelling together

has a long story to it. As for my companion, he comes from a
small place, and hence, doesn’t have much experience in talking
to people from Sects as distinguished as yours. He didn’t mean
to offend you.”

It was obvious from Lone Leaf’s tone and choice of words, that
he had been dealing with these guys for a while now, but still,
his tone had a hint of cynicism in it. It was apparent that he
wasn’t demeaning Blue Dragon, or his background, but still felt
that it was important to be a little respectful to Wu San and his
stature.
 Lone Leaf’s words had an instant effect on Wu San, and his
facial expression changed immediately, as he calmed down
again.

“Lone Leaf, you are a moral man, and I wouldn’t have thought
an ill of you, but then again, you are working with Wang Zhong
it seems.”

“If you fancy killing me, then do well to remember, that your
school isn’t a part of the Jiu Yu Sect, and if you managed to
anger Bei Ming, then the entire Jiu Yu Sect will come after your
school, and things will go bad for you.” Lone Leaf responded in
an ice-cold voice.

Blue Dragon spoke up again: “Oh, they aren’t a part of the Jiu
Yu, no wonder I have never heard of them before.”

His words hit this group of five, right on the spot, and their
faces reflected their anger. The strength of the San Yuan School
was slightly weaker than that of Jiu Yu Schools, and their
students always took this fact to their hearts.

Irrespective of who the speaker was, such words always

managed to anger the students of San Yuan School.
 Blue Dragon didn’t know about this, but given his personality,
he probably wouldn’t have cared even if he did.

Contrarily, he would have probably tried to use this sentiment

to stir up more trouble, and would have most likely used it
provoke them further, and start a fight.

“Boy, your mouth stinks. You seem too fond of death, ah.”
This time, it was the woman who spoke up.

Her name was Wu XuiLi, and true to her name, she was
beautiful and elegant, however, her tone didn’t reflect the same.

She was quite strong, and had already reached the pinnacle of
the ‘enormous strength’ layer, which was probably the reason
behind her arrogant attitude.

“Not very fond of dying, but, I am fond of the truth. And no,
mouth doesn’t stink; I just say what I feel.” The Blue Dragon
replied in cold tone.
 “Oh boy! Come out and cross swords with me, if you have the
balls for it!” Wu XuiLi was furious with Blue Dragon’s continued
contempt.

Blue Dragon was on a roll: “I’m sorry; I don’t fight women. If

you really do feel like fighting me, then send a man.”

“How dare you look down upon women?” Wu XuiLi’s anger

was reaching new heights, and her eyebrows were tensely limp.

Blue Dragon replied: “I don’t look down upon women, I

simply don’t like coming in contact with them.”

Wu San stepped forward, in the hope of controlling the

situation a bit: “Why don’t we join hands for the sake of our
mutual practice?”

“Wu San, you’re thick skinned, I don’t want to collaborate

with you.” Wang Zhong stepped forward.

Lone Leaf whispered in Bi Fan and Blue Dragon’s ears, in a

very soft voice: “The rumor is, that some time ago, Wu San
challenged Wang Zhong to a fight, and Wang Zhong defeated
Wu San.”

“Ah, so brother Wang has beaten Wu San in the past, no

wonder he is acting so humbly in front of him.” The Blue
Dragon laughed.

Blue Dragon, once again, didn’t control his voice’s audibility,

and his words managed to reach Wu San, who was literally
trembling with rage at the moment.

Wu San was glaring at Blue Dragon, almost as if he wanted to

eat him alive, and he might have, if Wang Zhong wasn’t
standing in front of Blue Dragon.

Bi Fan smiled: “Brother Blue Dragon, you might want to tune

it down a notch; otherwise we might land ourselves in more
trouble later on.”

“Oh come on, let’s not hold back at all. Let’s have ourselves
another fight, and get some more exercise.” Blue Dragon was
adamant on landing himself another fight.

Wu San’s tone was cold and inanimate, as opposed to his face

and body language: “Wang Zhong, your comrade thinks of
himself as a Lone Ranger huh?”

“That’s none of your business. Decided what you want, and

stop wasting our time here.” Wang Zhong was so rude, that he
made Blue Dragon’s words sound like music.

Wu San laughed: “Wang Zhong, you’re as arrogant as ever.

We are going to go and unite with our senior shortly, don’t
make us come back for you.”

“I waited so long for that coward to show up, the last time I
paid you folks a visit, but he just evaded a confrontation.” Wang
Zhong laughed.

“Wang Zhong, you’re going to die soon, one day.” Wu San

decided that it was better to leave, and Wu XiuLi, along with the
four men, sped away from Bi Fan’s party.

Once the San Yuan party had gone out of their sights, Bi Fan
turned to Wang Zhong to inquire about the situation.

San Yuan was considered a very powerful sect in Tian Yu, and
was only marginally weaker than the Jiu Da sect Schools.

San Yuan had been trying to get themselves into the Jiu Da
sect for a long time, without any success.

It is said, that San Yuan was forming a very strong alliance

with Yuan Shi, as backup option, since they had been failing to
get into Jiu Da.

“Ah, so they are being supported by Yuan Shi, no wonder they

have such an arrogant attitude.” Bi Fan was beginning to
understand the situation a lot better now.

San Yuan and Yuan Shi, were located very far away from the
Jiu Yu City, which is why Bi Fan decided that it wasn’t
important to give much thought for the time being.
 Chapter 65 – The Dark Drake

“Brother Bi Fan, you will need to be a little careful of Wu San

in the future, he’s a very petty man, and is well-known for
holding a grudge. I beat him in the past once, and he’s been
trying to get his revenge on me ever since, I barely managed to
escape the last few times.” Wang Zhong cautioned.

Lone Leaf nodded in agreement: “Indeed, don’t fall for his

gentle and cultured appearance; Wu San is a deviously cunning
man.”

Since Lone Leaf and Wang Zhong were both cautioning him,
Bi Fan thought that it’s best to make note of it and take
preemptive measures, by keeping an eye out for him.

He didn’t fear his enemies, but he did fear enemies disguised

as friends.

Caution is always better than cure.

Bi Fan’s party started moving forward in search of more

beasts.
 The Devil’s Abyss was a vast and boundless territory, and one
could make unimaginable fortunes inside this Abyss, given they
had the ability.

And who doesn’t want more wealth. So whenever the four of

them came across any beasts, they would naturally take a swing.

Along the way, they also encountered several human beings,

mostly engaged in combat with beasts. But their group was
always on alert, and so, they didn’t bother to stop for a chat.

Bi Fan was relentlessly searching for strong demons to train

on, but unfortunately, that greatly depended on luck, which, at
the moment, wasn’t tipping to his side.

Bi Fan wanted to get his hands on an ‘emerging from the

Womb’ layer demon, but that encounter, was still, nothing
more than a spec of his imagination at the moment.

The Four of them were young, and fearless, and so naturally,

the thought of fighting against the layer’s king, crossed their
minds.
 “Regardless of how powerful the first layer’s king is, we must
seek him out and give it a shot. It will definitely help us enhance
our strength, and add to our knowledge as well.” Blue Dragon
was as enthusiastic as ever.

Wang Zhong said: “I have no experience in that matter, I have

tried searching for him in the past as well, but I have never been
able to find him.”

“I also want to see what he’s made off, because most people,
who come across the layer boss, don’t usually live to tell the
tale. In fact, a lot of my brothers at Bei Ming have died at the
hands of the Layer King, so I don’t have much knowledge on
that subject either.” Lone Leaf added.

Bi Fan smiled: “So what, lets continue to look for it.”

Youthful, permeating with fervor, and devoid of fear of

anything under the sun, the four of them set out.

“Run Ah! There’s Dark Drake (A black Dragon) up ahead. He

killed my mates!” A youngster, covered in blood, making for a
very sorry figure, rushed towards them from the front, and sped
past them, away from the direction he was coming from.

His warning hadn’t gone in vain, and Bi Fan made a note that
there might be danger ahead.

Subsequently, they came across several other people, fleeing

from the same direction, in a state of complete disarray. Some
of these youngsters were almost as strong as the ‘enormous
strength’ layer.

“Brother Bi Fan, what should we do now? Some of these

people were into the ‘enormous strength’ layer, should we wait
a while and lay low till the danger has passed?” Lone Leaf
looked worried.

Bi Fan had been looking to test himself out to the limit for a
while now, and was always on the lookout of a strong opponent,
so naturally he didn’t want to run away from this opportunity.

Bi Fan glanced at his companions, Lone Leaf, Blue Dragon and

Wang Zhong. Lone Leaf looked ready to abandon the ship and
retreat, Blue Dragon seemed eager and excited, as always, and
even though Wang Zhong’s face was devoid of any expressions,
his eyes were flaming with a desire to fight.

“A Dark Drake! Just imagine, if we can somehow kill it, we

might be able to get our hands on a Dragon nucleus. We simply
can’t lose this opportunity.” Bi Fan smiled.

Nuclei were a rare and precious commodity. But a Dragon

Nucleus, that was far too rare, and far too valuable.

The possibility of obtaining a Dragon Nucleus was obviously

very low, but nevertheless, there was still a chance.

Bi Fan’s words were enough to ignite a fire inside everyone’s

soul, and it appeared as if the whole lot was just waiting to get
their hands on the Dragon, so they could slaughter it. Even Lone
Leaf wasn’t afraid of the Dragon anymore.

Moreover, a nucleus wasn’t the only valuable thing that could

be procured from a Dragon. A Dragon’s carcass was a nothing
short of a gold mine; every part had a use and, obviously, an
associated value. The Dragon’s skin, Dragon’s flesh, blood,
tendons, and even his teeth could be sold for a very high price.
 A Dragon’s blood could be used to amplify and refine physical
strength. His hide could be used to manufacture top quality
leather, tendons could be used to make bow strings, and his
teeth could be used to make weapons such as daggers.

If they managed to kill a Dark Drake, they would certainly end

up making a whole lot of money.

Just imagining the rewards, was enough to make them toss

the fear of fighting an actual Dragon, aside.

“Let’s go and see how powerful this Dragon really is. I’d
reckon that there would be an awful lot of people around it as
well.” Bi Fan discussed the course of action.

Humans are an avaricious breed, and sometimes, this greed

can grow so big, that one might even fling aside the fear of
death to sate it.

At the moment, Bi Fan and his comrades had no idea about

this Dragon’s prowess, and in case, he turned out to be an
‘emerging from the Womb’ layer Dragon, then it would be
awfully difficult to deal with it.
 So, at the moment, Bi Fan hadn’t set any concreate thought
structure in his mind, as he wanted to take a look at situation
first. If the Drake was too strong, then maybe it was best to
retreat.

Bi Fan’s four man group, along with the Chimera, which was
following them, concealed in the shadows, made their way
forward, completely ignoring all the beasts that they
encountered on the route.

Along the way, they bumped into humans every now and
then, fleeing from the scene of the battle, and it looked that they
had given it their fair share of a shot, but had been unsuccessful.
Most looked like they had been injured pretty badly, and almost
all of them were stained with blood.

Wang Zhong caught hold of one of the youngsters who was

fleeing away from the scene, and asked: “Which way, and how
far?”

“The Dark Drake is three kilometers up ahead and to the

right. He’s already killed a lot of people and I’ll urge you to give
up the idea of fighting it, and run as far away from it as
possible.” He looked directly in the eyes of Bi Fan’s group as he
cautioned them, and they could clearly see the fear and
resentment, which dwelled in his eyes.

Wang Zhong released the youngster, and he ran away.

“Everyone, be very careful. We have no idea how strong the

Dragon is, so let’s first go and get some insight into the matter.”
Bi Fan stated.

The four of them sped up, and covered the three kilometers
that separated them from the Dragon in no time at all.

“Zhumm….” The noise from the fighting was so intense, that

it could shatter ears.

The Dragon’s body was covered with Dark colored Scales,

which were gleaming, magnificently. He stood almost ten
meters in height; and his tail was at least twenty meters in
length.

“RRRGHHHH!” The Dark Drake issued a deafening roar, and

Bi Fan’s ears buzzed from the sound.
 The Dark Drake was surrounded by several strong fighters, at
least a dozen or so of them. The weakest of the men, who were
laying siege to it, was probably around the ‘spiritual
intelligence’ layer, while there was absolutely no shortage of the
‘transformation’ layer martial artists here.

Most of these people belonged to different schools, and

weren’t exactly collaborating with each other. Their attacks
weren’t organized in any manner whatsoever.

The weapons they were using were simply incapable of

hurting the Dragon, so much so, that even low-grade magical
weapons were ineffective against the Dark Drake’s scales.

In contrast to the humans, whenever the Drake swept his tail,

someone or the other was forced to withdraw, owing to injuries,
that is, if they survived the attack in the first place.

Fortunately, this Dragon was still a youngling, and wasn’t

capable of breaking Dragon Fire just yet. Otherwise, he would
have wreaked havoc, and the number of causalities would have
been beyond count.

But even then, using just his body parts; his claws, his teeth,
and his tail, the Dragon was able to impose his will in every
direction; he was nothing short of invincible at the moment.

Wang Zhong was carefully studying the Dark Drake, as he

tried to ascertain its true strength.

“You guys be careful. The Dark Drake is at least as strong as

the ‘transformation’ layer, and is insanely powerful, physically.
I’d reckon that he’s at least around the ‘spiritual intelligence’
layer, in terms of sheer physical force, which effectively makes
him as strong as an ‘emerging from the Womb’ layer demon.”

After Wang Zhong’s assessment, Bi Fan, Blue Dragon and

Lone Leaf, became even more cautious than before.

Lone Leaf, especially, after seeing so many of the Big School

students being beaten to a pulp, was beginning to change his
decision, as his cowardice crept into his heart.

“Zi Xuan School’s Zi Hou is also here, and he too, is being

thrashed around!” Lone Leaf was completely astounded.

Lone Leaf’s eyes were following a man, a lone man, dressed in

purple colored robes. His robes had been torn in many places,
and his face was barely visible, as it covered in blood.

This man, it appeared, was reaching the pinnacle of the

‘transformation’ layer, and simply wasn’t willing to back down,
and as result, was engaged in an altruistic battle with the
Dragon.

“That man is really strong; he might be able to kill the Dark

Drake if someone supported him. But it appears that several of
companions have let him down already.” Wang Zhong’s passed
his judgement, while his tone remained devoid of any kind of
emotions.

Lone Leaf added: “Zi Hou is Zi Xuan Sect’s most powerful

young talent. He is really strong, and exceptionally skilled; I
never thought I’d ever see him being belittled so easily.”

“There are so many strong fighters here, but they simply

don’t know how to co-operate with each other. What a complete
waste.” Bi Fan remarked: “And then, there are so many
spectators here as well. If someone does manage to kill the
Dragon, then, this place will turn into a blood bath over the
Dragon’s remains.”
 “Brother Bi Fan, what’s the plan?” Blue Dragon asked.

Bi Fan sneered: “The idea is, of course, to retreat.”

His remark, left Blue Dragon and Lone Leaf, scratching their
heads, as they simply couldn’t understand why, but they
decided that this wasn’t the place to ask such questions.

They figured that Bi Fan had decided to retreat due to the

Dragon’s strength and ferocity.

The four of them receded their footsteps, quickly, without the

slightest of delays.

With the four of them gone, all the eyeballs returned to the
battle.

Had the four of them gone ahead and joined the fray, then it
would have definitely given rise to another, completely
different battle.
 Chapter 66 – Falling Back Again

The four of them withdrew, to about two kilometers away

from the battle scene.

“Stop!” Bi Fan said loudly.

They all came to a halt. Blue Dragon and Lone Leaf were
completely confused, and they simply couldn’t understand what
Bi Fan was trying to do. As for Wang Zhong, his face was as dull
as ever, and reflected nothing of what was going inside his
mind.

“Brother Bi Fan, why did we withdraw?” Lone Leaf asked.

Bi Fan smiled: “There were a lot of people over there, and the
longer we would have stayed, the more attention we would have
gotten from them. They were already quite alert with respect to
our presence, and it would not have been easy for us to get
anything from the Dragon’s carcass.”

He paused for a second, and the continued: “Now that we

have backed away, most people will forget about us. And when
the time is right, we can jump in, take everyone by surprise, and
get something out of it, and who knows, maybe they would have
already killed the Dark Drake by then.”

“Sinister! Really sinister!” Wang Zhong mumbled.

Even to this moment, Wang Zhong was still taking his defeat
to his heart, and every move that Bi Fan was making, was a
conspiracy in Wang Zhong’s eyes.

Bi Fan pretended to not hear Wang Zhong’s words, and

carried on: “First, let’s wait and see how things go for those guy,
otherwise, we might have to kill the Dragon all by ourselves.”

Bi Fan knew one thing very clearly, that no matter how many
strong individuals were confronted with the Dragon, they
wouldn’t win unless they decided to co-operate with each other.

The Dark Drake was insanely powerful, physically, and was

capable of killing even the ‘transformation’ layer fighters
without using much of his inner energy.

The fatigue from the usage of physical strength was much

lesser than that of inner energy, and when coupled with a
Dragon’s abnormally fast restoration speed, the Dark Drake
could continue to carry on fighting, for a long time.

Even though they were two kilometers away, they could hear
the sounds that were emanating from the battleground, which
was a clear demonstration of the Dragon’s might.

Bi Fan and his group decided that they must meditate a bit,
and restore their energies to full capacity. As they stood there,
they saw several people running away from the battle, and of
course, several new people, running towards the battle ground.

Those who were running away from the battlefield, were busy
spreading the word, and were probably trying to make some
money by giving directions for the battlefield.

Bi Fan’s group, decided that it was best to hide behind a small

hill, so the passersby couldn’t see, or disturb, them.

The Dark Drake was roaring relentlessly, an obvious

indication that he wasn’t exactly having it easy either.
 The four of them were trying to ignore all of that, so they
could concentrate on their meditation.

The Dragon’s huge body, was visible from a distance, and he

was surrounded by several martial artists, who were trying all
kinds of moves to inflict injuries to the Dragon.

Magical Weapon, Seals of all sorts, and even melee attacks

were being employed. Anything, and everything, that could be
thought of, was put to use.

The Dark Drake had a very rough scaled armor, and a very
thick flesh, and hence, hadn’t sustained too many injuries so
far.

The Dark Drake was surrounded by at least a hundred or so

humans, many of whom were injured, but still, most of them
didn’t want to leave.

Obviously, there were a few, like Bi Fan’s party, who were

hidden nearby, and were waiting from the right time to join the
fray.
 The battle against the Dark Drake was being led by
‘Transformation’ layer martial artists, as they were the only
ones strong enough to stand any kind of a chance against the
Dragon.

If the Dark Drake was to lose its mind, and go berserk, then
even the strongest of the men involved at the moment,
wouldn’t be able to withstand the brutality of its strength, and
eventually, many more would die.

Many of the teams were falling back because their,

‘transformation’ layer, leaders had been slain or injured. Most
of these teams were forced to retreat from the scene altogether,
which was a very sensible decision, tactically, as they might end
up becoming the targets of other humans, who were stronger
than them.

Many humans, didn’t mind killing the ones who were weaker
than them, and then divide their wealth amongst themselves.
The law of jungle was in play, here.

So long as the ‘transformation’ layer lead was there, and alive,

to hold the ranks together, the team would stick together and
fight, and in case, anything happened to the leader, then they
would all break up, and flee for their lives.
 Several new, strong fighters had joined the fray, giving it all
they had, and managed to increase the pressure on the Dragon.

The Dark Drake had an excellent rate of recovery, but still

wasn’t able to match up to its rate of consumption, at the
moment.

Gradually, the Dragon’s movements and actions, began to

slow down, as a result of fatigue, and his power too, began to
wither down a bit.

“If we work together, then we will surely be able to kill it off.

Later, we can divide the loot amongst ourselves.” A strong man
shouted out loudly, in a very excited voice, in the hope of
rallying everyone together.

His idea received support from many of the people who were
present on the scene, as most of them had already tried every
trick that they had, and had still failed to achieve any results on
their own. So, naturally, they felt that instead of competing
against each other, they should work together and compete
against the Dragon. After all, something is always better than
nothing.
 Humans had taken a long time to realize their inferiority in
comparison to the Dragon, which is why the fight had been
taking so long to resolve.

The Dark Drake was nobody’s fool either, and as soon as he

realized, that more and more people were joining hands against
him; he decided to flee for his life.

As soon as the Dark Drake started to run, most of the humans

that had been hiding in the shadows, were forced to come out,
in order to stop their escaping treasure.

The Dark Drake was on quite the rampage, and tore apart
anything that came in its way, leaving a bloody trail behind it.

The Dark Drake was fleeing in the direction where Bi Fan and
his companions were hiding, which meant that they were going
to have to come out pretty soon as well.

The Dark Drake was really quick, and was running with all its
strength. Every step that it took, left the ground under him
shaking.
 Behind the Dragon, hundreds of men chased after it in a mad
pursuit.

“Zhum….” Dozens of strikes befell the Dragon’s body every

second, but his scales managed to protect its body.

But no matter how good its strength was, the Dragon was still
having a tough time, and issued a deafening roar to express its
discomfort.

“Kill him! Don’t let the Dark Drake get away, do whatever it
takes.” One of the leaders yelled out.

“Kill him!…. Chase him down!…” others roared after him.

At this point, some people had even resorted to the use of

divine essence seals to keep up with the Dragon’s pace, while
the others, who didn’t have any, looked on in despair, as the
Dragon increased the distance between itself and them.

Wang Zhong felt the tremors, smiled, and said: “Looks like we
are in luck, the Dark Drake is coming to us on his own.”
 “What good luck? There nothing good about this.” Bi Fan
said: “At the moment, the Dragon still has a lot of fighting left
in it, and if we engaged it right now, we might not be able to kill
it. And even if we managed to kill it somehow, how are we going
to deal with the hundreds that are following it?”

“What do we do then?” Lone Leaf asked.

“Hurry up, the best thing to do right now, is to set up some

kind of a barrier to obstruct the Dark Drake, just long enough
for the others to catch up to him.” Bi Fan laid the plan out.

The four of them, along with the Chimera, retreated further.

There wasn’t much substance available to set up a barrier, so

things weren’t looking very promising at the moment.

Wang Zhong had been noticing the detail with which Bi Fan
planned his moves, and was somewhat, beginning to secretly
admire him in a way.
 If the barrier didn’t hold up long enough, then Wang Zhong
and Blue Dragon would have to come out, and fight against the
Dragon, in order to delay it.

The Dark Drake was really fast, but divine essence seals are
amazing speed boosters, and the practitioners who were using
them, were able to keep up with the Dragon, and were
constantly attacking the fleeing beast, enraging the Dragon
further.

Dragons have always been a proud and arrogant race, and

their egos simply couldn’t tolerate being trampled on, especially
in this manner.

Moreover, this Dark Drake was still quite young, and hence
couldn’t control his emotions very well.

The Dragon could no longer run away, as it felt that its dignity
was being challenged here, and so, he turned around, and
started fighting again.

Bi Fan stood there and watched from a distance. He hadn’t

taken this into account, but still, the result was exactly what he
had been hoping for, but now, he needed to think of a way to
make the best of this situation and get some valuable loot.

No matter what, there was always a big risk of offending the

students of big martial arts schools, which he simply couldn’t
afford to do.

The Dark Drake had managed to get itself surrounded again,

and this time, getting out of the encirclement, would be pretty
hard for it.

The Dragon was young, and had limited wisdom, had it

continued to run, it might have gotten away.

“Let’s go for it.” Bi Fan decided, all of a sudden.

Blue Dragon asked: “Go and do what, fight it?” his voice was
clearly expressing his excitement.

“Yes, but cover up your faces with some sort of cosmetics, so

people are not able to recognize our true identities, and make
sure that you don’t use your usual weapons either.” Bi Fan
added: “Once we go through with this, we are certain to offend
many people, which will cause a whole lot of trouble later on.”
 The trio, couldn’t help but admire Bi Fan’s scrupulous
thought process. They were awed by Bi Fan’s ability to think of
pre-emptive measures to nullify future problems.
 Chapter 67 – Mid-Air Kill

“Whooosh!” The Dark Drake, unexpectedly, sprayed out

Dragon fire; this was no ordinary Dragon fire, and may have
been a Dragon’s natal breath.

A Dragon is never really able to belch out natal breath, unless

met with a life threatening situation. A Dragon’s natal breath
had a very debilitating effect on the Dragon, and it took a long
time for the Dragon to recover from its side-effects.

The Dragon had been surrounded by several, very strong,

fighters, and if the Dragon had continued fighting against them,
then he would have, inevitably, died fighting.

So the Dark Drake, as a last resort, out of sheer desperation,

spewed out its natal breath.

The fighters who were attacking the Dark Drake, were

completely taken by surprise, as they were under the
impression that this one was incapable of using Dragon breath.

Dragons rarely ever use their natal breath, and even if they
did, the targets rarely ever lived to tell the tale.

This was one of the reasons that a Dragon’s natal breath was
mostly unknown to humans.

It is said, that it would take a Dragon about a week, to recover

from the fatigue that the usage of natal breath incurs.

A black colored flame smoldered throughout the battlefield,

enveloping many of the fighters in its range, who howled as the
fire burnt their bodies.

There were only a very few men, who were able to react in
time, and managed to dodge this surprise attack. Most of these
fighters were strong into the ‘transformation’ layer, but even
then, they couldn’t prevent themselves from sustaining a few
injuries in the process.

One of the fighters, who had already attained the

‘transformation’ layer, found his sleeve stained by the fire. The
black fire, quickly, started spreading to the rest of his arm.

“Ah!” the man quickly took out his sword and chopped his
hand off.

If the Dragon’s natal breath caught someone, then it would

spread to the whole being and turn the target in to ash, in no
time.

The Dark Drake had been surrounded by at least a hundred

men, and the fire had managed to victimize almost ninety of
them.

It was a sad and somber funeral, as the bodies of all those

people turned to ash, filling the atmosphere with fumes of soot.
The smell of it, made the others puke, and puke, and puke.

The few remaining fighters, simply wouldn’t dare to go

anywhere near the Dark Drake.

However, none of them seemed to be willing to give up just

yet, and they continued to stare at the Dragon.

After the ejaculation of the Natal breath, the Dark Drake was
feeling extremely weak, but it was obvious to him, that he was
still being eyed by the humans.
 And so, the Dark Drake, raised his head towards the sky, and
roared with all its power, to demonstrate, and brag, its might.

After that, the Dragon decided to flee, and immediately

turned around, but unfortunately, he started out in the
direction where Bi Fan and his party were standing in wait.

“The Dark Drake can breathe fire as well! We should get the
hell out of here!” Lone Leaf exclaimed, trembling with fear.

After this recent development, the eyes of everyone present,

were reflecting the fear of its fire, and a lot of them were
considering giving up on the fight, and scattering for the sake of
their safety.

The Blue Dragon spoke up: “I never thought that this Dragon
would be able to breathe fire either, he took them by surprise,
and killed so many such powerful men. Let’s not take this risk.”

Wang Zhong didn’t utter a single word, and his face was as
wooden as ever.
 Bi Fan’s gaze was attentively fixed on the Dragon, whose eyes
showed a hint of squinting, and a smiled crept onto Bi Fan’s
face.

Wang Zhong smiled: “What’s the matter brother, did you find
something?”

“According to my observation, this fire that the Dark Drake

sprayed out, was his natal breath, which means that he must be
very weak at the moment. He seems to have covered it up very
well, but If you look closely, you will notice, that even though
he is still running at very fast pace, his steps are beginning to
waver a bit, and so, I think, that he won’t be able to keep this up
for long now.” Bi Fan explained.

Blue Dragon, Lone Leaf, and Wang Zhong looked closely, and
realized that Bi Fan’s observation was indeed correct.

Wang Zhong agreed: “The Dark Drake’s steps are, indeed,

wavering; So, yes, he might not able to keep this up for a long
time. What Brother Bi Fan says, makes sense.”
 “Brother, you have a real talent for detail, you’re amazing ah!”
Lone Leaf complimented.

Blue Dragon: “So, now, let’s finish him off.”

“We certainly cannot let the Dragon escape, not when it’s so
weak and vulnerable. But we will have to find a way to finish
him off really quickly, otherwise, the men that are still
following him, will catch up; and there still a lot of them left.”
Bi Fan smiled again.

Lone Leaf spoke: “Brother Bi Fan, you call the shots, and we
will follow you.”

Bi Fan thought for a second, and then said: “Brother Wang,

you will lead Blue Dragon and Lone Leaf, and the three of you
will intercept the men that might try to chase the Dragon. And I
will take charge of sorting the Dark Drake out. If I succeed,
then, the Chimera will take over from you guys, and delay
them, while we will try to retreat. Remember, no one should
recognize you, and Wang Zhong and Lone Leaf, be extra
cautious in that respect.”

“Don’t worry, those people aren’t going to get to you.” Wang

Zhong smiled.

“Good! Let’s get ready.” Bi Fan said.

Wang Zhong, Lone Leaf and Blue Dragon set off; they made a
slight detour around the Dark Drake, as they got in position to
ambush the fighters who were still following the Dragon.

Bi Fan prepared himself; even though the Dragon was fairly

weak at the moment, killing it still wouldn’t be easy.

Bi Fan prepared a divine essence seal to increase his speed, so

he could concentrate the rest of his body’s forces into his
attacks.

The Dark Drake was getting closer, and was still going fast.

Bi Fan’s heart was, ceaselessly, contemplating means to kill it.

He needed to make this quick, as quick as possible, otherwise

the men that were behind the Dragon, would begin to notice the
differences. And if they managed to figure out the truth, then
they would easily be able to catch up to them, and things could
get out of hand.

“Thump……Thump…..” The Dark Drake was getting closer

and closer, and was now, only about a hundred meters away.

Bi Fan took out his sword, his best sword, the purple-
feathered sword; he would need it to kill this beast. The idea
was to attack the Dragon mid-air, so it can’t change directions
and escape the other way.

After the attack, Bi Fan would have to figure out a way to get
out of its way very quickly. Because even if he managed to kill
the Dragon, the Dragon’s momentum would, still, carry its body
further, and Bi Fan would get trampled upon.

“Hhhhhhhh…………” Bi Fan took a deep breath, and readied

himself.

The Drake was only ten meters away now, and Bi Fan could
clearly see the chinks in its armor, as clear as the cracks that it
was making in the ground under its feet.
 The Dark Drake’s pace was very impressive, he really was
giving it his all.

The Dark Drake’s foot had already taken off the ground, and
his body was now mid-air; he was leaned forward.

“It’s time!” Bi Fan knew that this was the best time to make
his move.

‘The Immortal Finger!’ ‘The Rising Sun!’

With the help of ‘the immortal finger’, Bi Fan sent out two
spherical balls, upwards, almost as if they were, ‘The Rising
Sun’, straight towards the eyes of the Dark Drake.

The Dark Drake was leaned forward, and hadn’t expected that
anybody would attack it so suddenly. By the time he realized
that there was an incoming attack, it was already too late to
react.

“Woooo……” Bi Fan’s attack was very accurate and hit the

Dark Drake, straight in the eyes. The Dark Drake trembled in
pain, and issued a loud wailing sound.
 The Dark Drake couldn’t control its momentum, and
continued to lunge forward.

Bi Fan didn’t get out of the way immediately, but unleashed

several attacks with his sword, right in the cracks on the
Dragon’s scales.

Bi Fan had used all his strength in the attacks, and had
managed to penetrate through the Dragon’s scales.

The Dark Drake finally succumbed to his injuries, as Bi Fan’s

attacks penetrated its scales, and eventually, scuttled, and
stumbled to the ground.

Blood sprayed all over the place, as Bi Fan’s sword had

managed to pierce through the Dragon’s throat, and had
severed its arteries underneath.

“Oh Yeah!” Bi Fan opened his mouth, and dust went into it,
but he continued to smile.

The Dark Drake was too big, and he simply wouldn’t fit into
Bi Fan’s Yin Yang pouch, which meant that the only way to
store it complete, would be to use the Tian Yuan ring.

But if he used the Tian Yuan ring, then he would have some
major explaining to do later on, when his comrades would ask
questions.

However, there was no time to think now, because the people

that had been keeping away, had noticed that the Dragon had
fallen to its death.

“Quick, looks like someone struck the Dark Drake down. It

seems that the Dragon had gone weak after using his fire
attack.”

“Quick, let’s hurry up, otherwise that man will take all the
valuables.”

Everyone was really excited, and they all lunged forward, in

full force.
 Suddenly, Bi Fan’s ambush party, appeared in front of them,
and blocked their way.

Bi Fan didn’t need to hurry like he would have had to earlier,

as his friends had managed to buy him some time; enough time
to set up an anatomy session, and dissect off the best, and the
most valuable parts from the Dragon’s carcass.
 Chapter 68 – Parting With The Pursuers

“Kill them!” The few remaining fighters, all in the

‘transformation’ layer, full of enthusiasm and power, charged at
Wang Zhong’s division.

Wang Zhong’s platoon knew the importance of stalling these

guys, and hence they continued to stand in their paths, even
though they knew that they would end up injuring themselves.

Bi Fan realized that situation was a lot worse than he had

anticipated, and hence, asked the Chimera to find a way out,
and it went out in search of a safe escape route.

Bi Fan incorporated the body of the Dark Drake into the Tian
Yuan ring, without any further hesitations.

“Withdraw!” Bi Fan commanded out loud.

As soon as Wang Zhong’s, three man platoon, heard Bi Fan’s

order, they immediately dashed away from the fight, and
started to run in Bi Fan’s direction.
 All three of them were using divine essence seals to increase
their pace of escape.

“Chase them down! We must snatch the Dark Drake’s body

from him!” The eyes of the few remaining people were blood-
shot red, and their expressions were so fierce, that it appeared
as if they would eat Bi Fan alive.

These people had lost a lot of men, friends, companions, and

comrades, while battling the Dark Drake, which is why they
hadn’t given up on chasing the Dark Drake, even when they
were too scared to.

Today, the Dark Drake had killed so many of their

companions, that, they simply couldn’t tolerate the idea of not
having to show anything for it. They needed a reward, a
consolation, in exchange for all that they had lost today.

These people bolted out in a mad frenzy to intercept Bi Fan.

Now, naturally, they didn’t care about Wang Zhong, Blue
Dragon or Lone Leaf, as they knew that the body of the Dragon,
their reward, was in Bi Fan’s possession.
 Bi Fan hadn’t taken the route that the Chimera had spotted,
but had indicated the rest of his platoon to go that way.

Bi Fan was afraid that if they all went the same way, then he
might get slowed down a bit. He was well aware of the fact, that
he’s be the only target, and hence, felt that he’d be better off
escaping alone, since he wouldn’t have to bear the burden of
anyone’s lack of pace. And then, obviously, he would also
manage to create for his friends, some much needed diversion.

Bi Fan chose a path that he knew would be crawling with the

Devil’s Race beasts.

Bi Fan ran himself directly into the flock of beasts in a wild

rampage, and smashed his way, straight through them. And
soon, found himself being chased after by a large group of angry
beasts.

His pursuers saw the huge flock of beasts that was chasing
their target, and realized that by the virtue of being the last ones
in the queue to get to Bi Fan, they were going to have a pretty
difficult time doing the same.

The distance that separated them and Bi Fan, was occupied by

so many creatures, that if they were to get their hands on Bi
Fan, they would first have to kill these beasts, which wouldn’t
be any easy task.

Even if they were to take a detour around the beasts, they

would end up taking a very long one, and weren’t certain to
catch up to him.

On the other hand, if they just stood there and watched, then,
they would soon lose sight of their target, which would make it
even harder to track him down later on.

“What now? How do we go about this? This guy is too

cunning!”

“This plan was worked out between four people; did you
recognize any of them? As long as we can identify even one of
them, we would be able to catch hold of them all later on. We
lost so many men today, and we simply can’t let their sacrifice
go in vain.”

“The four of them were very unfamiliar to me. I have never

seen those weapons before, nor have I seen that kind of martial
arts; there is no way we can tell which sect they belonged to.”
 “Same here, these guys are too cunning. Even the ones that
were blocking us, used very different kind of martial arts, I
don’t think I can tell who they were.”

They continued to discuss and debate, but no matter how

much they talked, they couldn’t come up with any valuable
clues.

They were all talented students from big martial arts school,
which by its very virtue, meant that they were very
knowledgeable. But since, the other party hadn’t left any bread
crumbs, and had executed a flawless plan flawlessly; their
investigation only left them even more muddle-headed than
they had been before.

Bi Fan turned around to see that the flock of beasts that were
following him, were beginning to scatter, and give up. So
turned around and killed a few of them, just to excite the rest of
them.
 As soon as the smell of fresh blood wafted through the air, the
beasts became even more violent and started to chase after him
again.

As more and more beasts joined in the chase to hunt down Bi

Fan, the looks on the faces of his human pursuers began to get
gloomier.

“Withdraw! This was all planned from the very beginning.

There’s nothing we can do, so let’s retreat and decide the course
of action.”

“We can’t let him get away with this, so let’s go back and
work things out. Then, let’s go to our seniors and they will
investigate this further.”

“Agreed! Let’s do that!”

… …

Bi Fan looked over to see that those people were beginning to

leave, so, he breathed out a sigh of relief. He quickly got rid of
the beasts that he had used so well, and then left in search of his
companions.

Bi Fan had successfully killed a Dark Drake, and even though

the credit for his success could be largely attributed the element
of chance, one simply couldn’t take away Bi Fan’s credit; his
planning was exceptional, and execution, smooth.

Obviously, for any other man, killing the Dark Drake, the way
Bi Fan had, would have been very difficult.

No matter how badly a Dark Drake is injured, killing it is still

a very difficult task.

To cut through the Dragon’s scales, is never an easy task, and

requires at least a top-grade magical weapon to do it efficiently.
The Dark Drake’s only weakness, were his eyes, but the rest of
his defense was solid.

Bi Fan had seized his opportunity well, and had managed to

strike the Dragon, right in the eyes, and very accurately at that.
And then, had taken advantage of the pain that the Dark Drake
was suffering from, as a result of his initial attack, and then,
using is sword, he had pierced through its throat, and had
managed to split open its arteries.
 This opportunity was always a fleeting one, and wasn’t easy to
grasp. Bi Fan had taken a huge risk in order to implement it
with absolute perfection.

Soon, Bi Fan caught up with his companions, and they were

all visibly happy to see him return.

“Brother Bi Fan, now you’ve managed to completely convince

me of your prowess. You really are amazing!” Lone Leaf
exclaimed. “If someone ever questions your skill, they will have
to deal with me.”

“Brother Bi Fan, what were you doing? What were you trying
to prove?” Wang Zhong smiled slyly.

He knew that he would end up agitating Lone Leaf with his

words, and well, he didn’t want to deny himself the pleasure of
irritating that man.

“Wang Zhong, you have such a close-minded approach!” Lone

Leaf was furious, and short on breath.
 Bi Fan continued to smile, as if it was no big deal.

Blue Dragon said: “Brother Bi Fan, you have demonstrated

your amazing skills today, I simply can’t think of anyone who
could stand up to you.”

“I’d like to thank you all, if it wasn’t for your distraction, I

would not have succeeded.” Bi Fan said: “Let’s find ourselves a
quiet place so we dissect the Dark Drake’s body, and we can
divide the valuables we need.”

Lone Leaf was the first one to speak up: “Brother Bi Fan, you
killed the Dark Drake on your own, so I don’t think it’s fair to
divide the loot equally. But then again, I’d really like to get
something out of it; I’m planning on getting myself a new armor
and helmet, so I’ll just take some scales.”

“No problem, would a hundred scales be sufficient?” Bi Fan

smiled: “Brother Blue Dragon, would do you like?”

Blue Dragon thought for a second, then said: “Brother, if you

don’t mind, then please give me barrel of his blood.”

“Of course, no problem at all.” Bi Fan replied.

Wang Zhong was next: “Brother Bi Fan, I’m your subordinate;

you won’t ill-treat me, right?”

“If you want something brother, just ask for it.” Bi Fan was
feeling very generous at the moment, after all, his trip into the
Devil’s Abyss had ended with him killing, and procuring the
body, of a Dark Drake, so after all said and done, this reward
was more than worth all the trouble that he had to undertake.

Wang Zhong mulled over for a while, and then stated his
desire: “I want two of his teeth.”

“Works for me!” Bi Fan readily agreed.

Even after the separating out the parts that the three of them
were asking for, Bi Fan would still be left with a lot of the
valuables, as they hadn’t really asked for much.
 “Once we go out, don’t brag about the Dragon’s valuables,
otherwise we might end up in trouble, if the big schools find out
and pay us a visit.” Bi Fan cautioned everyone.

The three of his companions weren’t stupid either, and

understood the meaning of his words immediately.

“Got it!”

The Four of them, found a nice and quiet place to rest, and left
the Chimera to stand guard while they went about their
business.

They had already reverted back to their original appearances,

as the ones that they had been wearing while undertaking their
mission, would now be very much sought after.

Those big school boys had lost a lot today, and wouldn’t
exactly resign to their loss easily. In fact, Bi Fan was afraid that
they might even band together, and set out to find his trail.

Bi Fan was the first one to finish his practice. Blue Dragon and
the others were still meditating, so Bi Fan started replaying the
recent events once again in his head.

In order to kill off the Dark Drake, Bi Fan had taken a really
huge risk.

As he replayed the scenes in his head, post-traumatic stress

started to overtake his conscious. Bi Fan patted his chest, to
soothe himself: “I’ll need to get used to this, if I want to live
much longer in this world.”
 Chapter 69 – Enemies On A Narrow Road

The Devil’s Abyss was a vast and limitless territory, and

although it was a little dusky, Bi Fan still didn’t have any
trouble fighting.

After carving out their respective shares from the body of the
Dark Drake, Blue Dragon, Lone Leaf and Wang Zhong, were,
visibly, very excited, and a result, the intensity with which they
started to kill the beasts they came across, increased.

They were all very interested in knowing how Bi Fan had

managed to incorporate the entire dead body of the Dark Drake
into his Yin Yang pouch, but still, no one mentioned it out loud.

Since they didn’t ask, Bi Fan didn’t bother to mention it

either, as he obviously, wanted to save himself the extra effort
of going through the tedious explanations.

“Look, that’s Wu San and his group, and there’s one more
person with them. And it looks like it Yuan Shi’s Li Zhong Ren.”
Lone Leaf was extremely surprised to see them again.
 Lone Leaf’s expression was a bit awkward, as he could see that
Yuan Shi’s Li Zhong Ren’s arms were around the waist of San
Yuan’s Wu XuiLi, which had left him completely confused.

If the San Yuan disciples managed to instigate Li Zhong Ren

against Lone Leaf, then Lone Leaf would be in a great amount of
trouble, and it wouldn’t be easy for him to get out of this alive.

Li Zhong Ren was extremely strong, and was considered a

leading figure within his Sect’s younger generation.

If Wu San and Li Zhong Ren were working together, then

Lone Leaf was worried, that owing to his previous encounter
with San Yuan students, he might have also offended Yuan Shi
by extension. And he was even more worried about the thought,
that Bi Fan, and the rest of his companions might not help his
case.

Lone Leaf would have wanted to conceal his identity in front

of Li Zhong Ren, but knew that owing to Wang Zhong’s
presence, it wouldn’t do him much good.

Therefore, the only thing that Lone Leaf could do was to face
the consequences, whatever they might be.
 Lone Leaf had seen them, and naturally, they too had seen
him in return.

“Another Bei Ming group of nasty flies, I really want to spank

these ones to death.”

Wu San gritted his teeth, as his blood-red eyes glared at Lone

Leaf, as if they were trying to say, ‘you’re a dead man’.

Wu San would have wanted to direct those words at Wang

Zhong, but didn’t do so, as he was scared of Wang Zhong’s
strength and ability.

Anyway, if he was to kill Lone Leaf, then there was no point in

leaving the rest of his group alive, which included Wang Zhong
as well.

“Bei Ming group? Do you want me to help you guys in sorting

them out?” Li Zhong Ren’s right arm was curled around Wu
XuiLi’s narrow waist, and his fingers were gently stroking, and
caressing, Wu XuiLi’s tender skin.
 Wu XuiLi giggled, and smiled: “Zhong Ren, you… are so bad,
but so good, ah heee heee. Zhong Ren, that Bei Ming boy, Lone
Leaf, has crossed paths with me in the past as well, if you can…”

“Yes, I can help you deal with Lone Leaf, but… hey…” Li
Zhong Ren’s face exposed a lascivious smile, as his big hands,
reached down to touch her butt.

Wu XuiLi wringed her waist, to excite Li Zhong Ren’s already

ardent intentions further.

“If you help us out, then well, I guess, I’ll help you out…” Wu
XuiLi smiled, and raised her eyebrows.

“Good! Good! Very good!” Li Zhong Ren playfully squeezed

her buttocks, as his face exposed the colors of his true desires.

“Lone Leaf, you are blamed with the sin of provoking this
little beauty here, and it only ends one way.”
 Wu San and the rest of them quickly approached Lone Leaf,
and the rest of his party; their aggressive momentum and
vicious looks, clearly indicative of their intentions.

Lone Leaf’s face was beginning to get more and more ugly,
and he said in a low voice: “Brother Bi Fan, seems like Wu San,
and the rest of his gang, is here to kill me, please lend me
helping hand in this time of great need.”

“Don’t worry, we’re in this together. If the Wu San, and the

rest of them, try to lay a hand on you, I’ll provide support to
you.” Bi Fan’s face was as calm as ever, but his mind was
completely blank.

Wang Zhong’s expression was even more serene, but his eyes
were burning with a wild desire for war.

The Blue Dragon, well, goes without saying, was just aching to
get his hands of them.

Fighting against the usual Devil’s Race beasts, was too easy,
and didn’t provide them with even the slightest of challenges.
 But a battle with strong human opponents, was a completely
different thing, and was one of the fastest methods to increase
strength.

“Lone Leaf, I didn’t expect to bump into you again in such a

big Devil’s Abyss, but here we are again.” Wu San laughed.

Lone Leaf replied promptly: “Yes ah, I think the Devil’s Abyss
is shrinking, otherwise, why would we bump into each other
again and again.”

Since Lone Leaf had gotten a positive response from Bi Fan, he

had calmed down, and had managed to collect himself.

He had personally seen what Bi Fan was capable of, and not to
mention, that there was the added strength of Wang Zhong,
‘transformation’ layer, which meant, that with the two of them
on one side, they would be easily able to deal with Li Zhong Ren,
and still be left with plenty.

“Bei Ming’s Lone Leaf… nope, never heard of you before.” Li

Zhong Ren shook his head.
 Li Zhong Ren’s eyes, full of contempt, sized up Lone Leaf, and
then his gaze shifted to Blue Dragon, then Bi Fan, still,
flourishing with pejoration.

Finally, his eyes found Wang Zhong’s body, and didn’t leave
him for a while.

“Who are you? Which school do you belong to?” Li Zhong Ren
frowned as he asked.

Wu San quickly answered his question: “He is Whisker Wang;

he doesn’t have any loyalties to any particular sect.”

Then, he turned to Wang Zhong, and said: “Wang Zhong, I’m

looking to settle an old score with Lone Leaf, and you’d better
stay out of this.”

“And what if I don’t? If I intervene, what are you going to do

about it?” Wang Zhong looked at him; his eyes brimmed with
disdain.

Wu San’s face quickly started to lose color: “Wang Zhong,

you’re a lone ranger, if you help out Lone Leaf, then you’ll end
up marking yourself for death as well.”

“Wu San, don’t be so arrogant, not on the backing of your

sect.” Lone Leaf stepped out, and threatened.

Wang Zhong laughed: “I could have killed you in your own

School; god knows what I’ll do to you here.”

Wang Zhong’s tone was so casual, that it seemed like he was

chatting about domestic trivia.

Wu San’s four man team took a step back, a clear indication of

the fear that Wang Zhong could provoke in their hearts.

Only Li Zhong Ren greeted his threat: “A no one from

nowhere, and you dare to challenge people from schools as big
as ours… courageous… but today, I will show you your place.”

Li Zhong Ren’s eyes were sharply staring at Wang Zhong, and

the flame for a war had already started to rage in them.

Wang Zhong’s eyes were equally staunch; and as the two

glared each other down, the momentum to the battle up ahead,
started to rise.

Bi Fan stated in a cold voice: “It seems like a fight is

inevitable. It is imperative that we don’t let anyone leave,
otherwise we will end up facing a lot of flak for it later on.”

His tone was more of a whisper, and only Blue Dragon and
Lone Leaf heard his words, who nodded in understanding.

Wang Zhong’s murderous gaze was beginning to overwhelm

Li Zhong Ren, and it seemed that Li Zhong Ren was a little
scared of him as well, almost to the point where his body
seemed to sweat from it.

“This guy is fairly strong, and seems to have a very strong

reputation as well, plus, he’s certainly very experienced. If I go
up against him, I’d have to use everything I’ve got; every last
one of my tricks, and even then, I might still end up hurting
myself. Not sure if this little beauty is really worth all this
trouble.” Li Zhong Ren’s mind was beginning to weigh the pros
and cons, and his impulsive desires started to cool down
immediately.

Wu San had been planning on using Li Zhong Ren all along,

and so, he looked over at Wu XuiLi, and winked.

Wu XuiLi smiled tenderly as she said: “Zhong Ren, I really

want to see your majestic strength; I adore you.”

Li Zhong Ren’s mind started to picture Wu XuiLi’s tender

skin, her amazing butt, her magnificent bosom…

He swallowed a mouthful of saliva, to sate the thirst ignited by

his scalding heart.

“For you beautiful, I will. With my weapon, killing any

person, of any school is as easy as slicing a fruit.” Li Zhong Ren
had finally made up his mind.

“All hands to deck! Kill them all!” Li Zhong Ren screamed, as

he launched a forestall attack.

Li Zhong Ren was using a double-edged saber; a top-grade

magic weapon.

His saber seemed extremely heavy, its huge flanks very as

shiny as a mirror, and gleamed brightly in the Abyss’s dull light.

His saber seemed so powerful, that it could be easily used to

split open a rock, or even a small boulder.

With his saber in his hand, Li Zhong Ren jumped high in the
air, as he charged head-first for Wang Zhong, in full force.

“Hill Split Strength!” Li Zhong Ren’s sword slashed through

the air, at the speed of lightening, as it made its course towards
Wang Zhong.
 Chapter 70 – One Shot Kill

“Oh hell!” Wang Zhong cursed out, as he retreated his body

back, as fast as possible.

Wang Zhong was a very experienced fighter, and was

equipped with a very rich combat experience, which is why he
was already on a guard, to some extent.

Wang Zhong somehow got out of the way, and Li Zhong Ren’s
Saber landed on the ground beneath, where he had been
standing. The effect of the attack was so immense, that it split
open a crack in the ground, which was almost ten meters deep
and one foot wide.

“Woah!” Wang Zhong was inwardly speechless.

Blue Dragon and Lone Leaf, were left completely astonished as

well. They were just on the verge of joining the fight, but now,
they just stood there, over-awed.

“Attack! No one gets out!” Bi Fan shouted loudly.

 Bi Fan voice woke, Blue Dragon and Lone Leaf, with a start,
and the two of them charged towards the San Yuan group.

Bi Fan was on the lookout for the strongest of them, and

hence, decided to go after Wu San, leaving Blue Dragon and
Lone Leaf to deal with the remaining four San Yuan Students.

The Chimera, once again, had strict orders from Bi Fan, to not
charge recklessly into the battle, and remain hidden. It once
again, was endowed with the responsibility to intercept and
finish off any fleeing enemies.

Li Zhong Ren was a Yuan Shi student, and hence, it was very
important to kill him, now that they had already entered into a
fight with him. Because if he left the Abyss alive, then he would
be able to get back to his school, and Bi Fan’s platoon, would
end up facing their wrath, which wouldn’t be a good thing for
them.

Yuan Shi was naturally going to retaliate very strongly, and

send more men, stronger men, to deal with them.

Lone Leaf, at least, had Bei Ming’s backing, so naturally he

would be better off. But Bi Fan and Blue Dragon wouldn’t do so
well. So, to the two of them, this was no joke; it was a matter of
life and death.

Fortunately, the four San Yuan students that were

accompanying Wu San, weren’t particularly strong, and, Blue
Dragon and Lone Leaf were comfortably able to hold their own
against the four of them.

Wu San was worthy of being called smart; he had managed to

conceal his true intentions, and manipulated Li Zhong Ren, into
doing his will.

Wu San had been dreaming of killing Wang Zhong ever since

Wang Zhong had beaten him. Today, he had been presented
with an opportunity to just that, and fortunately, he had a
fickle-minded Li Zhong Ren at his disposal.

As for Li Zhong Ren, he was too pre-occupied with Wu XiuLi’s

charms, to see the truth.

Anyway, Wu San hadn’t exactly lied either, and had very

calculatedly modified the truth. Lone Leaf and Wu San hadn’t
exactly always been on good terms with each other; after all,
Lone Leaf was from Bei Ming, which was the only reason that
Wu San hadn’t killed him already.

Wu San had played his move well. He had used Lone Leaf’s
presence to instigate the fight, and so, Li Zhong Ren, had easily
believed his words.

Wang Zhong had seen through it, but didn’t bother pointing it
out to anyone.

Wu San was very relieved, since his idea had worked out so
well.

The battle had already begun, now all that was left for him to
do, was to kill everyone that he was opposed with.

Wu San couldn’t sense Bi Fan’s inner strength, and in disdain,

readied his sword to put an end to Bi Fan’s life.

Wu San didn’t consider Bi Fan to be any match for his own

ability, and hence, he didn’t even bother to defend himself, and
decided to go ‘all-out attack’.
 Bi Fan’s heart grinned as he had decided to use all his
strength, from the very beginning, this time around.

“‘Rainy-fly Sword!’ ‘Prancing tiger!’” Bi Fan pounced at Wu

San, putting all his strength in his attack; all his inner strength,
and all of his physical strength.

He was well aware of the fact that, if he was getting involved

with Wu San, then winning wouldn’t be an easy task. At the
moment, he was at an advantage, as his opponent wasn’t exactly
prepared to deal with him, and so naturally, he decided to take
full advantage of Wu San’s mistake.

As he watched Bi Fan move, Wu San realized that he had been

fooled, and he quickly changed his strategy, and prepared
himself to defend the incoming attacks.

Unfortunately for him, it was already too late. Bi Fan’s punch

shattered Wu San’s sword, which broke into countless pieces,
while Bi Fan sword hit his throat.

Although Wu San was wearing armor on his chest, and a

helmet on his head, but his throat was still left bare of any
additional defenses; and well, was left more than scratched,
after Bi Fan’s attack.

“Bang!”

Wu San crashed into the ground, and didn’t budge thereafter.

One Hit!

Bi Fan had managed to kill a man, who was at the peak of

‘transformation’ layer in just one strike, a feat, which even Bi
Fan couldn’t dare to dream off.

Of course, Bi Fan’s success was largely attributed to the fact

that Wu San had gravely underestimated his ability.

Wu San was dead. Blue Dragon and Lone Leaf, simply couldn’t
believe their eyes, which obviously reflected on their shocked
faces.

The four remaining San Yuan students were just staring

blankly at the scene. They knew exactly what Wu San was
capable of, and simply couldn’t accept the fact that, he had been
killed in just one strike; especially by man who was barely at the
peak of the ‘brave’ layer.

“Brother…..”

“Brother…..”

The eyes of the four remaining San Yuan student were so red,
that they started to tear.

Li Zhong Ren and Wang Zhong had also seen Wu San’s end,
and the two of them had temporarily come to a halt.

Wang Zhong had fought Wu San before, and was well aware
of his strength and ability. Watching him die in this manner,
made Wang Zhong realize, that Bi Fan might even be strong
enough to do the same to him.

All this time, he had been very dissatisfied with the fact that
he had lost to Bi Fan, but now, a chill was beginning to crawl, up
and down, his spine.
 “If I had tried to fight Bi Fan alone, he might have ended up
killing me as well…” Wang Zhong could feel the goosebumps
that were rising on his body.

Li Zhong Ren was also quite scared now, as he too was only at
the peak of ‘transformation’ layer, same as his dead friend. An
even though he was slightly stronger than Wu San, the
difference wasn’t very big.

Now, Wu San was dead, and if Bi Fan and Wang Zhong

teamed up against him, then he knew, that they would kill him
in no time.

As soon as the thought of this possibility crossed his mind, Li

Zhong Ren started to consider the idea of abandoning the fight.

Wu XuiLi saw Wu San’s death, and couldn’t recover from the

shock for a long time.

“Zhong Ren, you must kill him! You must kill that devious
boy, and avenge by senior’s death. As long as you kill him, and
take revenge for Wu San, I’ll do anything you say.” Wu XuiLi’s
eyes were blood-shot red, while her body language was similar
to a wild animal, which had just gone berserk.

Li Zhong Ren heard her voice, and the flame of desire found a
new fire inside his heart, but he still hesitated this time around.

“She is a beauty, but then again, I’m still young, and I still
have my whole life ahead of me; a life that I can really enjoy. So,
I think I should withdraw now.” Li Zhong Ren had already
made up his mind.

Li Zhong Ren replied loudly: “Don’t worry my beautiful, I will

kill them all, and avenge your senior’s death.”

Li Zhong Ren launched a fierce attack against Wang Zhong,

and his Saber charged for Wang Zhong’s head at a vicious speed.

After killing off Wu San, Bi Fan quickly collected his whole

body.

Wu San was one of San Yuan’s most talented youths, and

naturally, would be equipped with some very valuable items. Bi
Fan, at the moment, didn’t have the time to slowly search his
dead body for valuables, so he quickly incorporated it, in its
entirety, into his storage facilities.

After collecting Wu San’s body, Bi Fan started to look for his

next opponent.

Blue Dragon and Lone Leaf were dealing with four opponents
at once, four very fierce opponents, and were being
overwhelmed at the moment. Wu XuiLi, especially was causing
a lot of trouble, as she was so desperate to avenge Wu San’s
death, that she was even willing to injure herself to inflict
injuries onto their bodies, and had already managed to inflict
several wounds to Lone Leaf and Blue Dragon.

Li Zhong Ren and Wang Zhong’s duel was a stalemate, and it

didn’t look like there would a winner any time soon.

So Bi Fan decided to help out Lone Leaf and Blue Dragon first,
and made his way towards Wu XuiLi for starters.

As soon as Bi Fan joined the fray, the pressure that had been
piling on Blue Dragon and Lone Leaf, decreased significantly.

The San Yuan students really hated Bi Fan, and simply

couldn’t bear the sight of him. Wu XuiLi had gone completely
crazy, and was attacking him wildly. But the other three were
quite scared of him, and were holding back a bit, as they were
afraid that he might kill them too.

“Rising Sun!” Bi Fan decided to employ a technique that he

had stolen from one of his previous victims.

At this time, he was engaged in a battle against men from

schools that were located outside Jiu Yu City, which meant that
they wouldn’t be overly familiar with their counterparts in Jiu
Yu City’s schools. So, using a ‘rising sun’ school trademark
technique, would come in handy in the event that someone
managed to escape out of the fight alive, as they would end
being misled to believe that he’s a ‘rising sun’ student.

Bi Fan was extremely cautious, so much so, that he had even

considered the possibility of one of his enemies succeeding in
escaping, despite his extensive measures to prevent the same.
He knew that he could kill them off easily, but still, that didn’t
mean that he could let his guard down.

By using ‘rising sun’ technique, which was a secret technique

that was only known to ‘rising sun’ students, meant, that Bi Fan
could easily impersonate a ‘rising sun’ student; and no one
would suspect it either.

‘Rising sun’ technique wasn’t at par with the ‘rainy-fly sword’

technique, but then again, it was Bi Fan who was using it, and
so, the end result was formidable.

Wu XuiLi was trying to face Bi Fan alone, and soon, started to

fall under the wind, unable to cope with his ability.

Li Zhong Ren had been watching Bi Fan closely. And as he

continued to watch Bi Fan, it become obvious to him, that Wu
San’s death at the hands of Bi Fan, was no fluke, and Bi Fan
truly was very strong.

Since he had gotten a good look at Bi Fan true ability, he

couldn’t help feel, even more, scared for his life now.

“Landslide Strike!” Li Zhong Ren cast out a formidable and

unique technique, and his Saber charged towards Wang Zhong
at the speed of lightening, ready to split Wang Zhong into two.

“Oh shit!” Wang Zhong realized just how forceful the attack
was, and quickly retreated, simply unable to find the courage to
stand up to an attack like this one.

Li Zhong Ren’s attack had only covered half the distance

between them, when he suddenly changed directions, and
stepped back, and then quickly, made a dash.

“Li Zhong Ren is trying to escape! We need to make sure he

doesn’t!” Wang Zhong shouted out loudly; anxiously.
 Chapter 71 – Division Of Loot

Li Zhong Ren had only just started to make an escape from the
scene, and Wang Zhong was already chasing after him.

Bi Fan realized that the four, remaining, San Yuan students

had started to panic due to this, another unexpected, turn of
events, and so he decided to not chase after Li Zhong Ren
immediately, and use the distraction, that he had unknowingly
provided, and utilize it to finish his opponent off.

“Zhong Ren ……” Wu XuiLi screamed, her voice was clearly

indicative of her physical, and mental, exhaustion.

“Die in hell!” Bi Fan wasn’t going to show her any mercy just
because she was a girl, and so, he cast out the ‘rainy-fly Sword’
technique, and beheaded her, in one clean swing.

Without any hesitation, he quickly took her body as well.

Blue Dragon and Lone Leaf did the exact same thing, and
sorted out their respective opponents. Now, the one remaining
student from San Yuan student wasn’t really going to be able to
cause any trouble for the three of them.

Bi Fan decided to leave him to Blue Dragon and Lone Leaf, and
started to chase after Li Zhong Ren. But since he had also kept
the Chimera on standby, especially for a situation like this, he
wasn’t really anxious or worried, unlike Wang Zhong.

He hadn’t gone far, when he saw that Li Zhong Ren was being
circled by Wang Zhong and Chimera.

Bi Fan slowed his pace down to a very casual walk, and

continued to walk towards Li Zhong Ren, unhurriedly, as his
imposing eyes, stared at his target.

Li Zhong Ren could sense the incoming danger, and so, he

shouted out: “I’m from Yuan Shi! You will not kill me, unless
you have a death wish.”

“Haha! This is what I think; if we let you go, we will end up in

a lot of trouble; but, if we kill you today, then no one will ever
bother us over you. After all, Yuan Shi doesn’t have the time, or
the extra people, to launch inquiries into the dead students, who
aren’t even core/Neimen students yet.” Wang Zhong laughed
out loudly.
 Bi Fan stated: “Li Zhong Ren, you’re going to die today; and
you only have yourself to blame for it.”

Bi Fan on one side, Wang Zhong on the other, plus a Chimera

lurking around on the perimeter, Li Zhong Ren knew that he
would not be able to deal with so many, such powerful,
opponents, at once.

“Let’s finish this quickly!” Bi Fan announced in a cold voice.

Li Zhong Ren had been sentenced to death, so that Bi Fan and

his platoon wouldn’t run into more trouble later on, on his
account. After all, if you chop off the weed, you must also
destroy its roots.

By now, Blue Dragon and Lone Leaf had already killed off the
last remaining San Yuan student, and were already lurking
around the outer perimeter, to stop Li Zhong Ren, in case he
tried to escape again.

Li Zhong Ren knew that he was completely surrounded, and

his heart was pounding wildly, owing to fear that Bi Fan had
instilled in his psyche.

After the manner in which Bi Fan had killed Wu San, one

really couldn’t blame Li Zhong Ren.

“Ao Xian Tian! (Defying Domination)” Wang Zhong cast out

one his best techniques.

Defying Domination (Ao Xian Tian), was a mid-level sword-

play technique, that Wang Zhong had obtained by accident, and
was considered at par with ‘Fufeng double-edged Sword’; one of
the best techniques in Wang Zhong’s arsenal.

Considering that he had no backing from any martial arts

schools, it was quite commendable that he had been able to
obtain intermediate level techniques.

Wang Zhong was so strong, and skilled, at the same time, that
most would consider him to almost twice as powerful as an
ordinary student of a normal martial arts School, who was at
the same level as him.

Bi Fan continued to use the ‘The Rising Sun’ technique, but

this time, added the ‘prancing tiger’ boxing as well, with his left
hand, to go with it.

“Alright! Let’s have a fight then!” Li Zhong Ren was furious.

He cast out a trademark, and one of the most secretive,

techniques of the Yuan Shi School – The Shaking Sky!

The technique had gotten its name from the fear that its
power could instill, and Li Zhong Ren’s body appeared to grow
bigger as he charged forward.

“Zhum!…..” Their swords clashed, and surprisingly enough,

Li Zhong Ren was able to match up to both of his enemies at
once; not only that, the impact of the collision sent Bi Fan and
Wang Zhong back a few steps, while Li Zhong Ren managed to
stand his ground.

Li Zhong Ren just wanted to escape, at present, but his

attempt was foiled by the Chimera’s fire.

Bi Fan and Wang Zhong quickly took advantage of the delay,

and circled Li Zhong Ren again, and launched another wave of
attacks.

“Li Zhong Ren, a couple of tricks aren’t going to save you

today. You will die here!” Bi Fan sneered.

The conditions were becoming even harsher for Li Zhong Ren,

by the passing second, and his tricks would not be able to
support him for much longer.

Li Zhong Ren’s face had gone pale, and one could see that his
eyes were permeating with rancor.

“ARRGHHHH!” Li Zhong Ren, roared, as he launched another

fierce wave of ‘The Shaking Sky’.

Bi Fan and Wang Zhong quickly retreated, as they simply

couldn’t dare to stand up to the attack.

The Shaking Sky, was simply too strong an attack, so much

so, that the even gale that it brought with itself, was unbearably
strong.
 As soon as he had managed to push Bi Fan and Wang Zhong,
back a few steps, Li Zhong Ren tried to escape again, but the
Chimera, ever-ready, lit up his path, once more.

As soon as Bi Fan would catch up to Li Zhong Ren, the

Chimera would withdraw itself, once again, from the fight, as
his only job was to make sure that Li Zhong Ren didn’t slip out
of Bi Fan’s hands.

The Chimera had done a great job too, and had already
managed to stop Li Zhong Ren, more than twice now.

Li Zhong Ren was barely delayed for a split second, but found
himself encircled by Bi Fan and Wang Zhong, once again.

“ARGHHH!” Bi Fan howled as he launched another fierce

attack.

Wang Zhong, similarly, employed all his strength and he

charged wildly for his target.

‘The Immortal Finger!’

 In the wild heat of the enraging battle, Bi Fan, clandestinely,
cast out his secret technique.

It was better for him to end the battle as soon as possible;

otherwise, there was always a chance that someone might
witness the fight, which could cause trouble later on, if the
news of this reached Yuan Shi.

Li Zhong Ren was prepared to deal with Bi Fan and Wang

Zhong’s swords, but this concealed, and formless, attack, hit
him straight at his throat.

His eyes spun skyward, as he fell backwards and landed on the

ground with a thud, but his eyes were still wide open, reflecting
the grievances that he had died with.

Bi Fan didn’t waste any time, and bluntly, quickly, took his
body as well.

“Make sure that there’s no one else around.” Bi Fan instructed

his comrades.
 The four of them started to scan every direction, for signs to
any knavish viewers; they even walked around a bit, to make
sure that no one had been sneaking on their activities.

Once satisfied that no one knew of their secret, they went

looking for a secretive place, so that they could divide the loot
that they had obtained from Li Zhong Ren and the others.

Li Zhong Ren and Wu San, were both renowned martial

artists of their generation, and so, it wasn’t really surprising
when the total loot added up to thirteen weapons, hundreds of
Dan pellets, almost thirty five thousand Spars, and a total of
twenty one Ying Yang pouches, almost half of which were full
with bodies of dead beasts.

This journey into the Devil’s Abyss, had indeed, been a very
rewarding for Bi Fan and his comrades. As far as Bi Fan’s
personal gains were concerned, he had gained so much, even
without considering this new loot.

Bi Fan smiled, and said: “We have no much wealth to divide

between ourselves now. Brothers, Blue Dragon and Lone Leaf,
why don’t you guys take your picks first.”
 “I’ll go for ten thousand spar, one weapon, a dozen Dan, and
those three Yin Yang pouches.” Lone Leaf was the first to speak.

Bi Fan encouraged: “We have so many weapons to divide, why

don’t you take two of them. They will come in handy someday.”

“There is a possibility that these weapons might be well

recognized, as some of them belonged to Li Zhong Ren, so, if
someone spots me using these outside of here, I will end up in a
whole of trouble. Brother Bi Fan, I’d like to caution you against
using these weapons in public; it’s best to sell them off in
secrecy.” Lone Leaf smiled as he shook his head.

Lone Leaf would have definitely loved to take more weapons,

but these weapons could cause a major headache later on.

“Since that’s the case, I’ll take the responsibility of selling the
weapons off, in exchange for spars.” Bi Fan smiled: “Brother
Blue Dragon, what would you like, take your pick.”

There was so much wealth at hand, that Bi Fan simply didn’t

mind being generous. Anyway, he wasn’t afraid of what Blue
Dragon might take, as he knew that his friend wasn’t greedy by
nature; he simply wasn’t that kind of a person.
 Blue Dragon, same as Lone Leaf, asked for almost ten
thousand spars, some Dan, a weapon, and three Yin Yang
pouches.

Blue Dragon and Lone Leaf were very clear one fact; even
though they had assisted in killing off a major group, such as Li
Zhong Ren’s, but they simply wouldn’t have been able to do it
without Bi Fan and Wang Zhong, and hence, couldn’t gather to
nerve to ask for more.

The remaining items fell into Bi Fan and Wang Zhong’s share.
Since, Wang Zhong was Bi Fan’s subordinate; naturally his
reward was dependent on Bi Fan’s approvals.

Bi Fan separated the weapons, and the Yin Yang pouches,

from the Dan pellets and the Spars, as he would need to sell
them later on, and incorporated his share into his Yin Yang
pouches.

These weapons, needed to be sold as soon as possible, as

keeping them in his possession for a long time, would be like
giving invitation to trouble, owing to their origin and nature of
acquisition.
 These items, plus the ones that he had obtained from Gou
Ming, and then there was Tian Feng’s sword as well, Bi Fan
would have a large number of weapons to trade in the market.

“Wow, that’s a lot!” Bi Fan laughed out loudly.

Lone Leaf smiled: “Following Brother Bi Fan is so cool, and

rewarding. I have taken serval trips to the Devil’s Abyss in the
past, but the combined harvests from those trips don’t even add
up this one’s alone.”

“If we continue to stick together, then we may be able to get

more in the future.” Bi Fan smiled.

Hunting strong humans was always more rewarding than any

other form of wealth collection.

The idea to kill humans and pillage their bodies for wealth,
did cross Bi Fan’s mind once or twice, but he pushed them away.
After all, he wasn’t a man of vile heart, and therefore, wouldn’t
resort to criminal activities for money.
 Chapter 72 – The Devils

Bi Fan had killed several students from big schools such as

Yuan Shi, San Yuan and Jian Shen, but he didn’t seem to mind
it.

Yuan Shi, Jian Shen and San Yuan were some of the largest
sects in Tian Yu, so much so, that even the smallest of them,
San Yuan, was much larger than Quiayang School.

But to Bi Fan, it didn’t matter; as long as no one saw it.

Unfortunately for Bi Fan, these students weren’t carrying the

books that recorded the secret techniques that were taught in
their schools, as it was a school policy; a pre-emptive measure to
protect their secrets from falling into enemy hands, in case their
students died in the Abyss.

Otherwise with help of the secret techniques of schools such

as Yuan Shi and Jui Yu Da’s Jian Shen, Bi Fan’s progress would
have accelerated quite a bit.

The four of them continued to venture deeper into the Abyss,

in the hope of matching their skills against the layer’s King.
They were in an awfully cheerful mood at present, and
continued to laugh as they fought their through the Abyss.

They held the same idea, which many other strong youngsters
before them had nurtured; that they could kill the layer’s King.

For a beast to become the King of the first layer, the beast
must be able to attain at least ‘spiritual intelligence’ level, in
terms of physical strength alone, which meant that escaping
from the claws of such a powerful beast would be a very difficult
task, if met with adversity.

Humans often entered the Devil’s Abyss just to kill the Devil’s
race. In fact, normally, the devil’s race was considered a mortal
enemy of humanity, and this rivalry had been continually
fumed and fed by the uncountable deaths on both sides.

With that in mind, if the layer’s King, managed to come across

a powerful human, he certainly wouldn’t allow the same to
leave without a fight.

On the way ahead, they encountered several elite students

from various leading martial arts schools, but since both parties
were always mutually on alert with regard to each other’s
presence, an alliance wasn’t exactly an option.

Whenever Lone Leaf came across a Yuan Shi group, his

confidence would inevitably waver a bit, out of guilt and fear.
Blue Dragon was able to hold his nerves a lot better than Lone
Leaf, and Bi Fan didn’t seem to mind much.

As far as Wang Zhong was concerned, he carried to no fear of

anything under the sun.

Gradually, as they continued to penetrate deeper into the

Abyss, they started to encounter ‘spiritual intelligence’ layer
beasts on a regular basis, and even the number of ‘enormous
strength’ layer beasts increased significantly. However, the total
number of beasts in single group reduced by some.

Even so, it wasn’t exactly easy to deal with these groups, but
they managed, owing to the combined strength of their own
group.

Bi Fan’s party was a bad news for the Devil’s Race. Whenever
a group of beasts besieged them, the fight ended with the beasts
lying dead on the floor, or in a Yin Yang pouch.
 This was a ruthless place, and the corpses that they left
behind, would eventually end up being served as food for other
animals.

Bi Fan along with his three companions, and the Chimera,

made for a very strong team, but even then, their pace had
slowed down now, as they too were having some difficulty in
moving forward.

“There’s a large group of Devils (mó tóu) over there, shall we

fight them?” Wang Zhong asked.

There were a lot of very powerful demons inside the Devil’s

Abyss, but the Devil, was a very unique one. The Devil was
capable of killing of even the strongest of humans in no time at
all, by taking over their minds and driving them mad, in fact,
they even had the ability to control the bodies of human beings.

Of course, a Devil would first have to overpower the human

before he could take control of its mind, and only then, could a
Devil turn a human into its private, dancing, puppet.
 As opposed to a normal Devil’s race demon, fighting a Devil,
was tabooed.

A Devil could evolve into a great Devil only after it had

reached the ‘spiritual intelligence’ layer, which was even
stronger and even more dangerous than a regular Devil.

The group that they had just seen didn’t seem to have a
master, or a leader.

Leaderless Devils aren’t that dangerous, as their wisdom

might be limited, while they might also lack co-ordination.

A Devil is formless in shape, and has no body; they exist in the

form of a black gas cloud.

Battling with a Devil, or killing one, didn’t give any

materialistic rewards, but it could greatly sharpen someone’s
mind, and was considered good for the spirit, and the soul.
 A Devil’s main threat was its ability to launch attacks on the
minds of its opponents, its spirits and its soul, which in turn,
could make people hallucinate, and drive them crazy. This was
the reason why a Devil was capable of killing even the strongest
of humans.

Usually, when someone came across a Devil, they would turn

the other way, and run.

Bi Fan said: “Let’s go kill some Devils, its good exercise for our
minds and soul. Anyway, it would be a waste to enter the Abyss,
and not fight a Devil…”

Since Bi Fan had already made the call, Blue Dragon and Lone
Leaf, naturally, wouldn’t refute his word, as they had full
confidence in Bi Fan’s abilities.

Even though Bi Fan’s energy level was the lowest in the group,
he still, was their best fighter; which he had proved over and
over again.

The four of them started to close the distance that separated

them from that group of Devils, at an awfully quick pace. This
group contained hundreds, maybe even thousands of Devils in
it, some of which had already evolved into the great Devils.

The strengths’ of the Great Devils varied between from

‘spiritual intelligence’ layer and the ‘transformation’ layer.

The Devils saw them approach, and swarmed towards them,

as if they were ready to eat their meal.

The Devils flocked together, and started to form a large cloud

of black gas, as they continued to charge towards Bi Fan and his
group; their movement, however, made no sound whatsoever.

“Arghhh!” Bi Fan roared, as he charged violently for them.

Rainy-fly sword!

Bi Fan’s sword slashed left and right, and as he slashed

through the clouds, they began to dissipate.

Wang Zhong cast out the ‘Defying Domination’ technique,

and managed to dissipate several factions of the cloud as well.
 The Blue Dragon’s scimitar too, was relentlessly hacking and
chopping at the clouds, and he too had managed to kill several
of them.

Lone Leaf wasn’t going to be content staying behind the

others, and decided to use a special trick from the Bei Ming trick
box – Six Yang Horseshoe.

The Six Yang Horseshoe technique, heated up the air around

his sword as he tried to cut the black gas clouds, which
increased the speed with which he was able to dissipate them.

The four of them were young and all charged up, and they
simply couldn’t avoid the idea of a competition, so natural, they
kept coming up with new ways to kill more devils, and at a
faster pace.

“Haha, I didn’t know that it was going to be so easy to kill

Devils” Blue Dragon started to laugh.

Wang Zhong spoke up: “Don’t underestimate the Devils; if

they surround you, then you will have a difficult time in dealing
with them.”
 The moment he issued the warning, the cloud began to
disperse, and started to surround the four of them within its
grasp.

As the clouds surged around them, a very depressing feeling

started to fill the air.

“Be careful, don’t let them take control of your minds; control
your thoughts, and don’t get lost in their illusions.” Wang
Zhong issued another warning.

Wang Zhong had fought the Devils in past as well, which is

why he knew so much about them.

Blue Dragon and Bi Fan became more serious after Wang

Zhong’s warning.

Bi Fan cast out the ‘Fufeng Double-edged sword’ technique, so

he could increase the pace, by compensating on the power,
which would enable him to kill the clouds faster.
 Each small group of black gas is a Devil, so effectively, a cloud,
can be comprised of hundreds of them, or even more, deepening
on the size of the cloud. They were a terrible breed to fight
against, and awfully difficult to kill as a whole.

Although Bi Fan had managed to kill a lot of them owing to

the change in strategy, but they still managed to enclose the
group within their reach.

As soon as they had the humans in their enclosure, they

started to attack their minds, and Bi Fan suddenly found himself
reeling into darkness, and his mind started to overcome with
fear.

He started seeing the scenes from his childhood, and the

unspeakable horrors that he had suffered, clogged his mind; the
orchard boys were cursing at him, bullying him; Zhu San’s fat
face….

Everything seemed so real, that Bi Fan started feeling the

pain, once again.
 “Ah!….. I will kill you all!” Bi Fan howled in a mad frenzy; as
the influence of the Devils illusion increased, Bi Fan’s mind
started to swirl into chaos, and his feet became unstable.

The orchard boys were abusing him, Zhu San was sneering at
him, and even the old man made an appearance.

“Bi Fan, you are completely useless, you should not be allowed
to live in world. You need to die; your life is wastage of food!”

Zhu San and the other boys had surrounded him completely,
and their mouths were continuously repeating these words,
which was beginning to take over Bi Fan’s conscious.

“Bi Fan, die. Die and free yourself of this suffering.”

“Bi Fan, I get so lonesome in heaven. You can come and stay
here with me; it’s so comfortable here; you won’t have to suffer
ever again…” even the old man Xing was trying to tempt Bi Fan.

“Ah….” Bi Fan was holding his head in his hands, as he

continued to shout frantically, while his eyes were beginning to
redden.
 If this continued for long, then, he could die, as Bi Fan’s mind
would, eventually, be possessed by the Devils.
 Chapter 73 – Another Breakthrough

Taking control of someone’s mind by force is a very

complicated act, but once accomplished, the attacker can even
send the victim on a killing spree, without the victim ever being
able to realize the consequences of his actions.

At the present state that Bi Fan’s mind was in, all he wanted to
do was to kill everyone that was in front of him.

Bi Fan was constantly chopping and slashing, but Zhu San and
the others, simply wouldn’t disappear; on the contrary, they
were only becoming more and more real, and their voices were
only growing louder and louder.

Only one thread of reason was still functional in Bi Fan’s

mind, which was constantly telling him: “Kill them all, and
things will get better, it’s all just an illusion…”

This last thread of thought in mind was fueling him to kill

everything in sight, and by doing so, his restless heart would
finally be able to find some peace.
 But those Devils weren’t going to let go of him that easily, and
the illusions were becoming more and more realistic by the
passing second, and their effect too, was becoming more and
more terrifying. They kept aligning their illusions with the
tragedies that Bi Fan had suffered in the past, which was
making thing seven worse for him.

Since Bi Fan was being made to experience all those tragedies

again, all at once, his mind, naturally, couldn’t stay calm.

The Yin Yang Lotus, which lurked inside Bi Fan’s body,

concealed from the outside world, began to realize that Bi Fan
was about to lose his mind, and so, it finally started to show
signs of activity.

Radiant threads, black and white in color, started to emerge

from within the Lotus; the White threads started to enclose Bi
Fan’s mind, soul, and spirit from the attacks.

While the shining black ones, flew out of his body, and began
devouring the Devils that surrounded him.

The Black threads, as it turned out, were a bane for the Devils,
and even though the Devils tried to resist it, the black threads
started to swallow them whole, regardless of their efforts.

Once the Black threads had swallowed the ones that lurked
around Bi Fan, they started to expand, rapidly, so they could
take in the others in the vicinity as well. The Devils tried to
make a run for it, but the black threads didn’t give them any
room to escape, so much so, that even the great Devils fell prey
to the threads.

The Black threads continued to grow and expand, until they

had cleared the area of the Devils, and then quickly retreated
back into Bi Fan’s body, and then back into the Yin Yang Lotus
they came out of.

Since all the Devils had been eliminated, naturally, the

illusion disappeared.

Wan Zhong, Blue Dragon, Lone Leaf, and Bi Fan, all, snapped
out of the illusions, soaking wet with fear and sweat, while their
faces were pale with the terrors that they had just been
subjected to.

Wang Zhong, relatively, was still able to cope up with the

effect of illusions, as he had dealt with the Devils before.
 Lone Leaf had entered the Devil’s Abyss several times in the
past, which is why he was already prepared to face something
like this, and hence, was somehow coping up with it, to some
extent.

Bi Fan and Blue Dragon, were both in a miserable condition,

as both of them had suffered a lot of adversities in their
respective pasts, which is exactly what a Devils uses against its
foe.

If the Yin Yang Lotus hadn’t come to their aid, then Bi Fan
would have surely lost his mind, and would have probably
slaughtered everyone, believing them to be Zhu San, and the
others boys at the orchard.

However, since the White threads from the Yin Yang Lotus
had protected Bi Fan from the attacks, towards the end, he was
still in a better shape than Blue Dragon.

Blue Dragon, like Bi Fan, was almost on the verge of being

possessed by the Devils by the time the Black threads came to
their aid.
 If the Black threads had delayed their actions, even by a
moment, then the effect of the Devils’ attack on Blue Dragon
would have crossed his resistance’s threshold, and he would
have fallen prey to them.

Their group had grossly underestimated the Devils, and learnt

one hell of a lesson from their mistake.

Wang Zhong started to wonder: “How did all those Devils

disappear all of a sudden?”

“If those devils hadn’t disappeared, then I would have

definitely died.” Blue Dragon exhaled, his eyes were still
reflecting trepidation of the trauma that he had just suffered.

Lone Leaf added: “I had almost given up…”

“That was a bit messy, but I managed to get a great harvest

from it, I will soon be able to breakthrough to the next layer. So,
I’m going to start meditating now, please watch my back.” Bi
Fan was really excited.

He really needed to meditate and practice; moreover, he

desperately needed to change the subject, otherwise, Wang
Zhong and the others, would definitely not rest until they got to
the bottom of things.

Bi Fan had been lingering around the peak of the ‘brave’ layer
for a while now, but the ‘spiritual intelligence’ layer bottleneck
was a tough one to breakthrough to; it was a gigantic gap, and
one that Bi Fan had been stuck at, for a long time now.

At present, the Devils had tormented him to a great extent,

but they had also given him enough experience to, hopefully,
breakthrough to the next layer.

Bi Fan sat down on the floor, and started to practice and

meditate.

Since Wang Zhong and the Chimera were present at the scene,
Bi Fan was quite confident that neither Blue Dragon, nor Lone
Leaf would attempt to harm him.

Since, they were inside the Devil’s Abyss, there would be

other threats as well, in the form of both, humans and beasts,
but Bi Fan didn’t have the time to think about so many things
right now.
 This was a rare opportunity; so naturally, Bi Fan didn’t want
to miss his train.

This was the perfect time to make the breakthrough, as Bi Fan

had been able to accumulate enough energy for it; but still, his
psychological condition wasn’t very stable at the moment.

Bi Fan clamed himself down first, and then he started to

approach the bottleneck. He quickly surpassed the barrier, and
broke into the ‘spiritual intelligence’ layer.

Once he was done with his primary task, Bi Fan still didn’t
end his practice, as the energy levels inside his body were still
soaring like tsunami waves.

His inner energy exploded to nine Yun Shi before it began to

stabilize; not only that, his physical strength too, rose, and had
reached almost ten Yun Shi by now.

At present, Bi Fan was already as strong as an ‘emerging from

the Womb’ layer practitioner; the only difference was the rating
in terms of inner energy levels.
 Blue Dragon and the others, had been staring at Bi Fan,
completely shocked to see the sudden, and explosive, rise in his
strength.

Most people take a long time to stabilize their energy in order

to prepare for a breakthrough, a feat that Bi Fan had been able
to achieve in no time at all, and on top of that, had already
managed to stabilize it as well.

“Brother Bi Fan, you’ve become so strong now! This is simply

amazing!” Wang Zhong murmured out of surprise.

Blue Dragon was equally surprised: “Brother Bi Fan, how are

you doing this? Amazing!…..”

“Bi Fan, Brother, you’re a true genius, I don’t know many

people, even in the Jui Yu Da Sect (Da means ancient, or
majority) who have the capability to match up to your talent!”
Lone Leaf was extremely impressed with Bi Fan.

It was a while before Bi Fan finished his practice. As he got up,

he could feel his new strength vibrating throughout his body; he
looked up towards the sky, and roared.
 “Brother Bi Fan, congratulations on your achievement!” Lone
Leaf praised.

Blue Dragon expressed his happiness as well, in his own way:

“Bi Fan, keep doing what you’re doing, because I’ll never stop
competing with you, and your progress will drive me to strive
harder.”

“You are most welcome Brothers!” Bi Fan smiled.

Competition always finds a way to sow the seeds for

motivation. And Bi Fan relished this friendly rivalry with his
friends.

Wang Zhong spoke up: “Brother Bi Fan, at your present level,

you have surpassed me; I have no doubts of that anymore. And
now, I will follow you with all my heart.”

“You really will?” Bi Fan asked, as a smile creased his face.

“I will serve you, watch your back, and follow you into the
future.” Wang Zhong smiled back.

“Woah, that’s really excellent!” Bi Fan was really pleased.

Bi Fan was clear on the fact, that Wang Zhong only followed
him because he didn’t have any other option, after all, he was
bound by a Blood Oath; but he had never done so willingly.

But now, Wang Zhong had finally surrender himself to Bi Fan,

and had finally accepted his leadership, which meant, that now,
he would willingly follow Bi Fan.

This was an excellent thing as far as Bi Fan was concerned; so

naturally, he was extremely happy about it.

Bi Fan’s strength had seen an exponential rise, which meant

that their future inside the Devil’s Abyss, was even more secure
than it was before, so obviously, everyone was in a very cheerful
mood.

“If we encounter another group of Devils, I will try harder; if I

too am able to gain the experience that you have, then, I too
shall be able to make the breakthrough to the next layer.” Blue
Dragon was somewhat lamenting on missing out on this
opportunity.

Wang Zhong laughed: “The chances of you bumping into a

flock of Devils inside the first layer are very rare. But once
you’re a little stronger, you can always go to the second layer.
Devils literally flutter like the breeze over there; there are so
many of them, that they practically give you a headache.”

“Someday, I will go there. After today’s experience, I know

how to deal with them better.” Blue Dragon replied.

“I hope that I can accompany you in the future as well, it’s

better to go with you guys than alone. My seniors sometimes
don’t take me with them.” Lone Leaf’s face reflected a hint of a
profound longing.

Bi Fan smiled: “Let’s hope for that. But for now, let’s quickly
restore our energies, so we can continue to venture further, and
maybe we will find ourselves another flock of Devils. Or, who
knows, we might just bump into the Layer’s King as well.”

“That’s right. Let’s get moving as quickly as possible.” Blue

Dragon was really excited.
 After seeing Bi Fan break his way through the bottle neck,
Blue Dragon was genuinely very happy for his friend, but still, a
hint of sadness lurked inside his heart.

Both of them were considerably strong and roughly the same

age; but now, Bi Fan had just stepped ahead of him in every
respect.

Blue Dragon was a very competitive person, and wouldn’t

easily reconcile to lag behind anyone.
 Chapter 74 – Zi Chuan

The King of the Layer, dwelled so deep inside the beast-

infested Abyss, that it was awfully difficult to reach it.

Whenever the King encountered a strong man, the King,

inevitably killed the same; there was a very slim chance of
escape, and people rarely ever managed to.

Many strong, and confident, men entered the Abyss in the

hope of killing the Layer King, but little was known about any
who had ever succeeded.

Wang Zhong and the others had just finished killing off a flock
of beasts, and were busy clearing the battlefield, when eight
strong men emerged from the shadows.

These people were eyeing the carcasses that were lying on

ground, so it goes without saying, that they were harboring
malicious intentions.

Bi Fan and his party, saw these men, but took no notice of
their presence, as they continued to collect their rewards.
 These eight new arrivals, approached closer, and continued to
look at Bi Fan’s party, hard at work, but didn’t make any moves.

They waited till everyone had incorporated the entire spread

of carcasses into their respective Yin Yang pouches, and then,
their leader, a brawny man, spoke up: “Everyone, surrender,
and please out down your Yin Yang pouches, and other
valuables on the ground, if you want to get out of this alive.”

Although Blue Dragon, Bi Fan and the others, had foreseen

trouble, they were still a little surprised, as they hadn’t really
expected these people to be robbers. Had they known this, they
wouldn’t have gone through the extra trouble of clearing up the
battlefield, and would have preferred to deal with these men
first.

“Really? What kind of a silly robbery is this?” Blue Dragon

forced a smile.

Wang Zhong began explaining: “Oh, this is fairly normal

inside the Devil’s Abyss. Some people, in the hope of making a
quick buck, form small and specialized teams for the purpose of
robberies. These guys often don’t even refrain from attempting
robberies against students of Big School. The basic idea that
they use, is that, they try to form a team that is simply too
strong for their opposition, so no one tries to resist them, and
they can take whatever they want, without doing any hard work
at all.”

Wang Zhong was talking in a very normal voice, as he

continued to ignore their threat. Meanwhile, the robbers felt
that they were being looked down upon.

The robbers were strong men, and their anger, ignited due to
this continued contempt of their might by their targets, was
beginning to reflect on their faces.

These robbers were a specialized team, and had robbed

countless people in the past, but this was the first time that they
had bumped into a group that was as arrogant as Bi Fan’s.

This eight man team was extremely strong as a whole, and

comprised of two ‘transformation’ layer, three ‘enormous
strength’ layer, and three ‘spiritual intelligence’ layer
personalities.

Organizing such a strong team, which comprised of the

fighters who didn’t belong to any Sect, wasn’t an easy task.

But since these men didn’t belong to any particular Sect, they
had banded together for their own mutual interests.

This eight-man team, had killed hundreds of people in the

past; they were the elite amongst the elites.

Their leader was a man name Zi Chuan. He had such a

formidable reputation, that even students from big martial arts
Schools, wouldn’t dare to provoke him.

“Kill them all. No one leaves alive.” Zi Chuan instructed his

platoon, his tone clearly indicative of his temper.

The eight of them, drew their weapons at the same time, and
started to approach Bi Fan’s group.

Bi Fan sneered: “I’ll take the leader. Be careful with the rest of
them…”

“I’ll deal with those two.” Wang Zhong picked his opponents,
while his tone was still, completely devoid of any emotions.

Wang Zhong had picked himself a good fight, one of his

opponents was in the ‘transformation’ layer, while the other
was in the ‘enormous strength’ layer.

But since Wang Zhong was at the peak of the ‘transformation’

layer himself, dealing with the two men that he had picked,
wouldn’t be very difficult for him.

Now, there were three ‘spiritual intelligence’ layer and two

‘enormous strength’ layer men, who were still unattended,
which was a task that Blue Dragon and Lone Leaf would have a
difficult time managing on their own, so the Chimera, too,
popped out of the shadows to join the fight.

The Chimera was really excited to finally get a chance to fight

strong opponents, and quickly pointed its tail towards the two
men, that he wanted to fight against. Since, the Chimera hadn’t
had a chance to fight in a while, he made sure that he made the
most of this one, and picked an ‘enormous strength’ layer and a
‘spiritual intelligence’ layer opponent at once.

Under a lot less pressure now, Blue Dragon decided to take on

the two remaining ‘spiritual intelligence’ layer men, whereas
Lone Leaf settled for the remaining ‘enormous strength’ layer
robber.

Blue Dragon slowly took out his scimitar, as he prepared

himself to fight his two opponents.

Blue Dragon studied his opponents, and was quite confident

that he could deal with them on his own.

“You’re going to die, you group of lunatics! It really wasn’t

worth your life!” One of his opponents shouted.

“We’ll see who dies in the end.” Blue Dragon smiled.

The momentum had been building up for a while now, and

the both the sides, finally, charged at each other.

Bi Fan was going to face Zi Chuan, but his face was as calm as
ever, and showed no signs of fear, whatsoever.

Zi Chuan had a very strong momentum, his eyes, similar to

Wang Zhong, spoke of the uncountable men that he had killed.
His movement reflected his experience; he was like a mirror
image of Wang Zhong in terms of strength and skill.

Zi Chuan’s weapon of choice was a pair of meteor Hammers, a

low-grade magical weapon. (Two small hammers, one for each
hand, often simply referred to as meteor.)

His meteors seemed really heavy, and it was obvious that they
were heavy assault weapons, and awfully powerful.

“Glorious heavens!” Zi Chuan launched his attack.

Both the hammers were equally forceful, and they smashed

towards Bi Fan at the speed of lightening, with enough force to
break down a small boulder.

“Woah!” Bi Fan screamed as he dodged away. He twisted his

sword to attack Zi Chuan from a different angle, and targeted
his hips, as he knew that matching Zi Chuan’s might, would be
a very difficult task.

“Coward!” Zi Chuan cursed out loud, as he stepped to his right

to dodge Bi Fan’s hit, and brought his meteor down to clash
with Bi Fan’s purple feathered sword.

Zi Chuan was using extremely heavy weapons, but still, was

able to maneuver them so freely; this was a clear indication of
his strength.

Bi Fan realized that he needed to more careful, and knew that

going head on against Zi Chuan wasn’t a very good option for
him.

Although Bi Fan was quite strong as well, he rarely preferred

to use his strength, and relied on his agility, and elegance, in
battle.

Especially when it came to sword play, the techniques that Bi

Fan knew, like the ‘Fufeng double-edged sword’, were
techniques that worked better when they were coupled with
speed, rather than strength.

Bi Fan wasn’t stupid enough to clash his weapon against Zi

Chuan’s.
 They dueled for a while, and as the battle raged on, the look
on Zi Chuan’s face become gloomier, and gloomier.

Bi Fan would always dodge his attack, and then quickly

counter.

Zi Chuan hadn’t really anticipated such a heavy competition

from Bi Fan, and had in fact, almost come close to being hit by
Bi Fan on several occasions.

Zi Chuan was neither very quick, nor did he have a very good
footwork; so against a very fast, and nimble Bi Fan, he found
himself at a great disadvantage.

Furthermore, the meteor hammers that he was using at the

moment were draining his inner energy very quickly, so over
all, he was facing a very tough test in the name of Bi Fan.

“You puny little boy! Come and match my strength if you

have the guts!” Zi Chuan roared as he simply couldn’t take it
anymore.

“What a blockhead! We are having a competition of speed

here, dear sister…” Bi Fan wasn’t exactly economizing on
adding fuel to the flame.

“ARGHHH!!!….” Zi Chuan was furious, and charged for Bi

Fan; his breathing was becoming heavier by with every attack.

“Well that worked!”

Zi Chuan continued to curse Bi Fan, as he continued to

struggle against him. Zi Chuan was just hoping that his
comrades would end their opponents soon, and then lend him a
hand in sorting Bi Fan out.

Zi Chuan had been under the impression that he would be at a

massive advantage, since he was conducting a robbery on
unsuspecting people.

Because each time that he had conducted a robbery in the

past, he had succeeded without much trouble. But, his group
mostly stayed away from students of big martial arts school,
because they only had a ninety percent success rate against
them. They were a group of experts, and this was their bread
and butter.
 Zi Chuan continued to throw himself at Bi Fan, relentlessly,
unaware of the fact that his comrades weren’t any better off
either.

Wang Zhong was able to cope up with his two opponents

easily. But the two of them were also fairly experienced fighters,
which was making their contest a very interesting one. Wang
Zhong could have finished hem off whenever he wanted, but he
would have to risk his safety in doing so.

Wang Zhong wasn’t a rash fighter, and so, he hadn’t resorted

to such measures yet.

His advanced, and retreated, based on the movements of his

enemies, looking for any opportunities that he could take
advantage of.

Wang Zhong was a very seasoned fighter, and hence, was

patiently looking for a good opportunity, with the belief that he
could even create them, tactically, if his opponents didn’t
provide him many.

Lone Leaf’s fight was going strong as well, and he was able to
manage his opponent with ease. Lone Leaf, really, was standing
up to the tag of a Jui Yu Da Sect student. His weapons, and his
techniques, were far superior to that of his opponent.

Although Lone Leaf lacked in combat experience when

compared to his opponent, but the difference was finite; and he
was using his superior weapons, and techniques, to make up the
gap, and in fact, was even managing to put his opponent on the
ropes from time to time.

But, his opponent was no amateur either, and this fight was
going to take its time.

Blue Dragon was up against two fighters who were at the same
level as him, so he was relying on his strength to match up to
them, after all, he was a very strong young man, and was trying
to force his opponents to do the same.

However, his opponents had understood his tactic, and were

staying away from his forceful attacks.

Blue Dragon continued to smite them, hoping to end the

battle soon, but hadn’t yet succeeded in finishing the job.
 On the entire battlefield, the Chimera was the one who was
having it the easiest.

The Chimera had gone a long time without a good fight, so

obviously, it was quite excited.

The Chimera always fought very ferociously, which was

making his opponents miserable; he was literally putting them
to shame.

Chimera was enjoying, toying around with the two of them so

much, that he hadn’t even used its most powerful weapon yet;
fire. Had he used it, he would have successfully shed the first
blood in no time at all.
 Chapter 75 – Chimera On Fire

Bi Fan had been watching the other fights from the corner of
his eye; he was very relieved to see that Wang Zhong was
prevailing in his duel, and his face was beaming a flamboyant
smile.

“Hey blockhead, looks like those men of yours are getting a

good one from my brothers.” Bi Fan smiled.

Bi Fan’s intention was to try and disrupt Zi Chuan’s thought

process, and distract him.

“You’re one cunning boy! Distracting me isn’t that easy, boy!”

Zi Chuan had so much faith in the ability of his men that, he
didn’t even look around to check the status of the other fights.

Zi Chuan had been leading this group of robbers for almost

two years now, so naturally they all had an excellent mutual
understanding. Zi Chuan simply couldn’t be convinced that the
seven of his men would have a difficult time against three of Bi
Fan’s.
 So naturally, the first thought that popped into his head was
that, the enemy is trying to distract him, so he can take
advantage of the diversion, and launch a fierce attack.

The two of them, were almost equally matched, if either of

them managed to get any extra advantages, then the balance of
the battle could shift very suddenly.

“Sister, I was just trying to help you out here, the rest is up to
you…” Bi Fan started to pout.

Bi Fan wasn’t worried about the battle, as he knew that some

of his friends were doing better than he was, and sooner or
later, one of their enemies was going to get injured, or get
killed. And when that time comes, their screams will distract Zi
Chuan. And so, he continued to fight with Zi Chuan, without
any hesitations.

Bi Fan continued to use the same technique again and again,

learning, experimenting, as he had decided to use this
opportunity to polish his skill further.

Moreover, Bi Fan was also trying to memorize Zi Chuan’s

techniques, and had even spent some time trying to figure out
the flaws in it.

Zi Chuan’s technique, and his weapon of choice,

complemented each other brilliantly.

Bi Fan continued to observe his enemy for a long time, but

couldn’t find any major flaws in his style.

However, the meteor hammer was a very heavy weapon,

which meant that it consumed an awful lot of energy to use,
which probably, was its only flaw.

Since he hadn’t been able to find any flaws that he could

extort use from, he allowed the battle to drag on, as, he knew
that his side’s victory was only a matter of time.

Zi Chuan had read Bi Fan’s tactic, and hence, left with no

other options, he was forced to switch his strategy to a defensive
one, and only attacked when he had no other choice.

Zi Chuan was patiently waiting; waiting for one his men to

score a victory, so they could help him out.
 Bi Fan was too slippery, and Zi Chuan was distinctly aware of
the fact that he alone, was incapable of killing Bi Fan. So, he had
pinned his hopes on the idea, that his men would surround Bi
Fan, so Bi Fan could no longer move about as freely as was at the
moment, and then, he would take advantage of that situation,
and kill BI Fan off.

Bi Fan was holding all the cards here, and was just not going
to miss this opportunity. He started trying out some
combination attacks as well; he would attack with his sword, at
a lightning fast speed, and then mix it up by throwing a, well
concealed, punch.

Zi Chuan had been concentrating on defending for a while

now, and still, was having an awfully difficult time in keeping
up with Bi Fan. Occasionally, he would have to counter, simply
to push Bi Fan back a few steps, if the pressure from Bi Fan
increased beyond a threshold.

He just didn’t want to attack Bi Fan at present, as his hammer

consumed too much energy.

In the past, his meteor hammer had always proven to be an

excellent choice for a weapon, as most people simply couldn’t
deal with the brutality of its power. But in a fight like this one,
against Bi Fan, which had been dragging on for so long, his
weapon was feeling like a big, and heavy, burden.

“Hey big guy, what happened to all the courage talk hah?
Who’s the coward now? You’re acting like a turtle right now; a
turtle that’s caved into his shell, with just the head stuck out!”
Bi Fan mocked Zi Chuan again.

Zi Chuan was fuming with rage, and it looked as if he would

start spitting blood soon, but he somehow managed to suppress
his anger.

He was very clear on one thing; anger wasn’t going to do him

any good.

Bi Fan every now and then, would resort to a few words of

trash talk, with the sole intention of getting under Zi Chuan’s
skin, even though he was well aware of the fact that Zi Chuan
was no fool.

But Still, Bi Fan continued to trash talk, as he knew that even

if Zi Chuan doesn’t make any rash moves, words would still
affect his mental framework.
 The fight had been going on for almost an hour now, and both
sides were fighting ferociously, but still, the battlefield wasn’t
giving rise to much noise.

Suddenly, a miserable shriek broke the silence.

Bi Fan had been watching the other fights as well, and so, he
knew that the Chimera had burned one of his enemies down to a
crisp.

The Chimera’s fire was simply too much for the man to take,
and he screamed as he passed into the void.

“Wooo……Ahhhhhhh…..Zi Chuan…boss….. save me….save

me…..!!!!”

Zi Chuan heard the cry, and his whole being, started to panic.

“….Impossible! How’s that even possible?!” Zi Chuan

mutterer: “The other side should be suffering the causalities, so
why is Xiao Qiu screaming for help?!”
 He simply couldn’t help looking over his shoulder; and, Zi
Chuan had been distracted at last.

Bi Fan had been waiting for this opportunity for a long time
now, and the moment he realized that Zi Chuan’s attention was
divided, he launched the attack that he had been planning for so
long now.

Rainy-fly sword! Prancing tiger fist!

Bi Fan, quickly putting both his hands to work, employed his

two strongest techniques.

Zi Chuan was a very experienced fighter, and quickly sensed

the danger.

Golden Hammer!

Zi Chuan, without the slightest hesitation, cast out his

strongest move as well, and his hammer, almost as if it was
bathing in a golden light, hammered its way through the air to
meet Bi Fan’s sword.
 “Boom!” A huge noise shook the vicinity as Bi Fan’s sword
clashed with Zi Chuan’s meteor hammer.

Bi Fan had attacked with all his strength; his attack was so
powerful, that Zi Chuan’s hammer simply couldn’t match up to
it.

The collision shook Zi Chuan hammer, and created an

opportunity for Bi Fan to do what he does best.

“The Immortals Finger!” Bi Fan cast out his secret attack, as

he slashed with sword once again to conceal the attack.

“Pchh!”

Bi Fan’s attack poked open a hole in Zi Chuan’s stomach, and

blood started to drip from his body.

Zi Chuan, indeed was a very tough man; he bore the attack in

silence, and quickly launched a counter attack.
 He knew, that at the moment, he had fallen under the wind,
and if he continued to passively defend any longer, then his
circumstances would worsen.

Bi Fan had already achieved his objective, and so, he slowed

down once again, as he was in no hurry to kill his opponent.

Bi Fan was clear on the fact, that his opponent was almost as
strong as him, and trying to finish this fight early, would come
at a price; and since, Bi Fa didn’t, absolutely, have incur this
cost at the moment, he patiently waited for his opportunities.

The Chimera had already slain one of his enemies, and the
remaining one, was literally left shivering with fear. It was
obvious that he wouldn’t last much longer now, as his fighting
efforts, were beginning to wilt under the fear of his opponent.

“GRRRR” The Chimera roared again and again, as he used his

tail, his teeth, his front paws, to ceaselessly attack his remaining
enemy, and managed to land several attacks on target.

The Chimera’s remaining enemy, had sustained several

injuries in quick succession, and had started to slow down
significantly now.

“Poof!” the Chimera seized the opportunity, and like a

messenger of death, violently sprayed out his devious flame.

“Ah!” The man’s clothes instantly caught fire, which then

spread to his hair, and in a moment, even his flesh was set
ablaze.

The Chimera’s fire was extremely toxic in nature, and

exceptionally hard to extinguish; if the hand was on fire, then it
was best to cut it, to save the rest of the body.

The whole body of the Chimera’s opponent had been set

ablaze by now; it was hopeless to try rescuing him now.

“Zi Chuan …..boss………..save …… me……” The man issued

cries for help intermittently.

Soon, all that was left of him, was a big pile of ashes, which
were lying on the ground where he had stood just moments ago;
even his weapons had been burnt away.
 Bi Fan laughed: “Boss, looks like you lost another man, would
you like to guess whose next?”

“Ah! I’m gonna kill you!” Zi Chuan was furious now.

His meteor, hammered, swept, crushed….

Zi Chuan wasn’t holding anything back now, and started to

chase after the dodging Bi Fan, like a mad-man.

“Dahm….” Bi Fan cursed loudly, while he somehow managed

to duck away, consistently, drawing support from his ‘Dance of
Mist’ footwork, as he simply wouldn’t dare to exchange blows
with the mad-man he was up against.

Zi Chuan was attacking so wildly, that his fighting power had

almost doubled; his meteor hammer had become invincible,
unstoppable;

Bi Fan, temporarily, decided to take a step back, as he waited

for the right opportunity to launch a counter.
 …. ….

The Chimera had killed off his two assigned enemies, so he

started to head towards Blue Dragons’.

The Chimera had burnt two very strong men to ashes, which
had instilled a demonic fear of its might in the hearts of the
remaining robbers.

The instant, Blue Dragon’s two opponents saw the Chimera

stroll towards them, their faces started draining color, and their
minds started contemplating means of escape.

“Chimera, these two men are mine! Stay away!” Blue Dragon
announced promptly.

If the Chimera intervened, then Blue Dragon’s fighting time

would get cut short, and so would be the credit he would get.

The Blue Dragon was extremely fond of fighting, and simply

wouldn’t allow unnecessary interventions.
 The Chimera looked at Blue Dragon, made a face, and changed
directions and started to make his way towards Lone Leaf.

Lone Leaf’s opponent had already gone pale with fear, which
was evident from the way his body was shivering.
 Chapter 76 – Ten Finger Extermination

Lone Leaf wouldn’t have allowed the Chimera to steal his

opponent either, had he been aware of its intentions. But since
he had his back towards the Chimera, he didn’t realize that the
Chimera was making its way towards his enemy, and hence,
didn’t open his mouth to object.

As the Chimera, gradually started to approach closer to the

fight, Lone Leaf’s opponent started becoming even more
nervous.

Finally, unable to withstand the pressure, Lone Leaf’s

opponent dashed away from the battlefield, hoping to make an
escape.

“Oooooo…” The Chimera, quickly, and readily, belched out

more fire.

Lone Leaf’s opponent was running at an awfully quick pace,

but still couldn’t outrun the Chimera’s attack, and the fire
quickly enveloped his whole body.
 Zi Chuan’s heart went numb, as the screams and cries for
help, echoed through the air.

Zi Chuan hadn’t accounted for the Chimera, when he was

assessing the strength of Bi Fan’s group, as the Chimera was
hidden from their sight.

Plus, he hadn’t realized Bi Fan’s and Blue Dragon’s real

strengths, and had just taken their surface strengths into
account, while making his calculations.

Miscalculations had doomed Zi Chuan’s operation for failure.

Zi Chuan had entered the fight along with seven strong men,
three of whom were already dead, while the other four had
already lost the will to fight.

Even though Zi Chuan was going insane with rage, he

immediately calmed down, and yelled: “Withdraw!”

“Leaving? Well, that’s not going to happen…more wishful

thinking, really….” Bi Fan was as loud as Zi Chuan.
 Bi Fan had launched an attack, while he was speaking; he cast
out several waves of ‘Fufeng double-edged sword’ in quick
succession, and manage to stifle Zi Chuan’s escape plans for the
time-being.

Zi Chuan realized that he would not able to escape

immediately, and if he did try to force his way out right now, Bi
Fan would kill him easily.

Bi Fan was attacking full throttle, so Zi Chuan would have to

wait till Bi Fan slowed down a bit, before he could make any
attempts to flee from the battlefield.

The Chimera started to make his towards Wang Zhong’s fight,

whereas Lone Leaf started to circle Blue Dragons’, ready to
intercept any fleeing enemies.

Wang Zhong realized that the Chimera is coming over to lend

a helping hand, and so, he set aside the weaker one, of his two,
opponents for the Chimera, and started to concentrate on the
‘transformation’ layer opponent only.

Now, since the fight was one-on-one, Wang Zhong quickly

established absolute dominance over his opponent. So much so,
that his opponent wouldn’t even be able to escape, no matter
how hard he tried.

Even though the Chimera was fighting a man who was the
same level as him, ‘enormous strength’, he was able to suppress
the man easily, owing to his superior fighting skills and
strength.

Since the man had already witnessed the Chimera’s true

might, he wouldn’t even dare to turn his back and run, as he
was afraid that the Chimera might burn him as well.

One of Blue Dragon’s two rivals, successfully managed to get

away from Blue Dragon, but only got as far as Lone Leaf.

This infuriated Blue Dragon, and he decided to take it out on

the one, who still remained in front of him. He unleashed his
entire might on the poor robber, as he wanted to finish the man
as soon as possible.

Blue Dragon’s physical strength and inner energy, combined,

was not very far from the ‘transformation’ layer, in terms of
overall fighting power, so naturally, killing a ‘spiritual
intelligence’ layer fighter, was not going to be any trouble for
him, which he demonstrated with a perfectly executed
combination.

Zi Chuan hadn’t anticipated that his men would not be able to

escape, another miscalculation, which had already costed him
the life of another one of his men.

Zi Chuan could make out that the other three were also in a
similarly precarious state, so, he started to seek opportunities to
make his own escape.

Even though Blue Dragon had just killed one man, he still, was
completely infuriated, and so, he picked up his scimitar, and
walked over to Lone Leaf, who was busy fighting with the man
that had escaped from his clutches.

The man’s mind was in a state of complete chaos, and was

unable to detect the punch that Lone Leaf managed to, very
clandestinely, conceal, and he fell down on the ground.

Lone Leaf quickly seized the opportunity, and violently lashed

out at the fallen robber; there was no way the man could have
survived an onslaught of that caliber.
 “That’s not fair! You saw me coming and killed off my
opponent. Not fair, brother!” Blue Dragon looked very
disheartened.

“Three strong rivals are still left on the battlefield; Brother,

you can try having a go at them, unless you’re afraid of a little
competition….” Lone Leaf teased Blue Dragon.

Blue Dragon groaned, and then quickly turned to make his

towards the spot where the Chimera was fighting the ‘enormous
strength’ layer robber.

The Chimera realized that Blue Dragon would try to claim his
kill, so he sped up his pace, as he too, didn’t want to share.

“GRRRR…” The Chimera roared and roared, as he launched a

series of fierce melee attacks, couple with a few mouthfuls of
fire, which eventually caught the man, and set him ablaze
before Blue Dragon could arrive.

“Chimera! That’s not very nice you know…”Blue Dragon

turned around, and started to walk towards Wang Zhong now:
“Brother, please let me fight your opponent, I beg you.”

Wang Zhong laughed: “I still haven’t landed a single kill, so

please don’t damage my business. Try and see if Bi Fan can let
you fight his guy….”

“Oh come on!… Brother Wang, Bi Fan’s rival is too strong; I

won’t be able to cope up with him.” Blue Dragon’s face was
literally pleading for a chance to fight.

Wang Zhong wouldn’t have any of it: “I can’t do that, but

since we are going to fuss over him, I’ll just finish him off right
now.”

Defying Domination!

Wang Zhong cast out his strongest attack, seeking to finish off
the fight as soon as possible.

Blue Dragon looked on gloomily, as he watched Wang Zhong

thrash the only remaining man he could have fought, but didn’t
intervene, since Wang Zhong had already, completely
suppressed the man.
 Zi Chuan could hear the dialogue between Blue Dragon and
the others, and his blood started to boil.

He had organized this team with great difficulty, and now

they were all dead. He hadn’t even expected Bi Fan’s group to
put up a fight, let alone achieve what they had.

“If I don’t leave now, then it will be too late later on.” Zi
Chuan’s top priority at the moment was to run away, safely,
from this situation, as he was aware that if any of his other
enemies’ came over to help Bi Fan, then he would get himself
killed in no time at all.

Flying Hammer!

Zi Chuan threw his hammer, which violently rushed through

the air, towards Bi Fan.

It was a really unusual scene, as Zi Chuan was even willing to

sacrifice his weapon, in order to secure his escape.
 Bi Fan saw the hammer, as it raced through the air towards
him, but he didn’t back away, as he simply couldn’t allow Zi
Chuan to escape.

Bi Fan quickly stepped sideways, in order to dodge the rogue

hammer. At this point, Zi Chuan had already taken a few steps,
and was getting away from Bi Fan.

“’The Immortal Finger!’ – ‘Ten Finger Extermination!’ ” Bi

Fan used all his fingers, and employed each one of them to
launch a strike of ‘The Immortal Finger’, in the hope of
blocking off Zi Chuan’s escape routes.

Zi Chuan could no longer halt in steps, or turn back, his only

option was to dodge, and outrun, Bi Fan’s attacks.

Zi Chuan was relying on a low-grade armor, which he had

stolen from someone in the past, to protect him from their
attacks while he made his escape. And so, without the slightest
of hesitations, he continued to carry on running.

“Chik! Chik! Chik!”

 Three of Bi Fan’s attacks, tore past his clothes and hit his
armor. The collision was such an intense one that sparks
emitted from his armor.

He had already survived three of Bi Fan’s attacks, so he was

very relieved to know that his armor was doing its job well.

“Ah!” He screamed!

One of Bi Fan’s attacks had pierced through his right thigh,

and blood started to pour out.

The pain was unbearable, and Zi Chuan was forced to bend

down on the floor owing to the wound; he gasped as sweat
dripped down from his body.

“Boom!”

Zi Chuan had just bent down when several similar attacks,

landed on his back, his neck, and the back of his head, and blood
started to splash out of his punctured body.
 Zi Chuan toppled over, and fell to his death, as result of Bi
Fan’s stunt.

‘Ten Finger Extermination’, was a relatively new trick, which

Bi Fan had just come up with. Since it basically constituted of
several individual ‘The Immortal Finger’ attacks, it was
formless, and invisible, while each individual attack, still,
carried the same threat as ‘The Immortal Finger’.

This is was the first time that Bi Fan had tried out this new
attack, and it had successfully wiped out a very powerful
opponent.

However, this attack had consumed a huge amount of energy,

and Bi Fan’s energy reserves were so badly depleted, that he felt
like he would fall down any second. The only thing that was
keeping him from falling down, on the soft and comfortable
looking ground below, was his physical strength.

Wang Zhong managed to finish his opponent off, in the same

breath as Bi Fan.

Zi Chuan and his seven-man team had been completely

annihilated by Bi Fan’s four-man platoon. And even though
they had all spent a great amount of their inner energies, they
still hadn’t sustained any serious injuries.

Bi Fan stated in a loud voice: “Let’s quickly clean out the

battlefield and leave this place.”

Such a fierce and long fight, ought to have alerted some

humans, or beasts, of their presence, so it was best to leave this
place as soon as possible.

Actually, there wasn’t much to collect from the dead bodies of

Wang Zhongs’, or anyone else’s opponents, as all the loot that
the robbers had collected, was kept with Zi Chuan for
safekeeping.

Bi Fan quickly searched the man, and found almost thirty Yin
Yang pouches on his carcass, which he gratefully accepted.
Then, he even relieved Zi Chuan’s dead body of the armor that
he had been wearing. Last but not the least, the hammers that
he had thrown at Bi Fan, had been collected by Lone Leaf long
ago.

Now that everything was settled, the four of them, along with
the Chimera, quickly left the scene.
 Zi Chuan’s gang was a very specialized group of robbers,
which could mean that they could possibly be carrying a lot of
loot on their hands. Their collective wealth might even be more
than what Bi Fan, and his group, had obtained after the
previous fight against Li Zhong Ren.

“Well, that worked out well.” Lone Leaf laughed, as his eyes
went squinty.

Blue Dragon was very excited as well: “Let’s hope we get

robbed more often!”

“Let’s quickly meditate and restore our energies, and then we

divide the rewards.” Bi Fan suggested.

Bi Fan had already ingested a Dan pellet to reinstate his inner

energy, as he was far too weak to walk without it.

They simply couldn’t neglect their vicinity, and so, while the
four of them meditated, the Chimera stood guard, ready defend
them against any dangers.
 Chapter 77 – Treasures

After two hours of meditation, the four of them finally

finished their respective practices; and then the Chimera started
restoring its energy, while the four of them sat down to divide
the loot.

Soon, they had made an inventory of the total loot,

subdivided the items into categories, and then partitioned them
into different Yin Yang pouches, based on these sub categories.

They had obtained a total on seventy-eight Yin Yang pouches,

which were all filled with different kinds of articles, while most
of them contained corpses of beasts; Sixty-three of them by
count, were full of carcasses of beasts.

Lone Leaf’s eyes gleamed with excitement as he said: “I didn’t

expect such a huge bounty from that bunch of thieves, but I’m
glad I was wrong this time around.”

“That’s a lot! This would help us improve our strength much

faster!” Blue Dragon was as excited as Lone Leaf.
 The bodies of dead beasts could be sold at a decent price. And
so many of them, were bound to fetch a lot of Spar in exchange.

These Spars could be exchanged to buy items that could

supplement their practice; better quality and a higher quantity
of resources, to supplement their practice, which would help
them improve their strength a lot faster.

For a martial artist, there was nothing more important than

strength improvement.

Wang Zhong reasoned: “If you think about, the robbers never
saw the Chimera, hence they never accounted for its strength,
when they assessed us before attacking us. On top of that, they
weren’t able to assess Brother Bi Fan, or Brother Blue Dragon’s
real strengths.”

He paused for moment, and then continued: “There are so

many factors, conveniently inclined in our favor, which keep on
baiting these fools to attack us, thinking that they will win.”

“Well, at least we don’t disappoint them. Now, let’s divide the

resources, you guys pick first.” Bi Fan laughed.
 Lone Leaf picked about ten Yin Yang pouches that were full of
carcasses. Additionally, he also picked up some spars, some
herbs, and some Dan pellets. However, he still didn’t pick any
weapons.

Blue Dragon was a bit embarrassed to ask his desire: “Brother

Bi Fan, Brother Wang Zhong, would it be okay if I took the
armor, I won’t ask for much else.”

“Go ahead, take it!” Bi Fan nodded. He already had good

quality armor, the soft one, which he had bought from Ting
Feng valley, and then he also had the Wisteria armor that Ling
Xin Ya had given him. So, he really didn’t need another one.

Wang Zhong, also, already had a low-grade armor, so he

didn’t object either.

Blue Dragon happily picked up the armor, and immediately

put it on.

Subsequently, Blue Dragon picked up five Yin Yang pouches,

but didn’t ask for anything other than these items.
 Bi Fan was left with a total of sixty-three Yin Yang pouches,
most of which, were full of some kind of valuables or the other.

Since the two of them, Wang Zhong and Bi Fan, had played a
major role in resolving the battle, Blue Dragon and Lone Leaf,
didn’t ask for an equal share.

Blue Dragon and Lone Leaf looked extremely happy with their
respective shares; especially Lone Leaf, the smile on his face,
was stretched from one ear to the other.

Bi Fan collected his and Wang Zhong’s collective share and

put it away.

“Brother Wang, we will sell the items, and share the profits
fifty-fifty.”

“No problems at all, I’m good.” Wang Zhong’s face was as

calm as ever.
 Bi Fan had just earned a lot of Spar in a very short period of
time, and he thought that he would start swooning soon. When
happiness comes too quickly, people sometimes have a difficult
time in controlling their emotions. Bi Fan, however, had a good
control over his, which was probably why he hadn’t already
fainted.

Since they were done with the task of dividing the resources,
and the Chimera had also finished restoring its energy, their
party set out again.

The present trip to the Devil’s Abyss had borne them excellent
results, and the four of them had earned a lot money. Hence,
they were in no hurry to kill beasts, as they didn’t feel the need
to earn any more Spar, they now, wished to fight against the
beasts, simply to practice and polish their skills.

Many strong men had passed by, while they were busy
training, and most of them were quite confused with the way
they were dealing the Devil’s Race beasts.

The four of them, would continue to fight the beasts for a very
long time, much longer than was required, and simply wouldn’t
kill the beasts. In fact, they wouldn’t even injure the beasts
much.
 “What a silly group! Look how long they have been at it now.
They could have killed the beasts a long time ago, so why are
they not doing it?” Many people had scoffed.

“I think these people are really stupid, whenever they come

close to killing an enemy, they fumble and mess the opportunity
up.”

Blue Dragon and the others had heard some of these

dialogues, but they didn’t really mind them, and continued to
practice their skills.

Blue Dragon and Lone Leaf were, both, almost at the verge of
making a breakthrough to the bottleneck, and hence, the two of
them were putting in a lot of effort.

Wang Zhong had been trying to make the breakthrough from

the ‘fetus’ layer to the ‘emerging from the womb’ layer for a
long time now, but it was a very big leap. So much so, that
almost ninety percent people never succeeded in crossing that
bridge.
 Wang Zhong had been trying very hard; he had been very
persistent, and he was definitely very talented; now all he
needed, to make the breakthrough, was a bit of luck.

It was only a matter of time till he would get his chance.

‘Fetus’ to ‘Emerging from the womb’, was a huge leap in

terms of quality. If Wang Zhong succeeded in breaking through
the bottleneck, then he would easily be able to defeat Bi Fan in a
fight, even though Bi Fan was as strong as an ‘emerging from
the womb’ layer fighter.

Since, once a practitioner enter the ‘emerging from the

womb’ layer, the inner energy begins to transform into aura,
which flows through the body’s channels, and drastically
improves the strength of the body.

This Aura, changes several aspects of the martial artist’s body,

and even extends the life expectancy.

‘Emerging from the womb’ layer martial artists often lived up

to almost two-hundred and eighty years, without show much
signs of aging, before dying a natural death.
 As a martial artist progresses though the layer, it is even
possible to live up to the age of three hundred years, which
meant the martial artist would get even more time to practice,
and upgrade strength.

Power, longer life expectancy, these were some of the very

common factors which most practitioners followed the path of
martial arts for, so much so, that it often led to an obsession
with the same.

As for Bi Fan, he had just made a breakthrough, which meant

that he would now need to stabilize it as much as possible,
before he could hope to progress further.

In the process of killing Zi Chuan, Bi Fan had learnt a lot of

new techniques to support his own practice, such as the
‘Glorious Heavens’ technique. In addition to that, he had also
procured several new books, which talked about various topics
such as knives, swords, hammers, energy etc.

Although these methods and techniques were only

intermediate level skills, and weren’t as advanced as the ones
that Bi Fan already knew, he still wanted to make a mental copy
of them for the sake of his knowledge and understanding.
 The more he learnt about different kind of techniques, the
better it would be for his progress. One of the most fruitful
things in martial arts, was to create custom techniques; but this
innovation, wasn’t easy, and needed a great amount of
knowledge.

Creation of customized, and personalized, techniques was

very fruitful, as these techniques were designed especially for
the practitioner who invented them.

Bi Fan, in alignment with his ambitions, had already started

creating his own techniques, and these innovations were greatly
supported by the techniques that he had picked up along the
way.

At this time, Bi Fan’s mind was pondering over the various

new techniques that he had just learnt, trying to separate out
the ones that were useful for him, from the ones that weren’t;
and then, well, he had a bunch of wild beasts to test his theories
on.

As a result of this, his entered into the ‘spiritual intelligence’

layer very strongly, and was making excellent progress, while
learning several new things at the same time.

“ARGHH!!!” Bi Fan made a sudden burst of charge, and cast

out the ‘fufeng double-edged sword’ with all his might; the force
of his attack had almost doubled up since the breakthrough.

One wave of the ‘fufeng double-edge sword’, and Bi Fan

managed to clear out the dozen or so beasts that surrounded
him, in an instant.

“Brother Bi Fan, congratulations! You’re strength is

progressing really quickly, it’s something worth celebrating.”
Wang Zhong smiled.

Bi Fan smiled back: “We have all improved a lot, so let’s

continue to go deeper into the Abyss, as we still need to find and
test ourselves against the Layer’s King.”

“Yes, and this time, I will seize the opportunity, and fight as
hard as I can. And hopefully, I too will breakthrough to the next
layer soon.” Blue Dragon’s firm eyes clearly demonstrated his
resolve.
 Lone Leaf was quite excited too: “If we do bump into the
Layer’s King, then I too would be able to gain a huge amount of
experience, which could help me make the breakthrough as
well.”

“You guys are doing really well. But I’m going to need a lot of
luck, if I hope to break into the next layer in this trip.” Wang
Zhong seemed a little depressed.

Blue Dragon smiled: “Brother Wang, don’t be so disheartened,

we all know that you’re going to make it.”

“Exactly! You will…” Lone Leaf echoed in agreement.

Bi Fan didn’t say anything, as he continued to gaze at the

three of them, with smile on his face.

This was his greatest treasure; the friends he had made; and
now, they were beginning to gel with each other as well.
 Chapter 78 – The Ogre Flower

“Hurry up, I heard that someone had spotted an Ogre flower

up ahead, but I don’t know if true or just a rumor.” One of the
several strong youngsters that were rushing past Bi Fan and his
party, urged his friends.

Another one replied: “We definitely need to check this out,

just in case its true, then we might be able to get our hands on
some petals. Just imagine the things it could do to us.”

Wang Zhong and Bi Fan, both, heard this conversation

between those youngsters.

They didn’t believe at first, but when a few more teams of

strong fighters, rushed in the same direction as the previous
party, they finally started to believe it.

An Ogre flower isn’t your average garden-flower; it’s a man-

eating flower.

Ogre flowers, once fully blossomed, usually, have a radius of

about one meter, when their petals are spread out. Some Ogre
flower, the really big ones, can sometimes, have as many as one
hundred and eighty petals on a single flower, and each of these
petals can provide the most amazing of benefits.

An Ogre flower is best suited for someone who is in the

‘transformation’ layer, and is trying to make the jump to the
‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer.

Once someone consumes a petals of an Ogre flower, they start

feeling very positive, mentally, since their minds are relieved of
all negative thoughts, while their body, physically, experiences
a huge surge of Aura.

The benefits of the Ogre flower were such amazing, that

people were willing to pay any price asked, for its petals.

But the Ogre flowers only grow in extremely harsh conditions,

as they require a huge amount of negative Aura to breed.

In the world outside of here, Ogre flowers were a very rare

commodity, and each sighting of such a flower, usually,
triggered carnage.
 Ogre flowers were so rare, that no one really expected to find
one, not even in a place like the Devil’s Abyss. But since so many
people were convinced of its occurrence, then there was a
possibility that the rumor might be true.

Ogre flowers, also, have a lot of tentacles, apart from petals,

and these tentacles are barbed with poisonous thorns. The
flower uses these tentacles to tangle its prey, and then injects a
toxin into the target’s body, which then, loses consciousness
very quickly.

An Ogre flower’s tentacles are extremely sturdy, and owing to

their sheer number, can be very hard to cut off in a short period
of time.

Unless these tentacles were cut off very quickly, the Ogre
flower wraps these tentacles around its prey, and then injects its
toxin into its prey’s body, quickly sending the same in to an
unconscious state, and then drags it towards its core.

In the center of the petals, at its core, there is a pipette-like

straw, which the flower pierces into the body of its prey, and
starts to assimilate its victim’s energy, flesh, and blood; and it
simply does not let its target go until it’s done with its task.
 By the time the Ogre flower is done, all that’s left of its
victim… is a pile of bones; it’s a miserable way to die.

The Ogre flowers can subject humans to the most gruesome of

deaths. But since its petals are so valuable, and are considered
better than any other kind of Dan, owing to fact that they don’t
have any side-effects at all, humans still take the risk of going
up against it.

No matter whether the practitioner was an aged man, or a

youngster like Bi Fan, if they heard of an Ogre flower sighting,
they would rush towards the scene, and would try to take the
petals from it.

Since this flower had blossomed inside the first layer of the
Devil’s Abyss, it provided a golden opportunity for all the
martial artists who were at the peak of the ‘transformation’
layer.

Wang Zhong was inside the ‘transformation’ layer, in fact, he

was at the peak of the layer. So, as long as he could obtain even a
single petal of the flower, and was able to consume it, he could
easily make the breakthrough in no time at all.
 “Brother Wang, it looks like this is your chance, let’s go and
take a look.” Bi Fan smiled.

Wang Zhong requested: “If there really is an Ogre flower up

ahead, then brothers, please help me in securing a petal from
it.”

Even though they were only inside the first layer of the Devil’s
Abyss, there would still be a lot of strong fighters present at the
scene, and Wang Zhong knew that he wouldn’t be able to fight
his way through them, and then take the flower, all on his own.

“If there really is an Ogre flower over there, then it will come
in handy later on, and it would be foolish for us to not take a
petal for ourselves too.” Bi Fan stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

The manner in which Bi Fan’s strength was growing at the

moment, it was only a matter of time before his inner energy
would cross into the ‘transformation’ layer. And in case he was
able to procure a petal from an Ogre flower, then he could
continue his practice with the confidence that he was almost
sure to break into ‘the emerging from the womb’ layer; at the
right time.
 After they had identified the direction in which the Ogre
flower had been spotted, Bi Fan, Blue Dragon, Lone Leaf, and
Wang Zhong, along with Chimera, set out in full speed.

Ogre flowers were usually, at least, as strong as the ‘spiritual

intelligence’ layer, in equivalence of human strength, and were
often, even stronger than that. But, the stronger a flower is, the
more effective its petals are.

Since so many humans were seeking this flower, there was

bound to be a very fierce competition to get to the flower, so
naturally, Bi Fan and his party would have to be very careful.

They had only been running for about ten minutes, when they
started hearing screams, apart from the obvious sounds of fierce
fighting.

Shrill and low pitched shrieks echoed from the intense scene,
which had already served as grounds for several causalities.

“Alright, Lone Leaf, Blue Dragon, Brothers, your primary

responsibility is to steal the petals, while Brother Wang and I
will be responsible for distracting the other people.” Bi Fan
started laying out the plan.
 The Chimera, was once again, asked to stay out of the main
battle, and had agreed to undertake the responsibility of
rescuing Bi Fan and Wang Zhong, in case they ran into too
much trouble.

Once everyone was clear on their role, they started to move

closer towards the battlefield.

In the center of the battlefield stood an Ogre flower,

manifestly, and magnificently, superior to the rest of its
surroundings.

Hundreds of strong humans were concentrated in the area

surrounding the Ogre flower, and everyone was trying to get
close to flower, in order to take a petal from it. But someone or
the other would always block the person in question; no one
was allowing anyone to take a petal from the flower.

The scene that they were witnessing, epitomized chaos. All

kinds of measure were being called into action, weapons and
melee; in a situation like this, no would even bother caring
which sect the other person belonged to, so much so, that even
Jiu Yu Da, would have no weight.
 Even Yuan Shi students were facing opposition.

“I’m from Jian Shen, get out of my way! Block me, and you
die!” A young man screamed, as he tried to charge through the
battlefield.

Normally, a name like Jian Shen would clear the way. But in a
situation like this one, it could possibly back-fire, and could
even forge a path to death.

He had barely taken a few steps, when he found himself

obstructed by several strong fighters.

When it came to something as previous as the petals of an

Ogre flower, no would care about anyone’s posterity, and big
names in the world of martial arts, would only be considered
words, no matter how elite they were.

When compared to the benefits that an Ogre flower could

provide, everything else was just as transient as a fleeting cloud.

Lone Leaf and Blue Dragon, in compliance with Bi Fan’s plan,

found a hiding place, away from the scene of the battle, while
the Chimera found his, much closer to Bi Fan and Wang Zhong,
when compared to the former.

Wang Zhong and Bi Fan, stood shoulder to shoulder, but

didn’t rush into the fray.

At this moment, the situation was so confusing, that there

was no guarantee as to what would happen in case they tried to
charge into the battlefield ahead.

No one was allowing anyone to take any petals from the Ogre
flower.

On top of that, the Ogre flower wasn’t exactly a vegetarian

either, and was strong into the summit of the ‘transformation’
layer.

The Ogre flower had been taking full advantage of the

confusion on the battlefield, and had already made a meal out of
several very strong men.

“Brother Bi Fan, what do we do now? There are so many

people here; this isn’t a very good start for us.” Wang Zhong’s
brows were creased with stress, as he tried to think of a good
strategy to deal with the situation at hand.

Bi Fan’s reply was as dull as it could get: “Let it be; right now
they are busy tearing each other apart; so just let them kill each
other.”

Wang Zhong liked the idea: “So, we just stand here and enjoy
the show, as they slaughter each other… well, at least they are
putting up a wonder show, ah.”

Wang Zhong pointed to one man, a very bold and strong man,
as he said: “That man is Jian Shen’s Gu Feng; he’s Tian Feng’s
elder Brother; He’s slightly stronger than even me.”

“He really is very strong; he has an excellent sword, just like

his brother did; and just look at the skills, he is really, a very,
talented man.” Bi Fan nodded in agreement.

Gu Feng was fighting several strong men, all on his own, with
ease, and was still able to push further into the battlefield,
closer to the Ogre flower.
 Gu Feng was one of the strongest men in the vicinity, and was
being attacked by several men at once, who were all trying to
stop him from getting closer to the Orgre flower, but were
miserably failing at their task.

The sight of humans slaughtering each other was miserable

enough, but then, soon, the Devil’s Race also started getting
involved in the act.

The sounds that this intense battle had been constantly giving
rise to, had alerted the Devils’ Race’s beasts of human presence,
which had started to flock towards in the battlefield in large
groups.

The number of beasts, that were entering the battlefield, was

increasing by the minute, and they had already started
attacking the humans.

For the sake of security, Bi Fan signaled to Blue Dragon and

Lone Leaf, to retreat, and withdraw to a location further away
from the battlefield. And since the Chimera, too, could land
itself in trouble, since it could easily be mistaken for a beast of
the devils’ race, he too, was asked to do the same.
 Both, Wang Zhong and Bi Fan, enter the battlefield together,
but instead of searching for opponents, they started pretending
to fight each other.

As long as they wouldn’t try to get closer to the Orge flower,

they probably won’t attract too much attention, and would stay
out of harm’s way.
 Chapter 79 – Ferocious Pillagers

Bi Fan and Wang Zhong had a very good reason to hold their
positions, and not indulge themselves in fights with the Devil’s
race Beasts, because at the moment, they were in a very
convenient position to make a dash for the Ogre flower, as and
when the opportunity presented itself.

The martial artists, who were standing at the periphery of the

battleground, were now being forced to fight with the beasts,
since the beasts weren’t giving them much of an option.

This was a huge disadvantage for these people, because when

the rush for grabbing the Ogre flower would reach its peak,
these men would have an awfully difficult time getting rid of
the beasts they were fighting, since the beasts, unlike humans,
had no interest in the flower.

The men who were closest to the Ogre flower, were the cream
amongst the elite martial artists, and so, naturally, had faced
each other several times in the past. These people, continued to
strategically advance closer to the flower.

However, no one was willing to take the initiative of taking

the first petal, as the person in question was very likely to
become the target for a multitude of arrows.

Wang Zhong and Bi Fan, meanwhile had squeezed a little

closer into the battlefield to avoid the beasts, and, were now
standing in the middle of the fray.

At present, Bi Fan and Wang Zhong weren’t worried about

their position at all, as the two of them were very confident that
they could make their way to the flower whenever they saw fit.

Since the involvement of the Devil’s Race, the fighting had

become a lot more intense, and several martial artists had lost
their lives; obviously the count of the dead beasts was pretty
high too.

At the moment, the situation between the humans and the

beasts, had turned into a dog-eats-dog contest, in which
everyone was wildly trying to beat the other side.

It was for this reason alone, that Wang Zhong and Bi Fan had
ventured a little deeper into the battlefield, since the fighting at
the periphery had become far too violent.
 On top of that, both ethnicities, humans and Devil’s Race,
were flocking into the battlefield in a constant stream of flow.
And if this continued for long, then, there was no saying when
this fighting would finally end.

There were a few ‘transformation’ layer martial artists, in the

inner most parts of the battlefield, who were beginning to get
very restless, and had already started casting out strong moves
to force their through the crowd.

“Crucifix Deception Sword!” Gu Feng cast out the same

technique that his late Brother Tian Feng had; obviously, his
attack was a lot stronger than his Brother’s.

In one single move, Gu Feng pushed back all his opponents,

and taking advantage of their retreat, he charged towards the
flower.

At least a dozen or so men, matched his actions, and charged

wildly for the flower.

They continued to swing at each other as they rushed to the

flower.
 Everyone wanted to take the flower for themselves, and
simply didn’t want the other party to get anything, or interfere
in their business.

The Ogre flower, realizing that a lot of strong men were about
to assault it, threw away the man it was busy sucking the life
out off, and redirected its shoots towards them.

“Cross Deception Sword!”

“Shaking Heavens!”

“Five Thunder Blade!”

…. …..

The big boys had used their best tricks, and had managed to
cut off the Ogre flower’s tentacles very quickly.
 And even though Bi Fan was busy fighting someone, he still,
was keeping an eye on their movements as well.

‘Five Thunders’ School’s special technique, ‘the five thunder

blade’ caught his eye in particular. The sharp edge of the sword
appeared like bolt of lightning, as it flashed through the air, and
cut down at least a dozen or so tentacles, in a single strike.

Bi Fan realized that since so many strong men, had launched

so many strong attacks at the flower, the flower at this point,
would definitely be a little more vulnerable to raiders.

“Brother Wang, you start attracting some attention, and I’ll

take care of the flower!” Bi Fan called the plan into action.

Bi Fan had this plan in his mind the whole time. He was going
to use the two armors that he was wearing, the soft one that he
had bought from Ting Feng valley, and the wisteria armor that
Ling Xin Ya had given him, to defend himself, as he charged
through the battlefield.

“Brother Bi Fan, you be careful okay!” Wang Zhong’s tone

reflected a hint of concern.
 Snatching petals from the Ogre flower was going to be a very
tough task, since Bi Fan would probably have to face a very
strong resistance from several very strong contenders.

Bi Fan had taken the initiative, and had undertaken the

tougher job on his head, leaving Wang Zhong to support him.

“GO!” Bi Fan and Wang Zhong, simultaneously, got rid of

their opponents, and charged towards the center of the
battlefield.

“Arghh!!!” Wang Zhong cast out the ‘defying domination’

technique, and attacked several men at once.

Bi Fan, quickly taking advantage of the diversion that Wang

Zhong had provided, forced his way through the opening that
had been created for him, and rushed towards the Ogre flower.

“Someone is trying to steal the flower again! Damn it!” The

two of them had already attracted a lot of attention from the
other martial artists in the vicinity.

Several angry men launched fierce attacks, in the hope of

stopping, and killing, Bi Fan.

Bi Fan, agile as a loach, managed to dodge most of the attacks;

the few attacks that did manage to land on his body, didn’t
cause any harm, owing to the defensive capabilities of his
armors.

The Ogre flower realized that it is being closed down by

another strong fighter, and so, it called the remaining of its
shoots into action, and redirected them towards Bi Fan, in the
hope of wrapping them around him.

‘The Rising Sun!’

Bi Fan was smart enough to conceal his identity once again.

He had already changed his appearance before entering the fray,
and was now using a technique which was the trade mark of a
Sect, to which he had no relation.

Bi Fan was still weak in the eyes of some, and so, he still
needed to tread cautiously in this world.

“The flower is mine!” Bi Fan’s excitement was visible, as he

inched closer to his prize.

Bi Fan managed to cut off most of the tentacles, which the

flower had shot at him.

At this point, several other men, replicated his actions, and

charged towards the flower.

Obviously, there were a lot of people present, who didn’t have

the spine to attack the flower on their own, and hence, had been
waiting for someone to take the lead.

‘A snap of the fingers!’

Bi Fan popped a few stones to break off the remaining

tentacles.

‘Prancing Tiger!’

Bi Fan cast out his most powerful boxing technique to fend off
the tentacles that were within arms-reach.
 “Boom!” A loud noise emanated from the collision, as the
flower’s shoots wilted under the force of Bi Fan’s attacks.

Bi Fan had come fully prepared, and he took out some

mountain rope, which he had procured from his senior, to pull
the flower closer, and he threw it over to grab the flower.

Bi Fan had made a very smart move; he was going to use the
rope to pull the whole flower towards him.

“Boy! You think you can take the whole flower! You are going
to die now!”

“Boy, leave the flower, or we will kill you!”

…. ….

Bi Fan’s actions had managed to infuriate several men, who

wantonly charged at him.
 Bi Fan didn’t flinch for even one second, and continued to
carry on his set task, and covered only the most vital parts of his
body.

The Ogre flower’s defenses had been defeated altogether. So

now, if Bi Fan left the flower behind for the others to take, then
it would be a very expensive form of charity.

“Zhumm….” Successive hits befell Bi Fan’s body.

Thanks to his armors, Bi Fan didn’t suffer any serious

injuries; but nevertheless, the force of the attacks, was enough
to imbalance him.

Bi Fan had almost managed to grab the flower, but this

unaccounted intervention, caused the rope to slip from his
hands, and the flower slipped away from him.

Fortunately, Wang Zhong had managed to pin down several

men, otherwise Bi Fan would have been sent flying due to the
sheer force of the attacks.
 “Grab it!”

“The Ogre flower belongs to me! Don’t you dare touch it!”

There were a lot of young martial artists present on the scene,

and all of them were confident that they could take the flower
for themselves, without letting anyone dip their hands in the
pie.

Several such youngsters, charged towards the flower.

Obviously, there were others who wanted to obstruct them,

and launched fierce attacks to achieve their objective.

Suddenly, a very strong gale breezed through the Devil’s

Abyss, and swept away some of the petals from the Ogre Flower
with its tide.

There were hundreds of people inside the battlefield, battling

for the prize, but most of them had been blocked out from
entering the inner territory by the students from bigger martial
arts sects.
 But now, since the petals were beginning to get blown away
with the wind, they simply couldn’t hold back anymore, and
they collectively charged at the front lines of the defense that
the big schools had set, which had been keeping them at bay
until now.

“Charge! Grab it! Take it!….” Several men yelled as they

rallied together.

After all, collectively, these men were far more in number,

and were far stronger; and so, they weren’t exactly afraid of
taking the risk anymore.

“Stop them! Make sure they don’t get in!” the elite martial
artists that were at the core of battlefield, shouted orders at
their comrades; they were beginning to panic now.

If so many strong men charged at them, collectively, then

even the strongest of fighters may not be able to protect
themselves, and could possibly fall prey to the sheer number of
incoming attacks.

They had all undertaken this adventure in the hope of

obtaining a petal from the coveted Ogre flower; no one wanted
to die here.

But it was too late already, the fighters who were charged
with the responsibility of maintaining the barrier, had already
been overrun.

A huge crowd of people charged into core of the battleground;

and the confusion on the battlefield, took to another level.

The innermost areas of the battlefield were flocking with

fighters from different sects, who were randomly teaming up
against strong fighters, while others were trying to get to the
Ogre flower.

Hundreds of men had launched this new assault, and the first
layer of the defense that the big sects had set was already torn to
pieces. Some managed to run and concentrate resources at the
center; while the ones that were slightly slower, died.

Wang Zhong quietly retreated to the other side; prepared to

rescue Bi Fan at a moment’s notice.
 Bi Fan stood up, picked up his rope, and readied himself for
another bout.
 Chapter 80 – Mystery

Bi Fan, skillfully, sent the rope flying out, again, towards the
Ogre flower.

Bi Fan’s throw was exceptionally accurate, and the rope

landed right on the flower’s stem.

As long as he could gently pull the flower, it would continue to

bend towards him without shedding more petals.

But there were a lot of strong men present at the scene, who
simply wouldn’t allow Bi Fan to take the flower for himself.

“Stop him! Don’t let him take the Ogre flower…”

“Attack! He’s trying to take the Ogre flower again!”

…. ….
 The most elite of martial artists, who were present on the
scene roared, as the launched ferocious attacks. Some of these
attacks were targeted at Bi Fan, while some others had launched
their attacks to clear their paths to the flower, in the hope of
getting to the Ogre flower before him.

Bi Fan realizing the threat of the incoming attacks, started to

pull at rope a lot faster now.

“Zhumm……”

The gale that these powerful attacks brought with them,

started to sweep away some of the petals that had adorned the
flower. More petals started to drift with the wind, giving rise to
a very beautiful, yet heartbreaking scene.

The petals of an Ogre flower are very beautiful in appearance,

and the manner in which they fluttered in the breeze, created a
picture so beautiful, that some people just stood there
motionless, as they gazed at them in awe.

Almost half of the petals had been swept away by the wind by
now, which was making Bi Fan more and more anxious by the
second. Soon, he had managed to pull the Ogre flower within
arms-reach, and he quickly incorporated it into his Yin Yang
pouch.

During this time, several attacks had landed on his body, and
the jolt from the force of these attacks, had bruised his body. If
it hadn’t been for the amazing defensive capabilities of his
armors, Bi Fan would have succumbed to these attacks, and
died.

“Stop him!” Several strong men threw themselves in Bi Fan’s

direction, launching fierce attacks to stop him from getting
away.

Of course, there were those as well, who had decided to

pursue the petals that had been blown away by the wind,
instead of getting involved with Bi Fan.

“Withdraw!” It was time for Bi Fan to make a decisive call,

and he called ‘the dance of mist’ footwork into action, as he
quickly made a run for it.

Bi Fan was being chased after, by a good number of people,

most of whom were at the peak of the ‘transformation’ layer, so
naturally, he was well aware that it wouldn’t be a very good idea
to fight them all at once.

“Attack!” Bi Fan softly whispered to Wang Zhong, as he fled

past his side.

Then suddenly, Bi Fan turned around, and mustering all his

strength, threw a punch.

His punch wasn’t intended to hurt anyone, but was thrown

with the simple intention of demonstrating his strength.

Wang Zhong, as instructed by Bi Fan, swung his sword to

obstruct the people that were following Bi Fan.

“Boom!” A loud noise erupted as Bi Fan’s punch landed on the

ground, right in front of the all the fighters who were following
him, and split open a crevice in the ground.

Several people gasped, as they realized that if the punch had

landed on them, then it definitely would have injured them very
seriously.
 By the time they recovered from the shock, Bi Fan and Wang
Zhong had already covered a good amount of distance, and were
on their way out.

“Chase them or not?” This decision was giving several people

a headache.

The punch that Bi Fan had thrown, clearly demonstrated his

strength, and on top of that they could all make out that Wang
Zhong was at the peak of the ‘transformation’ layer; on the
whole, the two of them working together as a team, would make
for an awfully difficult fight.

Since they hadn’t been able to take the Ogre flower

themselves, they had decided to resort to snatching it from Bi
Fan. But after witnessing the competition that they would have
to overcome to achieve their goal, many of them realized that
chasing after Bi Fan and Wang Zhong would be like using a
wicker basket to draw water from a well. And after all said and
done, all their hopes and efforts, may amount to nothing in the
end.

They were all wise men, and quickly made up their minds.
Apart from one man, who was still chasing after Bi Fan and
Wang Zhong, the others had turned around, and were now
chasing after the petals that had been blown away by the wind.

The man who was still chasing after Bi Fan and Wang Zhong
was Jian Shen’s Gu Feng. He was strong, full of confidence, and,
had big ambitions, so naturally he wouldn’t give up this chase
easily.

Bi Fan and Wang Zhong were aware of the identity of their

pursuer, and hence, they decided to carve out a bloody trail
from within the ranks of the Devils’ Race beasts, as they made
their way towards Blue Dragon and Lone Leaf.

Since Bi Fan hadn’t given the command, the Chimera didn’t

spring up to fight with Gu Feng, but continued to follow them
closely from within the shadows.

They were being tracked down by an enemy, so it wouldn’t be

fruitful to reveal all their secrets.

“Go! If the man continues to follow us, we will kill him!” Bi

Fan said.

Blue Dragon and the others, nodded in agreement.

 Although Lone Leaf and Blue Dragon hadn’t participated in
the fray for the Ogre flower, they knew that Bi Fan would
consider their needs as well, especially since he had managed to
procure so many petals from the flower.

The four of them quickly left the scene; after all, this was a
very dangerous place to be.

Gu Feng was still chasing after them when Bi Fan and Wang
Zhong reunited with Blue Dragon and Lone Leaf. The moment
he realized that Bi Fan has two more strong companions,
making a total of four strong opponents, against just him, he
started to reconsider his move.

Gu Feng was well aware of the fact that he simply couldn’t

match up to four such strong fighters alone.

“Holy grandmother! This is a huge loss! I don’t even know

who these guys are!” Gu Feng had made up his mind; he was
abandoning the pursuit.

Gu Feng’s resolve was strong, and he still wanted to chase

them down, but he was well aware of the fact that he could deal
with the four of them all on his own. He was ambitious, but not
stupid.

Gu Feng attentively stared at the backs of Bi Fan’s four-man

team, as he tried to print their movements in his mind, with the
intention of chasing them down later.

Now that he had made his decision, he turned around, and

made his way around the Devil’s race creatures, and doubled
back to the battlefield, in the hope scrambling a petal from the
people who had decided to pursue the other petals, which had
been blown away by the wind.

He desperately needed a petal, and wouldn’t stop at anything

to get his wish.

By the time Gu Feng retuned, he realized that the fight for the
remaining petals had already been resolved, which was obvious
from the smiles that were gleaming on the faces of some of the
people, who were present on the scene.

After some inquiry, he found out that Jian Shen, as a whole,

hadn’t been able to get any petals at all, so naturally, his face got
even uglier than it was before.

“Brother Gu Feng, since you started to chased after those men,

we’ve managed to collect some petals here.” A pale-faced youth
address Gu Feng, laughing all the while.

The youngster was Tian Luo School’s Luo Yun. He too had
chased after Bi Fan, same as Gu Feng, but had decided to fold his
cards a lot sooner than his counterpart, and luckily, had
managed to obtain two petals during the fray, which had taken
place in Gu Feng’s absence.

“Luo Yun, don’t gloat.” Gu Feng groaned in a cold voice.

Luo Yun continued to laugh heartily: “Brother Gu Feng, it

seems you made a mistake. You missed out on so much here.”

“Luo Yun, don’t piss me off, or else…..” Gu Feng was fuming

with rage now.

Jian Shen students were a little more aggressive than the

students of most other schools, and were often considered hot
tempered. Gu Feng, more so than others.
 Gu Feng was already quite disheartened, and Luo Yun’s jibs
had made him furious; at the moment, it looked as if Gu Feng
wanted to put a sword through the man’s heart.

Luo Yun realized that he had said more than he should have,
and he quietly retreated to one corner; simply unable to find the
courage to mock Gu Feng any further.

“Everyone, the two men who snatched the Ogre flower, were
fairly strong. Was anyone able to recognize them?” the speaker
was a very sturdy looking man, and emerged from the crowd in
a very domineering manner. He belonged to Jiu Yu Da’s Four
Oceans; his name was Lu Fei.

“I have never seen those two before, but the two of them were
quite strong. We will need everyone to participate against
them.” Gu Feng said.

Luo Yun reasoned: “The two of them were definitely not from
Jiu Yu Da, otherwise, we would have definitely heard about
them.”
 “No matter who they are, we must find them.”

The most elite students from the Jiu Yu Da sect, had arrived
at the scene in the hope of procuring petals from the coveted
Ogre flower. But the biggest benefits had been received by two
unknown entities; their egos, simply couldn’t resign to the fact.

Gu Feng had cleverly concealed the true strength and

numbers of Bi Fan’s platoon, as he wanted to come out on top.

If these people found out that they were planning on chasing

after four men, instead of two, then some of them might back
off.

But if they did track Bi Fan and his platoon down, then the
others would find themselves at a very grave disadvantage, and
Jian Shen School would be able to take advantage of that fact,
and could snatch all the petals for themselves.

Humans are a very self-centered breed; and Gu Feng was no

different.

Gu Feng hadn’t obtained any petals; so naturally, his heart

was filled with sense of resentment. He wanted the petals; all of
them.

The air inside the Devil’s Abyss was different, and the
atmosphere lacked positive Aura. Owing to this fact, no one
would do the stupidity of consuming a petal from the Ogre
flower inside the Devil’s Abyss, in the hope of entering the next
layer.

Bi Fan had snatched so many Ogre flower petals, that if they

managed to track him down, then everyone present, would be
able to get at least one petal.

With the thought of Ogre flower petals in their hearts, Jian

Shen students, led by Gu Feng, along with others similar
groups, set out in the Devil’s Abyss, in the hope of tracking Bi
Fan down.
 Chapter 81 – The King Appears

Bi Fan and his companions, continued to move away from the

spot where the battle for the Ogre flower had taken place. Once
they were sure that they were away from danger, they restored
their original appearances.

“Haha! Today has been an amazing day! Brother Bi Fan

charged through the battlefield, right through the middle of all
those Jui Yu Da big boys, and took the entire flower! You put
them to shame Brother; really, all of them.” Wang Zhong
simply couldn’t control himself anymore, and he started to
laugh.

Lone Leaf’s face became slightly unsightly, as his School, Bei

Ming, was also a part of the Jui Yu Da Sect. And like all other
schools, Bei Ming students were also present on the scene, but
none of them were able to stop Bi Fan from taking the flower.

Lone Leaf was Bi Fan’s friend, and would surely stand beside
him in the face of adversity, but he felt a little uncomfortable
owing to the manner in which Wang Zhong was insulting his
school.
 No matter what happened, Lone Leaf would never leak it to
anyone that Bi Fan was the man who took the Ogre flower, since
he was afraid that it might lead to the leak of another secret, Li
Zhong Ren’s death.

As opposed to the Ogre flower situation, if the secret behind

the events that lead to Li Zhong Ren’s death were uncovered,
then Lone Leaf was sure to paint a target on his back.

Blue Dragon was next to heap praise: “Brother Bi Fan charged

into the middle of the fray, all alone, like a one-man army, and
snatched the Ogre flower from right underneath everyone’s
nose. What an amazing feat Brother; simply amazing.”

“Ah…well, don’t flatter me Brothers, I really couldn’t have

done it without you all.” Bi Fan laughed, as he shook his head.

Lone Leaf was in a relatively calmer frame of mind. He smiled

as he added: “Sorry, Brother, we can’t do that; we will continue
to praise you till you start vomiting from them.”

Bi Fan took out the Ogre flower, and started counting the
petals. He counted forty nine petals, which was far more than
what he had been expecting.
 “Bother Wang, this petal is for you. I hope it serves you well,
and wish that you break into the ‘emerging from the womb’
layer soon.” Bi Fan said, as he plucked a petal and gave it to
Wang Zhong.

Wang Zhong’s hand was trembling as he took the petal from

Bi Fan: “Following you was the best gift that my fate could have
bestowed upon me; I really am a very lucky man.”

There was a time, when Wang Zhong couldn’t even have

dreamt of obtaining such a precious commodity, let alone be
allowed to consume it.

Ogre flowers were so rare that they were considered priceless,

in the true sense of the word. No amount of Spar, or items,
could be used to convince someone to sell a petal from this
coveted flower.

Immediately after handing Wang Zhong a petal, Bi Fan took

out six more petals from the flower, and divided them between
Blue Dragon and Lone Leaf.
 Although Blue Dragon and Lone Leaf hadn’t participated in
the operation, they were still Bi Fan’s friends and companions,
and Bi Fan was not a stingy man.

Blue Dragon gracefully accepted the flower petals, and

incorporated them into his Yin Yang pouch: “Thank you
Brother, Thank you.”

“Brother Bi Fan, I honestly believe that you are giving us a

little too much….” Lone Leaf was hesitating from accepting
such a gracious gift.

Bi Fan smiled: “Three petals really isn’t that much Brother.

One is for you, the second is for you wife, and the third one is
for mistress, or well, if you don’t feel like having one, you can
always just give that one to your children. I’m just preparing
you for the future Brother.”

“Thank you Brother Bi Fan.” Lone Leaf gratefully accepted Bi

Fan’s gift.

Blue Dragon simply couldn’t help it: “Brother Bi Fan, if I

managed to acquire a lot of wives someday, then you can have
some of them.”
 “No…. I’m sure I can take care of that myself…..” Bi Fan
pouted out of embarrassment.

“Ha ha ……..” The four of them broke out with laughter.

This trip into the Devil’s Abyss, could only be described as a

very fruitful one for the four of them. And in case the four of
them left the Abyss now, they would be going back with a huge
bounty in their pockets.

The four of them considered, and discussed, the idea for a

while, but they didn’t really want to leave the Abyss yet, as they
wanted to stick to their original plan; they wanted to confront
the Layer’s King.

“The King of the first layer is very difficult to find…. We have

been looking for him for so long now, but we still have no idea
where he might be.” Wang Zhong reasoned in a gloomy tone.

Wang Zhong was a little impatient to leave the Devil’s Abyss,

as he wanted to go out, and consume the Ogre flower petal in
order to advance to the ‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer.
 In the Tian Yu world, ‘Emerging from the Womb’ martial
artists were considered celebrities, and these people were
treated as such.

Once someone entered into the ‘Emerging from the Womb

layer’, their social status would see a massive rise, and they
would enjoy preferential treatment wherever they go; even
joining any martial arts sect of their choice wasn’t out of the
reach for such people.

Wang Zhong had been practicing so hard his entire life, in the
hope of breaking into the ‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer.

Now, he had that chance, and he simply couldn’t wait to

achieve his lifelong goal.

Bi Fan smiled: “Brother Wang, I can understand your anxiety,

but still, lets continue to search for the Layer’s King for a few
more days, if we don’t find him soon, then we will move out….”

“Come on, let’s give it another shot. Maybe if we are luckier

this time around, we might be able to find him.” Blue Dragon
was trying to persuade the others to keep searching for the
Layer’s King.

Blue Dragon simply didn’t want to give up; he was hoping that
after fighting the Layer’s King, he would be able to gain enough
experience to cross over to the next layer.

This was the only reason he wanted to stay inside the Devil’s
Abyss, but he didn’t convey the idea to the others.

This was a very unusual behavior on Blue Dragon’s part, since

he was a very straightforward man; almost on the border line of
being blunt. But he considered his companions to be his
Brothers.

Since he considered them to be his Brothers, he naturally,

didn’t want to get in an argument with them.

Bi Fan, like Blue Dragon, was a very straightforward

youngster, and preferred making friends with like-minded
people.

Lone Leaf too, could be considered a very upright and honest

youth, but unlike Blue Dragon, he had a lot of restrictions
imposed on him, which often forced him to keep his opinions to
himself.

The four of them continued to battle their way through the

Devil’s Abyss, killing a lot of beasts in process, and adding them
to their wealth.

But truth be told, they weren’t really in it for the money

anymore, and were only fighting with the Devil’s race for the
sake of enhancing their skills.

This trip into the Devil’s Abyss, after all, was a rare
opportunity; so naturally, they wanted to make the best of it.

Their skills had reached a point, where they would be

considered, extremely, powerful, in the eyes of normal men,
and their strengths continued to advance at a rapid speed.

Martial arts techniques, often bore different results in the

hands of different men. So much so, that sometimes, men who
were far weaker than others were able to produce much better
results than their superiors. There was no clear reason as to
why this happened.
 Take Bi Fan for example; even though he was a very skilled
martial artist, and had a great understanding of things as well,
but still, the reasons for exceptionally quick progress were still
unknown to him.

And as one gained more and more knowledge, and

understanding of martial arts, they could even start creating
their own custom styles and techniques, which would enable
them to produce even better results.

The case with inner energy was the same; there was no
explanation as to why some people progressed faster than
others. And sometimes, people with very high inner energy
levels were unable to deliver the results that they were expected
to, and vice versa.

Bi Fan and his party were enjoying fighting the Devil’s Race
beasts so much, that as time passed, they completely forgot
about their primary motive of seeking out the Layer’s King.

They had been continuously fighting the Devil’s race every

day, non-stop, which was obviously paying its dividends. The
more their progress reflected in their fighting, the more it
would excite them, and they would carry on their way with
even more passion, and determination, than before.
 The energy, and the effort, with which the four of them were
practicing, came with a price; a very heavy price, which was
being borne by the Devil’s Race.

At this point, Bi Fan’s party had reached level, where they

could easily sweep clean entire groups of the Devil’s race beasts
without facing much resistance from them, and were effectively
reducing the population density of the Devil’s Abyss.

On this day, they had been engaging themselves in battles

with the Devil’s race without a break, and had already killed an
awful number of beasts.

Bi Fan, at his level and expertise, especially, had been

wreaking havoc. He could kill off the beasts, by simply
beheading them in one strike, which he had already
demonstrated several times today. The sight of their brethren
being beheaded in a single strike had been frightening the rest
of the beast away from him.

Suddenly, the Devil’s Race beasts started becoming very

impatient and restless, so much so that they even let their
guards down.
 “Woah! What an amazing momentum!” Wang Zhong
exclaimed out of astonishment.

Wang Zhong knew that something unusual was happening,

and wanted to investigate the situation to find its root cause.

Bi Fan reasoned: “That must the Layer’s King. The force is too
strong for it to be anything else. In fact, I don’t think that I’ll be
able to fight it off alone.”

The momentum of an ‘emerging from the Womb’ layer being,

was far too much, and was making it very hard for the four of
them to breathe.

Blue Dragon and Lone Leaf, were in such a bad shape, that the
two of them couldn’t even stand steady, and their bodies had
already started dripping cold sweat.

“Brother Lone Leaf, Brother Blue Dragon, you might want to

retreat for the time being, and continue to fight just the beasts.
But keep a close eye on our fight, and try to learn as much as you
can, before joining us against him.”
 The only reason, that Bi Fan was asking Blue Dragon and Lone
Leaf to withdraw as of now, was so that he could remove them
from the early dangers of not knowing the enemy’s capabilities.

Blue Dragon and Lone Leaf knew well enough, that at their
strength levels, they wouldn’t be able to provide much support
to Bi Fan and Wang Zhong, and would only succeed in
distracting their attention.

Blue Dragon and Lone Leaf were smart youngsters, and so, the
two of them retreated grounds without a second thought.

Soon, the Layer’s King finally appeared in flesh, at a distance,

and could have easily been mistaken for a small mountain.
 Chapter 82 – Black Silk Threads To The
Rescue

“Woah, the Layer’s King is too strong!” Wang Zhong was left
completely astounded.

The King of first layer of the Devil’s Abyss, continued to move

closer to Bi Fan and his party. He was almost thirty meters tall,
and his body seemed to be covered with Black Gas. This Black
Gas, in reality, was another group of Devils, similar to the ones
that Bi Fan and his party had encountered earlier, but these
were obviously being controlled by the Layer’s King.

However, it still wasn’t possible to tell what the Layer King

actually looked like, since he was completely covered by those
clouds of Black Gases. His large, gleaming, eyes, however, were
visible in the form of two large lantern-like holes.

The momentum of this monster was so intense, that even

breathing in its presence was beginning to become a struggle for
Bi Fan and his party.

“It seems we have run out of luck now…” the look on Lone
Leaf’s face had already changed to a very grave one.
 Bi Fan asked: “Brother Wang, what’s your opinion on this?”

“It’s going to be very difficult to deal with him. He’s at a very

advanced level inside the ‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer, and
is far too strong for me.” Wang Zhong said.

The King of the First Layer had advanced so far into the
‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer, that his strength had already
surpassed thirty Yun Shi, which was far more than Bi Fan’s
total strength. And on top of the that, there was a difference in
Layers; the King was inside the ‘Emerging from the Womb’
layer, while Bi Fan and the others were only inside the ‘Fetus’
Layer.

After entering into the ‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer, the
body’s inner energy transforms into Aura, which pumps up the
body’s physical strength. The ‘Fetus’ layer’s Inner energy was
no match for the power that the Aura of ‘Emerging from the
Womb’ layer, instilled in the hosts body.

If the Layer King had just entered into the ‘Emerging from the
Womb’ layer, then the four of them might have still had a
chance against him.
 But, the King had already advanced a fair distance into the
‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer, which meant that the four of
them, put together, won’t be able to do the Layer King much
harm; let alone be able to kill it.

“He will probably use his Devils to attack us first. We will use
the opportunity to hone our skills, and sharpen our minds. But
the minute the King joins the fight, we will immediately
withdraw.”

“If for some reason, he is able to stop us from running away,

then we will use the transportation tablets and exit the Devil’s
Abyss.” Bi Fan laid out the plan.

The use of the transportation tablets was obviously reserved

for the worst case scenario.

As the King of the Devil’s Race drew closer, some of the Gas
clouds, which were surrounding his body, started to drift away
from him, and quickly started to surround Bi Fan and his
companions.
 Although the Chimera was hiding a fair distance away from
them, the Black Gas clouds still made their towards it.

These Devils it would seem, could tell the difference between

ordinary beasts and the beasts of the Devil’s Race, owing to the
wisdom of their master, the layer’s King. And they were using
this ability to distinguish the outsiders, and were attacking only
them, and not the inhabitants of the Abyss.

A very large black-colored gas cloud had surrounded them,

which then started to cover the top of the enclosure as well.
This obviously increased the pressure significantly, and soon,
fear started to creep into the atmosphere; the King hadn’t made
any move of his own as of yet.

In an instant, the four of them had been surrounded by the

Black gas clouds. But fortunately for them, the King still hadn’t
made any moves, which obvious because the ground was stable,
and it would have started to shake if the King was making any
kind of movements.

It seemed that the devils were even drawing power from the
Layer King, which meant that killing them would be a lot
harder than killing normal Devils; which was hard enough as it
is.
 It obvious that the four of them weren’t of any concern in the
eyes of the Layer’s King, as he seemed unwilling to take any
initiative on his own, and simply trusted his subordinates to be
capable enough of dealing with the four of them.

The four of them started concentrating on dealing with the

Devils who were attacking them. Lone Leaf and Blue Dragon,
especially, had been waiting for an opportunity like this one,
and were now aiming to use it, and break into the next layer.

The Devils are known as the masters of manipulation, and are

awfully difficult to deal with.

Even Bi Fan, at his strength level, which was quite a feat on its
own, was having a difficult time in dealing with these devils.

As soon as the Devils started to invade their minds, the

illusions started to appear.

Bi Fan started seeing all kinds of terrible visions, which were

trying to overtake his consciousness once again. But Bi Fan
wanted to train his soul, mind and spirit, so, he was trying very
hard to control his emotions, and was hoping that they
wouldn’t go astray like the last time.

This time, he was trying to keep his mind as empty as

possible, so the Devils wouldn’t have much to build up on.

Owing to the experience, and knowledge, which he had gained

from his previous encounter, dealing with the Devils’ illusions
seemed a lot easier in comparative terms.

Lone Leaf and Blue Dragon hadn’t done very well the last time
around. So much so, that if it hadn’t been for the Yin Yang
Lotus, and its black silk threads, the two of them wouldn’t have
been able to break free of the Devils’ illusions. In fact, Blue
Dragon had come uncomfortably close to losing his mind
altogether.

This time, the two of them were determined to break through

to the next layer, and hence, were trying even harder.

Blue Dragon was beginning to get carried away in the illusions

once again; the illusions showed him his father. His tall, and
mighty, father; his loving father.
 Blue Dragon was allowed to indulge himself in the riches, and
comforts, that he had been denied his entire life; he was finding
it very difficult to extricate himself from these illusions.

Since childhood, he had suffered a lot of criticism for being a

by-blow, and had always been treated as a bastard. His father
was a member of the Eastern Aristocracy, whereas his mother
wasn’t, and had never been accepted by the family, even though
she bore a child for the family. Their relationship had been
deemed illegitimate, along with their offspring, and his mother
was eventually banned from the family grounds.

Blue Dragon had repeatedly asked questions about his mother,

but no one had entertained his questions.

So, Blue Dragon had waited till he was a little older, and then
decided to train himself into becoming a very strong martial
artist, so that he could get all the answers that he had been
seeking his entire life.

Now that Blue Dragon was confronted with his father, he

naturally, wanted to ask his father that one question; why did
he abandon his mother and renounced him as a son.
 “Father…..” The Devils didn’t allow him to ask his question,
and the illusion interrupted him in the middle of asking that,
one, question, which he had always wanted to ask his father.

“Son, you mother is no longer alive. It is entirely my fault. I

was forced to abandon her….” Blue Dragon’s father’s face, was
reflecting his heart’s painful condition.

Blue Dragon had already forgotten all his grievances, and was
beginning to sympathize with his father.

The Devils are capable of producing really powerful illusions,

which directly attack the target’s consciousness. If one doesn’t
take the utmost precaution against them, then, their minds can
easily go haywire, and the Devils can turn the man into their
personal dancing puppet.

Blue Dragon was gradually sinking into the depths of the

illusion, and if things continued to go at this pace, then he
would find it very difficult to extricate himself later on.

Every man has his own demons; and Lone Leaf was no
different. Once the devils are able to find the right memory,
then it can be very hard to resist their illusions.
 Relatively speaking, Bi Fan and Wang Zhong were having it
easy. Wang Zhong had clashed with Devils several times in the
past; so naturally, he had a pretty good idea as far as tackling
their illusions was concerned.

Bi Fan was already drawing some support from the Yin Yang
Lotus, which was beginning to express its desire, of taking the
initiative of ending the devils.

The black silk threads were just waiting to come out, like they
had the last time around, and devour all the Devils, same as last
time, but were being held at bay by Bi Fan’s desire to train some
more.

Even though Bi Fan didn’t want them to interfere, he had

never actually expected them to act so obediently; but they did,
and didn’t move an inch.

Blue Dragon and the others had been delaying their stay inside
the Devil’s Abyss, with the sole motive of seeking an
opportunity to fight the Layer’s King. Now was their chance,
but it came with a huge risk.
 They had the opportunity to sharpen their minds, and their
spirits, but at the risk of being struck down by the Layer’s King.

Half an hour passed away in an instant, and Bi Fan started to

realize that if this continued for much longer, then the King of
the Devil’s Race might get restless, and may decide to take
matters into his own hands.

Once the King personally came after them, even making an

escape would become very difficult.

“Black Silk Threads, GO!”

The black silk thread had been waiting for their turn for a
long time now. They emerged out of Bi Fan’s body, and in an
instant, devoured all the devils that had been surrounding, and
attacking, him.

The black silk threads continued to fly around, swallowing

everything in their paths.

In a very short period of time, they had already devoured all

the devils that had been surrounding Blue Dragon, Lone Leaf,
Wang Zhong and the Chimera. However, the four of them
didn’t immediately recover from the effects of their respective
hallucinations.

The black silk threads didn’t return to Bi Fan’s body

immediately, and decided to take a go at the Layers King.

The black silk threads were trying to assimilate the devils that
were surrounding the Layer King as well, who upon realizing
their intention, and ability, growled furiously: “GRRR!!!”

After the King was done growling, he decided to take matters

into his hands.

He opened his big, bloody, mouth, and sucked in the air,

hoping to swallow the Black Silk Threads.

But the black silk threads were awfully slippery, and they
skillfully curled their way around his mouth, and continue to
devour the devils that were still lingering around its body.

Those poor devils hadn’t yet received permissions from their

master to flee, and so they didn’t, and just stood there, with no
other options, as the black silk threads swallowed them whole.

At that moment, Lone Leaf, Blue Dragon and Wang Zhong

were woken up from their hallucinations by the King’s growl.
Their jaws were dangling from their faces, as the stood there,
speechlessly, gazing at those black silk threads, which were
fluttering in the breeze.

“What are those black silky things? How are they swallowing
the Devils?” Blue Dragon exclaimed; his mouth was still wide
open.

Bi Fan shouted out loudly: “Withdraw!”

The four of them, without any further hesitations, quickly

started to run away from the King, with the Chimera right
behind them.

Bi Fan wasn’t worried about the Black Silk Threads, and was
confident that they would return to his body. But he would have
to protect this secret from his friends, and so, he was going to
wait for the right opportunity, and then quietly, and
secretively, ask the black silk threads to make their return.
 The Yin Yang Lotus was his ultimate secret; and one, which
he simply wasn’t willing to tell anyone about.

Although he had no knowledge of its origination, but Bi Fan

could sense that this Yin Yang Lotus, which resided in his body,
was definitely a very rare occurrence in this world.

At the speed that the four of them running, they managed to

put the Layer’s King out of their sights in a very short span of
time. But, they neither stopped, nor did they slow down.
 Chapter 83 – Bei Ming Hong

The speed at which the Black Silk Threads were going, they
managed to engulf the entire body of the Layer King, and
devoured all the devils that covered his body.

Their exceptional speed gave the Devil’s Race no time to react,

and they entire herd of Devils were extinguished in a matter of
moments.

The Black Silk Threads continued to expand, and were

showing no signs dissipating.

The Layer King knew nothing about the origin of these Black
Silk Threads, nor did he know anything about their capability;
all he knew was the pain that he had taken to raise the Devils
that these Threads had just killed, and naturally, was furious
with them.

At present, the Layer King’s original appearance had been

revealed, and he turned out to be a Stone Giant; his entire body
was covered in a skin which was made entirely of stone, which
looked like it would fall off any time, but in reality, was
exceptionally tough and durable.
 The exposed Stone Giant stomped on the ground using his
abnormally large feet, and split open a crevice in the ground
beneath his feet.

He was far too strong… and far too violent.

The infuriated Stone Giant started walking, madly, and tore

apart anything, that stood in his path; stones, rock, and even
the beasts from the Devil’s Race.

The news of the King’s appearance had quickly spread

through Abyss.

There were a lot strong humans that had been tracking the
Layer King for a while. Even though they hadn’t yet attacked
him, but they still kept a close eye on his from a distance. Now,
more and more people were beginning to join them in planning
an attack on the Stone Giant.

Earlier, they hadn’t dared to attack the Layer King since they
couldn’t understand why he didn’t have a physical body, and
hence, had no idea how to deal with such an opponent. But now,
they could clearly see that the Layer King was a Stone Giant,
and even though Stone Giants are extremely strong, at least
now these men could harbor a glimmer of hope against him.

If they somehow managed to kill the Stone Giant, then they

could possibly obtain a very large Nucleus. Even if the Stone
Giant didn’t leave a nucleus behind, then still, his body itself
could be sold for a very huge price in the open market.

But most importantly, whoever manages to kill such a

powerful Stone Giant, would end up earning a huge name for
himself overnight, and suddenly would find himself being
considered amongst the most powerful, and talented, geniuses
of this young generation of martial artists.

Now what kind of a youngster wouldn’t want a glorious

reputation?! And all the benefits that came with it; amongst
these was the attention which he would receive from the
opposite gender….Girls!

It didn’t take long for a large number of young martial artists

to track the Stone Giant down, and several more were joining in
every minute.
 No one had taken the initiate to stand out, and attack the
Stone Giant yet, as most of the youngsters present on the scene,
were overawed with the Layer King’s strength; not to forget the
King’s temper.

The Stone Giant was on the verge of going berserk, and

whoever dared to obstruct his path, would certainly suffer its
wrath.

After Bi Fan and his party had ran away from the King, they
had quickly found themselves a safe house, and had started
practicing.

After their bout with the Devils, the four of them had gained a
huge amount of experience, but had also consumed a large
amount of their inner energies. So naturally, it was going to be a
while before they were done with their meditation.

Blue Dragon and Lone Leaf, especially, had started practicing

the moment they found a safe place, as both of them were ready
to break through the bottleneck, and to the next layer.

Both of them had accumulated enough experience to break

through to the next layer, and could achieve their targets with
ease.

After some time, Blue Dragon finished his practice and stood
up. He had successfully entered the ‘enormous strength’ layer,
and with his physical strength to support him, he was
effectively as strong as the ‘transformation’ layer.

Lone Leaf, similarly, had also broken past the bottleneck, and
was now a ‘transformation’ layer martial artist. His strength,
too, had seen a decent rise.

While the two of them were busy breaking past the

bottlenecks, Bi Fan had explained the importance of physical
strength to Wang Zhong, and taught him the ‘Blood Devil’
method to help him in increasing his physical strength.
Following which, Bi Fan had asked him to give it a try.

Since Wang Zhong had whole-heartedly accepted Bi Fan’s

leadership, it was in Bi Fan’s best interests to help him in
promoting his strength and abilities.

However, Bi Fan’s real secret was the techniques that he had

learnt from the battered jade book; and he wouldn’t leak them
out to anyone.
 As for the Black Silk Threads, while everyone was busy
practicing, Bi Fan found the opportunity that he was looking
for, and asked the Black Silk Threads to quietly make their
return.

At present, the combined strength of the four of them had

reached a level, where they could stand up to even the most elite
of teams from any sect known to them.

Bi Fan might be the lowest ranked in terms of energy levels,

but he was probably the strongest amongst them all. And when
the Chimera’s strength, and ability, was coupled with the four
of them, things were only bound to get worse for any
opposition; much worse.

The Chimera too, had broken past another bottleneck barrier,

and had now entered the ‘transformation’ layer.

But when his physical strength was factored in, it was obvious
that no ordinary ‘transformation’ layer martial artist could
stand against him for long.
 Blue Dragon was always the first to marvel at the Chimera’s
strength: “Holy Grandmother! Brother, your beast….. really is a
beast! ….what a specimen of nature!”

“…” Bi Fan really didn’t have much of a comeback, and just

stood there speechless.

Wang Zhong asked: “Brother Bi Fan, now that we are all done
here, should we go ahead and join the party?”

A crazy stone giant was on the loose, who happened to be the

King of the first layer of the Devil’s Abyss. The news had spread
everywhere by now, and even Bi Fan’s party had heard about it
from various sources.

Blue Dragon and Lone Leaf had just advanced in terms of

strength, and were keen to test things out a bit.

They were all looking at Bi Fan, and were waiting for him to
make the decision; Bi Fan had, unwittingly, become the leader
of this group, in the true sense.

“I guess everyone really wants to go for it; and even if I

suggest on leaving, I doubt that you guys will listen to me; so I
think its best that we buckle up for the ride ahead.” Bi Fan
smiled.

“Awesome!”

Blue Dragon and Lone Leaf cheered his call; even Wang Zhong
managed to flash a cheeky smile.

After the recent bout with the Devils, Wang Zhong’s anxiety
to leave the Devil’s Abyss had reduced. In fact, he seemed more
than happy to wait for a while longer to break through to the
next level.

After breaking through to the ‘Emerging from the Womb’

layer, this experience which he was gaining at the moment,
would come in handy, and would help him advance faster
through the layer, so naturally, he didn’t mind it.

On top of that, Wang Zhong had just learnt a method to

enhance his physical strength, but hadn’t yet had the time to
practice it. And so, he was hoping to enhance his physical
strength a bit more, before making the breakthrough to the next
layer.
 If his physical strength was higher than it was at present, then
naturally the Aura that would flow through his body, at the
time of the breakthrough, would yield a much better result, in
terms of enhancing his physical strength, then it would at the
moment.

It is no secret, that most people overlook the importance of

physical strength, in their obsession of enhancing their energy
levels.

In addition to that, development of physical strength was

much more difficult that inner energy and the results reflected a
lot slower than they did for the enhancement of inner energy.
This was the root cause, owing to which, most people only
concentrated on enhancement of inner energy, and usually gave
up on nurturing their physical strength.

As a result, as far as their energy levels would grow, martial

artists would continue to ignore physical strength, and
everything would seem to be normal.

But Wang Zhong had realized the importance of physical

strength, owing to Bi Fan, and had accepted the challenge of
improving his own. He had, in the short time that he had seen
Bi Fan in action, started attaching a huge amount of importance
to the development of physical strength as well.

Lone Leaf, too, had realized the vitality of physical strength,

but didn’t know any methods for improving the same. And he
was well aware of the fact that Bi Fan would probably not leak
his secrets to him.

Lone Leaf had secretly vowed that he would, upon his return
to his school, find out about various methods to enhance
physical strength, and would make sure that he practices them
actively.

Bi Fan and his companions, repeatedly inquired about the

whereabouts of the Stone Giant, and they continued on their
way towards it.

Anyway, they knew just exactly how strong it was; and were
well aware of its temper as well. So obviously, they weren’t in a
hurry to catch up to it.

Trying out their new, advanced strengths, was just an excuse.

All they were really interested in were the benefits that came
with killing a monster like this one.

It took them several hours to finally track the Layer King

down, again. They were standing a fair distance away from the
scene, and could see that the King was being surrounded by
hundreds of strong youngsters; and quite a few of those faces
were familiar to them.

At this point, the four of them weren’t afraid of showing their

real faces to the world, as they weren’t afraid of anyone
anymore, and nor were they planning on stealing anyone’s
bounty this time.

The four of them entered the battlefield together, and

immediately attracted attention from others, including Gu
Feng.

Gu Feng, along with the rest of the Jian Shen platoon, was
present in the crowd, and had started to pay more attention
towards this new team, than he was paying to the Stone Giant.

Gu Feng had vowed to find out the four people that had taken
the Ogre Flower; they were four in number, and he was
constantly eyeing them.
 Bi Fan and his companions were aware that they had already
become the object of Gu Feng’s focus.

Once Gu Feng assessed the strengths of Bi Fan’s team, he

started eyeing them even more suspiciously than before.

They were a team of four, out of which, the inner energy of

two, was already inside the ‘transformation’ layer. Now this, in
context of Jui Yu Da, was not a big deal. But apart from Lone
Leaf, the other three in their team, didn’t belong to any Jui Yu
Da sect.

On top of that, Lone Leaf wasn’t exactly a known figure in the

Jui Yu Da Sect, and Gu Feng had never heard of him.

“Lone Leaf! Hey kid, have you come to join the team?” A
handsome young man came over, laughing.

Lone Leaf’s face changed looks several times before he finally

found his words: “My strength simply isn’t good enough for
your team Brother.”
 Bi Fan was noticing the words, and the gestures, that the two
of them were using to converse with each other, and could make
out that the two of them weren’t exactly the best of friends.

This handsome looking youngster was already at the peak of

the ‘transformation’ layer, which was probably the reason he
was behaving so arrogantly.

“Lone Leaf, it’s a good thing that you’ve managed to enter the
‘transformation’ layer. Maybe you can teach me a thing or two
one day.” The handsome boy laughed again.

Lone Leaf smiled: “Brother, we should be careful about what

we wish for, because sometimes, these desires can actually
become a reality.”

The man laughed at Lone Leaf’s mockery, and then returned

to his place within Bei Ming’s ranks. There were several other
youngsters within the ranks of Bei Ming, who smiled and
nodded at Lone Leaf, but didn’t come over to greet him,
probably due to his uncomfortable relationship with this
handsome youngster.

Lone Leaf explained in a low voice: “His name is Bei Ming

Hong. He’s from the Bei Ming School’s founding clan. He is very
strongly supported by the school, and receives a lot of extra
perks in terms of weapons and Dan pellets. He is an arrogant
snob.”

“Do you want our help in teaching him a lesson?” Wang

Zhong asked.

Lone Leaf was a little bit temped by the offer, but he shook his
head, as he said: “Well, I will teach him a lesson one day, but, I
want to do that on my own.”

“So be it. You’re a good man Brother.” Wang Zhong replied.

Gu Feng had seen Lone Leaf’s interaction with the Bei Ming
disciples, and his suspicions towards them, had somewhat
reduced.

Although Gu Feng was still confident that he could tell the

truth, if he managed to get one look at their backs.

Gu Feng was patient, and wasn’t going to try to get behind

them, as he just didn’t want to alert them of his suspicions.
 Chapter 84 – Gu Feng’s Watchful Eyes

The Stone Giant’s huge body was extremely valuable. Once he

was dead, the ores present in his humungous body, could be
used for refining weapons.

Naturally, the people who had gathered at the scene, were all
hoping to get a block of his dead body.

But since the Stone Giant had gone berserk, after losing his
Devils, no one present on the scene was willing to take the
initiative of attacking it first, and so, this huge crowd of martial
artists had decided to stay out of his sight, till he had calmed
down.

No one was willing to take the lead, and this deadlock had
been stretching out for a while now.

Bi Fan and his party was standing at the back of the gathering,
with like-minded people, all of whom were waiting for someone
else to take the lead, so that they could take the advantage, and
merely go about fishing in troubled waters.
 Gu Feng led his Jian Shen group to the back of the gathering,
and stationed them behind Bi Fan’s party, so he could get a look
at their backs. Gu Feng’s surprise was coupled with a sense of
happiness, and he almost fainted thanking his stars.

“Ogre Flower, you’re mine now. It’s going to be a bit difficult

because these men are from Bei Ming School; but for the Ogre
Flower, I really don’t mind shedding their blood.” Gu Feng’s
heart was roaring to go.

Gu Feng hadn’t told anyone about his intentions, and was

patiently waiting for an opportunity to surround Bi Fan’s party
with the help of his platoon of Jian Shen disciples.

He didn’t want to disturb anyone, as he didn’t want any more

complications.

Bi Fan felt as if someone was watching his back. He turned

around, and saw Gu Feng staring at him.

Bi Fan smiled at Gu Feng, and then turned around again.

Bi Fan couldn’t help wondering: “Gu Feng is acting a bit

weird….has he found out?”

Bi Fan had said his out in a very low voice, but it was loud
enough for Wang Zhong and the rest of his companions to hear.

Blue Dragon inquired: “What are you saying Brother Bi Fan…

how’s that even possible?”

“Gu Feng had chased Brother Bi Fan and me earlier, but I

doubt if managed to figure us out.” Wang Zhong’s eye brows
were beginning to tense up.

Bi Fan said: “We had changed our appearance, so I doubt that

he’s recognized us. But I still have a bad feeling about this.
Everyone be careful, Gu Feng might be up to something. We
might have missed something.”

“Understood.”

Bi Fan’s party’s presence hadn’t caused any waves amongst

the crowd; Gu Feng was the only one who was eyeing them.
 They were paying close attention to Gu Feng, and whenever
they would turn around to look at him, they would find him
staring at them.

Bi Fan cautioned: “We have to be very careful; it seems that he

has found out.”

“Jian Shen has at least twenty fighters in their ranks; we

won’t able to fight them all at once.” Wang Zhong’s face was a
little tense.

Bi Fan smiled: “We obviously can’t afford to go head-on

against them. So, we will wait till everyone starts fighting the
Stone Giant, and we will use the opportunity to make our exit.”

“That may not work, Brother Wang, and Brother Lone Leaf
are known faces, so they might run into trouble later on.” Blue
Dragon reasoned.

Wang Zhong said: “I can separate paths if my presence is

going to cause trouble for you all, and reunite with Brother Bi
Fan in Jiu Yu City later on.”
 Lone Leaf said: “I have nothing to fear as long as I have a few
extra Ogre Flower petals. I can trade these extra petals with my
seniors in exchange for protection.”

“Brother Lone Leaf, do you want me to give you some more

petals?” Bi Fan asked.

“No. Too many of them will cause problems.” Lone Leaf shook
his head, as he refused the offer.

Lone Leaf had a point. Too many valuables could tempt the
all-powerful to come after you, which could create problems,
especially if one wasn’t strong enough to protect himself.

Bi Fan had been hiding a lot of valuables from the world;

including the sword that he had obtained from the Wan Snake
Cave, Xue Ren (Bloodshed), as he was afraid that it might attract
too much attention, and eventually lead to his demise.

Wang Zhong: “I think Gu Feng is also waiting for the others to

start the fight with the Stone Giant, and will probably use that
opportunity to attack us.”

“Why don’t we start the fight with the Stone Giant?” Blue
Dragon exposed a cunning smile.

Bi Fan thought for a second, and said: “Let’s have the Chimera
lead the Stone Giant here.”

The Chimera was awfully quick, and could easily lead the
Stone Giant in the direction where this human parade was
gathered, without landing itself in harms-way.

Although the Stone Giant was insanely strong, which was its
main strong point, apart from its tenacious defense; he still, had
one weakness; his speed, which was awfully slow.

“Oh! The stone giant is coming towards us, what do we do

now?” One of the men, who standing right in front of the
brigade, saw the Stone Giant’s silhouette figure emerging from
distance.

The Stone Giant’s strides were indicative of its wild temper,

which seemed to be rising with each forward step he took.
 A few moments later, everyone could see the Stone Giant;
naturally, the Stone Giant had also noticed them.

The Chimera had served its purpose well, so it cleanly excused

itself, and went back into hiding.

No matter what happens, Bi Fan couldn’t allow the Chimera

to be seen by this human gathering, as he was sure that the
Chimera’s public appearance would cause more than just a few
problems.

“ARGGGGHHHH!….” The Stone Giant saw this huge

gathering of strong human martial artists, and started to roar
relentlessly, angrily.

“Let’s kill it!” Some of the humans shouted out in

encouragement.

Most the people present on scene, were beginning to disperse,

since they were afraid of the impact from the collision with the
Stone Giant.
 The Stone Giant was moving towards the humans with such a
ferocious momentum, that even a dozen elephants would have a
hard time standing up to it.

The timid had already started wetting their pants.

No matter how strong a martial artist was, their scalps had

already started to tingle.

Everyone one was looking to duck out of the Layer King’s

path, including the ones who had enthusiastically shouted war
cries only moments ago; no one had the courage to stand up to
the Stone Giant’s forceful momentum.

But a war was inevitable now. The humans waited till the
Stone Giant was right in the middle of the gathering, and then
started launching attacks on it.

“Zhummm….” Whether it was long-ranged or close hand,

several powerful attacks landed on the Stone Giants body in a
matter of seconds. Even though these attacks managed to slice
off a few stone chips off the Stone Giants body, they didn’t
exactly succeed in causing him any harm; although they did
succeed in angering him further.
 Stone Giants are awfully slow, and are incapable of chasing
after the awfully quick, and slippery, human martial artists. On
top of that, since the King had already lost his devils, his
effective fighting ability had already reduced to almost half.

But, this Stone Giant was intelligent enough to know its

position. He bent down to pick up a rock, and threw it at the
crowd of humans that stood in front of him.

The Stone Giant had thrown the rock with a lot of force, and
it flew through the air at an alarming speed.

The group of humans, who were laying siege on him, hadn’t

anticipated this move; and the ones who were too slow to dodge
the rock, were crushed to death in an instant by it.

The spirits of the others had already hit a rock-bottom, and

most were already dripping cold sweat.
 “This Stone Giant is far too strong, and his defense is too
sturdy. Killing him is not going to be easy!” Bi Fan exclaimed.

By now, Bi Fan and his party had already withdrawn

themselves back, and were standing a fair distance away from
the fray, with no intention of charging forward.

There were a few more people in their immediate vicinity,

who seemingly, held the same idea in their minds as well, but
most of them weren’t comparable to them in terms of strength.

The human side was in a state of chaos for a while, but the
calmed down soon enough.

A lot of the martial world’s elite youngsters enter into the

Devil’s Abyss on a regular basis to train, and most of these
fighters are quite calm-headed, owing to their experience in
battle. These elite, and experienced, fighters started to form
teams, and started orchestrating organized counter attacks
against the Stone Giant.

“Everyone! Pay attention! The Stone Giant’s weakness is his

joints. Use long range attacks to attack his joints.” A strong man
shouted out loudly.
 “Yes, and let’s all work hand-in-hand. That way we will be
able to do the Stone Giant more harm.”

There were a lot of very experienced and intelligent martial

artists present on the scene. These people, while working
together, were sure to come up with an idea, or two, to deal
with the monster that they were faced with.

But the Stone Giant was no fool either, and was well aware
that chasing after the humans wasn’t going to do him any good.
So he continued to pick up rocks from the ground, and kept
throwing them at the humans.

The mighty Stone Giant’s attacks had injured, and killed,

several men already.

His rock-throws had already forced a lot of strong men to back

away. Now most of these men were in no position to attack the
Stone Giant anymore, as they were standing a little too far away
from him to cause him any harm.

Engaging in a close quarter combat with the Stone Giant was,

obviously, a very foolish option.

The Stone Giant was capable of killing several men with one
single wave of his hand; and no one wanted to die.
 Chapter 85 – Round Two

Stone Giants are awfully difficult to compete against. On top

of that, in this case, the humans, so far, hadn’t been able to
work together as a team, which was making the task even more
difficult.

Each of the disciple from the Schools, which were a part of the
Jiu Yu Da Sect, were beginning to rally behind the strongest
martial artists present, of their respective Schools. But there
were a lot of the other very strong fighters present on the scene,
who didn’t belong to a Jiu Yu Da Sect School.

The Jiu Yu Da sect teams were circling, and studying, the

Stone Giant from a distance, but none had taken the initiative of
launching the second wave of attacks.

The smaller sects, other than Jiu Yu Da, had also started
forming teams, smaller teams, and were preparing to launch
attacks of their own, in the hope of killing the Stone Giant and
taking the reward for themselves.

Nobody stood a chance, not unless they decided to team up

together.
 “Every team must single out the men who have the ability to
launch long-range attacks, and then these men should form a
team, and attack the Stone Giant at the same time, quickly and
swiftly.” Someone finally came up with a plan, and shared it out
loud with everyone.

This man was the Yuan Shi Sect’s strongest fighter, named
Yuan Feng. Yuan Feng was almost into the ‘Emerging from the
Womb’ layer, and was considered as one of the leading martial
artists of this young generation.

Since it was Yuan Feng’s plan, a lot of people decided to trust

it.

The entire Jiu Yu Da Sect acted on his plan, and picked out
their long range attackers, who started moving towards the
front of their School’s lines.

Since the Jiu Yu Da teams had started acting, the teams from
smaller Sects couldn’t stay behind either, and they too started
picking out their respective long range attackers who were
willing to stand up to the challenge.
 “Now, all the long range attackers must divide into two
groups. Both these groups will launch attacks on the Stone
Giant in turns; remember to concentrate attacks on his joints
only. As soon as you launch an attack, retreat immediately;
safety comes first. You will attack him in turns, and make sure
that you give him absolutely no room to breathe. As for the
others, your sole responsibility is rescue the front line whenever
they are in trouble.” Yuan Feng was willing to taking the
initiative of leading this battle, and had already established
himself as the commander in chief.

There was no one, even inside the Jiu Yu Da, who was willing
to refute Yuan Feng’s command and authority.

Yuan Feng was a very highly rated talent; he had such a

glorious reputation, that he was sure to get preferential
treatment, no matter which town he set foot in.

“Yuan Feng, sir, we are willing to follow you command; but

how do we distribute the loot once we have killed the Stone
Giant?” One man asked.

This man didn’t belong to any Jiu Yu Da School, and was

raising the question which was pertaining in the mind of every
man present, who didn’t belong to Jiu Yu Da.
 The disciples who weren’t from the Big martial sects were
awfully aware of the position; and were afraid that the Jiu Yu
Da might forcefully take the entire loot, leaving them with
nothing later on, which is why they wanted them to commit to
an agreement beforehand.

This was the kind of decision that even Yuan Feng couldn’t
take on his own, and so, he quickly called a meeting with the
leaders of other Jiu Yu Da sect schools to discuss a proposal.

They discussed the situation between themselves for a

moment, and then returned to their respective camps. Yuan
Feng announced the proposal in a loud voice: “The Jiu Yu Da
had decided that in the event that we are able to kill the Stone
Giant, we will keep forty-five percent of the total loot; whereas
the remaining fifty-five percent will belong to the other
Schools, which you can distribute amongst yourself as you
please. Obviously, those who do not participate in the battle…
will not get anything.”

The number of disciple who belonged to Schools outside the

Jiu Yu Da were far more in number, and were only proposed to
take slightly more than half of the total loot; but then again,
they would have the advantage of Jiu Yu Da sect at their side
against the Stone Giant.
 Jiu Yu Da disciples might be lesser in number, but they were
the main strength of this army, so naturally, the smaller schools
agreed to the proposed distribution of rewards.

“Yuan Feng, sir, since the Jiu Yu Da has come up with a

sincere proposal, we have agreed to work together with you,
and will support you in killing the Stone Giant.”

Soon, these people started discussing the distribution of loot,

if any, amongst themselves, and quickly reached an agreement.

Wang Zhong was beginning to lose hope: “It seems that we

won’t get anything here… we won’t be able to take anything
away if they all start working together.”

“Don’t give up so easily. Even though these people have

decided to band together, killing this Stone Giant won’t be that
easy; and if they succeed, then they will do so after paying a
very high price. There’s a good chance that there will be chaos
here, towards that end of the battle, and we will probably get
our chance to do something then.” Bi Fan smiled.
 Bi Fan was cool enough to maintain his calm; but the others in
their vicinity had already started becoming restless.

They too had been hoping to take advantage of the confusion,

and twist it to their benefit. But now that the parties, who were
leading the attack, had formed a coalition, their chances of
obtaining anything of value, had gone up in smoke.

On top of that, if they decided to join the coalition now, their

teams would probably not receive a good share in the loot.

Even though these people were looking extremely

disheartened, they still didn’t want to leave the scene, since
they wanted to witness the battle.

“Everyone, ready… attack!” Yuan Feng issued to the

command.

Upon hearing Yuan Feng’s command, even the people who

were a little hesitant initially, charged forward, and started to
close down the Stone Giant at a very rapid pace.

But the will of taking the initiative was still missing amongst
these men; some were intentionally running slower than the
others, and some had even decided to drop behind the waves,
altogether.

The Stone Giant saw another wave of humans charging in his

directions, and started pelting rocks at them.

“Ah…..” terrifying shrieks filled the air, as some of the martial

artists were hit by the rocks, and ended up injuring themselves
very severely.

The Stone Giant continued to throw big rocks ceaselessly, and

at a very rapid rate, while the screams of its victims continued
to echo through the battlefield. Soon enough several people had
already injured themselves, while many others had succumbed
to their injuries.

Those who hadn’t yet reached close enough to the Stone Giant
to launch an attack on him, started to retreat at twice the pace
with which they were moving forwards, overawed by the Stone
Giant’s might.

Even the ones who had reached close enough to launch attacks
on him, hadn’t done so yet, as they too, were too afraid of
angering the Stone Giant further.

Yuan Feng’s face was becoming more unsightly with every

scream; at this rate, his plan would fall apart very soon, which
wasn’t in his best interests, as it would label him as an
incompetent leader.

Bi Fan smiled, as he said: “See, killing the Stone Giant isn’t

going to be that easy. These people haven’t been able to blend
well so far; they need to do better than that.”

“This Stone Giant is very smart. He’s even gathering more

and more stones by his side, whenever they take a break from
attacking him, and on top of that, he’s holding his position; he
simply isn’t chasing after anyone.” Blue Dragon sighed in
admiration.

Killing the Stone Giant was proving out to be a lot more

difficult than anyone had anticipated. If the number of
causalities continued to rise, then this temporary coalition
would fall apart in no time at all.

Yuan Feng issued another command: “Guys, keep changing

directions, and keep an eye out for the stones he’s throwing,
understand?”

“Understood….. Understood….”

The acknowledgements were weak and feebly voiced, and it

appeared that people were having a difficult time working
together under one banner.

Yuan Feng forced a smiled, as he shook his head; he was

already beginning to regret taking charge of this battle.

Soon, he waved the second wave of humans forward, who

quickly rushed out towards the enemy, but as soon as they
reached within the Stone Giant’s range, they suddenly came
overly cautious of his attacks.

They kept changing directions continuously, while their eyes

remained glued to his hands, in anticipation of the stones that
he was throwing at them.

“Boom!” A few stones hit the ground, but were unable to

bring the desired result.
 Those who still had some courage left in their hearts,
continued to move closer.

The Stone Giant threw a couple of more rocks, but neither of

them hit anyone.

“Attack!” Someone shouted out loudly.

“Kill him!” Some of the humans charged towards the Stone

Giant at a renewed pace, and started to close him down awfully
quickly.

“Argghhhh!!” The Stone Giant roared, and picked up two

smaller stone, one in each hand, and threw them out
simultaneously.

The two stones shot through the air, and hit their targets with
perfect accuracy.

“Do not withdraw, keep going!” Yuan Feng was afraid that his
men might retreat out of fear, and so he urged them forward, as
loudly as he could.
 This time, no one retreated, and everyone continued to move
forward.

“Thud…. Thud…” the people, who had managed to close the

Stone Giant down, launched their attacks. But they were so
afraid of their enemy, that they simply couldn’t muster much
strength.

Some people were so afraid that they completely lost the heart
to launch an attack, and missed their targets all together.

Hundreds of attacks landed on the Stone Giant’s body in a

matter of moments, but even then, failed to hurt him; normally,
that would be considered a miracle.

Yuan Feng was furious with the effort, but he didn’t shout at
anybody, and remained silent.

“Go again, you must close him down, and attack him.” Yuan
Feng instructed the men who had returned back to the camps.
 Many people were already beginning to question his
leadership, as their minds were unwilling to trust his judgment:
“Again? I don’t want to go again. Try taking a go at him
yourself; and see how it feels to be that close to death.”

Obviously, no one had the courage to voice these words out

loud, but their minds had already started complaining inwardly.

“These people are fools; they are going about this in the
wrong way. They will never be able to kill the Stone Giant like
this.” Bi Fan had no words for the scene that he was witnessing.

He had expected these men to kill the Stone Giant with ease
the second time around. He was expecting that they would learn
from the mistakes, which they had made in their first attempt,
but was beginning to realize that these men, still, had no idea on
how to go about it.

The temporary alliance’s plan was nothing short of trash in

his eyes; but anyway, it was none of his business.
 Chapter 86 – The Beautiful Zi Yan

Yuan Feng could see that both the waves had been completely
ineffective, and if things didn’t change quickly in their favor,
then his followers would start losing their morale.

He needed to find a way to inflict some sort of damage on the

Stone Giant’s body; and as soon as possible. Otherwise, soon
enough, no one would be willing to carry out his commands.

Yuan Feng hadn’t been able to deliver the results so far, even
though he had been trying. He knew that he needed a change in
tactics in order to get the desired results.

Failure in front of so many people would bring him a lot of

shame.

Yuan Feng didn’t launch another wave of attack, and instead,

called in a meeting with the other leaders of the Jiu Yu Da Sect
Schools.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, it seems that we will have to take a go

at him ourselves now. If things continue to go at this pace for
another couple of rounds, then I’m afraid that no one will be
willing to follow our lead anymore.” Yuan Feng said.

Gu Feng was already frowning at the thought: “We don’t want

to take that risk. It simply isn’t worth it.”

“If you and Jian Shen do not want any share in the carcass of
the Stone Giant, then you may quit.” Yuan Feng said in a matter
of fact tone.

He scanned the crowd for a moment, and then continued:

“With our strength and skill, we should be able to close the
Stone Giant without getting hurt, and then we can start pinning
him down. Once we have succeeded in doing that, the others
can join us without facing much resistance from him. They
certainly cannot kill the Stone Giant on their own, so obviously,
we will need to rely on our strengths rather than theirs.”

The leaders of the Jiu Yu Da Sect were all considered

paramount figures of their generation. So naturally, they
started considering his opinion on the form of action.

“Done! I’m with you.” The first to speak up, surprisingly

enough, was a woman; a very beautiful woman.
 She belonged to the Xuannv Palace; her name was Zi Yan. Her
strength was at the pinnacle of the ‘transformation’ layer. She
wasn’t like your average girl, in fact, her strength and ability
transcended those of even the most prominent young men of
her generation.

Lone Leaf’s gaze was glued to Zi Yan as he said: “Zi Yan is

getting more and more beautiful with every passing day.
Whenever I look at her, my heart starts acting funny. I’ll do
anything for her; even die for her.”

“Brother Lone Leaf, now you’re talking like a stalker.” Blue

Dragon started laughing.

“Oh come on! Just look at her, she speaks so refine, and her
body is as glossy as glass.” Lone Leaf sighed.

“Huh.” Both, Blue Dragon and Bi Fan, looked at her again, and
started noticing the beautiful texture of her skin.

Zi Yan felt her body being eye-balled by someone, and turned

around in Bi Fan’s party’s direction; her look clearly indicated
the cool contempt that her mind carried for them, while her
eyes sharply stared theirs down.

Bi Fan and his friends were quite embarrassed, and didn’t dare
to look up at her again.

“See now…. she’s like a glass goddess.” Lone Leaf smiled.

Yuan Feng forced a smiled: “A beauty like Zi Yan is willing to

put her life at risk, what are you men folk afraid of?”

“I’m afraid I’ll have to join you now.”

“I’m in.”

“Zi Yan, I’m going to protect you.” Bei Ming Hong was next.

Zi Yan’s face was as cold as ice, but she didn’t utter a word.
She didn’t need anyone’s protection.
 … …

In the face of such beauty; no one wanted to cower, no one

wanted to lose face.

Yuan Feng’s move had smoothly received support from

several strong fighters, so naturally, he was quite relived.

“Everyone listen up, we will personally take charge of the

battle, and take control of the Stone Giant. We must get close to
him, and pin him down. With our strength and skill, we will be
able to contain him with ease, and naturally, when it comes to
distribution of the resources at the end of the battle, we will be
able to claim a much higher share.”

Yuan Feng’s words suddenly instilled a sense of fervor in the

hearts of everyone. Even the ones, who were lacking the
courage earlier, were now ready to charge at the Stone Giant at
Yuan Feng’s command.
 Bi Fan smiled: “Yuan Feng’s pulled off a good trick, and has
managed to get the morale up once again. If things go smoothly
from here on, then they might just be able to beat the Stone
Giant.”

“This isn’t looking good for us. If they kill him, then we will
not be able to get much here.” Blue Dragon stated.

“Stealing anything here won’t be good for us either, and we

will end up painting a target on our backs.” Wang Zhong
smiled: “However, I really don’t care much about it, but Brother
Lone Leaf will certainly land himself in a whole lot of trouble.”

Lone Leaf didn’t have much of a choice here: “That’s true, I

can’t steal anything here. If I do, I will never be able to go back
to Bei Ming again; so I can’t join you in this one.”

Lone Leaf, at the end of the day, was a disciple of a Jiu Yu Da

Sect School; so obviously, he wasn’t going to offend his own
backers.

Bi Fan, Wang Zhong, and Blue Dragon, could clearly

understand his predicament; so naturally, they weren’t going to
force him either.
 Soon, Yuan Feng and the others were ready to launch the next
wave of attack.

Yuan Feng’s platoon was exceptionally fast, and managed to

get close to the Stone Giant very quickly.

While they were running towards him, the Stone Giant threw
a few stones at them, but none of those stones hit anyone.

Yuan Feng and the others, quickly separated away from each
other, and started attacking the Stone Giant using their swords,
and quickly pinned him down.

They were advancing and retreating in an exceptionally

brilliant manner. They would retreat immediately after
launching an attack, just when the Stone Giant was furious
enough to counter, but as soon as the Stone Giant’s attention
was attracted by someone else, the retreating fighters would
charge back in.

While Yuan Feng and the other leaders of the Jiu Yu Da Sect,
were busy distracting the Stone Giant, the others quickly
charged in the Stone Giant’s direction.

The Stone Giant had no time to spare for them, and they
managed to close him down very quickly, without any causality.

“Get close and attack him, and then quickly retreat.” Yuan
Feng shouted out loudly.

Soon, the Stone Giant had been completely surrounded, and

everyone started attacking him.

“Wooo….” The Stone Giant wailed out loud.

This round of attack had managed to chop off a good chunk of

the Stone Giant’s body.

A Stone Giant’s body does not have any blood inside it; but the
pain he was suffering was evident from his reactions.

The Stone Giant went berserk, and started kicking the stones
that lay around him, with the help of his large feet.
 “Bang… Bang…” The stones managed to hit several men, very
few of which survived the collisions.

Yuan Feng’s face was expressive of his disappointment. It was

time to back off again.

“Please do not withdraw too far away; we need to prepare for

the next round soon.” Yuan Feng announced in a loud voice.

This round of attacks had borne a good result, and most

people had started harboring some hope of killing the Stone
Giant, which was clearly visible as the entire battlefield was
flourishing with a new wave of excitement.

On top of that, the Stone Giant had kicked away a lot of stones
which he had gathered around him to prevent people from
getting close. Yuan Feng and the others, quickly closed the
Stone Giant again, and started engaging him once again.

Yuan Feng and the others were all considered leaders of this
young generation. They were all very acutely skilled, and had
plenty of practical experience to back their skills. They were
able to evade the Stone Giant’s attacks each time, without fail.
 “Attack!” Yuan Feng howled.

Those who were responsible for launching long range attacks

quickly got into positions, and launched their attacks in a
unionized fashion. Several attack landed on the Stone Giant’s
joints at the same time.

The Stone Giant’s huge body took several, extremely, heavy

blows in a matter of second. The impact of these attacks was so
hard, that the Stone Giant’s body even shook under their
influence for a few seconds.

If they somehow managed to put the Stone Giant on the

ground, then it would be very hard for the Giant to get off the
floor, and back on his feet, given the sheer size of his body. And
in such an event, killing the Stone Giant would be a lot easier
comparatively.

“We need to use a little bit more strength. Success is near!”

Yuan Feng shouted in a very excited tone.

“Kill it!”
 Everyone raised their weapons high, as they charged at the
Giant again.

“Arghhhh!!!” The Stone Giant, suddenly, and unexpectedly,

issued a gigantic roar, which filled everyone’s ears with pain.
The huge roar coupled with the Stone Giant’s brute momentum,
was enough to overawe the humans, who just stood there
motionless, in the middle of the battlefield.

The Stone Giant strode forward towards the crowd, and

then….

In an extremely tragic scene, the Stone Giant swept his long,

and thick, arms, and smashed several strong humans into meat
balls.

Both his hands swept across the battlefield, and in a split

second, he had managed to kill almost thirty men.

Most humans were woken up by the screams which had just

echoed from the Stone Giant’s victims, and they all started to
scuttle for their lives. The few men, who were still unable to
move, found themselves being trampled upon by the Stone
Giant’s humungous feet.

Yuan Feng and the other leaders, were a lot stronger than
most men, and hence weren’t as badly affected by the Stone
Giant’s roar, and were able to retreat a lot faster, with no
casualties whatsoever.

Everyone was forced to retreat, as they simply didn’t have any

other choice.

Just when the Stone Giant freaked out, the humans were
under the impression that they were on the verge of getting the
Stone Giant, but found their hopes shattered once again, which
was clearly visible from their disheartened faces.

“This Stone Giant is too good. I don’t think they will be able
to kill him this easily.” Wang Zhong stated.

If his comment had been heard by the others, then he would

certainly become the target of a public outrage. Public outrages
can be awfully difficult to resolve.

Bi Fan asked: “These people won’t give up so easily, right?”

 “No way. The Jiu Yu Da disciples’ mind frame will not allow
them to accept defeat so easily. They will find a way to
encourage everyone, and will surely attack him again.” Lone
Leaf said.
 Chapter 87 – Stone Giant Knocked Down

“All Sects, quickly send out your fighters again, we are sure to
kill him this time around.” Yuan Feng said in a loud voice.

Lone Leaf was absolutely right; the Jiu Yu Da Sect wasn’t

going to give up so easily.

Killing the Stone Giant was surely going to be very rewarding

financially, so naturally, no one wanted to back off at this stage.

Though the smaller Sects and Schools, were bit hesitant now,
as they anyway didn’t have many numbers in their individual
ranks to begin with. On top of that, the stone giant had already
massacred a lot of men, owing to which, some Schools were
practically on the verge of breaking down after suffering
extremely heavy losses.

Yuan Feng urged them: “Think clearly, if you do not

participate, then you will not get anything from the final
bounty.”

Ultimately, all the teams that were present on the scene

started dispatching more units. Anyway, they had already come
this far, it would be shameful to return from here empty
handed, at this point.

They had reached a very crucial point in the battle, another

successful round, and they may be able to topple the Stone
Giant over.

If they didn’t send more men, and the Stone Giant died
anyway, then they would not get anything from its carcass,
which at this point, would be considered a very heavy loss.

Soon enough, these Sects managed to put together a team of at

least a hundred, or maybe even more, as they prepared to
launch another attack.

The Stone Giant’s recent move had scared everyone; even

Yuan Feng was no exception.

“Again!” Yuan Feng hesitated for a moment, inwardly, but did

not let it reflect in his command, which was as decisive as ever.

Yuan Feng, Zi Yan, and the other leaders of the Jiu Yu Da Sect
took the lead again, as they knew that the others were too
cowardly to take the initiative.

They were all considered leading figures of their generation,

even inside the Jiu Yu Da Sect; so naturally, they had several
tricks up their sleeves, which is why they weren’t afraid to take
the lead.

Soon enough, Yuan Feng and the others closed the Stone
Giant, and started engaging, the enraged, Stone Giant, once gain
in a very fierce and violent battle.

Yuan Feng and the other leaders of the Jiu Yu Da Sect were
using their footwork brilliantly, and were constantly retreating
and advancing in such a manner, that the Stone Giant simply
couldn’t keep up with them.

They were attacking with all their might, and were able to
hold the Stone Giant long enough for the others to surround
him.

“Attack!” Yuan Feng gave the order.

 Everyone closed in quickly, and unleashed their strongest
attacks, aligning them beautifully to the Giant’s joints.

“Zhum…..”

The Stone Giant was far too slow to be able to dodge such a
huge volume of simultaneous attacks.

Fortunately for him, his defense was abnormally tough; tough

enough to take hundreds of strong hits, and not fall; although
his body shook under their effects for several seconds.

The Stone Giant opened its mouth, and prepared to roar

again. The humans that were attacking it started to scuttle for
their lives once again.

Yuan Feng and the other leaders were extremely furious, but
were forced to retreat all the same.

If things continued in this fashion, then it was difficult to

predict how long it would be before they finally managed to kill
the Giant off, and at what cost.
 The Stone Giant, once again, didn’t chase after anybody, and
used the time to gather more stones by his side.

The Stone Giant was extremely smart, and was well aware of
the fact, that at his speed, he won’t be able to chase after the
slippery humans, which is why he was using this spare time to
gather strategic materials for the next rounds, in order to kill
more of his enemies.

Yuan Feng was astounded by the Stone Giant’s intellect; but it

was beginning to turn into a real headache for him now.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, we need to act quickly, otherwise the

Stone Giant will start recovering and will become even harder
to stop. The Stone Giant, obviously, cannot roar infinite times;
otherwise he would have been doing that since the very
beginning. So feel assured that you are safe, we will take the
lead, and you just follow us, and keep attacking him. Soon we
will be able to topple him over.” Yuan Feng reassured everyone.

Yuan Feng’s words made perfect sense, but the majority of the
crowd was still afraid for their lives. After all said and done, no
one willing to risk being smashed into mincemeat by a Stone
Giant.
 “There’s no guarantee that he can’t roar like that again; we
can’t take that risk again.” One man from within the crowd
spoke up.

Yuan Feng was going wild with anger, but he didn’t let it
reflect on to his face, and simply creased his face with an
indemnified smile.

Being a commander wasn’t an easy job. One needed to keep

his subordinates happy.

Although Yuan Feng was in charge at this moment, he

wouldn’t be able to maintain his position for long if the crowd
stopped listening to his orders. He didn’t want to give them any
reason to doubt his leadership, as he was afraid that once the
crowd started to question his ability, he wouldn’t be able to stop
them from leaving. Plus there was always an added threat of a
public outrage being provoked against him.

“Yuan Feng is far too lenient, just look at his face….. If I were
in his place, I would have already killed that man.” Wang Zhong
laughed.
 Bi Fan reasoned: “Yuan Feng is smart, and completely
unattached to the fate of these men. In fact, I would reckon that
he’s simply exploiting them to kill the Stone Giant.”

“Yuan Feng truly redefines the meaning of the word ‘sinister’.

He is far more difficult to compete against than men like Gu
Feng and the other leaders.” Lone Leaf added.

Yuan Feng replied: “Everyone, we stand in front of you. We

are the barrier that’s going to protect you from him. So you
really have nothing to fear.”

“Yes, we will be leading from the front of the line.” Gu Feng

spoke up in his support.

The bunch of humans, who were still involved in the action,

reluctantly agreed to Yuan Feng’s proposal, and prepared to
launch another wave of attack.

As Humans launched into action once again, the Stone Giant

responded by kicking out the stones that he had just collected,
and succeeded in injuring, and killing several more people.
 Yuan Feng, Zi Yan, and Gu Feng, along with the other leaders,
quickly surrounded the Stone Giant, and marked the start of
another wave of onslaught.

“The Shaking Heavens!” Yuan Feng unleashed ‘The Shaking

Heavens’ attack. He had cast out the move in the exact same
manner as Li Zhong Ren, but the force of his attack was far
more powerful than his deceased comrade.

“The Five Thunder Blade!” The Leader of the Five Thunders

School cast out his special move.

Gu Feng resorted to the ‘crucifix deception sword’. There was

no comparison between the power of his attack, and that on his
late Brother Tian Feng.

“Xuannv Flying Rainbow!” Zi Yan also cast out Xuannv

palace’s tour-de-force. Her sword drifted through the air, in an
exceptionally elegant display of strength and skill, while her
graceful posture beautifully complemented her smooth figure,
taking her beauty to the extreme. But unfortunately, no one
could dare to enjoy the scene; not while they were busy dealing
with such a powerful opponent.
 The Stone Giant, at this point was faced with several such,
extremely, powerful attacks, and simply couldn’t afford to get
distracted by the approaching crowd. As any distractions at this
moment, would be equivalent to courting death.

The heads of the Jiu Yu Da Sect, had cast out their best
attacks, owing to which, they were able to pin the Stone Giant
long enough to buy their accomplices the time they required to
get involved into the action.

The silhouettes of raised swords painted the horizon, aptly

depicting the fierce battle that was being raged.

The Stone Giant waved his large hands through the crowd,
pushing Yuan Feng, and the others, back a bit. The few attacks
that managed to land on his arms didn’t inflict any damage,
owing to his exceptionally sturdy defense.

Hundreds of strong men, charged right back at him, and

attacked his joints once again. The Giant’s body shook, once
again, from the impact of the attacks.

The Stone Giant roared furiously, once again; but this time,
he was unable to muster his momentum, but still, his growl
managed to scare off a lot of people.

“Boom….” The men, who were still standing, launched

another wave of attack, which were once again aimed at his
joints; his joints were beginning to give in.

This time, the Giant’s body shook even more uncontrollably

than ever before.

“Keep going! The Stone Giant is almost dead!” Yuan Feng

shouted loudly.

Yuan Feng and the other leaders, once again, launched their
strongest attacks, and in once swoop, were able to imbalance
the Giant.

As long as they were able to put him on the ground, then

finishing him off would be a lot easier.

While the hundreds of humans continued to unleash several

strong attacks in quick succession, the Stone Giant responded in
a violent rage, killing several people. But this time, nobody
flinched; no one backed off, and they all continued to attack
their falling enemy.

“Boom…” A loud, thunderous, sound overwhelmed the

sounds of the swords clashing against the Giant’s body. .

The ground trembled as the Stone Giant finally fell down.

“The Stone Giant is almost dead ah!” Several people realized

that the Stone Giant was almost done, and they all charged at
him, as most of them wanted to personally finish him off.

Yuan Feng, unexpectedly, did not charge forward, and on the

contrary, retreated backwards.

“Well that’s weird! Doesn’t Yuan Feng want a part of the

loot?” Blue Dragon was left completely puzzled.

Wang Zhong explained: “Once a Devil’s Race creature enters

into the ‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer, it is possible for them
to mobilize the energy from within their nucleus and self-
destruct. Yuan Feng is a very smart man, and is retreating to
protect himself, just in case the Giant blows up. ”
 “Even so, just exactly how treacherous is this man? He hasn’t
even made an attempt to warn the others.” Blue Dragon spoke
up.

Lone Leaf observed: “The other people are anxious as their

martial arts sects have lost a lot of disciples, which is a very
heavy loss, especially for smaller Sects. So they are probably
hoping to compensate for it by looting the Stone Giant’s body
parts.”

“How terribly selfish! If the Stone Giant blows up, then the
lives of so many talented martial artists would be lost.” Bi Fan
barely managed to force a smile.

Yuan Feng maintained his silence, and did nothing to remind

his followers of the possible danger. Anyway, he didn’t care if
they died or lived; he simply had no kind of attachment to
anyone present on the scene.
 Chapter 88 – A Discorded End

The Stone Giant’s face was painted in a flavor of forlorn, as he

fell to the ground.

The Giant was well aware of his circumstances, and knew that
he wouldn’t be able to get up off the ground in time; he knew he
was about to die.

The Stone Giant wouldn’t allow these people to kill him, take
his body, and his crystal nucleus.

The Stone Giant’s body started to inflate, and continued to

grow bigger and bigger in size.

“Oh shit! The Stone Giant is about to self-destruct!” Someone

finally realized it, and screamed out loud to warn the others.

Everyone immediately scattered away from the Stone Giant;

they broke their personal sprint records as they fled for their
lives.
 “Boom!” A huge explosion shook the vicinity.

People who were too slow to react, or simply weren’t fast

enough, blew to pieces under the impact of the ‘Emerging from
the Womb’ layered Stone Giant’s self-detonation.

The Stone Giant’s body was torn to pieces and some of the
smaller fragments from its body, darted in all directions across
the battlefield.

“Ah….” Screams echoed throughout the battlefield as these

fragments inflicted more damage to the humans, resulting in
more deaths. The total number of martial artists had already
reduced to less than half of its original number.

The leaders of the Jiu Yu Da Sect had stayed away, so they

obviously didn’t suffer any causality.

The Stone Giant was finally dead. But his body was now
scattered, which gave rise to frenzy and everyone started
scrambling around, in the hope of getting their hands on
something valuable.
 Finally the opportunity to fish in troubled waters had
revealed itself; naturally, Bi Fan and his party wasn’t going to
let this opportunity slip by.

The others who had been watching the action, like Bi Fan’s
party, also joined the fray, and the whole battleground was left
in a state of complete disarray, with people rushing in all
directions, scrambling for the Stone Giant’s body parts.

“Don’t try to steal. The Jiu Yu Da will unify the rewards, and
will then distribute it uniformly amongst everyone.” Yuan Feng
mustered his strength, and roared.

“Fuck your unification and distribution. You intentionally

didn’t tell us that the Stone Giant could blow up, which has
costed us very dearly. We don’t trust the Jiu Yu Da anymore
now.” A huge voice sounded from the crowd; but no one knew
who the speaker was.

Yuan Feng’s face immediately changed as he heard those

words; and this sudden change in his expressions was acutely
interpreted by the disciples of the other Sects, whose hearts,
now, were brimming with hatred towards the Jiu Yu Da Sect.
 “Take everything! Do not trust the Jiu Yu Da, they framed
their allies. If they try to stop us, then we mustn’t refrain from
killing them. We are more in number, and together, we will be
able to overpower them.”

“We can’t trust the Jiu Yu Da anymore; we need to fend for

ourselves.”

The disciples, who weren’t a part of the Jiu Yu Da Sect, simply

weren’t willing to trust Yuan Feng or the other leaders of the
Jiu Yu Da anymore, and began looting the Stone Giant’s
remains.

Yuan Feng announced loudly: “Yuan Shi students, sieze the

Stone Giant’s corpse.”

Yuan Feng had no other choice but to instruct Yuan Shi

disciples to join the fray, as he had completely lost control of the
situation.

Gu Feng, Zi Yan and the other leaders, also instructed their

respective followers to snatch the Giant’s body, and the
situation become even more chaotic than it already was.
 Since there was no unity on the battlefield anymore, there
was bound to be friction; especially since money was involved.

Friction turned into fights in no time at all, and a new battle

erupted on the field.

The Jiu Yu Da Sect disciples were relatively stronger, and

were trying to stop the other sects from snatching the Stone
Giant’s body parts. Naturally, the fight escalated very quickly.

“Ah… Ah….” The sounds of screams would echo from time to

time; the killings had already started taking place.

Yuan Feng didn’t move from his place, as he simply didn’t

want to participate in the mad frenzy that was taking place in
front of his eyes.

As more and more disciples from the Jiu Yu Da Sect joined the
fray, the fighting became ever more intense, and even more
violent.

The Jiu Yu Da Sect disciples started to form encirclements

around the Stone Giant’s main body, and were trying to protect
the largest chunk from the others.

Bi Fan and his companions were very slippery, and very

smart. They didn’t indulge in any kind of fights, and continued
to scramble for the chunks which had scattered across the field.

As far the center of the battle field was concerned, Bi Fan and
his party had no intention of getting involved in that sort of a
fight.

The Jiu Yu Da sect was trying to take control of the area

where the core of the Stone Giant’s body had fallen, while the
other Sects were beginning to surround the Jiu Yu Da Sect.
Soon, a fierce battle was initiated between the two sides.

The central region was enveloped in a state of complete chaos,

and even though Bi Fan’s party was quite strong, they too
weren’t assured of a safe return, if they entered the area. And
they weren’t about to go knocking on Death’s door.

Only a very small chunk of the Giant’s body had scattered to

the other parts of the battlefield, which had already been
scraped by opportunists like Bi Fan and his party.
 Bi Fan made the call: “That’s it, now we fall back!”

“Fall back? Why don’t we go inside and get some more?” Blue
Dragon was still quite excited, and didn’t want to miss the
opportunity of getting himself some more action.

Just as he said this, the fight between the Jiu Yu Da Sect, and
the other factions, intensified further, and a full-scale war
started raging at the heart of the battlefield.

Bi Fan smiled: “There’s complete chaos in the center, since

everyone is wildly trying to grab the prize. We must take
advantage of this and make our exit swiftly, before Gu Feng
notices that we are gone.”

Wang Zhong, and Lone Leaf agreed immediately. Blue Dragon

wasn’t very willing, but reluctantly nodded in approval.

The four of them, without any further delays, quickly dash

away from the battlefield.

Gu Feng had been watching the four of them from the corner
of his eyes. The moment he saw them leave, he realized that he
would have to make a decision. He took into account that his
party could only go after one of the rewards, and he really didn’t
want to give up of the Ogre Flower.

“We already have a few chunks from the Stone Giant’s body,
but we don’t have any petals from the Ogre Flower….”

Gu Feng quickly made up his mind, and shouted his renewed

orders out, as loudly as he could: “Jian Shen School students…
listen to me carefully. We are going to withdraw from this
battle; we aren’t going after the Stone Giant’s body anymore.”

No one believed Gu Feng’s words for even a second.

No matter the others, even his own Jian Shen Sect disciples
weren’t able to interpret his command: “Brother Gu Feng, why
are we retreating? More than half of the Stone Giant’s body is
still lying around.”

“I am your senior, so you will have to obey my order. If I say

we are leaving, then we are leaving.” Gu Feng retaliated in a
cold tone.
 Gu Feng led by example, and made his way out. The people
who were closest to him, hesitated for a second, but eventually
followed him out.

Since Gu Feng and a few others had already left, the

remaining Jian Shen disciples found their total strength greatly
reduced. They started weighing their chances of success, and
eventually decided to follow, the exiting, Gu Feng.

Yuan Feng was left completely baffled once he realized that

Gu Feng was actually leaving the battle along with the other
Jian Shen disciples.

“What’s up with Gu Feng? This is a bit weird; he was fighting

so fiercely for the Stone Giant’s corpse just moments ago, and
now he’s leaving…” Bei Ming Hong thought out loud: “Has he
suddenly had a change of heart?”

Zi Yan reasoned in a cold voice: “This is Gu Feng we are

talking about. There must be something very important at
hand; otherwise Gu Feng would never give up like that.”

They all knew Gu Feng well enough to understand that he

must be after something else entirely.
 However, the Stone Giant’s body was at stake here, which was
a massive reward in its own accord; so naturally, no one wanted
to abandon its pursuit, simply to find out what Gu Feng was up
to.

The Jiu Yu Da Sect found its strength greatly weekend, all of a

sudden, owing to Jian Shen faction’s departure.

The Sects outside the Jiu Yu Da, shifted gears and escalated
the intensity of their challenge further, taking advantage of the
situation, and started succeeding in snatching some chucks
from the Stone Giant’s carcass.

The sounds of fighting and screams, converged together to

form the tune of a funeral song.

The Stone Giant’s corpse had been mostly taken; the ground
was dyed in blood; hundreds of souls were bound to dwell in the
region for an eternity to come.

At this point, the Jiu Yu Da Sect, just like the others, had
suffered very heavy losses.
 “Remember this well, the Jiu Yu Da Sect will not forget this.”
Bei Ming Hong threatened in a furious rage.

Bei Ming Hong had been stabbed by a sword, right in his

buttocks. His pants were red with blood. He was barely able to
talk, and was mostly just groaning. Lone Leaf was probably
going to drop to the floor with laughter, as and when he finds
out about this incident.

“The ‘great ’Jiu Yu Da Sect is a cheat; it plots against its own

allies. You intentionally let our Brothers die, and then you tried
to deprive us of our rewards. We will go out and tell everyone
about this. The whole world will hear of this.”

Majority of the disciples present on the scene didn’t belong to

any of the Jiu Yu Da Sect schools, and they had all joined hands
against them. Combined, they were stronger than the Jiu Yu Da
Sect, at the moment, which is why they weren’t afraid of them.
Their combined strength had made it impossible for the Jiu Yu
Da Sect disciples to resist them.

The two sides had split up in discord, and both sides were
blaming each other in a very high unrestrained manner. If
things continued to move at this pace, then soon, the two sides
would start fighting again. Only this time, there wouldn’t be a
settlement; just annihilation.

“This time around, we only managed to get a very small

portion of the rewards, bad luck I guess…” A Yuan Shi school
disciple muttered.

Indeed, the number of Jiu Yu Da Sect disciples who were

present on the scene, were far lesser in number than the
combined total of the other factions. They were almost a third
of their opposition in terms of number, which is why they
hadn’t been able to snatch much from the Stone Giant’s corpse.

Yuan Feng said: “Sooner or later, we will get our rewards. I

don’t think that they will stick together for long; and once they
separate, we will have our chance to take back our rewards.”

“Senior, you’re not suggesting that we….”

“Yes, we will have to do it, and do it fast. And we won’t leave

anyone alive to tell the tale; no one will ever find out about
this.” Yuan Feng replied in a cold voice.
 Yuan Shi Sect wasn’t the only one; the other factions were
also preparing themselves to go on a robbery spree. Fowl winds
had started blowing, and they were bringing a shower of bloody
rain with them. A reign of terror was about to envelop the first
layer of the Devil’s Abyss.
 Chapter 89 – Take The Enemy By Surprise

Bi Fan and the others hadn’t gone very far when they realized
that they were being followed by Gu Feng and his twenty-three
man team.

“It seems that Gu Feng had been keeping an eye on us the

entire time; and has even decided to forgo the Stone Giant’s
corpse, as he’s coming after us with his entire team.” Bi Fan said
in a very serene, and undisturbed, tone.

Even though the opposition was a lot stronger than them, Bi

Fan’s body language reflected no fear; however, there was a
subtle hint of excitement.

Wang Zhong asked: “Are we leaving, or are we fighting?”

“Fighting! I’m not afraid of them.” Blue Dragon spoke up.

At present, after the breakthrough, his strength had seen

massive rise, and so had his confidence. He was full of fighting
spirit; even more than usual.
 Lone Leaf was the only one who hesitated in that moment;
after all, he was a disciple of the Jiu Yu Da Sect. So naturally, he
didn’t want to pick a fight with Gu Feng, as it could spark a
dispute between their schools, which may not work well for him
in the end.

Bi Fan knew this well: “Brother Lone Leaf, we will not force
you. If you don’t wish to participate, then you may stand aside,
and only spectate this fight. We can take care of Gu Feng and his
men on our own.”

“No, that’s out of question, Brother. Since the other party is

coming to snatch our treasures, it is my responsibility to
counter-act. I will not pass on my responsibilities.” Lone Leaf
said in a loud voice.

“Well said Brother. Now that we are all in, let’s kill them!”
Blue Dragon said.

“Brother Gu Feng, why are we following these people? Do

they have something even more valuable than the body of the
Stone Giant?” The speaker was a tall and brawny youngster, the
strongest under Gu Feng’s command. His name was Tie Fei Yun.
 Gu Feng smiled: “What is more valuable: half of an Ogre
flower, or the Stone Giant’s body?”

“The Ogre flower petals are obviously more valuable. Are you
saying that these men stole the Ogre flower?” Tie Fei Yun was
completely shocked.

“Yes, they were the ones to steal the Ogre flower. You thought
that I would simply abandon a Stone Giant’s body, like that?”
Gu Feng laughed.

“That’s really awesome Brother. You were tracking these

people all along, and no one found out! That was a very wise
move Brother!”

Gu Feng suddenly started feeling very comfortable; and was

rather pleased with his position, after hearing all the flattering
from his juniors.

“We will divide in three squads. One squad will continue to

chase them from behind, while the other two will flank them
from both sides. We will need to make sure that we intercept
them.” Gu Feng revealed the plan.
 Soon, they split into three teams. Gu Feng put himself in
charge of the team that was supposed to attack from the right
hand side.

The teams dispersed, marking the beginning of the fight.

Bi Fan had been slyly keeping an eye on the developments at

the back, so he knew that Gu Feng had already kicked his plan
into action.

“Brothers, the enemy is coming for us, and we must retaliate

heavily. There will be no room for mercy here, and we must to
aim for the kill.” Bi Fan sneered.

Wang Zhong said: “Previously, I wanted to avoid this fight.

But now that they have decided to attack us, its time they found
out our real strengths.”

“Brother Bi Fan, what’s the plan? It’s best to kill them all. If
word gets out, then the relationship between Jian Shen and Bei
Ming will be very severely impacted.” Lone Leaf said.

Bi Fan smiled: “They will try to surround us. We obviously

can’t allow them to do that. We will turn around, and take them
by surprise…”

Suddenly, Bi Fan and his team, turned around, and darted

towards the Jian Shen team that was following them.

“We will not attack them first. We will let them start the
fight. If anything goes wrong, we can always play the ‘self-
defense’ card.” Wang Zhong said.

Since they weren’t a hundred percent sure of the being able to

wipe of the other side completely, the ‘self-defense’ card could
come in handy later.

As long as the Jian Shen men drew their swords first, Bi Fan
and his party could attack them under the pretext of ‘self-
preservation’.

Lone Leaf was strongly in favor of the idea. As long as Jian

Shen was first to attack, he could kill them unrestrained. Killing
Jian Shen disciples would no longer be an issue for him, in this
case.

If the matter was ever inspected into, Bei Ming faction would
provide him their full support, and protection against Jian Shen
School, since he acted out of ‘self-defense’. Under any other
circumstances, they were likely to denounce him, for the fear of
losing face in public.

Bi Fan and his friends were moving awfully fast; plus the
other side was also moving towards them. And soon, the two
sides came face-to-face with each other.

The Jian Shen platoon, which was following them, comprised

of six men, and was being led by a ‘transformation’ layered man
named Wang Sheng.

As soon the Jian Shen platoon saw the other side charge
towards them, the look on their faces changed drastically. Wang
Sheng was the only one who was able to maintain his
composure; and only barely so.

Wang Sheng had just entered the ‘transformation’ layer, so he

wasn’t exactly considered a very stronger fighter yet.
 Since Bi Fan and his party, had suddenly changed direction,
Wang Sheng and his team found themselves unprepared to
handle the situation.

“Brother Sheng, what do we do now?”

“We need to stop them. Brother Gu Feng, and Brother Tie Fie
Yun, will be back soon.” Wang Sheng clenched his teeth.

If Wang Sheng and his team, let Bi Fan and his companions
through, then it was likely that they would be able to get away,
as chasing after them, after reuniting with the others, could
take some time, and would make things awfully difficult for the
Jian Shen Sect.

Wang Sheng acted decisively, but knew that he was biting the
bullet here.

He had personally witnessed the strengths of the men who

stole the Ogre Flower, so he knew that they couldn’t defeat
these men on their own. He no other option, and could only
pray that Gu Feng, and the others, returned in time to assist
them.
 “Kill them!” the Jian Shen disciples were the first ones to
launch an attack.

They were all using good quality swords, so obviously their

attacks were reasonably powerful.

Unfortunately for them, Bi Fan and his party were more than
prepared for it, and they immediately dodged their attacks.

As soon as they dodged, they immediately charged back in,

and cut down the distance from their enemies in a split second,
and launched a quick counter-attack.

“A snap of the finger!”

“Defying Domination!”

“Six Yang Horseshoe!”

“Hegemon Blade Domination!”

 Bi Fan, and his companions, simultaneously launched their
attacks. Blue Dragon, especially, launched his best attack with
all his strength. His Scimitar charged through the air with
enough force to split a small hill.

“Oh Shit! They are too strong… they are all inside the
‘transformation’ layer!” The sheer force of their momentum
made Wang Sheng realize his mistake, as soon as the four of
them made their moves.

But Wang Sheng’s warning came a little too late, and Bi Fan’s
team had already landed their attacks on their respective
targets; the weakest four of their enemies.

At their strength and skill levels, killing anyone who was

under the ‘transformation’ layer was an easy task.

In an instant, the six-man strong Jian Shen squad, was cut

down to two-men; Wang Sheng, and the other remaining
disciple, were both already shivering with fear.

“You attacked us first, so don’t expect any mercy!” Bi Fan

shouted loudly.
 He deliberately shouted these words out loud, so Gu Feng, and
anyone else in the vicinity, would know of their innocence. Jian
Shen was the aggressor; that was the simple truth.

Of course, if Gu Feng managed to get out alive, then he would

surely shift the blame on to Bi Fan, and his team’s, head by
saying that the four of them ambushed his team, in the hope of
stealing their valuables.

The moment Gu Feng heard Bi Fan’s words, he knew that

something bad was about to happen. He quickly turned around,
and accelerated his pace, as he made his way back.

Of the two men that were left, Blue Dragon, alone, took
charge of the man who below the ‘transformation’ layer, while
the other three teamed up against Wang Sheng.

“Don’t kill me; I’m a disciple of the Jian Shen faction….”

Wang Sheng started begging for mercy.

Unfortunately for him, Bi Fan and his team weren’t going to

let him get away.

“Rainy-fly Sword!”

“Defying domination!”

“Six Yang Horseshoe!”

Bi Fan, Wang Zhong, and Lone Leaf, started the fight on a

very high-ended note, giving Wang Sheng no room to move.

Wang Sheng’s spirited resistance was broken down by the

three of them in a matter of seconds, and they quickly finished
him off.

Blue Dragon took slightly longer, but managed to finish his

fight with ease as well.

Bi Fan quickly incorporated the bodies of the six men, as they

really had no time to divide the loot right now.
 “Let’s move! They still have seventeen more men; we can’t
afford to be reckless.”

The four of them quickly left the scene, with Gu Feng chasing
right behind them in full force. They could see him at a
distance, trembling with rage.

“I’ll chase you to the end of the world and back; I’ll chop you
into pieces, run!” Gu Feng was completely exasperated.

The seventeen remaining Jian Shen disciples quicken up their

paces, but were failing to keep up with Bi Fan and his party.
They started using divine essence seals, and renewed their
pursuit.

They were so busy chasing after the men that were ahead of
them, that they never noticed the shadow that was quickly
approaching them from behind.
 Chapter 90 – A War Of Words

“Brother Bi Fan, the Chimera seems to be gone a long time

now…?” Wang Zhong asked.

Bi Fan’s face exposed a sinister smile: “I dispatched the

Chimera on purpose; he has a big role to play in this one.”

“A sneak attack!” Blue Dragon exclaimed: “Brother Bi Fan,

you’re becoming more and more cunning.”

Indeed; Bi Fan had been becoming, more and more, sly with
every passing day, and was, unwittingly, at ease with this new
change in his nature.

However, as they say, everything is fair in war; it was nothing

personal; just business.

In this world, a soft heart, muddled with lenient emotions,

was sure to be struck down by others in time.

Moments later, a blood-curling shriek echoed from the back.

Apparently, the Chimera had registered its first kill.

The ones, who were at the back, were obviously the weakest,
which meant that the Chimera could easily deal with them,
especially when they weren’t expecting an attack. So naturally,
the Chimera could easily kill them off without anyone noticing
anything, and then quickly leave before anyone spotted him.

“What was that?” Gu Feng was forced to stop for a moment.

“It seems that little Kobayashi was killed by some beast.” One
of the Jian Shen disciples spoke up.

“What a waste….. Take his body; we will need to take it back

with us for a proper burial…. Let’s continue to move.” Gu Feng
said angrily.

Gu Feng’s eyes were full of Ogre flower petals; everything else

was invisible to him. Avenging little-Kobayashi wasn’t going to
get him what he wanted, so naturally he wasn’t going to waste
any time on it.

Gu Feng’s delegation continued to move forward, and the

Chimera slowly returned back into the fold, and behind them,
looking for its next target.

The Chimera had always been a very clever beast; and the
addition of Bi Fan’s guidance had turned him into a very
cunning, and ruthless, killing machine.

Bi Fan’s plan was very simple; the Chimera would sneak up

and attack someone at the back, and then quickly retreat into
the shadows once again. Bi Fan was sure that Gu Feng wasn’t
going to chase after it.

“Ah….” Another scream echoed from the back; the Chimera

had registered its second success for the day.

“Take the body; we will continue to proceed forward.” Gu

Feng was even more straightforward this time around.

“Brother Gu Feng….” One of the disciples under his command

tried to raise his concern hesitantly, but was cut off by Gu Feng.

Gu Feng stated in a cold tone: “Do you want the Ogre Flower
petals or not?”
 “Brother, we shall continue to chase them!” The lure of the
benefits that lay ahead, were exposing the voids in the falsehood
of their friendships and brotherhood.

Gu Feng said: “Hurry up, and the ones at the back need to be
more careful. We have no time to tarry; the enemy is getting
away from us.”

“Yes Brother!”

The Jian Shen team picked up pace; the ones at the back were
trying even harder than they had been earlier, as they were
afraid of falling prey to Devil’s Race Beasts. They were all
desperately trying to stay in front of each other, as no one
wanted to be the last in the line.

The Chimera quickened its pace as well, and caught up with

them soon, once again.

The Chimera was in no hurry; he was well aware that he

needed to pick the right moment to make his move in order to
kill off the enemy without being detected.
 Wang Zhong said: “The Chimera is really turning into
monstrous beast; he has already killed two men in quick
succession. Do you think he will be able to get a third one?”

“Anytime now, the Chimera isn’t overly fond of holding

back.” Lone Leaf laughed.

“Dirty….” Blue Dragon said in a low voice, almost to himself:

“However, the Chimera does come out to be handy in tough
spot.”

Bi Fan remained silent, as he simply couldn’t dare to come up

with anything in rebuttal.

“Ah…..” Another scream provided more music to their ears.

Bi Fan and his party continued to smile.

Since another disciple from his Sect had been killed by the
Devil’s Race, Gu Feng finally acknowledged the problem; if he
didn’t take any action now, then the others in his platoon would
soon start panicking.
 Gu Feng was forced to stop for a moment, and chase after the
Chimera, but was unable to catch up with it.

“That creature is too fast, we cannot chase after it.” Gu Feng

said helplessly. “We will continue to move forward after those
men. Tie Fei Yun, you will be stationed at the back from now
on; I doubt that the creature will be foolish enough to come
after you.”

“Hey…. I was thinking the exact same thing. I only wish that
he tries to take a go at me.” Tie Fei Yun grinned, revealing the
two rows of his yellowed teeth.

Gu Feng controlled his vomit that was incited by the bad odor,
as he thought to himself: “This kid’s bad breath is seriously
making it very difficult to live around him.”

Gu Feng’s platoon continued to move forward, and the

Chimera didn’t reappear; he had already overtaken them from
within the shadows he had been concealing himself in.

Once the war started, the Chimera might be required to reveal

himself at any moment. He would be more than happy to oblige
to Bi Fan’s command to do the very same.

Bi Fan had been expecting this. He knew that after a few of

their men died, the Jian Shen Sect would certainly take the step
of rearranging their formation, which would make it impossible
for the Chimera to continue attacking them sneakily.

Gu Feng and the other picked up speed, and soon were able to
see the backs of Bi Fan’s four man team.

In reality, Bi Fan and the others had intentionally slowed

down to allow the Jian Shen platoon to catch up with them.

It had come to point where it was kill or be killed. Killing one,

or ten, was the same thing here. However, the rewards they
were to obtain were likely to go higher with the increasing
number of enemy causalities.

Anyway, they had already picked a fight with the Jian Shen
Sect, so there was no point in backing down now.

Even Lone Leaf was ready to fight now: “These guys are so
dead!”

The men, who come looking for a kill, should always expect to
find the same treatment for their own self.

Bi Fan was making these men chase after him, even though he
had no intention of outrunning them. The plan was simple; to
make Gu Feng and his men consume as much of their energies
as possible before the battle begins.

Bi Fan and his men were already prepared, and since they had
a head-start, they made sure that weren’t as tired as their
opposition.

They always managed to maintain just enough distance to

tickle the hearts of the Jian Shen platoon, so they would
continue to chase after them without thinking twice.

Their plan was working flawlessly, and they had already

managed to tire some of their opponents.

The weaker ones, in the Jian Shen Sect team, were already a
little fatigued, and were visibly breathless.
 Bi Fan, along with the rest of his team, deliberately slowed
down a bit, and intentionally wore a tired look on their faces.

“Come on, they have almost run out of energy.” Gu Feng said
loudly out of sheer exhalation.

Although most of the men in his party were already fairly

tired, the dream of the Ogre Flower petals provided them the
inspiration to accelerate their pace further.

Soon enough, owing to their revived spirits, Gu Feng’s

remaining fourteen-man team managed to catch up to Bi Fan’s
party, and quickly surrounded them.

As soon as he saw the sweat studded faces of Bi Fan’s party, Gu

Feng started laughing: “Haha…. Finally… you were unable to
outrun us; you’re going to die this time around.”

“Gu Feng, if you, or your Jian Shen boys, attack us, then I will
report this to the management of Bei Ming Sect upon my
return.” Lone Leaf said in an angry voice.
 Gu Feng sneered: “You will first have to go back from here.
Now that I know that you’re a Bei Ming student, do you think I
will be stupid enough to let you live?… let alone allow you to
return to your School.”

The look on Lone Leaf’s face changed; the resolve within his
heart was even more firm now.

Since the other party had looked down upon the Bei Ming
School, he wasn’t going to consider their patriarchy anymore;
Jian Shen faction or not, they had insulted his School now.

“Very Well! Very Well! I had always heard that the Jian Shen
was a righteous Sect, I guess that was all just a bunch of false
rumors.” Lone Leaf exposed an enraged smiled.

Gu Feng rebutted: “We have always been an embodiment of

justice, and we are going to kill you because you are evil-doers.”

“….For someone with the intention of robbing us, you guys

surely have an admirably pompous pretext” Wang Zhong
laughed: “But you’re not fooling anyone here; you’re no better
than an average goon. At least drop the act, and accept it,
because you sound very hypocritical right now.”
 Gu Feng’s face turned ashen as he said: “Whisker Wang, am I
right? I know you have quite the reputation, but a little later,
I’m going to have you down on your knees, begging me for
mercy, while my fists will enlighten you with the mistake that
you’ve just made…..”

“Well, I’m game. But I don’t think you’re going to get what
you’re looking for.” Wang Zhong said in calm and undisturbed
voice.

Blue Dragon laughed: “I can tell that he doesn’t have what it

takes, I mean, just look at him… he already looks terrified!”

“Hahaha….” Bi Fan and his companions burst into laughter.

Gu Feng’s, and his men’s, face turned red with anger the
moment they heard Blue Dragon’s words.

“Boy, I don’t care who you are, or which Sect you belong to,
but today you’ve forged the path to your doom.”
 “Oh, you want to kill? Why don’t you come at take a swing at
me?” Blue Dragon retaliated in defiance.

Ever since the recent surge in his strength, Blue Dragon had
been aching to find a strong opponent to test himself out.

“Brother Dragon, you can’t just keep snatching my game ok….

He belongs to me!” Wang Zhong said, pointing his finger at Gu
Feng.

“Well…. I guess you can have him, but I’m taking the next
strongest.” Blue Dragon started scoping out the rest of the
enemy delegation.

Gu Feng seemed like he was angry enough to pull his hair out;
he wasn’t used to being treated in this manner.

“Kill them! No one leaves alive!”

 Chapter 91 – A Noxious Selection Of Dates

Wang Zhong was paired with Gu Feng, whereas Tie Fei Yun
had chosen Lone Leaf, so naturally, Blue Dragon was quite
disheartened.

But, Blue Dragon still made the best of the situation, and
managed to challenge the third strongest member of the Jian
Shen team, a man named Bo Lin. Bo Lin was also a
‘transformation’ layer martial artist.

The remaining Jian Shen disciples, automatically, fell into Bi

Fan’s share of responsibilities. Bi Fan was already as strong as
the peak of the ‘transformation’ layer, if not more, while his
opponents were all far weaker than him.

Most of the these Jian Shen students wouldn’t have dared to

enter into the First layer of the Devil’s Abyss on their own, and
were simply here because they had been picked by Gu Feng to be
a part of his team. They were mostly here on a daily-wage basis.

In a faction as large as the Jian Shen Sect, the competition

between disciples was extremely fierce.
 A sudden boost of performance was likely to result in
increased attention from the School’s management, and better
resources provisions; so naturally they had all agreed to follow
him.

Even the Big martial arts factions like Jian Shen weren’t
capable of procuring infinite resources, which is why they
concentrated their limited resources only on the few chosen,
elite students.

There were several other disciples outside these big sects who
were at par with men like Gu Feng, but had never gotten the
recognition that men like Gu Feng had, and were often treated
like common-folk. Many of these men entered the first layer of
the Devil’s Abyss more often than their renowned counterparts,
to train in order to make up for the lack of financial support.

The first layer of the Devil’s Abyss was vast and boundless,
and even though the Stone Giant had killed an awful lot of men,
several more, awfully strong, men were probably never made
aware of its sighting.

If the entire count of Strong fighters had been present on the

scene of the battle with the Stone Giant, then, unified, they
probably would have killed him in the first round of attacks
itself.

If so many strong men had attacked the Giant, then they could
have taken him down easily, just the way an ant colony takes
down an Elephant.

Gu Feng’s team had comprised of four ‘transformation’ layer

fighters initially, but only three of them were alive now, as Bi
Fan’s platoon had already killed one off.

Bi Fan forced a smiled: “Oh, it seems that you guys have

already taken the best ones; now all I have is this noxious
selection of dates. They simply won’t be any fun, ah.”

The remaining of the Jian Shen disciples had heard of Wang

Zhong and Lone Leaf, and would probably not anger either one
of them, but being insulted by a ‘nobody from nowhere’ like Bi
Fan, definitely made them furious.

“Boy, you are too arrogant for your own good; so much brass
for just a ‘spiritual intelligence’ layered fighter!” The remaining
Jian Shen disciples looked so enraged, that it appeared as if they
were just aching to tear Bi Fan apart.
 Bi Fan teased: “I’m better than you all, would you like to try
and prove me wrong?”

“Attack!” the eleven of them surrounded him, and launched

their attacks in a unionized fashion.

Since it was a game of speed now, Bi Fan decided to couple his

new skills of ‘Swimming Dragon’ and ‘Babu Swimming Dragon’
fist. His shadow breezed through their ranks; and screams
followed.

In an instant, Bi Fan had already slain four of those eleven

Jian Shen disciples. His speed was so fast, that no one even saw
what he really did.

The remaining seven were now standing with a silly, and

terrified, look on their faces.

Bi Fan had no intention of stopping at just four, his silhouette

charged through their ranks once again, like a bolt of lightning,
and miserable shrieks rang once again.
 The ones, who weren’t already dead, were so scared, that they
started to flee for their lives.

To them, Bi Fan was nothing short of a monster, and they just

wanted to get away from his clutches.

Now only five men were left; and Bi Fan made no move to
chase after them, as they tried to scuttle away from him.

Gu Feng had been watching the massacre from the corner of

his eyes, which were, now, red with rage: “Boy, no matter who
you are, today you have managed to offend the Jian Shen Sect;
death awaits you.”

“Haha, you think that one death is enough to make for all
lives that I have taken.” Bi Fan laughed.

‘A snap of the fingers!’

Bi Fan started popping stones in quick succession after the

men who were fleeing away from him. His stone-bullets hit
their targets with perfect accuracy as usual.
 In a flash, Bi Fan managed to kill four of the five of his
remaining opponents, while the one last survivor had also
already sustained severe injuries.

The horror-stricken man was wildly trying to escape.

“So you want to run away now? Humph!” Bi Fan sneered, as

he launched another hail of bullets.

Two stones, pierced through the air, one after the other. The
one at the back was moving at a much faster speed, and soon
bumped into the one ahead.

The stone which was in the front was accelerated by the

impact, and started to move towards its target at a much faster
speed than the escaping-man had anticipated.

“Ah….” Another scream sounded in the vicinity.

The stone pierced a bloody hole in the head of that Jian Shen
disciple, but still failed to floor him completely. The task was
finished off by the second stone.
 Bi Fan was done with his personal task. He had already killed
eleven of the Jian Shen men that were assigned to him, and he
hadn’t even broken a sweat over them.

“What a bunch of wastes!” Bi Fan muttered as he moved about

collecting their bodies.

Now only three of the originally twenty-three man team

remained, Gu Feng, Tie Fei Yun, and Bo Lin. All three of them
were inside the ‘transformation layer’, and all three were going
mad with fury, but more importantly, all three were afraid of Bi
Fan.

They had each picked their counterparts in terms of strength,

and were fairly occupied with their respective selections, only to
realize that the real strength of their enemy still remained
untested.

Even though all three of them were inside the

‘transformation’ layer, they still couldn’t have killed eleven
Jian Shen Sect men in the fashion that Bi Fan just
demonstrated.
 This was the first time that they had ever seen such speed, and
such ferocity.

Gu Feng, and the other two were smart enough to realize that
they weren’t very likely to survive, even if they managed to kill
their respective opponents. So they were only looking to escape
now, which as it is, wasn’t going to be an easy task.

“Everyone, think of a way to escape. We need to get back and

inform our administration about this, so they can all be
avenged.” Gu Feng said loudly.

He hadn’t given up yet. As long as there was even a single

strand of hope to make an escape, he was willing to try.

Gu Feng launched a very fierce attack, in the hope of pushing

Wang Zhong back, so he could attempt an escape.

Wang Zhong wasn’t exactly having a walk in park, but he

wasn’t going to allow Gu Feng to get away that easily, as it
would only bring him disgrace.

Therefore, Wang Zhong was doing his utmost, even if it

meant that he had to sustain a few injuries in the process, but he
still wouldn’t let Gu Feng get away.

It wasn’t a matter of strength; if Wang Zhong had Gu Feng’s

superior weaponry, and martial techniques, then the playing
field would have been level between the two of them.

Wang Zhong was of considerable strength to his opponents,

and was able to hold him back without facing many problems.

But more importantly, Bi Fan was lurking on the periphery of

the battlefield, like a tiger waiting to pounce. If anyone made
any attempts to run, Bi Fan would surely not hold back.

The only reason that Bi Fan hadn’t already engaged himself

with the remaining three Jian Shen disciples is because he
didn’t want to steal the opportunity from his Brothers. He was
more than happy to provide his friends a chance to gain some
valuable practical experience.

Finding strong opponents was a difficult task, and a fierce

fight with a strong opponent was one of the best ways to
improve strength.
 Tie Fei Yun was far stronger than Lone Leaf, but wouldn’t be
able to scramble much against Bi Fan, as he was simply no
match for Bi Fan.

Lone Leaf had only recently undergone a massive surge in

strength, which coupled with his rich practical experience, was
the sole reason that he had been able to hold his own against Tie
Fei Yun for so long.

On the face of it, Tie Fei Yun was only mid-way through the
‘transformation’ layer, but he too had an above average physical
strength, which made him a little more powerful than he
appeared.

Blue Dragon was busy with Bo Lin. Bo Lin had recently

entered into the ‘transformation’ layer, but was no match for
Blue Dragon’s physical strength.

Blue Dragon, owing to his superior physical strength, and

with the help of his vicious weapon, was able to gain, and
maintain, the upper hand with ease.

Bi Fan laughed: “Don’t take any unnecessary risks Brothers.

Just remember, I’m here to assist you if you need it.”
 “Brother Bi Fan, don’t interfere in my fight, ah!” Blue Dragon
was prompt to dispel the idea of assistance.

Even though Blue Dragon was acting under excitement, Bi Fan

knew that he would able to handle his opponent, so Bi Fan was
focusing only on the other two fights.

Lone Leaf said: “Brother Bi Fan, I don’t think I’ll be able to

sort him out on my own. But still, let me get some hands-on
practice here.”

“I figure that I too could require some assistance later.” Wang

Zhong said in a cold voice.

While Bi Fan’s party was at ease, Gu Feng’s three man team

was anxious. They were striving hard to make room, so they
could attempt an escape.

The Devil’s Abyss is so huge, that it’s usually considered very

rare to bump into large groups of humans in quick succession,
so Bi Fan wasn’t really worried about anyone finding out about
the deeds.
 “Natal Sword, crucifix deception sword!” Gu Feng finally cast
out best skill.

A cloud of swords charged out, and swept towards Wang

Zhong.

The momentum of the attack was so monstrous, that it

appeared as if it would tear its target apart.

Naturally, Wang Zhong wasn’t going to go head on against an

attack like that, and so, he quickly got out of the way.

Gu Feng’s sword hit the ground, and split open a pit in it.

His Natal Sword was already a very powerful weapon, and

being coupled with an attack like ‘crucifix deception’, made the
combination fatal. So obviously, Wang Zhong had no choice but
shy away from facing it.

Since Wang Zhong was forced to retreat, Gu Feng saw his

chance and took it well, as he darted away from the scene at the
speed of lightening.
 Bi Fan made no attempts to chase after him. Gu Feng had
chosen the wrong direction; and was rushing head-on towards
the Chimera, who was eagerly waiting for his turn.
 Chapter 92 – The Nobleman, Mo Li

The Chimera had been hiding behind a boulder; however, its

tail was still lurking out from the side.

Gu Feng was fleeing in such a frenetic fashion, that he was

very unlikely to pay attention to the ambush, which was
waiting for him behind that boulder. He was so occupied with
the four of his enemies, from whom he had just gotten away,
that he had no time to pay attention to the tail which was
poking out from the boulder that lay ahead of him.

“Finally, I got away from them. Once I get out, I will inform
the elders about this incident. I will make sure that the Bei Ming
Kid pays for this, and those other three will die without a
pauper.”

Even though Gu Feng had barely gotten out, he had already

started plotting against the four of them. He was so involved in
his own schemes that he didn’t even bother to wonder why
Wang Zhong, and Bi Fan, weren’t anxiously chasing after him to
kill him.

Gu Feng was moving extremely fast, and he reached the

boulder very soon.

“Woooo…..” the Chimera popped out, from behind the

boulder, without any warning.

Gu Feng went pale with fright; he had never anticipated that

the Chimera could have been working with Bi Fan and his
friends, and had simply assumed it to be a beast of the Devil’s
Race.

Gu Feng quickly prepared himself to attack the Chimera, and

charged at it with all his might.

“Phhhh!” The Chimera sprayed out a large mouthful of fire.

Gu Feng was charging head-on towards the Chimera; it was

too late to dodge now.

The black fire instantaneously flooded Gu Feng’s body, and

the conflagration raged on.

“Ah……..” a sad, miserable, shriek filled the atmosphere; no

one under the heavens could save him now.

The black fire was so corrosive, that it soon leveled Gu Feng to

ashes. Even his Yin Yang pouches were destroyed; and all that
was left behind, was a few fragments of glitters.

As for the instruments, which these glitters had once provided

magical powers to, they were all reduced to ashes.

Bi Fan said in a rather gloomy tone: “That’s very

unfortunate!”

A man of Gu Feng’s status, was very likely to be carrying a

significant amount of Yin Yang pouches. Moreover, these Yin
Yang pouches probably contained some very valuable items; but
these valuables were now gone.

The Chimera’s fire was far too powerful, and far too
destructive, so much so, that nothing was left of Gu Feng.

“It seems that from next time onwards, I’ll need to instruct
the Chimera to restrain from using its flame against powerful
men.” Bi Fan made a mental note.
 Tie Fei Yun, and Bo Lin’s, faces were covered in despair, as
they watched Gu Feng burn to a crisp.

Gu Feng was their strongest man; now that he was dead, they
were sure that they too didn’t stand any chance of making it out
alive.

Moreover, Bi Fan and Wang Zhong were both stronger than

them, and were just waiting on the edge of their battles, eyeing
them, in the hope of systematically crushing their hopes of
survival.

“You bastard! If I’m going to die, I will take you with me!” Tie
Fei Yun’s eyes were red with madness, as he started attacking
Lone Leaf in a frenzied manner, in the hope of killing at least
one of his enemies.

Lone Leaf wasn’t as reckless, and he kept falling back

ceaselessly, in order to avoid harm.

Wang Zhong realized the threat, and promptly offered

assistance.
 “Defying Domination!” Wang Zhong’s move was blocked off
by Tie Fei Yun, but Lone Leaf finally found some room to
breathe.

Tie Fei Yun had gone completely berserk, and in a very short
time, had managed to inflict several minor wounds to Lone
Leaf.

If Lone Leaf hadn’t defended wholeheartedly, then Tie Fei

Yun could have injured him very severely.

Wang Zhong was far stronger than Tie Fei Yun, so even
though the latter was doing his utmost, he still couldn’t break
past Wang Zhong’s defense.

And since his counterpart wasn’t exactly defending, Wang

Zhong was basically spoilt for options, and quickly managed to
inflict several injuries to the man.

Blue Dragon and Bo Lin, were still engaged in a fight, but Bo

Lin’s had, seemingly, already lost his morale, which was
beginning to reflect in his fighting.
 But then again, he was a fairly strong man, so killing him,
even under these circumstances, wasn’t exactly going to be a
walk in the park for Blue Dragon.

Wang Zhong was acting fast, and soon, managed to strike Tie
Fei Yun down.

Tie Fei Yun had already lost all sense of rationality, so his
quick death at the hands of Wang Zhong, wasn’t exactly a
surprising feat.

After Tie Fei Yun’s death, Bo Lin completely lost his will to
fight.

Hegemon Overlord!

Blue Dragon seized his opportunity, and unleashed a

continuous onslaught of powerful attacks, and finished Bo Lin
off.

“Well done guys!” Bi Fan clapped his hands in appreciation.

 They quickly swept the battlefield, and prepared to leave.

Just then, out of a no where, a strong man came out with a big
smile of his face: “Gu Feng was so utterly useless; he died at the
hands of four such nobodies.”

This man was dressed in a peacock colored attire from head to

toe, which was rather a very weird dress for anyone to put on.

“Nobleman Mo Lin! Another Jian Shen top-three…..” Lone

Leaf was astounded.

Wang Zhong’s eyes started filling with a flavor of war, once

again: “Really? This guy is also considered to be a top-three at
the Jian Shen Sect?”

“Yes, I like Gu Feng, am a top three at Jian Shen School. You

have killed so many of my Brothers, now how could I possibly
let that go?” Mo Lin’s face was calm, and indifferent.

In reality, he had managed to arrive at the scene a while ago,

and had witnessed the deaths of the last three men, but hadn’t
offered them any assistance. Had he helped them in their fight
against Bi Fan’s party, then with his assistance, they might have
been able to win. But his decision to reveal himself at this
moment, made it rather obvious that he was only interested in
keeping all the rewards for himself only.

Mo Lin was behind Gu Feng in the list of top three at Jian

Shen School, and had been trying to topple his rivals for a while
now. Gu Feng’s death was excellent for his personal gains.

Now that Gu Feng was dead, Mo Lin was secretly very happy,
but didn’t let it show on his face much.

Anyway, the other side had killed off so many Jian Shen
disciples, so it wouldn’t be appropriate to just back down now.

“Oh, so now you also want to steal from us? I don’t think you
have the strength to take what you seek.” Bi Fan sneered: “I
could easy wipe out three, or maybe even four, of your kind by
myself. If you think you can steal from me, then you’re sadly
mistaken.”

Bi Fan had picked his words carefully, and had intentionally

used a very demeaning tone, and his trick worked flawlessly;
Mo Lin was trembling with rage.
 “Boy, don’t you dare think that you could have killed the great
Gu Feng all by yourself. If it wasn’t for that Devil’s Race
creature, Gu Feng would have gotten away. As long as you let
me take the swords of my fallen Brothers, I will let you live. And
anybody who steps in my way, dies!” Mo Lin finally revealed the
true purpose of his presence.

“Yes well, why not. Now, you also want us to just hand over
their swords. Since we have already started this, I don’t think
we’ll mind killing another Jian Shen disciple.” Wang Zhong
sneered.

Wang Zhong, Lone Leaf, Blue Dragon, and Bi Fan, slowly

started walking towards Mo Lin, and started encircling him.
The four of them started releasing their momentum, and their
momentum started pilling pressure on Mo Lin. Mo Lin realized
his mistake quickly, it was obvious from his facial expressions,
that he was already getting cold feet.

“You lawless bastards, you really want to offend the Jian Shen
Sect to such an extent?” Mo Lin threatened.

Wang Zhong smiled: “The way I see it, we have already killed
off so many Jian Shen disciples, that killing one more won’t
really make a difference. And if we are able to silence you, we
really won’t have anything to fear, as no one will ever find out.”

Divine essence seals, bless my body!

Shooting star!

The ‘Shooting star’, was a wonderful agility technique which

Mo Lin had obtained during one of his travels.

Mo Lin wasn’t fully prepared to use the technique in combat,

but still decided to use it, as he was out of options and needed to
make an escape.

‘The Shooting star’ was an incredibly quick technique, but

still Mo Lin couldn’t wantonly charge at his opponents, as he
was hemmed in the middle of the four of them.

Mo Lin’s figure was constantly changing directions, and no

one was able to make out what he was up to. One simply error in
judgement, and he would be able to escape immediately.
 His fleeting figure was changing directions so quickly, that
Wang Zhong didn’t know where to start from, and had a brief
moment where he was unable to find his feet; Mo Lin seized his
chance, and managed to get out of the encirclement.

“Amazing speed!” Bi Fan praised.

Whether it’s friend or a foe, his agility was exceptional; and

exceptional martial arts must always be praised.

Bi Fan took support from ‘the dance of mist’ footwork; in an

instant, Bi Fan was no longer visible to the naked eye.

Bi Fan dodged sideways, and quickly managed to come in

front of Mo Lin, and blocked his path once more.

Natal Sword Attack!

Mo Lin cast out the Natal Sword attack, in the hope of forcing
his way past Bi Fan.
 “Damn it! This Natal Sword attack is a real pain. It’s not very
quick, but it’s still quite powerful. If I could somehow master it,
and unite it with my own techniques, then I could turn it into
something extra ordinary.” Bi Fan envied his opponent.

As for Wang Zhong; he was still confused as to what just

happened.

Lone Lead laughed: “Sure, since you are one of the top-three
from the Jian Shen Sect, it comes as no surprise that you also
know the Natal Sword attack like the rest of them.”

“Anyway, Natal Sword is a childish attack, and I’m tired of

dealing with it all the time. I don’t get what the fuss is about.”
Bi Fan said in a loud voice.
 Chapter 93 – Self-Detonation

The Natal attack was Jian Shen Sect’s secret condensation

technique, and a martial artist was usually required to be inside
the ‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer to be able to practice this
method properly.

Once inside the ‘emerging from the womb’ layer, a martial

artist who was able to master this art natal art, could easily
forge his path towards being considered a genius martial artist;
but mastering this art required a lot of talent, and luck.

The Natal attack was a very powerful technique, and mistakes

while practicing the method could even lead to the
practitioner’s death.

But once a martial artist was able to master the technique of

natal attack, the same could be used as an extremely powerful
weapon.

‘Transformation’ layer martial artist who were able to cast

out the Natal attack, were not able to use the attack to its full
capability, and the effect was only equivalent to the blow of a
low-grade weapon.
 However, Mo Li’s attack was obviously more powerful than
Gu Feng’s, and if he was able to find the right weapons to go
with it, then with some practice, his attack could become even
stronger.

“Chase him down!” Lone Leaf, and Blue Dragon, both set after
him in a hot, high-speed, chase.

Ahead of them, Bi Fan and Wang Zhong, separated away from

each other, and outflanked him from different sides.

Furthermore, at Bi Fan’s command, the Chimera had been

secretly preparing to intercept Mo Li from the front, and was
already half-way through its task.

Mo Li was exceptionally quick, but unfortunately, wasn’t able

to go very far, and soon found his path being blocked by the
Chimera, and a number of other Devil’s Race beasts.

The Chimera had made a smart move, and had somehow

managed to draw support from beasts of the Devil’s Race.
 “Kill him!” Bi Fan and the others were still catching up, and
were getting closer and closer. Mo Li had no choice but to blaze
his trail through the Devil’s Race.

He swept his sword, Natal attack; his sword gleamed

radiantly, and a large number of the Devil’s Race fell to their
death.

The Natal attack was a really powerful attack, and once a Jian
Shen student was able to utilize its full capacity, the effect
would stand to multiply.

Bi Fan’s eyes were red with envy: “If I were somehow able to
figure out a way to master the Natal Attack, then I will be able
to forge my way to greatness.”

Even though he fancied the idea of being able to use, and

master the attack, he hadn’t yet anticipated that it wouldn’t be
so easy to take such a method from the Jian Shen Sect,
otherwise, the whole world would have already known the
secret behind the method, and it wouldn’t be considered as big a
secret as it is.

Each of the Jiu Yu Da Sect Schools had their own secret

martial techniques, and they all went to great lengths to
protect, and prevent, them from leaking out. If they didn’t,
then their secrets would soon become public knowledge, and
their factions would lose their value.

The Natal attack was one of the techniques on which the Jian
Shen Sect had built their fortunes on. Moreover, it wasn’t an
easy technique to master either, and most of their disciples
weren’t able to master this condensation method.

Mo Li was killing the beasts at an exceptionally quick rate, but

still, was delayed enough for Bi Fan, and Wang Zhong, to catch
up with him.

“Is this the best that you can do?” Wang Zhong laughed.

Both of them were blocking him from behind, and even if he

somehow managed to get away from one of them, the other was
sure to stop him.

Even if Mo Li decided to change the direction of his escape, Bi

Fan and Wang Zhong were sure to chase him down successfully.
 Blue Dragon, and Lone Leaf, weren’t that far behind either,
and managed to catch up soon.

Mo Li analyzed the situation, and it was obvious from his face

that he knew he was in trouble.

Suddenly, his face started turning, a weird, purple in color.

Natal Attack Detonate! Detonate!….

“Oh shit! The guy is actually about to use the Natal Attack to
create a blast!” Wang Zhong exclaimed.

The Natal attack detonation happened really quickly; Bi Fan

was standing closest to him, and was barely able to react.

Bi Fan was only able to use his hands to cover his vital body
parts, and managed to mobilize his entire energy to defend
himself.

“Boom!” A huge explosion sounded, and Bi Fan was blown

away by its force.
 Wang Zhong was able to get his guard up in time, but was
thrown away by the force of the explosion nonetheless.

Mo Li spit out some blood; his face was wan, and his body was
shaking.

It seems that Mo Li had only been able to cast out the ‘Natal
Attack Detonation’ at the cost of sustaining internal injuries; his
injuries seemed quite severe.

Mo Li didn’t hesitate, as he had no time to stall and celebrate

his victory, and so, he quickly made a dash for it.

“Brother Bi Fan, are you okay?” Blue Dragon and Lone Leaf
seemed very concerned, and promptly hastened towards Bi Fan
to check the status of his injuries.

“Ahem….. I think I’ll live.” Bi Fan’s arms and legs were

covered in his own blood, while his face was covered with dust.

In that critical moment, Bi Fan had somehow managed to use

his arms to protect his head, owing to which, he hadn’t
sustained any injuries on his head.

Bi Fan had also managed to use the techniques that he had

learnt from the battered jade book, owing to which he had been
able to transfer enough energy to protect his arms and legs,
otherwise, his limbs would not have been able to withstand the
force of the attack.

As for the rest of his body, the soft armor which he always
wore had done its job once again. The core of his body hadn’t
sustained any injuries, but his clothes were in tatters.

The massive blast had blasted off the surrounding rocks into
granules, but Bi Fan had managed to get away with only a few
minor injuries; this feat of his, was nothing short of
extraordinary.

“Man, you really scared us for a second there.” Blue Dragon’s

sincere smile, reflect the relief his heart felt upon seeing Bi Fan
safe.

Lone Leaf smiled: “I knew he was alright. It’s not that easy to
kill Brother Bi Fan.”
 At this time, Wang Zhong also stumbled over. He too had
sustained some injuries, but was in a much better condition
than Bi Fan.

“Brother Bi Fan, are you okay?”

“Brother Wang, are you okay?”

They both asked at the same time, and then paused for a
moment, before breaking into laughter.

Bi Fan and Wang Zhong needed to heal themselves, as they

had both sustained significant injuries.

In less than an hour, both men had healed the most severe of
their injuries, but still, wouldn’t be regarded as battle ready at
this point.

“Unfortunately, Mo Li managed to escape. It seems that we

are about to run into some major trouble later on.” The thought
of confronting threats from a Jiu Yu Da Sect, like the Jian Shen
faction, was making Bi Fan’s heart a little bumpy.

Bi Fan wasn’t weak, but if a Sect as strong as the Jian Shen

School came after him, then they would succeed in killing him
quite easily.

Lone Leaf looked worst of them all, after all, he was a Bei
Ming School disciple. If the Jian Shen Sect set an inquiry into
the matter, and asked Bei Ming to hand him over, then he may
not live to tell the tale.

“I had never imagined that Mo Li could have taken such a

huge step. He was barely able to pull off the Natal Sword Attack;
his chances of succeeding at the Natal Attack Detonation were
very slim.” Wang Zhong said.

To condense enough strength to cast out the Natal Attack was

quite difficult, but doing it a second time was even harder, and
the chances of success was minimal.

On top of that, Mo Li had used the Detonation technique,

which had backfired to some extent, and had inflicted severe
injuries to his internal organs.
 Mo Li had gotten away, and if he managed to get out of the
Devil’s Abyss alive, and related the incident to his superiors,
then Bi Fan, and his companions, were sure to find themselves
in a lot of trouble.

Especially Lone Leaf. But since he too, like Mo Li, was disciple
of a Jiu Yu Da Sect, his best course of action would to be to
counter-frame Mo Li. But then again, if the Jian Shen Sect
backed Mo Li, and he was unable to find backing from his Sect,
then he would again end up in a grave.

“Brother Leaf, I suggest that you temporarily delay your

return to the Bei Ming Sect, and first enhance your strength to
the ‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer. Once you’ve managed to
get into the ‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer, you will be
accepted as a Neimen disciple, and your survival will be as good
as guaranteed.”

Niemen disciples, were considered true martial arts disciple

within any Sect. So naturally, these Sects made sure that they
took whatever measures were necessary to protect such
students.

If Lone Leaf was able to break into the ‘Emerging from the
Womb’ layer at such a young age, then it would be a clear
indication of his true talent, and the Bei Ming faction would
surely attach a lot of value with his name. So if the Jian Shen
Sect tried to frame his name then, the Bei Ming would surely
provide him with the necessary backing.

“Good idea! I will go back only after I have managed to enter

the ‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer.” Lone Leaf, all of a
sudden, was brimming with confidence.

With the help of the Ogre Flower petals, breaking into the
‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer would fairly easy, and on top
of that, his chances of future growth will also be quite solid.

He however, would always regret that he would never be able

to learn and practice any methods for improvement of his
physical strength, since he was short on time, owing to which,
the effect of the breakthrough wouldn’t be as exponential as he
would have desired.

It was impossible to make such a big breakthrough inside the

Devil’s Abyss, so he would have to practice his way to the peak
of the ‘transformation’ layer, and then return to his Sect. Upon
his return, he would have to consume an Ogre Flower petal
immediately, and make the breakthrough.
 As for the other three, the matter was of much less concern.

Even though Jian Shen was a very powerful Sect, their base
location was quite far away from the Jiu Yu city. So, even if the
Jian Shen Sect tried to punish them, they would have to go
through a lot of trouble to achieve their objective.

They would have to send a lot of, very strong, men after them,
and would have to aim for overkill.

Sending ordinary disciples, or small teams, would not work,

as they would take a long time to arrive at the Jiu Yu city; and
moreover, they may not even make it, as the road to Jiu Yu city
walls, from the Jian Shen headquarters was a very long one, and
was fraught will all kinds of dangers.

Bi Fan and the other two, simply needed to concentrate on

upgrading their strengths, in order to temp the Jian Shen
faction from refraining to retaliate against them, and fight them
if needed.

They continued to discuss the situation, as the neither of

them was in a hurry to leave the Abyss anymore. Wang Zhong,
Bi Fan, and Blue Dragon, decided to accompany Lone Leaf for
some time, while he practiced his way to the summit of the
‘Transformation’ layer.
 Chapter 94 – The Devil’s Secret Forest

Even though fighting ceaselessly for several days, in

succession, inside the Devil’s Abyss was a very difficult task, it
bore great results, and their strengths continued to enhance at a
very quick rate.

In order to reach the pinnacle of the ‘transformation’ layer as

soon as possible, Lone Leaf even started taking Dan pellets
which pertained to the ‘transformation’ layer.

After consuming ‘transformation’ layer Dan pellets, his

strength was improving much faster than anticipated; it was
difficult to guess how long it would take him to reach his target
without their aid.

Once he was able to reach the peak of the ‘transformation’

layer, Lone Leaf could use the Jade tablet to teleport back to the
Bei Ming School.

Upon his return, he would immediately consume an Ogre

Flower petal, and would soon enter into the ‘Emerging from the
Womb’ layer.
 Lone Leaf’s current practice was very important for his
survival, and he needed to make this jump as quickly as
possible, before returning to the Bei Ming School.

Once he was inside the ‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer, the
Bei Ming faction would surely back him against any inquiries of
the Jian Shen Sect.

No matter what happens, it was vital for Lone Leaf to increase

his strength as quickly as possible.

In order to help Lone Leaf, Bi Fan and the others, would set
aside a larger share of the Demons for him to train on.

Along the way, they encountered several human parties,

which even included teams from the Jiu Yu Da Sect factions.

But these people were too afraid to provoke Bi Fan, and his
friends, as they could clearly see that Bi Fan, and his team, were
far too strong to mess around with.

No matter where a person goes, strength, in this world, was

the ultimate commanding force. The strong, in this world, need
not be afraid of anything, while the weak didn’t have any rights.

Bi Fan was practicing as hard as always, as he had tasted the

bitter side of life, and had suffered a lot of bullying at the hands
of stronger men in his early days.

He was more motivated than anyone else to promote his

strength as fast as possible, so he could make a name for
himself.

Bi Fan’s drive for supremacy inspired Wang Zhong, and the

others, to strive harder and harder.

Lone Leaf was the only one in their group who had seen the
brighter side of life, by the virtue of being an outer disciple of
the Jiu Yu Da Sect.

Even though Blue Dragon was born into the Eastern

Aristocracy, he had always suffered a lot of insults at the hands
of his family, owing to illegitimacy of his parent’s relationship.

As for Wang Zhong, he had always been forced to rely on his

own measures for survival and training, so his current position
in the society was worthy of being called commendable.

As Wang Zhong witnessed the ferocity, and effort, with which

Bi Fan trained, he could clearly see why he was unable to match
up to Bi Fan’s strength.

The four of them continued to train in a frenzied fashion, and

carried on hunting the Devil’s Race to sate their wild thirst for
power.

Their thirst for blood-lust would terrify any passersby, who

would continue to stare at the four of them with goosebumps on
their bodies.

“Look at them! They look like devils in human form; just look
how vicious they are, their entire body is covered in blood. God
knows how long they have been slaughtering the Devil’s Race
for…”

“We cannot offend those four in any manner, let’s get out of
here.”
 Hardly anyone ever dared to come anywhere near the four of
them, as everyone was terrified of their appearance. They were,
all, covered in blood from top to bottom, so much so, that even
their faces were blood stained; it was becoming difficult to tell
their identities due to the sheer number of layers of blood that
their faces were stained in.

Even if Mo Li saw them, he probably wouldn’t be able to

recognize then, unless he inspected them very carefully.

The four of them were so invested in their training that they

were unaware of the fact, that they were being perceived as
savage homicidal maniacs on a murderous spree…

“Boom!” Once they were finished killing the last of the Devil’s
Race that they fighting at the moment, they looked up, and saw
the number, and severely mutilated condition, of the dead
bodies that they were surrounded by.

Bi Fan and his party had gone wild, without even realizing it.

“We are practicing too hard. These bodies are completely

damaged; they won’t fetch a very high price in the market.” Bi
Fan said in a gloomy voice.
 Blue Dragon said: “When did this happen, I never realized
it….”

“In the future, we must be a little careful. If we keep getting

carried away like this, we might end up getting possessed.”
Wang Zhong smiled.

Ever since they had started training, Lone Leaf’s strength had
seen a massive upgrade.

Taking Dan pellets was always a fast and easy method to

increase strength, but it always led to a very unstable
foundation, which is why, it was necessary to take some
precautions while taking such pellets.

Dan pellets were best suited to be consumed only occasionally,

and should only be used more often while making the
bottleneck breakthrough, to help speed up the process.

Enhancing strength using such shortcuts was always easier,

but proved out to be very costly at a later stage, as the progress
was bound to get slower and slower, and was likely to
eventually get stalled altogether.

Most people were unaware of this basic truth, and would

often resort to consuming Dan pellets in order to enhance
strength at a very rapid pace; especially those, who were from
influential families and had no shortage of resources, and those
who belonged to major martial arts sects, and were pressured
into standing up to their family names.

Lone Leaf had started consuming Dan pellets as a last resort,

and was planning on slowing his progress down to concentrate
on stabilizing his base, in order to purify the composition of his
strength; but only after making the breakthrough.

Now that Lone Leaf was almost done, his strength had almost
reached its target, owing largely to the supported that he had
drawn from the Dan pellets.

“Brother Lone Leaf, your strength has increased so quickly!

The first layer of the Devil’s Abyss is practically useless to you
now, so you might as well go back a little early.” Blue Dragon
started laughing.

Bi Fan said: “Brother Dragon, what are you complaining

about, the Jiu Yu list competition is arriving soon, you might as
well use this opportunity to kill some more beasts and enhance
your strength further.”

“Oh, my Yin Yang pouches are almost full, so killing these

weak beasts really doesn’t sound that tempting anymore.” Blue
Dragon sighed.

Wang Zhong offered: “If you’re interested, then I can take you
to some dangerous places, where you will find much stronger
beasts. But keep in mind, that these places can be very
dangerous.”

“A chance of more danger, how can I say no? Let’s quickly go

there.” Blue Dragon’s spirits started sky-rocketing once again,
and excitement was visible on his face once more.

Lone Leaf and Bi Fan looked at each other, and nodded. Wang
Zhong said: “Well, then, I’ll take you to the Devil’s Secret
Forest. Most of the Devil’s Race there is as strong as the
‘spiritual intelligence’ layer, and there’s no shortage of
‘transformation’ layer beasts either.”

“The Devil’s Secret Forest! That’s one of the top-ten most

dangerous places. I have heard a lot about it… it is said that the
Devil’s Secret forest is blooming with a lot of very rare
Panacea…. but I don’t know if there’s any truth to these
rumors….” Lone Leaf was pleasantly surprised.

Wang Zhong replied: “Indeed, you will find a lot of rare

Panacea in the Devil’s forest, but the powerful herbs are often
guarded by powerful beasts, so it’s awfully difficult to
successfully acquire any.”

“Let’s go!” Bi Fan’s eyes were full of expectations.

Rare Panaceas were awfully precious. Since Bi Fan had been

subjected to a lot exposure with regard to herbs since early
childhood, he had a very profound understanding of the subject.
But moreover, he had always attached a very special sentiment
with these herbs.

Bi Fan had always nurtured the notion of becoming an

alchemist, but unfortunately, had never met the right teacher to
teach him the required skills.

Refining raw herbs required an awful lot of skill, and

knowledge, and alchemists were often given the same status
that martial artists were. So naturally, the renowned alchemists
carried the same status, which a renowned martial artist did in
the society.

The Quinyang School had four ‘star alchemists’, and these

men were capable of refining very high quality Dan pellets,
while their status was considered equivalent to the ‘elders’ of
the Sect. In fact, sometimes, such men received even better
treatment than the elders did.

Bi Fan had an innate talent for herbs and gardening, and as a

boy, had always dreamt of becoming an alchemist.

Now, however, Bi Fan’s horizons had been broadened, so

naturally, he had dropped the idea of becoming an alchemist.
But now that this opportunity had presented itself, Bi Fan
simply couldn’t help but nurture his childhood dream once
more.

Bi Fan’s knowledge in the area was fairly basic, but still he

knew the basics of refining and mixing potions.

Since Bi Fan still wanted to learn the science in the future,

accumulating herbs at an early age would come in handy later
on, and would help him learn things faster.

Even expert alchemists were bound to burn a few potions

while mixing and refining herbs, so naturally, the chances of
success for an amateur were far lesser. So obviously, it requires
a large inventory of herbs to attain proficiency in the science, as
one would need to practice quite a bit.

Rare Panaceas, often had no market price, and were awfully

difficult to procure in the open market. But at moment, Bi Fan
had been presented with a wonderful opportunity to get his
hands on some of them, so naturally, he wasn’t about to let it
slip by easily.

Under the leadership of Wang Zhong, the four of them made

their way towards the Devil’s Forest. And even though they
encountered several of the Devil’s Race beasts along the way,
they didn’t stop to fight any.

It was obvious that Wang Zhong had been to the Devil’s Secret
Forest more than once before, as he seemed overly familiar with
the road.

After a few hours, the four of them found themselves standing

outside the Devil’s Secret Forest.

Bi Fan, Blue Dragon, and Lone Leaf, simply couldn’t believe

their eyes as they watched the tall and dense forest, which was
studded with cycads, and their mouths remained hung open out
of surprise for quite some time.

The cycads trees had an extremely strong core, which was

considered top quality refining material for weapons.

Cycads were extremely rare in the world outside of the Abyss,

and such tall ones, were practically unheard off.

It was hard to imagine that the first layer of the Devil’s Abyss
could be home to such towering Cycads.

“This is a rare chance; if you want the core of cycads, then go

ahead and chop all you like.” Wang Zhong smiled.

Lone Leaf asked: “You don’t want any cycad cores?”

“I have been here so many times before, I have plenty…”

Wang Zhong coughed as he held back his laughter.

Blue Dragon and Lone Leaf charged wildly towards the forest,
in a mad fury to cut down some cycads.

“The Cycad cores aren’t really that easy to procure, are they?”
Bi Fan laughed.

“Ha ha ha …” Wang Zhong couldn’t hold it back anymore.

 Chapter 95 – The Purple Vine

Bi Fan knew that Wang Zhong was holding back something

significant, but instead of asking, he started walking towards
the Cycads.

Cycad cores are considered excellent refining material for

weapons, and hence are quite valuable, and since they had
found some, it was very important for them to find a way to
take some with them.

The moment Lone Leaf and Blue Dragon arrived next to

Cycads, a few beasts of the Devil’s Race sprang out from the
forest to confront them.

These few beasts were reasonably strong; two of them were

inside the ‘enormous strength’ layer, while the other five were
‘spiritual intelligence’ layer beasts; it was evident that this place
was worthy of being considered in the top-ten most dangerous
places, since, even the beasts that were at the edge of the forest,
were as strong as the ones that they were confronted with.

“Man, it seems like this place is going to very interesting!”

Blue Dragon chirped out of excitement, as he rushed over to the
beasts, with his scimitar in his hand.

His scimitar stormed downwards, and beheaded one of the

‘Spiritual intelligence’ layered beasts in a single strike.

Blue Dragon was a fairly sturdy youngster, and was

accustomed to using his scimitar like a heavy-assault weapon.

Lone Leaf’s strength had improved a lot, and the might of his
‘Six Yang Horseshoe’ Attack, had increased manifold.

His sword had barely hit the beasts, and they started falling to
the ground.

“You are getting more and more powerful Brother!” Bi Fan

arrived on the scene.

Blue Dragon and Lone Leaf, both, expressed their desires at

the same time, individually: “Brother Bi Fan, stay out of this,
these beasts belong to us.”

Bi Fan touched his non-existent beard, as he decided to

silently stand while they killed the beasts.

A total of seven Devil’s Race beasts weren’t going to prove out

to be much of a competition for Lone Leaf and Blue Dragon, and
they finished them off quite quickly.

They quickly collected the corpses of their kills, and prepared

to hew down the Cycads.

Wang Zhong also came over. He silently stood there, with a

sly grin on his face, as he watched them prepare.

Blue Dragon was first to strike, and his scimitar chopped at

the Cycad that stood in front of him.

“Bang!” The collision gave rise to a very crisp sound, but Blue
Dragon was able to skim off only a very small bark from the
Cycad.

“These things are extremely hard; they really are worthy of

being used for making weapons. But I don’t care if they are
made of iron, I want them.” Blue Dragon said in a loud voice.
 Lone Leaf smiled: “Brother Dragon, if you really want them so
badly, then I can help you in getting some…”

“Hegemon Overlord!”

In order to cut down the Cycad, Blue Dragon actually resorted

to using his best attack.

“Boom!” this time, sparks flew; but once again, his attack was
only able to give the Cycad a shave.

The scimitar bounced off the tree’s trunk and hit Blue
Dragon’s chin, which had already started, faintly, aching.

“These trees are so hard! How do we cut them?” Blue Dragon

seemed very disheartened: “Brother Wang, that’s not fair… you
deliberately didn’t tell us, just so you could watch us suffer. It’s
obvious that you’ve also failed in procuring these Cycad cores in
the past, and you just wanted to make fun of us as we failed. It’s
not my fault, okay…”

Bi Fan laughed: “If chopping these things down was that easy,
then Brother Wang would have taken them all by now. I have
feeling that we won’t be able to get any.”

“Brother Wang, how can we cut down these Cycads?” Lone

Leaf asked for some sincere advice.

Wang Zhong said: “There are two ways, which can allow you
to cut down the Cycads with ease. First, you need to be inside
the ‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer; in which case, you can
mobilize your inner aura and easily cut down these Cycads. The
other way, requires you have a top-grade weapon, and the
Cycads are yours….”

“Damn it! Damn it!….. Brother Wang, that’s not fair. You
tried to fool us, you should have told us about this earlier!” Blue
Dragon was extremely disheartened.

The requirements weren’t much, but none of them were

capable of fulfilling them at the moment.

So, Bi Fan said: “It seems that we can’t fulfil either of those
conditions, so let’s just enter the forest quickly, and find some
Panacea, and kill some Devil’s Race creatures.”
 The four of them stepped into the Devil’s Secret Forest,
shoulder to shoulder, and their adventure began.

The Devil’s Secret Forest, was studded with several other tall
and towering trees, apart from the Cycads, which were blocking
of the sun altogether.

The Devil’s Forest’s air was filled with a very negative energy,
while the environment was extremely damp and moist, which
made it very suitable for poisonous creature to survive and
breed in the environment.

Relatively speaking, the air inside the Devil’s Forest had a

much higher composition of negative energy than the rest of the
Abyss, so it was no surprise that the powerful beasts preferred
to live here instead.

The negative energy was strong, and the positive Aura…even

weaker.

Bi Fan and his companions were at a fair amount of

discomfort inside the Forest, and were beginning to realize that
this isn’t the kind of place where humans could dwell for long.
 Occasionally, a small bunch of the Devil’s Race would pop out
from within the woods, and Blue Dragon and Lone Leaf would
quickly sort them out, while keeping count of their kills.
Meanwhile, Bi Fan and Wang Zhong were just asked to silently
watch the show.

“Look! Up ahead! There a purple vine and I think that’s a top

level herb too!” Bi Fan’s sharp eyes recognized a top-grade
Panacea.

This Panacea was considered a top level herb, and was most
suitable for refining ‘Spiritual intelligence’ Dan pellets; the Dan
pellets which were synthesized from this herb, were considered
one of the best variations of the Dan to enter into the
‘Enormous strength’ layer.

Wang Zhong, Blue Dragon, and Lone Leaf, all three, looked
the purple-colored vine which was snaking around a large tree,
as they stood there motionless; and speechless.

This purple vine had been growing for a long time,

undisturbed, and was flourishing with several branches. If they
were somehow able to pluck the entire vine, and take it back
with them, they would be able to extract a massive amount of
refining material from it, the value of which, was next to
unimaginable.

Although this purple vine wasn’t as precious as the Ogre

flower, it could be used in a very versatile range of potions,
which is why it would be in a very high demand in the open
market.

Wang Zhong said: “This purple vine is guarded by apes.

There’s about eighteen of them in number, and two of them are
inside the ‘transformation’ layer. We have found ourselves a
bounty, but these guardians will do just about anything under
the heavens to stop us from taking the vine.”

He spoke in a very righteously devoted manner, almost as if

he hoped to inspire reverence, but ended up sounding
hilariously ridiculous.

Even though Bi Fan, Blue Dragon, and Lone Leaf didn’t laugh
at it, they agreed with his thought.
 Apes are gifted with an exceptionally strong natural defense,
and are quite strong physically as well, so naturally, dealing
with them wasn’t a very easy task.

Lone Leaf was first to offer a hand: “You can leave one of the
‘transformation’ layer Ape to me, but others are yours.”

Lone Leaf was anxious to increase his strength, so even Blue

Dragon didn’t scramble with him over this one.

Bi Fan wasn’t really worried about things much, but Blue

Dragon spoke up: “In order to sort them out as quickly as
possible, we will still have to find a way to deal with the other
‘transformation’ layer Ape. Brother Wang, would you like to
take it?”
 “Okay.”

Lone Leaf and Wang Zhong were first to attack, and the lead
the two ‘Transformation’ layer Apes away from the rest of the
platoon.

Blue Dragon, and Bi Fan, with their weapon in hand, the

scimitar, and the sword, charged at the remaining group of
Apes.

“That’s one!” Blue Dragon spoke a bit too early, as his scimitar
wasn’t even able to make the Ape bleed.

“Holy shit! They are really strong!”

Bi Fan laughed as he said: “I’ll give it a shot!”

His purple-feathered sword pierced the Ape that stood in front

of him, but was only able to go about three inches into its skin,
before getting stuck.
 “Okay, these things are really strong. This isn’t going to be as
easy as we thought.”

Bi Fan was a little surprised.

“Brother Dragon, maybe you should use a different weapon

against these Apes.”

Blue Dragon shook his head: “No, I’m very accustomed to

using my scimitar. I’ll probably start using a different weapon
later, but at the moment, it will difficult to adjust.”

“Yeah, you have always used that scimitar, but you’re

planning on buying a new weapon later?” Bi Fan asked.

“Naturally, I’m a rich man now.” Blue Dragon laughed.

Even though the Apes were quite strong, Bi Fan and Blue
Dragon weren’t really under much pressure, and were able to
cope up with them quite easily. Their continuous giggling and
chatter, was pissing the Apes off, who continued to roar and
roar, as they wildly charged at the two of them.
 “Let’s get this over with!” Bi Fan said in a loud voice.

Bi Fan cast out the ‘Rainy-fly attack’, which was one of his
best moves, and slashed at the four of Apes that surrounded
him, and covered them in blood, by wounding them in several
places.

Then, Bi Fan used his sword’s tip to pierce into an Ape’s

wound, and stabbed it to death, drawing first blood.

These Apes were awfully strong, defensively; and even Bi Fan

had to struggle to kill just one of them.
 Chapter 96 – The Jungle Python

The skin of the Apes was simply too strong, and Blue Dragon’s
scimitar was plainly ineffective against them, as a result of
which Blue Dragon started using his fists and feet. Such direct
use of his tremendous strength was enough to shatter the
interior of the Apes’ bodies.

The Apes had a very strong natural defense, which was

attributed to their rough skin and thick flesh, but their internal
organs weren’t equally strong.

Once Blue Dragon discovered this fact, he started taking

advantage of it, and started killing the Apes at a pretty fast pace.

Bi Fan continued to use this purple-feathered sword, but was

still able to kill the Apes at a pretty decent rate.

It didn’t take the two of them long to finish off the sixteen of
those Apes which they confronted with.

The flesh and skin of the ‘transformation’ layer Apes, was a

lot tougher than their inferior brethren, owing to which Lone
Leaf, and Wang Zhong, had still found themselves unable to
resolve their respective opponents, until now.

Bi Fan and Blue Dragon didn’t feel the need to help either of
them out, so they quickly started gathering the purple vine.

This vine had been growing for several decades, and they
estimated that the vine was probably sixty seven years old; the
roots of this vine were almost as thick as a bowl.

They were aware that these vines grew at an awfully slow

pace; so much so, that even a decade of growth wouldn’t bring
much change in the vine’s height and the vine would only
sprout a few more branches.

Blue Dragon and Bi Fan, were both busy for a while, as they
continued to collect the immense vine. They decided against
uprooting the vine altogether, as they felt that they shouldn’t
hinder anyone else’s chances of gaining some benefits from this
vine in the future.

Their initial estimate of the vine’s weight, once they were

finished collecting it, was around three hundred pounds.
 Blue Dragon and Bi Fan were aware that Lone Leaf and Wang
Zhong were still engaged in battle, so they started dividing the
vine into four equal portions, one for each one of them.

The Chimera seemed quite disheartened, as recently, he had

gotten even less chances to fight than his usual quota.

However, the Chimera wouldn’t dare to defy Bi Fan’s

command, but would often look at Bi Fan with his pitifully eyes.

Wang Zhong was more powerful, and more experienced,

amongst the two of them, so naturally, he managed to finish his
opponent before Lone Leaf did.

“These ‘transformation’ layer apes are pretty difficult to deal

with. Their flesh seems to be made of iron, and their defense is
simply too tough, but then again, they are good for training.”
Wang Zhong smiled.

Bi Fan pointed at the bodies of some of his kills, as he said:

“The bodies of those Apes belong to you Brother.”

“Thank you for the gift, Brother.” Wang Zhong bluntly

accepted Bi Fan’s gift, and collected the bodies.

The four of them had been working together for so long, that
they weren’t exactly keeping score anymore.

Lone Leaf was still engaged in a very ferocious battle with the
Ape, but still hadn’t been able to kill him off.

However, his momentum had grown stronger, and stronger,

after his recent practice, owing to which, he had, gradually,
been able to suppress the Ape. But still, the Ape’s natural
defense was so rugged, that Lone Leaf had been unable to kill
him off, thus far.

Lone Leaf, however, wasn’t really anxious about it, and was
using the opportunity to get some more practice under his belt.
After all, what would be the point of fighting such a strong
opponent, if he didn’t even get to enhance his skills a little?

As time wore on, the Ape that had been fighting with Lone
Leaf seemed to have expended most of his energy, and was
beginning to slow down.
 “Six Yang Horseshoe! Extermination of the nine heavens!”
Lone Leaf cast out a new variation of the ‘Six Yang Horseshoe’
attack, and numerous attacks befell the Ape’s body.

This new trick brought a wave of heat, which was strong

enough to wither the bushes in his immediate vicinity.

The Ape crashed backwards, and fell to its scar-less death.

Lone Leaf stood over his defeated enemy, looking a bit pale.
He sat down immediately, and started meditating.

The battle with the Ape had been a tough one for Lone Leaf,
and he had only barely been able to win, and that too at cost of
consuming a huge amount of inner energy.

“I never imagined that Brother Lone Leaf had enough energy

left to cast out that kind of a stunt, ah!” Blue Dragon was a little
surprised.

Wang Zhong said: “He should have done that a lot sooner;
things were beginning to get quite tight.”
 Bi Fan, and the other two, also sat down, and started to
meditate, while the Chimera took the charge of watching their
backs.

The three of them ended their practice fairly soon, but Lone
Leaf was still busy restoring his energy, which seemed to have
improved quite a lot.

Lone Leaf stood up, two hours later, after finally finishing his
meditation.

“Ah, now that feels good!” Lone Leaf sighed.

Wang Zhong was a bit surprised: “Oh boy, you’ve already

reached the peak of the ‘transformation’ layer!”

“I don’t think I would have been able to do this without the

help of the Dan pellets.” Lone Leaf smiled.

Wang Zhong said: “I guess being a student of a big school does

have its benefits… they do give you a lot of expensive Dan
pellets to assist with your training.”
 Lone Leaf continued to smile, but didn’t say anything.

Bi Fan handed over Lone Leaf and Wang Zhong’s shares of the
Vine’s collection, and the four of them continued on their way.

The Devil’s Secret Forest was a vast treasure trove, and once
inside, one would need more than just luck to stumble upon
something, like… a discerning vision.

There were probably several other extremely precious herbs

inside this forest, like the purple Vine which the four of them
had just acquired, but these herbs were rarely ever taken by
others, as most people were oddly blind to their value.

Young practitioners generally concentrate on martial

training, and rarely ever have any knowledge of refining
materials, like herbs.

The disciples of big martial arts sects, especially, are made to

focus their attention on training their strength, and are really
given any knowledge on other subjects such as alchemy. These
schools usually wait till their students have first acquired
enough strength, before they diversify their disciple’s horizons
and imparted knowledge of other skills.

Except of course those students, who demonstrate an innate

gift for activities like Alchemy at an early age; these kids are
usually trained in their specific sciences only since an early age.
However, these people rarely ever ventured out into the wild,
and are very highly unlikely to adventure into the Devil’s Abyss.

This was one of the primary reasons, owing to which Bi Fan

and his friends, had been lucky enough to find such a valuable
Panacea.

In the past, Bi Fan had been compelled to learn and study

herbs, but this knowledge of his, was coming in handy at this
time.

They hadn’t ventured very deep into the Forest, when they
ran into the Purple vine, so obviously, they could sense that the
Devil’s Forest probably has quite a few more of such treasures
within its boundary.

Bi Fan’s eyes were full of expectations, and his excitement was

visible in the manner in which he was looking around the
forest.
 As a former medicine orchard farmer, Bi Fan had a gift for
being able to spot precious herbs; so obviously, his excitement
was beyond that of a boy who was looking for magical weapons.

“Brother Bi Fan, how did you know about that?” Lone Leaf
was quite intrigued by Bi Fan’s knowledge.

He wasn’t the only one; even Wang Zhong and Blue Dragon
were marveling at Bi Fan’s versatility.

A person only has a limited amount of energy to expend. So, if

Wang Zhong was interested in martial training, then his
knowledge on other aspects was fairly limited.

Bi Fan on the other hand, since a young age, had been

concentrating on martial training, while developing such a deep
understanding of herbs; a feat, which obviously required a lot of
effort.

Bi Fan replied: “I don’t know much, but I’m slowly learning. I

like alchemy, and some day, if I find the right teacher, I would
like to learn more about the science of alchemy.”
 “Well, I can’t do that. I’m a very lazy person, so I’m just going
to concentrate on martial training.” Wang Zhong spoke up.

Blue Dragon nodded in agreement: “I just like to fight, so I’ll

just redeem these vines for spar (currency).”

“If possible, I too would like to dip my hands in the refining

and alchemy divisions… Ah, that would be pretty useful. But
then again, it takes too much effort.” Although Lone Leaf had
some desire to learn the science, but, he too, preferred martial
training over other sciences.

Bi Fan mulled over their words for a few while, but didn’t give
up on the idea of learning alchemy.

“Jungle Python!” Wang Zhong sucked down a gulp of cold air,

as he cautioned the others.

First, they heard the sounds of rustling; followed by the sight

of trees shaking at a distance.

Wang Zhong hadn’t seen the culprit yet, and was plainly
relying on his vast experience while making the speculation.

After a few moments, the four of them were finally able to see
the giant jungle Python; the long, and thick, jungle python.

This jungle Python was long enough to encircle two people at

the same time, and they hadn’t even seen the entire length of its
body yet.

The Jungle Python saw the four humans, and the Chimera,
and suddenly raised his head, opened his mouth, and a stale
smell filled the air.

“This guy has some serious breath issues.” Lone Leaf

observed, as he covered his nose.

Jungle Pythons are gifted with immense physical strength,

and are far more powerful than ordinary Apes.

The Python that there confronted with, was already at the

peak of the ‘Transformation’ layer, which when coupled with
his brute physical strength, made it effectively as strong as an
‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer enemy. Bi Fan had been
confronted with a Python in his past travels, which is why he
knew this quite well.

Bi Fan and Wang Zhong looked at each other; their body

language carried a trace of fear.

This wasn’t good for them; this jungle python was too strong,
and neither of them wanted to find themselves buried into the
belly of one.

As for the treasure this Python was guarding, well, let’s just
say that the four of them were least bothered to think about it.
 Chapter 97 – The Chimera Notches Another

The Jungle Python, and Bi Fan’s party, were both mutually

aware of the opposition’s threat, and neither side was willing to
act out rashly.

Wang Zhong said in a soft tone: “We will have to act smart;
there are a lot of big trees around here, and if the Python isn’t
very smart, then we may actually have a chance here.”

“We need to find a good spot, and wait for our chance.” Bi Fan
sneaked behind a tree, as he continued to watch the Python’s
movement.

The Chimera seemed quite nervous, since he had met a

natural enemy of his.

Jungle Pythons are large carnivores, and if the Chimera had

bumped into one of these in his earlier days, then he would have
definitely fled.

Now, however, the Chimera had evolved, and his arsenal

contained the additional advantage of a flame attack. So now,
the Chimera had a higher probability of winning against his
nemesis.

The Jungle Pythons have an extremely tough defense, so even

a good sword wouldn’t be enough to injure it easily.

Even Bi Fan and Wang Zhong were feeling the pressure

against this enemy.

“Grr….” The Jungle Python roared deeply, as he released his

terribly oppressive momentum.

The Jungle Python charged through the forest, looking of its

prey, eyeing Bi Fan and his party, including the Chimera, ready
to make a meal out of them.

“A snap of the Fingers!” Bi Fan popped out a few stones in

quick succession, aiming them at the eyes, and the mouth, of
the Python.

Unfortunately, the Jungle Python puffed out some air, and

diverted the direction of Bi Fan’s stone bullets.
 “Damn it!” Bi Fan was extremely surprised.

This Jungle Python was even more powerful than they had
imagined, and the four of them would, at this point, consider
themselves lucky if they somehow managed to kill it.

This Python hadn’t yet entered the ‘Emerging from the

Womb’ layer, or else, their slim chance of defeating him would
have reduced to zero.

Since they still had a small chance, the four of them weren’t
willing to let it go. They weren’t really bothered about killing
the Python, and were more interested in gaining some valuable
experience out of it.

Bi Fan quickly made a mental note of things, as the four of

them charged through the forest, cutting down the distance
between themselves and the Python, as the readied themselves
to attack it.

“Defying Domination!”
 “Rainy-fly Sword!”

“Hegemon Overlord!”

“Six Yang Horseshoe!”

The four of them actually casted out their strongest moves,

simultaneously, in the hope of injuring the Python, but failed to
do him any harm. On the Contrary, they managed to infuriate
him.

The wild Python lashed out with its tail, which hit one of the
trees that was next to them, as they all managed to dodge his
attack, while the tree collapsed to the ground.

The Python’s strength was hard to imagine, and if his attack

had landed on their bodies, then neither of them would have
been able to withstand the brutality of it.

Even though Bi Fan was wearing the soft armor, which he had
purchased from the Ting Feng valley, he too knew that the
attack would have proved out to be too much. Even if his armor
was capable of withstanding the Attack, the sheer shock from
the force of the attack would have jolted his interiors badly; the
shock might actually be strong enough to shatter his interiors
altogether, leading to very painful death.

The four of them made a mental note of the Python’s

strength; they simply couldn’t allow the Python to sweep them.

Bi Fan and his companions were extremely fast, and

exceptionally nimble, and the Python was very highly unlikely
to catch them easily, but then again, he didn’t really seem the
kind to give up very easily.

The Python had found himself a very delicious meal, and

wasn’t ready to let it slip by.

“Grr…” The Python, unexpectedly, ejected some poisonous

smog from its mouth, and the smog rapidly started diffusing in
the air around it.

“Quickly get away! CAUTION, that’s poisonous!” Wang Zhong

warned his friends in a loud voice.

Bi Fan and the others, simply couldn’t neglect the threat, and
quickly fled to a safe distance.

However, before dashing away, Bi Fan quietly released the

Marten out in the open.

The Marten had been staying inside the pet belt, in Bi Fan’s
waist band, for a long time now, and was extremely bored.

The moment it came out, it saw the toxic smog.

The Marten had always liked poisonous substances, as they

were its favorite variation of a meal. He wasn’t about to allow
the smog to go waste, and he opened his mouth, and started
inhaling the toxin in the air.

The Marten inhaled the entire poison, which was infusing

into the air, at a very quick rate, like whale inhaling surface
oxygen, and quickly swallowed the entire poison.

The Marten patted his humane belly, almost as if he was

asking for more; he looked even more adorable than usual.
 If a woman had been present of the scene, than she probably
would have fallen head over heels for the adorable Marten, and
would have most likely chased after it, wooing.

Once the smog dissipated completely, the Python got a

glimpse of the culprit, and snarled furiously.

The Jungle Python turned to the Marten, and opened its jaws.
He started to inhale air, in the hope of sucking the Marten into
its belly.

The Marten was extremely small in size, and was highly

unlikely to be capable of standing up to the Python’s vacuuming
power for long.

The Marten was quick to react, and flashed away from the
Python to a safe distance, while the Python was only able to
suck in a bunch of dried twigs and leaves.

The Marten quickly returned to the safety of Bi Fan’s

shoulders, and creaked, almost as if he was whining and
claiming his credit.
 “You did a great job!” Bi Fan rubbed the Marten’s shaggy
head, as he burst into laughter.

Now that the Jungle Python’s smog was out of the equation,
the four of them were feeling a lot more confident about facing
the Python, and the started moving closer to it, as they prepared
to launch another wave of attacks.

They just wanted to kill the Python now, and didn’t really
care how they accomplished it.

They continued to attack the Python relentlessly, but to no

avail, and failed to inflict any serious injuries to the snake.
However, they did manage to make it even more furious.

The Jungle Python was getting more and more enraged with
every passing minute, and was ceaselessly severing the trees in
his vicinity.

Even two or three trees, simultaneously, were unable to

restrain the Python, as he was able to break them down with
relative ease; his momentum was terrifying, and earth-
shattering.
 Blue Dragon and the others were constantly looking for
opportunities, and were using every last one of them to attack
the Python, but still, to no end.

“First, we need to let the Python calm down a bit.” Bi Fan

said.

Bi Fan wanted to appoint a task to the Chimera, but realized

that the Chimera had actually managed to disappear, and he
wasn’t able to spot it, or trace its footsteps.

Bi Fan decided to not get diverted, and continued to focus his

attention on figuring out a way to take the Python down.

A Jungle Python’s skin is very precious, and can be used to

manufacture armors, which are of even better quality than the
ones that are made from the leather obtained from Ape skin. On
top that, these armors usually have a very cooling effect, but are
still capable of providing excellent resistance to heat, while
having excellent defensive capabilities.

This Python was huge in size, so naturally, the leather refined

from his skin, would be enough to manufacture a good number
of armors.
 The value of these armors was one of primary reason that was
luring Bi Fan, and the others, to take this serpent down.

“Brother Wang, can you think of anything?” Bi Fan asked.

“No. It’s going to be very difficult to cause him any injuries,

unless we can find ourselves a top-grade weapon…” Wang
Zhong shook his head: “Its only weakness is its eyes, but it’s
going to be very difficult to attack them, as he’s on guard
against any attacks on them. So, I’d say that we are going to
have to create an opportunity by force, but it’s not going to be
easy.”

Lone Leaf said: “You guys continue to think of a way, and I’ll
distract it. Anyway, I need to train.”

Lone Leaf didn’t hesitate for a second, like a soldier whose

honor wouldn’t allow him to turn back. He needed to enhance
his strength; he was desperate.

Blue Dragon laughed: “Brother Leaf, I’ll accompany you.”

 Blue Dragon and Lone Leaf were quite smart, and acutely
skilled, and started engaging the serpent in furious battle.

The Jungle Python couldn’t do much, and was only able to use
his power to sweep at the trees.

These towering trees weren’t awfully easy to break down, and

even though the Python was insanely strong, even he couldn’t
do it in instant either.

Blue Dragon and Lone Leaf were using every opportunity they
were presented with, to attack the Python, regardless of
whether they were able to harm the Python or not.

Bi Fan and Wang Zhong continued to discuss theories for

countermeasures, as they knew that they couldn’t carry on like
this for long.

After deliberating for a long time, they were still unable to

come up with a solution, so ultimately Bi Fan decided to use
‘The Immortal Finger’, and its variations, to counter the
Python.
 At that very moment, the Python issued a wild roar, and then
frantically started rolling on the ground, severing several trees
in its path.

Unaware of the reason behind this change in situation, Bi Fan

and Wang Zhong shifted their gaze to the Python, and realized
that the Python’s tail had caught fire.

The initial fire was quite small, but was quickly spreading to
the rest of its body, and was growing in both, intensity and size.

Previously, the Chimera had hidden itself in the woods, and

had used the distraction, which was unwittingly provided by
Blue Dragon and Lone Leaf, to spray some fire onto the Python’s
tail.

The black fire was acutely contagious, whereas the Python

had no means to stop it; and on top that, there was no water in
the vicinity either.

The Jungle Python had absolutely no means to extinguish the

fire, which was quickly spreading. The Python continued to roll
on the ground, as he issued painful shrieks to express his
helplessness, and agony.
 Chapter 98 – Jungle Python Eggs

“That’s just sick! Brother Bi Fan you’re a freak, and that

Chimera is a freak too!” Wang Zhong exclaimed.

“Damn, how does this make me a freak? The Chimera sure is

one…” Bi Fan was extremely gloomy all of a sudden.

Wang Zhong smiled: “This Chimera is too strong, it’s

practically a freak. And since you managed to tame it, you’re a
freak too.”

“…”

Bi Fan really didn’t have a come-back.

“Oh man, the Jungle Python’s skin is definitely gone now, and
fire will take its flesh too. I don’t think its blood will be able to
withstand that combustion either.” Bi Fan sighed as he looked
at the fire-flooded body of the serpent.

The Jungle Python continued to shriek for a while, and then

eventually silenced to its death. Its body was soon reduced to
ashes, and a sparkling nucleus fell to the ground.

“Ah! The Jungle Python gave out a nucleus!” Bi Fan and the
others were extremely, and pleasantly, surprised.

The Chimera, suddenly, scuttled out of the woods, and ran out
towards the Nucleus.

“Chimera, don’t take the Nucleus!” Bi Fan said in a loud voice.

“Gulp.” The Chimera quickly gobbled up the nucleus, and

immediately fell into a deep sleep to refine the Nucleus.

“Brothers, the Chimera acted very greedily. I’ll try to come up

with some way to compensate you all.” Bi Fan smiled
apologetically.

Lone Leaf said: “Brother Bi Fan, you’re too polite. There’s no

need to apologize, or compensate us in any way. The kill belongs
to the Chimera, so if he took the Nucleus, then I consider it
justified. We may not have been able to kill the Jungle Python
on our own. However, the Jungle Python was probably
guarding a very precious Panacea, so if you give us a share of
that reserve, then I would consider myself very grateful.”

“Yeah, I agree with him.” Blue Dragon laughed in agreement.

Wang Zhong didn’t say anything on the subject. Anyway, he

was Bi Fan’s subordinate.

“Well, then let’s go and see what the Jungle Python was
protecting.” Bi Fan quickly incorporated the sleeping Chimera
into his pet belt, and the started walking in the direction where
the Chimera had been hiding.

They were keenly looking around as they made their way

forward, since they didn’t want to miss out anything valuable.

But they were unable to locate any precious herbs; all they
found was a low-grade herb, which was as good as useless in
terms of market worth.

They continued to follow the trail which was left behind by

the Python’s body, and soon found themselves standing in front
of a mountain.
 The mountain was almost three hundred meters in height,
and was covered with a vast selection of trees.

After careful observation, the four of them managed to

discover an immense, and deep, cave, which they suspected was
probably the deceased Jungle Python’s lair.

“Let’s go in and check this out. Everyone must remain at

guard.” Wang Zhong cautioned.

Wang Zhong took the lead, as he was the most experienced

member in their team.

The interiors of the cave were very dark, but that wasn’t
about to effect Bi Fan, and his team, very gravely, as Bi Fan was
gifted with a night vision.

The texture of the cave’s floor, and walls, was extremely

smooth, which was probably as such due to repeated friction
with the serpent’s body.
 The four of them, carefully, and slowly, walked through the
cave; after a long while, the finally managed to reach the end of
the cavern.

The deepest part of the cavern was an open space, which had
probably served as the Serpent’s residence. There was no roof in
this part of the cave, and the sunlight was brightly illuminating
the cave, creating a panoramic view.

“Snake eggs!” Blue Dragon cried out in excitement.

The rest of them followed Blue Dragon’s gaze to the corner of

the opening, where six, basketball sized, eggs lay, glistening in a
brilliant white light.

Wang Zhong exclaimed: “Looks like we hit a jackpot! But we

need to make sure that these eggs are able to hatch, since baby
Jungle Python can prove out to be very useful if tamed
properly.”

“If that’s the case, then let’s divide them.” Bi Fan laughed.

Wang Zhong said: “First we need to see if these eggs are alive;
dead eggs are useless.”

He personally walked up to the eggs, and inspected them one

by one, after which he spoke: “All the eggs are alive, but how do
we divide them up?”

“I only want one.” Lone Leaf was prompt: “After I’m able to
tame it, I will no longer need to envy Brother Bi Fan’s
Chimera.”

Blue Dragon took one for himself as well, leaving behind four
eggs.

“I’ve already got a Chimera. I don’t think I’ll be able to pet a

Jungle Python.” Bi Fan reasoned.

Lone Leaf looked at him and said: “Brother Bi Fan, you take
the rest, since we can’t leave them behind. We’ll figure the rest
out later.”

“Brother Wang, you must take one egg for yourself.” Bi Fan
said: “As for the remaining three, I guess I can take them for the
time-being. In the future, if we all have any congenial friends,
then we can offer these eggs to them as gifts, as we can’t afford
to sell them in the open market. If we do so, they might fall into
the hands of an enemy, and we might have to deal with a major
headache later on.”

Jungle Pythons have a huge amount of room for evolution,

and can even turn into a variation of Dragons. And if they are
able to evolve into a Dragon, then their progress becomes even
faster.

Everyone agreed with Bi Fan’s decision, as they were all

reluctant to exchange these eggs for money.

Bi Fan carefully took the remaining three eggs, and put them
into a corner of his pet belt.

Yin Yang pouches aren’t meant for living organisms, so

naturally, he’d have to put them into his pet belt.

Bi Fan wasn’t sure if the Tian Yuan ring was capable of

accommodating living beings inside it safely, but he wasn’t
going to experiment with these eggs.
 Soon after, the four of them discovered a small parchment of
Dragon Tongue grass, which is also considered a top-level
Panacea, but unlike the Purple Vine, the amount of this herb
was incomparably lesser.

The four of the divided the grass equally, and were now in
possession of thirteen strands each, which was a pretty decent
reward in its own merit.

It appeared as if this cave had been plundered several times in

the past, owing to which they were unable to find any other
valuables.

The four of exited the cave in a very excited frame of mind.

“Some day in the future, when we have a Jungle Python as a

pet, we’d probably be considered very powerful men!” Lone
Leaf laughed.

Blue Dragon said: “Well, my goal in to evolve this Python into

a Dragon; A real Dragon.”

Such pets, if trained properly, can turn into very powerful

beasts after evolution.

The Chimer, in the past had consumed a nucleus, after which

his power had increased manifold.

Now that the Chimera had swallowed a Jungle Python’s

nucleus, and has fallen into a deep sleep to digest the Nucleus’s
energy, it was quite difficult to assess the exact range of his new
abilities upon his emergence from the hibernation.

Bi Fan was the Chimera’s master; so naturally, he’d always

want the Chimera to grow in strength.

Everyone continued to talk and laugh along the way, as they

continued to discuss matters involving evolution of beastly pets.

“For such beastly pets, swallowing a Nucleus is the fastest

method of approaching evolution stages.” Bi Fan shared:
“Afterwards, when we have a large amount of money, we can
always buy more Nuclei, which can help us evolve our pets
faster.”

“Nuclei are very hard to come by in the open market. We’d

have to obtain some ourselves.” Lone Leaf replied.

Wang Zhong said: “Until our pets have grown up, we must
find good pet belts for their safekeeping. If we let our pets out in
the open, then they might end up dying prematurely.”

Everyone agreed with Wang Zhong’s words. In this world,

very few men were able to obtain such beastly pets, and if they
ended up attracting jealous attention of others, owing to their
pets, then such men may cause their pets harm.

There are two ways in which someone can obtain such a pet:
one, like Bi Fan. Subdue an adult beast. But since adult beasts
always yearn for freedom, they are very highly unlikely to allow
themselves to be subjected to a human’s will. Even people as
strong as the ‘Magical powers’ layer are often unable to obtain
pets using this method.

The second way is to tame a cub; wait till the Beast is born,
and start taming it as soon as possible.

But this approach requires a lot of luck, since younglings of

beasts are usually very hard to come by.
 Bi Fan, and his friends, had suddenly managed to procure six
Jungle Python eggs, which was nothing short of a miracle.

Evolution of beasts gradually increases their strength, and in

time they can evolve into real monsters.

Even the weakest of such monsters are usually comparable to

an ‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer human, and are often quite
intelligent.

Obviously, obtaining a monster grade beast, directly, is

exceptionally difficult.

Bi Fan had somehow managed to acquire a fully grown

Chimera at such a young age; he would definitely be considered
very luck in the eyes of his contemporaries.

Bi Fan usually kept the Chimera inside the pet belt, or in

general, out of public sight, which most people would deem
‘wise’.

“What if I could get an actual piece of a Dragon Nucleus, do

you think the Jungle Python would evolve into a Dragon then?”
Blue Dragon had already started fantasizing.

Wang Zhong started laughing: “I won’t comment on

obtaining a Dragon’s Nucleus, but even if you managed to get
one, I doubt if a Jungle Python will be able to assimilate its
energy. You’d probably end up kill your pet.”

“Ha Ha…” Bi Fan and Lone Leaf started laughing in

agreement.
 Chapter 99 – Zheng Qi’s Li Xuan Feng

“We’ve got company, everyone, be careful.” Wang Zhong

warned.

Soon, the four of them came face to face with another team.
This other team also consisted of four people; two males and
two females, all of whom were inside the ‘Transformation’
layer.

Out of the two women, one was quite tall, had a very slender
and elegant body. Her refined features would probably earn her
the tag of a ‘stunning beauty’.

However, this woman was, at this moment, wearing a very

cold look on her face, as she probably didn’t like being around
strangers.

The other woman’s long, jet-black hair, were dangling down

from her shoulders to her back in a very glossy fashion. She had
an oval face, which was studded with two big and round eyes,
which gleamed in a ray of intellect. Her nose was quite small
and delicate, while her lips were a shade of cherry-red, which
looked juicy enough for any man to start drooling at their
thought. Her body was quite exquisite as well, while her satiny
skin looked like it was made of jade.

These women seemed quite talkative, as they had been

hearing their chatter and laughter from a distance while they
were approaching.

The two men had a very bold look on their faces, which were
quite handsome in their make, while their postures were smart
and refined.

Now that these two teams were face-to-face with each other,
they were both on alert.

Human altercations were a common thing inside the Devil’s

Abyss, so it was important to be on guard at all times in the
presence of unknown company.

“The other team belongs to the Zheng Qi Sect!” Lone Leaf was
a bit surprised.

Blue Dragon asked: “You know them, ah?”

 “No, but they are wearing Zheng Qi’s symbol, the flaming
phoenix.” Lone Leaf explained.

“Oh, so that’s what that symbol means!”

The leader of the other team saw Lone Leaf and Blue Dragon
whisper amongst themselves, and thought that they might be
plotting against them, owing to which he started getting a little
tense.

“I’m Li Xuan Feng from the Zheng Qi Sect, may ask for your
introduction?” He, nevertheless, restrained his anger, and
introduced himself in a polite manner.

Lone Leaf was even more surprised now, since he hadn’t

expected the other side to introduce themselves first.

Li Xuan Feng was one of Zheng Qi faction’s most well-known

youngsters. Even though he wasn’t as well-known as Yuan Shi’s
Yuan Feng, but he too was considered as one of the leading
figures of their generation.
 Lone Leaf politely introduced himself: “I’m Bei Ming faction’s
Lone Leaf.”

Since their team had been backing each other for a while,
Lone Leaf wasn’t afraid of the other side. Ever since he had
started following Bi Fan, he had started embodying himself with
confidence.

“Wang Zhong, no particular sect.” Wang Zhong also

introduced himself, in a rather matter-of-fact tone.

“Oh? The Wang Zhong who goes around challenging people?”

Li Xuan Feng had obviously heard of Wang Zhong’s name
before.

“Yes, the very same.” Wang Zhong’s tone carried no trace of

arrogance, and on the contrary, was quite calm.

Before entering the Devil’s Abyss, Lone Leaf was only into the
‘Enormous strength’ layer, therefore, he really hadn’t made any
name for himself yet, which is why Li Xuan Feng hadn’t heard
of him.
 On the other hand, Wang Zhong had a relatively famed name,
and a lot of disciples, even in the bigger factions, knew about
him.

“Bi Fan.” Bi Fan introduced himself humbly.

“Blue Dragon.”

Blue Dragon and Bi Fan hadn’t yet reached the

‘transformation’ layer, so Li Xuan Feng didn’t really pay much
attention to them.

“These guys actually have a Jiu Yu Da Sect disciple in their

ranks, so maybe we should let them go.” Li Xuan Feng said in a
low voice.

“Or, we could just kill them Brother. As long as we don’t leave

any witness alive, no one will find out.” The other man said; his
name was Tian Long Yu.

Li Xuan Feng’s team was no stranger to robbery, but they

always targeted students who were not a part of the Jiu Yu Da
Sect Schools.
 Li Xuan Feng asked: “Sister Yan Ren, sister Ling Long, what’s
your take on them?”

“Brother, they have a Jiu Yu Da Sect disciple, and Wang

Zhong isn’t going to be easy to handle either. Killing them all
won’t be very easy, so I think that we should let them go, as
they may cause unnecessary trouble later on.” Yan Ren said in a
cold undertone.

Li Xuan Feng’s brows creased as he considered Yan Ren’s

words.

Ling Long smiled, but didn’t register her opinion.

Tian Long Yu turned to his leader and said: “Brother Xuan

Feng, you make the decision.”

“Well, we will give these guys a pass.” Li Xuan Feng had

finally made up his mind.

Although he wasn’t happy about it, he was forced to resist the

temptation of starting a fight.

Wang Zhong’s reputation had gotten to him, and Li Xuan

Feng was afraid that they may not be able to kill him off.

Bi Fan and his companions weren’t thinking about attacking

them at his moment, but weren’t afraid of them either. If the
other team decided to go to war with them, then they were
ready to fight back.

“I don’t think they will attack us.” Wang Zhong was observing
their gestures, and had already understood that the other side
had abandoned the idea of a battle.

Li Xuan Feng said: “Gentlemen, it’s time for us to take our

leave now. Goodbye.”

Li Xuan Feng’s team turned around, and sped away towards

the deeper parts of the Devil’s Forest.

Bi Fan forced a smile: “They didn’t engage us this time, but we

might bump into them again.”
 The Chimera was asleep. If they had attacked the other team
in his absence, then they may not have been able to kill them
all.

They may not have been successful in killing the other side,
and on top of that, they all belonged to a major martial arts sect,
so naturally, attacking them first was out of question.

Bi Fan was fairly strong now, but he still didn’t want to get
involved in any unnecessary scruples.

As the other side vanished into the forest, Lone Leaf breathed
a sigh of relief, and color return to sweat studded cheeks.

“Fortunately, they didn’t pick a fight with us, otherwise, we

could have had a lot of trouble later on. Li Xuan Feng is
considered a very important man in the Zheng Qi Sect. If we
had gotten in a fight, and even one of them had escaped, then
we would have faced a huge amount problem later. Li Xuan
Feng is very well backed, even more so than Gu Feng and Mo
Li.” Lone Leaf exhaled, and was finally looking a bit relaxed.

Wang Zhong said: “If the Chimera hadn’t fallen into a

slumber, then I would have fancied the thought of attacking
them. Those four were quite strong, so naturally, they would be
carrying a fair amount of valuables. Plus, these people have
definitely been robbing other people, so they were probably
laden with precious items, and we could have made an absolute
fortune here.”

Wang Zhong was trying to assess their wealth, even though he

didn’t know them that well.

Bi Fan and his friends continued to proceed through the

forest, but they changed their direction since they wanted to
avoid running into that team again.

The Devil’s Secret forest was a vast territory, with no shortage

of treasures, and competing with others was quite unnecessary.

They, at least temporarily, didn’t want any rivalry with the

Zheng Qi Team, as the Chimera was fast asleep.

This was a small interlude, and no one was thinking about it

seriously. They continued to look around for precious herbs,
and carried on hunting the Devil’s Race beasts.
 The dense vegetation of the Devil’s Secret Forest was studded
with a variety of herbs, but most of these herbs were quite
common in the outside world as well, which is why Bi Fan was
acting a little lazy, as he didn’t unearth many.

Whenever they encountered a powerful beast of the Devil’s

Race, Blue Dragon and Lone Leaf would fight the beasts to train.
They were careful while killing these beasts, as they didn’t want
to spoil the market value of their carcasses.

Ever after acquiring the Jungle Python eggs, the four of them
were suddenly very keen on acquiring a nucleus.

After killing the beasts, the four of them would always divide
the kills, and then search the carcasses of their respective kills,
in the hope of obtaining a nucleus.

Unfortunately, they hadn’t had any luck in that department

so far, as they hadn’t been able to obtain a nucleus until now.

However, they had managed to obtain a decent number of

precious herbs, and their faces were beaming with smiles.
 “Following Brother Bi Fan has been such a great experience.
I’ve managed to procure so many treasures, so many herbs, and
even a Beast pet.” Lone Leaf smiled, as he continued: “Now, all I
need is a pretty girl. That’d be really cool.”

Blue Dragon smiled: “Those two girls from the Zheng Qi

faction were quite beautiful, how were you able to keep your
hands of them, Brother?”

“Brother Dragon, you’re a naughty one.” Lone Leaf said:

“Those girls are too strong; I won’t be able to impress them.”

Blue Dragon encouraged him: “You’ll be entering into the

‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer soon Brother, you still believe
that you can’t win them over?”

“Well, Jiu Yu Da Sect women, especially the pretty ones, have

no shortage of strong suitors. Most of these strong men are
often backed very heavily by their factions. I really don’t want
to go around stirring trouble, and offending men I can’t match
up to.” Lone Leaf shook his head as he explained.

Blue Dragon was quite excited now: “Brother Lone Leaf, tell
us, which of the Jiu Yu Da Sect schools has the best beauties.”
 Bi Fan and Wang Zhong also turned their ears towards their
conversation, and start listening attentively.

Lone Leaf looked rather pleased with himself, as he cleared his

throat, and then started recounting his sightings.
 Chapter 100 – A Group Of Devils

“The Yuan Shi Sect’s Blue Phoenix is number one on my list.

She’s mysterious and beautiful, and very few men have seen her
up close.”

“Xuannv Palace’s Yan Yu Si is ranked second in list. It is

rumored that she comes from a very small place. I had never
expected the smaller towns to be capable of bringing up such
beauties.”

The others listened in amazement as Lone Leaf described the

women.

Bi Fan was actually quite surprised, as he had never imagined

that Yan Yu Si would be so highly ranked in terms of
desirability.

Yan Yu Si was a famed name in the Jiu Yu City, so naturally,

Blue Dragon had heard of her, who too, like Bi Fan was quite
surprised, and so he said: “Brother Bi Fan, I never expected your
fellow practitioner to be ranked so highly in the list of attractive
women. Your podium is close to the water, Brother: you’re a
lucky man.”
 Blue Dragon was looking at Bi Fan with a jealous look on his
face.

“Brother Dragon, I didn’t get that?” Lone Leaf was a bit

confused.

Blue Dragon explained: “Yan Yu Si comes from the area

around the Jiu Yu City. Brother Bi Fan has the honor of being in
the same Sect, which she originally hails from.”

“No way! Brother Bi Fan, you’re a lucky man. You must take
advantage of your proximity, ah!” Lone Leaf exclaimed.

Bi Fan remained silent. He was trying to imagine Blue Dragon

and Lone Leaf reaction if they found out that he lives close to
her at the Yunufeng peak.

Blue Dragon continued: “Brother Bi Fan, you haven’t met her

yet, have you? You must find an opportunity, and take me to
Quinyang; I really want to see what she looks like. Deal ah?”
 “Yan Yu Si is the daughter of the head of the region, but she’s
off to the Xuannv palace for most of the year, so it’s kind of hard
to meet her.” Bi Fan didn’t tell his friends that he actually knew
Yan Yu Si, although he didn’t exactly mean to deceive his
companions either.

Blue Dragon and Lone Leaf were under the impression that he
had never met her. So he answered their questions is a manner
which coincided with their presumptions.

“Man, I’m willing to survive anything, just to get a look at a

beauty like her.” Lone Leaf sighed.

Bi Fan giggled, but didn’t comment further on the subject. He

was considering himself quite lucky that Yan Yu Si actually
knew his name, and was beginning to thank his forefathers for
his fortunes.

Subsequently, Lone Leaf described some of the other top-

ranked women, and the men continued to click their tongues in
amazement, again and again.

The talk of women always gets a man’s spirits up.

 They were ranking these women, not only in terms of beauty,
but also in terms of their talents, skills, strength, and reputation
amongst peers. Women with cute features, and no brains, didn’t
make it to their list.

The four of them continued to talk about women on the way,

and time passed a lot quicker than usual.

Whenever they encountered a beast of the Devil’s Race, Blue

Dragon and Lone Leaf would get to work. Bi Fan and Wang
Zhong on the other hand, only took a very few opportunities;
not because they weren’t interested, but simply because Blue
Dragon and Lone Leaf were being so enthusiastic, that they two
of them decided that it’s better to stay out of it.

The Secret forest of the Devil, mostly inhabited ‘Enormous

Strength’ and ‘Spiritual intelligence’ layer beasts, while they
would occasionally bump into ‘transformation’ layer beasts as
well.

Compared to the rest of the Devil’s Abyss, the forest was

considerably more dangerous. So much so, that if someone ran
out of luck, then, they might even end up bumping into a large
group of ‘transformation’ layered beasts.
 Once, Bi Fan, and his companions, encountered a group of
about a dozen or so beasts, all of whom were into the
‘transformation’ layer. They didn’t hesitate for even a moment,
as they scuttled for their lives.

So many powerful beasts grouping together obviously meant

that they were guarding an extremely precious herb, but the
only way of finding out the truth was to take them on, which, to
the four of them, was as good as courting death.

“Run ah!” Suddenly, the four of them heard screams coming

from some distance ahead of them. More screams followed, all
from the same direction.

Wang Zhong’s face suddenly became pale: “It takes courage to

enter into the Secret forest of the Devil, and only the most
powerful youngsters of our generation dare to venture in here.
The people up ahead, are obviously facing some very powerful
beasts…”

Wang Zhong’s face was reflecting a hint of urgency, and it

looked as he was asking for a decision to be made immediately,
whether to proceed or withdraw?
 Bi Fan thought for second, and then said: “Let’s hide, and
inspect the circumstances.”

“And, if that flock of the Devil’s Race is too strong, then we do

not come out.” Wang Zhong finished his sentence.

The four of them had barely hidden themselves, when they

saw a man fleeing in disarray. He was wearing a horrific
expression on his face, which ignited a terrifying thought about
the terrors that he must have faced.

Moments later, a large black cloud flew past them, and it

seemed to be chasing after the man.

Unexpectedly, it turned out that the Devil’s Race up ahead,

comprised of a huge group of Devils; so obviously, it was not
very surprising that people were trying to escape.

The four of them stayed very still, but it appeared as if the

dark clouds, comprising of the Devils, had managed to catch up
with their preys, and had already slain them.

“That was a lot of Devils!” Wang Zhong was quite surprised.

 Bi Fan said: “Let’s go and take a look at the bodies. There’s no
point in letting anything precious go to waste.”

Bi Fan cautioned everyone, and the four of them proceeded

forward.

Moments later, the four of them saw four bodies lying on the
ground. The faces of these bodies were completely distorted,
owing to illusions which had deluded them to their deaths.

“Let’s take one body each, and let the rest depend on our
luck…” Wang Zhong suggested.

Blue Dragon, Lone Leaf, and Bi Fan agreed. Their harvest

from this trip had already exceeded the wildest of their
imaginations. They weren’t about to act stingy now.

Bi Fan quickly searched the body which was assigned to him,

and cleared the deceased of his mortal possessions. He received
eighteen Yin Yang pouches, but he was too lazy to check their
actual contents.
 So many devils in one area, naturally, they must be protecting
something very valuable. Bi Fan started to search his immediate
vicinity.

However, he couldn’t find anything, since he had no idea

which direction he was supposed to look in.

Wang Zhong said: “Let’s get out of here. The devils who killed
these men will surely return soon. I don’t think we will be able
to deal with so many of them…”

“Yes, let’s quickly leave this place.” Lone Lead nodded in

agreement.

At this point, they weren’t really inclined on using the devils

for sharpening their minds, and were more worried about their
fates, if they ran into them.

Bi Fan was equipped with a secret weapon, the Yin Yang

Lotus, but he really didn’t want to expose his secret. So he
agreed, and decided to leave the place for the time-being.

“I can always come back later.” Bi Fan thought to himself.

 The four of them left in a hurry, but were unable to get very
far, and soon found the sun above their heads blocked out by a
large black cloud.

“It’s over. We are going down the gutter this time.” Wang
Zhong’s face reflected his despair.

Soon enough, that large gas cloud dispersed into four

divisions, and enclosed one man, each, in their enclosures.

“Yin Yang Lotus, I’ll be very grateful if you help out here.” Bi
Fan started praying within his heart.

The Yin Yang Lotus wasn’t about to disappoint Bi Fan in this

moment of need, and a huge number of black silk threads
emerged from his body. The black silk threads quickly started
devouring the devils in Bi Fan’s partition, while some of them
drifted away to absorb the devils which were engaging his
companions.

The Black Silk Threads seemed quite intelligent, and had even
gone to the other separations, in order to protect Wang Zhong,
Blue Dragon and Lone Leaf.

Lone Leaf, Blue Dragon and Wang Zhong, were so caught in

the illusions that they were very highly unlikely to notice, that
the Black Silk Threads were assisting them by devouring the
devils.

Otherwise, the three of them would simply not be able to

withstand the illusions that these devils were manufacturing,
and were sure to be deluded to their deaths soon.

Even though Bi Fan was being protected very fiercely by the

Yin Yang Lotus, which was busy devouring the majority of the
devils which were attacking him, he too, was barely able to cope
up the with illusions that he was visualizing, which in a way,
was good for him, as he was getting a chance to train in a
protected environment.

As for the Black Silk threads, they were having a good time
devouring all the devils in the vicinity.

But even then, the Black Silk Threads seemed so intelligent,

that they were actually allowing the four of them to train, while
they protected them from the most adverse effects of the
illusions.

There were a lot of devils in this flock, and the Black Silk
Threads were basically spoilt for options in the buffet which
was laid out for them.
 Chapter 101 – Spirit Poison Grass

The Black Silk Threads continued to expand in the air above,

as they engulfed the devils in the vicinity, and then they
returned to Bi Fan’s body.

Once they returned to the Yin Yang Lotus, the Lotus’ seeds
started extracting the energy from their kills. Two more seeds
sprouted in the Lotus’ core, and quickly grew big enough to be
mistaken for peanuts.

But even then, these two new seeds weren’t as mature, as the
two seeds which had sprouted earlier at the time of the Anomaly
in the Devil’s Territory, which were now almost the size of
man’s thumb.

Quite a few of the devils were still alive, and were still engaged
in combat with Bi Fan’s party, but the Black Silk Threads didn’t
vanquish them just yet, probably to allow the four of them to
train a bit.

Fortunately, the Black Silk Threads had managed to make

their presence unknown to them, since they had only wiped off
the devils on the outer periphery, owing to which the remaining
devils didn’t flee.

Two hours passed in a flash, and the Black Silk Threads swung
into action once again, devouring the remaining devils in the
vicinity.

Once they returned to Bi Fan’s body, the Yin Yang Lotus’s

seeds saw further maturity, but a relatively marginal one.

It was a while before the four of them returned to their senses,

with Lone Leaf being the last to retune his mind.

“We’re all okay! And my mental state is even better than it

was before! If I take the Ogre flower petals now, I’ll surely be
able to make the breakthrough with ease.” Lone Leaf was
pleasantly surprised to be alive.

Wang Zhong raised his doubts: “It’s really strange. Every time
we encounter devils, we are able to outlast them. On top of that,
we don’t even kill them, they just leave us be. Why are the
devils being so kind to us?”

“Once we are trapped in their illusions, there is no way of

identifying what really goes on in reality, but as long as
everyone is alright, I’d just say that I’m fine with it.” Bi Fan
said.

Blue Dragon agreed with Bi Fan: “Brother Bi Fan is right, why

think so much about the devils. And now that they seem to have
left us alone, we should expand the range of our search, and try
to find the Panacea that they might have been guarding…”

The four of them separated from each other, and got to work.

Bi Fan had taught them some basic methods of identifying

herbs, since he figured that it’s better if everyone was capable of
looking for valuable items, than just him alone.

But they were completely unaware of the location of the herb,

so they continued to search around casually, and then gradually
expanded the reach of their search.

They had been searching for a long time, but hadn’t been
unable to locate anything of value, which is when Bi Fan
suddenly thought of the Marten.
 The Marten had a special love for herbs, and was quite good at
locating them. So if there was anything precious in the vicinity,
then he would surely be able to locate it.

Bi Fan called the three of his friends up, and introduced them
to the Marten.

“Wow, that’s an actual Marten! Brother Bi Fan, that’s so

amazing! How did you manage to acquire such an amazing pet,
and why didn’t you tell us earlier?” Lone Leaf was amazed.

Bi Fan realized that it must have been a pretty huge shock for
his friend, and was feeling a bit numb from his reaction.

This was the first time that even Wang Zhong had seen the
Marten, so naturally, even he was quite overjoyed, and simply
couldn’t wait to hold the Marten in his hands.

Unfortunately, the Marten paid no attention to his desires,

and simply ignored his advances.

The Marten seemed quite disheartened, which was obvious

from the unhappy look he was wearing on his face.
 Bi Fan promptly took out an herb, smiled and said: “Greedy, it
looks quite delicious.”

The Marten saw the herbs, and his mood transformed in an

instant. He quickly grabbed the herb, and started gobbling it up.

Bi Fan gave the Marten three more herbs in quick succession:

“Come on, keep eating, you’ve got work to do.”

“This is such a pretty Marten; he’ll be an absolute killer with

the ladies.” Lone Leaf envied: “Brother Bi Fan, can I please have
him?”

“Well, you’ll have to talk to him about it.” Bi Fan laughed.

Lone Leaf decided to try and tempt the Marten: “Marten, if

you follow me, I’ll give you your favorite meal every day. Your
life will be like a fairy-tale.”

The Marten stared blankly at Lone Leaf, blinked a few times,

and shook his head in confusion.
 Blue Dragon had met the Marten a long time ago, during their
venture with Jing Feng, so he was obviously aware of the
Marten’s loyalty. He knew that tempting the little guy wasn’t
going to work out, so naturally, he couldn’t help laughing as he
watched Lone Leaf persuade the Marten.

“Brother Dragon, why are you laughing, don’t you want a

Marten to pick up all the pretty girls?” Lone Leaf asked in a
gloomy tone.

Blue Dragon continued to smile: “Been there, done that.

Persuading him isn’t going to work; he only follows Brother Bi
Fan. You really won’t be able to tempt him.”

“Damn it Brother, you could have just said that before. I

wasted so much time on this.” Lone Leaf was a little short on
breath after all the jumping around.

Blue Dragon replied: “If you hadn’t tried it personally, would

you have believed me?”

“No.” Lone Leaf knew that he wouldn’t have.

 As the Marten finished his meal, Bi Fan said: “Alright Greedy,
get to work.”

“Brother Bi Fan, that’s so inhuman of you. Marten, if you

follow me, I’ll never boss you around.” Lone Leaf, apparently,
still hadn’t given up.

The Marten ‘creaked’ in excitement, not because of Lone

Leaf’s words, but because he was being asked to search for more
Panaceas.

The Marten was extremely fond of Panacea, and was very

sensitive to their presence.

The Marten little nose sniffed around for a while, as he

wandered around in circles. A short while later, it appeared as if
he had already guessed the direction.

The Marten galloped on all cylinders, and four of them

followed after him.

As they made their way through the woods, the Marten led
them to a dead tree in the forest, before he stopped.

This tree was so huge in size, that it would take almost ten
men to encircle its bark completely. The tree had already dried
out, and even had huge cavity in its core.

From within the cavity, a few devils flew out to confront the
four of them.

However, these devils were barely a handful in number, and

were quite weak in strength. They didn’t pose even the slightest
of threats to the four of them, as they quickly wiped them out.

“Creak….” The Marten was standing against the tree, and was
pointing at the hole in its trunk.

“Oh no, it seems that we will need to go inside the hole in that
tree.” Bi Fan seemed a little disheartened.

Wang Zhong said: “As long as there is something good down

there, I really don’t mind taking the risk.”
 “Whatever is down there, is powerful enough to attract so
many devils; not the most reliable way to estimate its value…”
Blue Dragon reasoned: “But it’s worth the risk.”

Even Blue Dragon was a bit itchy, not because he was

interested herbs, but because he simply wanted to exchange
them for a large amount of money.

“Good! Then we will all go in together, but since we don’t

know what’s down there, we will need to be extra cautious.” Bi
Fan said.

They entered into the tree’s hole, and even though the four of
them entered at the same time, the space didn’t seem crowded
at all.

They could see from within the space they were in, that there
was a channel which was slanting downwards into the ground.

Bi Fan and his companions proceeded downwards through the

corridor, with the Marten leading the way all along.

The Marten was very skillful and agile, so Bi Fan was assured
that he’d be able to dodge any uncertain dangers they might
face along the way.

Soon, they had managed to reach the end of the tree’s limit,
but the channel hadn’t ended yet, and seemed to lead to a,
rather deep, underground cave.

The four of them were a bit wary of entering the cave since an
odd devil, or two, kept flying out of the cave, which is why they
were convinced that the cave would eventually lead to the
devils’ nest.

“There’s certainly a Panacea down there, but I have no idea

what kind of Panacea can grow even underground.” Lone Leaf
said.

Blue Dragon laughed: “Let’s keep going, there’s a Panacea on

the line here.”

After a while, they eventually reached the end of the cavern

and found themselves standing inside a rather spacious hall.
This hall was home to a lot of devils, but the four of them
finished the job quite quickly.
 “Wow, that’s a lot of herbs!” Blue Dragon cried out, as he ran
past everyone. He quickly plucked some of the herbs, and
started identifying their grade using the methods that Bi Fan
had taught him.

Bi Fan exclaimed: “That’s poisonous, be careful.”

“What!” Blue Dragon was shocked for a second, and he

quickly receded away from the spot: “It’s a toxic herb?”

He looked at the large patch of the herbs with a depressed look

on his face, but didn’t dare to touch any again.

The Marten didn’t really care much; he had already pulled out
a few of them, and was already stuffing them in his mouth.

Bi Fan said: “That’s spirit poison grass. It’s a very powerful

and poisonous herb. Its direct effect on a human can cause a
very severe poisoning, which can be very difficult to cure.”

Blue Dragon was even more shocked now: “Oh, lucky me, I
didn’t get any on me.”
 “Spirit Poison grass is not poisonous in its raw state; the
poison is extracted from it, and then synthesized. There’s no
need to be that scared of it.” Bi Fan laughed.

“Holy grandmother, Brother Bi Fan. You really scared me

there.” Blue Dragon roared.

Wang Zhong laughed: “Who told you go running around like a

monkey.”

“That’s right. Let’s hope this one remains in your memory for
a while, so you don’t make any rash decisions in the future.”
Lone Leaf agreed.

Blue Dragon said: “I was almost scared to death. Don’t do that

again.”
 Chapter 102 – Under The Pool

Spirit Poison Grass can cause extreme poisoning, and even Bi

Fan wasn’t clear on how the poison is extracted from the grass.

Blue Dragon and the others really didn’t want to get their
hands dirty with such an herb, and eventually, Blue Dragon,
Lone Leaf, and Wang Zhong, decided that they didn’t want any.
They figured that it’s better to let Bi Fan have it all, and in
exchange Bi Fan can either give them the potion once it is
refined, or something else, to make even.

Bi Fan, of course, was very happy with their decision, as it

would allow him a greater inventory to study the science of
alchemy in the future.

On top of that, the spirit poison grass also makes for an

excellent ration for the Marten, since the Marten is
exceptionally fond of herbs, especially the poisonous ones.

Bi Fan carefully collected the entire patch of spirit poison

grass, and cautiously put them into his Yin Yang pouch.
 This time, however, Bi Fan even plucked the roots of the
grass, as he didn’t want any enemies to stumble upon them in
the future.

After collecting the entire patch of the spirit poison grass, the
four of them searched the remaining of the hall, but eventually
made their way out of the hollow, unable to find anything else
of value.

“Well, that may not have been the best of excavations, as we

didn’t get anything of much value, but even then, I’d say that
we are quite lucky to be alive…” Wang Zhong said: “things
could have gone the other way easily; most people aren’t as
fortunate as us.”

Even though they were away from the danger now, the
trepidation of the trauma still lingered in his body language.

Lone Leaf said: “Looks like the devils like us a lot, we’re really
lucky.”

Bi Fan knew the reason behind their luck; the Yin Yang Lotus.
But this was one secret, which needed to be kept.
 Once they were out of the tree hole, the four of them decided
to venture even deeper into the forest, marking the start of a
new adventure.

No matter how dangerous their surroundings were, the four

of them had gotten this far, and really weren’t in the mood to go
back now.

The Secret Forest of the Devil had already prized them with
treasures beyond their wildest imaginations; so naturally,
neither of them was willing to leave the place unless they had
no other option.

Lone Leaf, especially, was progressing very quickly, owing to

the strength of the opponents which he was able to get his
hands on, in this part of the Abyss. He was almost at the peak of
the ‘transformation’ layer, so he really didn’t want to lose on
the chance of reaching his target.

As they ventured deeper into the forest, the strength of the

Devil’s Race beasts they encountered, also increased. ‘Enormous
Strength’ layer beasts were now becoming a normal occurrence,
and the numbers of ‘transformation’ layer beasts were
increasing as well.
 Lone Leaf quite thrilled by this, and was beginning to enjoy
his fights even more, while continuing to gain valuable
experience.

Not every beast was guarding a Panacea, but since the four of
them had already earned a lot of Spar, they really didn’t mind
much, and wouldn’t fuss even if they didn’t find anything of
value after defeating a group of strong beasts.

“If we carry on at this rate, then I’m afraid that we’ll stinking
of money by the time we leave the Abyss.” Blue Dragon seemed
quite excited.

Lone Leaf said: “We’ve already made a fortune; thanks to

Brother Bi Fan, otherwise, we would have never been able to
identify all these precious herbs on our own.”

“Brother, there’s no need to be so kind.” Bi Fan smiled: “If you

are really that grateful, then, you can always just give me
something from your share. I really wouldn’t mind it.”

“Not happening, sister.” Blue Dragon and Lone Leaf, both,

replied at the same time.
 “Damn it, I knew…” Bi Fan said in a gloomy tone.

The four of them had started joking, even scoffing each other,
a lot more often, without anyone taking any offense to it; which
was a sign that their bond was becoming stronger.

“Whoosh…” the four of them heard a sound, which seemed to

the coming from some distance away from them, and the four of
them could make out, that the sound was probably issued by a
waterfall.

Wang Zhong climbed up a tall tree, to get a better look at the

situation up ahead.

Moments later, he came down, and related his finding:

“There’s a mountain up ahead, which has a huge waterfall
falling from it. It’s a breathtaking scene.”

“Then let’s go and take a look; it’s been a while since I’ve had
a bath, I could use some cool water.” Lone Leaf was excited at
the thought of a waterfall.

Blue Dragon immediately echoed his desire: “Yes ah, I also feel
a little itchy. A good wash will be nice for me as well.”

“Well, if that’s so, then let’s go.” Bi Fan was carrying the same
idea.

Wang Zhong cautioned: “We must be very careful… water

sources are often the most risky places in a forest.”

Wang Zhong was their most experienced man, so the others

weren’t going to take his words lightly.

The four of them slowed their pace down, as they slowly made
their way towards the waterfall.

“Boom…” as the four of them got closer to the source, the

sounds of the waterfall started becoming even louder; almost
deafening.

Through the dense woods, the four of them were finally able
to get a view of the waterfall.

The water was falling from the kilometer-tall hills, creating a

very picturesque scene.

The waterfall had given birth to a ten-mile-radii pool at the

bottom of the hill; but an unusual thing that the four of them
noticed was the fact, that there was no river or stream snaking
out of the pool, owing to which, the four of them couldn’t tell
where the water was eventually going.

As the four of them carefully inspected the surroundings from

a distance, they realized that the pool was sating the thirst of a
large number of beasts.

These beasts seemed quite scared of the pool’s depth. The

beasts were drinking water in large groups; some of the beasts
would drink water, while the others would stand in guard to
allow the others to drink.

Also, there was a lot of fighting between the different groups

of beasts, as the strong devoured the weak. This, after all, is the
jungle, and the law of survival, here, is a lot crueler than the
human world.

The Devil’s Race, however, didn’t seem prepared to face

humans, as humans were a relatively rarer sighting in these
parts of the forest.

As the four of them continued to watch, they started

observing a pattern; the beasts would drink water for some
time, and then they promptly withdraw back, and away from
the water. Then, they would closely look at the water for a
while, until it calmed down completely, before resuming
drinking from the pool again.

This was happening again and again, they would drink water
for a while, and then they would retreat away from the pool,
almost as if they were afraid of some terrible, and terrifying,
terror in the water.

“It appears that there’s some sort of Devil’s Race that dwells
in the waters here, which feeds on the beasts that come to the
pool for drinking its water. That’s the only reason why these
beasts are being so careful.” Wang Zhong reasoned.

Bleu Dragon: “Let’s go, I am really hoping to take a bath.”

“Still thinking of taking a bath…” Bi Fan really didn’t know

what to say.
 Anyone could see that the pool is the residence of a very
powerful presence.

Just watching the beasts, who were at the peak of the

‘transformation’ layer take caution in drinking water from the
pool, was a clear indication of the strength of the monster,
which had made the pool its residence.

It appeared that even the strongest of the Devil’s Race were

afraid of angering this monster, for such an incident was likely
to bring a rein a terror with it.

“I think… we should leave.” Lone Leaf said. His energy had

been growing by leaps and bounds, and he wasn’t far away from
entering the ‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer, so naturally, he
didn’t want to die here.

Bi Fan said: “Don’t worry. Let’s just stay here, and see what
that beast in the water is really capable of.”

His curiosity was getting the better of him; he simply couldn’t

help himself.
 In reality, even Wang Zhong, Blue Dragon, and Lone Leaf,
were also quite curious, but their fear had gotten the better of
them.

Since they were still a little hesitant, Bi Fan smiled and said:
“We stay away from the pool, and if the monster in the water
shows up, we will not engage it. I doubt if the monster in the
pool will leave the pool easily.”

“Brother Bi Fan makes sense. If the monster in the pool was

freely capable of leaving the waters, then the other beasts
wouldn’t be daring to drink water from the pool.” Wang Zhong
reasoned.

Since the experienced Wang Zhong was also in agreement

with Bi Fan, Blue Dragon and Lone Leaf, were now at a relative
ease with the idea of stay around the pool.

They had no idea how long it would take, so the four of them
hid themselves in the woods, and waited in secrecy for the
monster to show itself.

A while later, they saw some more humans; people they had
met before.
 Li Xuan Feng of the Zheng Qi Sect, along with Tian Long Yu,
Yan Ren, and Ling Long, were making their way to the pool,
from the other side. As the four of them arrived at the scene, Bi
Fan’s party shifted their attention to their counterparts.

“What are the Zheng Qi guys doing, are they inviting their
deaths?” Bi Fan seemed a little puzzled.

Wang Zhong was also quite surprised: “They may not be here
to fight the monster in the water, or they may even be
completely unaware of its presence. But one way or the other,
even four ‘transformation’ layer fighters, won’t be enough to
beat the monster that dwells in that pool.”

“Well, if they do get close to the water, should we try to use

the monster in the pool to get rid of them?” Bi Fan’s lips curled
into a crooked smile.

It was a question worth pondering over; they wouldn’t have

to do much, and could still, get rid of some potentially, very
powerful enemies.
 Chapter 103 – The Huge Net

“Let’s do it!”

Lone Leaf looked resolute: “What are we afraid of, definitely

not the Zheng Qi Sect; after all, I’m from the Bei Ming Faction.”

Blue Dragon smiled: “Brother Leaf, what’s going on in your

mind?”

They were speaking in whispers, so their voices were being

subdued by the sound of the waterfall, and naturally, the other
party couldn’t hear them at all.

“The Zheng Qi Sect team is obviously here to fight with the

monster inside the pool, so wouldn’t it be a smart move to use
the opportunity?” Lone Leaf smiled back.

Bi Fan’s initial impression was that, Lone Leaf was gradually

being led astray by the lure of wealth, so much so, that he
wasn’t even taking the other side’s background into account,
before making the decision.
 Wang Zhong said: “Brother Leaf, you’re not afraid of the
trouble that the other side could bring in the future, ah?”

“What’s there to fear, as long as we cut the weeds, and

eliminate the roots, no one will know about this.” Lone Leaf’s
eyes were cold: “When we met them the last time around, they
seemed inclined on killing and robbing us; even a blind man
could see that. Since they are heartless, I’m just saying that we
should act the same way against them.”

Bi Fan smiled: “Brother Leaf, it seems that you’re becoming

your man now, which is good thing for a man.”

Li Xuan Feng, Tian Long Yu, Yan Ren, and Ling Long, were
also hiding in the woods on the other side, and hadn’t made any
movements since their arrival. It was hard to guess their plan of
action.

Bi Fan and his friends were quite patient, and continued to

joke about, in whispers, as they waited for the other side to
make a move.

Several groups of the Devil’s Race had already come and gone,
batches after batches, and the curtains of night had started to
descend.

The pool had stayed extremely calm the entire time, and the
four of them were beginning to wonder if they were wrong
about the idea of a powerful presence in the water.

Since Li Xuan Feng’s team hadn’t made any moves yet, the
four of them had no option but to sit and wait, as they didn’t
want to make their presence known to the other team by acting
out rashly.

The waterfall continued to thunder, as the sky became darker

and darker.

As the dusk set in, more number of beasts had started to

surround the pool; in fact, the entire vicinity was swarming
with powerful beasts.

Bi Fan’s team had hidden themselves well. But even then, the
four of them wouldn’t dare to make any sounds now, as they
were afraid of alerting the Devil’s Race of their presence.
 If they Devil’s Race beasts were confronted with humans,
then they would all unite against their common enemy.

The area was swarming with ‘transformation’ layer beasts,

and even the four of them, put together, wouldn’t be able to
cope up with so many of them at once.

Li Xuan Feng’s four-man team was equally cautious of the

threat, and hadn’t made any movements either.

Suddenly, the calm water, exploded.

“Whossshh….” A huge column of water rose towards the sky,

and water splashed in all directions.

The Devil’s Race beasts already seemed prepared for this

event, and were already running about to rejoining their
groups.

A huge head protruded from within the surface of the water.

This huge head was adorned with a single horn, which was
almost one meter in length.
 “Argghh!” the huge monster’s gigantic roar was enough to
send everyone’s ears ringing.

Even the most powerful beasts in the vicinity were trying to

get away from the water.

“Wow! That turned out to be an Abyss Dragon! Its physical

strength is amazing; maybe even more than the Stone Giant’s.”
Wang Zhong was stunned. (The Word used in the novel for this
beast is a Du Jiao, which is a single horned, poisonous,
chimerical creature. This creature, often, either resembles a
dragon, or a unicorn, depending on context.)

The Abyss Dragon was formidably strong, physically, but, its

most powerful weapon was poison.

The Abyss Dragon’s poison was so potent, that even a Jungle

Python wouldn’t be able to match up to it in terms of toxicity; in
fact, it wasn’t even fair to draw a comparison between the two.

If the four of them came face to face with the Abyss Dragon,
then they probably wouldn’t be able to escape away from him in
one piece.
 The Abyss Dragon had barely revealed itself, and he was
already charging at the Devil’s Race beasts at an exceptionally
fast pace. As his huge body started to emerge from the water, he
opened his giant mouth, and bit a beast.

“Grrpp…” The Abyss Dragon, completely swallowed the

entire beast, and then made a meal out of another ‘enormous
strength’ layer beast, as he continued to search for more preys.

The pool was completely surrounded with beasts, which were

now running around to rejoin their groups. The whole area had
spiraled into a chaos, and the beasts that were a little slower
than others, had already started losing out to the Abyss
Dragon’s appetite.

The Abyss Dragon was like a bottomless pit; it had already

swallowed several beasts whole, and was still looking around for
more.

At present, only half of the Abyss Dragon’s body had been

exposed, while the other half of its body, including its tail, were
still submerged in the pool. But he was slowly making his way
towards the shore, as he continued to pounce on the beasts, one
after the other.
 The Abyss Dragon’s body was reflecting light even brighter
than the surface of the pool, and its huge body, which was
completely covered in scales, was gleaming radiantly in the
dusky evening light.

The body of this Abyss Dragon was surprisingly large, but the
true extent of his physical strength was unknown to them.

Bi Fan, and the friends, inwardly, smacked their lips, as they

held their breaths for the fear of being discovered.

Li Xuan Feng’s team also remained concealed in the woods,

and hadn’t made any move yet. Bi Fan’s team simply couldn’t
guess the other side’s intentions anymore.

Some of the stronger beasts, in order to protect their

companions, started engaging the Abyss Dragon in combat,
collectively.

A few of the beasts, who were at the peak of the

‘transformation’ layer, teamed up together, and started
attacking the Abyss Dragon, and managed to temporarily delay
their enemy’s advance.

The Abyss Dragon roared furiously, as he tried to shred them

to pieces.

The intense fighting was sending boulders flying in all

directions, and had already uprooted several trees.

The Abyss Dragon hadn’t yet been able to leave the pool
completely, as its body wasn’t very agile, which is why he still
hadn’t been able to use his most dangerous weapon; his tail.

The Abyss Dragon’s powerful tail was mopping about in the

pool, and it was evident that once its tail came into the
equation, then it could easily level the entire forest’s cover in no
time at all.

Unfortunately for the Abyss Dragon, he hadn’t been able to

get his tail out the water, let alone use it to attack the enemy.

Even though the Abyss Dragon wasn’t agile enough to evade

so many attacks at once, the entire peak of the ‘transformation’
layer team of beasts, weren’t able to harm him in any way.
 Their attacks would fall on the Abyss Dragon’s body, but
wouldn’t leave behind any wounds, or even scratches.

The Abyss Dragon’s defense was simply too strong, and he

was relying too heavily on it. But to the beasts, which he was
confronted with, he was practically invincible.

The companions of these, peak of the ‘transformation’ layer

beasts, had withdrawn to a safe distance, but hadn’t yet
evacuated the area, as they would have a hard time surviving in
the forest without their respective chiefs.

Finally, the Abyss Dragon’s temper got the better of the

situation, and he forced his entire body out of the pool.

His, thick and long, tail swept, sweeping away several trees in
a single swing. The beasts, which were trying to engage him in a
battle, were forced to retreat again, and again.

Precisely, at this moment, Li Xuan Feng’s team finally made a

movement.
 “Throw the Net! Attack!” Li Xuan Feng’s team took out a
magical net, and spread it out, and the then threw it towards
the Abyss Dragon. The net continued to expand, and managed
to cover the Abyss Dragon’s entire body.

Li Xuan Feng’s team, apparently, had come prepared, and had

probably practiced their move quite thoroughly.

The Net expanded in an instant, and somehow managed to

wrap itself around the Abyss Dragon’s entire body.

“Arghh!!….” The Abyss Dragon roared furiously, and

relentlessly.

The Abyss Dragon started rolling around on the floor, but was
unable to free himself, as the net was too tightly wrapped
around him.

This magical net was simply amazing, and was even able to
withstand such a violent, and vigorous, struggle by the Abyss
Dragon.

Li Xuan Feng’s plan was evidently clear now. They weren’t

going to blindly charge the Abyss Dragon, and were planning on
waiting patiently, till the time the Abyss Dragon left the pool. At
such a time, they would throw their net, and would trap the
Abyss Dragon in a single swoop.

The rest of the Devil’s Race beasts could see that their fellow
Devil’s Race beast had been trapped by humans, but still none of
them moved forward to rescue him, as they knew that they
would only end up dancing towards their death.

It was apparent, that the Abyss Dragon had given them a

torrid time, which is why the rest of the Devil’s Race wasn’t
even remotely inclined on helping him.

“That was a very well calculated move! It seems that the

Zheng Qi Sect team already knew about the Abyss Dragon, and
was well prepared to face it. Their timing was simply
impeccable!” Wang Zhong exclaimed.

“Maybe, these Zheng Qi people will actually be able to kill off

the Abyss Dragon. And if they do succeed, then will probably
make a huge amount of money from it.” Bi Fan said.

The Abyss Dragon’s body was a chest of treasures. It’s scales,

skin, blood, flesh, bones, tendons, were all likely to fetch a very
high price in the market. On top of that, the most valuable
assets that could be procured from its body would be its horn,
and its poison reserves. And by any chance, if the Dragon gave a
nucleus upon its death, then the profit from the kill would
become even higher.

Although the Abyss Dragon hadn’t yet reached the ‘Emerging

from the Womb’ layer, but it was already stronger than the
deceased Layer King, the Stone Giant, owing to its sheer
physical strength. If the Abyss Dragon hadn’t been allowed to
leave the pool, then he could have easily escaped into the depths
of the pool, which would have made it very difficult to kill him.

Bi Fan’s team wasn’t even remotely ready to face such a

demon, let alone be able to kill it.

But Li Xuan Feng’s team had come prepared, very well

prepared; they probably weren’t planning on returning home
empty handed from this place.

However, they hadn’t planned any counter-measures for the

biggest variable in this equation; Bi Fan and his companions.
 Chapter 104 – A Good Plan

The Astute Abyss Dragon knew his situation well, and was
desperately trying to struggle towards the pool.

As long as the Abyss Dragon was able to enter into the pool,
he’d be able to free himself, as water was his territory.

The magical net was, indeed, very powerful, and had been
able to hold the Abyss Dragon for a long time. But if the Dragon
managed to enter into the water again, then he’d be able to
break free quite quickly.

“Attack! We can’t let him get away.” Li Xuan Feng announced

loudly.

Li Xuan Feng, Tian Long Yu, Yan Ren, and Ling Long, all
charged towards the Dragon, and launched a very fierce wave of
attacks simultaneously. They were using sharp and good quality
weapons, which was another obvious indication that they had
come prepared to fight the Abyss Dragon.

“Zhum…..” Several attacks landed on the Abyss Dragon’s

body successively.

The Abyss Dragon howled in pain, as four wounds scared its

body.

The wounds weren’t very big, or deep, but would have hurt
the Abyss Dragon nonetheless.

The Abyss Dragon hadn’t experienced pain in a long time, so

naturally, he was even more furious now.

He initiated a frenzied attempt to struggle towards the water,

without paying any attention to the hold of the magical net.

“Boom….” The boulders and tree in his immediate vicinity

were paying the price of the Abyss Dragon’s temper, and were
being crushed due to his body weight.

Li Xuan Feng’s team’s faces were beginning to become a little

unsightly, since the Abyss Dragon was slowly inching towards
the pool. They wouldn’t dare to attack the Abyss Dragon if he
somehow broke free of their trap.
 Li Xuan Feng’s team continued to attack the Abyss Dragon,
and the count of wounds on his body continued to increase.

The Abyss Dragon’s defense was so strong, that even with the
help of good quality weapons, they were only able to hurt his
flesh; but their swords were unable to penetrate deep enough to
hurt his core.

However, it was evident that Li Xuan Feng’s team was fully

prepared for this, as they didn’t weren’t panicking, and
continued to attack him methodically.

Of course, they had already placed themselves in his path to

the pool, as a first step to obstruct his advance. As long as they
were able to keep him onshore, they had a chance of killing him.

Bi Fan and his companions watched the drama unfold,

secretively, from the sidelines.

Li Xuan Feng’s team was quite strong, and their large variety
of techniques, was making it a good spectacle to watch.
 Bi Fan, naturally, didn’t want to miss out on the opportunity
of memorizing their techniques, and would use his memory to
decode and master their methods later on.

On top of that, there was a chance that he might have to

engage them in combat later on, so naturally, it would be better
if he had a good understanding of their skill set.

Wang Zhong noticed the seriousness with which Bi Fan was

watching the battle, but didn’t pass any comments, since he
figured that Bi Fan must be trying to gain experience from their
fight.

Watching a strong fight is always an excellent way to study

and learn more about combat, and also helps in developing a
better understanding of one’s own martial arts.

The Abyss Dragon had already sustained several injuries, and

so he issued another bellow of rage.

“It seems likely that Li Xuan Feng’s team will end up killing
the Abyss Dragon, what’s our plan of action?” Blue Dragon
asked.
 Wang Zhong asked: “What part of the Abyss Dragon’s body
are you interested most in?”

“I, of course, want the Abyss Dragon’s nucleus. I’ll give it to

my Jungle Python once it hatches, as there’s a chance that my
Python might evolve into a Dragon later on.” Blue Dragon
couldn’t help but imagine the possibility.

Since Blue Dragon brought it up again, even Lone Leaf, and

Wang Zhong’s passion’s started soaring. They, too, had Jungle
Python eggs, and once they were able to provide their pets with
a strong nucleus, then the path to evolution for their pets would
become a lot easier.

In this world, a pet is considered a part of a practitioner’s

strength. Whether the pet is a normal beast like Bi Fan’s
Chimera, or a Devil’s Race beast like their Pythons, once tamed,
these beasts could provide a solid boost in a fight.

Bi Fan said: “Killing that Abyss Dragon is going to take a lot

more than that.”

The sound of his voice had barely faded away, when the Abyss
Dragon completely lost its temper. It looked skywards, and
suddenly sprung towards the pool of water.

“Stop him!” Li Xuan Feng yelled.

If the Abyss Dragon was able to enter into the pool again, then
even their magic net wouldn’t be able to hold him down for
long.

Li Xuan Feng, Tian Long Yu, Yan Ren, and Ling Long,
simultaneously launched their most violent attacks, as they
tried to block the Abyss Dragon’s path once again.

The Abyss Dragon was trying to get to the pool so desperately,

that he didn’t even bother with the attacks that were landing on
his body.

“Crack…” their attacks fell on the Abyss Dragon’s body, and

the sounds of his shattering scales, was audible to even Bi Fan’s
team.

Though the Abyss Dragon’s defense was very powerful, even

he couldn’t resist the sheer force of their attacks, especially
since they had a free hand.
 Four huge wounds appeared on his body, and blood started
spraying out from the wounds. But the Abyss Dragon payed no
attention to his new wounds, and continued to struggle
forward, after all, the size of these wounds was nothing
compared to the size of his body.

He was confident of making it to the pool soon, so naturally,

the Abyss Dragon was quite excited; the pool was his world, his
regime, a place where he can dominate.

This incident had been a messy one for him, and he secretly
vowed in his heart, that once he was free of the net, he would
immediately return to the surface for revenge, and would
annihilate the entire team of humans which were causing him
so much pain at the moment.

In his state of vengefulness, the Abyss Dragon even printed

the images of the Li Xuan Feng’s team on his mind’s canvas.

“Thinking of running away…. You’re dreaming…” Li Xuan

Feng ran back, past the rest of his team, and quickly ran a few
rounds around the trees nearby.
 Upon careful observation, Bi Fan realized that Li Xuan Feng
was holding, the almost transparent, cords of the net.

Li Xuan Feng had wrapped these cords around the trunks of

several trees now, and had firmly laced the net to the shore.

The Abyss Dragon’s leap was halted mid-air, and he instantly

fell to the ground with a thud.

The Abyss Dragon is quite powerful, but even then, it

wouldn’t be possible for him to pull away from so many trees at
once. On top of that, the material of this net was so exceptional,
that it simply wasn’t willing to snap.

“The Zheng Qi guys have showed up with a very well

calculated plan; they even considered redundancy measures, I
really can’t help but admire their planning.” Bi Fan smiled.

Wang Zhong reasoned: “These Zheng Qi Sect guys, must have

encountered the Abyss Dragon in the past, and had somehow
managed to get away from him alive at that time. Otherwise,
there is no way that they could’ve prepared so well for him.”
 “It’s a good thing that they have a good plan, since we
wouldn’t have been able to kill the Abyss Dragon on our own.”
Bi Fan smiled: “Killing the Abyss Dragon is surely going to take
a lot of effort, and they will end up consuming a lot of energy.
So when the time comes, remember to exterminate them all.”

“Yes, we must kill them all.” Lone Leaf noted.

They were afraid that even if one member from Li Xuan

Feng’s team managed to escape, and got out of the Abyss alive,
then Lone Leaf would certainly have a lot of trouble in dealing
with the consequences.

This situation wasn’t the same as Mo Li’s, so Bi Fan’s team

would need to figure out a way to look the ‘righteous’ side in
this incident, which would require some planning.

The Abyss Dragon was completely trapped now, and Li Xuan

Feng’s team started attacking the Abyss Dragon with even more
urgency now, since they didn’t want any further hindrances.

The number of the humans entering into the Secret Forest of

the Devil is quite low, but these humans are usually quite
strong.
 If another group of strong humans arrived at this scene, then
they would definitely try to snatch the prize, and pocketing the
entire of the Abyss Dragon’s body would become difficult for Li
Xuan Feng and his team. The trouble which Li Xuan Feng and
his team had gone to, was a clear indication that they weren’t
willing to share this bounty with anyone.

“Let’s hurry up; we need to finish this quickly.” Li Xuan Feng

said loudly.

Li Xuan Feng, Tian Long Yu, Yan Ren, and Ling Long, all
launched their most ferocious attack in a simultaneous fashion,
without even bothering about their energy consumption.

If they were able to kill the Abyss Dragon, without being

spotted, even at the cost of consuming a large amount of their
energies, then it was still totally worth the risk.

The Abyss Dragon was a very powerful creature, but at

present, he was trapped inside the net, owing to which he was
unable to retaliate in any way, so his defeat was almost certain
at this point.
 The Abyss Dragon had started losing a lot of blood, owing to
the growing count of wounds.

“His blood is so valuable… it’s a pity that so much of it is going

waste.” Bi Fan sighed.

At this point, the conclusion of the fight was within their

grasp, so naturally, Li Xuan Feng’s team was already smiling, as
they prepared to celebrate their victory.

Suddenly, the ground started shaking; a large group of the

Devil’s Race beast was galloping towards them.

Whether they wanted to rescue the Abyss Dragon, or add

more insult to his injuries, either way, they were going to be a
hassle for Li Xuan Feng’s team.
 Chapter 105 – Invincible Kernel

Li Xuan Feng’s team stood halted in their steads, as a crowd of

strong Devil’s Race beasts charged towards them.

Moments ago, they were on the verge of killing the Abyss

Dragon, and now they were faced with a large group of powerful
trouble makers; so naturally, they were quite furious.

Previously, these beasts hadn’t receded far away from the

pool, and had been patiently watching the humans slaughter the
Abyss Dragon. At this point, they weren’t afraid of charging
back in.

The Abyss Dragon was on the verge of his death, so naturally,

the Devil’s Race wanted to dip their hands in the pie. On top of
that, they really wouldn’t allow a bunch of humans to kill the
monster that had been tormenting them so long.

Anyway, at present, the Abyss Dragon was stuck, heavily

injured, so the rest of the Devil’s Race beasts weren’t really
afraid of it anymore. As far as the humans were concerned, the
Devil’s Race beasts had never known to fear them, and were
always likely to die fighting, than run.
 Since the Devil’s Race beasts had decided to join the fray, Li
Xuan Feng’s team was left no other option, but to deal with
them first, owing to which, they were unable to kill off the
Abyss Dragon.

There were about ten ‘transformation’ layer beasts in this

group, as opposed to four in Li Xuan Feng’s team, so obviously,
they were in a tight spot.

If they withdrew, then, all of their hard work would go in

vain, which is why, they were quite reluctant to do the same.
But now that they were faced with so many, such powerful
beasts, they really didn’t have any chance of winning.

They had already consumed a significant amount of their

energies while trying to kill the Abyss Dragon, and now that
they were faced with so many beasts of the Devil’s Race, they
were practically on the proverbial ‘ropes’.

“Kill them!” Li Xuan Feng wasn’t willing to resign to defeat

just yet, and so, he ordered his team to kill the Devil’s Race.
 Li Xuan Feng and his team were worthy of being called
‘leaders of the young’ generation; their martial arts, and
equipment, were top notch. They started casting out their best
moves, and managed to kill several beasts in quick succession.

After witnessing causalities on their end, the Devil’s Race

became even more fired up to kill the humans. The ten leaders
of the different beast groups, divided themselves into four
different teams, with each team being at least three times
stronger than each of the personnel in Li Xuan Feng’s team, and
started to engage them individually.

With an advantage of three-is-to-one, in terms strength, the

Devil’s Race was naturally bound to prevail.

“It appears that Li Xuan Feng’s team has no chance now, what
are we going to do about it?” Wang Zhong wondered.

If they allowed Li Xuan Feng’s team to leave, then the rest of

the Devil’s Abyss will treat the Abyss Dragon as food, and it
would become very difficult for Bi Fan’s team to gain anything
from his carcass.

At present, Bi Fan’s team was faced with a critical decision,

and they had to act quickly, since it was obvious that Li Xuan
Feng’s team would end up quitting pretty soon.

If Bi Fan’s team showed up to provide assistance, then the

tables would turn in a matter of moments, and Li Xuan Feng’s
team would definitely stay on.

It would appear that working with Li Xuan Feng’s side would

best serve their goals, at least temporarily. Even though the
advantage would be marginal, but it was one that they needed to
bank on.

“We will show up to provide assistance, but we’ll wait till they
agree to accommodate us in the loot division as well.” Bi Fan
made the call.

At present, his friends had blind faith in his decision making

ability, owing to which, he had absolute authority in such
matters.

“Let’s go!” Lone Leaf was already ready.

There was no need to discuss the obvious, as they charged on

to the battlefield; they were simply here by chance.

Bi Fan’s team didn’t launch into the action straight away.

Wang Zhong laughed: “Aren’t you guys from the Zheng Qi Sect
(Zheng Qi stands for righteous energy), need a hand there?”

Li Xuan Feng’s team was preparing to withdraw, but now that

four strong men had arrived on the scene, their hopes on
notching a victory were already reviving.

“There are too many of them, we’d be very grateful for your
help on this. In return, we’ll give you a portion from our loot.”
Li Xuan Feng said.

“That’s good, ah, I like that. But let’s come to an agreement

before hand.” Wang Zhong was being fairly objective.

Li Xuan Feng was quite anxious, as he really needed

assistance.

“How about fifty-fifty?” Li Xuan Feng offered.

 His mind was thinking something entirely different: “Damn
it. First, you’ll help us kill these beasts, and then I’ll kill you all.
So don’t think that you’ll get away with taking our bounty.”

Bi Fan’s team was looking straight into Li Xuan Feng’s eyes,

and they could make out that he was unlikely to hold up his
word. But anyway, the four of them didn’t really mind the idea
of going to war with the other side either.

“Good! That’s pretty generous! Let’s kill these beasts first;

together.” Wang Zhong smiled.

Blue Dragon and the others launched into action, and started
killing the Devil’s Race beasts.

Even though the beasts that Li Xuan Feng’s team was tangling
with were fairly strong, killing, most of these beasts, was quite
easy for Bi Fan’s team, since most of these beasts were below the
‘transformation’ layer.

Lone Leaf and Wang Zhong were doing most of the hard work.
Since Bi Fan and Blue Dragon’s main strength was hidden to the
unsuspecting, which is why they had decided to keep it that
way.
 If Bi Fan and Blue Dragon decided to expose their true
strengths, then Li Xuan Feng’s team would prepare themselves,
which would make things more difficult for the four of them.

Moreover, in order to gain the tag of the ‘righteous’, Lone

Leaf had been recording all of these exchanges in his recording
stone (There isn’t a description in the novel. It just mentions a
stone which has the ability to record images, so it’s probably
like a video camera. We’ll just refer to this object as the
recording stone.). Now, even if Li Xuan Feng’s side defected
from their promise and Bi Fan’s team decided to kill them in
return, then the Zheng Qi Sect wouldn’t be able to say much on
the matter.

Owing to their strength and expertise, Wang Zhong and Lone

Leaf were able to kill the Devil’s Race beasts quite comfortably.

Li Xuan Feng, Wang Zhong, and Lone Leaf, had even started
fighting together to kill the chiefs of the packs in order to
resolve the fighting quickly. After all said and done, at the
moment, they were all on the same team.

A little while later, after losing several more of their

companions to Lone Leaf and Wang Zhong, the leaders of the
Devil’s Race groups, decided to divide their teams into two more
squads, in order to deal with Wang Zhong, and Lone Leaf,
directly.

In fact, now that victory was finally in sight, Li Xuan Feng

started tactically diverting the strongest beasts towards Wang
Zhong and Lone Leaf, with the purpose of depleting their
energy.

The Devil’s Race beasts weren’t stupid either, and had already
realized that since the new arrivals hadn’t engaged with the
Abyss Dragon, they were bound to pose more of a threat. So
naturally, the strongest of the Devil’s Race were trying to
concentrate on Lone Leaf and Wang Zhong only.

As for Bi Fan and Blue Dragon, they were having it fairly easy.
They weren’t making any effort to take more charge either, and
were plainly resorting to defending against the beasts that they
were faced with.

Their team wasn’t interested in resolving the battle quickly,

since their first objective was to make sure that they consumed
lesser energy than Li Xuan Feng’s team, so dealing with them
would be a lot easier; if need be.
 In case Li Xuan Feng’s team help up their end of the bargain,
then Bi Fan’s team wouldn’t really be able to say much, as they
weren’t comfortable attacking the other side first.

However, judging by the general manner in which Li Xuan

Feng’s team had been acting so far, it was obvious that the four
of them weren’t interested in sharing the spoils of war with
anyone; so, another battle was pretty much on the cards here.

Both sides were playing a calculated game; a game of who gets

to frame the other side.

Li Xuan Feng was dealing with two ‘transformation’ layer

beasts by himself, and seemed capable of coping with them,
with a fair bit of ease.

“Invincible Kernel!” Li Xuan Feng, finally, cast out the Zheng

Qi Sect’s trade mark technique.

The Invincible Kernel was the Zheng Qi Sect’s secret skill; but
unlike most, it wasn’t just designed to kill; it was designed to
punish and kill.
 This martial technique was far more powerful than Bi Fan’s
‘fufeng double-edged sword’; in fact, it was even more powerful
than Bi Fan’s ‘rainy-fly sword technique’.

Tian Long Yu, Yan Ren, and Ling Long, also casted out ‘the
invincible kernel’ skill, as they prepared to kill off the beasts in
a single swoop.

The longer the battle dragged on, the more unfavorable the
circumstances were bound to get for them; so naturally, they
wanted to end this as quickly as possible.

They cast out their attacks with all their strength, and the
total output of their attacks was nothing short of brutal.

It was getting difficult to judge whether the Zheng Qi team

was really upright, or were just pretending to be for the time
being.

“Boom!” Li Xuan Feng was the first to notch progress, as he

managed to injure one of the chief beasts.
 At present, he had already consumed a large amount of his
energy; otherwise, he would have been able to kill the beast off
in that one stroke itself.

He was already at the peak of the ‘transformation’ layer, and

was equipped with excellent weaponry, which was making his
attacks even more dangerous than usual.

Now that he had already injured the strongest of the beasts

that he was faced with, finishing the fight off was going to be a
lot easier for Li Xuan Feng.
 Chapter 106 – No Value For Word

Tian Long Yu, Yan Ren, and Ling Long were also fighting
quite ferociously, and had managed to injure their opponents as
well.

It would appear that Li Xuan Feng’s team was trying to finish

their battles quickly, so they could steal the Abyss Dragon’s
body.

Even though Lone Leaf and Wang Zhong were making a lot of
effort, they weren’t really in a hurry to finish their fights. On
the other hand, Bi Fan and Blue Dragon, were simply taking it
easy, and weren’t making any effort whatsoever.

Li Xuan Feng wasn’t angry that Wang Zhong, and his team,
wasn’t trying hard to finish the battle fast, as it would give his
team ample time to seize the Abyss Dragon’s body.

Li Xuan Feng was the strongest in his team, and managed to

finish his battle faster than anyone else.

He didn’t take even a moment’s break after killing his

opponents, and quickly went over to Tian Long Yu, Yan Ren,
and Ling Long to help them out.

With his help, Tian Long Yu, Yan Ren, and Ling Long, were all
able to finish their fights quite quickly.

At this time, Wang Zhong was busy fighting two

‘transformation’ layer beasts, and the fight seemed quite close
to call.

Lone Leaf looked a lot worse. He too, like Wang Zhong, was
fighting two ‘transformation’ layer beasts, and looked a like he
wasn’t doing very well.

As for Bi Fan and Blue Dragon, Li Xuan Feng’s team wasn’t

even taking them into consideration.

Li Xuan Feng’s team just sneered at the plight of their battles,

but didn’t offer to help.

“Li Xuan Feng, quick, help us in killing off these beasts, and
then we can kill the Abyss Dragon together.” Lone Leaf said in a
loud voice.
 “You’re too slow; we’re not going to help you deal with your
fights.” Li Xuan Feng laughed.

Li Xuan Feng, along with the other three, Tian Long Yu, Yan
Ren, and Ling Long, started making their way towards the
Abyss Dragon in order to finish him off.

The Abyss Dragon had been bleeding quite excessively, and

was already on the verge of dying, but hadn’t yet given in. He
continued to struggle, but only in vain.

“Li Xuan Feng, are you trying to break your promise?” Lone
Leaf deliberately said it out loud.

He had already started recording once again, as he wanted

proof of Li Xuan Feng’s betrayal, to show to the outside world,
in the event of an enquiry.

“Haha… you want half of our bounty?” Li Xuan Feng laughed:

“Do not provoke me; if lose my temper, I’ll kill all of you.”
 Wang Zhong said: “Do not trust these glorified thieves
Brother, first they make promises, and then they stab you.”

“You dare to call me a thief? I’m afraid that you, Wang Zhong,
will be the first to die. As soon as I’m done bagging this Abyss
Dragon, I’m coming for you.” Li Xuan Feng looked rather
furious.

Momentarily, Li Xuan Feng’s team launched a ferocious attack

on the Abyss Dragon, and killed him off in a matter of seconds.

After they were done killing the Abyss Dragon, Li Xuan Feng
quickly took off the magical net the Abyss Dragon had been
trapped in, and started dissecting its carcass.

Li Xuan Feng’s team had come in so well prepared, that they

had even packed objects to store his blood.

They took out a very sharp looking knife, and started cutting
open his flesh, and quite speedily at that.

A little while later, they had already managed to dissect the

Abyss Dragon’s body into several small pieces, which they put
inside the Ying Yang pouches the four of them were carrying.

The head of the beast was still intact, so no one knew if there
was nucleus inside it or not.

Li Xuan Feng had high expectations, and was quite excited, so

much so, that his hands had even started trembling.

Finally, Li Xuan Feng took the knife again, and prepared to

cut the Abyss Dragon’s head open.

The Abyss Dragon’s head was quite hard, and Li Xuan Feng
had to use a lot of strength to cut it open.

“Woah…..” the head had been split open now, and the four of
them held their breaths, as their eyes widened in excitement.

Suddenly, a bright light flashed.

“This Dragon even has a nucleus in it! We really hit the

jackpot this time!” Li Xuan Feng exclaimed.
 Everyone had seen the flashing light, and Bi Fan’s team had
realized that there’s a nucleus inside the Abyss Dragon’s head.
Naturally, even they were quite anxious now, as they too
wanted to take the nucleus for themselves.

However, they still didn’t make a move, and waited patiently

for Li Xuan Feng’s team to make the first move, since they
needed to look ‘righteous’, for the sake of it.

At this time, if these events were brought to light, then Lone

Leaf’s recording stone would only show that Li Xuan Feng had
betrayed their trust, but wouldn’t give them enough reason to
slaughter his team.

Li Xuan Feng collected the nucleus, and the four of the slowly
started moving closer to Wang Zhong. Obviously, they wanted
to kill the strongest of their four opponents first.

Lone Leaf looked furious: “Li Xuan Feng, you have no shame.
Think about your Sect, aren’t you afraid that they will lose face,
due to your actions?”

“As long as we kill all the witnesses, no one will find out about
this.” Li Xuan Feng laughed.

Lone Leaf recorded his remark, along with the faces of his
entire team.

“This is treachery! Great ah! You guys are from the Zheng Qi
Sect, I thought you were morale people, but you’re even lower
than common thieves.” Wang Zhong exposed an angry smile.

Bi Fan and Blue Dragon hadn’t spoken a single word, and were
quite happy that the other side had completely forgotten about
them. They were both going to play the real killers in this game.

“Go! Kill them all!” Li Xuan Feng was too lazy to utter any
superfluous words now, as he was already beginning to lose his
patience.

Li Xuan Feng, Tian Long Yu, Yan Ren, and Ling Long,
simultaneously launched attacks on Wang Zhong, and Lone Leaf
made sure that it was recorded.

Wang Zhong quickly dodged, using the Devil’s Race beasts as

cover, and managed to get away from the four of them.
 Li Xuan Feng’s team had attacked first, so now, there was no
need to hold back.

In a flash, Wang Zhong receded far away from the spot where
he had been fighting with the Devil’s Race.

Formerly, Lone Leaf had taken a few steps back and then
suddenly charged forward to repulse the Devil’s Race beasts
away, following which he quickly joined Wang Zhong.

As for Bi Fan and Blue Dragon, the two of them were still not
putting any effort in their fighting, and were casually enjoying
the drama as it unfolded, from a distance.

“Li Xuan Feng, if you think that you can kill us, then you’re
wrong. You’re trying to rob us now, after making a promise to
share the loot.” Lone Leaf raged.

“You won’t be able to run from us, let alone get out of the
Abyss alive.” Li Xuan Feng’s eyes gleaming in a murderous aura.
 Li Xuan Feng’ team surrounded Lone Leaf and Wang Zhong,
as they were under the impression that Bi Fan and Blue Dragon
were, temporarily, trapped in their current engagements, and
weren’t capable of escaping out.

Since their opposition was completely trapped, so Li Xuan

Feng’ team weren’t afraid of anything at the moment.

At this time, they had just obtained a nucleus; so naturally,

they were quite excited, owing to which they were completely
neglecting their fatigue. On top of that, out of sheer greed, now,
they wanted to kill the four people who had showed up to help
them, so they could carve out their wealth as well, and leave the
Abyss with even more money.

“Kill them!”

“Attack!”

Both the sides launched their attacks simultaneously. Both,

Wang Zhong and Lone Leaf, were fighting in a rather
conservative style, so naturally, they started getting suppressed
right from the beginning.
 Bi Fan and Blue Dragon continued to carry on at the same pace
as before, completely ignoring the threat of their opposition.

“Nice!” Li Xuan Feng was quite excited, as he was under the

impression that he was stronger than Wang Zhong, and would
be able to kill him with ease.

Tian Long Yu, Yan Ren, and Ling Long, were also fighting
with a lot of arrogance, and were practically treating Wang
Zhong’s side as dog meat.

At this point, they wanted to finish this fight off as quickly as

possible, so they were fighting with as much vigor as they could,
continually casting out big moves. They were so taken with
their own strength that they weren’t even considering if they
could even expend that much energy in this fight.

Yan Ren and Ling Long, were both, gorgeous beauties, but
their lure for wealth, and the temptation of making more of it,
was making them ferocious, and they were fighting with even
energy than Tian Long Yu was.

Ling Long, especially, was fighting so aggressively, that she

had almost started resembling a barbarian. There was nothing
beautiful about her, in this moment, as her savage nature was
cruelly taking over her beauty.

Wang Zhong and Lone Leaf were being forced to retreat. They
had fallen under the wind, and in a short period of time, had
already sustained several minute injuries.

Seeing hope of winning the fight soon, Li Xuan Feng’s team

became even more ferocious.

To them, it didn’t make any sense to pointlessly drag this

battle on. If anyone found out about this incident, then they
would surely end up facing difficult times in the future.

Especially, since Lone Leaf was a Bei Ming Sect disciple. If

word got out of his murder at their hands, then they would
definitely receive very severe punishment at the hand of the Jiu
Yu Da Sect.
 Chapter 107 – No Mercy For Women

Lone Leaf and Wang Zhong were having a tough time coping
up with Li Xuan Feng’s team, at the heart of the battlefield, so Bi
Fan and Blue Dragon finally decided to move into the action.

Li Xuan Feng’s team hadn’t been paying any attention to Blue

Dragon and Bi Fan, since they had assessed the two men to be,
only, inside the ‘Spiritual intelligence’ layer. On top of that,
since the both of them were surrounded by a flock of the Devil’s
Race, Li Xuan Feng was under the impression that the two of
them wouldn’t even be able to get out of the encirclement, let
alone provide help to their companions, or flee.

In reality, Bi Fan and Blue Dragon’s strength was far more

than that, in fact, they were almost equal to Wang Zhong and
Lone Leaf, if not stronger.

But so far, they hadn’t even made any attempts to kill the
Devil’s Race that they were facing, let alone disturb Li Xuan
Feng’s plans.

Using his agility, Bi Fan quickly emerged from the

encirclement of the beasts. Blue Dragon wasn’t slow either, and
quickly followed in his stead.

They exchanged glances, as they prepared to join the fray.

Blue Dragon went straight for Ling Long, since she was
weakest of them all, and they were looking for a one shot kill.

Bi Fan, on the other hand, chose Yan Ren. Yan Ren was only
weaker than Li Xuan Feng, which put her in second place, in
their team. But Bi Fan was confident about killing her in one
strike.

No mercy for Women!

Hegemon Overlord!

Blue Dragon cast out a ferocious attack, and attacked out of

the blue. Ling Long wasn’t even remotely prepared to deal with
a surprise attack from behind, since she was too busy dealing
with Lone Leaf.

“Boom!” Ling Long was thrown to the ground; not out of

injury…she was already dead.

Bi Fan had timed his attack to match Blue Dragon’s, casting

out ‘rainy fly sword’ and ‘prancing tiger’, he had targeted Yan
Ren to be his first victim.

At this moment, he wasn’t about to show any deference to

women either, and went straight for the kill.

“Ah!” Yan Ren’s scream echoed, as she was flew into the air,
and landed on the ground. She stayed there; motionless.

Tian Long Yu and Li Xuan Feng halted in their steads, terror

stricken. Li Xuan Feng shouted in disbelief: “How did you
manage to kill our companions, ah?”

“I will eat you alive!” Tian Long Yu roared; his eyes were red
with blood lust.

Li Xuan Feng had a crush on Yan Ren, whereas Tian Long Yu

favored Ling Long. Even though they hadn’t yet succeeded in
winning the women over, they were furious at Bi Fan and Blue
Dragon, since the two women were dead because of them.
 They were hoping, that after killing the Abyss Dragon, they
would be able to win the women over, but now all their dreams
had started to burn in front of their eyes.

Even though they were faced with two, rather confused and
angry men, Bi Fan and Blue Dragon payed no attention to their
opponent’s mind frame, and charged straight for their heads.

Until now, Bi Fan and Blue Dragon had been taking it easy,
owing to which, they had consumed far lesser energy than Lone
Leaf and Wang Zhong. So now, they were more than happy to
take the lead.

“Bang… bang…” even though their opponents launched

several attacks in quick succession, Bi Fan and Blue Dragon were
able to deal with them quite comfortably, and had even started
imposing their will.

Li Xuan Feng and Tian Long Yu had reacted in the heat of

vengeance, initially, but now, were being forced to retreat.

Wang Zhong and Lone Leaf didn’t rush to rejoin the fight, and
decided to stay on the periphery, prepared to intercept Li Xuan
Feng and Tian Long Yu, in case either of them tried to make an
escape.

“You killed Yan Ren by deceit, but don’t think that you can
kill me off.” Li Xuan Feng’s words wreaked of hatred: “It seems
that you have a lot of hidden strength, but you’ve made a grave
miscalculation. You won’t be able to kill me. Think about it, we
are from the Zheng Qi Sect, if you kill us, there will be
consequences. Lone Leaf, do you want this to be the reason that
causes the relationship between, Zheng Qi and Bei Ming, to fall
apart?”

“Li Xuan Feng, you’re a smooth talker, but if you were really
worried about the relationship between the Bei Ming and the
Zheng Qi factions, then you wouldn’t have started this. Right
now, you’re staring the face of your death, and you know it. I
know that you’ll say almost anything to get away.” Lone Leaf
sneered.

At this time, Lone Leaf’s recording device was off, so he really

didn’t feel like saying anything for show off.

Tian Long Yu, and Ling Xuan Feng, until now, had never
known fear, as they had always relied on the name of their
faction, to talk their way out of a situation.

But right now, their identities were of no importance, and

they finally knew what fear meant.

“Lone Leaf, I’m one of the most important disciples of the

Zheng Qi Sect, and one of my ancestors is an elder at the Sect.
Don’t you dare kill me; aren’t you afraid of their revenge?” Li
Xuan Feng was making one final effort, as he really didn’t want
to die.

At this point, he had already cast Tian Long Yu aside. As long

as he could save his own life, he would be happy enough to let
his friend die. Tian Long Yu didn’t say anything about it either,
since even one person from their team managed to get out alive,
then the deaths of the rest would definitely be avenged.

Li Xuan Feng paused for a second, and then continued: “As

long as you let me go, you can have all my valuables, including
the Abyss Dragon’s nucleus.”

“Haha, if we kill you now, then all of your possessions will

naturally belong to us. This wouldn’t have happened if you had
kept your previous promise; you asked for this. Now that we
have killed two of your companions, you’ve started begging for
mercy?!” Wang Zhong said in a cold tone.

Wang Zhong and Lone Leaf also decided to join the fight, since
they wanted to finish this quickly now.

Tian Long Yu and Li Xuan Feng had already gone a few rounds
without rest, owing to which their energy reserves were almost
depleted.

On the other hand, Bi Fan and Blue Dragon were extremely

fresh, and extremely violent.

As for the Devil’s Race, most of them were either dead, or had
abandoned the fight. Only a few beasts still remained in the
vicinity, out of the which, only four were inside the
‘transformation’ layer.

At this point, they had made the smartest choice that they
could think of, and had receded to a safe distance from the
battlefield.

The Devil’s Race beasts were wise enough to wait a while,

since they knew that there could be another chance for them in
the future, which is why they hadn’t left just yet.

At present, Tian Long Yu and Li Xuan Feng had already

sustained multiple injuries; their scarves were in tatters, their
clothes were dangling in scrapes, and even their armors were in
a battered condition.

Both, Tian Long Yu and Li Xuan Feng, roared again and again,
in a mad frenzy, but were unable to rescue themselves.

“Kill them!” Wang Zhong, and the others, launched another

round of powerful attacks.

Tian Long Yu and Li Xuan Feng, were both considered leading

figures of the young generation inside the Zheng Qi Sect, and
were standing up to their reputation. Even in this fatigued state,
they had been able to withstand almost a dozen rounds of
attacks.

Bi Fan was beginning to lose patience, as he really didn’t want

to struggle any longer.
 A Snap of the finger! Prancing Tiger! Fufeng Double-edged
sword!…..

He started casting out his wide variety of techniques, with

both hands, as he launched a sharp train of attacks.

Since Bi Fan had shifted gears in a matter of seconds, Li Xuan

Feng was unable to cope up, and got caught by his attacks,
repeatedly, until he had no more steam left in him.

“Rainy-fly Sword!” Bi Fan, suddenly, launched his strongest

attack, and pierced his sword through Li Xuan Feng’s chest.

With Li Xuan Feng dead, Bi Fan turned his attention to Tian

Long Yu. Tian Long Yu was already on the verge of being
overrun, and now that he was faced with four people at once, he
didn’t even last a few seconds.

“Sweep the battlefield, so can leave quickly.” Bi Fan said.

The four of them were quite skilled at this next part, and
quickly finished cleaning out the battlefield, following which
they quickly left the scene.
 As a precaution, before leaving the scene, they each searched
in different directions to make sure that no one was secretly
spying on their fight, as they really didn’t want any witnesses to
the incident.

The members in Li Xuan Feng’s team were all well-known

people, and if word got out, then they would definitely be in
trouble. Even if the Zheng Qi sect was unable to take any official
action, they could still resort to sending assassins after the four
of them to avenge their disciples.

Moreover, Bi Fan’s team had just procured an Abyss Dragon’s

nucleus. If this secret became public, then the four of them
would definitely have to face a lot of contention for their
treasures.

After the four of them left the pool, they immediately started
searching for a secretive place to restore their energies, and
divide the loot.

This was another big bounty, and the four of them were quite
excited. Lone Leaf, Wang Zhong, and Blue Dragon, especially,
were unable to control themselves, since each of them was
desperately hoping to land the nucleus.
 Chapter 108 – Exit

Li Xuan Feng’s team must have robbed a lot of strong man,

and Bi Fan’s team counted one hundred and fifty three Yin Yang
pouches from the plunder. Majority of these pouches were filled
with the bodies of the Devil’s Race, while the others were filled
with other kinds of riches.

However, the most precious item of then all, was the Abyss
Dragon’s nucleus; in fact, it was priceless.

Wang Zhong, Lone Leaf, and Blue Dragon, stared at the

nucleus, as they held their breaths.

If they hadn’t obtained the Jungle Python’s eggs, then they

may not have been as anxious as they were at present.

But now, in the future, they were going to have a Jungle

Python as a pet. And once they were able to provide their pet
with a nucleus to feed on, then their pet would evolve a lot
faster; not to mention, that its strength would also advance as it
evolves.
 “I will not be participating in the competition for the Abyss
Dragon’s nucleus, so you guys decide on how it will be
assigned.” Bi Fan said.

The Chimera had already swallowed the Nucleus which they

had obtained from the Jungle Python; so naturally, Bi Fan was a
little embarrassed to contest for another one.

Wang Zhong and the other two discussed amongst

themselves, and came to an agreement, that they decide the
winner on the basis of luck. However, the winner wouldn’t get
anything else from the loot, while the winner’s share would be
divided between the other two.

Bi Fan was the referee. He took out three identical wooden

pieces, but only marked a sign on one of them. The person, who
gets the marked wooden stick, gets the Nucleus.

The lottery began, and the three contenders were quite

nervous. Their lips continued to move in silent prayers.

“So, let’s see who’s in luck today.” Bi Fan laughed.

 The three of them humbly declined to take the first chance for
a while, but then eventually, Lone Leaf stepped up.

Lone Leaf picked out a stick, and carefully looked at it:

“Blank!” suddenly, his expression changed to a very depressed
one.

Wang Zhong was next, but returned empty handed, just like
Lone Leaf.

Blue Dragon didn’t need to draw out the last stick; he had
already won the contest. He almost yelled out in excitement.

“It’s mine! The Nucleus is mine!” Blue Dragon’s smile was

extending from one ear to the other; literally.

The biggest prize had gone to Blue Dragon, so to say that the
two weren’t jealous, wouldn’t be true, but still both, Lone Leaf
and Wang Zhong, were happy for their friend.

After this, division of the remaining items was a lot easier.

The bodily armors and weapons were divided by Bi Fan as usual.
 As for the bodies of the Devil’s Race and the Yin Yang
pouches, they used a points system which they had developed
along the way. Bi Fan had the least amount of points, since he
had taken most of Li Xuan Feng’s material, which was the best,
so he only got one fifth of the remaining bounty.

Whereas, the remaining, four-fifth of the bounty, was equally

divided between, Wang Zhong and Lone Leaf.

“This trip has been so rewarding, now we’ll have plenty on

money to support our practice.” Lone Leaf was extremely
excited.

He was really thanking his stars that he had decided to

befriend Bi Fan, otherwise he would have never been able to
procure so much wealth in such a short time, let alone increase
his strength to its present level.

Lone Leaf’s strength had been advancing by leaps and bounds,

and it wasn’t going to be long, before he would reach his target;
the peak of the ‘transformation’ layer.

As long as he was successfully able to reach the peak of the

‘transformation’ layer, Lone Leaf could use the Ogre Flower
petal he owned, and could easily break into the ‘Emerging from
the Womb’ layer.

In this world, people below of the ‘Emerging from the Womb’

layer, were usual regarded as ordinary folk, while practitioners
who were either in the ‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer, or
higher, were regarded as strong.

The Jiu Yu Da Sect, especially, would only consider ‘Emerging

from the Womb’ layer disciples to be formal disciples of the
Sect, and all others would only get the status of outside disciples
(Neimen disciples), unless the person in question was the son or
daughter of an elder.

Once a person becomes a formal disciple, he is able to enjoy a

very specialized treatment, and experiences a great
enhancement in their social status.

Lone Leaf’s short term goal was to reach the ‘Emerging from
the Womb’ level, so he could be indicted into his Sect as a
formal disciple.

Now that his target was within his reach, he was obviously
quite excited: “Brother Bi Fan, lets continue to hunt the Devil’s
Race.”

“Of course, but as soon as you reach the peak of the

‘transformation’ layer, we will immediately exit the Abyss.” Bi
Fan said: “We are carrying a lot of wealth on our hands, and if
word gets out, then I’m pretty sure that we’d attract more
people than the Stone Giant did.”

“Haha, that’s certain.” Blue Dragon laughed.

It was an obvious fact. They were carrying the body of a Dark

Drake, Jungle Python eggs, an Abyss Dragon’s body and his
Nucleus, plus a huge amount of Devil’s Race carcass; so many
treasures were enough to make any man crazy.

Bi Fan’s team chose a new direction and continued on their

way, and into the forest.

At present, they were much less interested in scraping for

valuables, and were only concentrating on helping Lone Leaf
advance to the peak of the ‘transformation’ layer.
 Even when they were at the pool, they didn’t go looking for
any treasure that the Abyss Dragon may have been guarding.

Party because they had just killed Li Xuan Feng’s team, and
didn’t want to linger around the spot for too long, as they were
afraid of being spotted by other humans.

And secondly, because the pool seemed very deep; Bi Fan’s

team didn’t have any equipment to conduct a proper search
inside such a deep pool, which is why they had decided to forget
about the treasure inside it, if any.

At present, even Blue Dragon wasn’t trying to contest with

Lone Leaf, and whenever they ran into a Devil’s Race beast,
Lone Leaf would promptly charge forward.

At his present strength, Lone Leaf was more than capable of

dealing with anything that was below the ‘Emerging from the
Womb’ layer.

After each battle, Lone Leaf would meditate and enhance his
energy, and then inspect his progress.
 Wang Zhong had been assisting Lone Leaf by giving him
directions, owing to which his strength was increasing even
faster.

Three months had passed since their entry into the Abyss. At
present, the four of them were walking around the deepest parts
of the Devil’s Secret Forest, and had already collected a great
number of valuables; a feat, which they couldn’t even have
imagined upon their entry into the Abyss.

Another battle later, Lone Leaf finally managed to reach the

peak of the ‘transformation’ layer.

“I’ve finally reached the pinnacle of the ‘transformation’

layer. Now, I’ll immediately take the Ogre Flower petal upon my
return, and the will soon break into the ‘Emerging from the
Womb’ layer; I’ll become a formal disciple of my Sect!” Lone
Leaf exclaimed; he could barely believe his own words.

Formerly, the Bei Ming faction had only considered Lone Leaf
to be an ordinary outer disciple, but now, he would soon come
to the forefront, and would be accepted into the Bei Ming Sect
as a formal disciple.
 After taking the Ogre Flower petal, he would be able to make
the breakthrough with ease, and his skills would see a major
enhancement. Such an achievement at such a young age, would
guarantee him a formal disciple’s spot in the Bei Ming Sect.

Lone Leaf continued to smile, as he tried to imagine the new

range of benefits which he would now have access to.

“Brother Leaf, congratulations!” Blue Dragon was a little

envious, but he too had already managed to reach the peak of
the ‘Enormous Strength’ layer.

Bi Fan also congratulated Lone Leaf on his achievement. On

the surface, Bi Fan was the weakest member of their team, as he
was only at the peak of the ‘Spiritual intelligence’ layer. But his
physical force, itself, had surpassed eleven Yun Shi.

In terms of overall strength, Bi Fan was still the strongest

fighter in the team.

As for the Chimera, well, he still hadn’t woken up. He had

been asleep for a long time now, which was an indication that
his strength would have seen a significant improvement when
he finally wakes up.
 The Marten had really enjoyed this trip inside the Secret
Forest of the Devil, as he had gotten an opportunity to eat a
wide range of herbs. Had he collected them instead, and sold
them in the market, then he too, would have made a lot of
money; but then again, he didn’t really care.

The Marten’s speed seemed to have increased, while his nose

had become even more sensitive.

Anyway, he seemed to be heading in the right direction; so

naturally, Bi Fan was quite happy about it.

Wang Zhong, Lone Leaf, and Blue Dragon’s Jungle Python

eggs hadn’t hatched yet, which was a good thing, as they didn’t
want the aura inside the Devil’s Abyss to have any negative
impact on their newborn pets.

They had already decided; upon their return, they would first
try to wash off any remaining negative Aura around the eggs,
before attempting to incubate them.

“We should head by back now.” Bi Fan said.

 Lone Leaf sighed, and said: “Yes, ah. I hope I get more
opportunities to fight alongside you, Brothers.”

“Definitely. We’ll have more chances; otherwise we can

always meet each other in the Jiu Yu city and catch up.” Blue
Dragon laughed.

Wang Zhong said: “After I get out, I’ll also be making my way
to the Jiu Yu city.”

“I also want to go the Jiu Yu city once, and then I’ll head out
again.” Bi Fan also expressed his desire.

The four of them parted their ways, and left the Devil’s Abyss.

However, the four of them were completely unaware of the

developments that had happened outside the Devil’s Abyss, in
their absence.

- End of Book 03 -
 Chapter 109 – Return

Bi Fan used the Jade tablet that he had been provided with,
and returned to the Yang Shan peak in an instant.

Even though the Yang Shan peak served as the residence to

Ling Xin Ya, deputy of the Quinyang Sect, most of the Quinyang
school disciples didn’t live here.

Bi Fan returned to the peak, and no had even found out about
it.

However, Bi Fan still wanted to meet his master once, since he

thought that his master might have gotten a little worried.

Ling Xin Ya had treated him pretty well, and Bi Fan wasn’t the
kind who’d forget favors, and violate justice.

Bi Fan had just made his return to the Yang Shan Peak, when
he ran into his senior, Yang Feng.

“Young one, you finally came back. Master has asked about
you several times. Every time, he’d say that he was beginning to
regret sending you into the Devil’s Abyss.” Yang Feng laughed.

Yang Feng’s had a silly laugh, but even then, it was still quite
friendly.

“Thank you Brother. Now that you mention, it is my fault, I

must have caused Master a lot of anxiety. Is the Master in?” Bi
Fan asked.

He was a little touched, as he hadn’t expected Ling Xin Ya to

worry about him that much.

In most of the Sects, especially the populated ones, the

Masters never really bothered about their disciples’ life and
death. They only focused their attention on those very few,
highly talented, disciples.

Ling Xin Ya was the deputy of the Quinyang Sect, so he wasn’t

really expected to bother about ordinary folk much.

Bi Fan had somehow managed to become his direct disciple,

which was nothing short of a miracle.
 Yang Feng said: “Master is undertaking a closed-door practice;
but Master said that, whenever you come back, you must meet
him right away.”

Bi Fan wouldn’t neglect his Master’s orders, and quickly

followed Yang Feng’s lead, as he prepared to pay his Master a
visit.

“Master, young Bi Fan, has safely returned.” Yang Feng

informed in advance.

After a while, a singular voice came from within the

residence: “Ah, Bi Fan, you came back. Come in.”

Bi Fan and Yang Feng, both, entered into Ling Xin Ya’s
practice chambers.

His chambers, were as simply as always, and they both found

themselves prayer mats to sit on.

Ling Xin Ya, carefully, measured Bi Fan up for a moment,

smiled, and then said: “Great!! You’ve managed to reach the
peak of the ‘spiritual intelligence’ layer in such a short time.
Sending you inside the Devil’s Abyss for training, was
worthwhile after all.”

“Thank you Master. It wasn’t my intention to cause you so

much worry.” Bi Fan apologized respectfully.

“Do not apologize; your increase in strength has been worth it

all. There are barely a few months left, and you must prepare to
participate in the Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon competition. You must
take advantage of the time that’s left, and use it to practice here
at the peak of Yang Shan. If you have any doubts, you can
consult you senior, Yang Feng, and if you still need help, then
you can come to me.” Ling Xin Ya’s face was smiling now.

Bi Fan was turning into a good student, and he was beginning

to like him even more.

Bi Fan was talented, persistent, and courageous; he had all the

prerequisites to make a strong fighter one day.

Ling Xin Ya was finally ready to train Bi Fan properly, as most

of his other students weren’t up to the mark. Honestly, he only
had two other decent disciples, both of whom didn’t come back
very often, while his other students lacked the basic
requirements. Bi Fan on the other hand, was ripe for training.

Ling Xin Ya wanted to train Bi Fan up, with the intention of

turning him into the supporting pillar of the Yang Shan peak.

This world is full of competition, so much so, that there’s a lot

of competition even within the same Sect.

In fact, competition was one of the founding roots of any

faction.

There are thirty six branches, each with its own peak of
residence, under the Congress of the Quinyang Sect, and each of
these peaks have their own disciples. So naturally, there is a lot
of competition amongst these branches.

Ling Xin Ya was the deputy of the faction, which was a very
high position; so obviously, a lot of other Masters wanted his
spot.

Since the Yang Shan peak hadn’t produced any spectacular

disciples so far, the other branches of the faction had started
using the same against him, and had started questioning Ling
Xin Ya’s position.

If things didn’t change soon, then the Yang Shan peak would
eventually fall under the control of another.

The Yang Shan peak was the designated spot for the Deputy’s
residence. The man, who occupied the position of the Deputy,
would have the right to reside at the Yang Shan peak.

Ling Xin Ya has been living at the peak of Yang Shan for over
a hundred years; naturally, he didn’t want to vacate it.

In recent years, Ling Xin Yan has been spending a lot of time
looking for good disciples, in order to train them, but
unfortunately, he hadn’t succeeded in find anyone worthy.

At the last selection tournament, he took a shine to Bi Fan,

and wanted to see what Bi Fan’s true potential was.

Bi Fan had raised his strength to a significant level in a very

short time, and had even returned intact from the Devil’s Abyss,
after spending almost three months in the realm. At present, he
had started considering Bi Fan a very valuable talent; and Bi Fan
had finally passed Ling Xin Ya’s real test.

“Master, would it possible for me to take a trip to Yu Nu Feng

first? It’s been a while since I’ve been out, Xiao Feng, and the
others, must be worried.” Bi Fan said.

“Of course, that’s not an issue. You must go and say ‘hello’ to
them.” Ling Xin Ya smiled: “In future, don’t shy away from
making such decisions, and there’s no need to consulting me
either about such things; I’m not that old-fashioned.”

“Thank you, Master!” Bi Fan said.

Ling Xin Ya said: “Yang Feng, you will train with your
younger Brother. You must help him make the breakthrough to
the next layer before the Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon tournament.
The odds of him getting a better rank are higher, if he makes the
breakthrough.”

Ling Xin Ya wasn’t aware of Bi Fan’s physical strength yet,

and he had no idea about Bi Fan’s real capability yet. He just
wanted Bi Fan to get a rank, which was high enough to sound
impressive.

Since he had already decided to mentor Bi Fan properly now,

he wanted to give Bi Fan as much exposure as possible.

“Master, when I was inside the Devil’s Abyss, I managed to

procure Jungle Python eggs. Please decide its fate, Master.” Bi
Fan took out a Jungle Python egg.

Bi Fan had thought about this very carefully. Ling Xin Ya was
already quite fond of him, but if Bi Fan made some significant
contributions to the Sect’s future, then Ling Xin Ya would
defend him with even more vigor.

“What? You actually managed to procure Jungle Python

eggs!” Ling Xin Ya was completely astonished.

He took the egg, and carefully inspected it over and over

again: “This is a real Jungle Python’s egg, and it’s alive as well.
How did you manage to get this?”

“After entering into the Devil’s Abyss, I united with a few

other disciples, and we managed to form a team of four. We
were barely able to kill off a Jungle Python, and unexpectedly
managed to get our hands on the eggs it had laid.” Bi Fan said.

Ling Xin Ya said: “Well, since you’ve won this egg, I give it
back to you. I hope it serves you well.”

“Master, I was hoping that you’d give it to a Brother who

deserves it more than I do.” Bi Fan refused to accept it.

Ling Xin Ya said: “You’ve procured this egg with your hard
work, so you must be its Master.”

“Master, I really don’t require it. I’ve already got a pet, a

Chimera, so I don’t need a Jungle Python. And… I have more
Jungle Python eggs. So please accept the egg, Master.” Bi Fan
smiled.

“You Boy… are very good, and you’ve done very well. Yes, I
will accept your gift.” Ling Xin Ya said: “Again, ask your
Brother for anything that you need, and he’ll help you arrange
the necessary provisions.”

“Yes Master, I will.” Bi Fan said.

 Now that Ling Xin Ya had accepted the Jungle Python’s egg,
Bi Fan was confident that his Master would show more care to
his progress and well-being.

Furthermore, Bi Fan had also, tactically, used this opportunity

to inform his master about the Chimera. So now, he wouldn’t
have to face any questioning about it in the future.

Due to the whole Jungle Python affair, Ling Xin Ya hadn’t

even payed any attention to the matter surrounding the
Chimera, and was unlikely to inspect any deeper into it in the
future either.

Owing to his selfless behavior, Bi Fan had already managed to

win Ling Xin Ya, and Yang Feng’s recognition. So now, they
were both quite likely to be more generous to him.

Soon after, Bi Fan related a few more encounters of his

adventures inside the Devil’s Abyss, but decided to conceal some
of the most important ones.

Like the incidents involving the deaths of Jian Shen’s Tian

Feng, and Gu Feng, and the death of Li Xuan Feng etc. These
incidents needed to stay a secret, otherwise, the consequences of
their leak, were bound to bring endless trouble for him.

If the Zheng Qi, or the Jian Shen Sect, came after Bi Fan,
seeking revenge, then even Ling Xin Ya might bow out, and may
not protect Bi Fan.

The severity of the matter required Bi Fan to be very discrete.

 Chapter 110 – Three Years In A Row

Bi Fan left the Yang Shan Peak with the intention of going to
Yu Nu Feng.

Bi Fan had just descended to down the peak, when he

suddenly recalled Zhu San and Daniu, the two men who had
bullied and insulted him in the past.

“Now it’s time to get back at them. At my present status, I

could kill off a couple of ordinary men, without raising much of
an issue.” Bi Fan thought to himself.

Holding a grudge against others wasn’t good for men with a

noble character.

But then again, Bi Fan wasn’t exactly a Noble Man, and

anyway, he had a flair for revenge.

“Excuse me, where do I find the nursery’s manager, Zhu

San?” Bi Fan was at Zhu San’s residence, but couldn’t locate
him, so he asked one of the orchard boys, who was lingering
around.
 “Zhu San, the manager, left the Quinyang hills a few months
ago. No one knows why…” That orchard boy seemed rather
puzzled about it: “The Quinyang hills pay so well, and he had
already become the manager here, so why would he leave
suddenly…. But anyway, now that he’s gone, our life has
become a lot easier here.”

Bi Fan was a little grouchy, as he spoke in an undertone: “Zhu

San must have found out that the devil’s disciple he sent after
me is dead. He must be afraid that I would come after him, so he
left early. Zhu San, you’re not going to get away. If I ever find
out where you went, I’ll make you suffer to no end.”

Soon after, Bi Fan decided to go looking for the other boys

who used to bully him, including Daniu, and found out that
they had all left a few months ago as well.

Obviously, they all too, were afraid of Bi Fan’s retaliation, and

left, as they must have feared for their lives.

Bi Fan had no other option but to contend with settling this

matter by leaving it unresolved, as it was impossible for him to
go checking about their whereabouts at this time, let alone kill
them, especially since the Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon contest was
approaching.

“Well, I guess I’ll just go to Yu Nu Feng now, and then head

back to Yang Shan for a closed-door practice.” Bi Fan started
walking towards the Yu Nu Feng peak.

The road to Yu Nu Feng was so beautiful, that it was almost

like a dream. Bi Fan entered the mountain, and a sense of
intimacy returned to his being, almost as if he was returning
home after a long time.

“Xiao Feng, I’m back.” Bi Fan looked very excited.

“Oh, Bi Fan, you’re back! ah, good, yes, but you’re also a little
taller now.” Xiao Feng dropped her work and sudden ran out to
meet him. She smiled and said: “Hey, you didn’t tell us when
you’d come back, and then you were gone for so long, and then
you didn’t send us any message either, do you know how
worried we were?”

“Xiao Feng, were you really that worried about me?” Bi Fan
really couldn’t hold it back.
 “Don’t change the subject. Now tell me honestly, were did you
take off to?” Xiao Feng asked him.

By now, most of the Yu Nu Feng girls had found out, and were
coming over to greet Bi Fan, warmly.

Bi Fan quickly told them about his time inside the Devil’s
Abyss, but he didn’t go into the details.

“Oh boy, you dared to enter into the Devil’s Abyss for
fighting!” Xiao Feng was really surprised. She knew how
terrifying a place the Devil’s Abyss can be, and she herself had
never dared to enter the Abyss.

Bi Fan said: “My strength isn’t much, so I had to take the risk
of entering the Devil’s Abyss for the sake of increasing the pace
of my progress.”

“What realm have you reached now?” Xiao Feng asked him.

“Peak of the ‘Spiritual intelligence’ layer.”

 “So quickly?! You’ve almost caught up with me, and you’ve
only started practicing, ah.” Xiao Feng was completely
surprised.

Xiao Feng had been following Yan Yu Si since childhood, and

practiced for almost a decade before she managed to reach the
‘Enormous strength’ layer. She could’ve never imagined that Bi
Fan would be capable of catching up to her in less than a year.

But then again, she figured that Bi Fan is genius, so there’s no

competing with people like him.

Xiao Feng really didn’t know what to say, since she was
overwhelmed with astonishment.

“Xiao Feng, you taught me the basics, otherwise, I would still

just be an orchard boy.” Bi Fan said: “I will always be grateful to
you, and the miss.”

“Well, that is true.” Xiao Feng laughed.

Xiao Feng had the most perfect, and charming, smile.

 Bi Fan couldn’t help but stare for a few seconds, and then he
suddenly thought of Jing Feng, so he asked: “Has Brother Jing
Feng returned yet?”

“Why are you asking me? I don’t know anything about his
circumstances.” Xiao Feng’s face turned red out of anxiety.

Bi Fan was puzzled, as he had no idea about this situation.

One of the Yu Nu Feng girls came to Bi Fan’s side, and

whispered: “There’s been no news of Jing Feng, and Xiao Feng
is quite mad about it.”

“Oh!” Bi Fan said, as he realized.

“Why would I be angry?! Quit gossiping.” Xiao Feng was

angry all of a sudden.

When angry, Xiao Feng was no less than a lioness, and the
other Yu Nu Feng girls quickly disappeared out of sight.
 “Xiao Feng, Jing Feng must still be practicing, and he must
have already broken into the ‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer.”
Bi Fan tried to reassure her.

Xiao Feng replied: “I don’t care what realm he has reached. It

makes no difference to me.”

Bi Fan figured that Xiao Feng would only get angrier, if he

mentioned Jing Feng again, so he quickly changed the subject:
“Xiao Feng, do you know when the miss will come back?”

“She will come back for the Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon

tournament, and she will also be participating in the Jiu Yu
Imperial List tournament for her Sect’s honor.” Xiao Feng told
him. (The competition which has been mentioned in the first
two volumes is the Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon competition, while
the Jiu Yu Imperil List is newly mentioned one, a more
advanced one. It was quite confusing until now, since these
tournaments weren’t described in the novel, while being
constantly mentioned.)

“The Jiu Yu imperial List!” Bi Fan was suddenly jealous. The

minimum requirement for entering the Jiu Yu Imperial List
tournament was ‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer.
 Bi Fan was fairly strong, but it would still be a while before he
can reach the ‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer.

Once strength starts increasing, progressing forward gets even

more difficult, and it starts taking longer to break into the next
layer.

Xiao Feng started laughing: “What are you think? Your

strength is not enough to participate in the Jiu Yu Imperial List
yet, so don’t you think about participating already.”

“Is the miss ranked in the Imperial List?” Bi Fan asked.

“In the last tournament, miss lost to a Wu Ji disciple, and

ended up ranking second.” Xiao Feng told Bi Fan.

Bi Fan was quite surprised: “Is the Wu Ji Sect that strong?

They managed to win both, Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon as well as the
Jiu Yu Imperial List in the same year!” (Jing Feng mentioned a
guy who won the Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon tournament, back at
the end of the Second Volume. That guy was also from the Wu
Ji Sect.)
 “Not just that, the Wu Ji Sect has been occupying the first
spot in the tournaments for the last three years in a row.” Xiao
Feng told him.

“Wow, I didn’t know that they were so powerful.” Bi Fan was

shocked.

Xiao Feng looked at him, and said: “Bi Fan, don’t ever provoke
the Wu Ji Sect, they have one of the largest backings in the
world. They are backed by the Yuan Shi faction.”

“I know.” Bi Fan nodded.

In this world, the Yuan Shi Faction was the uncrowned

overlord, and was easily the most powerful force in the world of
martial arts. Although there are other very powerful Sects in
the Jiu Yu Da, but none of those Sects are strong enough to
match up to the Yuan Shi Faction’s strength.

Basically, it would take at least two Jiu Yu Da Sects to match

up to their singular power.

The Wu Ji Faction had excellent ties with the Yuan Shi

Faction, so naturally offending the Wu Ji Sect wasn’t a good
idea.

Even if the Yuan Shi Sect didn’t come into play, the Wu Ji
Sect was far too powerful for the Quinyang Sect alone.

Anyway, Bi Fan had just managed to acquire the status of a

disciple, so there’s no way he’d live to tell the tale, if he ever
managed to offend them.

Xiao Feng asked him: “Bi Fan, you will be going for the Jiu Yu
Hidden Dragon, right?”

“Well, I will participate.”

“Then you must be careful. In a contest like that one,

causalities are inevitable, so you must not push yourself too
hard, okay?” Xiao Feng told him.

“Thank you, I’ll take care.” Bi Fan felt very grateful.

From childhood, and till the day he met Xiao Feng and Yan Yu
Si, no one had ever cared for him.

Yan Yu Si was the first person who had ever given Bi Fan any
importance, and had taught him the basics of martial arts.
Whereas, Xiao Feng had always looked after Bi Fan, and to him,
was almost like family.

Bi Fan decided to stay the night in Yu Nu Feng and rest, in

order to refresh himself for his practice at the Yang Shan peak.

In the evening, the entire Yu Nu Feng was bustling with

excitement, since the girls had decided to celebrate Bi Fan’s safe
return.
 Chapter 111 – Breakthrough

The following morning, braving Xiao Feng’s persuasion to

retain him at the Peak, Bi Fan left Yu Nu Feng.

His first priority was to enhance his strength as soon as

possible; he had no time to tarry.

Once he was away from Yu Nu Feng, Bi Fan quicken up his

pace, as he tried to rush his way towards the Yang Shan Peak in
the sunny weather.

“Look it’s that kid again, ah.” A cynical, and rather

unpleasant voice, came from behind.

Bi Fan turned around to look, and found Luo Sheng standing

behind him.

Bi Fan’s face turned ugly as he saw the proud look on his

enemy’s face.

He sized Luo Sheng up, and realized that Luo Sheng had
already reached the ‘Transformation’ layer, which was probably
the reason behind his smug face.

In the months that Bi Fan was gone, Luo Sheng had been
mentored by his grandfather, Luo Xiao Tian. His strength had
been growing by leaps and bounds, and he was becoming even
more confident of himself.

“Are you done? I don’t have time for this, good-bye.” Bi Fan
turned around to leave; he really didn’t want to look at Luo
Sheng’s smug face, until he had beaten him.

Luo Sheng’s grandfather is a big shot; he is one of the elders at

the Quinyang Sect, which is one of the reasons why Luo Sheng
carried himself with so much arrogance; and Bi Fan couldn’t
stand it.

Luo Sheng said in a cold voice: “I’m just here to see you, what
are you afraid of?”

“I don’t have time for this….” Bi Fan simply cast him aside, as
he started walking away.
 “Stop!” Luo Sheng yelled after him.

In the Quinyang Sect, no disciple had ever treated him with as

much disrespect, so naturally, Luo Sheng was quite angry.

Bi Fan repeated himself, and this time, in a relatively colder

tone: “I don’t have time for your games, I’m busy.”

“Bi Fan, our contest is approaching, and in a few months,

when the time comes, I will personally kill you.” Luo Sheng
smiled arrogantly.

“I’ll say it again; I don’t have time for your non-sense.” Bi Fan
turned around again, and started walking even faster now.

Luo Sheng’s eyes were cold, as he yelled after Bi Fan: “Bi Fan,
I will humiliate you, and then, I will kill you.”

Bi Fan paid no attention to Luo Sheng’s words; he was more

concerned with Luo Sheng’s grandfather, Luo Xiao Tian.

Nowadays, Bi Fan had a very different target in his mind. He

wanted to oust the like of Ying Tian, Yan Yu Si’s senior.

Only a man of Ying Tian’s strength is regarded as a true

leader, of their generation, in the real martial arts world.

Soon after, Bi Fan returned to the Yang Shan Peak. After

informing Ling Xin Ya of his return, he started his practice.

This time, his target was to reach the ‘Enormous strength’

layer.

But, Bi Fan had no intention of taking Dan Pellets to support

his growth, as he knew that with continued practice, he would
be able to make the breakthrough, sooner or later.

Bi Fan wasn’t anxious about reaching the target that had been
set for him and continued to practice relentlessly, knowing that
he would achieve the landmark in due course of time.

During the day, Bi Fan would practice with Yang Feng, who
would teach him more about the ‘Fufeng Double-edged sword’
and the ‘Floating Sword’ techniques.
 Yang Feng had been practicing for decades, and had a very
profound understanding of the techniques.

Now that Bi Fan was learning under his supervision, his own
personal understanding started to improve, and it didn’t take
long before he was even able to learn the second form, ‘Flurry
Sword’, and the third form, ‘Rainstorm Sword’, of the ‘Floating
Sword’ technique.

The Second form of the technique, ‘The Flurry Sword’, is

purely designed for speed, and could be used to defeat the
opponent by beating his pace.

The third form, ‘The Rainstorm Sword’, is an even more

violent technique, which is designed for both speed and
strength, and is far more powerful than the first two forms.

Each of these forms is quite different from the other, almost

to point, where they could be considered separate techniques
altogether.

Up until now, Bi Fan only knew one powerful technique

proficiently, ‘The Rainy-Fly Sword’, but with the addition of
these two new powerful skills, his strength started to increase
even faster.

Not only that, Bi Fan’s understanding of his martial skills also

started to deepen.

In the Quinyang Sect, the ‘Floating Sword’ is given the status

of a four-star technique, and is regarded as a high-level skill. It
is said that the most powerful skill of the Quinyang Sect, is a
skill known as the ‘Wave Breaker’, which is regarded as a six-
star martial skill.

In the Jiu Yu Da Sects, however, even a Six Star martial Skill

is only regarded as an intermediate technique, and most of these
Sects are known to even have nine-star martial skill of their
own.

The higher the ‘star’ rating of a martial skill, the powerful it is

supposed to be, so naturally, acquiring these skills is very
crucial for any martial artist.

“Young one, you are too perceptive. I really have nothing

more left to teach you.” Yang Feng was quite excited.
 In the past, when Yang Feng had learned these techniques,
Ling Xin Ya had personally trained him, and it had taken him
over a year to learn these forms properly.

But Bi Fan had learnt the second, and third, form of the
‘floating sword’ technique in only a few days, and had even
become quite skilled with their usage.

“Big Brother, the credit goes to your teaching ability;

otherwise I would never have been able to learn these skills so
quickly.” Bi Fan smiled.

The ‘Floating Sword’ technique even has a fourth form, but

for the time-being, Bi Fan wasn’t capable of practicing the form,
but regardless, Bi Fan felt quite satisfied with his progress.

In the evenings, Bi Fan would dedicate his time to practicing

the methods which were described in the battered jade book,
and his physical strength was also seeing steady progress.

Bi Fan’s schedule was jam-packed with training, and he barely

had any time for sleep.
 In a blink of an eye, a month passed by, and he finally reached
that critical stage for making the breakthrough.

The leap from the peak of the ‘Spiritual Intelligence’ layer, to

the ‘Enormous strength’ layer, was a very painful one, but Bi
Fan didn’t mind the process.

Bi Fan was only concerned about his progress, and had already
deleted the word ‘pain’ from his dictionary a long time ago.

Once he had accumulated enough energy, he prepared to

make the breakthrough, and was able to achieve his goal
without facing any hiccups.

Now that he had successfully reached the ‘Enormous

Strength’ layer, Bi Fan could sense the increase in his energy,
and even his physical strength had increased to twelve Yun Shi.

If he applied his entire strength, then Bi Fan could notch a

force of twenty-two Yun Shi, which was equivalent to the force
achieved by an ‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer practitioner, at
a stable state.
 However, ‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer martial artists,
are backed by their body’s Aura, which is why their fighting
ability would easily exceed Bi Fan’s.

Once he had made the breakthrough, Bi Fan continued to

practice in order to stabilize the state.

After making the breakthrough, Bi Fan started practicing the

entire range of his skill set, as he wished to explore his new
abilities.

Bi Fan had no time to sit idly; he was busy, ever moment of

every day.

Another month passed by, and Bi Fan had learnt a lot of new
thing about his skills, and had even managed to stabilize his
new state, as he continued to prepare for the approaching Jiu
Yu Hidden Dragon tournament.

Whatever time remained in his daily schedule, Bi Fan would

usually spend it studying the book of Seals, which he had
purchased from the Ting Feng valley. (A seal is basically like a
charm, or a rune.)
 The book which had purchased, only contained the most basic
information, and only spoke about the most basic runes.

But Bi Fan had always felt that a book with a golden cover,
like his, must have something special about it.

Bi Fan had gone over the contents of the Book several times,
but hadn’t found anything useful, yet.

But Bi Fan wasn’t the kind to give up easily, and continued to

study the book over and over again, hoping that he might have
missed something out.

At present, Bi Fan had studied the book more times than he

could remember, but still hadn’t found anything useful.

“What a completely useless book, I’ll tear this to pieces.” Bi

Fan was quite angry. He opened the book again, and started
removing its binding, out of anger.

His anger had gotten his better of his patience, as he started

ripping out the book’s binding.
 Suddenly, something fell to the ground, and Bi Fan bent over
to pick it up.

“Hey, this seems like a Charm, why was it hidden inside the
cover?” Bi Fan couldn’t help but wonder.

He guessed that the Rune must be something of value, or else

it wouldn’t have been concealed inside the book’s cover.

Bi Fan looked at the rune again and again, but was unable to
identify it. He couldn’t see anything special about the rune; in
fact, it seemed quite ordinary to him.

“Damn it! I thought this might be something good after all.

But no, this book is still completely useless, ah!” Bi Fan tried
several times, but was simply unable to identify the Rune’s use.

He tried using the Rune by employing the various methods

which were descried in the book, but to no avail.

“That’s it!” Bi Fan threw the Rune on the floor, along with the
book.
 It seemed that he was out of luck this time. The object which
had ignited his passion, since he thought that it was a treasure,
was now the reason for his disappointment.

A While later, after Bi Fan had calmed down, he started

reorganizing the Book again. He could always sell the book back;
after all, it did have a golden cover.
 Chapter 112 – Shock Rune

“Shock Rune! Take the world by surprise!” Bi Fan suddenly

saw these words on the inside of the book’s binding, as he was
putting it back.

Without any hesitation, Bi Fan quickly got down on the floor,

and started organizing its cover again. He held the Book in
manner, as if he was holding a treasure in his hands.

“Shock Rune, it couldn’t be!” Bi Fan simply couldn’t believe

it.

On the inside of the cover, there were some writings, which

explained the basics, usage, and refining methods of Shock
Runes.

Shock Runes have different levels, two-colored, three-

colored…..and all the way up to nine-colored.

A two-colored Shock Rune increases a user’s strength to twice

in combat, which is an exceptional advantage. Whereas, a three
colored Rune increases the strength to four times. A four-
colored Rune expands the strength to eight times, and so on. So,
basically, a nine-colored Shock Rune would raise the fighting
power to two-hundred and fifty six times of the normal fighting
ability; the kind of power, which is simply unimaginable.

The last lines of the instructions were written in bold, ‘Shock

Runes require high physical strength to endure the effect of the
Rune. A higher level Shock Rune requires a higher physical
strength, before it can be used. Using a Shock Rune to increase
fighting capacity takes a huge toll on the user’s body, and can
even cause the body to explode if the body is unable to take the
load. Users must take extreme caution. Remember! Remember!’

In addition to this, the Book’s cover also explained the

methods which could be used to refine the various levels of
Shock Runes, and the materials which were required to achieve
them. So basically, as long as one had enough refining material,
it is even possible to synthesize a level nine Shock Rune.

“This Shock Rune is tailor made for me, this is amazing!” Bi

Fan was extremely excited.

The Rune which he had obtained was already capable of

turning into a level two Shock Rune, which would enhance his
strength to twice of his regular fighting capability.
 At present, Bi Fan’s total fighting strength was around
twenty-two Yun Shi, which, with the help of the Shock Rune,
could be expanded to forty-four Yun Shi. This kind of strength
would fully enable Bi Fan to compete against practitioners who
were inside the ‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer.

The usage of the Shock Rune was a difficult task, and the
Runes would require refining before usage, almost as if it was
magic.

Using such runes needed careful planning, and Bi Fan would

need to prepare the Rune in advance; and only then could these
Runes be used properly.

Since a level two Shock Rune doubles the total strength

output in battle, the energy consumption also increases
significantly.

On top of that, there’s the additional threat of over burdening

the body, which is why most people were never able to use these
Runes.
 Using these Runes must always be reserved for critical
moments only, and should not be used for recreation.

“I must practice the techniques, which are described in the

battered jade book, to enhance my physical strength, so I can
use the level two Shock Rune with ease. I need to prepare my
body to able to withstand that kind of load.” Bi Fan thought to
himself.

Recklessly relying on a hopelessly optimistic forecast, Bi Fan

started refining the Shock Rune first.

Just as he started refining the Rune, its texture started to

change. Two colors of lights started to embellish the charm, and
it started radiating beautifully in their light.

“Wow, this is amazing, ah, it seems like the lady luck is

favoring me. Ha Ha…..” Bi Fan started laughing.

Bi Fan tried to use the Shock Rune. The moment he tried to

harness the Rune’s power, he felt a large amount of power
rushing throughout his body, but in the pretext of enormous
pain. His body, at present, was unable to withstand this much
pain, and so, he stopped.
 However, now he knew that such power could be made use
off, if needed. Using such power would certainly be very
interesting, and he was more than happy to withstand a little bit
of pain to be able to access such immense strength.

Soon after, Bi Fan started practicing the methods which were

described in the battered Jade Book, with even more passion, as
he wanted to prepare his body to be able withstand the load of a
level two Shock Rune.

Now that Bi Fan had added a new ‘Killer’ weapon in his

arsenal, he made a decision, that he won’t be using this Shock
Rune unless the moment, absolutely, demanded it.

Moreover, he needed to keep the existence of this Shock Rune

a secret. If people found about its existence, then some people
might try to steal it from him.

Once Bi Fan had memorized the methods of refining the

Shock Rune, he incorporated the Book, and the Rune, inside his
Tian Yuan ring.
 As for the book of Runes, it wasn’t much use to him now,
since he had already memorized its contents, but still, he needed
to protect it from others.

Now that he had a Shock Rune in his possession, he needed to

enhance his physical strength in a way that his body could
sustain the load, which the Rune’s usage will endow on his
body. He started his practice, with the confidence, that in a few
days’ time, he should be able to withstand the load with ease.

Bi Fan’s physical strength was already quite high, so he knew

that he’d be able to use the Rune freely, soon enough.

At the time of the Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon tournament, Bi Fan

intended to use the Rune in secrecy, if need be, to register wins
over his opponents with ease, if need be.

Once he had mastered the usage of the Shock Rune, although

his total strength doubled, but his energy consumption was a lot
higher, owing to which, he wouldn’t be able to fight for long.
But his strength, after the enhancement, his strength was
tyrannical.

“It seems that the heavens are on my side. I’ll forge my path
to fame in no time.” Bi Fan laughed.

Youngsters always seek fame and glory. And Bi Fan wanted to

narrow down the distance that separated him from Yan Yu Si,
which is why his hunger for power was even deeper than that of
most others.

At present, Bi Fan’s strength was nothing in comparison, and

he desperately needed to improve it. At present, he wasn’t even
capable of standing in front of her with confidence, so the idea
of pursuing her was way out of question.

Yan Yu Si probably had many suitors, and some of them must

be the leaders of their generation. Bi Fan needed to be strong
enough to defeat these men; his low-key profile wasn’t going to
help him win her over.

Bi Fan’s short term goal was to rank, number one, in the Jiu
Yu Hidden Dragon tournament.

Soon after, Bi Fan started practicing the martial arts which he

had acquired over his travels, and started expanding his
understanding of these skills as well.
 Bi Fan had some very complex and impressive techniques in
his arsenal, some of the more advanced ones included, Rainy-fly
Sword, Prancing Tiger, The Immortal Finger, The Dance of
Mist, Free Burst, Fire and Ice Dragon Burst, The Rising Sun, The
Blood Devil, and more.

He had the right techniques. Now, if he was able to master

these skills, then, it was possible for him to establish a firm
foothold in the list of well-known leader of the younger
generation.

Bi Fan had already learnt the succeeding forms of these skills

as well.

But he hadn’t been able to practice the ‘The Immortal Finger’

and the ‘Dance of Mist’ properly, due to shortage of time, which
is why he was unable to use them properly for now.

‘The Immortal Finger’, as well as ‘The Dance of Mist’ had

become even more powerful now, and Bi Fan’s total output, of
both these moves, had increased significantly.

With these attacks to rely on, Bi Fan’s confidence was

reaching new heights.
 With only one month remaining, Ling Xin Ya personally
started teaching Bi Fan. He even started personally engaging Bi
Fan in combat to test his moves, and helped him perfect them.

Ling Xin Ya had a very sharp eye for spotting flaws, and he
pointed several flaws in Bi Fan’s techniques.

Whenever, he would spot a flaw, Bi Fan would try to

understand his mistake, and would then, immediately start
correcting his mistake, and then consult with Ling Xin Ya again.

Under Ling Xin Ya’s supervision, Bi Fan martial proficiency

started to lift very quickly, and even though he was casting out
the same skill, the output, and the power, was significantly
different.

Bi Fan could finally understand why the leading martial

artists of various sects were able to cast out their moves with so
much more excellence than their less renowned counterparts.
Guidance from a proper teacher is very important to learn a
skill proficiently.
 Bi Fan was already thanking his stars. Ling Xin Ya was a great
teacher, and being his direct disciple was turning out to be an
excellent learning experience. Moreover, Ling Xin Ya was a very
selfless man, and taught him without expecting anything in
return. Bi Fan had almost started worshipping his Master.

However, Ling Xin Ya hadn’t given Bi Fan any new techniques

thus far, since his strength was still fairly limited. If Ling Xin Ya
gave Bi Fan stronger techniques, than it is quite possible that it
may have a negative impact on his growth, and he may even die.

And it is for this reason itself, that Ling Xin Ya was refraining
from giving Bi Fan any powerful weapons as well, at least for
the time being.

“Bi Fan, the Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon is a big stage; you must
enjoy yourself, and play your strengths well. You will also learn
a lot of new things. But you mustn’t burden yourself with your
ranking; your life comes first. That’s always the most important
thing. Keep that in mind, always.” Ling Xin Ya’s words were
honest, and heartfelt.

“Thank you Master, I will keep that in mind.” Bi Fan was

overwhelmed with a sense of gratitude.
 Ling Xin Ya’s advice was common sense, but there are those
who are rarely presented with such huge opportunities, and
those, who have strived their entire lives for an opportunity like
this one. The things that such men can do to achieve their
objective, can sometimes defy justifiable means.

“Bi Fan, I heard that you have a bet with Luo Sheng, and that
you will duel him in the disciple’s tournament, is it true?” Ling
Xin Ya asked.

“Yes, Master. Luo Sheng forced me to it; I really didn’t have a

choice.” Bi Fan replied.

Ling Xin Ya said: “Bi Fan, Master does not blame you. Just be
careful, and remember, you must not kill Luo Sheng. His
grandfather, Luo Xiao Tian, is an elder, and a very influential
man. If you kill Luo Sheng, then I’m afraid that you won’t be
able to escape death.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Bi Fan nodded.

Ling Xin Ya said: “The Disciples tournament will probably

start first, and then you will also have to participate in the Jiu
Yu Hidden Dragon tournament; you must go and prepare
yourself for them.”

Bi Fan took his leave, and started his final preparations.

 Chapter 113 – Meeting Jing Feng

The Disciples tournament was about to start in a few days’

time, but Bi Fan had little incentive to do well in the
tournament. He only intended to rank in the top ten of the
tournament, and then, show his real ability in the Jiu Yu
Hidden Dragon tournament.

In addition to this, Bi Fan also had a ‘friendly’ against Luo

Sheng. Although Bi Fan would need to exercise caution, as he
couldn’t kill Luo Sheng, he still fancied the idea of humiliating
his enemy, which was his primary target with respect to the
Disciple’s tournament.

Since he needed to prepare rations, he met with Yang Feng to

arrange the necessary items, and then started descending down
the mountain.

After he had reached the valley, Bi Fan first wished to find out
about Jing Feng, since he had no information about his friend’s
return from the Devil’s territory.

Jing Feng’s senior, Li Xiang Yun, was a core disciple of the

Sect, and resided at the Heaven’s Peak.
 The Yang Shan Peak wasn’t very far away from the Heaven’s
Peak, and given Bi Fan’s pace, he made it to the Heaven’s Peak
entrance pretty quickly.

Upon his entry into the mountain, Bi Fan encountered a

Ranger. After identifying himself, Bi Fan was allowed to enter
the Mountain.

The Ranger informed Bi Fan of Jing Feng’s safe return, and Bi

Fan was overjoyed to know that his friend had returned safely.

Soon, Bi Fan made it to the core area of the Mountain, and

saw Jing Feng loitering about.

“Brother Jing Feng!”

“Brother Bi Fan!”

They were both very excited to see each other, and mutually
bumped their chests in greeting.
 Jing Feng smiled: “Brother Bi Fan, it seems that your strength
has seen a major enhancement since your indictment to the
Yang Shan Peak, I’m assuming that you’ve gained a lot of
experienced in the last few months ah?”

“Brother Jing Feng, I came back from my training a few

months ago, and I’ve just made the breakthrough recently.” Bi
Fan happily informed his friend: “How was your experience
inside the Devil’s Territory? You must have had an excellent
time there, right?”

“It was decent. I should be able to win the Disciple’s

tournament with ease this time.” Jing Feng was quite relaxed
about it.

Bi Fan said: “Brother Jing Feng, I’ll be participating as well,

and we’ll also have competition from Brother Blue Dragon in
the future. I believe that Brother Blue Dragon should have
already broken into the ‘Transformation’ layer…”

“Oh? Well, then I will not hold back. How do you know about
Brother Dragon’s circumstances?” Jing Feng asked.

Bi Fan smiled: “I entered into the Devil’s Abyss a while ago,

and bumped into Brother Dragon there. From there on, we
stuck together. So, I know his circumstances quite well. He had
already reached the peak of the ‘Enormous strength’ layer when
we exited the Abyss, so I’m confident that he must have already
reached the ‘transformation’ layer now.”

“You guys are progressing too quickly. It seems that if I slip

up, you will easily get ahead of me.” Jing Feng was quite
surprised.

Bi Fan said: “Brother Jing Feng, you’re too modest. Given

your skillfulness, I’m sure that you could have broken into the
‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer a long time ago. You must
have intentionally suppressed your progress to participate in
the Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon tournament. Am I right about that?”

“Bi Fan, you’re picking up really quickly. This isn’t a good

thing; you’re becoming too smart for your own good.” Jing
Feng laughed.

Bi Fan offered: “Brother Jing Feng, do you want a Pet to train,

and nurture? I’ve got Jungle Python eggs, do you want one?”

Bi Fan didn’t wish to train up these Jungle Python eggs on his

own, which is why he wanted to offer these as gifts to his
friends.

Bi Fan wanted to give one to Xiao Feng also, but then again,
girls aren’t overly fond of Serpents, which is why Bi Fan didn’t
make any mention about the Jungle Python eggs to Xiao Feng.

“Thank you Brother, you’re too kind. But, I already have a

Beast Pet.” Jing Feng laughed.

Bi Fan’s mood lit up, and he asked: “Really, ah, can you take it
out? I really want to see it!”

“My Pet is asleep, and won’t wake up for another few days. I
will use it in the Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon tournament. So you can
take a look at him then, Bi Fan.” Jing Feng said.

“Oh, okay.” Bi Fan was a little disappointed.

Jing Feng asked Bi Fan about the conditions inside the Devil’s
Abyss, and shared his own experiences from the Devil’s
territory, as the two of them continued to chatter.
 At noon, Bi Fan and Jing Feng enjoyed a sumptuous meal, and
then Bi Fan set out again.

At he descended down the Heaven’s Peak, Bi Fan didn’t intend

to return to the Yang Shan Peak just yet, as he wanted to return
to the Yu Nu Feng Peak for a few days, and enjoy that, warm,
homely feeling for a while.

Back at the Yu Nu Feng peak, Bi Fan was quite popular; after

all, Yu Nu Feng only had one man in it.

Several tender and beautiful girls surrounded Bi Fan upon his

return, and continued to chatter and joke about for a while; Bi
Fan was really enjoying himself.

However, Bi Fan had little interest in any of them, as he

wished to pursue Yan Yu Si now. He also had a flaming desire to
get even with Ying Tian, Yan Yu Si’s senior.

In the past, Bi Fan never expected this to become a reality, as

he simply couldn’t even dare to imagine pursuing Yan Yu Si.
 But with the improvement in his strength, Bi Fan’s confidence
had started to grow as well. Now, he was far more ambitious,
and had even started harboring the ambition of pursuing Yan
Yu Si.

Anyway, Bi Fan also had Shuai Ying Tian to thank for it. Had
Shuai Ying Tian not humiliated Bi Fan in the manner which he
had, Bi Fan may not have found the drive to do better, and may
never have harbored such ambitions. (Shaui is a title. It means
handsome, or commander, depending on context. Since it’s
used to with a person’s name, we won’t be using it very often.)

“Bi Fan, it a good thing that you think of Yu Nu Feng often;

it’s a very good thing. After all, this Peak is your home, and you
can always come back whenever you feel like. The Miss should
be back soon too, and you must stay till she returns. We intend
on having a grand treat when she returns.” Xiao Feng said.

Bi Fan felt like mentioning Jing Feng again, but he refrained

from the thought. Fate, after all, has its own measure, and one
mustn’t try to force love’s path.

In the evening, Bi Fan returned to his room. He released the

Marten from his pet belt, and took him out to the Orchard.
 The Orchard was now in the care of one of the female students
of Yu Nu Feng. Bi Fan had personally taught her a lot about the
herbs, and the garden was coming out quite well under her care.

“Creak!” the Marten was quite excited to return to the

Orchard again, and was bouncing about vivaciously. He simply
wouldn’t stop creaking.

“Greedy, time for your meal, ah.” Bi Fan laughed.

The Marten didn’t have a very big appetite, so Bi Fan wasn’t

worried that he’d destroy the Orchard. The only thing that they
needed to keep in mind was the fact, that they must not touch
the valuable herbs, which were placed on the right most part of
the Orchard.

The Marten knew the rules well, and picked out two, thirty-
five year old, Ginsengs, and leaped back onto Bi Fan’s shoulder
as he munched his meal.

Nowadays, the Marten wouldn’t even look at a decade-old

herb; after all, their time inside the Secret Forest of the Devil’s
Abyss had raised his standards, owing to the high quality of
herbs that he had feasted on there.
 Bi Fan looked about casually, and slowly started to scan the
Orchard. If he saw anything that needed some attention, he’d go
over and personally tend to the herb.

Unlike the pervious Orchard at the Quinayng School, where Bi

Fan worked under pressure to complete his tasks, Bi Fan had
worked on this Orchard like it was his own. He had a genuine
love for this Orchard, and had devoted his time and energy, to
its care, willing.

Once he was done, he returned to his room, and started

practicing.

Now that it was late in the evening, Bi Fan started practicing

the methods to increase his physical strength and the various
methods of the Blood Devil technique as well. The Blood Devil
technique was a secret method, and a forbidden one at that,
which is why Bi Fan wouldn’t dare to practice them in the day
time.

Ever since he had acquired the Shock Rune, improvement of

Physical Strength had taken a higher priority on his list.
 At Bi Fan’s present Physical Strength, it was possible for him
to expand his strength to up to three times of his total strength.
But if he tried to use the three-color variation of the Shock
Rune, then his body was unlikely to be able to take the load, and
he may end up causing severe damage to his body.

Even though Bi Fan knew the means to upgrade the Rune to

its three-colored variation, he wasn’t eager to do so. He was
curious to see the next level variation of the Rune, but he had
decided to wait till he was ready to use it, and continued to store
the required items he’d need for the upgrade.

Since he wanted to increase his Physical Strength as soon as

possible, Bi Fan had started devoting more time for practicing
the methods described in the Jade Book. Bi Fan was even using
the methods described in the Blood Devil technique, in order to
temper his body. Now that he was following a two-pronged
approach, his strength was increasing even faster than before.

The Blood Devil technique also described some more methods,

which were even more sinister, and even crueler, and would
enable him to progress even faster. But since these methods
reeked of evil energy, Bi Fan was refraining from using them.

However, Bi Fan had memorized these methods well, just in

case he needed to use them in a critical moment of desperation.

Bi Fan continued to practice all night, and felt that the session
had been very productive. He could feel the enhancement in his
strength.
 Chapter 114 – She Returns

“Bi Fan, the young miss has returned.” Jiao Chaun, one of the
Yu Nu Feng girls, came running up to Bi Fan’s doorstep.

It goes without saying that Bi Fan had been busy practicing.

He quickly got up, and came out of his room.

Yan Yu Si’s face, her smile, and her voice resurfaced inside Bi
Fan’s mind, and his heartstrings started to vibrate again.

It had been a while since he had last seen her.

Now, that he intended to pursue her in the future, he couldn’t

even describe her dazzling beauty anymore. To him, Yan Yu Si’s
beauty transcended that of an angel, which had descended
downwards from the heavens, to grace the world mortal men.

Bi Fan simply couldn’t wait to see Yan Yu Si, and so, he

quickly accelerated his pace, as he made his way towards her
residence.
 “Bi Fan, don’t go so fast, wait for me, ah.”

Bi Fan pretended as if he didn’t hear her, and continued to

rush towards Yan Yu Si’s residence.

In a matter of moments, he finally reached the doorstep of her

residence, and could hear her talking and laughing along with
Xiao Feng.

Bi Fan couldn’t help as that feeling of nervousness returned to

his being, especially since he didn’t think very highly of himself.

“Bi Fan, you were going so fast just then, why did you stop?
Don’t you want to go in now?” that same girl finally caught up
to him, panting.

“Bi Fan, ah, come in.” Yan Yu Si realized that Bi Fan was
waiting outside, and called him in.

Bi Fan was extremely excited. He hesitated for a moment, and

then finally went inside.
 The moment he laid eyes on Yan Yu Si, his heart started
pumping violently.

He hadn’t seen her in a while. She had become even more

beautiful, mature, and even more charming than he
remembered.

Bi Fan looked at Yan Yu Si for a brief moment, and then

looked away, as he simply couldn’t stare her; he still didn’t have
the courage to look her in the eye.

Yan Yu Si carefully sized Bi Fan up for a moment, and then

said: “Bi Fan, I didn’t expect that your strength would progress
so quickly, you’ve already reached the ‘enormous strength’
layer!”

Yan Yu Si was totally surprised, since she had known Bi Fan

from the day he had started practicing martial arts, which
wasn’t long ago.

Bi Fan’s was progressing a lot faster than Yan Yu Si could’ve

ever imagined, and she simply couldn’t comprehend it, so
naturally, she was very interested in knowing more.
 “Bi Fan, how did you managed to achieve this? Even the
Deputy of the Sect isn’t capable of training anyone up this fast,
ah….” Yan Yu Si asked in an alarmed tone.

Bi Fan replied: “I entered into the Devil’s Abyss. After training

on the fringes of life and death, for a few months, and with
circumstances favoring me, I was able to promote my strength
to its current level.”

Bi Fan had suddenly become very honest, but he still

continued to look down, as he still didn’t have enough courage
to look at her.

Whatever little courage he had managed to muster, had

already been completely obliterated.

In front of Yan Yu Si, Bi Fan had always felt lowly, and this
situation still hadn’t seen any change. If Bi Fan managed to oust
Yan Yu Si’s achievement, then maybe he’d be able to rid himself
of his inferiority complex.

It was very crucial for him to rid himself of this inferiority

complex. Unless he was able to do so, he would never truly be
able to pursue Yan Yu Si.
 “Miss Yan Yu Si, I must out do you; just wait, one day I’ll be
stronger than you, and when that day comes, I will boldly tell
you about my feelings. I’ll even declare that ‘I love you’ and the
whole world will know it.” Bi Fan’s heart cried within; he
wasn’t the kind to give up easily.

“Good! Good! It was bold of you to enter into the Devil’s

Abyss. No wonder you’re progress so fast.” Yan Yu Si was
pleasantly surprised.

Regardless of what Bi Fan believed, his value in Yan Yu Si’s

eyes had already started reaching new heights. She was under
the impression that she had unearthed a new genius, and if Bi
Fan managed to achieve something spectacular in his lifetime,
then she’d feel very happy, and even honored.

“Young Miss, during my adventures in the Devil’s Abyss, I

managed to procure some good stuff.” Now that he was in front
of Yan Yu Si, Bi Fan really didn’t want to hide too much, so he
started taking out the Jungle Python eggs, and the Ogre flower
petals. However, he decided to take out only a few spare petals,
and not the whole lot, since he didn’t want to invite any
suspicions from her.
 Once the Jungle Python eggs were lined up, Yan Yu Si’s
expression changed to a very surprised one; and the moment
she saw the Ogre Flower petals, her shock escalated to a whole
new level.

“Beast Pet Eggs? What Beast laid these eggs? Are those….are
those Ogre Flower petals?! Yes, they are!”

Xiao Feng also started to smile: “Hey, Beast Pet eggs, I also
want one; can I have one?”

She obviously didn’t know what she was looking at; otherwise
she would have known that the real treasure was the Ogre
Petals, and not the eggs.

Bi Fan replied: “These eggs were laid by a Jungle Python. Xiao

Feng, if you want one, you can take it.”

The moment she heard the word ‘Jungle Python’, Xiao Feng
jumped back, and ducked as far away from the eggs as possible.

“Snake eggs, eee… I don’t want them, they are so terrifying!”

Xiao Feng looked at Bi Fan, and said.
 Yan Yu Si said: “Bi Fan, please put the Jungle Python eggs
away, none of the Yu Nu Feng girls are going to like knowing
that they are here.”

Bi Fan obediently put the Eggs away, and felt a relief surge
through his heart as he did. He was just pretending to be
generous, but if he was asked to give the remaining of the eggs,
to the students at Yu Nu Feng, then he wouldn’t have done it
willingly.

“Bi Fan, how did you manage to procure these Ogre Flower
petals, they’re a very valuable treasure.” Yan Yu Si asked.

Bi Fan didn’t tell her about the incident regarding the Ogre
Flower, and just told her that he found them drifting astray, as
he thought that it was better to conceal the truth.

Bi Fan didn’t want to hide the truth from Yan Yu Si, but knew
it quite clearly, that telling her the truth could cause trouble,
which is why he decided to vote against it.

“Bi Fan, the Ogre Flower petals, I’d really like a couple, can I
have two of them?” Yan Yu Si asked in an inquiring tone.

“Sure, take them all if you like, it doesn’t matter.” Bi Fan

smiled.

Anyway, he had a lot more of them stashed away inside his

ring, so he really didn’t mind being generous about them.

“No, you keep them; too many are useless for me.” Yan Yu Si
picked up two petals, and gave one to Xiao Feng.

“Xiao Feng, this will help you make the big breakthrough.
When the time comes, you can use this to enter into the
‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer.” Yan Yu Si told her.

Xiao Feng nodded without understanding the situation. She

obviously didn’t know how to use one.

Yan Yu Si quickly told her what they really were, and one
could tell from Xiao Feng’s blush, that she was quite
embarrassed that she didn’t know anything about them.
 “Bi Fan, you have to participate in the Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon
tournament, are you up for it? And, would you be able to rank
in the top ten in the Disciple’s tournament?” Yan Yu Si asked.

Now that the subject was combat, Bi Fan finally raised his
head, as he said: “Yes, I am ready. Finishing in the top ten of the
disciple’s tournament is a trivial matter for me.”

His tone was confident, and he made sure that his words
didn’t sound exaggerated either.

Yan Yu Si nodded, and said: “That’s good. Well, you also have
a personal contest against Luo Sheng….it’s best to not kill him;
otherwise you will end up in a lot of trouble.”

“I know the severity of the matter.” Bi Fan said.

Luo Sheng was backed by his grandfather, Luo Xiao Tian,

which is why Bi Fan wouldn’t be able to take his case properly.
The only way of killing him was to do it in a mysterious
manner; otherwise, Luo Xiao Tian will certainly create a lot of
trouble.
 Luo Xiao Tian is very highly placed in the Quinyang Sect, and
could spur trouble for Bi Fan in many ways, and even Ling Xin
Ya wouldn’t be able to defend him properly.

Bi Fan’s goal was to simply defeat Luo Sheng, and he really

wasn’t anxious about it either.

To put in plainly, Luo Sheng was a clown, who simply

couldn’t match up to Bi Fan, no matter how hard he tried.

Bi Fan’s expression was extremely resolute, since he was

thinking about Ying Tian, and the humiliation that he had
suffered at the man’s hands, and the blazing fire in his heart had
started to flame once again.

“Ying Tian, sooner or later, I’ll surpass you, and I’ll do you ten
times over. I will not kill you, but I will enjoy as I humiliate
you!” Bi Fan made a vow within the secrecy of his heart.

“The Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon tournament is very important for

making our Quinyang Sect famous.” Yan Yu Si said.

Yan Yu Si deserved to be called the daughter of the Sect’s

master, as she was always thinking about Quinyang Sect’s
reputation.

Yan Yu Si, it was obvious, associated herself more with the

Quinyang Sect, than she did with the Xuannv Palace.

“Ah, I will work as hard as I can.” Bi Fan said. But his heart
was thinking something entirely different: “Miss Yan Yu Si, just
you wait and watch; one day, you will admire me.”
 Chapter 115 – Yan Yu Si’s Intentions

The much awaited annual tournament finally began.

The Quinyang Sect was bustling with excitement, and many

disciples had travelled back from their adventures to participate
in the contest.

The first two days were allocated to the Selection tournament,

and this year, there were no new major findings in the
tournament, as the fresh crop this year, was even worse than
the last one’s.

Bi Fan had no interest in the people who were participating in

this tournament, and he didn’t even witness the proceeding, as
he remained in Yu Nu Feng, and continued to practice.

On the third day, the Disciple’s tournament began, and Bi Fan

was fully prepared to participate in the tournament.

The number of Disciples participating in the tournament was

fairly high, and tournament was sure to be an interesting
spectacle.
 The Disciples were expected to be very fierce, not for the sole
reason that their ranking would govern the rewards they were
to obtain, but also because this tournament would act as a
curtain raiser for Quinyang Sect’s performance in the Jiu Yu
Hidden Dragon tournament.

Youngsters always tend to seek fame and reputation, and are

always hungry to build a name for themselves.

Bi Fan, Luo Sheng, Jing Feng and a few others were far too
superior to most, almost to the point where they were
invincible in comparison.

No matter who they came up against, they were able to win

with ease.

Luo Sheng was an arrogant as ever, and continued to eye Bi

Fan in the hope of provoking him, and even teased Jing Feng,
every now and then.

Luo Sheng was using his entire strength in the early fights,
and was under the impression that he’s unstoppable.
 In the past, he had always lost to Jing Feng, so naturally, he
wanted to get even.

“Bi Fan, Jing Feng, I will make you submit to my will, and you
will learn to worship me.” Luo Sheng thought to himself.

Bi Fan and Jing Feng were, both, carrying the same idea, and
wouldn’t even bother looking Luo Sheng in the eye. They were
both aware that Luo Sheng isn’t capable of anything without his
Grandfather, Luo Xiao Tian’s support.

In the Jiu Yu City, Quinyang was regarded as one of the finest

Sects, and thousands of people had arrived to witness the
tournament. The early rounds of the tournament were
elimination rounds, and were to be used in order to identify the
top sixteen fighters. These top sixteen, would then have to
undergo a round-robin form of contest, and the fighter with the
highest points would be announced the Champion.

Bi Fan hadn’t even used his Purple-feathered sword yet, and

had been using the ‘Babu swimming Dragon’ and ‘Swimming
Dragon’ techniques to quickly finish his opponents off, and had
been succeeding with ease.
 The Quinyang Sect had a few students who had reached the
‘Transformation’ layer. However, there were also a few older
disciples, who had been failing to reach the landmark for a
while now, and these disciples seemed too embarrassed to
participate in the tournament, as they had gone away for
undertaking closed-door practices, at the time of the
tournament.

On the basis of the present displays of strength, Jing Feng was

being ranked ‘first’ by the spectators. Luo Sheng was being
considered as a strong contender, while Bi Fan was being
dubbed as the ‘Dark Horse’, in addition to several other
‘transformation’ layer fighters, who had made a positive
impact.

Soon enough, Luo Sheng, Bi Fan and Jing Feng had all made it
to the top sixteen, while the round-robin stage of the contest,
was to be carried out from tomorrow.

“Jing Feng, Bi Fan, I will beat you both, and then, I’ll be
crowned Champion.” Luo Sheng came forward, gloating
shamelessly.

Ever since he had lost to Jing Feng, Luo Sheng’s heart had
been filling with hatred for Jing Feng.

As for Bi Fan, simply because he was Jing Feng’s friend, and

Luo Sheng really couldn’t stand Jing Feng, he wanted to beat Bi
Fan up as well.

Luo Sheng’s bet with Bi Fan was a much awaited spectacle,

since most of the spectators were considering it to be a ‘fight to
the death’.

Luo Sheng wanted to kill Bi Fan, but Bi Fan couldn’t harbor

the same idea, which is why, he was expected to be a little
depressed about the same.

However, Bi Fan’s mind was even more ruthless than most

people could imagine. His intention was to humiliate Luo Sheng
publicly, and then look for an opportunity to kill him later, in
secrecy.

Bi Fan clearly understood that, regardless of the enemy’s

strength, it was always a good measure to eliminate the weed as
soon as possible.
 Given Luo Sheng’s personality, if Bi Fan battered him in
public, then Luo Sheng would surely seek revenge soon.

Bi Fan was ready to give him one chance; no more. And was
ready to kill him if he didn’t back off.

Since he had a good follow-up plan in place, Bi Fan’s gloomy

state had vanished like smoke in thin air, a long time ago.

“Do not rely on your weapons, you arrogant snob. I will break
you into so many pieces, that you own grandfather won’t be
able to recognize you.” Jing Feng looked at Luo Sheng sharply,
as he retaliated.

Faced with the anger in Jing Feng’s eyes, Luo Sheng couldn’t
help recoil a few steps, as he was unable to control his fear.

“I’ll make you regret provoking me.” Bi Fan said in a cold

voice.

Luo Sheng restored his composure, smiled and said: “We’ll see
what happens on the stage.”
 Luo Sheng turned around and sped away, still carrying
himself like he was an unequalled paragon.

Bi Fan and Jing Feng looked at each other, and realized that
they both held the same disdain for the man, and broke into
laughter. Neither of them considered Luo Sheng to be a worthy
opponent, as he was simply too weak.

Yan Yu Si had been personally watching every match that Bi

Fan had fought so far. Once they returned to Yu Nu Feng, she
started giving Bi Fan instructions in order to make sure that
everything was in place for the next round.

“Bi Fan, you are very strong, and it’s very good. I urge that
you display your real strength in the tournament, and I believe
that you will even beat the likes of Jing Feng. No one will be
able to beat you.” Yan Yu Si had started thinking very highly of
Bi Fan, so much so, that she was already considering him to be
at par with Jing Feng.

She paused for a moment, and then continued: “You battled

inside the Devil’s Abyss for months, and returned unharmed.
You must be hiding several things; I think your strength is at
par with the ‘transformation’ later already, and if you cast out
your real strength at the tournament tomorrow, then no one
can deprive you of a top spot.”

Yan Yu Si’s vision was too perceptive, and flexible. Her guess
was pretty close to the actual reality.

Bi Fan was somewhat embarrassed, since he had been hiding a

lot of thing from Yan Yu Si. Like the Yin Yang Lotus, the Jade
Book, the Blood Devil, Tian Yuan Ring, and The Bloodshed
Sword (Xue Ren), amongst others. He needed to keep these
things a secret. If these secrets were ever leaked, then his death
was sure to find him at the hands of more powerful men.

“Yes young miss.” Bi Fan was completely taken aback, and

didn’t know how to respond.

Yan Yu Si didn’t press the matter any further, and said: “Bi
Fan, no matter what you encountered during your adventures,
as long as you’re loyal to the Quinyang Sect, you can continue to
act boldly and fearlessly, and I will support you.”

“I only think of the Quinyang Sect because of you. If it wasn’t

for you, I would have turned anti-Quinyang a long time ago,
since I have had so many bad experiences here.” Bi Fan thought
to himself. Obviously, he wasn’t stupid enough to say it out
loud. He simply nodded him head in understanding, as a reply
to Yan Yu Si’s words.

With Yan Yu Si’s support, and his Master, Ling Xin Ya’s
protection, Bi Fan didn’t need to fear Luo Xiao Tian as much
now.

But for now, unless Bi Fan showcased his real strength, the
rest of the Quinyang Sect was sure to pick Luo Xiao Tian’s side,
when the time came, which is why Bi Fan would have to refrain
from making him a public enemy.

Bi Fan didn’t have a choice for now, he needed to endure this.

And Bi Fan wasn’t just good at tolerating; he was a master of the
art.

It takes resolve to succeed, and Bi Fan was extremely resolute.

Bi Fan took his leave, and returned to his residence.

Now that Yan Yu Si and Xiao Feng were alone, Yan Yu Si said:
“Bi Fan has surely had a lot of fortuitous adventures; I can see
that now. If this man is allowed to wholeheartedly grow at the
Quinyang Sect, then he can take Quinyang to new heights. With
him in the lead, the Quinyang Sect could become the largest
Sect in the Jiu Yu City, someday.”

“Young Miss, is Bi Fan really that strong? Even stronger than

you? Young Miss, you could take the Quinyang Sect to the top
on your own…” Xiao Feng said.

Yan Yu Si sighed: “I cannot help the Sect directly. I’m a

Xuannv Sect disciple now, and I cannot break free of it. But Bi
Fan still belongs to the Quinyang Sect, and will soon start
attracting interests from the other Sects. We must make sure
that he doesn’t get lured away by another Sect, and start
harboring thoughts about Quinyang not being big enough for
him.”

“Miss, given his history, and how much the Quinyang Sect has
done for him, he shouldn’t defect to any other Sect, right?” Xiao
Feng asked.

Yan Yu Si said: “It’s a complicated issue…in the past Bi Fan

has suffered too many insults at the hands of the people in
Quinyang, and now, we will have to make amends for it;
otherwise the other Sects will be able to lure him away with
ease.”

“Miss, we have always been very good to him, and we’ll

continue to be that way. As far as I know, Bi Fan has a very
special affection for Yu Nu Feng. I think that he associates
himself more with Yu Nu Feng, than he does with the Yang
Shan Peak.” Xiao Feng said.

“That’s very good. You should treat Bi Fan like family; he’s
always been a very lonely man. He has never known the
warmth of a family, and if starts seeing us in that light, then we
will be able to retain him here.” Yan Yu Si smiled.

If Bi Fan had known that Yan Yu Si thinks so highly of him,

then his excitement would have broken all barriers. And Yan Yu
Si had been looking very deeply into him; it would appear as she
was already able to see through Bi Fan’s inner most being.
 Chapter 116 – Yu Qing Yang

The next day, Bi Fan arrived at the tournament’s venue early

in the morning.

Yan Yu Si and Xiao Feng had both come to witness the

tournament. Yan Yu Si was dressed in a white gown, and
resembled a fairy that had descended from the world of
immortals. She stood out from the rest of the men, and women,
of Quinyang with ease.

Xiao Feng had also dressed up for the occasion, and looked
quite cute herself, but still, wasn’t able to match up to Yan Yu
Si’s beauty.

Bi Fan and Jing Feng were both sitting together, and could
help stare at the two of them in awe.

“Brother Jing Feng, how are things between you and Xiao
Feng?” Bi Fan asked abruptly.

“Ahem….” Jing Feng seemed a little scared all of a sudden:

“You know, I like to juggle girls a bit. But of course, in the long
term, I see Xiao Feng as someone I can be with.”

“Then you’ll have to add more fuel to it. Xiao Feng isn’t
looking good at the moment, and if you miss your opportunity,
she may not give you a second chance.” Bi Fan smiled.

Jing Feng sighed: “Actually, I don’t like being tied down; I like
to travel and explore. I want to wander around for a few more
years.”

Bi Fan didn’t know what to say. He could obviously sense that

Jing Feng and Xiao Feng liked each other, but Jing Feng was far
too easy going.

The situation between Xiao Feng and Jing Feng was a difficult
one, since Xiao Feng likes stability and steadiness. Their
personalities are very contrasting.

The contest began soon, and the sixteen fighters were ready to
engage in the round-robin stage of the contest. A win would
fetch the victor three points, while a draw would fetch both
fighters one point each, and a loss would get a fighter no points.
 At the end of the stage, the fighter with the maximum points
would be declared the winner of the tournament.

Once the contest starts, two successive rounds would only be

differentiated with a one hour long break, which was going to
be a big challenge for the participants. The contest would be
determined by drawing slots. In the first round, the first two
slots would fight each other; number three would fight with
number four, and so on. All the eight fights would be started at
the same time.

In the next round, number one would fight with number

three; number two will fight with number four, and so on, so
forth. After all the fighters were done with their fifteen rounds,
the contestant with the highest number of points would be
declared the Champion.

In the past few years, the Disciple’s tournament’s most

dazzling contest had always been between Jing Feng and Mo
Nan. Bi Fan and Luo Sheng had both emerged only recently.

Luo Sheng was fighting with a top grade weapon, which was
quite powerful, which is why he was able to register his wins
with ease.
 Bi Fan drew number two; Luo Sheng got number ten; Jing
Feng was given number twelve, whereas Mo Nan drew number
fifteen.

The contest was looking quite favorable to Bi Fan, since he

wouldn’t have to face any of the stronger contestants in the
early stages of the tournament.

Luo Sheng was out of luck. He would have to go against the

strongest, Jing Feng, in the second round itself.

Bi Fan’s first round’s opponent was a man named Wang Ming,

who was in the same layer as Bi Fan, ‘Enormous strength’.

After the two of them made their salutations, the match

officially began.

Wang Ming had been watching Bi Fan’s previous fights, and

carried some fear of Bi Fan’s skills, which is why he started with
his strongest attack.

He cast out the ‘Fufeng Double-edged Sword’ as speedily as he

could.
 Bi Fan didn’t use his purple feathered sword, and restored to
using the ‘Swimming Dragon’ and ‘Babu Swimming Dragon’
combination again. As they met each other, Bi Fan was easily
able to evade his opponent’s attacks, and was able to attack him
in return, with ease.

Wang Ming’s face was already going pale, as he was being

forced to use his sword to defend himself, and he simply
couldn’t dare to attack Bi Fan.

Owing to Bi Fan agility, Bi Fan was easily able to find the gaps
in his opponent’s defense, and was finding it easy to attack
Wang Ming.

Although Wang Ming was in the same layer as Bi Fan, the gap
in their real strengths was far too high, and Wang Ming was hit
several times in quick succession, and fell to his defeat.

Bi Fan bagged his first three points with ease, and started
stepping down to take some rest.

However, as he descended down the stage, he realized that he

wasn’t the fastest to win the first round, as Jing Feng was
already seated in his place, and was busy restoring his energy.

By the time Bi Fan reached his seat, Luo Sheng had also
finished his fight, and was coming off the stage, with his head
held high in arrogance.

Mo Nan also finished his fight pretty soon, and looked ready
to match Jing Feng once again. Mo Nan had lost to Jing Feng,
each time they had come face to face in past, but he still hadn’t
given up.

“Brother Jing Feng, you’ll be facing Luo Sheng in the next

round. Go easy on him; if he’s unable to participate in the
contest, then I’ll have no way of humiliating him.” Bi Fan said.

“Don’t worry, he’s all yours.” Jing Feng laughed.

Neither of the two had consumed much energy, and they were
both done with their restorations fairly soon, so they continued
to chatter.

Even though they were busy chatting, Bi Fan still hadn’t

forgotten that this was a tournament, and he continued to
observe other participant’s displays.

As long as Bi Fan was able to watch a skill in action, he could

replay it later in his mind. And then, after carefully dissecting
the skill, he could learn the skill.

Bi Fan’s gifted memory, and constant research, were both,

contributing reasons to Bi Fan’s steep increase in strength and
proficiency.

The first round of the stage ended soon, and hadn’t provided
anything amazing. However, Luo Sheng, Bi Fan, Jing Feng, and
Mo Nan had already registered themselves as crowd favorites.

Yan Yu Si sighed: “With too few resources at hand, it’s

difficult for Quinyang to attract major talents. And even if we
do, training them up properly is easier said than done.”

“If Quinyang had the same resources, and funding, that the
Wu Ji Sect has, then we would be able to develop much faster.”
Yan Yu Si’s side seat was occupied by a strong, rather
unpleasant looking, middle-aged man: “Bi Fan is indeed worthy
of being trained properly. If Ling Xin Ya hadn’t taken him first,
then I would have accepted him a disciple.”

This man was the head of the Quinyang Sect, Yu Qing Yang,
and Yan Yu Si’s father.

Yan Yu Si had insisted that he witness the tournament in

person, since she wanted him to see Bi Fan in action, otherwise
he wouldn’t have come for it.

“Father, you must make sure that Bi Fan’s growth is not

hindered by the politics of the Sect. Bi Fan is really capable of
achieving something spectacular.” Yan Yu Si’s face exposed a
shade of wonder.

Even though Yu Qing Yang had praised Bi Fan, he had only

done so to soothe Yan Yu Si.

He was the head of the Quinyang Sect, and didn’t have any
time for such matters, as he was already burdened with several
other important matters.

“Oh? Is he really that good?” Yu Qing Yang started taking Bi

Fan a little more seriously.
 Yan Yu Si had very high standards, and it was a rare of her to
compliment a fighter. In fact, she had never even complimented
Jing Feng.

“Of course, Father. Bi Fan has only started training; he’s only
been training for a year now. Moreover, his real strength is far
beyond the ‘Enormous strength’ layer.”

“Far more than the ‘Enormous Strength’ layer, what makes

you say that?” Yu Qing Yang was genuinely interested in
knowing.

“Intuition. You must continue to watch if you wish to see for

yourself. He hasn’t exposed his real strength thus far; in fact,
he’s been taking it easy.” Yan Yu Si smiled.

Yu Qing Yang said: “Well, I’ll patiently wait for it then. You
have a gift for spotting good talent.”

“He won’t let you down.” Yan Yu Si was confident.

 The contest continued, and Bi Fan’s next opponent was
another ‘enormous strength’ layer fighter.

This time, Bi Fan finished the fight even faster. He still hadn’t
drawn his sword yet.

“Father, what do you say? They are both in the ‘Enormous

strength’ layer, then how’s Bi Fan able to win so easily?… He is
better with a sword, but still, he hasn’t even used it.” Yan Yu Si
smiled again.

Yu Qing Yang nodded: “This boy, Bi Fan…. he is very skilled

with the ‘Swimming Dragon’, and the ‘Babu Swimming Dragon’
combination. At that level of expertise, his opponent simply
didn’t stand a chance against him.”

“Father, if you’re still not convinced, then you must continue

to watch the contest.” Yan Yu Si was beginning to get a little
anxious now.

Luo Sheng had run into Jing Feng in this round. And he was
under the impression that he could use his weapon’s strength to
overpower Jing Feng.
 Luo Sheng was grossly overestimating his strength, and the
power of his weapon, so much so, that he had started pressing
the play from the very start. Meanwhile, Jing Feng wasn’t even
fighting back.

“Jing Feng! Jing Feng, I love you…..” whenever Jing Feng

took the stage, there was no stopping the girls.

“Luo Sheng! Luo Sheng! You’re useless!….” Luo Sheng was

already out of luck, and the spectators were adding more insult
to the injury.

Xiao Feng was sitting behind Yan Yu Si and Yu Qing Yang, and
even though she was looking keenly at Jing Feng, her face
seemed rather devoid of any feeling for him.
 Chapter 117 – Do You Like Him?

Luo Sheng’s cheeks were studded with sweat, while his

nervousness was visible on his face.

All that cheering was beginning to get to him, as he wasn’t as

seasoned as Jing Feng and Mo Nan, and simply couldn’t stand
up under so much pressure.

“Boy, come and fight me. If you get distracted again, I’ll kill
you.” Jing Feng sneered.

Jing Feng had taken out his weapon for this fight, and was
now holding a Spear in his hands. The Spear’s entire body was
made of gold; it looked very heavy and very domineering. Jing
Feng liked calling it the ‘Hegemon Pike’.

The Hegemon Pike stood tall next to Jing Feng, and its
gleaming and glittering texture exposed the underlying threat it
carried.

Although Luo Sheng was also using a good quality magic

weapon, he simply couldn’t stand up to Jing Feng’s might.
 As the battle progressed, Luo Sheng started falling under the
wind, and the outcome had become quite obvious.

“Get out of here!” Jing Feng swept his spear directly at Luo
Sheng, and pushed him out of the ring.

Even though Jing Feng was far stronger, he made sure that
Luo Sheng wasn’t hurt too badly, since he wanted Luo Sheng to
continue fighting in the tournament.

After he was done with Luo Sheng, Jing Feng looked over at Bi
Fan. The look in his eyes was clearly saying, ‘I’ve kept my
promise’.

Bi Fan nodded, and looked over at Luo Sheng, and sneered.

Jing Feng’s victory was obviously followed by a burst of

cheers, as the females in the arena went wild only again.

As for the boys, well, they were mostly jealous of Jing Feng,
which is why they mostly jeered at him.
 Jing Feng smartly walked off the stage; his face was as calm as
ever. He had gotten used to this over the years.

Mo Nan registered his victory pretty soon as well, and won his
fight with absolute supremacy.

There were a few other fighters who had already stepped into
the ‘transformation’ layer, and they too won their fights quite
conveniently.

Yu Qing Yang watched the proceeding in silence, and would

occasionally nod his head.

Yan Yu Si had no interest in any of the fighters, and was only

present to watch Bi Fan in action; why? Even she, herself,
wasn’t sure.

Of course, Yan Yu Si was certain that she didn’t have any

feeling for Bi Fan; in fact, she had never even considered the
aspect.
 Yan Yu Si was always in pursuit of finding an extraordinary
genius, so much so, that she had completely forgone of her
personal feeling, and had already shut out all suitors.

Even though Shaui Ying Tian had tried to use his proximity
and influence to impress her, he had never managed to succeed.
Yan Yu Si had never given him any kind of importance.

Bi Fan on the other hand was faring much better in

comparison, since he was at least able to get her to guide him.

Of course, Bi Fan didn’t know this, which in one way, was a

good thing. If he found out at this time, then he may not even be
able to sleep properly, out of sheer excitement.

After an hour’s rest, the tournament proceeded to the third

round.

Up until now, Bi Fan had won each of his fights with

exceptional ease.

In this round however, Bi Fan was matched against a

‘transformation’ layer opponent; so naturally, things were
bound to drag on a bit this time.

He was a seasoned disciple, and his name was Ji Ying Lan. He

was Yu Qing Yang’s direct student.

Ji Ying Lan was also quite young, and had already entered into
the ‘Transformation’ layer; so obviously, he was also regarded
as a genius. However, he still wasn’t considered at par with the
likes of Jing Feng and Mo Nan.

Now that Ji Ying Lan was to face Bi Fan, Yu Qing Yang was
obviously quite concerned with the output of the match.

Yu Qing Yang said: “Ji Ying Lan is a very season fighter, and
even though isn’t exceptional, he’s always been very
hardworking, and he’s very persistent. He’s only ever practiced
the ‘Fufeng Double-edged Sword’, but his knowledge of the
technique is very profound. He’s ‘The’ expert when it comes to
this technique, and is more skilled than any man Bi Fan has met
so far. On top of that, he has a layer’s advantage over Bi Fan.
Who do you think will win this time?”

“Bi Fan. Bi Fan’s certainly going to be the winner.” Yan Yu Si

was very positive, and firm. She sounded extremely confident of
Bi Fan’s ability.

“Oh, you’re that confident?” Yu Qing Yang was a little

surprised.

In reality, even Yu Qing Yang could sense that Bi Fan was the
stronger fighter, but he wasn’t very optimistic about Bi Fan’s
chances, since Ji Ying Lan had a much deeper understanding of
his martial skills.

“Father, let’s make a bet. If Bi Fan wins, then you promise me

that no matter what happens in the future, you will always use
your position to back Bi Fan. Even if Bi Fan makes an enemy
with an elder like Luo Xiao Tian, then you will support Bi Fan
wholeheartedly.” Yan Yu Si said.

Yan Yu Si knew that it wasn’t possible for her to be present in

the Quinyang Mountains throughout the year, which is why she
knew that she wouldn’t be able to protect Bi Fan from Luo
Sheng properly. She needed to provide Bi Fan with a backer
who could; someone who had real control, and power.

If Bi Fan had a falling out with Luo Xiao Tian, then he would
surely abandon the Quinyang Sect. Yan Yu Si wanted to ensure
Bi Fan’s immunity to such a situation; not for her sake, but for
that of the Sect.

“Good! I’ll take that bet. But if Ji Ying Lan wins, then you will
stay in the Quinyang Sect for another month, and you will
spend time with your old father.” Yu Qing Yang smiled.

“It’s a deal.” Yan Yu Si exposed a pleased smile.

The contest between Bi Fan and Ji Ying Lan started. Since the
opponent was a ‘transformation’ layer fighter, Bi Fan couldn’t
give him too many chances, so he finally drew his purple-
feathered sword.

Bi Fan stood in the ring, with his purple-feathered sword in

hand, in a posture that almost resembled that of a hero.

His opponent, Yu Qing Yang’s student, Ji Ying Lan, was using

a greenish colored magical weapon; a bamboo sword.

This sword is made out of a special kind of bamboo, which

only grows in the Quinyang Mountains. Only one amongst a
million Bamboos has the right composition to be used for the
making of such a sword.

These Bamboo swords are very elegant, tenacious, and

durable. They are perfect for Quinyang’s skills set, and are great
for casting out the ‘Fufeng Double-edged sword’ technique.

With his feather-light sword in hand, Ji Ying Lan elegantly

casted out the ‘Fufeng Double-edged Sword’ from the start. His
movements were clean, and looked rather casual, but were
concealing a murderous strength within.

This was the first time that Bi Fan had ever come across
someone who had such a sophisticated knowledge of the ‘Fufeng
Double-edged Sword’ technique. Bi Fan had always considered
himself to be good at the skill, but now that he saw Ji Ying Lan
in action, he realized that he had a lot to learn.

Bi Fan wasn’t anxious about winning, and started casting out

the same skill in return, and was hoping to rely on the ‘Rainy-
fly Sword’ and ‘Floating Sword’ techniques for assistance, if
things got out of hand.

Bi Fan continued to memorize his opponent’s movements, and

couldn’t help but admire the man’s exquisite knowledge of the
technique, as he praised: “Amazing power. I never thought that
the ‘Fufeng Double-edged Sword’ could be used to such an
effect. The power he can produce is significantly higher than
anything I’ve ever seen before.”

Bi Fan had already forgotten that this was a contest, as he was

completely engrossed in learning from his opponent. Whilst
continuing to observe his opponent’s movements, Bi Fan started
making changes to his own. Even though the changes that he
made were quite subtle, he was somehow able to oust even Ji
Ying Lan in some steps.

It turned out that Bi Fan wasn’t just trying to memorize the

skill; he was also prioritizing in making changes to suit his own
style.

No matter how fiercely Ji Ying Lan attacked, Bi Fan was

always able to parry his attack.

In contrast, Ji Ying Lan was completely taken aback, as he was

beginning to realize that Bi Fan’s movements were beginning to
get more and more subtle, and his opponent had even started
out doing his own moves, in some places.
 Ji Ying Lan had been practicing the ‘Fufeng double-edged
sword’ for over a decade, before he had been able to achieve this
level of expertise, and he had always been proud of his
accomplishment.

At the start, Bi Fan was casting out the ‘Fufeng Double-edges

sword’ like any other ordinary disciple, and wasn’t even able to
make any clever movements with it either.

But as the fight wore on, Bi Fan’s sword-play continued to

improve, and started becoming more and more sophisticated,
and gradually, he was even able to match up to Ji Ying Lan’s
expertise.

Ji Ying Lan was horror-stricken; he simply couldn’t believe

his eyes.

Yu Qing Yang and Yan Yu Si’s eyes reflected the splendor they
were witnessing in action. Yan Yu Si smiled: “I never expected
that Bi Fan would have such a strong learning ability. He’s far
too perceptive. He’s even capable of learning a new skill in the
middle of a fight.”

“This child is really extra-ordinary, and worthy of being

trained vigorously.” Yu Qing Yang said.

At this moment, Yu Qing Yang had finally recognized Bi Fan’s

talents, and had already decided that he would wholeheartedly
support Bi Fan in the future.

Yan Yu Si could see that Yu Qing Yang had finally approved of

Bi Fan, which is why she was quite happy, as revealed a rare,
and a beautiful smile.

Yu Qing Yang noticed the change in her facial expression:

“Yan Yu Si, ah, do you like him?”

“What?” Yan Yu Si reacted as if someone had stepped on her

tail: “Father, how could you even think that? I don’t bother
myself with feelings; I solely focus on my training.”

“Not a very good thing!” Yu Qing Yang swiveled his eyes, as he

really didn’t know what to say, or think.
 Chapter 118 – The Ever-Growing Charm

Ji Ying Lan couldn’t believe that he could ever lose to

someone in the skill that he had mastered over so many years.
On top of that, the said-man, wasn’t even above him, and was
only in the ‘Enormous strength’ layer.

Therefore, Ji Ying Lan casted out a fierce attack, a completely

different form of attack than his previous ones. This is time, his
‘Fufeng Double-edged Sword’ attack was as elegant as ever, but
with a strange hint of an unparalleled threat.

“Amazing Sword-play!” Bi Fan praised out loud.

This time, Bi Fan had to resort to using ‘The Floating Sword’

technique, in combination with the ‘Prancing Tiger’ fist, as the
situation was getting out of hand. If Bi Fan continued to use the
‘Fufeng Double-edged Sword’ then he was sure to lose.

This was a contest, not a training session; so naturally, Bi Fan

didn’t want to lose.

Moreover, as long as the fight continued, Bi Fan could

continue to observe and learn more, so obviously, he didn’t
want to lose.

Once he lost the fight, it would be relatively difficult for him

to make those subtle changes in his style.

Bi Fan’s eyes were as straight forward as ever, but his mind

was making all kinds of calculations.

Ji Ying Lan had been angered further by Bi Fan’s praise, since

he had taken it for mockery.

“Boy, don’t you dare be so arrogant!” Ji Ying Lan roared; his

eyes were red with fury.

“‘Fufeng Double-edged Sword, The Flying Willow! Thousand

Willow Needles!’” Ji Ying Lan decided to cast out all the three
forms of the ‘Fufeng Double-edged sword’ in a simultaneous
manner.

Bi Fan also knew all the three variations of the skill, but he
also knew that he’d never be able cast them out to match his
opponent’s perfection.
 These three forms, when in the hands of Ji Ying Lan, and the
changes that he’d made to them, were able to deliver twice the
normal power of these attacks.

Bi Fan’s face became slightly tensed, as his Purple-feathered

Sword started to flick slightly in his hands, under the pressure
of his opponent’s attack; he needed to change his attack.

Bi Fan casted out the second form of the ‘Floating-sword’,

‘The Flurry Sword’, and his Purple-feathered sword seemed as if
it had grown several new edges, as it started to collide with Ji
Ying Lan’s Bamboo Sword.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!….” The collisions gave rise to violent

sounds, and in a flash, the two swords has already clashed
around a hundred times.

The spectators in the stands were mostly only able to see the
sparks, and weren’t able to tell the situation of the actual
combat.

“Amazing Strength! Excellent Sword-play!” A disciple’s eyes

shone in admiration.

“Is this the same ‘Fufeng Double-edged sword’ that I learnt? I

never knew that it could be used to such effect…it seems that I’ll
have to start studying it again!” Another disciple who was
known to the skill, spoke up, as he made a decision to study the
skill in more depth.

“Brother Ji Ying Lan is very powerful, and has managed to

research the ‘Fufeng Double-edged Sword’ to such a degree, that
it can even be used to confront the ‘Floating Sword!’” This
disciple obviously seemed to know Ji Ying Lan quite well.

Yan Yu Si was in high spirits: “Bi Fan’s strength is amazing,

and I’m confident that he could become Quinyang Sect’s
backbone. If you back him, Father, then he could really achieve
a lot.”

“I don’t like wasting my time, but I think you’re right.” Yu

Qing Yang smiled.

As they talked, the battle which was ongoing on the stage in

front of them, continued to get even more violent.
 “Boom!” After another loud noise, Bi Fan and Ji Ying Lan
finally separated away.

Bi Fan’s cheeks were studded with sweat; he was panting, and

his clothes were torn in several places.

Ji Ying Lan looked even more tired, almost as if we about to

fall down.

“I lose….” He couldn’t even finish the sentence, as his face

was turning ashen, due to the dejection of losing the battle.

Bi Fan had managed to oust Ji Ying Lan’s every move; even

his strongest ones. Ji Ying Lan had been studying these skills for
over a decade, and had never imagined that a younger man, of a
lower layer, could overpower him with as much ease as Bi Fan
had.

He obviously knew about Bi Fan, since Bi Fan had come to the

limelight in the previous tournament, by registering himself as
the champion in the Selection tournament.

Such a young teenager had managed to become a disciple, and

had also managed to beat him in sword-play. Ji Ying Lan had
already started losing confidence in his ability, almost to the
point where he had completely given up hope.

“Oh, Ji Ying Lan is beating a bull’s horns to no end; he really

needs to give in….” Yu Qing Yang’s face started turning
unsightly.

Bi Fan was very serious as he said: “Indeed, you have to accept

defeat. Because if you don’t, then you’ll force me to attack you
with all my strength and I won’t have a choice but to put my
sword through your chest…..”

As Ji Ying Lan heard Bi Fan’s words, he had already started to

shake from the exhaustion, which was obvious on his ashen
face.

“Damn, this isn’t good. This kid is so wicked! He’s trying to

provoke Ji Ying Lan, and if Ji Ying Lan falls for it, then even I
won’t be able to help him out here.” Ji Ying Lan was already on
his feet. He was so anxious, that he had even started using foul
language.

“Father, don’t worry. Bi Fan’s isn’t that kind of a man, he

isn’t trying to insult Ji Ying Lan. He isn’t the kind to throw
stones at someone who’s fallen down a well.” Yan Yu Si pulled
her father back.

Indeed.

Bi Fan continued: “However, I really do admire you. I have

never met anyone with such a deep understanding of their skill
set. If you continue to research like this, then maybe one day,
we might even be able to create a style of our own, for the sake
of the Quinyang Sect; and a real skill to the Sect.”

“Really?” Ji Ying Lan’s eyes revealed a color of hope, as a glow

started to return to his face once again.

“Of course, ‘Fufeng Double-edged Sword’ is only an average

skill, and you can induce enough power in it to match it to a star
skill. You even managed it to match the Second form of a four
star skill…. with a little more research, you might even win.” Bi
Fan looked very sincere.

“But…. But, why did I eventually lose the fight?” Ji Ying Lan
was still completely puzzled, and he simply couldn’t
comprehend the manner in which he had lost.
 Bi Fan smiled: “Because you met me; it’s that simple.”

Then, Bi Fan strode off the stage, with his head held high.

Bi Fan looked back once, and could tell from Ji Ying Lan’s
expression that he was beginning to emerge from the shadows
of the traumatic defeat, which he had just suffered; otherwise,
he may have lost all hope.

Yu Qing Yang breathed a sigh of relief, as he finally took his

seat again, and said: “Bi Fan is good, and he’s a moral man too.
There won’t an issue between him and Ji Ying Lan in the
future.”

“Father, are you convinced now? Do you believe me now?”

Yan Yu Si laughed softly.

Yan Yu Si’s smiled was perfect, and inspiring, almost as if her

smile was capable of bathing someone in the soft and fragrant
warmth of the Spring Winds.
 Bi Fan didn’t know that the Yan Yu Si had this much
confidence and trust in his ability, otherwise his passions would
have broken all barriers.

As Bi Fan strode down the stage, he realized there was another

very interesting contest taking place, on another stage, which
was now acquiring the attention of the spectators.

Bi Fan glanced over to see. Jing Feng was facing Mo Nan.

Mo Nan and Jing Feng were considered old enemies. They had
started together at the Selection tournament, after which they
both were accepted as disciples. This year, they were facing each
other for the fourth time, and each time in past, Jing Feng had
won by a small margin.

Mo Nan had never taken it as a discouragement, and had

always worked harder to catch up, which is why he had been
successfully narrowing down the gap which separated them.

This time around as well, Jing Feng and Mo Nan were both
being regarded as ‘crowd favorites’ to win the championship,
and neither of them had let their opponents down, as they had
both maintained an unbeaten record so far.
 Indeed, and many of the disciples were shouting, in the hope
of cheering their favorite to victory.

“Jing Feng! Jing Feng! You’re the Champion!”

“Mo Nan, take him down, you’re a Champion!…”

“I could just tear you apart…” one of the female students

shrieked. It wasn’t clear whether she was referring to Mo Nan
or Jing Feng.

The moment this girl shouted, the other disciples silenced for
a second, since her voice intensity was far too violent.

Even Jing Feng couldn’t help the chill that ran down his spine
for a second.

“Jing Feng, it seems that your charm is ever-growing, and

now they even want to tear you to pieces.” Mo Nan laughed, but
his eyes weren’t devoid of envy.
 Jing Feng recovered from it, and said: “You’re the one to
complain about charm…. Look at increasing number of men
who are here to cheer for you.”

“Damn it! That’s because of you; your charm offends the guys,
so they cheer for me, and not because the men find me
attractive.” Mo Nan looked gloomy; Jing Feng had always
gotten the better of him.
 Chapter 119 – Stupid Sword-Play

Jing Feng laughed: “Brother Mo Nan, don’t be so jealous, this

is just our normal custom…. Hey…..”

“Cocky, huh!” Mo Nan said in a cold tone: “Watch out for my

sword now, I’m going to spank you for calling me Brother.”

Mo Nan cast out the third form of the ‘Floating Sword’, ‘The
Rainstorm Sword’, and his attack brought a torrent of winds
with it, as his momentum started to rise.

As Bi Fan continued to watch Mo Nan’s display, he started to

realize that Mo Nan’s style of casting out the skill was quite
different from Yang Feng’s, and was even more powerful than
the latter.

Bi Fan continued to attentively watch his movements.

Jing Feng realized that he couldn’t act casually anymore, and

his ‘glamor-boy’ smile had already started to fade.
 He raised his Spear, as he prepared to cast out the ‘Thunder
Fury’ attack.

Jing Feng’s attack was extremely strong as well; two strong

contenders were up against each other, now it was time for the
stronger fighter to emerge victorious.

Once Jing Feng casted out the ‘Thunder Fury’ attack, it

started to seem as if real thunder strikes had descended from
the heavens to help Jing Feng defeat his enemy.

As the thunder and lightning enveloped the stage, the

terrified spectators started backing away.

“Brother Jing Feng has gotten even stronger since the last
time.” Bi Fan thought to himself.

Bi Fan’s heart was already raging with a desire to battle Jing

Feng and Mo Nan.

As the desire for a fight started to emerge from within Bi Fan,

his momentum started to rise, which started scaring the others
who were standing around Bi Fan. The people who were
standing near Bi Fan, and close to the stage, to witness the fight,
had now started to step back.

“Bi Fan is really strong, this is amazing!” Ling Xin Ya was

astonished. Ling Xin Ya’s astonishment soon turned to
happiness, as he started to realize that he had procured a very
strong disciple.

If a person wants to grow in strength, it takes faith, and will

power, but to achieve something extra-ordinary, it takes
something more; a person would need unflinching conviction
along with firm and indomitable determination.

Yu Qing Yang was also very surprised. Now that Bi Fan’s

momentum was beginning to break out, he wasn’t very far away
from the ‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer; this was the first
time that he’d ever seen an ‘Enormous Strength’ layer fighter
demonstrate such power.

Yan Yu Si’s eyes were gleaming with splendor, as she started

to attach even more value to Bi Fan.

Up on the stage, even Jing Feng and Mo Nan couldn’t help but
notice this sudden rise in momentum, and looked around to
find its source, only to realize that it was originating from Bi
Fan.

“Jing Feng, it seems that we have more competition this time

around.” Mo Nan smiled.

Jing Feng was quite excited as well: “That’s better; I was

beginning to feel lonely around here.”

Mo Nan and Jing Feng were in an odd state. The two of them
weren’t strong enough to compete with the ‘Emerging from the
Womb’ layer disciples of the sect, but were far stronger than the
other who were below that mark. Due to this reason, it had
become very difficult for the two of them to find worthy
opponents in the Sect.

Even though Mo Nan and Jing Feng were considered old

rivals, they had always harbored friendly sentiments for each
other.

Even though they always battled each other very fiercely, they
were still friends, and would regularly exchange words, ideas
and experiences.
 “Boom!” Mo Nan and Jing Feng’s weapons came together, and
both of them were pushed back a few steps, before they were
able to regain their balance.

“Amazing!”

“Awesome!”

As soon they were both stable of their feet, they charged right
back at each other.

Both, Mo Nan and Jing Feng, had a very deep understanding

of their respective martial skills, which is why they were able to
cast out their skills with such enormous power.

Bi Fan was watching very carefully, and would occasionally

make a gesture, or pass a smile, which was an obvious
indication that he was learning a lot of new things.

Ling Xin Ya was continuously watching Bi Fan, and was

reading Bi Fan’s every movement. He had already realized that
Bi Fan was trying to memorize their skills.
 Ling Xin Ya smiled: “Atta Boy, I didn’t think that he’d be able
to learn their skills that easily; carry on boy; you have boundless
prospects awaiting you in the future. It seems that I can rely on
Bi Fan to become the backbone of the Yang Shan peak.”

Yu Qing Yang could see the pleased look on Ling Xin Ya’s face,
and couldn’t help but slander the man, within the secrecy of his
heart: “Ling Xin Ya, this time you’ve really found yourself a
gem.”

“Father, didn’t I tell you this earlier… but you wouldn’t

believe me then.” Yan Yu Si started to laugh lightly.

“I’m regretting that already; now don’t rub it in.” Yu Qing

Yang looked quite disheartened.

“Oh….” Yan Yu Si couldn’t help flashing another smile.

Whenever Yan Yu Si smiled, all the surrounding men, whether
old or young, would end up getting carried away, and would
start staring at her.

Yan Yu Si, it seemed, was accustomed to such attention, and

didn’t seem to mind it at all, as she continued to act according to
her wishes, without showing any visible signs of discomfort.

“Here I Come!” Jing Feng screamed, as he launched another

fierce attack.

The Hegemon Pike was extremely heavy, which when coupled

with Jing Feng’s strength, made the weapon unstoppable.

Thunder Burst! Thunder Fury!

He cast out a different variation this time, with a speed that

resembled that of lightening, and this attack was even more
powerful than his previous attacks.

Mo Nan was able to withstand the majority of the attacks, but

ended up taking a few hits, as he finally started to show the
early signs of losing.

The key factor wasn’t Jing Feng’s ferocity, but his speed. Due
to the sheer pace of Jing Feng’s attacks, Mo Nan was unable to
dodge them all, and was forced to take a few hits.
 Mo Nan wasn’t ready to be written off just yet, and was
making some very subtle moves to counter Jing Feng, as he
tried to stop Jing Feng’s oppressive onslaught.

Bi Fan wasn’t familiar with the usage of a spear, which is why

there wasn’t much that he could learn from Jing Feng, and he
was only trying to memorize Jing Feng’s attacking patterns.

Mo Nan’s usage of the various variations of the ‘Floating

Sword’ technique, had been a very enlightening experience for
Bi Fan, and his own knowledge of the second and third form of
the skill had improved significantly. He was sure that he’d be
able to cast the same moves out, but with more power than
before.

Since Bi Fan was so engrossed in observing the fight, he

hadn’t realized that his momentum had been scaring people
away.

This year as well, the tournament was mainly in talk due to

Mo Nan and Jing Feng, and had attracted several more people,
who had arrived to witness the two men in action.

“One year has gone by; Mo Nan and Jing Feng have both
reached the peak of the ‘Transformation’ layer; their pace is
simply too fast. I started out with them, but here, look at me…
I’m only inside the ‘Spiritual intelligence’ layer. I’m such a
shame, ah.” One disciple seemed really upset with himself.

“You’re really good Brother. Don’t try to compare yourself

with these ‘Transformation’ layer people; there no point in
demeaning yourself. You look at me, I’m only inside the ‘Brave’
layer; you’re far better than me.”

“I think this Bi Fan guy is abnormal. He only came out in the

last year’s Selection tournament, and this year, he has already
reached the ‘Enormous Strength’ layer. He’s simply abnormal
ah!”

The people, who were watching the tournament, were mostly

talking about Mo Nan, Jing Feng and Bi Fan now. Of course,
many were talking about Yan Yu Si as well, but these people
were mostly keeping their voices low, since they didn’t want her
to overhear their conversations.

Bi Fan had turned a deaf ear to these talks a long while ago,
and his attention was completely transfixed on the match in
front.
 Mo Nan and Jing Feng’s contest was reaching a crucial stage
now, and it seemed as if a winner would emerge soon.

Both fighters were being very subtle now, and were making
very cautious and calculated moves. Carelessness at this stage
would cost the match.

“Stupid Sword-play… skill… wow….” Bi Fan was passing

comments from time to time. Sometimes he would just utter a
word, if he saw a wonderful move, out of sheer amazement. He
hadn’t really realized that he’d said the word ‘Stupid’ and had
then attached it to the word ‘Sword-play’.

Since Bi Fan was so engrossed in observing the match, he

didn’t even realize that he was being rather loud at times, owing
to which, a lot of people had heard his ‘Stupid’ remark.

“Bi Fan thinks that he’s so powerful, that he’s even started to
abuse these guys ah?” A disciple laughed.

“Who is he calling ‘Stupid’, Jing Feng, or Mo Nan?” Another

disciple tried to speculate.
 These people, were usually quite bored, and had finally found
a new joke, so naturally they wouldn’t let go of it that easily, as
they started gossiping again.

Bi Fan was completely unaware that his praise had been

mistaken for an abuse.

On the stage, Mo Nan and Jing Feng had also heard Bi Fan’s
remark, and their faces had become a little unsightly.

‘Brother Bi Fan, why are you staring at us like that?’ Jing Feng
seemed a little gloomy; if the fight hadn’t reached its climax,
then he would have definitely asked Bi Fan this question.

Mo Nan, on the other hand, was the one who was wielding a
sword. Obviously, he took the comment personally, since he
thought that it was directed at him.

“I haven’t done anything to offend Bi Fan, then why would be

abuse me like that?” Mo Nan started speculating in his mind.

“Puchi!” The two of them almost made a big mistake, and

barely diverted their swords enough, as they flicked past each
other’s clothing.

If it hadn’t been for their amazing reactions, then they would

have ended up poking a hole in each other.

Mo Nan and Jing Feng were a little shocked. Their minds

were so consumed with Bi Fan’s comment, and they were so
engrossed in a speculating its meaning, that they had almost
lost their focus.

Bi Fan’s intention was to praise, but a slip of tongue had

turned the ‘Stupendous’ to a ‘Stupid’. He had no idea that this
accidental abuse had already angered both, Jing Feng and Mo
Nan.
 Chapter 120 – Murder The Dragon

Jing Feng was staring at Bi Fan, almost as if he saying: ‘Boy,

you called me ‘Stupid’?… You better not have.’

Bi Fan was completely unaware of the situation, since he was

too absorbed in learning from their martial display. Memorizing
their skills would prove out to be very useful, since he was yet to
fight with Jing Feng and Mo Nan.

If things didn’t work out now and Bi Fan wasn’t able to rise to
fame by winning the Disciple’s tournament, then he’d definitely
try harder to win the Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon tournament. And
then, he also wanted to beat Ying Tian, which was a sure shot
way of coming into the limelight.

On top of that, Bi Fan also knew that Yan Yu Si is watching

the tournament; so naturally, he wanted to show off as much as
possible.

So at present, Bi Fan was so engrossed with learning new

skills, that he had completely forgotten about everything else.
 Jing Feng and Mo Nan resumed fighting; both the fighters had
been consuming a lot of energy, and they were both looking
tired now.

Due to the amount of energy that the two fighters had already
consumed, their movements had started slowing down. Now, Bi
Fan was able to see their movements even more clearly, and was
also seeing them use the same skills, but now with a different
amount of strength in support, which was adding to his
knowledge.

When the same moves were being cast out, using a differential
strength behind it, then the output was being affected in a
rather unexpected pattern. A slight deviation in angle, and
there was huge difference in the effect.

As he continued to watch the contest, he continued to learn a

lot of new things; all thanks to his exceptional learning ability.

A while ago, it wouldn’t even have been possible for Bi Fan to

imagine having such an amazing ability.

Ever since he had been pushed down the Wan Snake Cave
(Cave of a million Snakes), his fortunes had completely
transformed. Bi Fan really needed to thank Zhu San, and a few
others, for changing his fate, but on the contrary, he hated
them.

However, until now, he hadn’t had the chance to take his

revenge against Zhu San and the others, but it didn’t matter
how long it took, a day, a month, a year, a lifetime…. Bi Fan
could never forget the humiliations which he had suffered at
their hands.

Bi Fan’s fortunes had changed overnight, not many men are

given such a chance.

“Hegemon Pike! Murder the Dragon!” Jing Feng was finally

forced to cast out a new special trick. Jing Feng had only learnt
this skill very recently, so he wasn’t very adept at it.

Mo Nan had consumed a large amount of energy, and had

already started running out of moves, which is why he was
forced to stick to the ‘Fufeng Double-edged Sword’. As a last
resort, Mo Nan cast out the three variations of the ‘Fufeng
Double-edged Sword.’

At their current fatigue levels, Mo Nan was unable to match

up to Jing Feng. Jing Feng’s spear went straight past Mo Nan’s
sword, and stopped right in front of his chest.

“Jing Feng, I accept my defeat.” Mo Nan had finally lost.

This time around, Mo Nan had been preparing to face Jing

Feng the entire year, and had been concentrating solely on his
sword-play, which had seen a significant improvement.

Unfortunately, there was still a significant difference between

the two men, and Mo Nan eventually lost the contest again.

However, Mo Nan had done exceptionally well, and rather

than being discouraged, he seemed even more motivated.

Jing Feng said: “Brother Mo Nan, you have done well. Your
expertise made it very difficult for me this time. Had I not
experienced a recent surge in strength, then I would have lost to
you.”

“Damn it, you can’t win again.” Mo Nan replied fiercely, he

was unable to finish his sentence, since he broke into laughter.
 Both men put their arms around each other’s shoulders, as
they started walking off the stage. The females in the arena
started to shriek again.

“Jing Feng, I’m waiting for you! Don’t start chasing around
Mo Nan!” A young female screamed.

Mo Nan and Jing Feng reacted as if someone had stepped on

their tails. They pushed away from each other, and stayed that
way, as they descended down the platform.

“There’s no room for a little brotherly intimacy here; people

might mistake me for a homosexual. I think that if I get a bad
reputation in that sense, then, it will become very hard for me
to pick up girls in the future.” Jing Feng was a little grouchy all
of a sudden.

Those female students weren’t about to start disliking Jing

Feng because his ‘preference’ may have changed, and they
continued to scream after him, as they cheered him for his
victory.

“Jing Feng, your charm is invincible.” Bi Fan laughed.

 “Don’t you flatter me now, I don’t care about it; you just
called me ‘Stupid’.” Jing Feng said loudly.

Bi Fan scratched his head in confusion: “Jing Feng, Brother, I

was just enjoying your match, you would you think that I’d
abuse you like that?”

“Were you not looking at me when you said ‘Stupid Sword-

play’ huh?” Jing Feng stared into Bi Fan’s eyes, with sparks
flaming in his own.

Bi Fan forced a smile: “I was only appreciating Brother Mo

Nan’s sword play, why would you misunderstand it?”

Bi Fan somewhat silenced, he had no idea when his praise had

turned into a curse.

“But you were…. Well, since you are saying, let’s leave it at
that. But when the time comes, I don’t think that Mo Nan is
going to take it easy on you, so you better be careful.” Jing
Feng’s face was still a little distorted, as he really didn’t know
what to say.
 “Afraid, ah.. I’m eagerly waiting for it.” Bi Fan seemed very
excited.

There were a lot of matches remaining in the tournament for

Bi Fan, but he was very anxiously waiting for three of them.
Naturally, the first would be is match against Luo Sheng, after
which he’d get to fight Jing Feng, and then eventually he’d get
to cross swords with Mo Nan.

Bi Fan had a bet with Luo Sheng, so this was going to be an

important contest. On top of that Luo Sheng was quite powerful
as well, which was bound to make the contest a spectacle to
watch.

But Bi Fan was more concerned about his contest with Jing
Feng and Mo Nan.

As the tournament proceeded into the evening, Bi Fan had

already finished his first eight rounds, and had won them all.

In these eight rounds, Bi Fan had only had a little difficulty

against Ji Ying Lan, but the other seven matches had proven out
to be fairly easy victories for him.
 Now that Bi Fan had actually managed to maintain an
unbeaten record this far in the tournament, he was already
being dubbed as the crowd favorite ‘dark horse’.

Jing Feng had also maintained an unbeaten record, and was

being considered as the favorite to win the tournament.

As for Mo Nan, he had defeated Luo Sheng, so he only had one

loss against his name.

Luo Sheng had lost to both Mo Nan and Jing Feng, but had
managed to win the other matches.

Luo Sheng was using a top grade weapon, a sword called Tian
Yun, which was far too powerful. In fact, it was almost unfair.

However, this world has never been known to be fair.

Strength has always been the most important thing; the winner
takes it all. This has always been the invariant truth.

Luo Sheng’s high handed position was supported by his

grandfather, which was his main capital.

He’s always had a lot of Dan pellets at his disposal, which

allowed him to increase his strength very quickly. He also has
good weapons, and enough money to buy anything else that he
may require.

To envy another man’s advantages is never a solution, and

one should always consider them to a part of a person’s
strength.

In this world, no one will support you because you are weak
and pathetic. If you want respect, then you must become strong.

Bi Fan had understood these truths a long time ago, owing the
experiences that he had collected over his life so far. So now
that he was finally presented with a chance to do something, he
was making every effort to seize his opportunity, and was
working as hard as possible to increase his strength quickly.

Bi Fan didn’t have anything at one point in his life, and has
had to obtain everything on his own merit, which is a rare
thing.
 He had managed to enhance his strength very quickly, and
had also obtained a lot of treasures; most men would call him
lucky.

Bi Fan, on the other hand, never envied another man’s

advantage, and had always relied on his own efforts to improve
his position, which was his biggest asset.

As the contest came to an end for the day, Jing Feng pulled Bi
Fan aside, smiled and said: “Brother Bi Fan, it seems that the
contest for the Championship will be between you and me. As
long as I can beat you, I will be crowned champion again.”

“Yes, well, I will not be making it easy for you Brother.” Bi

Fan was quite serious.

“I’m sure. You have demonstrated that your strength is

indeed very good. But I think I’m better.” Jing Feng gestured.

“The outcome will be decided on the stage, it’s too early to

decide it now. I’m really looking forward to tomorrow’s
matches, as I have three very interesting contests coming up.”
Bi Fan was very excited.
 He was so anxious, that he didn’t even want to take rest, and
was hoping that contest would just continue.

Bi Fan wanted to teach Luo Sheng a lesson as soon as possible.

And then, he wanted to fight against the likes of Mo Nan and
Jing Feng. Crossing blades with such experts was surely going to
help Bi Fan learn more.

“It seems that I’ve started acting as foolishly as Brother Blue

Dragon, nowadays.” Bi Fan muttered.
 Chapter 121 – Women Chase After The Man

Once Bi Fan returned to Yu Nu Feng, Bi Fan learnt that Yan

Yu Si had invited him for a conversation. Bi Fan had barely set
foot on the peak’s entrance at the time, and upon hearing this,
he started to tremble with excitement.

Bi Fan really liked listening to Yan Yu Si’s advice. Obviously,

he had no interest in the advice, and his real purpose was always
to just listen to her voice.

As the image of her smiled resurfaced in his mind, Bi Fan’s

pace started to accelerate again.

“Miss Yan Yu Si, I’m here.”

“Bi Fan’s here ah, come on in.” The speaker was Xiao Feng,
but Yan Yu Si was also inside the room.

Bi Fan tidied his clothes, took a deep breath, and went inside.

“Bi Fan, congratulations, you won all the matches in today’s

tournament.” Xiao Feng was the first to congratulate Bi Fan.

“Thank you Xiao Feng.”

“Don’t be so proud, you didn’t encounter any strong

opponents today, otherwise you wouldn’t have been able to win
this easily. You will have to give your best at the tournament
tomorrow; otherwise it will become very difficult for you to win
the championship.” Yan Yu Si’s tone was very plain and dull,
and showed no signs of appreciating Bi Fan’s performance.

Bi Fan was somewhat at a loss, since he thought that Yan Yu

Si had called to praise him.

“Young Miss, I will do my best.” Bi Fan was feeling a little

weak and feeble.

Bi Fan, once in a while, would raise his gaze, and pilfer a sight
of Yan Yu Si. Bi Fan found Yan Yu Si’s appearance so thrilling,
that he could barely control his emotions.

Bi Fan was having a very difficult time in controlling his

emotions, and already started considering it as an exercise to
increase his willpower and mental control.

If he was somehow able to achieve immunity to Yan Yu Si’s

beauty, then he’d be above ordinary men, since it obviously
required exceptional willpower and mental control to achieve
that objective.

With increasing age, Bi Fan had started fantasizing about Yan

Yu Si even more, and each time he’d see her, his mood would
start to change, and his thoughts would start straying again.

Bi Fan was already having a very difficult time in controlling

his emotions, and didn’t want Yan Yu Si to notice it.

“You need to give a good performance tomorrow, so you can

win the Disciple’s tournament. And then, you have to
participate, and, rank well in the Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon
tournament, so you can rise to fame quickly.” Yan Yu Si’s tone
was still pretty dull.

“Yes yes…”

Bi Fan was a little confused, since Yan Yu Si’s tone made it

sound like a lecture rather than a motivational talk, or a praise.

“Bi Fan, you must go and rest, so you are ready for
tomorrow’s tournament.”

Yan Yu Si really didn’t know what to say or think; even she

didn’t even know why she had called Bi Fan in the first place,
which is why she just said what came to her mind.

Bi Fan looked at Yan Yu Si in a disheartened manner, as he

asked for his leave.

“Wasn’t that a bit strange?…..” Bi Fan shook his head, and

quickly returned to his Bamboo room.

Bi Fan didn’t have to time for rest. He had learnt a lot of new
things at the tournament today, and he needed to research his
findings.

Earlier today, at the contest, Bi Fan’s best bonus had been his
fight again Ji Ying Lan, which had helped him deepen his
knowledge of the ‘Fufeng Double-edged Sword’. His opponent’s
sword-play had been very inspiring, and Bi Fan prepared his
mind to study the skill in more depth.

However, since he only had one night’s time, so he’d only be

able to research the ‘Fufeng Double-edged Sword’.

As for the skills that he had observed in Jing Feng and Mo

Nan’s fight, they’d have to wait for a later time.

The night passed quickly.

As the sky outside lit up again, Bi Fan was forced to terminate

his practice. He freshened up, combed his hair, and prepared to
leave for the tournament.

Today is the last day of the tournament, and the day that the
champion would be decided.

As a result, the Ming Fung Valley was even more crowded

than it was the day before; it was almost as if a sea of people had
come to spectate the tournament. A huge number of monastic
disciples had showed up to witness the proceedings; even a large
majority of the high class had arrived to watch the contest.
 At the time of Bi Fan’s arrival, Yan Yu Si wasn’t present on
the venue.

Just as he entered the Min Fung valley, he felt a strong flavor

of strength in the vicinity, so much so that Bi Fan could sense
that there were a lot of strong men in the area, with whom, he
simply couldn’t compete at his present strength.

The Quinyang Sect was indeed worthy of being regarded as

one of the top Sects in the Jiu Yu city. The arena, at present,
was seating at least fifty or sixty ‘Emerging from the Womb’
layer martial artist.

Bi Fan was a little surprised, since achieving the ‘Emerging

from Womb’ layer, wasn’t an easy feat. The Quinyang Sect had
so many ‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer martial artists, which
was an obvious indication that the Sect had a lot of strength in
it.

Bi Fan glanced around the arena, and realized that most of

these men were at least above the age of forty. Since these
people had managed to achieve the ‘Emerging from the Womb’
layer, they obviously didn’t have any shortage of talent. But
none of these ‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer martial artists
were anywhere close to Jing Feng, in terms of age.

Bi Fan realized the problem. Lack of young talent was the

reason that the Quinyang Sect’s reputation had never been able
to reproduce itself outside the Jiu Yu City’s reach. In fact, the
Quinyang Sect wasn’t even considered the best in the Jiu Yu
City.

Previously, most people were under the impression that Yan

Yu Si’s talent would be able to revive the Quinyang Sect, but
since Yan Yu Si had joined the Xuannv Palace, it was impossible
for her to do much to help the Sect. Unless the Quinyang Sect
submitted to the Xuannv Palace’s supremacy, she would never
be able to justify her actions, in case she tried to assist the
Quinyang Sect’s growth.

The Quinyang Sect was very highly unlikely to abandon their

inheritance, which, they would have to if they desired to act as
the Xuannv Palace’s subordinate force.

Of course, Bi Fan only intended to remain in the Quinyang

Sect provisionally, since he needed to grow his strength, while
being able protect himself from the outside world.
 If it weren’t for Yan Yu Si’s assistance in helping Bi Fan’s
martial career, then he would have defected from the Sect a
long time ago.

At present, there were a lot of strong youngsters in the Sect,

who were carrying the same idea that Bi Fan had started to
harbor, and were only practicing under the Quinyang Sect
temporarily, with the intention of leaving the Sect later in life.

The sole reason that he was staying with Quinyang Sect, as of

now, was that it provided him the means to stay close to Yan Yu
Si, but was unlikely to change his mind about leaving the Sect in
the future.

“Bi Fan, are you ready?” Jing Feng came out of nowhere, and
patted Bi Fan on his back, and ended up starling him.

“Ready for what?”

Bi Fan asked with a puzzled look on his face.

“To get beaten up by me, ah!” Jing Feng laughed.

 “Well no, but I’m ready to beat you up, ha ha… ” Bi Fan broke
into laughter before he could complete the sentence. He
continued to laugh, as he started walking away.

“Beat me? Boy, you’re not that good yet.” Jing Feng called
after him loudly.

“Look, it’s our ‘Dark Horse’, Bi Fan, the man’s our greatest
underdog ever!” A female disciple screamed, and ended up
attracting a lot of attention.

“Do you think that our ‘Dark Horse’ will win the tournament
in the end?”

“How’s that even possible? Jing Feng is our Prince Charming,

and he’ll beat this boy.” A tall looking woman said: “Look, our
knight in the shining armor is here. Jing Feng! Jing Feng! I love
you. You’re my Champion!…”

The tall woman started the slogan again, and suddenly the
other women noticed Jing Feng as well, which gave rise to
another deafening cheer.
 On top of that, a large group of women, led by that tall
woman, started rushing towards Jing Feng.

“Oh Shit….” Jing Feng, fortunately, turned around, and saw

that tall woman. She was ever taller than him, her face was
pimpled, her arms were pimpled, and so were her thighs and
legs. She had almost caught up with Jing Feng.

Jing Feng gobbled up with vomit, and ran.

“Jing Feng! Jing Feng! I love…” the sound of her passionate

voice, startled Jing Feng like a rabbit, and he increased the pace
of his escape.

As Jing Feng rushed past Bi Fan like a gust of wind; Bi Fan

wondered and asked: “Brother Jing Feng, why are you running
so fast, did you a ghost or something?”

Jing Feng didn’t even look back, as he continued to run.

Bi Fan turned around and saw the approaching flock of girls,

with that tall woman in the lead. Suddenly, Bi Fan realized the
enormity of the situation.
 “Wait for me. Brother Jing Feng, your charm is really
growing, ah!” Bi Fan exclaimed, as he joined Jing Feng.

With such a large woman chasing, Bi Fan simply couldn’t help

it.

The woman only had eyes for Jing Feng, but if Bi Fan had just
stood there motionless, then he’d surely have been trampled
upon by her; he may even have been crushed to death.
 Chapter 122 – A Platform For Confrontation

“Hoof…”

Jing Feng breathed a sigh of relief, as he took his seat in

stands; he was still a little traumatized.

Bi Fan was one step behind Jing Feng, and arrived moments
later to take his seat next to Jing Feng.

The stand was flooding with people, so it was highly unlikely

that the women would chase him down to his seat.

“Ha…” Bi Fan exhaled loudly, and said: “Brother Jing Feng,

your charm just keeping growing. You need to do something
about it, or things may get out hand one day.”

“This isn’t very good. That was a close call; let’s just forget
about it for now.” Jing Feng shook his head, as he tried to force
a smile.

“Yeah, really…. Xiao Feng is really good person, are you sure
that you really want to give up?” Bi Fan enquired.

Jing Feng sighed: “Indeed, Xiao Feng really is a great girl, but
do you think that she can keep up with my freedom, and wait
for a few years till I’m ready to return?”

Since they were back to this topic, Bi Fan really didn’t know
what to say anymore.

Mo Nan and Luo Sheng arrived on the scene shortly, and Luo
Sheng looked even more confident today.

Today, Ling Xin Ya and Yu Qing Yang arrived at the venue

together, and took their place with the elders of the Sect.

Bi Fan looked around a bit, and was eventually able to spot

Yan Yu Si and Xiao Feng. The moment he spotted them, his
spirits started to rise again.

“No matter what happens, I must win. I cannot disappoint

Miss Yan Yu Si.”
 Since Jing Feng was sitting next to Bi Fan, he naturally
noticed the shine in Bi Fan’s eyes, but he assumed that Bi Fan
was lost in his own world, so he didn’t disturb Bi Fan.

The contest began soon, and Bi Fan’s first opponent was a

peak of the ‘Enormous strength’ layer man named Yang Long.

Yang Long’s strength could only be considered as decent. He’d

seen the contest between Ji Ying Lan and Bi Fan, and was well
aware the he was going to lose against Bi Fan.

However, Yang Long didn’t throw in the towel, and walked

onto the stage to participate in the fight.

“I’m Yang Long, pleased to meet you.”

Yang Long’s intentions were simple; he just wanted to fight

against a stronger opponent, so he could learn something new,
and enhance his own strength in the process.

Even though he too was inside the ‘Enormous strength’ layer,

and was in fact stronger than Bi Fan on the surface, but since he
had seen the manner in which Bi Fan had defeated Ji Ying Lan,
he had decided to use this opportunity to learn something,
rather than squandering it in a pointless pursuit of a victory.

“Bi Fan, young brother, you started much later than I did, but
you’re more powerful than me; I acknowledge that. I have only
showed up for our contest, since I wish to experience your true
strength, and learn something from you.” Yang Long smiled.

He seemed so afraid of Bi Fan, that he honestly expressed his

true intentions.

“…if that’s the case, then I’ll grant you your wish.” Bi Fan
smiled wickedly, as he thought to himself: “Since he’s asking for
a battering, I shouldn’t refuse and disappoint him, ah.”

Yang Long cast out the ‘fufeng Double-edged Sword’, which

was the most commonly used skill by most of the Quinyang
disciples.

Bi Fan didn’t use his Purple-feathered sword, and started with

‘Babu Swimming Dragon’ and ‘Swimming Dragon’ combination
once again.
 Bi Fan was so fast, that his silhouette seemed to be
surrounding Yang Long from all directions, as he started
attacking his opponent.

In order to allow Yang Long to experience his expertise, Bi Fan

turned Yang Long into his sandbag, as he beat him up.

Fortunately, Bi Fan didn’t feel like hurting him, and didn’t

really injure the man in anyway.

He cast out several moves of the melee attacks, before he

backed away.

Yang Long looked completely disoriented; he swayed a few

times, before he was able to stand firmly again.

“Bi Fan, thank you…for letting me experience that… I have

learnt a lot…. I lose….”

Bi Fan really didn’t know how to respond to Yang Long’s

words, and just said the first thing that came to his mind:
“Brother Yang Feng, your strength is quite good and I have to
admit that.”
 Then, Bi Fan strode down the stage.

Bi Fan looked back once, and saw the depressed look on Yang
Feng’s face: “My strength is good, isn’t that’s ironic,
considering how easily he beat me…. I like him, but was he
trying to mock me?”

Yang Long couldn’t understand Bi Fan’s words, and walked

off the stage, with a gloomy look on his face.

Bi Fan took his seat next to Jing Feng, who had already
finished his fight as well.

Jing Feng smiled: “Brother Bi Fan, if you start abusing them

like that, then they will just stay away from you.”

“This guy requested for a battering, so there’s really nothing

that I could do about it.” Bi Fan smiled as he shook his head.

Jing Feng obviously couldn’t understand the meaning: “The

next one, I’m afraid, is the one that you really want to beat up,
don’t you?”

“That guy is really asking for a lot more than this, so I won’t
be holding back. I just discovered that I like beating people up a
bit, it feels a little bit good, so of course, I won’t stop at him.” Bi
Fan’s face exposed a sinister smile.

The moment Jing Feng saw that monstrous smile on Bi Fan’s

face, he couldn’t himself, and observed a minute of silence for
Luo Sheng.

Luo Sheng was surrounded by several disciples, who were

busy flattering him.

“Brother Luo Sheng, you have the Tian Yun Sword with you;
you will certainly knock Bi Fan’s teeth out.”

“That’s for sure. Boss’s strength is higher than Bi Fan’s, and

with the Tian Yun Sword in his hand, boss will win easily.”

Luo Sheng smiled: “I also a special weapon for this fight. I

won’t allow Bi Fan to leave that stage alive.”
 As Luo Sheng looked over at Bi Fan, his eyes immediately
turned cold, almost as if he was ready to eat Bi Fan alive.

“Wise elders, what do you think of Bi Fan so far?” Yu Qing

Yang asked abruptly.

The status of an Elder is the same as that of the Sect’s head, so

naturally, they were sitting around Yu Qing Yang.

Luo Xiao Tian squinted his eye, and said: “Bi Fan came out in
the last year’s Selection tournament, but his strength is only
average…”

“His strength is only average?” Ling Xin Ya responded in a

cold voice: “Are you aware that your grandson has a bet against
Bi Fan?”

“I haven’t heard of it yet. I don’t bother myself with such

trivial matters; let them have their fun.” Luo Xiao Tian looked
at his armchair, as if he didn’t care at all.

Ling Xin Ya said: “You don’t care about these trivial

matters…. You gave your grandson, Luo Sheng, the Tian Yun
sword! What do you have to say about that matter, if that isn’t
showing concern, then what is?”

“Ling, deputy, that’s not under your control, and I don’t need
to explain myself to you…” Luo Xiao Tian obviously considered
Ling Xin Ya to be beneath himself, so naturally, he didn’t bother
explaining.

Ling Xin Ya said: “Naturally, I have no control over that, but I

hope that you will not interfere when it comes to their contest.”

“That’s something that I must remind you, son, and I hope

that you will not interfere in the contest. I can sense that you’re
worried about your disciple, Bi Fan’s safety, but there’s no need
to pester me with this matter any further.” Luo Xiao Tian
seemed quite confident of Luo Sheng’s chances.

“Well, let’s not argue opinionatedly. The contest is about to

start, so let’s just concentrate on that.” Yu Qing Yang was quite
helpless in front of the two men, and was hoping that their
bickering would stop.

“Luo Sheng, beat Bi Fan up, kill him….” Luo Sheng’s pack of
rogues cheered him on.

Luo Sheng was the grandson of an elder, therefore, he had a

lot of disciple backing him up, and now, they had started
making a lot of noise.

Luo Sheng’s hands were in the air, and he continuously waved

to crowd, especially to the girls, as he tried to impress them.

Luo Sheng loved to be in the limelight, and this was a rare

opportunity, so naturally, he wasn’t about to miss out on it.

Anyway, Luo Sheng was confident that he’ll end up beheading

Bi Fan; so naturally, he was acting even more arrogantly than
usual.

Bi Fan obviously saw Luo Sheng’s procession, but didn’t

bother himself with it, as he walked on to the stage.

Everything else is unreal; only the winner gets to have the last
laugh.
 Moreover, Bi Fan had never had a flair for limelight, which is
why he strode onto the stage in a perfectly casual manner.

Bi Fan’s past victories, had won him a lot of recognition from

the disciples of the Sect.

As a result of which, as Bi Fan rose to the platform, he

received a lot of cheers, which instilled a little more confidence
in him.
 Chapter 123 – Bi Fan Starts To Rise

Bi Fan stood in front of Luo Sheng, indifferently, almost as if

he wasn’t interested in the contest at all.

Luo Sheng, in contrast, was bathing in the limelight, as if he

had already won the tournament.

“I hate Luo Sheng’s attitude. If he hadn’t had a bet with Bi

Fan, then I would have beaten him up so badly, that he
wouldn’t have been able to continue with the tournament.”
Jing Feng’s face filled with disdain, as he witnessed Luo Sheng’s
arrogance.

“I hope that our ‘dark horse’, Bi Fan, knocks the shit out of
Luo Sheng. I really can’t stand his arrogance.”

“Yes, ah, me too. If he wasn’t an elder’s grandson, then his

strength wouldn’t have progressed so fast.”

… …
 A lot of people were very unhappy with Luo Sheng, due to his
usually arrogant behavior.

“Bi Fan, well the day has come. I have been waiting for this
day for a very long time.” Luo Sheng’s eyes were as cold as ice,
while his tone reeked of a deadly aura.

Bi Fan smiled: “Oh come on, don’t be so anxious, I’ll carry you
along for a while, so you don’t end up looking like a total
moron.”

“Well, are the two of you ready?” The judge asked the two of
them.

The referee was a slightly older man, who had already reached
the ‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer, since the circumstance
leading to this contest, was indicative that the fight may have to
be stopped in between.

It was prohibited to kill an opponent in the Quinyang Sect

Disciple’s tournament.

But in a martial contest, sometimes, avoiding injuries, and

even deaths, is inevitable. The referee was required to be
stronger than the fighters, so he could block a deadly attack,
and avoid as much causality as possible.

Bi Fan looked at the referee, while his mind was busy making
the calculations; he needed to find a way to beat up Luo Sheng
as badly as he possibly could.

Unless Luo Sheng was to throw in the towel, the referee was
unlikely to stop Bi Fan from beating him up, unless of course, Bi
Fan tries to kill Luo Sheng.

Bi Fan’s mind was actively contemplating means to stop Luo

Sheng from conceding his defeat early, so he could avail a
decent number of opportunities to thrash his opponent.

Once Bi Fan and Luo Sheng indicated that they were ready,
the referee started the contest.

Luo Sheng started with the ‘Floating sword’, and it seemed

that his grandfather, Luo Xiao Tian, had personally taught him,
since the power that he was able to produce was quite
formidable.
 Luo Sheng was casting out the ‘Floating Sword’, and that too
by using a top-grade weapon like the Tian Yun, so Bi Fan really
couldn’t overlook the threat.

As a precaution, Bi Fan started using his purple-feathered

sword against this enemy.

Bi Fan started with the ‘Fufeng Double-edged Sword’, but his

style was very different from the one that most of the Quinyang
Sect disciples display. His ‘Fufeng Double-edged Sword’
resembled that of Ji Ying Lan.

However, Bi Fan’s style was still a little different from Ji Ying

Lan’s, and it seemed that Bi Fan had made his own changes to
the form.

After the contest with Ji Ying Lan, Bi Fan had spent the whole
night researching the ‘Fufeng Double-edged Sword’, and had
made a lot of changes of his own, but still, his style resembled Ji
Ying Lan’s to some extent.

Thankfully, Ji Ling Lan was busy with his own contest, and
didn’t get to see Bi Fan’s changes; otherwise, he may not have
been able to withstand the shock.
 “Bi Fan is really talented! He even managed to learn Ji Ying
Lan’s entire skill set over the time period of just one fight!” Yu
Qing Yang was amazed.

Ji Ying Lan was Yu Qing Yang’s direct disciple, which is why

Yu Qing Yang knew the amount of time and effort that Ji Ying
Lan had put in, to achieve that level of expertise.

Yu Qing Yang had personally spent a lot of time with Ji Ying

Lan, and had spent a decent amount of time in helping his
disciple make those changes, which was one of the reasons that
Ji Ying Lan’s version of the ‘Fufeng Double-egded Sword’, is as
good as it is. Bi Fan, on the other hand, had not only
memorized, and mastered Ji Ying Lan’s style in just one fight,
but had also managed to make more changes in it, in just one
night.

“Genuis! He’s a true Genuis! It seems that the Quinyang Sect

will finally come out of this slump!” Yu Qing Yang couldn’t
control his excitement anymore.

Luo Xiao Tian asked: “Head of the sect, you think that Jing
Feng is a real genius, and you believe that he’s the best in the
Quinyang Sect’s young generation?”

At present, Jing Feng had just finished his fight, and had won
it with ease, which had given rise to an enormous cheer from
the ladies.

Luo Xiao Tian hadn’t heard his remarks clearly, and was
under the impression that Yu Qing Yang was praising Jing Feng.

“No… ah, yes. Jing Feng is indeed Quinyang’s most talented

prospect. We must increase the effort we put into his training in
the future.”

He almost uttered Bi Fan’s name, but then decided to refrain

from it, since he knew that Luo Xiao Tian’s grandson holds a
grudge against Bi Fan, and praising Bi Fan’s skills in front of
him would only make matters worse.

Luo Xiao Tian was considered the strongest man in the

Quinyang Sect, but he was a narrow-minded man, and would do
almost about anything to shield his flaws.

If Luo Xiao Tian realized Bi Fan’s true genius, then given the
circumstances, he was more likely to create trouble for Bi Fan,
rather than assist the Sect is protecting him, and may even try
to have him killed.

Considering these possibilities, Yu Qing Yang decided to hide

the matter from him.

He was attaching the Sect’s hope for growth with Bi Fan, and
wouldn’t be afraid to keep a few secret for the sake of his Sect.
As long as Bi Fan was able to grow in terms of strength, he really
wouldn’t have to worry about these things in the future.

Ling Xin Ya knew that Yu Qing Yang was referring to Bi Fan,

and not Jing Feng.

Ling Xin Ya was well aware of Bi Fan’s fighting styles,

especially the ‘Fufeng Double-edged Sword’, since he had
personally helped Bi Fan master it.

But now he could see a significant number of changes in his

style, post the contest against Ji Ying Lan. Bi Fan had not only
managed to learn the skill over night, but he had also managed
to make it his own.
 Bi Fan wasn’t just a genius; he was beyond anything Ling Xin
Ya had ever seen.

“It seems that I’ve somehow found a real gem, and I can rely
on his glory to get more talented disciples.” Ling Xin Ya’s face
was blooming with happiness.

Moreover, he really wouldn’t have to deal with Luo Xiao Tian,

since he knew Luo Xiao Tian well, and he knew that Luo Xiao
Tian was likely to overlook Bi Fan’s talent. Obviously, Ling Xin
Ya wasn’t stupid enough to point it out to Luo Xiao Tian either.

He could see the amount of importance that the head of the

Sect had started attaching to Bi Fan, and knew that he’d have to
keep his superior’s interests in mind.

“Bi Fan is gradually revealing his true talents, and it seems

that I’ll have to start looking after him better, as I really can’t
allow anyone to steal him away from me.” Ling Xin Ya thought
to himself.

Yan Yu Si also noticed that Bi Fan had started casting out the
‘Fufeng Double-edged Sword’ in a rather unusual manner, and
her eye brows started ruffling with surprise: “Bi Fan just had
one fight against Ji Ying Lan, how was he able to learn and
master his ‘Fufeng Double-edged Sword’ in such a short period
of time?”

Yan Yu Si considered herself to be one of the best martial

artists of her generation, but even she had never able do
something like this.

Of course, there were several others watching the contest, and

the ones who had seen his fight against Ji Ying Lan, were
completely taken by Bi Fan’s ability as well.

Bi Fan never imagined that his current actions would be

attracting so much attention.

There was destined to be an outrage, as everyone was

interested in knowing how Bi Fan had managed to master the
‘Fufeng Double-edged Sword’ in such a short period of time.

Bi Fan wasn’t blind to his low-key status either, and was well
aware that he’d have to perform, if he wished to acquire more
resources from the Sect for his training.
 A high-profile status can be very necessary at times.

Bi Fan was weaker on surfaces, when compared to Luo Sheng,

and was using a much weaker weapon in comparison as well,
but was still able to compete with his opponent, plainly on the
basis of his expertise. A situation like this one was considered
awfully rare.

The Flurry Sword!

Luo Sheng started attacking faster and faster, since he wanted

to finish Bi Fan as soon as possible, and wanted to use the speed
of his attacks to ‘accidently’ kill Bi Fan.

Luo Sheng held a grudge against Bi Fan, since Bi Fan had

shamed him in the past. On top of that Bi Fan had been
progressing at a much faster pace than him, owing to which Bi
Fan had been attracting a lot of attention; so naturally, Luo
Sheng wanted to kill Bi Fan off, since he didn’t want any
competition.

Luo Sheng had learnt the ‘Floating Sword’ forms from Luo
Xiao Tian, and although he wasn’t very skilled at it, his style
was much superior to the one that Bi Fan had learnt from Yang
Feng.

Bi Fan was keenly watching Luo Sheng’s movements, and

could see that his style had some very delicate changes, in some
moves, which were enabling him to increase the power of the
attacks.

Since he was learning new things, Bi Fan was not very eager to
finish the fight.

“I’ll let Luo Sheng show me his entire skill set, and then I’ll
beat him.”
 Chapter 124 – The Changing Dan

Since Bi Fan had already made up his mind, he was doing his
best to avoid a direct confrontation with Luo Sheng, and
continued to retreat.

As a result of which, Luo Sheng started thinking that he’s

gaining an upper hand, and started attacking even more
ferociously.

Soon, Luo Sheng’s display of the ‘Flurry Sword’ changed to

the third form of the skill, ‘The Rainstorm Sword’.

‘The Rainstorm Sword’ attack, brought with it, a storm of

winds; the attack was extremely fierce.

Bi Fan was only casting out his moves to defend against Luo
Sheng’s attacks. Bi Fan had turned very passive and Luo Sheng
had started suppressing him very badly.

His powerful sword-play, plus a sword like the Tian Yun, was
making things very difficult for Bi Fan.
 “Puchi….” Bi Fan was using his agility to its extreme, but still,
his clothes were torn and scratched in several places.

Fortunately, Bi Fan was wearing his armor, which is why he

hadn’t injured himself severely; he wasn’t worried about
injuries either, probably due to the defensive capabilities of his
armor.

Luo Sheng smiled: “Not so arrogant now ah….well, I’m going

to finish you off soon, boy.”

Luo Sheng was pressing harder and harder, and Bi Fan was
constantly retreating, which made it look as if he was taking a
beating.

The contest on the stage was appearing very confusing to

most of the spectators.

Jing Feng shouted loudly: “Brother Bi Fan, what are you

afraid of? Stop holding back!” since his contest had ended, he
had turned his attention to Bi Fan’s contest against Luo Sheng.
 Jing Feng simply couldn’t understand Bi Fan’s thought
process. He had seen the ease with which Bi Fan had beaten Ji
Ying Lan, and even if Lou Sheng was stronger, there was no way
that he could bully Bi Fan around, especially in the manner in
which he currently was.

Luo Sheng had also seen the contest between Bi Fan and Ji
Ying Lan, but was under the impression that his superior
weapon was helping him in gaining the upper hand in this fight.

“What’s the matter with Bi Fan?” Yan Yu Si’s eye brows

started to wrinkle, as he seemed quite confused as well: “Is he
deliberately allowing Luo Sheng to win the fight?”

“Miss, Bi Fan isn’t going to lose this fight, is he? If he loses,

then Luo Sheng will definitely never stop humiliating him, and
may even try to kill him.” Xiao Feng’s face was covered with
anxiety and fear.

“Keep watching. Bi Fan isn’t going to get beaten that easily;

he’s definitely got a plan.” Yan Yu Si suddenly realized that Bi
Fan may have some other ideas, and exposed a relaxed smile.

Since Yan Yu Si seemed as ease with the proceedings, Xiao

Feng also calmed down a bit, but she was still a bit worried.

Yu Qing Yang was quite surprised, and thought to himself:

“I’m pretty sure that this kid, Bi Fan, is trying to learn Luo
Sheng’s style, but isn’t he taking a very big risk in doing so?”

“Bi Fan is certainly trying to learn Luo Sheng’s martial skills.

Once we are back at the Yang Shan peak, I will personally help
him improve the technique. After all, I am his Master, and I
must undertake my responsibilities properly.” Ling Xin Ya had
already started formulating his own ideas.

Since his grandson was winning the contest, Luo Xiao Tian
obviously quite happy, and had a big smile on his face.

“Luo Sheng is the most talented youngster in this young

generation. Although he’s a bit lazy, I’ll personally pay more
attention to his training now, and he should be able to develop
into the Quinyang Sect’s backbone. Yu Qing Yang doesn’t have
any male successors, and Yan Yu Si is very unlikely to return to
take his place as the Sect’s in charge, so there’s still hope for Luo
Sheng.”

Luo Xiao Tian was making his own calculations, and his old
face was blossoming in a very radiant smile.

Luo Sheng’s ‘Floating sword’s’ third form, ‘The Rainstorm

Sword’, was very different from the usual one, and had
hundreds of very minor changes.

Soon enough, Luo Sheng’s display of his variations in style

was over, and Bi Fan had already memorized the entire skill in
his mind.

Bi Fan had learnt this skill from Yang Feng, which itself had at
least forty changes of its own, but Luo Sheng’s version was still
much superior, and a lot more powerful.

Luo Sheng had already cast out the entire range of his skills,
and still hadn’t been able to kill Bi Fan; so obviously, he was
beginning to get a little anxious now.

“This guy is really very good; his agility, especially, is making

it very difficult for me to get a hold of him.” Luo Sheng thought
to himself: “Bi Fan, I must find a way to catch hold of you. It
seems that I’ll finally have to use my secret weapon.”
 Bi Fan realized that Luo Sheng was done demonstrating his
skills, and probably had nothing new in his arsenal, and so Bi
Fan decided that it was time to start his own show.

“Luo Sheng, don’t blame me, you asked for this.” Bi Fan
laughed within his mind.

Bi Fan cast out the final form of the ‘Fufeng Double-edged

Sword’, ‘Thousand Willow Needles’, and his sword charged
towards Luo Sheng, and cut his wrist.

“Ah….” Since Luo Sheng’s wrist took a cut, the Tian Yun
sword fell out of his hands.

Now that Luo Sheng’s weapon had fallen to the floor, Bi Fan
wouldn’t be able to go out after him aggressively with his
sword. This was a crucial stage in the contest.

If Bi Fan continued to batter Luo Sheng with his sword, while

Luo Sheng was unarmed, then the referee would surely
intervene and stop the fight.

“Luo Sheng, since you’ve lost your sword, I’ll lose mine as
well, so we can level the playing field, and fight with our fists.”
Bi Fan smiled: “Of course, unless you’re terrified of me, and
you’re ready to throw in the towel already….”

“Fist to fist! I’ll tear you apart!” Luo Sheng was furious.

When a person’s weapon falls down, like Luo Sheng’s had, it

is usually considered a disgrace.

He had been shamed in front of the entire Quinyang Sect, and

there was no way he would allow Bi Fan to get away with it.

Luo Sheng was completely enraged, and so, he secretly took

out the Changing Dan which Luo Xiao Tian had given him, and
took it.

The Changing Dan has the capacity to burst the energy of a

person. After taking the Dan, the person’s strength doubles.
Though, this sudden explosion of strength has a side-effect, and
the user would have to suffer two or three days of weakness,
prior usage.

The Changing Dan is a very rare Dan, and Luo Xiao Tian had
given him one, in case he needed it to rescue himself from a life
threatening situation.

At this time, Luo Sheng wanted to win so desperately, that he

was willing to do almost anything. His first priority, at the
moment, was to teach Bi Fan a lesson.

Bi Fan had repeatedly humiliated him, and publicly so, and

Luo Sheng was furious beyond control.

“Ah!” Luo Sheng roared loudly, as his momentum started to

soar.

Luo Sheng’s momentum started reaching new heights. At his

current state, he only had thirteen Yun Shi of strength, which
now, had already reached twenty-six Yun Shi.

At present, Luo Sheng had enough brute force to successfully

overwhelm Bi Fan.

Although Luo Sheng had injured his wrist, the injury wasn’t
very serious, but he would no longer be able to use his sword
anymore.
 This injury, however, wasn’t going to affect his close-combat
fighting much, and he figured that he’d be able to gain absolute
advantage over Bi Fan.

“Bi Fan, now you’re dead.” Luo Sheng said with confidence.

As they witnessed this sudden increase in Luo Sheng’s

strength, many of the spectators had already started panicking,
as they were worried about Bi Fan’s safety.

“Oh Shit, Luo Sheng took a Changing Dan pellet. After taking
that Dan, his strength has surged far too high. Thing aren’t
looking very good for Brother Bi Fan now.” Jing Feng worried.

Mo Nan patted his chest, as he tried to soothe his own fear,

and said: “Fortunately, I didn’t piss Luo Sheng off like Bi Fan
has managed to…. otherwise he might have used that Changing
Dan against me. I’m so lucky that I’m not his opponent right
now.”

“Luo Xiao Tian, you gave your grandson a Changing Dan

pellet. If something happens to my disciple, then I’m not going
to let you get away with this.” Ling Xin Ya was furious.

Luo Xiao Tian smiled: “Ling Xin Ya, the Quinyang Disciple’s
tournament has no rules against it. The disciples are allowed to
take Dan pellets during the fight, aren’t they?”

“You….” The Quinyang Sect didn’t have any rules in place to

curb such an activity, and Ling Xin Ya suddenly found himself
short of arguments to counter with.

Yu Qing Yang thought to himself: “Luo Sheng’s present

strength isn’t very far away from the ‘Emerging from the
Womb’ layer; this isn’t very good for Bi Fan….It could be very
dangerous…”

Yu Qing Yang was already prepared to act, just in case he

needed to rescue Bi Fan. He knew Luo Sheng well, and could see
that Luo Sheng would definitely try to kill Bi Fan.

“Miss, Bi Fan is going to be okay, right? This Luo Sheng is too

despicable.” Xiao Feng’s worries were reaching new heights.

Yan Yu Si mused: “Let’s watch. If things get out of hand, then

I’ll stop the fight.”

Owing to the surge in Lou Sheng’s power, caused by his intake

of the Changing Dan pellet, no one was optimistic about Bi Fan’s
chances anymore.
 Chapter 125 – A Real Fight

Under the present circumstances, no one was optimistic about

Bi Fan’s chances, however, Bi Fan’s face, revealed the trace of a
smile.

“Foolish boy, he’s smiling even now.” Luo Sheng said in a cold
voice.

Whistling God!

Luo Sheng cast out another martial skill that Luo Xiao Tian
had taught him, the ‘Whistling God’ Fist. The ‘Whistling God’
Fist is a four form skill, which is considered even superior to the
‘Fufeng Double-edged Sword’.

Moreover, the ‘Whistling God’ fist technique was created by

Luo Xiao Tian himself, and only his direct disciples were given a
chance to learn the skill.

‘The Whistling God’ was a very powerful skill, which when

coupled with Luo Sheng’s increased strength, made the attack
formidable.
 As the wind flutter under the force, Luo Sheng’s punches
charged towards Bi Fan.

“Damn it! Too Strong!” Bi Fan seemed a little depressed.

Luo Sheng started to cast out Luo Xiao Tian’s ‘Whistling God’,
and Bi Fan was already running for room.

“Oh boy, ‘Babu Swimming Dragon’, ‘Swimming Dragon’…” Bi

Fan started using his nimble footwork, to its best, and was able
to dodge the attack each time, and was somehow even able
counter once in a while.

But, Bi Fan was well aware that his agility only provided him
with a temporary response to the situation, and he really
couldn’t carry on like this for long, since his movement space
was getting smaller and smaller.

If things continued to carry on like this, then he’d be running

out of space to move into, pretty soon.
 “Prancing Tiger!” Bi Fan cast out his best attack, and his
physical strength started to break out.

At this point, Bi Fan’s momentum had started soaring, even

though it was still weaker than Luo Sheng’s, but wasn’t so by a
huge margin. The murderous momentum, which he’d been
concealing since his adventures in the Devil’s Abyss, finally
started to break out.

Having resorted to using his full force, Bi Fan started

regaining a foothold in the fight fairly soon.

“Bi Fan has a lot of hidden strength ah, his momentum is even
stronger than mine right now, and just exactly how strong is he
in reality?” Jing Feng was shocked.

Mo Nan was completely stunned; his mouth was hung open in

shock, and it was a while before he could comment:
“Unbelievable, simply unbelievable, ah. I remember, last year,
when he made it through the Selection Tournament, his
strength was only inside the ‘Inner breadth’ layer, how’s his
strength growing at this rate?”

Luo Xiao Tian was as shocked as anyone else: “How could….

Ling Xin Ya, you just told me that you haven’t given your
disciple any Changing Dan pellets…”

“Luo Xiao Tian, I’m not a cheat like you, I haven’t given him
any Changing Dan pellets.” Ling Xin Ya said loudly.

Yu Qing Yang smiled: “Bi Fan hasn’t taken any Changing Dan
pellets, his physical strength, it seems, has surpassed his inner
energy. It appears that he has a lot of physical strength hidden
inside his body, ah.”

His heart was already blooming with the prospects for the
future: “It seems that this time we’ve found a true gem; I had
never expected that his physical strength would be so high. I
have no idea how hard he must have practiced to nurture his
physical strength to this level. If he rises, then the Quinyang
Sect will grow with him.”

Physical strength grows very slowly, and the methods that a

practitioner is required to practice in order to increase physical
strength, are quite painful. Most people never spare any time
for the practice of physical strength, since when a martial artist
breaks into the ‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer, the Aura that
rushes through their body, at the time, expands existing their
physical strength anyway.
 Bi Fan had managed to expand his physical strength to such
an amazing level, a feat which was nothing short of
extraordinary. Yu Qing Yang simply couldn’t imagine the pain
that Bi Fan would have suffered to achieve this result.

“Luo Xiao Tian, you heard it, the Head of the Sect said it
himself, Bi Fan hasn’t taken any Changing Dan pellets.” Ling
Xin Ya stated in a cold tone.

Luo Xiao Tian didn’t speak a word, as he looked at Bi Fan

coldly.

‘Whistling God’ and ‘Prancing Tiger’ were both formidable

techniques, and there really wasn’t much of a difference
between the two skills in general.

“Boom…..”

The fighting between the two of them had start becoming

very intense.
 Luo Sheng’s force was more dominating than Bi Fan’s, plus he
had learnt the skill directly from Luo Xiao Tian, which is why
he was relatively more skilled. On top of that, Bi Fan had just
learnt the advanced forms of the ‘Prancing Tiger’, owing to
which, his proficiency was lacking a bit.

To make up for it, Bi Fan started mixing it up with the ‘Wan

Zu’ boxing and the ‘Swimming Dragon’ techniques.

Luo Sheng had seen through Bi Fan’s ‘Prancing tiger’ moves,

and had already taken measures to counter it, which is why Bi
Fan’s attacks weren’t having much effect on him.

Luo Sheng had started gaining the upper hand again, and as
his excitement started to soar again, he started attacking even
more violently.

“Bi Fan, this time, I will kill you!” Luo Sheng gritted his teeth.

Bi Fan didn’t want to get suppressed in this manner, and he

said to himself, in an undertone: “It seems that I’ll have to
experiment with the Shock Rune, if I want to beat Luo Sheng. It
turns out that Luo Sheng is the perfect candidate for the Shock
Rune experiment.”
 Bi Fan secretly used the Shock Rune; but since he didn’t want
anyone to find out about it, he didn’t expose the true extent of
its power.

He was afraid that if people found about the Shock Rune, then
he won’t be able to hold on to it for very long. So in order to
freely use the Shock Rune in the future, he only exposed a very
slight amount of the increase in his strength.

However, now that his strength had doubled, Bi Fan was

capable of using up to Forty-four Yun Shi of strength.

At present, Bi Fan’s strength had increased past Luo Sheng’s,

and he had started dodging Luo Sheng’s attacks, while he
contemplated his plan of action.

Now, with this new increase in Bi Fan’s strength, he was

capable of increasing his strength to such a level, where he
could finish the fight off in a matter of seconds, but he didn’t
want to.

He wanted to batter Luo Sheng, and if he finished the fight

too quickly, then he wouldn’t be able to achieve his objective.

Bi Fan exposed a sinister smile; his plan was ready.

Bi Fan was no longer going to dodge Luo Sheng’s attacks, and

he charged head-on for Luo Sheng.

“Bang Bang…….”

Bi Fan started attacking Luo Sheng, but was also taking his
enemy’s hit as well. They were punching each other’s bodies
recklessly, almost like their bodies were meat.

“Damn it, this is kid, Bi Fan, is too fierce! He’s even resorted
to engaging Luo Sheng in a ‘real’ fight……” Jing Feng’s mouth
hung open in shock.

“They are too vicious; they don’t even have any regard for
their own bodies! This desperate fighting is too frightening!”
Mo Nan thought to himself.

Mo Nan, himself, was known for his vicious fighting style, but
knew well, that he could never be as ruthless as Bi Fan.

“This boy, Bi Fan…he’s too fierce; no wonder he was able

increase his physical strength to such a degree! This is good, this
is very good!” Yu Qing Yang thought, and was even happier to
now.

Ling Xin Ya was completely surprised with Bi Fan’s display.

He had never imagined that Bi Fan had so much hidden strength
inside his body.

As for Luo Xiao Tian, his gaze was just getting colder and
colder: “Bi Fan cannot be allowed to live; such a person would
only bring infinity of despair.”

Bi Fan had changed his strategy to fight with Luo Sheng. He’d
allow Luo Sheng to hit his body, and would use the opportunity,
provided by the close proximity to attack Luo Sheng’s body.
Only Bi Fan was crazy enough to use such an insane strategy.

Bi Fan was relying on the defensive capabilities of his armor,

plus the strength of his tough flesh; otherwise, he would have
never dared to use such a crazy method.
 As for Lou Sheng, he was just being forced to fight in this
manner, because Bi Fan, whether intentionally, or
unintentionally, had trapped him, and he simply couldn’t get
out.

To make Luo Sheng suffer greater pain, Bi Fan started using

some of his darker skills.

‘The Immortal Finger’, coupled with the ‘Blood Devil’

technique, and he had also restored to using the poisoning
techniques that he had acquired over his adventures. (The Book
which taught him the blood devil technique, also had a few
poisoning techniques, which were mention very briefly about a
hundred, or so, chapters ago.)

Bi Fan, occasionally, would change his punches at the last

moment, and would open his palm to release micro-bombs, with
his fingers, using the ‘Immortal Finger’, and would also add a
pinch of the other secret dark techniques that he had learnt in
the past.

Luo Sheng didn’t feel anything strange about Bi Fan’s attacks,

and thought that the pain was being caused by Bi Fan’s punches.
 Bi Fan wasn’t going to back off anytime soon; his willpower
and physical strength, were both strong enough to allow him to
withstand Luo Sheng’s attacks.

As for the poisoning techniques, they were going to play their

role in the days to come, and would inflict pain on Luo Sheng’s
body, long after his injuries had healed.

Bi Fan could easily figure out a way to kill Luo Sheng after the
fight had ended, but he didn’t do so.

Even if Luo Sheng was to die after the contest ended, Luo Xiao
Tian would surely blame Bi Fan for it, and Bi Fan would end up
in a lot of trouble.

Bi Fan and Luo Sheng had both inflicted hundreds of punches

on each other’s bodies, and they still continued to pound each
other, but the contest still hadn’t seen the emergence of a victor
yet.

In order to inflict more pain to Luo Sheng, Bi Fan was

targeting a different part of Luo Sheng’s body with each attack,
and was busy covering his enemy’s entire body with the
poisoning techniques that he’d been using.
 Chapter 126 – Establishing Prestige

“That Bi Fan is simply too vicious! If I ever run into him, I’ll
just throw in the towel immediately.” A disciple stated.

“Bi Fan has already taken hundreds of punches from Luo

Sheng; and look, the corner of his mouth has already started
showing blood, but he’s not even bothering about it, and he’s
just wildly punching back.”

“Even Luo Sheng has taken hundreds of punches from Bi Fan,

but he isn’t as badly affected. I think that his grandfather has
given him more things, like maybe, a high-grade armor…”

… …

All the other contests were over, and everyone’s attention was
completely focused on Bi Fan and Luo Sheng, and everyone had
started discussing their fight openly.

The brutality of Bi Fan and Luo Sheng’s contest was leaving a

very grave impression on the other disciples of the Quinyang
Sect, and everyone was afraid of facing the two of them in
combat.

“Oh boy, it’s a good thing that I gave Luo Sheng my armor for
protection today. The manner in which Bi Fan is attacking him,
he would have killed Luo Sheng today. But right now, Luo
Sheng has the best chance that he could have asked for; he can
easily kill Bi Fan right now.” Luo Xiao Tian thought to himself.

Ling Xin Ya was so nervous, that he had already gotten up

from his chair.

Yu Qing Yang was also clinching his fists, and was ready to
charge in any second, if Bi Fan needed to be rescued.

Yan Yu Si, unconsciously, was already leaning forward,

almost as if she was ready to charge in as well.

Next to her, Xiao Feng was even more nervous, so much so,
that neither had noticed the other’s anxiety.

In a flash, Bi Fan and Luo Sheng had exchanged another

hundred punches, and the manner in which they treating their
own bodies, was frightful to watch.

Although Bi Fan was exceptionally strong physically, and was

wearing his armor as well, his interiors had already sustained
several shocks, and his blood had started streaming out from
the corner of his mouth.

Luo Sheng was better off, even though he had taken the same
number of hits from Bi Fan, owing to his grandfather’s armor,
which seemed to be giving better protection.

However, soon enough, the corner of his mouth also started

showing traces of blood, and it became evident that Bi Fan’s
punches had been doing their job well.

A hundred or so punches later, Bi Fan had already covered

Luo Sheng’s entire body with his darker attacks, and was ready
to finish the fight.
 “Luo Sheng, I hope you had your fun in beating me up… now
it’s time to finish this.” Bi Fan sneered.

“Bi Fan, you need to admit your defeat while you still have the
chance, or else, I might end up injuring you severely, and you
may even die.” Luo Sheng wasn’t showing a weakness, and on
contrary, was only trying to provoke Bi Fan to carry on.

Bi Fan smiled nefariously, as he continued to attack Luo

Sheng.

Luo Sheng, now, attacked Bi Fan with a single punch, using all
his strength, and made straight for Bi Fan’s chest.

Luo Sheng had never expected Bi Fan’s response; Bi Fan

dodged sideways.

Then, Bi Fan quickly turned around and punched Luo Sheng,

and hit his back.

“Boom!” Bi Fan had put a little more strength in this attack,

which along with Luo Sheng’s tremendous momentum, was
enough to push him towards the end of the contest stage.
 Luo Sheng’s own momentum added to the strength of Bi Fan’s
punch, made his forward momentum so tremendous, that Luo
Sheng couldn’t help himself as he was pushed to the edge of the
contest stage.

If Luo Sheng was thrown off the stage, then he’d lose the
fight. Luo Sheng didn’t want to lose the fight, so he was trying
as hard as he could to gain a foothold.

Bi Fan followed Luo Sheng all that way, and jumped up as he

delivered a kick, right in Luo Sheng’s buttocks.

He kicked quite hard, and sent Luo Sheng flying off the Stage.

Bi Fan had carried these actions out in a matter of seconds,

and so suddenly, that it was so dizzying, that no one was able to
grasp it, as he turned the contest around.

There was a brief moment of silence; absolute silence. Even a

pin drop could have been heard clearly.
 Then, there was an enormous outbreak: “Bi Fan, you’re
awesome!”

“Bi Fan, that kick was great! Well done!”

“Bi Fan you should have kicked Luo Sheng to his death.”

… …

It seems that arrogance offends people very easily. A lot of

people didn’t like Luo Sheng, and most of them had started
cheering for Bi Fan.

The moment Luo Xiao Tian saw Luo Sheng fall of the stage,
his face started getting distorted, and a murderous Aura started
to rise in his eyes.
 Luo Xiao Tian, immediately, got up and left; he didn’t even
bother to look back at his grandson.

“Excellent Work!” Ling Xin Ya stood up, and started

applauding.

Ling Xin Ya was so happy that he started cheering out loudly,

completely unaware that he was losing his deportment in the
process.

Although Yu Qing Yang didn’t show it, but he too, was really
happy, because the Quinyang Sect had finally found their
miracle.

If Bi Fan continued to grow, then he could take Quinyang to

new heights.

There are many Sects in the world, but even one such genius
was capable of taking any Sect to the top.

Like the Yuan Shi Sect, in the beginning, they were only a
very small faction. But a long time ago, there came a man
named Yuan Yi, who turned out to be their miracle. Yuan Yi
rose so fast, that in a hundred years, he was already the
strongest in the world, which is how the Yuan Shi Sect was able
to lay such a strong foundation.

After Yuan Yi became famous, his name automatically started

attracting many young talents to the join the Yuan Shi Sect, and
the Sect was able to expand its reach, with time.

As Yuan Yi’s strength continued to rise, so did the Yuan Shi

Sect, and in less than a thousand years, they were able to
establish themselves as the best in the World.

Since the Yuan Shi Sect had been able to build their strength
on the back of just one such genius, the Quinyang Sect, too,
could replicate the process with Bi Fan’s help.

“It seems that I’ll have to watch out for Luo Xiao Tian. I must
not allow him to create any trouble for Bi Fan.” Yu Qing Yang
thought to himself: “We have finally found our miracle, and we
must allow him to grow properly.”

“Bi Fan actually won, is this really happening?” Xiao Feng

simply couldn’t believe her eyes.
 Yan Yu Si’s mouth remained hung open for a long time,
before it finally closed: “Bi Fan was at a disadvantage the entire
time, how did he manage to turn his defeat into a victory so
suddenly ah? I think that he’s been hiding more things than I
thought, and I must ask him….”

Previously, Yan Yu Si was interested in Bi Fan because she felt

that he was a very talented youngster. But now, after this
display, she had started taking an even keener interest in Bi Fan,
as she wanted to know more about these secrets that Bi Fan had
been keeping.

For example, Bi Fan’s physical strength: his bodily strength

was so strong, that no one was capable of identifying just how
much strength he had, in reality.

Bi Fan stepped off the stage, and returned to his place next to
Jing Feng.

Jing Feng was astonished: “Brother Bi Fan, it seems that you

have far too much hidden strength, just exactly how powerful
are you?”

“Not that much. I won’t be me making it easy for you to win

the championship. I’ll start restoring my energy, I’ve consumed
too much off it.” Bi Fan smiled.

Bi Fan immediately sat down, and started meditating to

restore his energy.

He continued to practice with ease, since no one in the Ming

Fung Valley had the courage to disturb him after his recent
display.

As Bi Fan began his meditation, the others in the arena began

their discussions. Luo Sheng, on the other hand, had no idea
where to go, as he was only seeing shadows in every direction;
even his pack of rogues had disappeared.

This time, Luo Sheng had been disgraced to such an extent,

that there was a good chance that he may not continue to
participate in the tournament.

“Brother Bi Fan had joined with us during the Selection

Tournament. He’s become so powerful, I simply cannot believe
it.” The speaker was Tie Niu.
 When Tie Niu had matched up against Bi Fan, he had lost. But
at the time, he simply hadn’t been able to accept his defeat. Now
however, he wasn’t just willing to accept it, but also felt
honored.

Many of the other disciples, who had played against Bi Fan in

the past, were carrying the same idea. At the time, when they
had lost, they were unable to resign to their defeat, but at
present, they had not only accepted their loss, but were also
showing off that they had crossed blades with such a man.

Bi Fan had beaten Luo Sheng, so naturally he was bound to

find himself in the limelight. But the manner, in which he had
beaten Luo Sheng, had terrified many people.

“If I ever run into Bi Fan in a match, then I think that it’s best
to just throw in the towel early, or he might end up wrecking
me as well.” A disciple’s reflected his fears of facing Bi Fan.

“Yes ah, he’s ah….he’s a very ruthless man. It’s best to not
provoke him. Terrifying…. I have to face him later today, I
think I’ll just go in and conceded my defeat before the fight
starts.”
 “You need not fear him; didn’t you see his previous matches?
Did he use such strength then? No, he didn’t. He didn’t hit any
of his opponents like that, and he only beat up Luo Sheng.”
Another disciple voiced his opinion.

“Bi Fan and Luo Sheng had a bet between them, which is why
they were fighting like two mad men. We don’t have to fear
him. But well, if we go up against Bi Fan, then there’s no chance
of winning, so we might as well admit defeat, rather than
wasting our time and energy.”

These people, probably, were so sacred of Bi Fan,

physiologically, that most of them wouldn’t even dare to fight
against him.

Bi Fan had probably never dared to imagine that his display

would get him such an amazing response from the crowd.
 Chapter 127 – Confident Of A Victory

When Bi Fan finally ended his practice, he opened his eyes,

and saw Yan Yu Si sitting next to him, along with Xiao Feng.
Yan Yu Si’s big, and beautiful, eyes were staring at him,
unblinking.

Yan Yu Si and Xiao Feng were sitting very close to him, and Bi
Fan could smell their fragrance faintly.

Bi Fan suddenly started blushing, and his heart beat started to

quicken.

“Are you okay?” Yan Yu Si’s eyes showed a hint of concern, as

she asked.

“I’m alright.” Bi Fan shook his head; he was completely

flustered.

“You’re alright…I was watching your contest against Luo

Sheng, it looked like you would start vomiting blood anytime; I
thought that you had suffered some grave internal injuries, but
it seems that you were wearing some good quality armors, and
were mostly just pretending, ah.” Yan Yu Si seemed to be seeing
right through Bi Fan’s plan.

Bi Fan was very surprised, and replied in a hoarse voice: “No, I

did get hurt, but not very seriously.”

In reality, Bi Fan’s injuries were very serious in nature. But Bi

Fan had always been good at restoring his energy quickly, and
on top of that, had the Ying Yang Lotus to help him out, which
is why he had been able to restore his injuries, and energy,
quickly enough to be ready for the next round.

“Yes, well, you start your preparations; the next round is

about to start soon.” Yan Yu Si said.

Then, Yan Yu Si and Xiao Feng got up and left. But as they
were leaving, Xiao Feng gave Jing Feng a glance.

The entire time that Xiao Feng had been sitting there, Jing
Feng had been siting so quietly, that he hadn’t even uttered a
single word.

Once Xiao Feng had gone a little far, Jing Feng smiled, and
said: “Brother Bi Fan, I don’t seem to understand, ah, why was
that young lady, so worried about you?”

“What do you mean? I have also been a disciple at the Yu Nu

Feng peak in the past, so it’s only natural that the Miss would
ask about me, ah.” Bi Fan promptly replied back.

Bi Fan was getting even more nervous now, and his face was
becoming even redder.

“Brother Bi Fan, it’s alright if you don’t want to admit it, but I
can see how nervous you are right now. Your big red face is
betraying you.” Jing Feng laughed.

“Don’t start now, the contest is about to begin.” Bi Fan stood

up, and fled to stage where he was to fight his next round.

“Ooo, it seems that Bi Fan likes Yan Yu Si… that’s going to be

a big challenge, ah.” Jing Feng started laughing again.

In this round, Bi Fan was faced with an ‘Enormous Strength’

layer man, who seemed rather excited to see Bi Fan.
 “Brother Bi Fan, I do not wish to fight against you. I only wish
to tell you something, if I may?” The young man seemed rather
hopeful.

Bi Fan smiled: “Of course, what do you wish to say?”

“I….Brother Bi Fan, you’re too awesome. I give up.” The man

finished his sentence, turned around, and walked down the
contest stage.

“Bi Fan wins!”

Bi Fan remained silent, as he hadn’t expected to win the

contest in this manner.

“Damn it, Xiao Yang directly conceded the fight; he didn’t

even try to fight against Bi Fan.”

“Xiao Yang was up there for a few second, what did he say to
Bi Fan?”
 “He’s coming down now, ask him; I don’t know.”

In this round, Bi Fan was the first to finish his fight, and since
he wanted to see Jing Feng in action, he started walking over to
his contest stage, only to realize that Jing Feng had just
wrapped up his fight, and was already walking off the stage.

“Brother Bi Fan, I didn’t expect that you’d have finished your

fight before mine; I thought that I’d be the first to win this
round.” Jing Feng was quite surprised.

“I got lucky, that guy just admitted his defeat straight away.”
Bi Fan smiled.

Jing Feng said: “Well, we’re up against each other now, and I
won’t be doing that.”

“I won’t hold back either, I want to be champion this time.” Bi

Fan’s words were sonorous and forceful.

“I want to win the tournament again, so I won’t let you win.”

Jing Feng replied in a serious tone.
 Up until now in the tournament, Jing Feng and Bi Fan were
the only two unbeaten contestants, so the winner was likely to
be decided in the contest between the two of them.

They looked at each other sharply, and could feel the rise in
each other’s momentums.

“Look, Jing Feng and Bi Fan are talking to each other. The
winner will probably be one of them only, so it looks like the
next round will be very interesting, ah.” A disciple said loudly.

Suddenly, many of the Quinyang Sect disciples noticed that Bi

Fan and Jing Feng were talking to each other, and they were all
waiting anxiously to see the emergence of a champion.

Yu Qing Yang asked Ling Xin Ya: “Who amongst Bi Fan and
Jing Feng, do you think will become the champion?”

“I cannot be certain; Jing Feng is very well trained with his

spear, and only a few can rival his expertise. He’s certainly the
most gifted disciple that the Quinyang Sect has seen in the
recent years. Bi Fan is growing very quickly, but all said and
done, he hasn’t had much time to practice, so it would be very
difficult for him to beat Jing Feng.” Ling Xin Ya replied.

He evaluated the situation between Jing Feng and Bi Fan in a

very apropos manner, and didn’t seem inclined to pick his
winner at the moment.

“Oh, I won’t be so certain of that…. Bi Fan was able to beat

Luo Sheng, even after Luo Sheng took the Changing Dan pellet,
so I’d say that he might be able to overpower Jing Feng as well.”
Yu Qing Yang smiled.

The rest of the Sect’s high class was sitting around Yu Qing
Yang, and they were all quite surprised to hear Yu Qing Yang’s
words.

Yu Qing Yang had never praised anyone in the manner, in

which he had just spoken about Bi Fan.

Since Yu Qing Yang was attaching so much value to Bi Fan, Bi

Fan’s position was likely to rise within the Quinyang Sect quite
quickly, and he may even be named the successor to the Sect, in
time.
 The high classes of the Quinyang Sect had already started
analyzing the situation, and were already thinking of ways to
lay a good relationship with Bi Fan.

Bi Fan hadn’t grown up yet, which meant that forming a good

relationship with him at this age would be a lot easier, than at a
later stage in his life.

Bi Fan and Jing Feng were supposed to face each other in a

while, but for the time being, they were sitting next to each
other, as they meditated, and focused their concentration.

The next contest was very important for both of them, which
is why both were busy focusing their minds, as neither of them
could dare to slack off even a little.

Both were staunchly determined to win.

Although under normal circumstances, they were both very

good friends, but in such matters, they would surely put their
personal feelings aside.

In fact, Bi Fan, Blue Dragon and Jing Feng, were all cut from
the same cloth. They had the persistence, the determination it
took be excel, and were hungry for success, which was one of
the reasons that they were able to come together.

An hour passed in a flash, and both Bi Fan and Jing Feng had
used the entire hour to meditate. They both got up, and walked
towards their contest stage, shoulder to shoulder.

“Brother Bi Fan, I must defeat you. I cannot lose to you so

soon.” Jing Feng stated.

Bi Fan was growing too quickly, which was putting Jing Feng
under a lot of pressure. Like in a race, the runner in the front is
usually under the maximum pressure.

Bi Fan had already demonstrated that he was more talented

than Jing Feng, but Jing Feng wasn’t willing to admit his
defeat. He was convinced that if worked hard, then he’d be able
to maintain his lead forever.

“Brother Jing Feng, I am confident that I’ll win, because I

have no intention of defeating you. You are not my target; you
never have been. My target has always been the geniuses of the
Jiu Yu Da Sect.” Bi Fan stated.
 Jing Feng said: “So, no matter who wins today, in the future,
we will fight against the rest of the world together!”

“Indeed!”

They made their agreement like two gentlemen would.

“The fight begins!”

The referee had barely announced the start of the fight, and
the two of them charged towards each other.

The Hegemon Pike’s attacks were sharp and bold.

The ‘Fufeng Double-edged Sword’ was refined, and delicate,

but concealed a murderous edge underneath.

The two of them attacked each other viciously, and it was

obvious that neither man was going to take this casually.
 The Hegemon Pike was powerful, and had a wide range, and
when used properly, allowed Jing Feng to attack everything
within a three meter circumference.

The Purple-feathered Sword, on the other hand, was a fine

weapon, which only had a two meter circumference, in terms of
range, which meant that Bi Fan would only be able to get close
to Jing Feng, if he was ready to face the might of Jing Feng’s
weapon head-on.

Even an inch into Jing Feng’s weapon’s range would be

dangerous.

Jing Feng was very skilled, and had a rich combat experience
to bank on. He so acutely skilled in using the advantages of his
spear, that he simply wasn’t giving Bi Fan any chances to come
close.

The battle had just begun, and Jing Feng had established a
superior ground, while Bi Fan was only acting very passively.
 Chapter 128 – Peerless Finesse

Jing Feng had already established an upper hand, and so, he

decided to use his opportunity, and unleashed a wave of
ferocious attacks.

The Hegemon Pike’s movements started becoming so urgent,

that the sounds it made, as it pierced through the air, were ear-
piercing.

Even though Bi Fan was constantly dodging, he still couldn’t

avoid his clothes from being scratched and torn.

Jing Feng continued to launch one wave of attacks after

another, and kept increasing the force of his attacks.

Bi Fan was somehow able to parry the majority of the attacks,

but knew well, that if it wasn’t for his armor, he’d have
sustained a few injuries by now.

Bi Fan was constantly looking for opportunities to get closer

to Jing Feng, since he wanted to fight back, which he wasn’t
able to, at the moment.
 However, Jing Feng was very smart and skilled, and wasn’t
giving Bi Fan any chances at all. Bi Fan had tried to move in a
few times, but had been driven back by Jing Feng’s Hegemon
Pike.

“It seems that Jing Feng is more experienced than Bi Fan, and
will defeat Bi Fan sooner or later.”

“Imagine Brother Jing Feng’s strength, even Bi Fan isn’t

capable of finding a way to beat him, ah.”

“Bi Fan just became a disciple after the last year’s Selection
Tournament, and he’s already capable of matching blades
against Jing Feng for so long! He’s the real genius here.”

… …
 The spectators had already started discussing the fight openly,
and most were expecting Jing Feng to win the contest.

Jing Feng was the strongest Disciple in the tournament, and

was also the prevailing champion, so naturally, most were
expecting him to win again. On top of that, at the moment, he
was practically dictating the fight, which is why his most were
expecting him to win this contest as well.

“It seems that Bi Fan is having a tough time in this one.” Ling
Xin Ya sighed.

Yan Yu Si was in a very cheerful mood, as she said in an

undertone: “Bi Fan has just been practicing for a year, and is
already able to stand up to Jing Feng; he’s truly amazing!”

Yu Qing Yang wasn’t disappointed to see Bi Fan falling under

the wind, and on the contrary, was starting to attach even more
value to Bi Fan.

“Bi Fan has been in a disadvantaged position so far, but still

hasn’t showed any signs of panicking. This is a very good
thing.”
 On the other hand, Bi Fan was being forced to defend to no
extent, which is why he was a bit depressed.

“I cannot go like this for long now, Brother Jing Feng has
made numerous changes to his Hegemon Pike moves, which
have made his attacks a lot stronger now. I need to find a way to
turn the tide.”

Bi Fan continued to side step the attacks, while thinking of

ways to fight back, and win the game.

Hegemon Pike – Rushing Thunder!

Jing Feng increased the ferocity of his attacks, and countless,

ferocious and violent, thunderbolts attacked Bi Fan.

Bi Fan was almost caught in the cold several times, and his
whole body was already covered in sweat. If it wasn’t for his
marvelous ‘Dance of Mist’ footwork, then he wouldn’t have
been able to dodge the attacks each time, in the nick of time.

“Bi Fan’s agility seems to have made more progress; his

footwork wasn’t as nimble yesterday. In fact, it seems like he’s
using a different technique altogether today.” Yan Yu Si
exclaimed: “Bi Fan has been keeping a lot of secrets, it seems
like he’s using a footwork technique which isn’t low grade at all,
and isn’t much inferior to the ones used by the Jiu Yu Da Sect
Disciples.”

Jing Feng was equally surprised to see the unusually agile

footwork which Bi Fan was displaying.

“Bi Fan, I will not give you any chances to fight back.” Jing
Feng thought to himself.

‘A snap of the Fingers!’

Bi Fan, left with no other choice, popped two stones in quick

succession.

The two stone bullets charged urgently, and made straight for
Jing Feng’s eyes.

“Oh shit! That’s too fast!” Jing Feng thought.

 The stones were coming in so fast, and so strongly, that Jing
Feng didn’t have any other option but to use his spear to deflect
them.

“There’s my chance!” Bi Fan immediately stepped forward,

and managed to close Jing Feng down.

‘Fufeng double-edged Sword!’ ‘Prancing Tiger!’….

Bi Fan seized his opportunity, and launched his wave of

onslaughts.

He had finally gotten close to Jing Feng, and so, he wasn’t just
going to let go of his proximity very easily.

“Bang!…..” Jing Feng continued to use his spear to defend

against Bi Fan’s attacks, and the purple-feathered sword and the
Hegemon Pike started to collide in quick succession.

Bi Fan’s control, mastery, and strength were exceptional.

Each time, he’d touch Jing Feng’s weapon lightly, and then
would suddenly change the direction of the attack, as he
continued to attack Jing Feng in a rather strange fashion.
 Bi Fan’s attacks were getting so tricky, that Jing Feng’s
Hegemon Pike was beginning to become a burden for him.

Post his fight with Ji Ying Lan, Bi Fan had made a lot changes
to his ‘Fufeng double-edged Sword’ sword-play. Even though
some of these changes seemed rather weird, the power output
was experiencing an improvement.

Bi Fan attacks were becoming very hard to detect and

obstruct.

“Ah!” Jing Feng started howling as he started swinging his

spear wildly.

The Hegemon Pike was extremely thick and long, and

weighed at least a hundred pounds. If someone was to take a hit,
of such a powerful weapon, being swept around like that, then
the effect would be quite devastating.

Bi Fan, however, didn’t rush backwards, and continued to

dodge it sideways.
 Hegemon Pike – Murder the Dragon!

Jing Feng cast out his strongest move, and the tip of his spear
actually started to condense.

Then, his pike started to rotate; the rotation of the spear was
so quick, that it may even be able to pierce through a Dragon’s
scales.

Bi Fan saw the manner in which the Hegemon Pike was

rotating, and his vision started to get blurred and dizzy.

Bi Fan quickly snapped out of it, and the moment he sobered

up, he realized that Jing Feng’s spear was almost upon his face.

At this point, it was too late for Bi Fan to dodge the attack, and
Jing Feng wouldn’t allow him the time to pop a few more stones
either.

“The Immortal Finger!” Bi Fan was out of options, and was

forced to point his finger at Jing Feng’s Hegemon Pike, as he
unleashed a finger bomb at it.
 Bi Fan hadn’t used ‘The Immortal Finger’ for a long time now,
and with the increase in his strength, the effect was so
devastating, that it hit Jing Feng’s pike, and not only deflected
the weapon, but also made it vibrate in Jing Feng’s hands.

Jing Feng felt his weapon vibrate, and was unable to control
it, as it went to one side.

Bi Fan managed to escape unharmed, and he quickly, attacked

his opponent back with his sword, and charged straight for Jing
Feng’s waist.

Jing Feng under the inertia of his own forward momentum,

which was deflected to one side by Bi Fan’s attack, continued to
rush straight into Bi Fan’s sword.

This was a very critical moment, and Jing Feng somehow

managed to flick the sword with his pike, as he opened his body
up to avoid Bi Fan’s sword.

Bi Fan attacks was somehow sidelined by Jing Feng’s quick

reflex, however, Bi Fan’s sword managed to pierce through Jing
Feng’s clothing; but still, Jing Feng managed to avoid an injury.
 “Wonderful!” Yu Qing Yang praised. “Jing Feng is extremely
overbearing, while Bi Fan is very tricky; they are both very
good. Both are very aggressive, and their contest is very
thrilling, but even then, they are both able to defend themselves
very capably. It’s obvious that they both have a very rich
combat experience to back their skill set.”

“It seems that sending Bi Fan to the Devil’s Abyss was a very
good decision after all. He seems to have learnt a lot of things,
which he’ll cherish for a very long time to come.”

Ling Xin Ya was very pleased, as he had been questioning his

decision of sending Bi Fan into the Devil’s Abyss for a long time
now; but not anymore.

Exceptional talents must be trained using extreme

approaches, as the usual methods are unlikely to match up to
their needs.

“This is amazing! Jing Feng and Bi Fan’s practical experience

is far superior to mine. It seems that I need to hone my skills a
little more.” Yan Yu Si was so surprised, and impressed at the
same time, that she made a decision to get some more practical
experience herself.
 When the strength of two people is at the same level, then the
practical experience tends to play a huge role, and becomes the
deciding factor in the final outcome.

Yan Yu Si was very strong, far stronger than Jing Feng and Bi
Fan, but still lacked such kind of practical experience, as she had
never experienced such ‘real’ killer fights. Lack of practical
combat experience had always been her weakness.

Bi Fan and Jing Feng were still entangled with each other, and
their thrilling fight was keeping the entire arena hooked to their
every movement.

In this case, in this round, no one was able to tell which of the
two fighters, Jing Feng and Bi Fan, would finally emerge
victorious in the end.

Bi Fan and Jing Feng’s contest had become the talk of the
tournament at this point, and their engaging contest was
attracting all the eye balls in the arena.

“Jing Feng! Jing Feng! ……..Beat that Bi Fan, win the

Championship!”

“Bi Fan! Come on, beat Jing Feng!”

Bi Fan’s fan base was becoming even bigger, as all the male
disciples had started cheering him to victory.

Bi Fan finally understood Mo Nan’s predicament. It was not

Mo Nan’s charm that incited the cheers, but Jing Feng’s. Since
all the girls liked Jing Feng, and cheered him on relentlessly,
the boys would start cheering for any man who they thought
had a chance of beating Jing Feng.

Since all the girls were busy cheering for Jing Feng, Bi Fan
couldn’t help but feel a little unhappy.
 Chapter 129 – An Unexpected Ending

Bi Fan had managed to get very close to Jing Feng, and his
purple feathered sword seemed to snaking like a serpent, as it
continued to bite at Jing Feng.

Jing Feng was barely hanging on as he tried to repulse Bi Fan’s

attacks, but his tattered clothes were narrating the story is his
sorry predicament.

In this case, in the blink of an eye, Bi Fan had managed to

reverse the entire situation, and had now established an upper
hand.

Jing Feng, obviously, wasn’t willing to concede his defeat, and

suddenly threw out his spear towards Bi Fan, but held it firmly
at the end, as it was about to leave his hand.

Then, he clenched the Hegemon Pike firmly, and suddenly

started to rotate his body, and along with it, the spear, as he
launched another wave of attacks at Bi Fan.

Bi Fan had no way of dodging this attack, and was forced to

retreat.

Bi Fan and Jing Feng’s contest was like a mountain road, full
of twists and turns, as the two fighters were alternately
prevailing, in this intense and gripping contest.

The spectators marveled as they saw the dazzling fight.

Bi Fan and Jing Feng’s battle was so strong and so intense,

that such competitions were rarely ever witnessed.

Bi Fan and Jing Feng were both adept at their skills, and well
trained with the usage of their respective weapons. They
continued to attack each other on every step of the way, and
their thrilling contest seemed to have no effect on their ability
to fight back, after being forced to retreat for any length of
time.

In a flash, Bi Fan was starting to get suppressed by Jing Feng

once again, and Bi Fan could already sense that his inner energy
was beginning to give in. But fortunately, his physical strength
was quite strong, which was allowing him to continue fighting.
 “Brother Jing Feng is really strong; it’s not easy to get close to
him.” Bi Fan thought to himself.

Bi Fan had many other methods concealed in his box of tricks,

but didn’t wish to use them, owing to which, he found himself
running out of usable skills.

After much deliberation, Bi Fan realized that he didn’t have

any good methods left, unless he decided to use the Shock Rune,
or ‘The Immortal Finger’ to its full extent, or maybe even the
‘Blood Devil’ methods.

But Bi Fan wasn’t ready to expose ‘The Immortal Finger’

publicly like this, and wouldn’t even dare to use the ‘Blood
Devil’ technique.

As for the Shock Rune, the effect would be very useful, but the
toll that its usage would incur on his body might be too much
for his body to take.

If he continued to use the Shock Rune, then his body may not
be able to take the load, and he may end up causing severe
damage to his body.
 So naturally, Bi Fan didn’t want to overuse the Shock Rune,
since he wished to continue fighting in the tournament.

“What’s to be done now? How do I win this?” Bi Fan

continued to rack his brains.

Jing Feng was as helpless as Bi Fan, and moreover, was quite

surprised to see that Bi Fan was able to hang on for such a long
period of time.

Jing Feng was beginning to realize the Bi Fan’s strength was a

lot more than he had anticipated, and things would only get
more and more difficult as the match continued to progress.

Bi Fan’s inner energy was far lesser than Jing Feng’s, but still,
he was somehow able to fight for this long, and still wasn’t
showing any signs of fatigue.

Jing Feng, on the other hand, could feel that his inner energy
wouldn’t be able to support him for long, and was afraid that if
he was forced to spend his energy at this rate, then he won’t be
able to continue like this for long.
 “Bi Fan’s physical strength is too strong, and I can see its
advantage now. It seems that I’ll have to concentrate more on
my physical strength as well.” Jing Feng secretly decided to
follow Bi Fan’s approach.

As the battle progressed, both Jing Feng and Bi Fan started to

slow down, and their attacks started to get weaker as well. Their
cheeks were studded in sweat, while their breathing was getting
heavier with each movement. But neither man was ready to
back down.

“I’m afraid that neither of the two will be able to carry on for
long now; it’s going to come down to ‘who’s able to hang in for
longer now’…” Mo Nan anticipated: “It appears that they both
are a lot stronger than I thought; I will need to redouble my
efforts from here on.”

Mo Nan wasn’t disheartened to realize his inferiority, and on

the contrary, seemed even more motivated to strive harder.

Ling Xin Ya was very anxious: “Head of Sect, who do you

think will win, between Jing Feng and Bi Fan, at this point,
ah?”
 Yu Qing Yang had a notoriously sinister vision in these
matters, so it wasn’t a surprising thing that Ling Xin Ya was
deferring to his superior judgment.

“I think that Jing Feng has a high chance right now. His spear
is very overbearing, and powerful, while his attacks are fierce
and violent.” An elder spoke.

“I agree, as they continue to consume their energies, Jing

Feng will naturally find himself at an advantage, since his
energy is higher than Bi Fan’s.”

As he heard the two elders’ statements, Ling Xin Ya couldn’t

help but feel a little disappointed. Bi Fan was his direct disciple,
so it was only natural that he wanted Bi Fan to emerge
victorious.

The fact, that he still didn’t have much confidence in Bi Fan’s

abilities was making him even more anxious, and now that two
elders had spoken in Jing Feng’s favor, he simply had to agree
with their statements.

“I think that Bi Fan is going to win this match.” Yu Qing Yang

expressed his opinion, and his words came as a bit of surprise to
all the men, who were sitting around him.

“Head of the Sect, that’s not possible now. Both the fighters
are getting exhausted, so why do you think that Bi Fan will still
beat Jing Feng?”

Jing Feng was a little afraid, as he knew that he wouldn’t be

able to rely on his energy for much longer, and would
eventually have to concede, which is why he decided to take
advantage of his superior inner energy, while it was still
available to him, and unleashed another fierce attack.

As for Bi Fan, he was being forced to retreat again, and had

already started cutting a sorry figure.

Yu Qing Yang smiled: “It’s like I said before, Bi Fan’s physical

strength is very strong. You all ought to know the benefits of
physical strength.”

“A powerful physical force can be a useful tool, in fact it can

be very useful, but it can’t make up for the ferocity that the
inner energy can provide in combat.” An elder countered.
 “Yes! Jing Feng’s energy is higher, and he’ll be able to attack
Bi Fan for longer. But as long as Bi Fan is able to withstand those
attacks, he’ll be able to oust Jing Feng in time.” Yu Qing Yang
was firm.

Jing Feng’s attack was so fierce and violent, that it almost

lingered on the verge of berserk.

His spear commanded the stage, as it continued to attack Bi

Fan ferociously.

Bi Fan on the other hand, started using ‘The Dance of Mist’

again, and it appeared as if he was walking on a rope, since he
was constantly twisting and turning his body in a very weird
manner to dodge Jing Feng’s attacks at the last second.

It looked rather weird for a martial contest, as it appeared as if

Bi Fan was almost dancing on the stage.

His footwork however, looked very elegant; weird but not

ugly, as there was a hint of subtlety in his footwork, and it
appeared as if he was walking on the clouds.
 With the help of his weird footwork, Bi Fan was somehow
managing to dodge Jing Feng’s attacks constantly.

“Jing Feng is going to lose.” Yu Qing Yang smiled.

Jing Feng had launched several waves of attacks in quick

succession, and had already started panting, as his stamina
finally gave in.

“I surrender!”

Jing Feng finished the sentence, and finally relaxed.

In reality, he’d been having a very hard time so far, and was
barely able to hang on. He’d consumed far too much of his
energy quite early in the fight, but since he didn’t want to lose,
he somehow insisted on, in a desperate attempt to win.

Bi Fan was quite tired as well, but his powerful body was able
to sustain his movement, which was why he was somehow able
to persist for as long as he’d been able to.
 “Brother Jing Feng conceded!” Bi Fan revealed a very merry
smile.

Since childhood, he’d always been bullied and humiliated, but

now, finally, he had reached a position where he could feel
pride in his accomplishment.

Bi Fan had managed to grow his strength in such a short

period of time to beat a man like Jing Feng; even Bi Fan was a
little surprised that he’d actually won the contest.

“I want to be stronger! I want to be really strong! This is just

the beginning….” Bi Fan’s heart shouted within.

Since there were so many people around, Bi Fan was certainly

not going to shout it out loud.

But he was so happy, and so thrilled, and he couldn’t help as a

proud smile creased across his face.

This contest’s ending was not what most people had been
expecting it to be.
 The contest had been a splendid display to spectate, but the
outcome was somewhat dull. No one was injured; Jing Feng
consumed too much energy, and automatically admitted his
defeat, since he realized that he wouldn’t be able to continue
any further.

“Bi Fan is energy is obviously lower than Jing Feng’s, then

how was his energy able to support him long enough to oust
Jing Feng?”

Many people were thinking the same, as they hadn’t expected

this outcome. Normally, the man with a lower energy level gets
exhausted first, just as Bi Fan should have.

“That’s something that you guys should have noticed. Bi Fan

has been tempering his body in a very specialized manner; his
physical strength is massive, which is why he managed to win
the fight in the end.”

“Brother, do you think that physical strength has that big a

role to play in combat?”

“Of course, the benefits of physical strength are vast and

boundless. Bi Fan demonstrated it brilliantly in the manner he
beat Luo Sheng, Jing Feng and the others.” The speaker was
disciple who had been focusing his practice on enhancement of
his physical strength, which had slowed down the progress of
his energy growth.

Because of this reason, he’d always been mocked upon in the

Quinyang Sect. But finally, now that someone had show-cased
the benefit of his methods, he naturally couldn’t stop himself
from bragging.

“Brother, I heard that you have done a great deal of research

on physical strength; can you teach us? We really want to
learn.”

“Sure, no problem. I’ll help you guys out.”

Bi Fan was completely unaware, that due to his displays, many

of the Quinyang Sect disciples had started nurturing the notion
of improving their physical strength, which in time, would help
in growing the Quinyang Sect’s strength.
 Chapter 130 – Importance Of Physical
Exercise

Bi Fan and Jing Feng stepped off the stage, and started to
practice, in order to restore their inner energies.

Both men had used up their entire energy, and since their
fight was the last to finish, they didn’t really have much time to
restore their energies for the next round.

After this contest, upon emerging victorious, Bi Fan had

established his standing in the Quinyang Sect.

Now, no one was questioning Bi Fan’s strength, since he had

beaten the strongest Neimen disciple of the Sect, Jing Feng.

“Ling Xin Ya, you have acquired a brilliant disciple, and you
must do your best to train him up properly. If there’s anything
you need for his training, don’t refrain from asking me.” Yu
Qing Yang stated.

Ling Xin Ya was very happy to hear the words: “With your
support, Bi Fan’s training will proceed even more smoothly.”

Yan Yu Si was a little worried about Bi Fan, and came over to

inspect him, and the condition of his restoration.

Upon seeing that Bi Fan was breathing easy, and didn’t seem
uncomfortable in any manner, she calmed down.

Xiao Feng seemed as concerned about Jing Feng, and looked

him over and over again, as she was afraid that he might have
injured himself severely.

Jing Feng’s tattered clothes made her even more nervous, but
even after careful inspection, she was unable to find any
bloodstains on his clothes, which came as a major relief to her.

As the next round of the contest was announced, Bi Fan and

Jing Feng still hadn’t fully recovered their energies, but since
the contest wasn’t going to wait for them, they were forced to
cease their practice, and made their way to their respective
contest stages.

In this round, Bi Fan was faced with a ‘transformation’ layer

fighter named, Lu Jia.

“Brother Bi Fan, your strength is exceptional, and you’ve even

managed to defeat Jing Feng, but I will not admit defeat just yet,
since I wish to beat you.” Lu Jia said: “You’ve just undergone a
very demanding battle, which means that you’ve certainly used
up a lot of energy. If I can just beat you somehow, then I’ll be
able to build myself a name in the Sect.”

“Well, you’re ambitious, I’ll give you that, but beating me

isn’t as easy as you think.” Bi Fan sneered.

Bi Fan had only been able to restore about seventy percent of

his inner energy, but his physical strength was back to full
capacity, which is why Bi Fan was quite confident of beating Lu
Jia with ease.

Especially after defeating Jing Feng, Bi Fan had become even

more confident of his abilities, and was full of fighting spirit at
the moment.

“Here I come.” Lu Jia cast out the ‘Fufeng Double-edged

Sword’, but his skill set was far backward when compared to Ji
Ying Lan’s display.
 “Okay, nothing there.” Bi Fan observed the display, and
quickly realized that there wasn’t much that he could learn
from Lu Jia.

“’Fufeng Double-edged Sword!’ ‘The Flying Willow!’ ‘A

Thousand Willow Needles!’”

Bi Fan continuously started to cast out the three forms of the

‘Fufeng Double-edged Sword’, which were far more powerful
than usual, owing to the changes that he had made after his
fight with Ji Ying Lan.

As he cast out the three forms, he was able to pierce his sword
through Lu Jia’s skin. But Bi Fan had no intention of taking the
man’s life, which is why he stopped his sword mid-way, owing
to which, the wound wasn’t very deep, and no real harm was
done to the man.

Lu Jia was so frightened by the injury that he intentionally

threw his sword down, in submission.

“Brother Lu Jia, you lose.”

 Bi Fan was far more powerful than Lu Jia, and his technique
was far superior as well, so an easy victory didn’t come as a
surprise to anyone.

Since he ended the fight pretty quickly, Bi Fan decided to use

the opportunity to restore his energy, and quickly stepped off
the stage to practice and meditate.

After the next round, Bi Fan was going to face Mo Nan, and Bi
Fan had no intention of losing that fight either.

Bi Fan practiced for a long time, and once his energy was fully
restored, he finally opened his eyes.

“Brother Bi Fan, your restoration technique is very strong as

well ah.” Jing Feng laughed.

“Brother Jing Feng, yours is no less.”

“Brother Bi Fan, I would like to learn some methods to

improve my physical strength as well, from you. I hope that you
will not be stingy in that regard…” Jing Feng asked politely.
 “Of course not, I’ll teach you Brother.” Bi Fan smiled.

Bi Fan had mastered several different methods to exercise and

improve physical strength; the strongest ones however, were
the ones that were described in the battered Jade Book, and
obviously, the ‘Blood Devil’ techniques.

The methods that Bi Fan had taught to Wang Zhong weren’t

as powerful as the ones that were described in the Jade Book,
but still, most of them were still fairly good.

The ‘Blood Devil’ technique wasn’t a general practice method,

and was regarded as an evil method, which was only used by the
devil’s disciples. The methods that were described in the ‘Blood
Devil’ technique, weren’t ease to practice either, and were
extremely brutal, which was another reason that he couldn’t
teach them openly.

Bi Fan had chosen some of the more orthodox methods, and

had made several changes to them, which had made their
output a lot better. Even though he had adapted some changes
from the ‘Blood Devil’ technique in these custom methods, he
made sure that the changes were so subtle, that no one would
even notice them.

Bi Fan had always nurtured the notion of teaching these

methods to his friends, and since Jing Feng had made the
request on his own, Bi Fan, naturally, wasn’t going to refuse his
friend.

“Thank you Brother Bi Fan, I knew that you’d be willing to

help me.” Jing Feng smiled.

After losing the battle to Bi Fan, Jing Feng was already

beginning to regret not honing his physical strength, and felt
that he had wasted a lot of time in realizing the mistake.

“If my body strength was higher, then I wouldn’t have lost to

Brother Bi Fan.” In reality, Jing Feng still wasn’t ready to admit
his defeat.

So far in the contest, Bi Fan was the only unbeaten contestant,

which effectively made him the first runner. Jing Feng and Mo
Nan, on the other hand, had both, only lost one fight each, and
were tied for the second spot, at the moment.
 As for the remaining of Bi Fan’s opponents, apart from Mo
Nan, no other fighter had any considerable strength.

But Bi Fan still needed to defeat Mo Nan in order to ensure his

position as the front runner for the championship.

Bi Fan and Mo Nan exchanged glances; both men were raging

with a desire to fight.

Although Mo Nan knew that he didn’t have very good chance

of beating Bi Fan, he still wanted to make every effort to win the
fight. Even though he knew that he’d fail, he wasn’t going to
retreat from the challenge.

“Bi Fan is really powerful, as long as he’s able to beat Mo Nan,

he will certainly win the championship.”

“Nevertheless, Brother Mo Nan is also quite strong, so I don’t

think that Bi Fan will have it easy against him.”

“I think that Bi Fan is going to win the championship, so I’ll

support him.”
 “I’ll support Brother Bi Fan.”

……

Unconsciously, Bi Fan had managed to win the respect, and

admiration, of many Quinyang Disciples.

Bi Fan managed to win the following round with ease, and

was able to oust his opponent without making any serious
efforts at all.

Bi Fan was supposed to face Mo Nan is the next round, and

both men finished their fights quickly, since they needed time
to mediate and focus their attention.

Bi Fan finished his practice and opened his eyes, only to see a
nervous Jing Feng staring at him: “Brother Bi Fan, you must
beat Mo Nan ah… If you lose to him, then he’ll have one up on
me, since I lost you earlier. Mo Nan will never stop making fun
of me, if you lose to him….”

“Of course, like I said, I want to win the championship, so I

won’t be sparing any effort to secure my victory.” Bi Fan
seemed firmly resolute.

Jing Feng was quite relieved to see Bi Fan’s demeanor.

Both Bi Fan and Jing Feng are both very persistent men, and
are always full of spirit, which is why they are as successful as
they are today.

“Brother Bi Fan, I will try to finish my fight as soon as

possible, and then I’ll come over to support you.” Jing Feng
smiled.

Jing Feng was a man of principles. He had fought Mo Nan

several times in the past, so naturally, he’d know Mo Nan’s
weaknesses, but he kept his mouth shut, and didn’t reveal
anything to Bi Fan.
 Even though he wanted Bi Fan to beat Mo Nan, he wasn’t
willing to provide him with any unfair advantages.

Mo Nan’s defeats to Jing Feng had always demonstrated that

Mo Nan’s strength wasn’t much weaker than Jing Feng’s, since
he’d always lost by a very fine margin.

Even though Bi Fan had defeated Jing Feng, a fight always

carries a factor of luck. As the tournament was proceeding
towards its end, an unexperienced competitor like Bi Fan, was
more likely to fall under the wind.

It was still possible for Mo Nan to defeat Bi Fan; well it wasn’t

impossible.

As far as Mo Nan was concerned, he always treated every

contest very seriously, and never underestimated any opponent.

The seriousness, with which Mo Nan was practicing before

the contest, was a clear indication as to how seriously he was
taking this fight.

This contest, at present, had become the talk of the contest,

and all the eye balls were fixed on Mo Nan and Bi Fan, as the
spectators continued to discuss the upcoming event.
 Chapter 131 – The Sword Of The Land

“Bi Fan, you’re the best! You’ve got to beat Mo Nan!”

“Mo Nan! Defeat Bi Fan, you can’t lose to a guy who just
started out, ah.”

Obviously, most of the new-entry disciples were already

worshipping Bi Fan, and were supporting him wholeheartedly.

While, the older disciples were mostly friends with Mo Nan,

and since quite a few of them were envious of Bi Fan’s rise, a
vast majority of them were supporting Mo Nan.

As far as Bi Fan and Mo Nan were concerned, they were so

focused on their contest, that they weren’t about to get
distracted by these cheers.

Both, Mo Nan and Bi Fan, were taking this fight very

seriously, since the outcome of the contest largely depended on
this fight.
 “Nice to meet you!”

Both, Mo Nan and Bi Fan, started with the ‘Fufeng Double-

edged Sword’. The ‘Fufeng Double-edged Sword’ was a very
elegant and subtle skill, but the end result was very different as
both fighters had changed the skill to suit their personal
characteristics.

On one hand, Bi Fan’s ‘Fufeng Double-edged Sword’ was

strange and crafty, while Mo Nan’s was compact and serious.

In reality, Bi Fan had watched Mo Nan’s fights several times

during the course of the tournament, owing to which he had
already memorized his fighting style to a very large extent.

However, Mo Nan was progressing every day, and with every

passing fight, which is why his fighting style had also seen a
major improvement, and many of his previous flaws, were now,
no longer existent.

So far in the fight, both men had already exchanged hundreds

of strokes with each other, but neither seemed to gaining any
advantage over the other.
 Mo Nan and Bi Fan were enveloping the entire contest stage,
and the two men appeared like dazzling butterflies, as their
silhouettes danced around the stage, exchanging blows in quick
succession.

“Marvelous, Bi Fan and Mo Nan’s fight is going to be very

interesting.”

“I practice the same ‘Fufeng Double-edged Sword’ technique,

then why is the gap so big? I know that my technique is very
powerful, but why are these guys able to do it so much
better….”

“Ha ha, if you were as good as them, then you wouldn’t be

sitting here with me…”

“Laugh at me all you like, you’re not the same as me.”

Both Mo Nan and Bi Fan, were adept with a sword, and were
giving it all they had, so naturally the fight was beginning to
become a wonderful spectacle to watch.

As they continued to learn from each other’s movements, they

started to change their own styles, and started applying the
same technique with different variations in effect; a change in
angle, a change in force. Slowly, and steadily, the power output
of their respective styles, started to increase even further.

As the saying goes, a smart man learns more from a

knowledgeable opponent, than from a foolish friend.

They weren’t trying to imitate each other’s skills blindly, but

were trying to adapt each other’s best qualities, to suit their
own styles.

But, what was a best fit for their own style? The nature of
creation takes its own course; as their strengths rise, they will
learn more about themselves, and will eventually figure out the
best skills to suit their strengths and preferences.

For example, Bi Fan, for the time being, hasn’t formed his
characteristics yet, and prefers to use a more tricky form of
combat, but still, likes to use his formidable strength from time
to time, to deliver amazing power outputs.

Which is why, he spent a great deal of time learning martial

skills which were both crafty and powerful at the same time.
 Jing Feng is very different in this perspective, as he has
completely abandoned the Quinyang methods of combat. Jing
Feng focusses his attention on his marksmanship, and tries to
add a flavor of overbearing strength to his skill set. The skills
that Jing Feng displays are a far cry from the Quinyang way of
martial arts.

If Jing Feng was able to lift up his physical strength, then the
final outcome, owing to his overbearing Hegemon Pike, would
be formidable, and magnificent.

Mo Nan on the other hand, prefers using a very compact and

calculated style of martial arts, and his martial skills, are usually
the least flawed ones.

As the battle progressed, Bi Fan realized that his style had a

few innate issues, even though his knowledge was very
complex. He would need to deepen his knowledge of his skills,
in order to overcome these problems, since they were stopping
him from using his skills to its true capacity.

Ji Ying Lan, for example, had been concentrating his entire

practice on learning and understanding the ‘Fufeng Double-
edged Sword’, owing to which, he was able to match the skill up
to much superior skills like the ‘Floating Sword’ technique.

“If I can blend all these skills together and somehow come up
with a new skill, then my strength will start to rise even faster.”
Bi Fan had been harboring this idea for a long time now, but
knew that it takes a long time to study and research a technique,
before it’s possible to create something new.

However, Bi Fan was not in a hurry, and his top priority, at

the moment, was to learn as many skills as possible. With a deep
knowledge of sufficient skills, he would be capable of creating
his own style.

Bi Fan had been slowly working on this idea, and knew, that
sooner or later, with the help of the right approach, he’d
succeed.

Bi Fan firmly believed, that he’d be able succeed, given he was

patient, and continued to work in the right direction.

In this respect, both Jing Feng and Bi Fan were quite peculiar,
since, even though they cast out the same martial skill again and
again, the effect would always tend to differ a bit.
 The ‘Fufeng Double-edged Sword’ display was over, and
neither of the two men had been able to gain any advantage
over the other.

Both of them switched their skills, and started to cast out the
‘Floating Sword’ technique and its various variations.

Mo Nan had a much deeper knowledge of the ‘Floating Sword’

technique, and as the contest progressed, Bi Fan quickly started
to get suppressed.

Mo Nan’s attacks were rigorous, heavy, and he kept launching

one wave after the other, as he tried to press harder and harder.

Bi Fan didn’t want to compromise, and made a lot of efforts to

resist, but Mo Nan’s ‘Floating Sword’ was much more powerful
than his own.

Bi Fan, eventually, was forced to retreat, as things started to

get harder for him.
 Bi Fan’s physical strength was far more powerful than Mo
Nan, which is why, no matter how hard Mo Nan pressed; Bi Fan
was somehow able to hold his own, as he continued to defend
himself.

Unless Mo Nan was able to overpower Bi Fan, it would be very

difficult for him to win.

As the battle raged on, Bi Fan started to find ways to cope up

with Mo Nan, and started finding his foothold again.

“Brother Bi Fan, you obviously want to win the

championship. But I won’t be making it easy for you.” Mo Nan’s
eyes were extremely determined.

“The Sword of the Land!” Mo Nan resorted to using a very

strange style of sword-play.

Mo Nan’s sword-play suddenly became even more powerful,

and it was almost as if his sword was bringing the power of a
mountain with it.

Bi Fan was completely enveloped in the attack, and was

already finding it difficult to breathe.

During Mo Nan’s fight with Jing Feng, he hadn’t used this

technique, which obviously meant, that he too was keeping his
own secrets. Of course, there was another angle; maybe Mo Nan
had just learnt this skill, and wasn’t very proficient and skilled
with its usage yet.

No matter which way it was, Bi Fan was caught in the attack,

and was running out of luck.

‘The sword of the land’ was one of the most powerful

techniques that he had ever faced.

This was no ordinary sword-play, and Bi Fan was beginning to

really enjoy this fight now.

“Excellent Sword-play! That’s definitely worth learning.” Bi

Fan increased his efforts, as he continued to resist the attacks,
but at the cost of being battered again.

Bi Fan wished to create his own martial skills; so naturally, he

wanted to learn as many skills as possible.
 ‘The Sword of the Land’ was clearly not a Quinyang Sect
martial skill, and since he had the opportunity now, Bi Fan
obviously was trying to memorize as much of it as possible.

Even though he may not be able to practice the skill at

present, memorizing the skill would surely pay dividends in the
future.

“Damn it! Mo Nan is a lot stronger than I thought. He’s been

hiding his true strength, and didn’t cast that out against me.
Had he used this one against me, then the fight would have been
a hell lot closer to call.” Jing Feng was completely surprised by
Mo Nan’s display.

In reality, Mo Nan hadn’t used this skill before, because he

wasn’t fully equipped to use it earlier. But over the course of his
fight with Jing Feng, and now against Bi Fan, his knowledge
had increased, which is why he was now able to use the skill in
combat.

Mo Nan’s knowledge of ‘The Sword of the World’ wasn’t very

profound, but the skill was already being cast out in the most
marvelous of ways, and it was evident that skill was of a much
higher rating than the ‘Floating Sword’ technique.

On top of that, since Bi Fan had never seen this skill before, he
was running short of ways to counter it.

Mo Nan continued to cast out one wave after the other, as he

switched the gears, while Bi Fan’s tale of helplessness was being
depicted by his tattered clothing.
 Chapter 132 – Xiang Wen Tian

“Mo Nan’s display of this martial skill seems very similar to

the martial skill which was created by Xiang Wen Tian over a
thousand years ago – ‘The Sword of the Land’.” A white bearded
elder of the Quinyang Sect observed.

Yu Qing Yang was quite surprised: “Old Guo, are you saying
that the ‘Sword of the Land’ was created by Xiang Wen Tian?”

“Yes, it was. Thousands of years ago, there was a man named

Xiang Wen Tian, he was so strong that he was practically
considered invincible. By the time Xiang Wen Tian reached the
‘Magical powers’ realm, he was already able to contend against
the ‘Spirit’ realm, using this technique, ‘The Sword of the
Land’, which was unrivaled in its power. Unfortunately, the
Yuan Shi Sect sent an ‘Immortal’ named Yuan Xu to fight him,
and even though the final result of the battle is still unknown,
Xiang Wen Tian was never seen again.” (the Spirit Realm is
sandwiched between the magical powers and the immortals. So
basically, its fetus(Bi Fan’s current) < Emerging from the womb
< Magical powers < Spirit < Immortals. This is the first mention
of the spirit layer in this novel so far.)

Old Guo narrated the incident as if he knew Xiang Wen Tian

quite well.

“Old Guo, can you tell us a little bit more about Xiang Wen
Tian?” Ling Xin Ya was very interested in knowing more.

At first, Xiang Wen Tian made a name for himself, since he

was a very gifted martial artist, who was rising very fast. Soon,
he came in the limelight on a global scale.

At that time, almost all the big Sects offered him a position in
their Sects, but Xiang Wen Tian refused.

Xiang Wen Tian liked to practice alone, and he’d then

challenge the masters of the major Sects, in order to enhance his
strength as fast as possible.

In just a hundred years, Xiang Wen Tian managed to reach the

‘Magical Powers’ realm, and gradually created his own skill,
‘The Sword of the Land’.

Xiang Wen Tian was very powerful, and with the help of his
skill, he was able to leap frog his realm, and challenge even
stronger martial artists.
 The Yuan Shi Sect tried once again, and sent him another
invitation, but he refused once again.

Xiang Wen Tian was very fond of challenging the powerful

martial artists, and had challenged some of the most powerful
masters of the Yuan Shi faction, some of whom beat him.

In another hundred years Xiang Wen Tian even managed to

reach the ‘Spirit’ Realm.

Then, the Yuan Shi Sect sent their third invitation, with the
hope that he’d finally join them, but he refused them still.

Later, the Yuan Shi Sect dispatched Yuan Xu, who issued a
challenge to Xiang Wen Tian, for a battle in the Dragon Ridge
Mountains.

Everyone thought that Xiang Wen Tian would refuse the

challenge, after all, Yuan Xu was in the ‘Immortal’ realm, and
was considered one of the most powerful fighters in the entire
world, but Xiang Wen Tian accepted.
 The battle took place in the Dragon Ridge Mountains, and no
one knows what really happened there. Yuan Xu was found to
have sustained very serious injuries, while Xiang Wen Tian was
never seen again.

“So Xiang Wen Tian was that strong, and Mo Nan has
managed to procure his proprietary martial skill! How did that
happen?” Ling Xin Ya was baffled.

“Well, it seems that Mo Nan shall also be very carefully, and

attentively, trained. With Jing Feng, Bi Fan, and Mo Nan
growing up to their true potentials, the Quinyang Sect will no
longer have to worry about its growth.” Yu Qing Yang was very
excited.

Yu Qing Yang was beginning to realize that his Sect had some
very promising prospects for the future, so naturally he was
quite happy, since his honor, and disgrace, was linked to the
Quinyang Sect’s fate.

“Head of the Sect, the heavens have surely blessed our Sect,
with the help of a skill like ‘The Sword of the Land’, our
Quinyang Sect will surely be able to become a first-class Sect.”
An elder spoke.
 Yu Qing Yang frowned, and said: “Well, I agree, but inside the
Quinyang Sect, if anyone has any fortunate encounters, then
the Disciple must be allowed to voluntarily submit their
findings, whether the matter pertains to treasures, or martial
skills. No disciple must be forced to submit any information, or
article, which they do not wish to.”

“Head of the Sect, we will not force Mo Nan, but we hope to

ask Mo Nan for submitting ‘The Sword of the Land’ skill, as a
contribution to the growth of the Sect.” An elder said.

“I hope so too. But if I ever find out that the rules were
violated under any pretext, then, know this: there will be
consequences.” Yu Qing Yang spoke in a very strict tone.

To ensure the growth of the Sect, and encourage their

disciples, many Sects had similar rules, and provisions, which
allowed disciples to submit their skills and treasures to the Sect,
voluntarily.

‘The Sword of the Land’ was a very powerful skill, but

unfortunately, Mo Nan only had the most basic understanding
of the skill.
 Using his agility, Bi Fan somehow managed to evade Mo Nan’s
first round of the attack, and Mo Nan was forced to cast the
move out, a second time.

Bi Fan had already seen the skill once now, and had already
memorized most of it. Now, that Mo Nan was using the same
skill a second time, it didn’t pose any threat to Bi Fan anymore.

Even though Mo Nan’s display seemed to have slight

variations this time, Bi Fan was easily able to cope up.

But Bi Fan was unable to find any flaws in ‘The Sword of the
Land’ skill in such a short duration of time, owing to which, it
wouldn’t be possible for him to defeat Mo Nan, as long as the
skill was in play.

‘The Sword of the Land’ was a very high grade skill, which
meant that it consumed a great amount of energy. Mo Nan had
only cast the skill out twice, but he was already running short
on energy to support him.

There was no way in which Mo Nan could cast out ‘The Sword
of the World’ a third time, but since Mo Nan still didn’t want to
give up, he turned to the ‘Floating Sword’ technique.
 The moment Bi Fan saw Mo Nan change his skill, he started to
smile: “Finally, he’s done with that one, and now it’s time for
me to strike back.”

Immediately, Bi Fan cast out the ‘Fufeng Double-edged Sword’

forms, with as much speed and ferocity as he could.

As Bi Fan launched one wave after another, of his fierce and

violent attacks, and the energy depleted Mo Nan, eventually
started to get overwhelmed.

“Rainstorm Sword!” Mo Nan still didn’t want to give up, as

his sharp attack charged towards Bi Fan, to stab him.

Mo Nan’s attack was extremely overbearing and powerful,

and it was difficult to tell just exactly how much power the
attack concealed in its elegant appearance.

Bi Fan didn’t even raise his sword to match the attack, as he

just stood there motionless, almost as if he was too scared to
fight back.
 “Dodge it, fast, ah!” Yan Yu Si was extremely worried, and her
heart was practically shouting from within her being: “It’s such
an important contest, what’s he doing wandering about like
that!”

“Bi Fan, what’s the matter? Are you trying to get yourself
killed?!” Jing Feng was completely puzzled.

“Bi Fan, quick, dodge it, ah!”

Bi Fan, it seemed, had already turned a deaf ear to all of it, so

much so, that he even closed his eyes.

Mo Nan realized that he finally had a shot at victory, and

elated his attack, and charged even faster, and with even more
urgency, towards Bi Fan.

In an instant, Mo Nan’s sword was almost upon Bi Fan’s face.

Then, just in the nick of time, Bi Fan made his move; his right
hand suddenly appeared in front of his face, as his index finger,
and middle finger, came to the forefront, and grabbed Mo Nan’s
sword.
 Then, Bi Fan wrapped his fingers around Mo Nan’s sword. Bi
Fan had used this technique, a few times in the past, which is
why he was so relaxed with regard to its execution.

“A Finger Magic, ah! That’s amazing!”

“I remember that Bi Fan used this technique in the last year’s

Selection tournament; how did we all forget it?! He tricked Mo
Nan, amazing!”

The Quinyang Sect disciples were shocked and speechless,

especially the ones who were witnessing this, two-finger magic
stunt of Bi Fan’s for the first time.

Yan Yu Si was also seeing this stunt for the first time, and her
cherry-mouth, was opened so wide, that one could easily fit an
egg inside it.

“What kind of martial arts in that? How can he hold the blade
of a sword between his fingers?!”

“Miss, this is a very powerful move, which Bi Fan used in the

last year’s Selection tournament as well. I asked him about it,
but he didn’t tell me anything.” Xiao Feng told her.

“Yes, well, this is a really good and handy skill; it can turn out
to be life-saving under crucial circumstances.” Yan Yu Si started
laughing.

Yu Qing Yang was equally surprised: “Where did Bi Fan learn

a skill like that one? Deputy, did you teach him that?”

“I did not teach him that. He had already mastered it before

he joined the Sect as my disciple.” Ling Xin Ya said.

“If I had known this, then I would have come for last year’s
Selection tournament, and maybe, Bi Fan could have been my
disciple today….what a pity…” Yu Qing Yang was already
lamenting.

“Ha ha… I am really fortunate that I decided to chair last

year’s Selection tournament.” Ling Xin Ya was laughing within
his heart.

Mo Nan’s sword was caught in between Bi Fan’s fingers, and

he just stood there, motionlessly, with a foolish look on his face,
for a long time, before he finally spoke: “I lose.”

“Brother Mo Nan, we must learn from each other. Your

martial skills are brilliant.” Bi Fan said.

“No problem. I also want to consult and advise with you

Brother.” Mo Nan smiled: “And, well, the championship is
basically in your pocket now, so allow me to be the first one to
congratulate you Brother.”

“Thank you!”
 Chapter 133 – The Dragon-Scale Sword

Bi Fan had fought fourteen rounds so far, and had won all
fourteen of them. As long as he was able to win his final fight,
he’d become the champion, without any reservations
whatsoever.

If one considered the opponents that Bi Fan had beaten so far

in the tournament, Mo Nan, Ji Ying Lan, Jing Feng and Luo
Sheng, Bi Fan’s victory was almost confirmed.

“Brother Bi Fan, since you’re the new champion, shouldn’t we

celebrate?” Jing Feng smiled.

“Definitely! I’ll throw a party later.” Bi Fan said.

Bi Fan started meditating to restore his energy. Even though

his final opponent wasn’t a very strong fighter, Bi Fan had no
intention of being careless, since he didn’t wish to take any
chances at all.

The final round was announced, and Bi Fan’s last opponent

for the tournament was an ‘Enormous Strength’ layer martial
artist.

This man was carrying the same idea that Lu Jia had, and
wished to beat Bi Fan in order to make a quick name for himself.

Such students, weren’t interested in beating the renowned

martial artists of the Sect for the sake of stealing the limelight,
but only wanted to gain good favors from the Sect, so their
practice could go more smoothly.

If one fancied becoming strong, then one would require a

huge amount of resources, and knowledge.

Xiang Wen Tian, for example, even though had never

associated himself with any Sect, was rumored to have procured
the treasures of an ancient Sect, The Dragon and Phoenix Sect,
which is probably the reason that he was able to promote his
strength so quickly.

“Brother Bi Fan, nice to meet you.”

“Brother, nice to meet you.” Bi Fan smiled.

 This man started with the ‘Fufeng Double-edged Sword’, since
it was the strongest skill that was known to him.

“Oh…” Bi Fan was already one of the most proficient fighters

in the ‘Fufeng Double-edged Sword’ skill inside the Quinyang
Sect. The ‘Fufeng Double-edged Sword’ of ordinary disciples,
like his present opponent, was far too flawed in his eyes.

“Brother, you’ve got it wrong. Here, this is how it works.”

Bi Fan cast out the same moves in his opponent’s style, but
even then, quickly gained an upper hand.

In less than ten strokes, Bi Fan had suppressed his opponent

to such as extent, that the man, left with no other option,
admitted his defeat.

“Bi Fan! You’re the Champion! Bi Fan, you’re so cool!….”

“Bi Fan! Bi Fan! I love you, you’re my hero!”

 The Quinyang Sect disciples were going crazy, as they
continued to shout and scream.

Bi Fan closed his eyes, as he listened to the cheers; he was

mesmerized.

Once upon a time, Bi Fan’s body was so weak and thin, that he
would suffer endless bullying at the hands of Zhu San and the
other orchard boys.

Bi Fan wouldn’t even be able to object, and would have to

conceal his feeling within his heart. He would, later, go back to
his room at night, and he would weep in silence in one corner.

Bi Fan would practice till he’d faint, in the hope of being able
to defend himself, but to no avail.

A little over a year ago, Bi Fan could have never imagined that
he’d ever be able to win the Disciple’s tournament; even
dreaming of his present reality was a luxury at that point in his
life; one that his reality wouldn’t allow him to afford.

Bi Fan felt as if he was dreaming, as he simply couldn’t believe

that he had beaten every Niemen (outer) Disciple in the Sect,
and had established himself as the champion of the Disciple’s
tournament.

Like winning the last year’s Selection tournament, Bi Fan

didn’t care much about this one either. He didn’t much care
about the limelight, and just wanted respect.

Bi Fan simply didn’t care about his achievements.

If an ordinary man had reached Bi Fan’s position, and in the

manner in which Bi Fan had accomplished it, then the said
person would definitely have become complacent.

Bi Fan’s mind, however, was playing a completely different

tune: “I will practice even harder now. I like being praised, I like
being respected. I will not allow myself to get bullied again… I
will become even stronger.”

Even in this moment of achievement, Bi Fan’s heart cried of

the humiliations that he had suffered in the past, and it simply
wouldn’t allow him to forget his past.
 Some people, however, saw it differently; they saw a man on
the stage, motionless, with an intoxicated look on his face, and
closed eyes, and they simply couldn’t help but feel disdain for
the champion.

“Look at him. Bi Fan hasn’t even been crowned the champion

yet, and he’s already bathing in the cheers. I won’t believe in
him unless he wins the Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon tournament.”

The speaker was clearly quite jealous of Bi Fan, since his tone
was quite harsh.

“Bi Fan, go take a hike! What are you proud about, huh?”

This voice was even sharper, and the man clearly seemed to
hate Bi Fan.

“Bi Fan actually managed to win the Championship?” Yan Yu

Si couldn’t believe it either. Her face was beaming a proud, and
surprised, smile; she seemed very happy for Bi Fan.

Ling Xin Ya was equally surprised: “Bi Fan only became a

Disciple one year ago, and has already managed to win the
Disciple’s tournament in such a short time. The heavens must
really like me, ah… they’ve given me such an amazing Disciple.”

Ling Xin Ya’s proud smile was attracting the envy of the elders
around him, but they tried to hide their grimaces.

Yu Qing Yang, on the other hand, was very pleased with Ling
Xin Ya: “Deputy, you must focus your attention of training Bi
Fan up. I consider him to be the future of the Sect, along with
Mo Nan and Jing Feng. He could even become my successor one
day.”

“Head of the Sect, they all have just started out. We have so
many core Disciples, who are extremely talented in their own
accord. Like, Luo Sheng’s elder Brother, Luo Xiong. He’s one of
Quinyang’s first-class talents, and isn’t very far away from Yan
Yu Si.”

Even though the contest was over, Bi Fan didn’t step off the
stage for another ten minutes. He just stood there motionlessly
for a while, before he, finally, and slowly, stepped off the
contest stage.

His walk had become even more vigorous, which was a clear
indication that his confidence was beginning to reach new
heights.

“Brother Bi Fan, congratulations!” Jing Feng came up to Bi

Fan to congratulate him. Jing Feng’s words seemed very
sincere, and his face was beaming in a radiant smile.

Even though Bi Fan had beaten him, Jing Feng wasn’t a stingy
person.

“Thank you Brother Jing Feng!” Bi Fan nodded.

Bi Fan had set a remarkable record, and shortly, found

himself surrounded a flock of young Disciples, most of whom
were practically worshipping him.

As for the older Disciples, most were jealous of Bi Fan, and

didn’t want to look at his face.

“Brother Bi Fan, can you give us a few tips?”

“Yes, Brother Bi Fan, we all want to learn from you.”

 “Sure, if there’s anything that you don’t understand, then you
can always consult with me.” Bi Fan was enthusiastically
waving his arms, as he tried to greet his supporters and fans.

A while ago, Bi Fan had no friends, which is why he had

always cherished this feeling of friendship.

Bi Fan considered Jing Feng, Blue Dragon, Wang Zhong, and

Lone Leaf to be his Brothers, and treated them as such.

At present, Bi Fan found himself in a position, where he could

help other people, which made him even happier, since he had
never considered himself a lone-wolf.

As he watched Bi Fan help out the other, lesser talented,

Disciples, Yu Qing Yang couldn’t help but feel even more
pleased.

Yu Qing Yang said in an undertone: “Bi Fan is not only a great

talent, but also a good man. As long as he doesn’t face any
insults within the Sect, his character will remain as pure as it is
today, and he’ll take the Quinyang Sect to new heights in time.”
 Since he had already made up his mind, Yu Qing Yang decided
that he’d talk to Bi Fan later, in private. He wanted to establish
a good relationship with Bi Fan early on, since Bi Fan, at
present, hadn’t come in contact with the outside world much.
Forging a good relation with Bi Fan would allow him to retain Bi
Fan in the Sect, against outside interests.

Bi Fan was a once in a millennium genius, and if he lost Bi Fan

now, then the Quinyang Sect would suffer greatly. There would
no-saying as to when the Quinyang Sect would be able to get
such an amazing chance again.

Mo Nan was also important since he had learnt Xiang Wen

Tian’s ‘The Sword of the Land’ skill, but his raw talent, was no
match for Bi Fan’s. Even Jing Feng was not at par with Bi Fan.

Mo Nan and Jing Feng were both, once in a lifetime finds, but
Bi Fan, was in a league of his own, and Yu Qing Yang had this
already made a very firm division in his mind, with regard to
their respective talents.

Once the contest was over, the rewards were awarded. Bi Fan
received a good quality weapon, The Dragon-Scale Sword. The
Dragon-Scale Sword was a good weapon, and would prove out to
be an excellent replacement for his current weapon, the purple-
feathered sword.

Bi Fan was also awarded a good amount of Dan pellets, but he

didn’t care much about them.

Bi Fan looked around for Yan Yu Si, and realized that she was
already walking towards him.

Bi Fan couldn’t help but feel nervous all over again, while the
passions of his heart started to heat up again.

Today, now that Bi Fan had won the championship, he had

finally taken the first step in reducing the gap that separated
him from Yan Yu Si.

If he continued to progress at this pace, then one day, he

might even be able to catch up with Yan Yu Si.
 Chapter 134 – A Devious Presence

“Bi Fan, well done!”

Even such simple words, when coming out of Yan Yu Si’s

mouth, were like music to Bi Fan’s ears. He got so excited that
his entire body started to tremble, and he was obviously having
a tough time controlling his emotions.

“Bi Fan, you’re too awesome!” Xiao Feng patted Bi Fan on the
shoulders, with a smile on her face.

“Thanks for the compliment Xiao Feng.” Bi Fan scratched his

head, as he giggled.

Jing Feng and the others couldn’t help but envy Bi Fan. Yan
Yu Si was almost like a goddess in the minds of all the young
men of the Quinyang Sect, and they fantasized about her
perennially. Even if someone gathered the courage to strike up a
conversation with her, she’d simply ignore the man.

Bi Fan, on the other hand, had actually managed to get her to

praise him. This was a rare sighting, and most of the male
disciples were red with envy.

In a very remote corner of the stands, sat a young, nearly

thirty-year old disciple, and his murderous eyes were fixed at Bi
Fan.

This man is Luo Sheng’s elder Brother, Luo Xiong. Even

though he was less than thirty years old, he had already reached
the ‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer, and was regarded as one
of the leading youngsters in the Quinyang Sect.

He was undertaking a monastic practice when he found out

that Luo Sheng had been beaten up by Bi Fan, and he came out
to check Bi Fan out, with his own eyes.

Since Bi Fan had beaten his younger Brother up, he naturally

wanted to avenge his Brother’s bashing, by getting back at Bi
Fan.

Now, that he saw that Bi Fan was close to Yan Yu Si, his fury
had started to rage to new heights, while his red eyes glared at
Bi Fan, almost as if he wanted to eat Bi Fan alive.
 “Bi Fan, I’ll kill you. You’ll die without a burial….” Luo Xiong
secretly pledged.

Luo Xiong’s pursuit of Yan Yu Si was a well-known affair in

the Quinyang Sect, so much so, that Luo Xiao Tian had even
sent official marriage proposals to Yu Qing Yang, several times.

Yu Qing Yang, however, had never pressurized Yan Yu Si, and

had always allowed her to make her own decisions. Yan Yu Si,
had been using her training to tactfully decline the proposals.

In the Quinyang Sect, no matter who you are, if you wish to

pursue Yan Yu Si, then you’d find yourself facing Luo Xiong.

Luo Xiong is a very talented fighter, so much so, that he could

even stand up to his counter parts in the Jiu Yu Da Sect. He was
considered an outstanding talent, no matter the context.

Luo Xiong was the best in the Quinyang Sect’s young

generation, and could boast the same outside the Sect as well.

It can be assumed that no liked Luo Xiong in the Quinyang

Sect, but no one had the courage to voice their resentment, and
were forced to suffer in silence.

Luo Xiong attentively watched Bi Fan for a while, then

abruptly turned around, and left with a wild, and blue, look on
his face, since he couldn’t stand the manner in which Bi Fan and
Yan Yu Si were giggling and chatting.

“Bi Fan, I’d like you to follow me, my father wants to see
you.” Yan Yu Si smiled.

Yan Yu Si’s smile looked so pleasing, that Bi Fan simply

couldn’t help stammering: “What? The master of the Sect…. the
head of the Sect wants to see me…. Why?”

“Don’t tell me… has Miss Yan Yu Si found out that I like her,
and she’s told her father about it? Maybe the head of the Sect is
personally trying to put me in check.” Bi Fan had already
started assuming the worse.

“Ah, yes, it seems that it’s a matter of grave importance, since

my father has asked you to come to the peak of the Quinyang
Mountains.” Yan Yu Si stated.
 Bi Fan tensed up, and said: “Miss, do I really have to go?”

“Without a question! Come with me, and don’t stall around.”

Yan Yu Si finished her sentence, and turned around, as she led
the way to the exit.

Xiao Feng didn’t follow after them, since she had decided to
stay in the Ming Fung Valley.

Yan Yu Si was walking quite fast, but it didn’t seem to be

affecting her graceful posture; in fact, it only added to the
elegance of her beauty. Her buttocks continued to shake in front
of Bi Fan’s eyes, as her small waist turned and twisted.

Bi Fan was walking behind her, and his throat was already
turning dry, while his breathing had started becoming
unsteady.

Yan Yu Si noticed that Bi Fan was breathing in an unusual

pattern, so she turned around to ask him: “Bi Fan, did you get
hurt during the contest?”

Bi Fan panicked, and promptly waved his hand, as he said:

“No, no…. but I wasn’t expecting the Master of the Sect to call
me, I’m a little nervous about it.”

“Nervous? There’s no need to be nervous, my father isn’t

going to eat you.” Yan Yu Si suddenly smiled again, exposing
her two gorgeous dimples, as her tall chest, which adorned her
body, violently shook in front of Bi Fan’s eyes.

Bi Fan simply couldn’t help as his eyes started to gawk at her

proud figure.

Yan Yu Si didn’t seem to get conscious for even a moment, as

she resumed climbing the mountain.

The Quinyang Sect occupies the entire Quinyang Mountain

range, while the headquarters of the Sect is built on the tallest
peak of the Quinayang Mountains.

The peak of the Quinyang Mountains was located so high, that

it took Bi Fan and Yan Yu Si, an hour to reach the top.

“Miss, you can directly go and see the Master.” The janitor
boy saluted her.
 “We should go to the Quinyang meeting hall; my father
should be waiting there for us.” Yan Yu Si stated.

Bi Fan was getting even more nervous now, so much so, that
he could barely walk anymore.

“Bi Fan, hurry up, keep up with me, ah.” Yan Yu Si realized
that Bi Fan’s pace was getting slower, and so, she urged him to
hurry up.

“Faster, faster.” Bi Fan muttered.

As he quicken up his pace, Bi Fan could feel the sweat which

had started to cover his face; he wasn’t sweating when he was
climbing the Mountain.

As he entered into the meeting hall, he found that Ling Xin Ya

was also present there. In addition to him, there was another,
commanding, middle-aged man, whom Bi Fan had never met
before; Bi Fan assumed him to be the head of the Sect, Yu Qing
Yang.
 “Father!”

“Master!”

“Bi Fan, I’d like you to meet the head of the Sect.” Ling Xin Ya
stated.

“Bi Fan offers respect to the Master of the Sect.” Bi Fan

respectfully saluted.

Bi Fan was under the impression that he had been called by Yu

Qing Yang to be put in check; so naturally, he was being a little
more respectful than usual.

“No need to be so polite young man. You’ve achieved a great

deal in a very short period of time; you’re worthy of praise.” Yu
Qing Yang sized Bi Fan up, and was even more pleased to realize
that Bi Fan was exceeding his expectations.

“It seems to me that the Head of the Sect is fond of me.” Bi

Fan’s heart had started playing a mellow tune, but he didn’t
dare to show it on his face.
 Ling Xin Ya said: “Bi Fan, the Master of the Sect has called you
here to give you any additional support that you may require for
your training. If there’s anything you want, you may ask for it
now.”

Ling Xin Ya’s words should have made him happy, but Bi
Fan’s face showed no signs of it.

Due to his unrequited feeling for Yan Yu Si, Bi Fan was under
the impression that he’d been called to be put in check.
Fortunately, he didn’t say anything on the subject to start with;
otherwise, the situation would have become very embarrassing
for him.

“What’s wrong with me, I was just about to tell the Master of
the Sect that I like his daughter. Yan Yu Si would have hated
me. I guess I just got paranoid, that’s it.” Bi Fan’s anxiety
seemed to be drilling through his being.

Bi Fan’s face was red with a blush, as he stood there with a

foolish look on his face.

Yu Qing Yang thought that Bi Fan was very excited, and

added: “Bi Fan, take your time. If there’s anything that you
need, you can ask me.”

“I want Yan Yu Si, can you give her to me?”

Obviously, Bi Fan didn’t say it out loud.

He thought for a while, and then said: “Like Weapons, and

Dan? I have plenty already. I just want to enter the Quinyang
Sect library, to learn and research martial arts. Would that be
possible?”

Bi Fan had already snapped out of his own world, and was
once again focused on his top priority: increasing his strength.

Bi Fan was already harboring the idea of creating his own

martial skill, which is why he wanted to learn as many new
skills as possible.

Regardless of the rating of the skill, if it was unique, then it

was worthy of being looked into.
 The Quinyang Sect was one of the front line Sects in the Jiu
Yu City, and the Sect Library had a lot of books inside it. Only
the core disciples were allowed to copy these books. In fact,
even the core disciples were only allowed to enter the Library
once a year, and were only allowed to copy only a limited
number of books.

The access to the Library was so strictly restricted, that even

the core disciples were forced to follow these rules, and were
rarely allowed to bypass these laws.

“Sure, no problem. I’ll grant you a special permission to enter

the Library, and you’ll be allowed to make copies of two books.”
Yu Qing Yang laughed.

Bi Fan was extremely excited, as he said: “Thank you Master

of the Sect!”

He had already started formulating his own ideas: “I may only

be allowed to copy two texts physically, but I can copy the
others in my mind, and no one will be able to spot that out.”

Bi Fan was so excited, and moved, that he couldn’t help that

grateful look, which was beginning to overtake the polite
expression on his face.

“Remember, you must practice hard; do not slack. After two

days, you will leave for the Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon tournament,
and you must fight hard for the glory of the Quinyang Sect.” Yu
Qing Yang said in a serious tone.

“Yes! I will, Master of the Sect!” Bi Fan replied in an energetic

tone.
 Chapter 135 – Entry Into The Library

Soon after, Yu Qing Yang gave Bi Fan some more Dan pellets.
Amongst these were healing Dan, and Dan pertaining to various
other layers of practice realms.

But the most important thing he gave Bi Fan was a sky blue
colored suit. This sky blue clothing was a high grade armor, but
would when worn on top, would only appear as casual clothing;
brilliant casual clothing.

The sky blue suit was a rare and valuable treasure, and was
worth a lot more than the Dragon-scale sword, which he had
received earlier.

Bi Fan hesitated at first, since he didn’t feel at ease to accept

such a valuable item.

Ling Xin Ya said: “Bi Fan, you’re going to be in the focus here
at the Quinyang Sect, and we will try to nurture your talents as
best as we can. The Master of the Sect is taking your practice
very seriously, and this is a well-intended gift from the Sect.
You will need it during the Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon tournament,
and we hope that it will help you bringing glory to our Sect.”
 “Thank you, Master of the Sect!” Bi Fan gratefully accepted
the gifts, and put them away in his storage.

“Bi Fan, Yan Yu Si will guide you to the Library, but, you only
have two days to practice and learn the skills.” Yu Qing Yang
smiled.

Yu Qing Yang was a very easy-going character, especially

when considered that he was the head of a Sect.

“Yes, I will make the best of this time.” Bi Fan and Yan Yu Si
exited the hall together.

Along the way, Bi Fan thought to himself: “It seems like the
head of the Sect could read my heart; he’s asked Yan Yu Si to
personally lead me to the Library. This is working out so well
for me.”

Yan Yu Si was walking ahead of him, and her tall and perfect
body was an absolute feast for Bi Fan’s eyes.
 Even though Bi Fan didn’t have the courage to make a
confession, he’d still pilfer a look or two.

Yan Yu Si abruptly said: “Bi Fan, father has allowed you to

enter the Library for two full days, even when the core disciples
are only allowed to enter the Library for one day, once a year,
during which time, they must finish copying one book, after
which they are asked to leave. Father has made a big exception
for you, and you must repay him with your performance in the
Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon Tournament.”

“I know Miss Yan Yu Si; I will spare no effort in the

tournament, and I won’t allow the Wu Ji Sect to finish at the
top in all the three lists of the Jiu Yu City.” Bi Fan replied in a
very serious tone. (There was a mention about three ‘lists’
(tournaments) about a hundred chapters ago. We know two of
them now, but the third hasn’t been mentioned yet.)

“Well, this time, I will also be fighting for top spot in the Jiu
Yu Imperial List, and I’ve got a lot of pressure, since I’ll have to
face Wu Ji Sect’s Xuan Yuan Po again.” Yan Yu Si’s face
suddenly turned cold; it appeared as if her face was frost with
fear.

“Xuan Yuan Po is considered a genius, but I’ll beat him sooner

or later.” The look on Yan Yu Si’s face made Bi Fan very angry,
and he’d already made his decision. (Xuan Yuan Po’s gender
isn’t clear at the moment, so we’ll just consider the same to be a
man.)

Bi Fan was so wildly attracted to Yan Yu Si, that no matter

who you are, if you’re causing trouble for Yan Yu Si, then you’re
already a mortal enemy of Bi Fan’s.

The Quinyang Library, and arsenal, was a single unit, and

were located at the peak of the establishment. The region was
forbidden to everyone in the Sect, and was watched by a ‘Spirit’
realm elder. Any man, who tried to enter the Quinyang Sect
Library without Yu Qing Yang’s permission, would find
themselves under siege.

Once outside the Library, Yan Yu Si flashed the warrant

which Yu Qing Yang had issued, and the two of them were
allowed to enter.

Inside the Arsenal was an old, white and gray haired, man; it
was difficult to tell his real age. He appeared sick, and was
breathing very uneasy.
 “Grandpa Ling, are you okay?” Yan Yu Si turned into a little
girl, the moment she appeared in front of the old man, and
asked his health in a very playful tone.

“Oh, little Yan Yu Si. You came back, huh, but you didn’t
come to see me?” The old man’s wrinkle studded face creased a
smile, exposing his perfectly intact rows of teeth.

Since the Library was under his care, his strength and history
must not be weak.

Bi Fan sized up the old man, but didn’t spot any energy
fluctuations, and could only assess him to an old man, who
rather seemed to dying of an illness, as opposed to an expert
with an enormous hidden energy.

Bi Fan simply couldn’t believe that this, muddy-eyed, old

man, was an expert; the man’s vision seemed too blurred to be
any good.

“Either he’s just an old, ordinary, man, or else, he has too

much hidden strength inside his body.” Bi Fan thought to
himself.
 “Who is this little guy? He must be someone, now, that he’s
being led to the Library by Yan Yu Si personally.” The old man
enquired.

Yan Yu Si explained: “Grandpa Ling, let me introduce you,

he’s Bi Fan. Bi Fan is the winner of this year’s Neimen Disciple’s
tournament, and I’ve never seen anyone…”

Yan Yu Si looked at Bi Fan, while Grandpa Ling sized him up,

and she winked at him. However, Bi Fan simply didn’t
understand her meaning, which is why he couldn’t do whatever
it is she desired him to.

“Boy offers his respect to Grandpa Ling!” Bi Fan respectfully

offered his salutation.

The old man’s glanced over at Bi Fan again, but his face
showed no emotions, as he just nodded back in reply.

Bi Fan always offered his respects to people, no matter their

age, since it was general etiquette.

But anyway, he could feel that the old man wasn’t as plain as
he appeared, which is why he being even more courteous than
usual.

“Grandpa Ling, my father has allowed Bi Fan to study in the

Library for two days, so he can prepare of the Jiu Yu Hidden
Dragon tournament.” Yan Yu Si informed the old man.

“Yes, you do as you please; I’m getting to old now, and I need
to take a break, so do not bother me.” The old man replied.

The old man went back to one corner of the Library, and sat
on his chair, and dozed off.

“Bi Fan, you look around; I will not bother you. If you can’t
find what you’re looking for, then you can just ask me, I’m very
familiar with the Library.” Yan Yu Si said with a smile.

“Thank you!” Bi Fan simply couldn’t wait now, and started

walking around the shelves to select a book.

The Quinayng Library only had a dozen of, large and small,
bookshelves. Some shelves were filled with books pertaining to
martial skills, while the others contained books regarding other
aspects of training, like Alchemy, weapons refining, herbs, and
the practical experiences of the previous generation martial
artists.

Amongst these, a large number of books spoke of personal

experiences of the Sect’s martial artists, including the
experiences of the Sect’s Core disciples, and the elders. Some
even included the skills which these men had acquired over
their adventures, and were mostly present to guide and inspire
the younger generation.

Bi Fan quickly walked around the Library, and then returned

to front of the Library, picked up one book, and started to read
it carefully.

As for Yan Yu Si, she was focusing her attention on the books
pertaining to the experiences of others, in the hope of finding
some inspiration.

Bi Fan wasn’t worried about anything at the moment, and

once he had selected a book, he causally sat down on the floor,
crossed his legs, and slowly started reading it.

Bi Fan had become a very quick reader, and on top of that,

owing to memory, wouldn’t forget the contents on the book
either. Naturally, Bi Fan wanted to use this opportunity to
devour as much of the Quinyang Library’s knowledge as
possible.

There were so many books in the Library, that it wouldn’t be

possible for him to practice all these skills, but they were sure to
help him in creating him own style one day.

Even though the Quinyang Sect’s book collection wasn’t very

big, it was still quite valuable. There were hundreds of books
about martial skills, some of which spoke of the Sect’s
trademark skills, while some even seemed as if they had been
looted from other Sects.

Regardless of which Sect’s technique the Book spoke off, Bi

Fan would naturally want to read it.

The first book which Bi Fan had picked up was named ‘The
Jiu chain snatcher gang’, and was based on a man named Zhang
Sheng. Zhang Sheng made a name for himself as a robber, and
was later kicked out of the Quinyang Sect, along with his gang
of thieves, but his known experiences had been recorded in this
book.
 Most of the book talked about their adventures, and mostly in
a comic way, but Bi Fan was quite interested in the book since it
also spoke about the various methods of using a knife blade in
combat.

Bi Fan had no intention of using a knife blade, nor did he

intend to learn the skill. He was only reading the book, since he
felt that it would help in improving ‘The Immortal Finger’
technique’s power output.

Therefore, Bi Fan was reading the book very seriously, and

given his memory, and reading speed, he was able to go through
the contents of the book very quickly.

Even though it was a very thick book, he was able to finish it

in about an hour, and had even successfully memorized its
contents.

“Let’s continue with more.” Bi Fan lazily stretched his body,

as he smiled.

Bi Fan returned the ‘The Jiu chain snatcher gang’ book to its
shelf, and proceeded to pick his next selection.
 Chapter 136 – Setting Out

Bi Fan looked at the name of the next book, ‘Swimming

Dragon’, and he immediately put it back.

Bi Fan picked up the book next to it, as he prepared to

memorize its contents inside his mind. Even if a method wasn’t
suited for his practice, he still wanted to learn it for future
reference.

‘The Phoenix Heaven’ fist; Bi Fan didn’t know that one, so he

sat down on the ground once again, and started looking it over.

Bi Fan was going over these books so fast, that no one would
believe that he was actually reading them.

Yan Yu Si saw the manner in which Bi Fan was going over

these books, but didn’t say much.

Once Bi Fan was done with this book, he put it back, and
picked up the next one.
 In an instant, half a day had passed away, and Bi Fan had
already memorized twenty books. He’d select a book, quickly
browse through it, and then, he’d put it back, and would repeat
the process again.

“Bi Fan, you must quickly find the appropriate martial skill
that you wish to practice, and then copy it. Don’t waste your
time shuffling through books like that.” Yan Yu Si couldn’t help
it anymore.

Bi Fan replied: “I want to look all the books over once, and
then I’ll decide which one I want to make a copy off.”

In reality, Bi Fan knew exactly what he was doing; since he

was capable of memorizing any book in one read, he really had
no interest in copying them on paper.

Bi Fan couldn’t forget that he only had two days’ time, and he
wanted to memorize all the martial skills books inside the
Quinyang Library in that time.

As a result, Bi Fan stopped paying attention to Yan Yu Si’s

presence, and started concentrating on the task at hand,
wholeheartedly.
 Bi Fan would open a book, and would browse through it very
quickly.

Since he wanted to memorize the entire books collection in

the Library, he really couldn’t help but increase his speed. His
normal speed was awfully fast, and now, he had almost doubled
it.

His head was a complete mystery, and not even a single word
was forgotten from the texts he had read so far.

In the next half of the day, since he didn’t take any rest, Bi Fan
managed to devour another thirty-eight books.

He hadn’t written anything down yet, but was still able to

recall everything he had read so far, a feat, which ordinary men
simply aren’t capable of reproducing.

Bi Fan was a like a sponge, and his ability to absorb knowledge

was absolutely mesmerizing.
 Yan Yu Si could see that Bi Fan was very busy with his work,
so she didn’t disturb him again.

There were many books inside the Quinyang Sect’s Library,

but Yan Yu Si had read most of them, which is why she didn’t
have much interest in them. She was spending her time going
over the books which talked about people’s experiences, and
sometimes she would also go over to Grandpa Ling for a chat.

The two days passed in a flash, and Bi Fan had almost read
through the entire book selection that he wished to, and was
now busy copying a book which talked about ‘The Electric
Sword’ technique. But he hadn’t yet finished copying the text
completely; on paper.

“Bi Fan, I told you to start making the copies as early as

possible. Look, now you haven’t even finished making one copy
here.” Yan Yu Si seemed very angry.

Yan Yu Si wasn’t actually angry with Bi Fan, but was simply

worried that Bi Fan had missed a great opportunity.

The old man saw it, and revealed a profound smile.

 Bi Fan was on the verge of returning the book to its shelf,
since it was time for him to leave.

The old man smiled and said: “It doesn’t not matter, take your
time. Young Bi Fan, quickly make yourself a copy, and return
the book to its place before you leave.”

“Thank you Grandpa Ling!” Yan Yu Si was standing next to

the old man, and was clutching the man’s arm gently.

Bi Fan couldn’t help but stare; Yan Yu Si was acting like a

spoilt little baby, but even then, looked as beautiful as always.

Yan Yu Si said: “Bi Fan, quickly copy the text; Grandpa Ling is
already being very lenient.”

“Oh? Thank you Grandpa Ling.” Bi Fan continued to

transcribe the book, since he didn’t want people to know about
his photographic memory.

A little limelight in necessary, but too much of it can cause

problems.
 Bi Fan knew this truth well, which is why he preferred
keeping a low-key profile.

Copying the text was a tiring job, and Bi Fan spent another
two hours, before he was finally able to finish making a copy of
‘The Electric Sword’ skill’s book.

“Miss Yan Yu Si, Grandpa Ling, I’m done with the work.”

“Grandpa Ling, then it’s time for us to leave; you take care of
your health.” Yan Yu Si said with a smile.

“Little Yan Yu Si, when you come back next time, don’t forget
to pay this old man a visit.” The old man smiled back at her.

“Yes! I’ll certainly come to see you.” Yan Yu Si nodded.

Then, Yan Yu Si walked out of the Library, and led Bi Fan

back to the meeting hall of the Quinyang Sect.

At present, a lot of people were gathered inside the meeting

hall, most were unknown to Bi Fan, but he did recognize some,
like Mo Nan, Jing Feng, Luo Sheng, and Ji Ying Lan.

The moment Luo Sheng saw Bi Fan enter the hall, his face
started reflecting the resentment his heart felt for Bi Fan, while
his eyes were brimming with a murderous spirit.

Naturally, Bi Fan felt Luo Sheng’s gaze, but decided to plainly

ignore the man.

“Brother Jing Feng, what are you doing here?” Bi Fan asked.

“We have to leave for the Jiu Yu City soon; it’s good that you
two came back in time, ah.” Jing Feng smiled.

“Someone thinks that just because he won the Championship,

he can make the others wait. This behavior is ridiculous.” A
cold voice expressed its owner’s opinion. It is needless to say
that the speaker was Luo Sheng.

Luo Sheng was standing next to tall man; this man was Luo
Xiong. Luo Xiong was sizing Bi Fan up, with a cold look in his
eyes, and Bi Fan simply didn’t know what to make of it.
 Bi Fan had already rubbed a lot of people the wrong way,
especially since he had walked into the meeting hall with Yan
Yu Si. Almost all the core disciples of the Sect had already
started considering him as a competitor.

Inside the Quinyang Sect, if a person was a core disciple under

the age of thirty, and a male on top of that, they automatically
desired Yan Yu Si.

These people had already started talking amongst themselves,

and were adding more fuel to Luo Sheng’s jab.

“Well, there’s no time to talk now; you must all leave

immediately.” Since Yu Qing Yang had given the command, no
one dared to say another word.

This time, the Quinyang Sect was sending a team of over

thirty people, wherein there were sixteen core disciples, and
sixteen Neimen disciples. These two teams, of sixteen members
each, were being led by Luo Xiao Tian and Ling Xin Ya, making
the total number of the platoon to thirty-four.
 Out of these, ten of the core and Neimen disciples were
supposed to participate in the tournaments, while the other six
were excellent young talents, who were accompanying them to
witness the tournament, and gain some experience.

The Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon, and the Jiu Yu Imperial List

tournaments, were both, held once every three years, while the
third one, the Jiu Yu Spirit List, was held once every ten years.

The party only constituted of youngsters, since both the

tournaments had an age cap. Participants in the Jui Yu Hidden
Dragon List were required to be under the age of twenty-five
years, whereas, the age cap for the Jiu Yu Imperial List was
thirty years.

With Luo Xiao Tian and Ling Xin Ya in the lead, the thirty-
four man team set off.

In order to reach the Jiu Yu City as soon as possible, the entire

delegation was going to use a Crane for travelling. (A crane is
like an airplane; there was a mention of another one, about a
hundred chapters ago or so, when Bi Fan goes down the Yu Nu
Feng Mountain to beat up Daniu, if I remember correctly.)
 “Everyone, get on board!” Luo Xiao Tian waved his big hands,
as he instructed in a loud voice.

Luo Xiao Tian was the leader of the delegation, but since Ling
Xin Ya wanted to ensure Bi Fan’s safety, he had volunteered to
travel along.

Yu Qing Yang was also worried about Bi Fan’s safety, since he

too feared that Luo Xiao Tian might have bad intentions for Bi
Fan. Yu Qing Yang had made arrangements for Ling Xin Ya to
travel along with the rest of the party, owing to which Luo Xiao
Tian knew that he couldn’t act rashly.

Bi Fan had demonstrated his remarkable talents, and if he was

met with any unfortunate encounters, then Yu Qing Yang
would never be able to overcome the grief.

Once everyone had boarded the crane, the crane took off, and
quickly disappeared into the clouds.

Even though the Jiu Yu City was a very isolated city in this
world, it still provided residence to millions of people.
 So naturally, the martial arts situation of the region was quite
complicated as well.

Within the reach of the Jiu Yu City, the Wu Ji Sect was the
most powerful Sect, while the Quinyang Sect was considered
one of the many first-class Sects.

With so many forces in the area, there was bound to be

competition and conflict. These Sects were competing for
resources perennially, and most Sects had a mutual hatred for
each other. The Disciples of these Sects were known to fight
each other in the streets of the city, and sometimes, these fights
even lead to fatalities.

Every time the Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon List, and the Jiu Yu
Imperial List tournaments were held, several disciples used
them to resolve their personal disputes, and each time, several
renowned geniuses lost their lives over the course of the
tournament.

Yan Yu Si had made a note of things that Bi Fan must be aware

of, and explained these circumstances to him along the way, so
he’d be wary of them.
 “Bi Fan, you have to be very careful there, and you must also
be on guard against some people from within our Sect as well.
There are a few people, whom you mustn’t provoke. You have
to be careful against Luo Xiong, since he’s Luo Sheng’s elder
Brother. He’s extremely strong, and even I can’t defeat him
easily.”

“Thanks for letting me know Miss Yan Yu Si, and I’ll be

careful about these things.” Bi Fan was somewhat moved.

He thought to himself: “It seems that Miss Yan Yu Si really

cares for me. Well, at least that’s good thing for me, he he…”
 Chapter 137 – The Traveler’s Tavern

Since the Jiu Yu City was hosting its triennial tournaments,

hundreds of Sects had gathered in the city to attend the
proceedings.

The Jiu Yu City was even more lively than usual, and people
were constantly shouting and screaming, as the city bustled
with excitement.

Those who knew their business well were ready to use the
opportunity to make a killing, as the city flocked with guests.

The Heavenly Dragon group was the smartest one around,

and would go as far as holding an auction in the City. Their
auction would be held just a few days prior to the contests, and
would continue for consecutive days, till the eve of the
tournament. Naturally, they’d be selling all kinds of valuables,
but owing to the timing of the auction, the price of these
commodities would be doubled.

Of course, there were several other auction houses in the city,

which were doing the same thing at this time, but the Heavenly
Dragon group was the largest auction house in the city, and was
well known for their excellent collection, all over the world.

The Quinyang Sect had arrived a little late, and reached only a
couple of days prior to the official start of the Jiu Yu Hidden
Dragon List.

“Fortunately, we’ve managed to get here in time enough for

the last day of the Heavenly Dragon Group’s auction, which is
always the highlight of the event.” Ling Xin Ya said with a
smile.

“If some people had it their way, then we’d have missed this
as well.” Luo Xiao Tian added in a cold voice.

Yan Yu Si and Bi Fan were aware that they were indefensible,

and kept their mouths shut.

Once Luo Xiao Tian was sure that his jab had done its work, he
led the Quinyang delegation towards their accommodation.

Every time the Jiu Yu City held these contests, the hotel
business would see a big boom, so naturally, it was very
important to make reservation in advance.
 Since the Quinyang Sect was considered a leading force inside
the Jiu Yu City, arranging an accommodation wasn’t an issue.
Having a face value naturally had its benefits, however, the inn
did charge quite a bit for the same reason.

The complete accommodation package was quite expensive,

especially since it was peak business time, owing to the
tournament. Due to the prices of these inns, the Sects were not
only forced to compete for strength and glory at this time, but
also had to contest for facilities like these, which was another
form of competition in itself: financial competition.

‘The Traveler’s Tavern’.

The Inn’s management had put the Quinyang Sect’s banner,

right under their own, which was a good and hospitable sign.

Moreover, the traveler’s tavern was regarded as one of the

finest hotels in the Jiu Yu city, and was big enough to
accommodate hundreds of people, but at present, was only
housing the Quinyang Sect delegation.
 The Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon List and the Jiu Yu Imperial List
tournaments were scheduled to be conducted over a month’s
time, and the contestants would require a quiet and peaceful
environment for their practice, which is why the Sect had
booked the entire establishment.

“There’s a lot of room here, so pick your rooms well; and the
dining hall on the first floor. Go to bed early today, and
tomorrow, post breakfast, we will take you to the Heavenly
Dragon group’s auction, so you can learn how things work
around here.” Ling Xin Ya said with a smile.

Soon, everyone chose their rooms; since the inn had a lot of
rooms, no one made any fuss over their selection.

This time, a few more girls had decided to participate in the

tournament. Apart from Yan Yu Si, there was Luo Jia and Lin
Qing Yao, both of whom were core disciples of the Sect. These
three females managed to occupy an entire floor. Because of Yan
Yu Si, they were allowed to pick first, and they chose the second
floor, since it was most convenient.

Jing Feng, Mo Nan, Bi Fan, and Ji Ying Lan were

accommodated on the fourth floor, along with the rest of the
Neimen Disciples, with the exception of Luo Sheng.
 Luo Sheng was staying with Luo Xiong and the other core
disciples on the third floor, plainly out of arrogance.

“Luo Xioa Tian and Luo Sheng are so arrogant, if I had my

way, I’d punch them in the face.” Mo Nan said.

Jing Feng smiled: “The last time Brother Bi Fan bashed Luo
Sheng up, they mistook it for poisoning. Luo Xiao Tian
somehow managed to cure him using his high-grade Dan, and
had to personally look after his health and recovery. If it wasn’t
for Luo Xiao Tian, then Luo Sheng wouldn’t have been able to
participate in the Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon List this time.”

Once Luo Sheng returned to his home, after losing to Bi Fan,

he started to report excruciating pains. The pain was so grave
that he screamed relentlessly, and his screams echoed
throughout the Quinyang Mountains.

Later, Luo Xiao Tian was forced to take the matter into his
own hands, and with great difficulty, somehow managed to
expel the poisons from his body.
 At present, Luo Sheng would stare at Bi Fan as if he’d eat him
alive. The fact that he couldn’t beat Bi Fan, only made him more
furious.

“Luo Sheng is such an arrogant guy; I would have left him to

suffer.” Mo Nan said: “If he ever crosses me, I won’t care about
his Brother, or Grandfather; I’ll give him the bashing he
deserves.”

Jing Feng said: “Well we’ll get our chance to teach him a
lesson one day.”

“Well, I hope so too, but for now, let’s go and eat something,
I’m starving to death here.” Bi Fan said.

Jing Feng, Mo Nan and Bi Fan, started descending the stairs

together, and ran into Luo Sheng and Luo Xiong at the turn of
the third-floor staircase.

“Bi Fan, you beat me last time, but I’ll get back at you sooner
or later.” Luo Sheng was gritting his teeth.

“I’m ready to fight anytime.” Bi Fan smiled: “However, you

couldn’t beat me then, and I doubt if you’ll succeed the next
time either.”

“Bi Fan, my name is Luo Xiong, and I’m Luo Sheng’s elder
Brother. Luo Sheng can be very aggressive at times; I apologize
for his behavior.” Luo Xiong said with a smile.

“Brother…” Luo Sheng objected anxiously.

Luo Xiong pulled Luo Sheng back, and said: “Not another
word, let’s go down for our dinner.”

Luo Xiong and Luo Sheng proceeded downstairs, while Mo

Nan, Jing Feng and Bi Fan, just stood motionless in their places,
with a dumb look on their faces, as a chill ran down their spines.

“Luo Xiong is a man with big smiles and evil intentions!” The
three of them spoke up in unison, and burst into laughter.

They started descending down the stairs again, and entered

the lobby chatting and laughing, and started to look for a seat.
 Luo Xiong was quite popular with the other core disciples of
the Sect, and most were smiling and greeting him, as they
invited him over for to their tables.

But in the end, Luo Sheng and Luo Xiong went over to Ling
Xin Ya, Luo Xiao Tian and Yan Yu Si’s table, since Luo Xiong
wanted to sit next to Yan Yu Si.

“Miss Yan Yu Si, may I sit here?”

“Of course.” Yan Yu Si’s reply was neither cold, nor sweet.

Bi Fan and his friends had just entered the dining area, and
were looking for a table to dine on.

“Jing Feng, Mo Nan, Bi Fan, come here and dine with us.” Lin
Xin Ya called them out loudly.

Jing Feng led the way, as the three of them walked over to
Ling Xin Ya’s table.

“Ah, that’s weird ah, we are all core disciples, but the Deputy
and the Elder didn’t even ask us to dine with them. These three
are getting preferential treatment.”

“That’s correct, who do they think they are, huh… they are
just outer Disciples, and all they’ve ever done is one eye-
catching performance in one internal tournament.”

“Those of us who’ve managed to become Core disciples, are

some the most talented geniuses of our generation, but even
then, we’re receiving much lesser treatment than these guys.”

Obviously, these core disciples were quite jealous, especially

since Ling Xin Ya’s table was also seating the super-beautiful
Yan Yu Si, and these men would do almost anything to get
closer to her.

But because of Ling Xin Ya’s presence, they wouldn’t dare to

voice their opinions loudly. Bi Fan was aware of all this, as he
made his way towards Yan Yu Si and Ling Xin Ya, and could feel
their red eyes glaring him along the way.

These core disciples were speaking loud enough for Bi Fan and
his friends to hear their words clearly.
 “Some people don’t understand their position, hum…” Luo
Sheng groaned in a cold tone.

Jing Feng smiled: “Yes, some people truly aren’t worthy of

sitting on this table. Brother Bi Fan, Brother Mo Nan, I’d really
like to find another table, so I can eat my dinner in peace…”

“I’m okay with that. Anyway, I really don’t want to share my

table with someone.” Mo Nan replied with a calm and
indifferent look on his face.

Bi Fan said in a light tone: “What the eye doesn’t see, the
heart doesn’t grieve over!”

“Well, let’s stop the bickering now. I’m asking you to sit here,
irrespective of your opinions.” Ling Xin Ya insisted in an
imposing manner.

“Yes, Master!”

“Yes! Deputy Master!”

 As Bi Fan, Mo Nan, and Jing Feng sat down, Luo Sheng’s face
became even more disfigured, and he even turned his face the
other way, in disgrace.
 Chapter 138 – A Stroll Down The Streets

Over the course of the meal, Bi Fan and Luo Sheng didn’t even
glance over at each other, as they ate their meals in a tasteless
manner.

Luo Xiong couldn’t stop thinking about Yan Yu Si’s beauty,

whereas Yan Yu Si was completely ignoring his presence. Luo
Xiong was constantly trying to think of new topics to engage
Yan Yu Si in a conversation, but she wasn’t having any of it.

Bi Fan was a bit grouchy, but kept his head down, as he

continued to eat his meal.

“Bi Fan, the Jiu Yu City has an amazing nightscape; I’d like to
show you around a little later, are you interested in going out
for a stroll?” Yan Yu Si spoke abruptly.

“Yes! Yes, of course, I’d like to go…” Bi Fan reflexively nodded

in agreement.

Luo Xiong’s face suddenly became very unsightly, while eyes

started to flash from one point to the other.
 He smiled and said: “Yes, the Jiu Yu City, indeed, looks very
beautiful at night. Unless people have their own plans, we
should all go out and have an evening out in the town.”

“Brother, I also want to go; this is the first time I’ve come to
the Jiu Yu City.” Luo Sheng promptly expressed his desire.

“Brother Luo Xiong, can we also accompany you guys?” A core

disciple asked.

Luo Xiong smiled: “I certainly don’t have a problem, but

you’ll need to ask Miss Yan Yu Si, if she’ll allow us to
accompany her…”

“I don’t want to take a large group with me.” Yan Yu Si

replied in a cold tone.

Luo Xiong’s advances had been rebuffed again, and his face
became even uglier.

As they saw Luo Xiong’s face deflate again, Jing Feng and Mo
Nan simply couldn’t help laughing up their sleeves.

“You kids go out and have fun, but remember to come back
and take some rest. Tomorrow morning, after breakfast, we’re
going to attend the Heavenly Dragon group’s auction, and
you’re all required to attend it, as it will help you gain some
exposure.” Lin Xin Ya said with a smile: “And do not go around
causing trouble. The Jiu Yu City, at this time, turns in to a
mixture of dragons and snakes.”

“This is a critical juncture, and if we stir up trouble in the city,

then we may even get kicked out of the tournaments.” Luo Xiao
Tian added in a cold voice.

Youngsters are always full of curiosity. The outer disciples,

especially, were more excited than the others, since this was
their first visit to the city, and naturally, they wanted to see as
much of it as possible.

Even those who had seen the city before wanted to go out.

The Jiu Yu City was a flourishing place, and had several

fascinating objects that were new to the Quinyang people, since
they dwelled in the mountains, a fair distance away. Obviously,
the city’s limelight was bound to incite their imaginations.

The Quinyang Sect disciples started organizing themselves

into small groups, as they talked and planned about making
arrangements to go out together.

The outer disciples, who weren’t aware of the Jiu Yu City’s

setting, started requesting the core disciples for company, since
they were quite familiar with the city. As for the outer disciples
who weren’t familiar with the core disciples, they had no other
option but to stay back.

Bi Fan, Mo Nan, Jing Feng, Ji Ying Lan, Yan Yu Si, Luo Jia,
and Lin Qing Yao had decided to form a seven-strong team for
touring the city together.

“Brother Jing Feng, can you please take us with you?” there
were three disciples remaining, who still hadn’t been able to
find themselves company; left with no other option, they
resorted to pleading to Jing Feng, since they didn’t want to be
left behind.

“Jing Feng, this is a rare opportunity for them; you must take
them along, and show them around.” Ling Xin Ya said as he
started to laugh.

“Well, you can come with us, but…. Don’t cause any trouble.”
Jing Feng said.

“Brother Jing Feng, we won’t cause any trouble at all.” Those

three disciples promised earnestly, as they continued to shake
their heads in submission. They were so desperate to go out and
experience the city’s flavors, that they’d be willing to do
anything to convince Jing Feng, at this point.

“Well, let’s get going. There are several places that we can go
to, and you’ll really like a few of them.” Lin Qing Yao said.

“Thank you, elder sister.” Since they were desperate to

impress, those three disciples were trying to be as courteous as
possible.

At this time, it wasn’t completely dark yet, and the sky

outside was gleaming in the multi-colored sunlight of the
sunset.

The streets outside were beginning to get very lively, as the

shops weren’t prepared to close down for business just yet, and
had started setting up lanterns.

The ten-strong delegation, of which Bi Fan was a part, walked

around the street of the Jiu Yu City, with an excited look on
their faces.

Bi Fan and the other outer disciples, especially, were more

excited and curious than the others, since it was their first visit
to the city.

“The Jiu Yu City is so amazing, and busy ah! I’ve seen some
other towns, but this place is on a whole new level!” A disciple
exclaimed in admiration.

His name is Wang Yun Fei, and since he had already managed
to reach the ‘Transformation’ layer, he too was appointed to
participate in the Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon List tournament.

“That’s definitely true. You can find everything in the Jiu Yu

City, ranging from the most low-grade items to ‘Spirit’ realm
weapons. You can buy anything here, as long as you have the
money.” Jing Feng laughed.
 “What?! We can find ‘Spirit’ realm weapons here, ah!” Bi Fan
was extremely surprised.

It must be mentioned, that even the Quiyang Sect, only had

one completely intact ‘Spirit’ weapon, and the few others,
which they had in their arsenal, were quite badly damaged.
(There was a one-line mention of this long, long, ago.)

Even the power of a damaged ‘Spirit’ realm weapon, was

beyond comparison to the top-quality weapons, which even the
most elite martial artists used.

The ‘Spirit’ weapons were considered extremely powerful,

and obviously, were exceptionally valuable and rare.

“The Jiu Yu City is one of the core cities of our world, so it

wouldn’t be strange to find a ‘Spirit’ realm weapon here. As far
as I know, the Heavenly Dragon group will probably put up
some badly damaged ‘Spirit’ realm weapons in the auction
tomorrow.” Yan Yu Si said.

Bi Fan asked: “Miss Yan Yu Si, how much is a ‘Spirit’ grade

weapon worth?”
 “A completely intact, low-grade, ‘Spirit’ grade weapon is
priceless. Even if someone manages to find such a weapon, they
wouldn’t be foolish enough to come up with it for the auction.
And even if someone was selling such a weapon, our Quinyang
Sect simply doesn’t have the financial resources to buy
something like that.” Yan Yu Si replied.

Bi Fan’s mouth fell open: “Wow, I didn’t know that the

‘Spirit’ Realm weapons were that precious! It’s better that I just
forget about them.”

“Yes, don’t be too ambitious, but there’s still a chance. There

are several very dangerous places in the world, where people
can sometimes unearth ‘Spirit’ grade weapons. As long as you’re
strong enough to venture out into such an area, then with a bit
of luck, there’s a chance that you could find a ‘Spirit’ grade
weapon.” Yan Yu Si said.

Bi Fan and the others had already started dreaming. They

were all fantasizing about venturing into these dangerous areas,
and battling their way through these territories, until they
procured a ‘Spirit’ realm weapon. They were dreaming about
becoming exceptionally strong, and becoming the subject of
mass admiration.
 Yan Yu Si could see that mindless smirk on the faces of several
people, and knew very well as to what they were thinking.

Everyone has their own fantasies, but getting a ‘Spirit’ realm

weapon is a matter of fate more than anything else.

The Jiu Yu City was stacked with various attractions. Lin Qing
Yao, Luo Jia, and Yan Yu Si were mostly interested in the
refreshments, and the trinkets, while Jing Feng and the boys
were mostly interested in weapons and wine. Bi Fan had almost
succeeded in getting himself drunk, following which, he bought
even more wine, which he stored inside his Yin Yang pouch.

The streets of the Jiu Yu City had a line of shops on both sides,
which also included shops that were selling weapons and other
equipment of combat. Whenever Bi Fan and the other boys
would see such a shop, they’d go in to see the items on display.

Bi Fan, Mo Nan, Jing Feng, Ji Ying Lan, and Wang Yun Fei
were all supposed to participating in the Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon
List; so naturally, they were interested in checking these items
out, just in case they managed to find exactly what they were
looking for.
 These weapon shops had a lot of variety, and they’d often find
the right gears, but each time, they’d have to come out empty
handed, since these weapons were far too expensive for them to
be able to afford any.

Jing Feng might be able to afford a set or two, but didn’t do

so, and only looked on in disdain.

They strolled on, unable to find anything that suited their

taste and pocket, at the same time.

However, they would still enter the next shop, if it had a high
grade weapon on display, since the display would impress and
incite them.

“This is such an amazing piece of armor, but a hundred

thousand spars… I wouldn’t be able to afford it, even if I sold
myself.” Ji Ying Lan sighed.

“Don’t worry, you’re doing quite well. We must continue to

strive hard, and we must practice, and someday, we might
actually get a ‘Spirit’ weapon of our own.” Jing Feng tried to
assure him.
 Yan Yu Si added: “Yes, you must strive hard and practice, and
win for the glory of the Quinyang Sect.”

“The Quinyang Sect, ah! The Quinyang Sect is completely

useless, like the bunch of you. Useless people like you can only
dream of brining glory to your useless Quinyang Sect.” The
speaker was clearing nipping his neck in to start a fight.
 Chapter 139 – Disposing Off The Enemy

The moment Yan Yu Si heard this, her face become distorted.

“No matter who you are, since you’ve insulted the Quinyang
Sect, you must pay the price.”

Yan Yu Si turned around to face the dozen youngsters who

stood behind them, all of whom were below the age of thirty.

They were headed by a handsome youngster, who had a

typically small and white face. But anyway, his strength was
pretty good, and neither Jing Feng, nor Bi Fan could match his
strength.

“Ha ha…. As it turns out, that’s Miss Yan Yu Si. I must take
my words back, I was wrong. The Quinyang Sect isn’t
completely useless, since it’s given birth to a peerless beauty like
Miss Yan Yu Si.” The handsome youngster in the lead laughed.

“Wu Ji Sect’s Nan Feng, since you’ve challenged the Quinyang

Sect, I’ll show you what we’re capable off.” Yan Yu Si answered
in cold tone.
 Nan Feng’s words had made Yan Yu Si even angrier.

“Nah, that’s no good, you’re a Xuannv Palace disciple, not a

Quinyang representative. If a Quinyang Sect disciple wants to
challenge me, then I’d be more than happy to accept the offer.”
Nan Feng’s face changed colors, almost as if he was afraid of Yan
Yu Si, and was making an excuse to save himself from a beating.

“Alright then, I’ll fight you.” Jing Feng stepped forward, in an

enraged state of mind.

Yan Yu Si single handedly pulled Jing Feng back, and

whispered: “Nan Feng is deep into the ‘Emerging from the
Womb’ layer, you’re not going to be able to match up to him.”

“Then, what do we do?” Jing Feng said.

Out of the their ten-strong party, only Yan Yu Si, Lin Qing
Yao, and Luo Jia were inside the ‘Emerging from the Womb’
layer. And, even though Luo Jia and Lin Quin Yao were inside
the ‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer, they were clearly not
capable of standing up to Nan Feng.
 As for Jing Feng and the other outer disciple, they were even
worse off.

“Disappointing. No one in the Quinyang Sect has the spine to

challenge me. I guess they were right, the Quinyang Sect’s
strength really is declining; I think, sooner or later, you’re just
going to fade away.” Nan Feng sneered.

The Jiu Yu City comes up with a list of the five-strongest Sects

in the territory every decade, and any Sect may end up being
replaced by another at that time.

The Wu Ji Sect, and the City’s Sect were always in the top
five, and their standing hadn’t changed in almost a millennium
now.

The other three names were constantly changing. Even

though the Quinyang Sect mostly made it to list, they sometime
did get squeezed out of the list. In the last hundred years or so,
the Quinyang Sect’s strength had been declining, which was
probably the reason fueling Nan Feng’s cynicism.
 The rumor has it, that the Wu Ji Sect has been trying to get
the Ba Gua Sect in that list for some time now, but hasn’t been
able to succeed so far.

But now, since the Quinyang Sect’s strength is declining, the

Ba Gua Sect is rumored to be eyeing their spot.

“Court your death!” Yan Yu Si couldn’t restrain herself

anymore, and finally attacked them.

‘Xuannv Flying Rainbow!’

Her sword appeared like it was made of the same substance as

a rainbow, as it charged towards Nan Feng.

“Since you’ve insulted our Quinyang Sect, I’ll teach you a

lesson.”

Nan Feng and his group of Wu Ji Sect disciples drew their

swords of fend off Yan Yu Si’s attacks.

“Crack….” Their swords collided violently, and the dozen Wu

Ji Sect disciples were thrown to the ground.

Nan Feng looked the worse amongst the lot; his hair and
clothes were in tatters, while his sword had been badly battered.

After a closer look, it could be seen that Nan Feng’s clothes

didn’t have any bloodstains, which obviously meant that he
hadn’t been injured seriously.

“Woah! That’s amazing!” Mo Nan exclaimed in surprise.

Jing Feng’s mouth also fell open in shock: “I can’t even

imagine that kind of strength. Miss Yan Yu Si managed to repel
them, without even causing them any injuries!”

Bi Fan didn’t utter a single word; this was the first time that
he’d seen Yan Yu Si in action, and he simply couldn’t imagine
the kind of strength that it would take to beat a dozen, such
strong, Wu Ji Sect disciples, all at once.

Out of the Wu Ji Sect team, four men were already inside the
‘Emerging from the Womb’ realm, but even they were unable to
ward off Yan Yu Si’s attacks.
 Nan Feng stayed down, wearing a foolish look on his face,
with a lifeless expression in his eyes; it was obvious that he was
terrified of Yan Yu Si.

“Get lost, and the next time I hear you insult the Quinyang
Sect, I won’t refrain from killing you all.” Yan Yu Si stated in a
sharp tone.

“Let’s go!” Nan Feng seemed afraid of losing face, since their
feud had attracted a lot of people, and quickly fled the scene,
with his tail tucked between his legs.

“Ha ha, that was simply fantastic, Sister! Sister, you’re

invincible!…” Luo Jia clapped her hands as she laughed.

“I hope those arrogant Wu Ji Sect guys learnt their lesson.”

Lin Qing Yao added.

Jing Feng exclaimed: “I don’t know when I’ll be able to match

up to Miss Yan Yu Si’s expertise, she’s too powerful!”
 Bi Fan remained silent, but couldn’t help thinking: “…these
people were so powerful, it seems like I have a long way to go. I
will redouble my efforts, and I’ll practice even harder to catch
up to Miss Yan Yu Si.”

“Let’s head back, I don’t feel like hanging out anymore.” Yan
Yu Si said.

Jing Feng and the others didn’t oppose her, and they all
started to make their way towards their hotel. They were
scheduled to be in the Jiu Yu City for a month, which meant
that they’d have several more chances to explore the city.

Even though Yan Yu Si had defeated those Wu Ji Sect disciples

with ease, her mood was still gloomy.

The Quinyang Sect’s strength was getting worse with every

passing generation, and Yan Yu Si’s age group had no other
major talents.

Even though Yan Yu Si was exceptionally talented, she, at the

end of the day, was a Xuannv Palace disciple, and wouldn’t be
able to directly help the Quinyang Sect in any way.
 The Quinyang Sect knew this well, and were aware that Yan
Yu Si was beyond their reach now.

If the Quinyang Sect was replaced by the Ba Gua Sect, then it

would be a very major blow for Yu Qing Yang.

If Yu Qing Yang was unhappy, then Yan Yu Si certainly

wouldn’t be happy either.

As she thought of the Quinyang Sect’s future, Yan Yu Si’s

eyebrows started to tense, since she really couldn’t think of a
solution.

Suddenly, Bi Fan’s thought crossed Yan Yu Si’s mind, and her

heart couldn’t help but play a hopeful tune: “Bi Fan is an
excellent talent; he puts a lot of effort into his training, and his
willpower is extremely tough. The Quinyang Sect can really rely
on him. Mo Nan and Jing Feng are also quite good, and the
Quinyang Sect will need to spare some resources to train them
up as well.”

Bi Fan was constantly taking note of Yan Yu Si’s expressions,

and watching her face going pale, was making him very
anxious.
 Suddenly, Yan Yu Si’s eyebrows eased up, and relief washed
over Bi Fan.

“Sister, since you dislodged Nan Feng, won’t you get in

trouble later?” Lin Qing Yao asked in a worried tone.

“Don’t worry, even if Nan Feng tells the Wu Ji Sect, they will
not dare to touch me.” Yan Yu Si said lightly.

Jing Feng said: “The Wu Ji Sect disciples take advantage of

their Sect’s power, and go around insulting other Sect’s
disciples…. This was a welcome change, ah.”

“The Wu Ji Sect group had more than a dozen guys, and Sister
beat them up alone. If this news gets out, then it will definitely
cause a big sensation.” Wang Yun Fei laughed.

“That’s definitely going to make the news!” Bi Fan agreed.

Yan Yu Si said: “There is no point in talking about this

nonsense. There is nothing great about beating up such a useless
team of guys.”

“True! We may know that, but I’m afraid that the news will
start spreading soon, since the Jiu Yu city loves to gossip. And
this news will definitely spread in a while, since a whole gang of
a Sect as powerful as the Wu Ji Sect was thrashed by a woman
as beautiful as Miss Yan Yu Si.”

Luo Jia said as she continued to laugh.

Even though Luo Jia was exaggerating it a bit, she wasn’t very
far from the truth, and her words were probably being spread
around the city already.

Jing Feng said: “I just overheard a lot of people saying that

Nan Feng and his boys were battered up by Miss Yan Yu Si. It
seems that this news is spreading like a plague through the
city.”

“Wait, if this news starts spreading, then won’t the Wu Ji Sect

blame this on our heads?” Mo Nan asked.

“Yes, that’s for sure. It will probably cause some hatred

between the Quinyang Sect and the Wu Ji Sect. So if you guys
run into a Wu Ji Sect disciple, then you must take caution.” Yan
Yu Si warned.

“We’re not afraid of them, let them come. We’ll give them the
bashing they deserve.”
 Chapter 140 – The Auction

Once Bi Fan and others returned to their hotel, they found out
that Luo Xiong and the others hadn’t returned yet; Luo Xiao
Tian and Ling Xin Ya had gone off to meet some old friends.

Yan Yu Si said: “We should go to bed; it’s been a long day, and
we’ll need to recharge our batteries for tomorrow.”

“Yes! Miss Yan Yu Si!”

Just as Jing Feng and the others were going off to take some
rest, five more disciples returned.

Since everyone belonged to the same Sect, they naturally

wanted to sit and chat for a while, and talk about their
experiences, and encounters.

Many of the disciples were visiting the Jiu Yu City for the first
time, and they were so excited that they even forgot that they
were supposed to take some rest as well.
 Later in the night, Jing Feng called everyone down to the hall
again, since the inn’s management was serving tea. And they all
continued to chat and laugh over tea.

“Oh, there you are, ah, we just heard some very surprising
news outside, but we don’t know if it’s the truth or not.” Luo
Sheng had been talking to Luo Xiang, but suddenly turned
around to face Jing Feng.

Luo Sheng was quite unpopular within the Sect, and no one
really cared about him, which is why everyone continued to
concentrate on their tea.

“Jing Feng, I heard that you guys ran into some trouble, is
that true?” Luo Sheng insisted on having his question answered.

Jing Feng replied: “I don’t know what kind of cynical rumors

are spreading outside, Luo Sheng.”

“The word outside is that, Miss Yan Yu Si is bully, and she

beat up some Wu Ji Sect disciples.” Luo Sheng said: “Jing Feng,
were you there at the time?”
 “What? Wu Ji Sect’s Nan Feng was insulting the Quinyang
Sect, and Miss Yan Yu Si taught him a lesson. I don’t think she
did anything wrong!… and well, now those guys are just
distorting the facts.” Jing Feng replied in a cold voice.

Luo Xiong said: “I know that Miss Yan Yu Si wouldn’t act

without reason. And I’m quite certain that Nan Feng from the
Wu Ji Sect is just blaming her to occupy the righteous say, that’s
very mean of him, ah…”

“Yes, I don’t know what I was thinking; Miss Yan Yu Si

wouldn’t go around throwing her weight like that.” Luo Sheng
agreed.

Since the topic was brought into light, everyone started

gossiping and commenting.

Yan Yu Si was already frowning, almost as if she had

something bothering her.

Luo Xiao Tian and Ling Xin Ya returned soon, and they
weren’t looking very happy.
 “Miss Yan Yu Si, are the rumors outside true?” Luo Xiao Tian
asked with a cold look on his face.

“I don’t know what’s being spread outside, but the Wu Ji Sect

disciples got a beating from me. They were insulting the
Quinyang Sect, and I couldn’t stand it, which is why I taught
them a lesson.” Yan Yu Si said lightly.

“Ah! These Wu Ji Sect people are so treacherous, they’ve even

got the masses to blame us for that incident, and are trying to
make the Quinyang Sect look bad in front of the city.” Ling Xin
Ya said.

“Let’s not bother with them. Anyway, I was the one who
attacked them, and I believe that even the Wu Ji Sect wouldn’t
dare to cause me any trouble over such a trivial matter.” Yan Yu
Si replied in an indifferent tone.

Luo Xiao Tian seemed rather angry: “I have repeatedly

warned you, that if you go around stirring up trouble, then we
will all eventually get into trouble here.”

If Yan Yu Si wasn’t the daughter of the Sect’s Master, then

Luo Xiao Tian would have probably scolded her quite
vigorously.

“We should all go and get some rest. Tomorrow, we must all
attend the Heavenly Dragon Group’s auction.” Ling Xin Ya
stated.

“Yes, let’s all take some rest.”

Soon, everyone scattered, and returned to their rooms.

As soon as Bi Fan stepped back into his room, he started

practicing again.

Yan Yu Si had been involved in a brawl today, and Bi Fan had

watched as she thrashed a group of Wu Ji Sect disciples, single-
handedly.

Bi Fan could feel the gap between their strengths, and knew
that it was very large one too, which is why he was even more
motivated to practice now.

Now, Bi Fan’s focus of practice was primarily on the ‘Free’

Burst techniques, and the ‘Fire and Ice’ burst technique. He was
finally able to practice the ‘Free’ burst technique, and was
beginning to realize that the skill was very adaptable, and could
be used with a wide range of skills.

The ‘Fire and Ice’ burst was a very sturdy skill as well, but was
more suitable for the more strenuous and powerful attacks.

The ‘Free’ burst technique, on the other hand, was a firm and
flexible technique, and had a wide range of benefits. (‘Free’
Burst technique is the one he learnt along with ‘the immortal
finger’, and the ‘fire and ice’ burst was taught to him by Ling
Xin Ya.)

The ‘Free’ burst technique could be used during the normal

course of action, even in combat as well, and even though the
restoration was gradual, continual practice would eventually
pay dividends; after all, several drops combine to make an
ocean.

The ‘Fire and Ice’ burst was a more aggressive restoration

technique, but didn’t have the same flexibility as the ‘Free’
burst. If Bi Fan was somehow able to combine these two skills,
then the benefits of this newly fused technique would be
endless.
 Bi Fan had already tasted the benefits of the power of the
‘Prancing tiger’ and the ‘Swimming Dragon’ skills, and these
skills had enhanced his strength to a very large extent.

In order to enhance his strength as fast as possible, Bi Fan

decided to practice throughout the night.

Moreover, Bi Fan had already started studying his skills more

deeply, and had already started making some changes to them,
since it would help him in increasing his strength very quickly.

‘The Immortal Finger’ was a very flexible skill, and could be

used with a wide range of sword-play styles.

‘The Immortal Finger’ was also a very quick attack, and could
even be used with a range of boxing styles.

Bi Fan had picked ‘The Immortal Finger’ to his first selection,

and was trying to fuse it with the wide variety of skills, which
he had acquired over time.
 Bi Fan would pick one skill set, and would only discard it if it
didn’t get along well with ‘The Immortal Finger’. If the said-
skill did fuse with the ‘Immortal Finger’, then he’d continue to
streamline and optimize the skill.

Bi Fan, at present, didn’t just know a wide range of skills, but

had also acquired the knowledge and experiences that his
processors in the martial world had acquired while creating
their own skill sets. Bi Fan was using all this to try and make his
own skill set, revolving around ‘The Immortal Finger’.

Bi Fan knew exactly what he was doing, and was focusing his
attention on perfecting ‘The Immortal Finger’ attack, since with
the increase in his energy over time, his strength would see a
major upgrade due to this skill’s usage.

‘The Immortal Finger’, however, used up a lot of energy,

which is why Bi Fan couldn’t use it very freely at the moment.

For the time being, Bi Fan was only planning on using ‘The
Immortal Finger’ as a trump-card, since he couldn’t use it
wishfully.

Once Bi Fan entered into the ‘Emerging from the Womb’

layer, he’d be able to use the attack a lot more freely, since he’d
have his body’s Aura to support him.

Bi Fan was trying all angles to fuse the ‘Floating Sword’ with
‘The Immortal Finger’ attack.

But, each form of the ‘Floating Sword’ skill had a lot of

changes when compared to previous version, which is why it
was proving out to be a very difficult task.

“Bi Fan, are you ready?” Jing Feng called out loudly, from the
outside.

“Just a minute.” Bi Fan ended his practice, and quickly

freshened up a bit, and then went outside to join Jing Feng.

Everyone had gathered in the dining area, and the Inn’s

management had prepared a sumptuous breakfast.

“Brother Bi Fan, what were you doing? You take more time to
get ready than the girls do.” Jing Feng laughed.
 Bi Fan said: “I overslept a bit, don’t exaggerate it now.”

Jing Feng and Bi Fan found themselves a table, and sat down
for breakfast.

It wasn’t until the men had finished their breakfast, that the
three women finally came down. Their makeup and dressing
was more appropriate for a ball than an auction.

Luo Xiao Tian said: “Hurry up everyone, quickly eat your

breakfast, we need to go.”

Once everyone was done, Luo Xiao Tian led the Quinyang Sect
delegation out.

The Heavenly Dragon group’s store was located in the heart of

the prime district of the Jiu Yu City.

The auction was being held in the lobby hall of the building,
which was large enough to accommodate the thousands which
had gathered to participate in the auction.
 Even though the Quinyang Sect’s delegation arrived a little
later than most, they were allowed to enter without any issues.

The Heavenly Dragon Group was the largest and the most
powerful business group in the vicinity, and their auction
hosted the largest selection in the city.

In order to make a quick fortune, the Heavenly Dragon group

even procured a lot of Dan and Weapons from the surrounding
towns.

With the Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon tournament coming up soon,

their auction was likely to sell these commodities at a much
higher price than the market rate.

A lot of youngsters would participate in the Jiu Yu Hidden

Dragon List and the Jiu Yu Imperial List, and these disciples
were often quite desperate to get a good ranking.

Dan and equipment were capable of enhancing the combat

effectiveness of a martial artist, which is why they were very
much in demand at this time.
 Every time these tournaments were held, many such auctions
were held across the Jiu Yu City. The martial artists who were
participating in these tournaments would spend a lot of spar to
buy these items, since they’d allow them to perform better, and
win fame and glory for themselves and their Sects.
 Chapter 141 – Intense Competition

As they entered into the Heavenly Dragon business group’s

hall, they realized that most of the seats were already occupied.
In the middle of the hall was a giant table, which seemed to be
made of jade.

The table was covered with spotted leopard fur, and the
covering was as large as the table, which only added to the value
of the exhibit.

At this time, the auction hadn’t started, and several beautiful

women were dancing on the table, in order to entertaining the
guests.

Luo Xiao Tian went seeking for the tickets to the auction, and
purchased thirty-four tickets for seats that were placed close to
the front.

Luo Xiao Tian’s delegation hadn’t settled down yet, when

someone unexpectedly greeted them.

“It seems like the Quinyang Sect is attaching a lot of

importance with the Jiu Yu Imperial List this time; they even
sent an elder and the Deputy, together, for this event. It would
be very unfortunate if the Quinyang Sect was unable to
participate in the tournament, ah.” The man’s cynical tone was
a clear indication that he didn’t like the Quinyang Sect very
much.

“Xuan Yuan Ling Feng, your mouth still hasn’t stopped

stinking.” Ling Xin Ya said, as he chuckled.

Luo Xiao Tian’s face tensed, but he didn’t say anything.

Xuan Yuan Ling Feng is the Deputy of the Wu Ji Sect, and had
already made it to the ‘Magical Powers’ realm, which is why he
is considered amongst the finest martial artists in the Jiu Yu
City’s territory.

Bi Fan and the others weren’t supposed to get involved in this

dialect, and so, they quickly seated themselves down.

The Wu Ji Sect disciples were also present on the scene,

including Nan Feng and the others. They were constantly
eyeing Yan Yu Si and a flavor of rancor was visible in their gaze.
 Yan Yu Si had given them a beating last evening, which had
caused them a lot shame around the city, so naturally they
wished to get even with her.

The front rows were occupied by the some of the most

powerful Sects in the area, and quite a few of these people
seemed to know each other well. They were taking advantage of
the fact that the auction hadn’t yet started, as they went around
greeting each other.

The Wu Ji Sect was sitting next to the Ba Gua Sect, which was
being led by an elder of their Sect.

The Ba Gua Sect elder was constantly eyeing the Quinyang

Sect very sharply, almost as if he wanted to provoke them.

For a long time now, the Ba Gua Sect had been eyeing the
Quinyang Sect’s position, and had been wising to topple their
standing in the ranking.

Unfortunately, the Ba Gua Sect had been unsuccessful until

now, as they had been outdone by the Quinyang Sect each time,
but only by very small margins.
 To overwhelm the Quinyang Sect in the coming competitions,
the Ba Gua Sect has been training their young generation very
vigorously, so their Sect could get a higher ranking in the Jiu Yu
Imperial List, and the Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon List.

These tournaments were very critical in the determination of

the top –five ranking, since when the list is decided at the end of
every decade, each Sect’s performance in each and every
tournament is considered. Each disciple’s ranking in the
tournament carries a certain number of points, and these rules
are fixed. And since this rating system in very transparent, no
Sect can fraudulently increase their standing in the top-five
Sect’s list.

If the disciple of a Sect gets the first position in the Jiu Yu

Imperial List, then the Sect is awarded twenty-three points, and
each subsequent rank receives lesser.

In the recent years, the Ba Gua Sect has been trying to beat the
Quinyang Sect in these tournaments. The Wu Ji Sect is rumored
to be helping the Ba Gua sect in the background, as both the
Sects are trying suppress the Quinyang Sect’s standings.

Fortunately, the Quinyang Sect hasn’t been siting ideally

either, and has established a secret diplomacy with the City’s
Sect. The City’s Sect has been very tactically, and secretively,
been helping their allies, which is one of the major reasons why
the Quinyang Sect has been able to maintain their ranking so
far.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, I’m Long Xiang Tian of the Heavenly

Dragon business group; I’ll be presiding over today’s auction,
and we hope that everyone co-operates with us in this venture
today.” A middle-aged man appeared above the table, and spoke
up. His words very sonorous, and powerful, while his
personality was very dignified.

A lot of people were quite surprised to see Long Xiang Tian,

since Long Xiang Tian is the head of the Heavenly Dragon
business group’s operations in the Jiu Yu City, and isn’t
expected to be residing over such auctions.

“The auction is being personally watched over by Long Xiang

Tian; it seems that the Heavenly Dragon group is attaching a lot
of importance with today’s auction, ah.” Ling Xin Ya exclaimed.

Yan Yu Si explained: “Even though the Heaven Dragon

business group isn’t a martial Sect, the status of their head for
the Jiu Yu City’s operations is roughly is the same as that of the
City’s Sect head.”
 As the listened to Yan Yu Si’s explanations, the mouths of the
Neimen disciples fell open in shock, and they started looking at
Long Xiang Tian with a lot more respect.

In this world, the strong men will always be respected.

Bi Fan’s fists were clenched, as he secretly vowed to become

even stronger someday.

He wasn’t much bothered about the Quinyang Sect’s rivalry

with the Wu Ji Sect and the Ba Gua Sect, but if someone
provoked him, then he wouldn’t refrain from taking action.

Bi Fan’s eyes were constantly searching the crowd for Blue

Dragon, but unfortunately, hadn’t been able to spot him yet.

“I declare the official start of the Auction. The first product

for today is a black metal double-edged sword. This sword is
very suitable for people who prefer going with strength; the
price for this sword is reserved at four thousand spars, and
anyone who wishes to bid for the sword, may raise the bid by
one hundred spars.” Long Xiang Tian announced in a loud and
clear voice.

He lifted the red cloth, which had been covering the weapon,
and unveiled its true form.

The black metal sword was broad-faced and extremely sharp,

and was quite heavy as well.

“The metal used to make this sword is amazing! I think that

it’s even heavier than my Hegemon Pike!” Jing Feng was
astonished to see the weapon.

Mo Nan said: “This black metal sword isn’t suitable for

Quinyang disciples, since our methods are quite delicate and
refined, which is the reason we started using the bamboo
swords in the first place.”

“Five thousand Spars!” someone bid; the man had even raised
the bid by a straight forward thousand spars.

There were a lot of powerful people present in the hall, some

of them hailed from the top-five Sects, while some of the
smaller Sects also had rich and powerful men. Many of the
powerful families were also present on the scene. Considering
all this, five thousand spars wasn’t exactly a big deal.

The black metal sword was a magnificent weapon, and may be

very highly desired by some people.

“I bid six thousand spars for this excellent black metal sword!”
a tall and powerful youngster said.

The raw material used in this weapon was probably worth

around five thousand spar, and this weapon would probably sell
for six to seven thousand spars. But since this sword was quite
magnificent, it was more likely to fetch around seven thousand
spars in the right market.

“I’ll give eight thousand spars!” a man decided to raise the

bid.

Jing Feng said: “That man is a Zhong Jian Sect disciple.

Although the Zhong Jian Sect isn’t a top-five Sect, they aren’t
very far away from that list.”

“Considering that, I won’t be very surprised if he managed to

win this bid.” Bi Fan smiled.

“I don’t think that this weapon will serve him well. The
Zhong Jian Sect’s style doesn’t work well with heavy weapons.”
Mo Nan commented. Since they weren’t competing for the
black metal sword, they were using this time to pass judgmental
remarks.

“Nine thousand spars!” Some raised the bid again. Even

though this new bidder was sitting at the back, it was obvious
that he wasn’t short on funds.

“Ten thousand Spars!” the Zhong Jian disciple raised the bid
again.

The Heavenly Dragon group had chosen their first product

well, since the black metal sword’s bid had crossed ten thousand
spars very quickly, and the mood inside the hall was beginning
to light up very rapidly.

“Ten thousand and five hundred!”

“Eleven thousand!”
 … …

The bids were still being raised, as neither of the two

competitors was ready to back down.

Long Xiang Tian’s face was very indifferent, and it was hard
to guess his thoughts. Anyway, since he was the in-charge of the
Heavenly Dragon group’s operations in the city, he had
probably seen too many of these auctions, and was probably
quite accustomed to such competitions.

Even though he didn’t care much, the others present at the

auction were watching the proceedings in sheer amazement.

A weapon which would normally only fetch about seven

thousand spar, had already scooped up thirteen thousand so far,
since the Zhong Jian disciple had some serious competition
from another disciple.

“Fourteen thousand spars, and I will not back down. I want

that black metal sword.” The lofty Zhong Jian disciple raised
the bid again.

Finally, the other competitor decided to back down, probably

because the sword’s bid had already reached twice of its market
worth.

This was the first time that Bi Fan had ever witnessed the
proceedings of an auction. He had simply never imagined that
such an event could have such a serious effect on the selling
prices of the articles on sale.

He simply couldn’t imagine the amount of money he’d make if

he decided to hold an auction for the articles that he had
procured from his plunders, over his travels.

Bi Fan was very excited at the thought of this, but soon calmed
down.

Bi Fan had acquired these equipment from the hands of the

Jiu Yu Da Sect disciples mostly; and if word go out, then he
would surely land himself in a lot trouble, which is why, it was
better for him to sell these items in secrecy, without bothering
much about the money.
 Chapter 142 – Life Prolonging Dan

The black metal Sword eventually fell into the hands of that
burly Zhong Jian Sect disciple. With such powerful Sects
involved in this financial battle, money was likely to become a
factor in the final outcome of the tournament.

This event was blatantly exhibiting the importance of money,

and unless someone was to procure an ancient treasure like
Xiang Wen Tian had, it was quite difficult to arrange the
necessary resources for a sustainable martial training over a
prolonged period of time.

Bi Fan was beginning to realize this fact very clearly at this

moment, and was glad that he joined the Quinyang Sect.

No matter how much bullying he had suffered in Quinyang,

and no matter how much he hated the region, he’d have to let
go off it, for the sake of his training.

Bi Fan’s recent adventures had made him a rich man, but once
he was forced to spend the money on his training, he would
eventually run out of it, and when that time comes, his practice
pace will eventually slow down, and he wouldn’t be able to
achieve his true potential.

But thing were different at this time; Since Bi Fan’s

performance was getting better and better, the Quinyang Sect
was beginning to value his talents even more than ever before,
owing to which he didn’t need to bother about the resources,
and could wholeheartedly concentrate on his training.

The auction continued, and presented several different

articles like weapons, Dan, and armor. Everyone was busy
competing for these articles, and the items were fetching a
much higher price than their market price.

The martial Sects present on the scene weren’t acting stingy

either, and weren’t afraid to shell out some extra money to
procure the necessary items; the Quinyang Sect was no
exception to this.

The winning bidder would have to battle it out with several

other contenders before he’d have his desire fulfilled.

Bi Fan and the others were learning a lot of new things, since
they were getting to learn about various different kinds of
martial items, and were quite busy trying to assess their real
values.

“The next item for this auction is a page of the jade book. This
page is the master page of the book, and talks about some of the
best methods to refine the body’s physical strength. The price is
reserved at five hundred spars, and interested bidders can raise
the price by ten spars.” Long Xiang Tian stated.

The moment he lifted the red cloth, Bi Fan’s eyes froze.

“That’s the missing part from my battered jade book! This

auction house has somehow procured the missing part of that
book. If Long Xiang Tian’s description is correct, then this page
should be the missing master page of the jade book, which I
have in my possession. The heavens must love me, for they have
presented me with this rare opportunity. I have to complete the
Jade Book’s text.” Bi Fan clenched his fists, and his nervousness
was visible in the sweat which was beginning to clot his
forehead.

Bi Fan had a lot of spar in his Yin Yang pouch, so he wasn’t

afraid of fending off the other bidders.

Bi Fan had looked everywhere, but he hadn’t found the

complete book in any store. This was clearly a golden
opportunity, and he needed to seize it with both hands.

This wasn’t the complete book, only the master page, which,
without the rest of the book was completely useless, otherwise
the Heavenly Dragon group wouldn’t have tried to auction it for
such a low price.

This page was only a part of the whole book, and Long Xiang
Tian had personally investigated it, and had found it to be
completely useless. The useless items like this one were locked
away, in the hope that they would fetch some money, at the
right time.

The Heavenly Dragon business group was trying to take

advantage of the heated environment of the auction, to sell this
page for a hiked up price.

Long Xiang Tian’s opening statement wasn’t followed by any

bids, and it seemed like their plan had failed.

“I’ll give five hundred and ten spars for it.” Bi Fan thought
that he would be the only bidder for the page, since no one else
had made any effort so far.
 Jing Feng smiled: “Brother Bi Fan, this isn’t the whole book.
It’s just the master key to the book, which is useless without the
rest of the book. I know you like to practice physical strength
methods, but spending your money on this item is a complete
waste, ah.”

“Brother Jing Feng, I know what I’m doing. It isn’t very

expensive, and I can spare that much money. I feel that this
page will help me with some research.” Bi Fan smiled.

His heart was practically praying: “Oh come on everyone,

don’t make any bids please. Just let me have this one thing; let
this go smoothly.”

Unfortunately, the people present on the scene weren’t

willing to do his will. Even though the Ba Gua Sect Disciples
didn’t understand Bi Fan’s intentions, they still bid the price
upwards.

“Six Hundred Spars!”

Each time the Quinyang Sect was trying to buy an item, the Ba
Gua Sect would deliberately compete against them, in order to
raise the price of the commodity, just to make things more
difficult for the Quinyang Sect.

“Damn it.” Bi Fan already hated them.

However, since he didn’t want the others to know how

desperate he was for this item, he didn’t counter the bid
immediately, and started looking hesitant instead.

The Ba Gua Sect disciple, who was bidding against him, saw
the hesitant look on Bi Fan’s face, and realized that Bi Fan may
not bid again, and suddenly, the look on his face changed to a
very gloomy one.

Six hundred spars isn’t a small sum of money, and if he ended

up using it to buy a completely useless item, then he’d end up
becoming the joke of the Sect.

“Six hundred spars going once, are there no other bids?” Long
Xiang Tian waited to see if anyone else was making a counter
bid.
 No one else was making a bid, and Bi Fan was still acting
hesitant, as if he was having hard time making up his mind.

“Six hundred going twice.”

Bi Fan stood up, gritted his teeth, and said: “I…. I’m willing to
pay six hundred at ten spars!”

He looked like he wasn’t very sure about it, as he made the

bid.

Jing Feng pulled Bi Fan down to his seat: “Brother Bi Fan, this
page isn’t worth the six hundred and ten spars that you just bid!
It’s just the master page!”

“This is the last time I’ll bid for that….if the price goes up, I’ll
give up.” Bi Fan raised his voice as he said this.

The Ba Gua Sect disciple who was trying to raise this item’s
price heard Bi Fan’s words, and judging by Bi Fan’s hesitant
expression, he decided against making any further bids, since he
was afraid that Bi Fan may not bid again, and he’d have to pay
the whole amount himself for a useless item.
 He was also beginning to wonder if Bi Fan was simply trying
to provoke him into making a high bid for a useless item, and
shame him in the process.

Since no one made any further bids, Bi Fan managed to secure

the master page of the Jade Book, by a narrow margin.

“Look, now you managed to win the bid, and you’ll have to
pay the six hundred and ten spars for that item. Brother Bi
Fan… that was a mistake.” Jing Feng said.

Bi Fan was wearing an aggrieved look on his face, but his

heart was already dancing.

“I was trying to fool the Ba Gua Sect, but I didn’t expect that
they would stop bidding so soon.” Bi Fan forced a smile.

“Ha ha! What a moron! The Ba Gua Sect obviously had no

interest in that item, but look, he took the bait, and they’ve
managed to rob this idiot, ah.” Luo Sheng laughed heartily.
 That’s exactly what Bi Fan was trying to make this look like.

Luo Xiong had been watching Bi Fan very carefully, and knew
well that Bi Fan wasn’t stupid enough to spend over six hundred
spars on a completely useless item, but still, he was unable to
identify Bi Fan’s true motives.

Ling Xin Ya was sitting a little far from Bi Fan; otherwise he

would have loved to say a few words of his own.

The item was taken off the auction stand, and Bi Fan didn’t
try to rush over to the counter to pay the amount, and allowed
the master page to be returned to its place, since he didn’t want
to raise any suspicions.

At the end of the auction, everyone would be walking over to

the counters to make their payments, which seemed a more
appropriate course of action to Bi Fan.

The auction continued, and a large variety of items was sold.

Bi Fan didn’t participate in any of the following auctions, and

kept his head down at all times. He’d even sigh every now and
then; just to make it look as if was already regretting the bid he
had placed for that incomplete part of the book.

The auction had been continuing without a break, and it was

already afternoon.

As the auction continued, it started to get even more intense,

as the auction house was beginning to bring out the real
treasures now.

“The next item for today’s item is a Dan, known as the life
prolonging Dan. I assume that everyone already knows its
effect. The price of the item is reserved at ten thousand spars,
and anyone who wishes to bid, may the raise the amount by one
thousand spars.” Long Xiang Tian announced in a very loud and
resonant tone.

The life prolonging Dan has the capability to extend the

lifespan of a person by almost a hundred years. A hundred extra
years can be priceless to any martial artist.

In a hundred extra years, a martial artist can achieve many

things; such as breaking through the bottlenecks of the next
layers, which would only increase the life expectancy of the
martial artist further.

No one wants to die young, which is why this Dan had an

unlimited market demand.

As Long Xiang Tian unveiled the item, the eyes of the leaders
of all the sects started to shine. They were staring at the life
prolonging Dan, unblinkingly, and it was obvious that everyone
was very highly interested in this commodity.

It was apparent that fierce competition was inevitable, and

Long Xiang Tian exposed a smile since he apprehended that the
Dan was going to fetch a very high price.
 Chapter 143 – The Dragon Scale Shield

Long Xiang Tian’s announcement had left a lot of people

breathless, and the frenzied bidding process started again.

“Fifteen thousand spars!”

“Eighteen thousand spars!”

“Twenty thousand spars.”

… …

The price was rising at an alarming speed.

Soon, the life prolonging Dan’s price had already crossed fifty
thousand spars, and now the bids were only being made by the
powerful martial Sects.

“Fifty-thousand spars.” Luo Xiao Tian bid. His eyes were red,
and he simply couldn’t wait to kill off his rivaling bidders.

Luo Xiao Tian’s bid was opposed by a ‘sixty thousand’ bid

from the Ba Gua sect.

The bids were still being raised, and it was obvious that the
life prolonging Dan was going to fetch a very high price.

“Eighty thousand spars!” Xuan Yuan Ling Feng from the Wu

Ji Sect made his bid.

As the prices continued to rise, many of the Sects were forced

to withdraw. Even though they didn’t wish to fall back, but
were left with no other option, since they didn’t have enough
financial backing to continue bidding.

“Eight five thousand spars.” The City’s Sect raised the bid
again.

“Ninety thousand spars.” The rising sun Sect wasn’t willing to

give up just yet.
 “One hundred thousand spars!” the Tian Shui Sect was doing
its part as well.

Finally, the competition was left to the top-five sects of the Jiu
Yu City. The top-five of the Jiu Yu City were the City’s Sect, The
Rising Sun Sect, the Wu Ji Sect, the Tian Shui Sect, and the
Quinyang Sect.

Once the price crossed a hundred thousand spars, even the

top-five sects didn’t seem to be competing for the Dan with as
much ferocity as they were earlier.

At this point, the heads of the top five sects looking at the
counterparts, and were hoping that their allies, within the
competition, would back away from making any further bids.

In reality, they were all making the bids for the item with the
hope of procuring it for their personal use, since the life
prolonging Dan was a rare item.

Ling Xin Ya also wanted to buy the life prolonging Dan, but
didn’t have enough resources to participate in this bid, and was
staring at the others enviously.
 Bi Fan and the other Neimen disciples weren’t very interested
in the life prolonging Dan, since they still had a lot of time left
in their natural life span, and didn’t really feel the need to get
an extra hundred years at this point. They just stared at their
leaders as they continued to bid madly for the item.

The price was finally settled at the one hundred and eighty
seven thousand spars, and the life prolonging Dan was
eventually purchased by Xuan Yuan Ling Feng of the Wu Ji
Sect.

Xuan Yuan Ling Feng was quite excited on procuring the life
prolonging Dan, and continued to eye Luo Xiao Tian
provocatively.

Lou Xiao Tian still wanted to buy the Dan, but was forced to
back away due to lack of funds.

“The next item for today’s auction is top-grade armor! – A

bladed armor. The price for this item is reserved at fifty
thousand spars; bidders may increase the price by one thousand
spars.” Long Xiang Tian announced in a loud voice.

Each item was being sold for a value much higher than its
market price, and Long Xiang Tian seemed quite excited with
the proceedings at this point, since he was bound to make a
huge amount of profit at the end of the day.

Defensive equipment is always considered more valuable than

weapons, because saving one’s life always takes priority.

In this world, no matter how strong you are, once you’re

dead, you’re nothing.

The bladed armor was sky blue in color. The beautiful armor’s
texture seemed to resemble the waves of an ocean.

This was a unisex armor, and the eyes of all the men and
women lit up upon seeing it.

Moreover, since it was a top-grade armor, its defensive

capabilities were obviously quite good as well.

Bi Fan already had the sky-blue suit, and the soft armor, in his
possession, which were more than sufficient for him. Unless he
was faced with a ‘spirit’ grade weapon, his defense was more
than taken care of.
 Jing Feng was staring at the item, and his eyes were clearly
expressing his desire for the armor on sale.

Unfortunately, the bladed armor was too expensive, and Jing

Feng didn’t have enough money. It was simply impossible for
him to participate in this bid.

And unlike Bi Fan, Yu Qing Yang didn’t attach so much value

to Jing Feng, which is why it was unlikely that he’d give Jing
Feng a piece of an high grade armor like this one.

“Grandpa, can you help me buy that armor?” Luo Sheng asked
with a shine in his eyes.

“Let’s see how it goes.” Luo Xiao Tian said in a calm voice.

Luo Xiao Tian had really spoilt Luo Sheng, and had already
given him a high grade weapon to fight with.

Niemen disciples who had a high grade weapon, were usually

from high class families, or had received them from their Sects,
or had obtained them over their adventures.

But for normal disciples, even a low-grade weapon is

considered pretty good.

“Sixty thousand spars.” The outcries began.

“Seventy thousand spars!” the bladed armor seemed very

much in demand, since people were raising the bids by ten
thousand spars directly.

“Eighty five thousand spars!”

… …

The price quickly crossed a hundred thousand spars, and bids

started to stagnate again.
 The armor’s original value was probably around fifty or sixty
thousand spars, but its present price had already doubled.

“One hundred and five thousand spars.” Luo Xiao Tian made
his first bid.

Luo Sheng realized that Luo Xiao Tian’s bid wasn’t actively
countered, and he started getting very excited. He was so
ecstatic, that he didn’t even bother to look back at Jing Feng or
Bi Fan to show his arrogance, like he normally would.

“One hundred and six thousand spars.” The Ba Gua Sect was
afraid that bladed armor would enable the Quinyang Sect to
improve their standing in the tournament, which is why they
eventually made a counter bid.

Luo Xiao Tian hesitated for a long time and eventually gave
up.

The bladed armor would have proved to be very useful, but

was coming out to be too expensive.
 The Ba Gua Sect finally captured the bladed armor, and Luo
Sheng’s face was clearly depicting his disheartened and dejected
state of mind.

“Ha ha!” Jing Feng smiled, but didn’t make any sarcastic
comment, since there were a lot of outsiders present in the hall
and he didn’t wish for their Sect’s internal strife to become
public.

If Luo Sheng had been in his place, then he would have

definitely made a remark.

As the auction proceeded through the afternoon hours, the

event got even more interesting, since the auction house had
saved the best items for the end, and nothing was being sold for
less than ten thousand spars.

Until now, Bi Fan had only purchased the master key page to
the Jade book, but the other Quinyang Sect disciple hadn’t been
able to buy anything, since they didn’t have sufficient money.

The Quinyang Sect, however, had bought a lot of items, but

was unlikely to hand them over to the disciples very easily.
 “May I have your attention, please? We only have four more
items left for today’s auction now, out of which three are high
grade items, and the fourth is a damaged ‘spirit’ grade weapon.
If you wish to make it yours, then this is your golden chance.”
Long Xiang Tian announced in a sensationalizing tone.

The men with money sat up straight in their seats, as they

prepared to make the bids.

As for the others, who didn’t have the money, they too were
staring at the displays wide-eyed, since they wanted to see these
items as well.

“A Dragon Scale Shield; this shield can be used for, both,

attacking and defensive purposes. The price is reserved at one
million spars. Please place your bids.” Long Xiang Tian stated.

The dragon scale shield was circular in shape, and was

studded with saw tooth, which gleamed radiantly. These spiked-
teeth looked quite sharp.

The Dragon scale shield’s surface was made of black colored

dragon scales, which exuded a flamboyant light. It was quite
obvious that the defensive strength of this shield was quite
exceptional.

As Long Xiang Tian had correctly stated, this shield could be

used to attack and defend at the same time, which made this
items a very rare and precious treasure.

The shield seemed quite light in weight as well, and the eye
balls present in the room weren’t even blinking as everyone
continued to stare the shield with desire.

“We need to buy this Dragon scale shield by all means, since it
will greatly enhance our Sect’s strength.”

Almost all the leaders were carrying the same idea, and their
eyes looked prepared for the fierce competition they were about
to face from the others.

“One point five million spars.” The Wu Ji Sect made the first
bid, and directly raised the bid by half a million spars to
demonstrate the domineering nature of their aspirations.

But the Wu Ji Sect wasn’t going to get this one so easily, and
Xuan Yuan Ling Feng’s bid was countered by Luo Xiao Tian,
who added another hundred thousand spars.

“Luo Xiao Tian, don’t even bother fighting for this one, it’s
mine.” Xuan Yuan Ling Feng said in a cold voice.

“One point seven million spars.” The Ba Gua Sect wasn’t

willing to be left out either.

“Two million!” the City’s sect raised the bid up further.

In this auction, the City’s Sect had bought several items so far.
After all said and done, this was the area from which they
handled their operations, which is why it was quite easy for
them to transfer huge sums of money at any time.

“Two point two million spars.” The rising sun Sect made their
bid, and it was evident that the bidding had just started.

“Two point three million spars!”

“Two-point four million spars!”

“I’ll give three million spars.”
 Chapter 144 – The Green Bladed Sword

Three million can be regarded as a pretty high price for that

Dragon Scale Shield, but was still quite likely to be revamped
soon.

“I will give four million spars.” The Tian Shui Sect placed
their bid once again, and raised the price by a straight one
million spars, clearly indicating their spending power.

Bi Fan and Jing Feng were staring in awe. Bi Fan, especially,

had been carrying the idea that he was quite rich, after the
fortunes that he collected in the Devil’s Abyss, but now, he was
beginning to realize just exactly how poor he was in reality.

“This is crazy!” Bi Fan exclaimed: “That shield isn’t worth

that much; I don’t understand why they are fighting so much
over it.”

Bi Fan couldn’t help but think of the time when he had visited
the Tian Feng valley, and had picked up the soft armor. Even
though the soft armor’s core didn’t have a nucleus at the
moment, but it was capable of having one inscribed. If he
managed to inscribe the armor with a nucleus, and then put it
up for auction here, he’d definitely be able to sell it for over one
million spars.

However, that armor was his life insurance policy, and he

wouldn’t put it up for an auction unless he had a better one.

“That’s a pretty good shield, and even the ‘Emerging from the
Womb’ layer martial artists don’t usually have such a high
grade defense equipment. Even the elders of some sects aren’t
able to obtain such items for personal use.” Jing Feng smiled.

Jing Feng was quite envious at the moment. This dragon

scaled shield would work perfectly with his Hegemon Pike, and
would make him even harder to beat.

“Five million spars.” Xuan Yuan Ling Feng raised the bid, as
he demonstrated that he was capable of spending the money.

“Five point five million spars.” Ling Xin Ya unexpectedly

placed a bid.

As long as the Wu Ji Sect was bidding, Ling Xin Ya wouldn’t

reconcile to submitting either.
 Luo Xiao Tian stared at Ling Xin Ya to express his
dissatisfaction, since Ling Xin Ya had placed the bid without his
approval.

Xuan Yuan Ling Feng fiercely stared at Ling Xin Ya as he

placed a new bid: “The Wu Ji Sect bids six million spars for the
Dragon scaled shield.”

Xuan Yuan Ling Feng’s face was becoming more and more
fierce, but no one seemed to be scared of him.

“Six point one-five million spars.” The rising sun Sect also got
involved again.

“Seven million spars!” The Tian Shui Sect placed another bid.

Out of the top-five Sects, only the City’s Sect wasn’t bidding,
while the other four continued to battle each other, and the
price of the item soon crossed ten million spars.

Ten million spars were enough to buy even the best of items
in the open market, and was far too much for this dragon scaled
shield.

At this point, only the Tian Shui Sect and the Wu Ji Sect were
competing for the item. The Tian Shui Sect wasn’t allowing the
Wu Ji Sect to buy the shield, and would add another five
hundred thousand spars to their bid, each and every time, to
show their interest in the shield.

“Eleven million spars!” Xuan Yuan Feng said in a cold tone. If

eyes could kill, then he’d have extinguished the Tian Shui Sect a
long time ago.

“Eleven point five million spars.” Tian Shui’s deputy, Hong

Fei Hu said in a flat voice.

Although her tone was dull, it didn’t mean that she wasn’t
interested in the shield. (Gender isn’t clear, but there’s a slight
indication that Hong Fei Hu is a female.)

Xuan Yuan Ling Feng gritted his teeth and said: “I’ll go for
twelve million spars.”
 “Twelve point five million spars.”

Xuan Yuan Ling Feng clenched his teeth as he said in an

undertone: “Tian Shui Sect, I’ll let you have this Dragon scale
shield, but the final item, the ‘spirit’ grade weapon, is mine to
take.”

As Xuan Yuan Ling Feng abandoned the pursuit of the shield,

the heads of the Sects started looking around to check if
someone else was also interested in the item, but no seemed to
show any further interest.

“Twelve point five million spars, going once!” Long Xiang

Tian paused for a second, since he was still hoping that someone
would make another bid.

“Twelve point five million, going twice!”

“Twelve point five millions, going thrice! The Dragon scale

shield goes to the Tian Shui Sect!” Long Xiang Tian announced
in a loud voice.

Hong Fei Hu just smiled, but didn’t show her excitement.

 It was very vital for the top five sects to procure such powerful
equipment, because each addition item would add to the power
of their arsenal, and could help them in outdoing their rivals.

Hong Fei Hu’s indifferent expression was a rare sight inside

this intensely emoted hall.

“The top-five Sects have really deep pockets. It seems that the
last three items will also go to them, while we can only watch
and envy them.”

“The ‘Spirit’ weapon will be reserved for the last; I just want
to get one look at it.”

With just three items left in the auction, the top-five sects
were beginning to make their final calculations. The leaders of
these Sects were eyeing each other, as they prepared to make
their competition bleed.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, as the auction continues without any

delays, I present to you the Green Bladed Sword. The price is
reserved at one million spars, please make your bids.” Long
Xiang Tian could sense the anticipation in the room, and
decided against delaying the proceedings.

It’s best to strike when the iron is hot. The atmosphere in the
hall was very positive for registering high selling prices.

The Green Bladed sword was a fine double-edged sword. Its

constituent metal was hard to guess, but the sword was
extremely light, and extremely sharp. This kind of a sword was
perfect for the Quinyang Sect disciples, since it would
complement their martial skills very nicely.

Luo Xiao Tian became very excited the moment he laid eyes
on the weapon, and the moment Long Xiang Tian finished, he
placed the first bid: “Five millions spars!”

Luo Xiao Tian had immediately placed a very steep bid, which
clearly reflected his determination to capture the weapon.

Lin Xin Ya whispered: “Wise elder, be sure to seize the green

bladed sword, we can give up the ‘spirit’ weapon if need be.”

“You don’t need to tell me, I know how to handle these

affairs.” Everyone knew that Luo Xiao Tian and Ling Xin Ya
weren’t on the best of terms, so no one was surprised to hear
Luo Xiao Tian’s words.

Since Luo Xiao Tian is the designated leader of the delegation,

Ling Xin Ya remained silent. This wasn’t the time or the place to
fight over such matters, and he was content on waiting to settle
this dispute in a more private atmosphere.

“Six million spars!” Since the Quinyang Sect was making a

bid, the Ba Gua Sect was bound to act as well.

In financial terms, there was a huge gap between the Ba Gua

and the Quinyang Sect, but that wouldn’t stop them from
raising the prices of the items that the Quinyang Sect wanted, as
they wanted to make things more difficult for the Quinyang
Sect.

“Six point five million spars!”

“Six point eight million spars!”

 …

“Eight million spars!” Luo Xiao Tian calmly placed another

bid.

Although this sword was not as rare or precious as the Dragon

scale shield, but it was undoubtedly more suited for the
Quinyang Sect’s martial style, hence making it more valuable to
the Sect than the previous item.

“Eight point five million spars!” Xuan Yuan Ling Feng wasn’t
going to allow the Quinyang Sect to register an easy victory
here.

As the prices continued to soar, Yan Yu Si looked on with a

dull expression on her face, while Bi Fan, Jing Feng and the
others looked on in sheer amazement.

They all wanted to get their hands on the Green Bladed

Sword, but even if the Quinyang Sect managed to procure the
weapon, the Sect probably wouldn’t allow them use it.

“Ten million spars!” Luo Xiao Tian unashamedly raised the

bid again; he was determined to win this one.

The City’s Sect could see the determination on the faces of the
Quinyang Sect delegation, and had decided to stay out of this
one. But, in terms of financial power, only the Wu Ji Sect had
the capability to match them.

Since the price had already crossed ten million spars, even
Xuan Yuan Ling Feng was being a little careful. His main goal to
obtain the ‘spirit’ weapon, and if he ended up spending too
much money on these items, then he may have to give up on his
real target.

If one top-grade weapon is capable of enhancing a martial

Sect’s power, then a ‘Spirit’ realm weapon, even if it is a
damaged one, is sure to add a huge amount of extra fire power
to Sect’s arsenal.

Irrespective of the condition of the weapon, a ‘spirit’ realm

weapon is still a ‘spirit’ realm weapon.
 However, in order to cripple the Quinyang Sect’s chances of
competing for the final prize, Xuan Yuan Ling Feng decided to
raise the prices once again.

“Eleven million spars!”

The green bladed sword’s auction price had already reached a

very steep number, which is why the Tian Shui and the Rising
Sun Sects were already out of the competition.

“Eleven point five million spars!” Luo Xiao Tian’s forehead

was already sweating, while his teeth were clenched as he made
another bid.

They needed to add more weapons to their arsenal, which is

why he didn’t want to miss this opportunity. On top of that, this
weapon was extremely suitable for the Quinyang Sect, due to its
make.

Xuan Yuan Ling Feng was looking hesitant, and couldn’t make
up his mind about placing another bid.
 Chapter 145 – Sky High Prices

“Twelve million Spars.” Xuan Yuan Ling Feng made another

bid, but he waited a long time before doing so, since he was
worried that the Quinyang Sect may give up on the Green
Bladed Sword.

If they consumed too much of their financial resources, then

they may be forced out of the contention for the final item, the
‘Spirit’ weapon.

“Twelve point five million spars.”

Luo Xiao Tian was also a bit hesitant now, since the current
value of the sword was far more than its actual cost.

But even in auctions like these, a weapon of such quality was

quite rare, and since he had the opportunity to obtain the
weapon here, he wasn’t willing to let it slide away from him.

Xuan Yuan Ling Feng could sense the hesitation in Luo Xiao
Tian’s eyes, and decided against raising the big again. If Luo
Xiao Tian didn’t follow his renewed bid, then the Wu Ji Sect
would have to buy the sword, which would be a huge loss for
them.

Eventually, Luo Xiao Tian’s twelve point five million bid won
the Green Bladed Sword. Even though the sword turned out to
be quite expensive in the end, it was still a very valuable
contribution to the Sect’s arsenal.

“Wise elder, you did a great job today. Anyway, we will have
to compete against the Wu Ji and the City’s Sect for the ‘Spirit’
device, which isn’t going to be easy, so it’s better that we at least
have something good to show from this auction.” Ling Xin Ya
said with a smile.

“You need not tell me that, I know what I’m doing. When it
comes to it, I will see how that things progress, and make a
decision accordingly.” Even though Luo Xiao Tian was a
narrow-minded man, he was still a Quinyang Sect faithful, and
his entire family had been a part of the Quinyang Sect for
several generations now.

“The next item is the last high grade item for the day. This is a
military armor comprising of a helmet, and complete body
armor, and its defensive capabilities are simply amazing. The
price for this item is reserved at one million spars. This is your
chance to make your bids, and seize this armor.” Long Xiang
Tian announced in a loud voice.

The military armor included a helmet, a breast plate, greaves,

and multiple guards for the arms. The gold plated armor was
dazzling in a brilliant golden glaze.

Once the armor was revealed, all the eyes remained stuck to it
for a long time, while the mouths were already drooling. The
man wearing this armor would be secure in knowing that his
back is well protected, and could easily take unfair advantages
of its defensive ability in a battle against any enemy.

The most critical parts of the armor were made from a special
kind of metal, which was then plated and inscribed with a
golden color. The armor looked quite thick, and its tough-make
clearly depicted that it must be quite heavy as well, which
meant that the bearer of this armor must have enough strength
to carry it in battle.

The value of the armor was much higher than the Green
Bladed Sword, and usually this item was likely to sell for a price
of around ten million spars in an auction.
 But owing to the ambience in the auction hall today, the
armor was likely to fetch a much higher price.

This was the last high grade item for the auction, and the
Rising Sun, the City’s Sect, and the Wu Ji Sect were very likely
to bid very heavily for this item, since they still hadn’t
purchased a high-grade item so far.

The Tian Shui Sect and the Quinyang Sect were also unlikely
to give up on this item very easily, since they too wanted to add
more firepower to their arsenals.

The moment Long Xiang Tian ended his announcement, the

bids started to follow.

“Two million spars!”

“Three million spars!”

… …
 The price was soaring at an alarming rate, and in a flash, the
price of the military armor had already reached ten million
spars.

The price still didn’t stabilize, and continued to reach new

heights.

“Eleven million spars.” The Ba Gua Sect elder raised another

bid. This time, he actually wanted to buy the item, since it
would make a very valuable contribution to the Ba Gua Sect’s
strength.

The Ba Gua Sect was trying to squeeze the Quinyang Sect

down, which is why they were looking for any and all
opportunities to add to their Sect’s strength.

“Twelve million spars.” Luo Xiao Tian naturally couldn’t

allow the Ba Gua Sect to succeed.
 If the item went to any of the other Sects, then there wouldn’t
be very major and direct impact on the Quinyang Sect, but if the
Ba Gua Sect was trying to make a move, then it was very
important for the Quinyang Sect to intercept them.

At this time, the youth who were witnessing this auction,

could only stare in rapture at the proceedings.

To these youngsters, ten million spars was such an

astronomical amount, that they wouldn’t even dare to imagine
such wealth.

“Amazing, ah! If I ever procure such high quality items, then

I’ll consider putting them for auction here, just to make a quick
buck.” Jing Feng’s eyes lit up at the thought.

Jing Feng could at least imagine procuring such items, since

he was much stronger than the others, and was also known to
undertake daring adventures.

“He’s right, I wish I could out up some of the items which I

have, for an auction here; I’d make a bounty….” Bi Fan thought
to himself.
 Bi Fan had a lot of items stashed away, but knew well that he
couldn’t sell them off here.

Most of Bi Fan’s valuables were procured under very sensitive

pretexts, and couldn’t be put up for auction in such a public
manner.

The Sects which didn’t have enough resources to participate

in this auction any further were wagging their tongues in envy.

Such an auction was a rare sighting.

Several other auctions were being held all over the Jiu Yu City
today, but only the Heavenly Dragon Group had the strength
and the power to put up three such high grade items, and a
‘Spirit’ Realm weapon for sale.

The competition in the other auctions was far less intense

when compared to the one in Heavenly Dragon business
group’s.

“Thirteen million spars!” Xuan Yuan Ling Feng made another

bid.
 “Fourteen million spars!” the City Sect’s Wang Yun raised a
higher bid.

At present, the current price of the armor had already

exceeded the final price of the previous two items, as the
auction continued to excite everyone. Even at this point, no one
could tell which Sect was going to win this bid.

“Sixteen million spars!” the Ba Gua Sect made another very

powerful bid, but it didn’t stand for long.

“Seventeen million spars!” The Rising Sun Sect raised the bid.

This was the first time that the Rising Sun Sect had made a
bid, and they finally declared their interest in the item.

At this point, the eyes of the people who were still bidding
were blood-shot red, their breathing was heavy, and anyone
would tell that they were all quite anxious.

This military armor wasn’t just a high grade equipment, but

was also quite rare, so naturally, no one was willing to back
down so easily.

There was only one set of this armor on sale here, so only one
Sect could have the last laugh. Now, it was a matter of financial
competence.

“Eighteen million spars!”

“Nineteen million spars!”

… …

The prices were still rising very quickly, since the bidders
were increasing their bids directly by one million spars each
time.
 “I’m willing to give twenty million spars!” the City Sect’s
leader Wang Yun said in a loud voice.

The auction was getting very intense at this stage, and it

seemed that some people might have even forgotten that there
was a ‘Spirit’ device left for the end, since they increasing their
bids in a wild frenzy.

“Twenty one million spars!” Xuan Yuan Ling Feng wasn’t

ready to be outdone yet.

Xuan Yuan Ling Feng was making his own calculation, and
wasn’t ready to allow the other Sect’s to register easy wins.

“Twenty two million spars.” The Rising Sun Sect declared

their aspirations once again.

“Twenty-three million spars!” Luo Xiao Tian placed another

bid, but it was evident from his face that he didn’t seem very
interested in this item, and was only participating to increase
the price.

The price still hadn’t stabilized yet, and the powerful Sects
were constantly raising the bids.

“Twenty-four million spars!” Xuan Yuan Ling Feng gritted his

teeth.

“Twenty five million spars!” The Rising Sun Sect renewed the
bid without any hesitation.

“Twenty six million spars!” Even the Ba Gua Sect hadn’t given
up yet.

Everyone was still contesting wildly, even though the asking

price had already far exceeded the value of the item.

“Thirty million spars!” the man in charge of the Rising Sun

Sect raised the bid again, in the hope of deflating his
competitors.

“Thirty million ah!” the people inside the auction hall gasped
in amazement.

“This is crazy! I simply cannot imagine an armor that’s worth

so much money.”

“Yes ah! Our financial strength isn’t enough to match up to

these guys…. We’ll never be able to become strong around
here…”

Bi Fan’s mouth was hung open, and he really couldn’t find

any words anymore.

These prices were astronomical!

A high grade armor being sold for over thirty million spars
was a rare event.

Even Long Xiang Tian was quite excited, and his face had
already started to blush. The higher the prices soared, the more
anxious he’d become.
 Chapter 146 – Rotary Kingland

Even though the Rising Sun Sect called out a thirty million
bid, they didn’t seem to intimidate the other major sects.

The price was being constantly renewed, as the five major

Sects continued to battle, whereas the Ba Gua Sect was forced to
back away at this point.

Soon, the bid for the military armor reached the forty million
mark, a price, that no one present had expected the item to bag.

Since the price was already at forty million, some people

finally decided to back away.

The Wu Ji Sect and the City’s Sect were gearing up to battle

for the ‘spirit’ realm weapon, which is why they had already
abandoned the pursuit for this armor.

The Ba Gua Sect didn’t have enough resources, and were

forced to withdraw from making any further bids.
 Now, only the Tian Shui Sect, the Quinyang Sect, and the
Rising Sun Sect were bidding for the armor.

The Tian Shui Sect and the Quinyang Sect had already
procured one item each, but the Rising Sun Sect hadn’t grabbed
any of major items so far. The Rising Sun Sect was well aware
that they wouldn’t be capable of matching up to the financial
prowess of the Wu Ji Sect and the City Sect, which is why it was
vital for them to win this bid.

“Forty four million spars!” the eyes of the leader of the Rising
Sun Sect looked quite anxious, as he raised the bid by another
four million.

The Tian Shui and the Quinyang Sect started to hesitate a bit
now, as they were beginning to wonder if the armor was worth
that much money.

Luo Xiao Tian had never intended to buy this item, and was
only bidding for the sake of increasing the price of the armor.

Intentionally increasing the price of an item in an auction, in

this manner, can turn out to be very costly if no one follows up.
 Tian Shui Sect’s deputy Hong Fei Hu’s face was still quite
calm, and it was difficult to guess her intentions.

“Forty four million spars going once, are there no other bids?
This military armor is not just a top-grade armor, but is also
quite rare. Do not miss this opportunity.” Long Xiang Tian said
in a sensationalizing tone, since he was still hoping to entice
higher bids.

The Rising Sun Sect’s leader was already scolding the man
within his mind: “Heavenly Dragon business group! Don’t try to
delay this any further, don’t be so greedy!”

Long Xiang Tian looked around, but since no one seemed to be

making any further bids, he spoke: “Forty four million spars
going twice!”

“Forty five million spars!” the Tian Shui Sect’s deputy, lady
Hong Fei Hu courageously raised the bid again.

The Tian Shui Sect wasn’t afraid of spending a large amount

of money for the armor, but was still looking at the Rising Sun
Sect, hoping that they’d raise the bid further.
 Obviously, Hong Fei Hu’s main intention was to raise the
price and make things more difficult for the Rising Sun Sect.
These two Sects had a long history of contradictions, which had
instilled deep roots of hatred between them.

Hong Fei Hu was convinced that Rising Sun Sect was

desperate for this item, which is why she wasn’t afraid to raise
the bid again.

“Forty seven million spars!” the Rising Sun Sect raised the bid
again, as they were still very adamant of taking the armor with
them.

Long Xiang Tian was observing the glares that the two Sects
were passing each other, and couldn’t help but feel even more
delighted at the sight.

“Forty eight million spars!” Hong Fei Hu was trying to push

the Rising Sun Sect to their limits.

“Fifty million spars!” the Rising Sun Sect raised the bid
without any hesitation, clearly depicting their resolve.
 Eventually, the Rising Sun Sect’s ‘fifty million’ bid won the
item, and shocked the audience in the process.

“Wonderful! This is simply amazing ah! I never thought that

this armor would finally end up costing fifty million spars.”
Jing Feng was extremely surprised.

“These bunches of lunatics are willing to spend fifty million

spars on items that aren’t even remotely worth that much.” Yan
Yu Si sneered.

In a bigger frame, even these items aren’t considered very

powerful. Especially, inside the Jiu Yu Da Sect, where even
‘spirit’ realm devices aren’t considered unusual.

But the Jiu Yu City is a very remote part of the world, which is
why such high grade items are a rarity here, while the ‘spirit’
realm weapons are ever more rare, which is the primary reason
why these items tend to cost more than their actual price in this
region.

As Yan Yu Si explained these concepts, the others could only

think that ‘It’s all very well to comment, but getting things
done is another matter’.
 Yan Yu Si was a very talented youngster, and the Xuannv Sect
attached a lot of importance with her, which is why she was
sure to obtain a high grade weapon in time; maybe even more
than one.

“Now…. The exciting moment is here; the final item for this
auction is ‘Spirit’ realm device. Although this weapon is
damaged, we all understand its true power. This weapon is a
rotary kingland, and was made popular several thousand years
ago by the great master Qian Jin. The price for this item is
reserved at a lowly thirty million spars, and those interested in
this glorious weapon may raise their bids.” Long Xiang Tian
spoke in very excited tone. (Explaining this weapon’s make is a
little difficult… it’s basically a round rotating object, which has
a chain attached to it. This chain usually has a small blade of
some sort at the end. This whole set up rests on top of a long
stick. Try googling it for a better idea. Hint: go to the images
section, and you might see one.)

A ‘Spirit’ realm device, even if it a broken one, is much more

powerful when compared to a high grade device.

If a broken ‘Spirit’ realm device was repaired, then it could

serve as the crown weapon of any Jiu Yu City Sect.
 The Rotary Kingland’s presence was enough to tempt
everyone inside the auction hall, and everyone’s eyes were
visibly filled with greed.

However, since this site was under the Heavenly Dragon

business group, no one would dare to act rashly.

But the greedy eyes continued to watch the auction and the
weapon, which was finally on display now.

The hall had suddenly gone very quiet, since no one wanted to
make the first bid.

Long Xiang Tian waited a long time for a response, but since
there was none, he finally spoke up: “Everybody, please make
your bids.”

“Fifty million spars!”

“I’m going for sixty million spars!”

 “Huh, I’ll shell out eighty million spars for this weapon!”

… …

The ambience was very intense, and the price was sky-
rocketing very quickly.

At this point, it was very difficult for anyone to maintain

composure, and everyone was bidding frantically.

In a flash, the Rotary Kingland’s price had already reached a

hundred million spars.

“This can’t be happening, I must be dreaming right now!” Bi

Fan exclaimed.

Bi Fan was watching the Rotary Kingland very attentively,

and was wishing that he could cut the distance, which separated
him from the weapon, short, since he wanted to experience this
weapon’s might in person.

A completely intact ‘Spirit’ weapon contains spirit, which

automatically guarantees the protection of its master.

Although this weapon wasn’t completely intact, its power and

might were still bound to quite exceptional, and Bi Fan wanted
to try it out.

Yan Yu Si looked at the weapon, and curled her lips, almost in

disdain; apparently Yan Yu Si had seen better weapons.

Bi Fan glanced over at Yan Yu Si, but didn’t know what to

make of her expression.

“The Rising Sun Sect is willing to give one hundred and fifty
million spars!” even though the Rising Sun Sect had already
won the military armor, they were still hoping to land another
prize today.

But their bid didn’t stand for long, as the City’s Sect renewed
the top bid: “One hundred and sixty million spars.”

“One hundred and eighty millions spars.” Xuan Yuan Ling

Feng’s voice was low, but his sharp eyes were murderously
glaring at his counterparts in the other Sects.

Whoever dared to compete with him for this Rotary Kingland,

would have to walk through flames; financially speaking.

“Two hundred million spars!” Wang Yun stated loudly.

Two hundred million spars was considered a high price for a

broken ‘spirit’ realm device like this Rotary Kingland weapon,
especially since it was only a low-grade ‘spirit’ weapon to begin
with.

Luo Xiao Tian twitched his mouth a few times, and eventually
gave up.

Two hundred spars is not a small amount of money, and

couldn’t be drawn from the Quinyang Sect’s treasury for a
broken weapon like this one, since it would end up crippling the
Sect’s finances.
 The Tian Shui Sect also gave up on the bidding. In fact, ever
since they had won the Dragon scale shield, they didn’t really
intend of buying anything else, and were only trying to raise the
prices of the items that had followed.

The Tian Shui Sect’s approach was definitely the wisest, since
they had managed to buy the dragon scale shield at a very low
price, as compared to the bids that had followed.

The price for the items at the end was bound to be higher,
since people would be more desperate to take something back.

The Rising Sun Sect was quite interested in buying the Rotary
Kingland, but unfortunately, had already spent fifty million
spars on the military armor, and couldn’t hope to compete with
the financial strength of the Wu Ji Sect and the City’s Sect
anymore.

Now it was down to the Wu Ji Sect and the City Sect.

The Wu Ji Sect and the City’s Sect were old enemies, and their
strength and financial resources were quite comparable. Most
considered the Wu Ji Sect to be marginally stronger, but the
City’s Sect was rumored to be better off in financial terms.

The City’s Sect looked quite determined to win this bid, since
they wanted to catch up to the Wu Ji Sect in terms of strength.
Winning the auction for the Rotary Kingland would be symbolic
of their pursuit, and intentions.

But the Wu Ji Sect wouldn’t allow them to do so very easily.

This was battle between two Dragons now, and no one could
guess the final outcome.
 Chapter 147 – The Winner Emerges

“Three hundred million spars!” Xuan Yuan Ling Feng gritted

his teeth, as he said in a loud voice.

The Wu Ji Sect had given up on the high grade equipment,

since they had their hearts set on buying the last item; the
Rotary Kingland.

Xuan Yuan Ling Feng raised the bid directly by one hundred
million spars, which clearly indicated their rich and
overbearing presence in this auction.

The people present in the hall were staring at him in shock.

“Four hundred million spars!” Wang Yun raised a higher bid

without any hesitations.

The real battle had just begun, and since a ‘spirit’ weapon was
on stake, no one seemed to be bothered about its actual worth
anymore.
 “That kind of money is simply insane, ah!” Bi Fan’s eyes were
just beginning to open to his own poverty.

“When it comes to a financial competition, the City’s Sect

isn’t afraid of the Wu Ji Sect.” Jing Feng smiled.

“Five hundred million spars!” Xuan Yuan Ling Feng’s eyes

were flushed red, and his whole face was covered in sweat.

“Six hundred million spars!” Wang Yun said in a calm and

serene voice.

It appeared as if money was worthless to Wang Yun, since his

eyes showed no regard for the amount he was bidding.

Xuan Yuan Ling Feng hesitated as he opened his mouth again,

but was unable to speak.

To him, six hundred million spars was a lot of money.

Even though he had this kind of money at his disposal, he was

beginning to wonder if the Rotary Kingland was worth it in the
end or not.

Of course, Xuan Yuan Ling Feng would definitely want to raise

the bid, simply to make the City’s Sect bleed, but he couldn’t
read Wang Yun’s thoughts, and wasn’t sure if the man would
counter his bids.

He hesitated for a long time, but when Long Xiang Tian

announced ‘Six hundred million spars, going twice’, Xuan Yuan
Ling Feng finally bid again: “Six hundred and fifty million
spars!”

“Seven hundred million spars!”

In comparison, Wang Yun seemed at ease.

A ‘spirit’ grade weapon hadn’t graced the auctions of the Jiu

Yu City for over a decade now, and the City’s Sect had been
preparing for such an event, all this time. The price was of no
concern to them, and they were determined to take the weapon
at any cost.

“Seven hundred million…..” Xuan Yuan Ling Feng was

somewhat afraid to make another bid.

“Seven hundred and ten million spars!” Xuan Yuan Ling Feng
was only trying to raise the price now.

“Eight hundred million spars!” Wang Yun’s tone was as calm

as ever.

Xuan Yuan Ling Feng continued to stare at Wang Yun for a

long time, but didn’t see any emotions on his face, which is why
he didn’t dare to bid again.

He was afraid that Wang Yun might be playing him, and if he

was forced to buy the weapon for such a high price, then it
would be huge loss to his Sect.

The Rotary Kingland’s price had already reached eight

hundred million spars, and he didn’t feel that the weapon was
worth it anymore.

“Eight hundred million spars going once.”

 Long Xiang Tian looked at Xuan Yuan Ling Feng, but was
disappointed to see that the Wu Ji Sect representative was
completely ignoring him now.

“Eight hundred million spars, going twice! Is there anyone

who wishes to bid? This is the last chance.”

“Eight hundred million spars, going thrice! The Rotary

Kingland goes to the City’s Sect!” Long Xiang Tian’s voice was
clearly expressive of the joy his heart was feeling.

The auction’s proceeding had finally come to a close, and the

participants would remember this unforgettable event for the
rest of their lives.

A military armor being sold for fifty million spars, and a

broken, low-grade, ‘Spirit’ weapon bagging eight hundred
million spars was a very rare thing.

“This group of idiots isn’t even aware that they could have
used this kind of money to buy a completely intact ‘spirit’
weapon in the outside world.” Yan Yu Si whispered.
 Even though Yan Yu Si’s words were quite softly spoken, Ling
Xin Ya heard them. He was quite surprised and said: “Are you
sure? Is that possible?”

“Do you want me to buy high-grade equipment and ‘spirit’

realm weapon outside, and then bring them back to enhance the
strength of the Quinyang Sect?” Yan Yu Si suddenly came up
with the idea.

“Yes. If we go out to buy these ‘spirit’ weapons ourselves, then

we are sure to attract thieves on the way back. But your case is
different; if you’re carrying such a weapon on your way to the
Quinyang Sect, then no one will suspect, and it’s highly unlikely
that someone will try to rob you.” Ling Xin Ya whispered.

Yan Yu Si’s eyes lit up, she nodded and said: “Once we are
back, we’ll discuss this in detail.”

Bi Fan was burning with anxiety, since he was about to get his
hands on the Jade book’s master page, and was praying that it
would be the right thing for him.

Recently, Bi Fan’s practice output from the methods that were

described in the Jade book had dropped, since he was unable to
practice some methods properly, owing to missing master page.

Bi Fan had been a little doubtful of his future practice, since

he didn’t have the master page.

Out of the ten pages in the Jade book, the master page was
definitely the most valuable one.

The master page!

The master page was the most important part of the book,
since it would allow him to decrypt the hidden secrets of the
techniques, which would play a huge role in his practice.

But for now, since Bi Fan didn’t have the master page, his
practice hadn’t been proceeding very smoothly of late.

Bi Fan was about to get his hands on that master page soon
and, he was so excited, that his whole body had started to
tremble.

Yan Yu Si saw the sweat marks on Bi Fan’s forehead, and

could sense that Bi Fan was nervous for some reason: “Bi Fan,
are you okay?”

Even though she only asked him in a very casual manner, but
it was evident that she was concerned about him, since she had
never bothered herself with any other man in this manner
before; even Shuai Ying Tian had never enjoyed this kind of
concern from her.

“Nothing, I’m fine.” Bi Fan wiped the sweat off his forehead,
as he tried to force a smile.

Bi Fan could sense that Yan Yu Si was concerned about him,

and couldn’t help but feel a little flattered.

The Heavenly Dragon business group had a special section on

the second floor of the building, which catered to the delivery of
the auctioned items. People were required to go to one of the
counters, and pay the money, post which, their winning would
be handed over to them.

Today, the Heavenly Dragon business group had auctioned off

hundreds of items, which is why even their dozen or so counters
were falling short to support the crowd.
 However, the Heavenly Dragon group had provided the
Quinyang Sect with a dedicated counter of their own, so Bi Fan
didn’t need to worry about the long queues.

Bi Fan quickly paid the money, and took the master key page
of the Jade book.

Since he didn’t want anyone to see it, he quickly put it inside

his Yin Yang pouch.

The Jade Book was Bi Fan’s secret, and even Yan Yu Si and
Jing Feng didn’t know about it.

Yan Yu Si intended to ask Bi Fan, but since a lot of outsiders

were present on the scene, she decided against it.

Luo Xiao Tian collected the Green Bladed sword, and started
to fondle its blade admiringly, almost as if he was caressing and
stroking a lover’s body.

He opened his mouth and praised: “This is a good sword!”

 Luo Sheng and Luo Xiang craned their necks, since they
wanted to get their hands on the Green Bladed sword as well.
But since the sword was purchased with the Quinyang Sect’s
funds, Luo Xiao Tian felt a little embarrassed to treat it as his
personal property, and put it away, without allowing anyone to
touch it.

Once they had collected the auction items, Luo Xiao Tian
decided to lead the Quinyang delegation back to their hotel.

They went down to the hall, and found themselves facing the
disheartened Xuan Yuan Ling Feng.

“Brother Ling Feng, you went down easy this time, ah!” Luo
Xiao Tian smirked.

“Well!” Xuan Yuan Ling Feng replied in cold voice: “Gloat

now, but we’ll see what happens at the end of tomorrow’s
contest-day.”

“Let’s go!” Xuan Yuan Ling Feng led the Wu Ji Sect delegation
outside. The Wu Ji Sect disciples were brimming with hatred
towards the Quinyang Sect, and as they left the setting, their
fierce eyes continued to glare back at their counterparts.

“In tomorrow’s contest, if you encounter a Wu Ji Sect

disciple, then you’ll have to be very careful. If you’re falling
short, then don’t be afraid to concede your defeat.” Ling Xin Ya
cautioned.

Luo Xiao Tian said: “The Wu Ji Sect is very powerful, but you
do not need to fear them.”

Ling Xin Ya didn’t bother to argue with Luo Xiao Tian

publicly, since it would bring their Sect a bad name.

As they prepared to leave the building, Wang Yun came down

from the second floor to greet them; Wang Feng was right
behind him. (Wang Feng is the guy Bi Fan and Jing Feng met in
the Devil’s territory, post the anomaly.)

“Brother Wang Yun, congratulations on taking control of the

Rotary Kingland!” Luo Xiao Tian smiled radiantly.

“You too! Congratulations to you as well for obtaining your

desired weapon of choice, Brother.” Wang Yun extended his
greeting in response.

Wang Yun looked as if he was in his forties, and was polite as a

pie. He was the City Sect’s caretaker, and was regarded as a high
position official in the Sect. Since he had very close ties with the
Sect’s head, no one ever dared to neglect him.

“Brother Jing Feng, young Bi Fan, we meet again.” The City

Sect’s Wang Feng also came over to greet Jing Feng and Bi Fan,
with a pleasant smile on his face.

Bi Fan and Jing Feng quickly returned the greetings, and the
trio started to chat and laugh.

Luo Sheng was quite envious to see the manner in which Bi

Fan and Jing Feng were chatting with Wang Feng, which was
visible of his face.

Luo Xiang’s face was expressionless, but the traces of cold in

his eyes, betrayed the desires of his heart.
 Chapter 148 – Against The Devil – Body Burst

After bidding Wang Yun farewell, Luo Xiao Tian led his party
straight back to the hotel.

The hotel had prepared an amazing dinner, everyone had

their fill. Bi Fan was getting really impatient, since he wanted to
read the Master page of the Jade book.

He was about to go upstairs, when Yan Yu Si pulled him to one

side.

Luo Xiong saw the manner in which Yan Yu Si had pulled Bi

Fan to the side, and the ominous glints in his eyes were clearly
reflecting his rage, as he watched them whisper to each other.

“Bi Fan, you think that you can fight with me over Yan Yu Si!
I’ll teach you a lesson soon enough.”

A lot of other core disciples were also glaring at Bi Fan.

“Bi Fan, what’s case with that page you bought in the
auction?” Yan Yu Si was completely puzzled, and was worried
that he may be having trouble with his practice.

Bi Fan said: “Miss Yan Yu Si, I cannot tell you the reason for
making that purchase. But let’s just say, that page is very
important to me.”

Yan Yu Si was looking at Bi Fan attentively, and could tell that

he was answering her question very sincerely. She sighed and
said: “Well, since you don’t wish to disclose your reasons, I will
not insist.”

Yan Yu Si turned around, and left for her room. Bi Fan

reunited with Mo Nan and Jing Feng, and the trio prepared to
leave the dining area together.

“Bi Fan, you listen to me very carefully: stay away from Miss
Yan Yu Si.” Luo Xiong warned him, as he finally revealed his
true colors.

“My personal affairs are none of your concern.” Bi Fan replied

in a cold tone.
 Even though Luo Xiong is very powerful, Bi Fan wasn’t taking
Luo Xiong’s threat seriously, since he knew that Luo Xiong
would dare to take any public action against him.

“Okay, boy, we’ll see about that later.” Luo Xiong turned
around and left abruptly.

Jing Feng laughed: “Brother Bi Fan, if you keep going like

this, you’ll become my idol very soon.”

“Oh come on Brother, stop pulling my leg now.” Bi Fan forced

a smile.

The trio continued to talk and laugh as they headed upstairs.

Mo Nan and Jing Feng also wanted to ask Bi Fan about his
purchase at the auction, but didn’t, since they didn’t know how
to start the conversation.

“Let’s not waste any time today. Let’s return to our rooms and
get a good practice for tomorrow’s practice.” Jing Feng
suggested.
 Bi Fan returned to his room, freshened up a bit, and then
eagerly took out the master page of the jade book.

His whole body started to shudder with excitement, as his

hands finally held the master page of the jade book.

Bi Fan carefully looked at the page, and realized that only a

very small part of the page had any actual information.
However, since the font was very small, there seemed to be over
a thousand words on the page.

“Against the Devil – body burst:

Practicing internal energy without the support of physical

strength will only grant a person very limited success. The
mysteries of the human body are like the mysteries of the
heavens and the earth; thorough research is required. This
method can help a practitioner reach the realms of the
immortals………”

Soon enough, Bi Fan had finished reading the entire page,

twice. In addition to the introduction, the page also contained
some extra tips regarding the methods that were described in
the following nine pages of the book, and it seemed like Bi Fan
had obtained the right item.

Bi Fan finally knew the name of the method that was

described in the Jade Book, ‘Against the Devil’ body burst.

The introduction to the ‘Against the Devil’ body burst seemed

a little exaggerated, since it suggested that this method was
sufficient to take any practitioner to the realm of the immortals,
without the support of any other method.

Bi Fan had been practicing this method for a long time now,
and didn’t feel that the ‘Against the Devil’ body burst was
powerful enough to make such claims.

Regardless of his opinion, Bi Fan quickly memorized the

entire method thoroughly once more, and made note of the tips
that the master page had advised to keep in mind while
practicing the method, post which, he started to practice the
first form of the method.

With the help of the tips and secrets that were described in
the master page, Bi Fan realized that he was able to practice the
method a lot more smoothly, and could feel that his physical
strength was seeing an enormous rise, very suddenly.

He finished the first round of practice, and could sense that

there was a major increase in his strength, which is why he
decided to do another thirty five rounds of it. His strength had
already increased past thirteen Yun Shi, and was inching close
to fourteen Yun Shi now.

“Woah, my strength is going up really quickly!” Bi Fan was so

excited, that he simply couldn’t control himself anymore.

Bi Fan immediately started to practice the second form of the

‘Against the Devil’ body burst method, and was able to practice
it a lot more smoothly, owing to the tips that he had gotten
from the master page.

The ‘Against the Devil’ body burst method was giving fast
results, and he could sense that his physical strength was going
up very quickly.

Once he finished the first round of the second form, he could

sense that his physical strength had already crossed the
fourteen Yun Shi mark.
 Bi Fan continued to practice the method, and must have
undertaken another dozen rounds of it, before his physical
strength reached fifteen Yun Shi, post which, he finally came to
a stop.

Bi Fan checked his body, and could sense that the method
wasn’t just affecting his physical strength, but was also adding
to his inner energy very significantly.

As his physical strength was breaking the barriers, so was his

inner energy.

At this point, his inner energy had already reached close to

thirteen Yun Shi, which put him at the peak of the ‘enormous
strength’ layer.

“I didn’t know that physical practice could be this effective!”

Bi Fan marveled.

Next, Bi Fan started to practice the ‘Fire and Ice’ burst, and
found that the ‘Fire and Ice’ burst had also seen an increase in
speed, and he was now capable of recovering his energy a lot
faster.
 Bi Fan was so surprised, that he couldn’t help but believe the
words in the introduction on the master page, which described
the ‘Against the Devil’ body burst to be the most powerful
method in the world.

“Wow, I have to master all the forms of the ‘Against the Devil’
body burst method, and must practice them as often as
possible.” Bi Fan made up his mind.

Soon, the night passed, and since the contest was supposed to
begin in the morning, Bi Fan decided to grab an early breakfast.

“We must quickly eat our breakfast, since we need to leave for
the tournament arena.” Luo Xiao Tian instructed loudly.

“Yes!”

The disciples who were participating in the Jiu Yu Hidden

Dragon List were obviously very excited, especially the ones
who were doing it for the first time.

Bi Fan couldn’t wait for the contest to start, since he wanted

to show his talents to the world.
 For a new-comer like Bi Fan, it was very important to emerge
from a low-key profile, since he would need to procure more
resources for his future training, without which, his training
would gradually get slowed down.

Moreover, Bi Fan was longing to make a name for himself on a

much larger stage. If he was able to establish himself as the
leading figure of the Jiu Yu City’s young generation, then he’d
certainly be recognized in the outside world as well.

Now that he was thinking of the world outside the Jiu Yu

City, he couldn’t help but think of Lone Leaf and Wang Zhong.
He didn’t know anything about their whereabouts at this point.

Although, it wouldn’t be very surprising if the two of them

were already inside the ‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer now.

The arena was located in the heart of the Jiu Yu City, close to
the City Sect’s headquarters. The arena covered a vast area, and
was the property of the City Sect, but they had allowed it to be
used for such tournament.
 Since the Arena had been built by the City Sect, they were
entitled to collect an entry fee. However, the Sects that were
participating in the tournament weren’t required to pay this
fee.

The larger Sects would be given their own personal seating

area, and usually in good locations as well, which would allow
them a good view of the all the contest stages.

The pedestrians were rushing through the streets, since they

were all quite anxious to watch the tournament.

The area outside the contest arena was already very crowded,
and there was a long queue to enter the arena, since the
spectators were only being allowed to enter in singles.

Thankfully, there was a dedicated gate for the entry of the

participants; otherwise, it would take ages to enter the arena.

Under Luo Xiao Tian’s leadership, the Quinyang Sect entered

the Arena.

The arena was so huge that it could accommodate almost two

hundred thousand people on the first floor itself. While the
second, third and the fourth floor balconies were sufficient to
seat another fifty thousand.

Eighteen contest stages were set up in the middle of the arena,

which would be used for the purpose of the tournament. The
stage in the center was the largest, and was reserved for the
championship fights.

The Quinyang Sect was allocated its seating space on the

second floor. The Second floor balconies had the best view, and
all the eighteen contest stages were quite clearly visible from
the stands on the second floor. On top of that, the Quinyang
Sect was allotted one of the best seating areas.

Bi Fan looked down from the balcony, and estimated that at

least a hundred thousand people had already occupied their
seats, while many more were standing outside in the queues.

“So many people!”

The disciples, who were participating in this contest for the

first time, were so tensed that their whole body was covered in
sweat.
 Bi Fan was equally nervous, but the sparkling gleam in his
eyes was enough to express his excitement.
 Chapter 149 – The Contest Begins

The rules of the Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon list were very different
from the Quinyang disciple’s tournament. Even though the
tournament had a grouping system, the group would only
contain four contestants, and a person would have to win all
three fights to qualify for the next round.

If none of the four contestants were able to win all the three
rounds, then all four would be eliminated. Even though this was
a very cruel system, but it was a very quick, and effective, way
of identifying the strongest participants from the lot.

The top-five of the Jiu Yu City were permitted to send ten

disciples each. The other first-class Sects like the Ba Gua Sect
were also allowed to enroll ten contenders, while the slightly
smaller Sects were only permitted to send five. The Sects which
were further down in the rating were mostly allowed to send
only three fighters, while some were only permitted to enlist
just one.

There are hundreds of Sects in the Jiu Yu City’s region, and

this contest had over three hundred youngsters participating in
it.
 The tournaments didn’t have any restrictions on weapons,
and even allowed the participants to use their pets, which most
participants borrowed from their Sects. However, the
participants weren’t allowed to use any kind of Dan pellets
during the course of their fights.

Ling Xin Ya was busy giving advice and important tips to the
Quinyang Sect’s disciples, and even Jing Feng was narrating his
experiences from the previous tournament.

“We must not get nervous at any point in the tournament.

Remember that you mustn’t take the results very seriously, if
you can’t win, then admit your defeat; there’s no shame in
doing that.” Ling Xin Ya said.

“No one will concede their fight; you must fight till the end
for the sake of the Quinyang Sect’s glory.” Luo Xiao Tian
narrated in a cold manner.

Ling Xin Ya was having a tough time in dealing with Luo Xiao
Tian, since the latter would say the exact reverse of his words.

This wasn’t exactly a new thing for the Quinyang disciples,

and no one seemed to be paying any attention to their constant
disagreement.

In a flash, one hour passed by, and the arena was almost full,
at this point.

A lot of people had travelled to the Jiu Yu City to watch the

Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon List and the Jiu Yu imperial List, which
was one of the primary reasons for such a large audience.

In order to ensure fairness, the contest referees had been

invited from various Sects of the Jiu Yu City.

In addition to the court referee, there was an additional five-

man jury, who would act as judges, and would pass judgements
on any conflicts that might be raised by the contestants over the
course of the tournament.

In addition to the stage referee, each stage was also chaired by

another secondary referee to help avoid any serious injuries, or
deaths, during the course of the fights.

However, the entire tournament was being headed by one

man, Wang Yun.

“The Triennial Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon List will begin shortly;

the contestants may please proceed to the ballots.” Wang Yun
announced in a loud voice.

The ballot box was placed in the middle of the center stage,
and a dedicated team from the staff of the organizers was
responsible for maintain the order. They would record the
number of a participant, post the draw, and would assign them
their respective contest stage, and group.

“Let’s Go, and get our draws. I wish you all the best of luck,
Brothers.” Jing Feng smiled.

The draw was purely dependent on luck; but luck is always a

subset of strength.

Bad luck may result in a group full of strong fighters, which

would reduce the chances of progressing further.

Many people were praying to heavens, since they wanted an

easy group.
 Bi Fan didn’t care; in fact, he was hoping for strong
opponents, since he wanted to refine his skills further.

The ballot was drawing process was happening so quickly,

that Bi Fan barely managed to get a look at his number.

As he stood on the center stage, his heart was brimming with

the desire to take the stage once again, and contest for the title.

And maybe, if managed to win the tournament, then this

stage would pave the way for his true rise.

As soon as he drew his number, it was recorded by the official,

and Bi Fan returned to his Sect’s designated seating area.

While he was stepping down from the stage, Bi Fan finally saw
Blue Dragon. Even though the two men didn’t talk to each
other, they greeted each other warmly with their eyes and
expressions.

Blue Dragon had already broken into the ‘transformation’

layer, and was inching closer to the layer’s peak. He was already
being regarded as one of the leading figures of the younger
generation in the Jiu Yu City.

“Brother Bi Fan, what number did you get?” Jing Feng asked.

Even though the probability of Jing Feng being assigned the

same group as Bi Fan was quite low, Jing Feng was still worried
about it.

If he was grouped with Bi Fan in the first round itself, then he

knew that he would probably get knocked out in the round,
which would be a huge disgrace to his name.

On top of that, since Jing Feng ranked number three in the

tournament last time, his elimination in the first round was
likely to make him the butt of all jokes. His rivaling peers like
Jiang Wen, especially, would never stop making fun of him.

The last tournament’s top ranking fighters like Wu Ji Xuan,

Jiang Wen, Jing Feng and the others were all at the peak of the
‘transformation’ layer, and were in line to make the
breakthrough very soon, which is why they were all still being
considered the favorites this time around. They, however,
would still have to face some competition from a few new
comers, especially the ones that had already broken into the
‘transformation’ layer.

Mo Nan, Jing Yin Lan, and Luo Sheng also pitched their ears
in; since they too wanted to know if they were safely away from
Bi Fan’s group.

“One hundred and forty seven.” Bi Fan flatly stated.

“Hoof, I got one hundred and forty one. That was close.” Mo
Nan was relieved.

Mo Nan finally breathed a sigh of relief, since he naturally

didn’t want to face Bi Fan in the first round.

“Oh, I got two hundred and thirty one, I’m nowhere near
you.” Jing Feng smiled.

Luo Sheng heard everyone as they all reported their ballot

numbers, and smiled since he wasn’t being paired with any of
them early on.
 Then, Luo Xiao Tian came over to enquire about the ballot
numbers of the participants, and was glad to know that none of
the Quinyang Sect disciples were in the same group, which
meant that there wouldn’t be any internal competition in the
early stages.

Only seventeen of the, total, eighteen stages would be used for

the initial rounds. Bi Fan’s group was allotted the third set,
which meant that he’d have to wait a while.

Two of the Quinyang disciples were allotted the first set, and
they started preparing themselves for their fights.

The ones who weren’t fighting in this set, continued to wait in

their seats, and prepared to watch their competition.

Groups of the ‘group of four’ were further divided into two

groups, each having thirty-four members each. One group
would take the stage, and would compete, while the other group
would rest. Once their fights were over, the other group would
fight, while the first group would rest, and so on, so forth,
making one set. In the end, the fighters who manage to win all
their three fights, would progress further.
 Once the contest rules were formally announced, the contest
began.

All seventeen contest stages were being used simultaneously,

to allow the tournament to proceed as quickly as possible.

As the contest began, Bi Fan started to watch the fights

attentively. But since there were seventeen fights taking place
simultaneously, it was quite difficult for him to memorize
everything, which is why he decided to pick the best fighters,
and started concentrating on their fights.

In this lot of thirty-four members, most fighters were not very

strong. There were only two ‘transformation’ layer fighters,
and they too had broken into the ninth layer of the ‘Fetus’
realm quite recently.

Bi Fan decided to concentrate on the fights of these two

contestants, but was still paying some attention to others as
well.

If he was able to memorize their martial arts, then he’d be

able to figure out a way to add their best characteristics to his
style, and could even use it with his ‘Immortal finger’ attack,
which would help him in increasing his power outputs.

Bi Fan had only recently decided to use ‘The Immortal Finger’

as the focal point of his practice, which is why it was difficult
for him to integrate too many skills into it on a very short
notice. But, if he was able to memorize a martial skill, then he’d
at least be able to find its flaws, which would eventually pay
dividends in the later rounds.

As he continued to research ‘The Immortal Finger’ attack, he

had started to realize that the attack could easily be used with a
wide range of sword attacks. On top of that, he was also capable
of using the attack with a wide range of boxing styles.

Because of this reason, Bi Fan was taking this learning

opportunity even more seriously, since he could carry out his
research later, and would slowly be able to use some of the
characteristics of these martial skills, after a thorough research
in the future.

As long as he was able to learn sufficient different skills, he

might even be able to build a new style of his own someday.

The two ‘transformation’ layer disciples finished their fights

very quickly, owing to which Bi Fan wasn’t able to see much.
But he knew that once a fighter was faced with a strong
opponent, then they’d surely cast out their best skills, and he’d
have his chance then.

This tournament was being contested by various Sects of the

Jiu Yu City, and each Sect’s martial skills had their own
characteristics, and even their own unique skill sets. Plus, the
youngsters who were taking part in the tournament, were likely
to have had their own adventures, and might even have learnt a
few new skills, which would be an added advantage for Bi Fan.

Unfortunately, most people were unlikely to use high end

skills unless their fight reached a critical juncture.

But Bi Fan didn’t care for now; anyway, there would be plenty
of opportunities in the tournament, since the strongest fighters
were sure to come up against each other at some point, wherein
they would play their best skills.

“That guy is really strong ah!”

“The winner of stage sixteen is quite strong as well. If we run

into him, we must be very careful.”
 Everyone was busy commenting on the fights, but Bi Fan’s
attention was completely focused on learning their skill sets,
which is why he didn’t participate in these discussions.
 Chapter 150 – Tai Chi Sword

Soon, the first thirty four contestants had resolved their first
fight, and so far, the tournament hadn’t witnessed anything
spectacular.

However, Bi Fan had learnt a lot of new martial skills.

The next thirty four contestants were already ready, and they
quickly embarked onto the stages.

“The man in the blue dress on stage fifteen is City Sect’s Su

Yang. He was ranked ninth in the last Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon
list. He told me that he’s almost ready to make the big
breakthrough now.” Jing Feng said.

Bi Fan looked around and noticed that there must be at least

twenty or so contestants, who were already at the peak of the
‘transformation’ layer.

Since Jing Feng considered him to be quite powerful, his

strength must be worthy of recognition. His opponent was also
inside the ‘transformation’ layer, but wasn’t as strong as him.
 Their competition was sure to be a fierce one, and Bi Fan
decided to focus on this one, in this slot.

As the contests started, Bi Fan was focusing half of his

attention on stage fifteen’s contest, while the other half of his
attention was diverted to the other contests, so he could slowly
research their skills at a later time.

Su Yang was using the City Sect’s famous martial skill, ‘the
heavenly breeze’, and his machete’s blade appeared faster than
the speed of the wind itself. Given the power and the speed of
the attack, its effect was bound to be formidable.

Su Yang’s opponent was using a pair of golden hooks, and his

style was very tricky, and tough to compete against.

Su Yang was relentlessly slashing his sword up and down, as

he continued to hack and chop at his opponent.

His opponent was using a very strange skill, which worked

very well his golden hooks, and his tricky attacks were
becoming increasingly difficult to detect.
 Their fight was quite fantastic, and was certainly the best in
the first thirty-four so far, both in terms of intensity and skills.

Bi Fan was completely taken by their display by now, and was

trying to memorize their skills.

“This is amazing, if Su Yang’s opponent had a higher energy

level, then Su Yang might have suffered a very early set back.”
Jing Feng exclaimed in admiration.

In these last three years, a lot of young geniuses had sprouted

up, like Bi Fan, and some may have even surpassed last time’s
top rankers.

Jing Feng, naturally, could feel that the competition was

bound to be tougher this time, and was preparing to give his
best.

“Wonderful!” Bi Fan exclaimed out loud, as he saw the

subtlety of their movements.
 Bi Fan had never seen such exquisite machete and hooks
skills. He was completely mesmerized by their skills, and was
learning a lot of new things.

Soon enough, the other sixteen fights had ended, leaving only
Su Yang and his opponent, who were still entangled in an
intense bout.

Their fight had already reached its climax, and they were both
using their best skills now.

Bi Fan was completely engrossed in their fight, and was

continuously adding to his knowledge base.

Eventually, Su Yang won the fight, owing to his higher energy

level.

While Bi Fan had remained completely indulged in their

contest, right till the end.

“Brother Bi Fan, you don’t practice the machete or the hooks,

why were you watching their fight so seriously?” Jing Feng
asked.
 “Oh? Nothing, I just liked their intensity, that’s all.” Bi Fan
was somewhat at a loss, and could only grin sheepishly in reply.

“Pretentious asshole!” Luo Sheng commented in a cold voice.

Bi Fan pretended as if he hadn’t heard that remark, and

pigeon-holed Luo Sheng altogether.

Luo Sheng was of no concern to Bi Fan anymore, and Bi Fan

was too lazy to pointlessly bicker with him.

As the contest continued, and second batch of the group

prepared to proceed to their respective stages; Ji Ying Lan was a
part of this lot.

“Come on Brother Ji Ying Lan!” Bi Fan smiled.

“Brother Ji Ying Lan, you’re very strong and skilled, and

unless you’re opposed with a top ranked fighter, you’re very
likely to advance.” Jing Feng said.
 Ji Ying Lan nodded: “Ah, I will fight as hard as I can for the
glory of our Sect.”

Ling Xin Ya and Luo Xiao Tian weren’t giving any further
instructions to anyone, and were allowing the disciples to play
on their strengths, since they felt that their instructions would
only pile more pressure on their disciples.

This set of sixty-eight had a lot of good fighters, including Ji

Ying Lan, Blue Dragon, and Tian Shui Sect’s Miss Hong Yun
Tian.

In addition to them, there were several other ‘transformation’

layer martial artists in this group.

In the first batch, there were three more ‘transformation’

layer fighters, apart from Ji Ying Lan.

Ji Ying Lan seemed to be having a run of bad luck, since he

was set to fight a ‘transformation’ layer fighter in the first
round itself. On top of that, this man was a Wu Ji Sect disciple;
his name was Cao Jia Le.
 They were both inside the ‘transformation’ layer, and they
were both using swords, so naturally Ji Ying Lan was quite
confident of his victory.

Ji Ying Lan was obviously started to use the ‘Fufeng double-

edged Sword’ skill, owing to his exceptional proficiency in the
skill, while Cao Jia Le started with Wu Ji Sect’s ‘Tai Chi Sword’
skill.

The Quinyang Sect’s ‘Fufeng double-edged sword’ is a very

agile and elegant skill, while the Wu Ji Sect’s ‘Tai Chi Sword’ is
a very slow skill, which is known to consume a very low amount
of energy, enabling the fighter to fight for a long duration.

“Boy, I do not care who you are, as long as you belong to the
Quinyang Sect, do not expect any mercy from me!” Cao Jia Le
sneered.

Ji Ying Lan replied in a cold tone: “Since you’re a Wu Ji Sect

disciple, I will never allow you to win.”

“Fufeng double-edged sword!” Ji Ying Lan cast out his own

version of the skill’s set, and his sword started to attack his
enemy from all angles.
 Cao Jia Le didn’t seem to be bothered by it, as he continued to
cast out the same ‘Tai Chi Sword’ in its usually relaxed manner.

Cao Jia Le’s sword was constantly revolving in circle, and

even though the movements were quite slow, he seemed to be
obstructing Ji Ying Lan’s attacks quite easily.

“The Wu Ji Sect’s ‘Tai Chi Sword’ isn’t as simple as it looks;

even Brother Ji Ying Lan’s sword-play isn’t able to get past it! I
don’t know what the rest of us will do against this sort of a
defense….” Jing Feng was astonished.

Ling Xin Ya said: “The Wu Ji Sect’s ‘Tai Chi Sword’ is indeed a

very difficult one to compete against, and can be very useful for
them. It doesn’t require too much energy, and has an amazing
defensive usage, since it’s awfully difficult to breach this skill.”

“Deputy master, then how do we break past the ‘Tai Chi

Sword’?” an outer disciple asked.

“It’s quite difficult, and there are two ways of doing this: first,
you can overpower your opponent completely, or second, you
can attack with an extremely high speed move.” Ling Xin Ya
patiently explained.

Bi Fan was watching the contest so carefully, that he didn’t

even pay any attention to Ling Xin Ya’s words.

Bi Fan exposed a sly smile, since he had already figured a way

to break past the ‘Tai Chi Sword’.

Ji Ying Lan didn’t seem discouraged to see that his attacks

were constantly being blocked by his opponent, and continued
to attack even more violently.

He was aware that he need to finish the fight as quickly as

possible, otherwise he would end up in a very disadvantaged
position.

‘The Tai Chi Sword’ consumed very less energy, and in

comparison, Ji Ying Lan’s skill was consuming much more. As
the fight would drag on, Ji Ying Lan would eventually start
getting suppressed, and his chances of winning would lessen.

Ji Ying Lan had a very unique and profound understanding of

his skill set, and was quite experienced as well. The moment he
realized that the skill wasn’t going to work, he directly cast out
his best moves: “the flying willow! A thousand willow needles!”

He started casting out the last two forms of the ‘Fufeng

double-edged sword’ skill, without any breaks in between.

During his fight with Bi Fan, Ji Ying Lan had learnt a lot of
new things, and post his defeat, he had made a lot changes to his
style, especially to the last form of the skill, owing to which, his
power output had seen a major increase.

It appeared as if his sword had completely surrounded Cao Jia

Le.

Numerous blades lashed at Cao Jia Le, and it was already too
late for him to dodge, as he frantically tried to block the attacks.

Ji Ying Lan’s speed was so fast that Cao Jia Le was unable to
block all of his attacks.

“Puchi… puchi….”
 Cao Jia Le continued to get pushed back, and blood had
already started to drip from the countless holes that Ji Ying Lan
had poked in his body so far. Even though none of the wounds
were serious, Cao Jia Le wasn’t looking very good at this
moment, and was beginning to lose a lot of blood.
 Chapter 151 – The Yin Yang Shield

On the adjacent stage, Hong Yun Tian was having it easy,

since she was only confronted with an ‘enormous strength’
layer fighter.

Hong Yun Tian resolved her fight very quickly; in fact, she
didn’t use any sophisticated martial arts skills in the process.

The other ‘transformation’ layer martial artists were in a

similar boat, and were able to end their fights very early since
they too were faced with relatively weaker opponents.

Bi Fan was only able to learn a very little from these displays,
since the fights didn’t last very long.

Nevertheless, Bi Fan kept absorbing whatever he could see,

and would try to research these skills in detail later on.

… …

Ji Ying Lan was attacking with even more urgency now, and
his intense sword-play was causing a lot of trouble for his
opponent.

“Tai Chi Sword – The Yin Yang Shield!”

Cao Jia Le was better prepared this time, and as Ji Ying Lan
sought to shift gears once again, he too cast out the second form
of the Tai Chi Sword.

A black and white colored gaseous wall emerged in front of

Cao Jia Le, and started to take a circular shape.

Ji Ying Lan’s attacks fell on this Yin Yang shaped wall, and
were cancelled out.

Even though the gaseous wall appeared to be crumbling, it

was holding tough, and Ji Ying Lan wasn’t able to get past its
defense.

“The Yin Yang Shield is a very strong variant of the Tai Chi
Sword. If you encounter a Wu Ji Sect disciple, then you must
make sure that they don’t get a chance to employ this move.”
Ling Xin Ya advised.
 As the contest progressed, Ling Xin Ya was constantly passing
tips to all the Quinyang disciples, which would allow them to
counter some of the most commonly used Wu Ji Sect skills.

Ji Ying Lan was a little surprised to see that all his moves had
been cancelled out by the Yin Yang Shield.

Ji Ying Lan immediately stopped using his sword-play moves,

since they were consuming too much energy.

Ji Ying Lan moved closer, and began attacking with his fists.
He was constantly trying to move around in circle, and would
start using his sword in between his fist attacks, without any
notice.

Cao Jia Le was very careful of Ji Ying Lan’s sword-play, and

would resort to using the Yin Yang Shield every time he was
faced with Ji Ying Lan’s sword.

Cao Jia Le had been bleeding from multiple wounds for a long
time now, and was in a very disadvantaged position at this
point.
 Ji Ying Lan was playing his game very smartly, and was
forcing Cao Jia Le to consume his energy, by making him cast
out the Yin Yang Shield over and over again.

The Yin Yang Shield is one of the favorite moves of every Wu

Ji Sect disciple, and they tend to use the skill to deplete the
energy of their opponent. Once their opponent is tired, they can
easily register a win.

This time, however, Cao Jia Le was having a torrid time, since
he had sustained injuries early in the battle, and was bleeding
profusely. By now, he had lost a lot of blood, and had been
visibly weakened by the blood loss.

Cao Jia Le decided to change his tactics and switched his gear
to offensive, and charged after Ji Ying Lan. Ji Ying Lan,
however, didn’t fight back at this point, and continued to dodge
the attacks of his bleeding opponent.

Eventually, Cao Jia Le was unable to carry on due to the blood

loss, and admitted his defeat; a very wise decision, considering
the circumstances.
 “Brother Ji Ying Lan, good job!” many of the Quinyang
disciples cheered out.

Bi Fan revealed a sly smile, since he had got a good look at a

brilliant defensive skill, but wasn’t sure if he’d be able to cast it
properly, at this moment.

‘The Immortal Finger’ was his main attack, but he hadn’t

organized it with any major defensive technique yet. If he
managed to integrate ‘The Immortal Finger’ with the ‘Yin Yang
Shield’, then the defensive capabilities of the move were bound
to get better, and he might even be able to use it for offensive
purposes.

But for now, Bi Fan could only imagine the look on the faces
of the Wu Ji Sect disciple if he cast out their favorite skill, in an
improved manner.

Now, it was time for Blue Dragon to take the stage, and Bi
Fan’s heart observed a moment of silence for his opponent.

Blue Dragon’s energy had already crossed into the

‘transformation’ layer, which when coupled with his physical
strength, was enough to make him stronger than the likes of
Jing Feng.

Encountering Blue Dragon was bad omen for anyone, and the
fight was only going to end one way.

Blue Dragon’s opponent was from a small and unknown Sect,

and had already managed to reach the peak of the ‘Enormous
strength’ layer. Such strength, in the pretext was of his
background, was a commendable feat in its own right.

The man hadn’t even flexed his muscles yet, and Blue Dragon
had already pinned him down to one corner of the stage.

“Wow, since when did Brother Blue Dragon become that

strong?! It seems that I’ll have to watch out for him as well, he
isn’t going to be easy to win against.” Jing Feng was extremely
surprised.

Ling Xin Ya was equally surprised: “Since when did the

eastern aristocracy procure such a young and talented
youngster, and why haven’t I heard about him yet?”

“He is called the Blue Dragon. He’s a friend of Bi Fan’s and

mine, but the last time I saw him, he wasn’t this strong.
However, sometime ago, he was training with Bi Fan in the
Devil’s Abyss, and he managed to enhance his strength very
quickly over there. Brother Bi Fan will probably have a very
clear idea about his ability, ah.” Jing Feng explained.

Bi Fan was watching the tournament, and didn’t feel like

giving a detailed account of Blue Dragon to everyone.

“The last time I met him, he was only at the peak of the
‘Enormous strength’ layer, but I don’t know what happened
with him in these last few months since then.” Bi Fan quickly
added, and the resumed watching the contest.

Jing Feng smiled: “Brother Bi Fan, these contests aren’t the

best ones, then why are you watching them so seriously? The
best ones will be happening over the rest of the month, you
know….”

“Some of these people are likely to end up as opponents, so

naturally I want to get a feel of their style.” Bi Fan continued to
watch the fights.

“Well, that’s one way of looking at it.” Jing Feng smiled.

 Blue Dragon won his fight pretty quickly. His cold and
dominant display won the hearts of many spectators, and he
received a lot of cheers as stepped off the stage.

But when Blue Dragon looked over at his family, the eastern
aristocracy, no one seemed to be celebrating his victory.

There were several ‘transformation’ layer fighters in this lot,

and most had finished their fights quite quickly as well. The
others, who weren’t as strong, were quite excited with the
displays of their counterparts, and were fighting as hard as they
could, and were trying to put up some dazzling displays.

Bi Fan’s efforts were being rewarded very well, and his eyes
were glued to the contest stages, as he continued to watch the
contests with an intoxicated look on his face.

Soon, all the contests had ended, and it was finally time for
Mo Nan and Bi Fan to depart for their sets.

“Brother Mo Nan, Brother Bi Fan, you need to propel the

Quinyang Sect to new heights!” Jing Feng tried to boost their
confidence.

Mo Nan and Bi Fan nodded and gravely replied, in unison:

“Victory!”

Yan Yu Si was quite hesitant, and ultimately kept her mouth

shut, but her eyes were filled with concern for Bi Fan’s safety.

Luo Xiong had been keeping an eye of Yan Yu Si, and his heart
was furious with envy upon seeing the manner in which Yan Yu
Si was looking at Bi Fan.

However, Lou Xiong didn’t reveal his anger, and managed to

conceal it quite well.

Ling Xin Ya was convinced of Bi Fan’s victory, and didn’t feel

the need to give him any further instructions.

Bi Fan and Mo Nan clenched their fists, and their body

language was reeking of confidence. They left the Quinyang
Sect’s area together, and walked out towards the reporting
point, shoulder to shoulder.
 As Bi Fan reached closer to Stage three, his designated contest
stage, he finally got a look at his three opponents.

Out of the three men who in the same group as him, one man
belonged to the Wu Ji Sect. On top of that, he was quite strong
as well, and had already reached the mid-point of the
‘transformation’ layer. His name is Xuan Liu Ge.

The other two were quite average in strength, and were only
inside the ‘Enormous strength’ layer.

Bi Fan wasn’t supposed to fight Xuan Liu Ge in the first round,

but was quite likely to face him in the second one.

Although they hadn’t yet embarked on the stage yet, the

audience could sense that they were about to witness another
sparkling contest later, since they knew that the two men were
from rivalling sects.

“Boy, you’re having a bad day, because you’ve met me today,

and I’m going to thrash you, up and down, that stage later on.”
Xuan Liu Ge stated in a cold manner.
 Bi Fan’s reply was quite dull sounding: “Why do the Wu Ji
Sect guys always brag so much? Didn’t you see what Brother Ji
Ying Lan did to your friend, what makes you …..”

“Well, Cao Jia Le was quite careless. If he had payed more

attention during the fight, then he’d have won. No Quinyang
Sect disciple can ever beat a Wu Ji Sect disciple.” Xuan Liu Ge
raised his head high.

“Well, only time will tell.” Bi Fan sneered.

Xuan Liu Ge turned away: “Boy, I don’t like the way you talk,
and I really hope that you make it to the next fight.”

“I’ll be there; but don’t you go around losing the first round,
alright.” Bi Fan wasn’t afraid of Xuan Liu Ge, and on the
contrary, he wanted to irritate him, since he wanted the guy to
fight as fiercely as possible.

Xuan Liu Ge was supposed to fight first, while Bi Fan and his
opponent were supposed to wait for their turn.

Now that he was standing very close to the stage, Bi Fan

would be able to view even the most minute of movements very
clearly, so naturally, he was ready to immerse himself in
watching the fights that were about to start.
 Chapter 152 – Li Qian Xun

Mo Nan’s fight was supposed to take place on the first contest

stage, in the first lot, and this group was constituted of a lot of
strong fighters, who were unknown names as of now.

The Wu Ji Sect had a very strong fighter, who was inside the
‘transformation’ layer, whereas the Tian Shui, City Sect, and
the Rising Sun Sect’s representatives weren’t very far behind
either. The Quinyang Sect obviously had Mo Nan.

Xuan Liu Ge started the fight strongly, and quickly

overwhelmed his opponent, and managed to win the fight in a
matter of minutes.

Xuan Liu Ge attacked in such a fierce fashion, that he knocked

his opponent out of the ring, injuring his opponent in the
process.

The Wu Ji Sect disciples were quite sinister, and obviously

wanted to declare their superiority over the others. Even when
they were met with weak opponents, from smaller Sects, they
would act as ruthlessly and mercilessly as possible.
 Xuan Liu Ge’s eyes were constantly glaring at Bi Fan as he
walked off the stage, almost as if he was trying to provoke Bi
Fan.

Bi Fan’s face was as calm as ever, and he completely ignored

Xuan Liu Ge.

An intermediate ‘transformation’ layer fighter wasn’t enough

to excite Bi Fan’s desires.

Bi Fan’s ultimate goal was to compete against Wu Ji Xuan, and

he wasn’t really bothering himself with the others.

Wu Ji Xuan had suppressed his practice in order to participate

in the Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon List; otherwise he would have
already broken into the ‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer by
now.

In fact, according to the rumors, Wu Ji Xuan was ready to

make the breakthrough six months ago, but didn’t, since the
Wu Ji Sect asked him to fight for their glory in the Jiu Yu
Hidden Dragon List, once again.
 Given the situation with Wu Ji Xuan, the Wu Ji Sect was quite
sure that he’d win the championship again.

Xuan Liu Ge was also quite strong, but even though he was
older than Wu Ji Xuan, he was still no match for his sect-mate.

Xuan Liu Ge was extremely furious to see that Bi Fan was

plainly ignoring him, but was forced to suppress his anger; for
now.

He expressed his desire in an undertone: “Bi Fan, boy, just you

wait; I’ll bathe that stage with your blood.”

Bi Fan knew that Xuan Liu Ge was quite furious with him, but
continued to ignore him all the same.

He was so enthralled in watching the contests, that he simply

didn’t have time for these things.

Mo Nan’s opponent wasn’t very strong, owing to which he

ended his fight quite early, post which, he returned to Bi Fan’s
side.
 He knew that Bi Fan liked to watch every contest, so he
decided against disturbing Bi Fan.

In this batch of thirty-four, there were four other

‘transformation’ layer contestants, apart from Mo Nan and
Xuan Liu Ge. Amongst these four was City Sect’s Wang Ming
Fei, who ranked seventh in the tournament three years ago.

Bi Fan was watching the fights of the best fighters, but was
also paying some attention to the other fights as well, as he
wanted to learn as many new skills as possible.

At present, he was absorbed so many new skills, that it simply

wasn’t possible for him to digest them all at once.

He wanted to infuse all these moves with ‘The Immortal

Finger’ attack, but he knew that this process was bound to take
a lot of time, and rushing it wouldn’t really help his case either.

“Brother Bi Fan, your contest is about to begin, you must

hurry.” Mo Nan stated.
 Bi Fan prepared himself, and started to make his way towards
the ring.

Bi Fan’s opponent hailed from a small Sect, and Bi Fan had

never heard of his this man before. The man, similarly, had
never heard of Bi Fan, but upon seeing Bi Fan’s strength, he
seemed quite confident of defeating Bi Fan.

Bi Fan’s expressionless face was concealing a wild desire to

fight.

Regardless of his opponent’s strength, Bi Fan was going to

very cautious, since he didn’t want to suffer an early set back.

Luo Sheng gritted his teeth as Bi Fan took the stage. But the
real hatred was pouring from the Rising Sun Sect’s dressing
area, as Jiang Sheng and Jiang Wen’s hateful eyes glared at Bi
Fan.

Jiang Sheng was the boy who had tried to rob Bi Fan on route
to the Devil’s territory entrance, and Jiang Wen is his older
brother, and the man who Bi Fan had defeated inside the Devil’s
territory during his first adventure with Blue Dragon and Jing
Feng.
 “Dear friends, listen carefully: the man on stage three, Bi Fan,
is very strong. Do not get confused by his surface strength.”
Jiang Wen cautioned his team mates.

Since his defeat at the hands of Bi Fan, inside the Devil’s

territory, Jiang Wen had started taking a darker path of
training, since he wanted to increase his strength and wanted to
beat Jing Feng, Bi Fan and the others who were participating in
the Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon contest, and wished to shock
everyone by winning the tournament this time.

Jiang Wen’s momentum started to erupt, and shocked many

participants, including Jing Feng, Wu Ji Xuan, Wang Feng,
Hong Yun Tian etc.

Jing Feng was shocked: “Jiang Wen has managed to increase

his strength to such a degree in a very short time! His strength
seems to be wreaking of evil spirits… this can be very dangerous
for us.”

However, Jing Feng wasn’t scared, and on the contrary, was

quite excited. It’s difficult to find strong opponents, and he was
glad that he had spotted another one.
 Wu Ji Xuan’s face was as calm as a deadpan, and it was hard to
guess his thoughts.

Wang Feng was looking very sharply at Jiang Wen, and it

seemed like he was quite eager to fight Jiang Wen.

The same could be said for Hong Yun Tian, since she too
didn’t seem to be afraid of strong competition.

Inside the Ba Gua Sect’s dressing area, sat a thin and lean boy,
and his entire body had started to tremble at this point.

“Child, are you okay?” A concerned voice enquired.

“Yes, Grandpa, I’m fine. I really want to fight against the

strong guys, like this one.” The emaciated juvenile replied in a
cold tone.

His name is Li Qian Xun, and he has risen through the Ba Gua
Sect’s ranks very recently. Although little was known about
him, he was expected to be quite strong.
 Li Qian Xun wasn’t just strong, but was also quite ambitious.
He wanted to acquire the first place in the Jiu Yu Hidden
Dragon List, in order to help the Ba Gua Sect overwhelm the
Quinyang Sect, so they could establish themselves as a top-five
force.

Bi Fan felt the sudden surge in energy, which was coming

from Jiang Wen, but since his contest was about to start soon,
he didn’t bother to look around for its source.

Bi Fan intended on finishing the fight as quickly as possible,

so he could observe the other fights.

Bi Fan’s opponent was out of luck, and was thrown out of the
ring in just three punches.

The manner in which the man lost to Bi Fan, bewildered

everyone, including the contestants on the other stages.

Bi Fan had used the most basic of moves, the ‘Wan Zu’ Boxing,
against a man who was wielding a sword, and had managed to
finish the fight with exceptional ease.
 The man’s strength was lesser than Bi Fan’s visible strength,
but the gap wasn’t even remotely enough to justify this sort of
an outcome.

“Brother Bi Fan isn’t holding back this time, ah!” Mo Nan

tried to shake off the shock.

The leading figures of the Jiu Yu City’s Sects had witnessed

the manner in which Bi Fan had won his fight, and everyone
had already started paying close attention to him. Even the
referees and the judges couldn’t help but take notice of his
display.

Wu Ji Xuan spoke: “Quinyang Sect’s Bi Fan is good; I must be

careful against him.”

Even Xuan Liu Ge was beginning to take Bi Fan very seriously

now, and Bi Fan’s use of a simple method like the ‘Wan Zu’
boxing to end a fight in just three strikes was beginning to cause
a sensation inside the arena.

Jiang Wen’s eyes were gleaming with splendor, as he stated in

an undertone: “Bi Fan’s strength seems to have increase quite a
lot, and it appears that the championship has one more serious
contender.”

“Brother, you have to avenge me by killing Bi Fan.” Jiang

Sheng said.

Jiang Sheng was frightened by the manner in which Bi Fan’s

strength had increased.

Jiang Wen wasn’t paying any attention to his younger

brother, since his mind had already started contemplating
means of killing Bi Fan in front of everyone.

Bi Fan was quite strong, which meant that killing him

wouldn’t be very easy, especially due to the presence of a
referee.

Jiang Wen was already getting a headache, since was afraid

that Bi Fan would catch up to him in due course of time. Bi Fan’s
talent was a very rare thing in the Jiu Yu City, and he didn’t
want such competition.

Bi Fan hurriedly stepped off the stage, post his victory.

 At this time, most of the fights were still continuing, and Bi
Fan had plenty of time to memorize the skills on display.

As he continued to memorize more and more skills, his heart

started to brim with happiness. He had even started imagining
the look on the faces of his opponents, if he decided to beat
them using their own skills.

With the fusion of ‘The Immortal Finger’, he could increase

the power output of any skill, but the skill would still appear
very similar to its original style.

If Bi Fan was to integrate ‘The Immortal Finger’ into the Yin

Yang Shield, then the eyeballs of the Wu Ji Sect disciples would
surely drop to the floor.

However, Bi Fan knew that he wouldn’t be able to implement

this desire of his, since integrating these new skills would take a
lot of time, and he’d have to undertake several failed
experiments before finding success.

Soon, all the contests ended, and Bi Fan and Mo Nan returned
to their seats.
 “Brother Bi Fan, Brother Mo Nan, congratulations on your
victory!” Jing Feng smiled.

Luo Sheng stated in a cold voice: “If they had lost to such
weaklings, then they would have been a complete disgrace to
the Sect’s name.”

“Luo Sheng, you’re up soon, let’s see how much honor you
bring to the Quinyang Sect.” Jing Feng smiled.

As for Bi Fan and Mo Nan, they felt like making a meal out of
Luo Sheng, but had to make-do with just glaring at him.

If it weren’t for Luo Xiao Tian’s presence, they certainly

would have put his mouth in its place by now.

“Well! At least I won’t be the one to bring disgrace to our

Sect.” Luo Sheng replied loudly.

“I’ll be looking forward to your display then.” Jing Feng

smiled again.
 Luo Xiao Tian spoke in an authoritative manner: “Do not
quarrel.”

“We are in the presence of outsiders right now, at least show

some unanimity. You mustn’t make a joke out of the Quinyang
Sect’s reputation; are your personal indifferences so important
huh?” Ling Xin Ya scolded.

Ling Xin Ya’s words were directed at Mo Nan, Jing Feng and
Bi Fan, and the trio lowered their heads.
 Chapter 153 – Ba Gua’s Universe Blade

As the next set was announced, Luo Sheng and Wang Yun Fei
started preparing to exit the Quinyang Sect’s seating area.

Both youngsters were inside the ‘transformation’ layer, and

both were considered to be top-figures in the Quinyang Sect.

Once they reached the reporting area, they found out about
their respective opponents.

Luo Sheng’s face became very ugly the moment he met his
opponent.

As it turns out, Luo Sheng was supposed to be facing Jiang

Wen, which clearly explained the dejected look on his face.

Wang Yun Fei was relatively luckier, and was faced with an
‘Enormous strength’ layer opponent, and his face exposed a
pleased smile.

Jiang Wen finished second in the Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon List

three years ago, and is considered to be at par with Jing Feng, if
not stronger. Luo Sheng didn’t have the slightest chance of
winning this fight.

This batch of sixty eight was quite strong in its composition,

since City Sect’s Wang Feng and Ba Gua’s Li Qian Xun were also
a part of it.

As they all took their respective rings, a pale look overtook

Lou Sheng’s face, since he was now directly confronted with
Jiang Wen.

“Boy, I advise that you concede your defeat immediately, and

spare yourself the suffering.” Jiang Wen laughed.

Jiang Wen had always been very arrogant, and Luo Sheng was
quite angered upon getting a taste of his own medicine.

Luo Sheng didn’t want to concede his defeat without making

an attempt, since he wouldn’t be able to face Luo Xiong later if
he did so.

“If you think that I’ll admit my defeat that easily, then you’re
dreaming. If you’ve got what it takes, then come and fight me.”
Luo Sheng replied loudly.

“Now you’re asking for it!”

Jiang Wen cast out ‘The Rising Sun’ move, and his sword
dazzled like the rays of the Sun as he charged for Luo Sheng.

Luo Sheng’s momentum wasn’t enough to stand his ground

for long, and as Jiang Wen started to increase the force of his
attacks, Luo Sheng was left with no alternate but to retreat, and
wasn’t even able to retaliate.

“Jiang Wen’s strength has enhanced a lot, it seems like

winning the Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon List will be even more
difficult this time around.” Jing Feng gasped in a surprise.

Compared to the time when Jiang Wen had fought Bi Fan, his
strength seemed to have increased a lot, and even though he
was casting out the same moves, the power output was several
times higher.

Jiang Wen kept increasing the momentum slowly and

steadily, and Luo Sheng’s clothes were beginning to suffer the
wrath of his blade.

Luo Xiao Tian and Luo Xiong were obviously quite worried
about Luo Sheng’s safety, and even though they opened their
mouth several times, in order to shout out to Luo Sheng to
concede the fight, they simply couldn’t find the courage to say
the words.

“Aaarghhh!” Luo Sheng suddenly roared and charged right

back at Jiang Wen, using the ‘Floating Sword’ skill in a
desperate attempt to regain a foothold in the fight.

For a brief moment, Jiang Wen’s shining display was clouded

by Luo Sheng’s comeback, but Jiang Wen was able to block off
the attack.

“Boy, you’ll get some points for that attempt.”

Jiang Wen immediately launched a counter attack, and even

though he cast out the same skill again, he increased the power
output, and Luo Sheng was forced to retreat once more.
 Jiang Wen started swinging his sword wildly, and blood
started to flow from Luo Sheng’s body.

“I give up!” Luo Sheng had sustained a few injuries in quick

succession, and promptly admitted his defeat at this point.

“The Quinyang Sect is so useless.” Jiang Wen intentionally

said this out loud.

“Damn it, Jiang Wen is such an arrogant snob!” Jing Feng was
furious: “If I run into him, I’ll give him a solid thrashing.”

“Let him gloat for a while, anyway, we’ll have our chance
later, and then we can teach him a lesson.” Bi Fan said lightly
manner.

Luo Sheng and Wang Yun Fei descended their respective rings
roughly at the same time, and while Luo Sheng was felling
embarrassed about losing his fight, Wang Yun Fei was smiling
after notching his first victory for the tournament.

Luo Sheng was endlessly lamenting his luck, and his teeth
were making a banging sound.
 City Sect’s Wang Feng managed to win his fight quite easily,
and didn’t even expose his real strength while doing so.

Li Qian Xun’s opponent was also a ‘transformation’ layer

martial artist, and the two of them were still engaged in a fierce
battle.

Li Qian Xun was using Ba Gua Sect’s trade mark style, the
‘Universe Blade’, and his exquisite display made it appear as if
his weapon was made of shadows. It was awfully difficult to
spot his blade due to the sheer speed of his attacks.

Li Qian Xun’s attacks were bringing a gale of winds along with

them, and it would seem that there was no need for him to
make contact with his blade, since the winds seemed sharp
enough to injure a man.

Li Qian Xun was using a large single-edged golden blade,

which closely resembled a nine ring broadsword. The weapon
was almost as tall as Li Qian Xun in height, and was very thick
and wide in make, and must be astonishingly heavy in weight.
 However, it appeared as if the weapon was weightless, since Li
Qian Xun was waving it around effortlessly.

Li Qian Xun was swinging the blade around without any

difficulty and at an amazing speed at that, which clearly
exhibited his exceptional physical strength.

“Amazing force, it seems that Li Qian Xun is overbearingly

powerful in physical terms.” Blue Dragon was quite surprised.

Bi Fan was thinking the exact same thing, and his eyes were
reflecting a fervent desire to fight against the youngster. At this
point, Bi Fan wasn’t even paying any attention to the other
fights, and was very carefully studying Li Qian Xun’s
movements.

“He will make a formidable opponent; it seems that I

shouldn’t be looking down on the competition here.” Bi Fan
thought to himself.

Bi Fan and Blue Dragon had always focused on their physical

practice, and could tell that Li Qian Xun’s physical strength was
at par with Blue Dragon’s.
 Li Qian Xun’s opponent was fairly strong in his own merit,
but was still unable to fight back.

Li Qian Xun continued to launch one wave after the other, and
each one was more violent than the previous.

“Bang bang…..” a series of quick and powerful attacks helped

Li Qian Xun gain the upper hand in a matter of moments.

“Boom!” Li Qian Xun sent his opponents weapon flying

outside the ring, and rested his blade on the neck of his
opponent.

“You lose!” Li Qian Xun’s tone was extremely cold, and it

appeared as if words were made of ice, while his eyes were filled
with a murderous spirit.

“I give up; please don’t kill me…..” Li Qing Xun’s opponent

knelt to the ground, while his eyes were full of fear.

Mo Nan said: “This guy is very strong, and it appears as if he is

even stronger than Jing Feng and me; only Brother Bi Fan
might be capable of beating him.”
 “Strength may not necessarily be enough to win a fight, but
this guy is really going to be a handful.” Jing Feng sighed: “But
the most critical thing here is that we don’t know anything
about him, so he’s definitely come up in the last three years
only.”

“This man isn’t just strong, but his sword play is also quite
skillful. If you run into him, then you will have a very difficult
time in coping up with him.” Ling Xin Ya stated.

Mo Nan could see the respect that Ling Xin Ya had for this
man, which was evidently visible in his eyes, and Mo Nan was
already beginning to consider Li Qian Xun as an enemy.

“The competition is very tough this time around, and it’s

going to be very difficult to stand out in the Jiu Yu Hidden
Dragon List this time.” Ji Ying Lan stated in a depressed tone.

It goes without saying that Ji Ying Lan wanted to make a

name for himself, and wanted to show case the amount of
research that he had done on the ‘Fufeng Double-edged sword’
technique.
 First he was defeated by Bi Fan in the Quinyang Sect’s
disciple’s tournament, and now he was faced with such heavy
competition here as well; he was already beginning to lose the
desire to fight.

“Brother Ji Ying Lan, your strength may not be at par with

him, but you’re exceptionally skilled, if you strive hard, you
may have a chance of victory.” Jing Feng tried to cheer him up.

In fact, Ji Ying Lan had never known why, but he had always
carried some doubts about his own competence.

This Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon List’s participants were a lot

stronger than the previous time’s, since there were only a very
few strong contenders in the last tournament.

In fact, this tournament was very different from, at least, the

last ten tournaments, and a lot of new, very strong, fighters had
emerged in time to take part in this event.

Li Qian Xun, Bi Fan and Blue Dragon were all being regarded
as the dark horses. The inclusion of so many such strong
fighters in a single event was practically unheard of in the
previous tournaments.
 With so many powerful contenders, it would be very hard for
any man to establish a clear superiority.

At the set came to an end, the tournament’s proceedings were

halted for a lunch break.

The contest was temporarily stopped, since it was time for

everyone to take a break, and eat something.

Arranging food for over two hundred thousand people isn’t an

easy job, and the City Sect had arranged for a very simple meal,
but there was plenty for everyone to eat.

The food that was served in the private seating areas was
much better, and even though the food was still quite simple,
the dressing rooms were additionally served fruits and tea, as
the City Sect demonstrated its wealth.

In reality, no one was bothered about the food, since everyone

was very excited to watch the rest of the tournament.
 The contest had only proceeded to its half way point for the
day, and a lot more was to come after the lunch break.

If the contests so far were an indication of what’s to come

next, then the tournament was likely to get very exciting in the
later stages.
 Chapter 154 – Yan Yu Si’s Jealousy

The lunch break was one hour long, and once everyone was
done with their meal, they started discussing the tournament.

“The contest has been very exciting so far, Eastern

Aristocracy’s Blue Dragon, Ba Gua’s Li Qian Xun and Rising
Sun’s Gu Da Tong have all come up as dark horses for this
tournament’s title. Of course, our Quinyang Sect also has one
underdog in young Bi Fan.” Lin Qing Ya said with a smile.

“Senior sister, I think that young Bi Fan is the best amongst

these guys.” A disciple stated.

This disciple was an outer disciple, same as Bi Fan, but had

been a part of the Sect for longer than Bi Fan. Since Bi Fan was
his junior in terms of the time that he had spent in the Sect, he
would only refer to Bi Fan as ‘young’, like most others.

If Bi Fan were to enter the ‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer,

then these people would start addressing him as ‘Brother’, or
‘Senior’.
 In this world, no matter which Sect a person belongs to,
respect can only be earned by demonstrating strength.

“Quinyang Sect’s title hopes rest on Brother Bi Fan, so he

obviously has to be the best in every group.” Jing Feng smiled.

Not even Jing Feng was capable of defeating Bi Fan, and Bi

Fan was already considered the Sect’s foremost runner for the
title.

Bi Fan could suddenly feel the pressure of responsibility on his

shoulders; power always tends to bring a burden of
responsibility with it.

Bi Fan suddenly sat up straight, and felt like he was a different

person altogether now.

There was a time when he would have to suffer endless

bullying, and he would have never even imagined that so many
people would be expecting so much from him one day.

The lunch break ended and the contest resumed.

 It was Jing Feng’s turn to play now, and he strode to his stage,
ready to notch a quick victory.

Jing Feng was scheduled to fight in the second lot, and his
opponent wasn’t strong enough to compete against him.

This set of sixty-eight, however, had many strong contenders

in it. The strongest amongst this lot were Wu Ji Sect’s Wu Ji
Xuan, Jing Feng, and Tian Shui’s Hong Yun Tian, but they
weren’t assigned the same group.

All three of them finished in the top five in the last Jiu Yu
Hidden Dragon List, and even if two of them were assigned to
the same group, then at least one would definitely have to face
an early elimination, and that person would definitely have felt
hard-done by the contest rules.

Fortunately that didn’t happen, and these showdowns were

reserved for the later part of the contest.

Bi Fan prepared to watch the contest again, and started

concentrating his attention on the fights.
 Wu Ji Xuan was set to participate in the first wave, and Bi Fan
really wanted to see him in action, since he was so highly rated
by everyone.

Wu Ji Xuan’s tall build, angular face, and sharp eyes exuded

an aura of domination.

“Wu Ji Xuan is regarded as one of the finest talents in this

world, even outside the Jiu Yu City.” Yan Yu Si praised.

Both Bi Fan and Luo Xiong were quite jealous of Wu Ji Xuan

all of a sudden, since Yan Yu Si held him in such high regards.

“Wu Ji Xuan, I have to beat you!” Bi Fan had already made up

his mind now.

Wu Ji Xuan started to release his momentum, as he took to

the stage, and his opponent was already gasping for air.

The man tried to open his mouth several times, and

eventually succeeded in saying the words: “I give up.”
 Then, he frantically stumbled down the contest stage.

Bi Fan really wanted to see Wu Ji Xuan in action, but his

aspirations had been dashed until the next round.

Wu Ji Xuan’s face had been expressionless from the start to

the end, and it would seem that it wasn’t unusual for his
opponents to give up without even putting up a fight against
him.

“Wu Ji Xuan! Wu Ji Xuan!….”

“Wu Ji Xuan!…. I love you….”

Wu Ji Xuan’s name was being chanted out quite loudly, since

a lot of people had showed up to cheer for him.

In addition to this, Wu Ji Xuan also seemed quite popular

with them women, and Jing Feng finally had some competition
in that respect.

As Wu Ji Xuan descended down the stage, his eyes met Jing

Feng’s, and their momentum started to rise.

As soon as this happened, the people who were standing

around them scattered away, out of fear.

“Jing Feng, you were no match for me three years ago, and
now, you’re even less of a competition.” Wu Ji Xuan was very
calm, and it appeared as if was addressing someone else entirely.

“Yes, well, even if I’m not enough to match you, I’ll still do
my best to beat you.” Jing Feng replied.

Jing Feng’s eyes were full of desire, since he really wished to

fight against Wu Ji Xuan, even if he was likely to lose the battle.

Hong Yun Xian didn’t encounter a tough opponent either, and

quickly finished his fight as well.

The Tian Shui Sect and the Quinyang Sect were on good
terms, and Hong Yun Tian came over to Jing Feng for a chat.

Soon enough, the second round started, and Jing Feng strode
on to the stage.

Jing Feng’s opponent was certainly having a run of bad luck,

since he met an infuriated Jing Feng in the first round itself.

“Hegemon Pike – Rushing Thunder!” Jing Feng unleashed the

thunderous waves.

His opponent was in no position to make a stand, and

conceded the fight since his weapon went flying out of the ring
in the first wave of attacks itself.

“Jing Feng! Jing Feng! You’re so handsome! … Jing Feng! I

love you…..”

“Jing Feng, you’re awesome! Come on!….”

Jing Feng was being cheered by a lot of people as well, mostly

women though. Jing Feng’s charm truly had no boundaries.

“Brother Jing Feng is so well received everywhere!” Bi Fan

stated in envy.
 Yan Yu Si commented in a cold tone: “Don’t envy him so
much, you don’t think that you can grow into a handsome
young man one day?”

Bi Fan scratched his forehead, puzzled, and couldn’t

understand if he had offended Yan Yu Si in some manner.

He simply couldn’t understand what was going on inside the

woman’s mind.

Luo Xiong was quite furious to see the manner in which Yan
Yu Si had reacted to Bi Fan’s comment, and was even more
jealous of Bi Fan now.

Even though Luo Xiong managed to exercise his practiced

patience again, he simply couldn’t stop his face from turning
red.

Yan Yu Si suddenly realized that she had neglected her

manners, and was quite embarrassed. The blush on her face
made her look even more adorable and beautiful.
 The male disciples who were sitting around her simply
couldn’t help but gape in awe, and even Luo Xiao Tian and Ling
Xin Ya started eye balling the two of them now.

Bi Fan was so taken by her comment that he completely forgot

about the tournament.

It was while before Bi Fan snapped out of it, and he quickly

turned his attention to the tournament.

At this point, his heart was beating so fast, that it was quite
hard for him to concentrate on the tournament’s fights.

Yan Yu Si was accustomed to being in the limelight, but had

never felt the pressure of it until now.

It took a while for Bi Fan to calm down, and in the meanwhile,

Jing Feng had already returned to the seating area.

“Brother Jing Feng, you’re really powerful! When will I be

able to reach your strength?” An outer disciple named Du Fan
asked in an almost worship-like manner.
 Du Fan is considered to be an excellent young prospect in the
Quinyang Sect, and was allowed to accompany the delegation to
gain some experience from the contest.

“Just keep practicing hard, and one day, you’ll get there.”
Jing Feng smiled.

The Quinyang Sect was somewhat low on man-power, and

wasn’t able to compete with the Wu Ji Sect in that respect. In
fact, even the Ba Gua Sect was already ahead of the Quinyang
Sect in that matter.

When it came to ‘transformation’ layer martial artists, the Ba

Gua Sect had a higher number inside the ranks than the
Quinyang Sect did.

For this reason, the Quinyang Sect had started taking their
young generation very seriously, and had allowed a few talented
youngsters like Du Fan to travel along with the participants.

As the contest continued, many more strong fighters emerged

from various different Sects, as the contest continued to excite
the crowd.
 The last tournament’s top ten had all won their fights with
ease, and seemed ready to challenge for the title again.

Ba Gua Sect’s Chen Kang, Rising Sun Sect’s Tang Tian Feng,
City Sect’s Tan Guang Cheng, Tian Shui Sect’s Ma De Biao, and
Wu Ji Sect’s Xuan Yuan Feng were relatively unknown names
until now, but their strong performances demonstrated the
prominence of their challenge.

These people were quite strong, and could be considered at

par with the likes of Mo Nan, and were being expected to make a
strong challenge for the top ten ranks.

The contest was definitely going to get very intense in the

rounds that lay ahead, and people like Mo Nan, Bi Fan, Jing
Feng and Blue Dragon seemed quite excited but the thought of
it.

Winning and losing is important; but growing and gaining

experience, is even more so.

The contest came to a close for the day, and everyone was
convinced that the next day was going to be even more exciting.
 Chapter 155 – The Yin Yang Sword

The Quinyang Sect delegation left the Arena, and Lou Xiao
Tian led them back to the hotel.

The contest was scheduled to be conducted over several

successive days, so it was important for the participants to be
fully energized at all times, and they decided against any more
sightseeing for the time being.

As soon as they returned to the hotel, Bi Fan started becoming

very impatient, since he wanted to go back to his room.

“Don’t call me for dinner; I want to take some rest.”

Then, Bi Fan’s silhouette quickly disappeared between the

stairs.

Jing Feng called after him loudly: “Brother Bi Fan, what on

earth are you so anxious about?”

Bi Fan didn’t even answer him; as he was too busy trying to

reach the fourth floor as quickly as possible.

“Brother Bi Fan is so devoted to his practice that he doesn’t

even care about food and sleep; it’s no surprise that he’s
progressing so fast.” Mo Nan praised.

Ling Xin Ya was also smiling.

Luo Xiao Tian and his two grandsons were wearing a very
gloomy look on their faces since Luo Sheng had been eliminated
in the first round itself, while their eyes continued to flicker
from one point to the other, as they were trying to avoid eye
contact with anyone.

As soon as he reached his room, Bi Fan started replaying the

fights in his mind.

All those fights were being replayed in his mind like a movie.

It was important for him to replay the memories to make

them establish a deeper impression on his mind; otherwise they
were likely to fade away in time.
 Since Bi Fan didn’t have enough time to figure out all the
moves right now, he decided to concentrate on the martial skills
of the strongest fighters, and started playing them over and
over again in the hope of finding their flaws.

Li Qian Xun’s ‘Ba Gua universe blade’, especially, was so

powerful and fast, that it wouldn’t be easy for Bi Fan to face him
in battle without prior preparation.

On top of that, Li Qian Xun also had a fair amount of physical

strength of his own, which would only add to his overall threat.

Bi Fan played Li Qian Xun’s moves over and over again, since
he was trying to slowly break each movement down, in the hope
of finding its weaknesses.

No skill is perfect, and as long as one is persistence, and has an

eye for detail, it’s possible to find flaws in anything.

Once this task was finished, Bi Fan started his practice.

The contest was going to be conducted over several days in

succession, so it was very important for him to keep his body in
shape at all times.

The night passed quickly, and the morning sun marked the
dawn of a new day.

Bi Fan quickly finished his exercises, and quickly went

downstairs.

Jing Feng smiled: “Brother Bi Fan, don’t be too hard on

yourself, you mustn’t skip dinner like that ah.”

“There was something that needed urgent attention, and I just

couldn’t delay it. I won’t die if I don’t eat my meal one day.” Bi
Fan stated.

Bi Fan had picked up a lot of new things during the day, and it
was very important for him to replay them all in his head once,
otherwise he’d forget them over time, which is why he didn’t
have an option, but to skip his meals and deprive himself of
sleep.

Bi Fan’s memory was extraordinary, yet he didn’t want

anyone to know about it.

Bi Fan was already quite unpopular with Luo Xiao Tian and
his grandsons, and if they found out that Bi Fan also had such a
talent, then they were quite unlikely to rest in peace.

The key to becoming a success has a lot to do with the

transition timing between a low-key and high-key profile.

A lot more people had showed up to watch the second day of

the tournament, owing to the spectacular start of the
tournament.

But, the contest arena wasn’t big enough to accommodate so

many people at once, which is why many people were refused
entry into the arena, and were asked to try again the next day.

By the time the Quinyang Sect arrived at the venue, all the
spectators had already taken their seats, while the ones who
hadn’t been able to purchase the tickets were departing
disheartened.

The City Sect’s arena hosted all the three lists of the Jiu Yu
City, and the revenue received from the ticket sales were theirs
to keep. The City Sect made a lot of money from the ticket sales
during these tournaments.

The Wu Ji Sect has been trying to remove the royalty from its
position, since they are the supporting power behind the City
Sect, but they aren’t powerful enough to do so, and their
attempts have been largely unsuccessful thus far.

“How much money does the City Sect make in one day from
these ticket sales?” Jing Feng asked out of curiosity, since the
stadium was jam-packed for today’s tournament.

Ling Xin Ya smiled: “It isn’t much I think, but I’d say about
one million a day.”

“One million spars!” mouths were hanging open in shock.

One million a day, for over a month, amounts to around thirty

million in a month, which meant that these tournaments were
simply a money making machine for the City Sect.

The ticket sales, however, were only a very small part of the
total revenue, and the real money comes from the boom that
these tournaments bring to the local businesses.

The royalty manages the entire Jiu Yu City, and gets to charge
a tax from the all the shops and businesses in the area. The
revenue increase of the local economy during the time of the
contest ends up making a fortune for them.

The Wu Ji Sect wanted to remove the City’s royalty from its

power since they wished to acquire the rights to collect these
taxes.

If the Wu Ji Sect was allowed to collect these taxes, then they

would become a major power in the world of martial arts in a
very short period of time.

On the other hand, the City Sect and the city’s royalty were
doing everything within their power to maintain their position.

By the time they reached their seating area, the fruits and the
tea were already in place for their leisure.

Since there was still some time till the start of the contest, the
disciples started forming small groups and started chatting.

“Brother Bi Fan, today you will face Wu Ji Sect’s Xuan Liu Ge,
and you must beat him for the prestige of the Quinyang Sect.”
Mo Nan said in an excited manner.

“Of course, I will not allow a Wu Ji Sect disciple to use me as a

stepping stone.” Bi Fan clenched his fists.

Jing Feng laughed: “Brother Bi Fan is our Sect’s trump card,

and when the time comes, the whole city will know that the real
genius of the tournament belongs to the Quinyang Sect.”

“If we continue to work as one, then we’ll send those wild

wolves back to their caves.” Bi Fan stated.

“Good! Let’s send them packing!” Someone echoed Bi Fan’s

statement, and everyone burst into laughter.

Yan Yu Si could see that Bi Fan was slowly gaining popularity

in the Sect, and her heart was at a relative ease now, and she
was beginning to look at Bi Fan in a warmer and gentler
manner.
 The contest began soon, and today’s fights were to be
contested amongst the winners of yesterday’s bouts, so
naturally the contest was turning out to be a very exciting one.

Bi Fan had no time for distractions and was focused on

learning new skills.

Bi Fan didn’t care about the result of these fights, and was
focusing his attention solely on the skills in play.

By the time it was his chance to play the round, he was

already ready, and left the seating area fully prepared for the
fight.

In this round, Bi Fan was scheduled to face Wu Ji Sect’s Xuan

Liu Ge, who was an intermediate ‘transformation’ layer martial
artist.

The Wu Ji Sect was trying to help to the Ba Gua Sect, so

naturally they would do their best to suppress the Quinyang
Sect.
 The Jiu Yu Lists provided an excellent opportunity for them
to do just that, and the Wu Ji Sect disciples had strict orders to
defeat any Quinyang Sect disciples that they might face in the
tournament.

Even though Bi Fan hadn’t yet reached the ‘transformation’

layer, Xuan Liu Ge was still taking him very seriously.

“Boy, yesterday I told you something, and you offended me

with your reply, so today I’m going to send you crawling outside
this ring.” Xuan Liu Ge threatened in a cold manner.

“Oh, you’re right about one of us crawling out of the ring

today, but I’m not so sure if it’s going to be me.” Bi Fan laughed.

Bi Fan’s perky reply was enough to infuriate the man further,

since he felt quite disgraced by it.

“Boy, now you’re courting your death!”

As soon as the referee announced the start of the fight, Xuan

Liu Ge stormed towards Bi Fan in an outraged state of mind.
 “Yin Yang Sword!” Xuan Liu Ge cast out another trade mark
technique of the Wu Ji Sect.

The Wu Ji Sect disciples had two major skills in their arsenal,

and were asked to pay a lot of attention to these two skills. The
first one was the ‘Tai Chi Sword’, and the second was the ‘Yin
Yang Sword’. The former was for defense, while the latter was
used mainly to attack.

Both styles were very good, and owing to the amount of

importance their disciples attached to the practice of these
skills, the power outputs were quite formidable as well.

Bi Fan had never seen this skill before, so he was obviously

quite happy.

Initially, Bi Fan was intending on finishing this fight quickly,

but now he decided to change his tactic, and began
concentrating on defending.

This was a rare opportunity and Bi Fan obviously wanted to

get a glimpse of the full set of moves of the skill set.
 The ‘Yin Yang sword’ was a very fast and powerful attack, and
had its own range of pros and cons.

Bi Fan was constantly dodging the attacks, and it appeared as

if we barely able to avoid his opponent’s blade, and most people
were beginning to think that he was having a tough time.

“What’s going on? How is Brother Bi Fan being suppressed

this easily?” Mo Nan was completely puzzled.

The Quinyang Sect disciples had seen Bi Fan in action in the

disciple’s tournament, and knew that he was far stronger than
his opponent, which is why they simply couldn’t imagine him
having a difficult time in this situation.

But at the moment, Bi Fan was being pushed around the ring,
and the Quinyang Sect people simply couldn’t comprehend it.

“Not so powerful now that he’s met a Wu Ji Sect disciple

huh….” Luo Sheng stated in a cold voice.

Jing Feng glared at Lou Sheng as he spoke in reply: “Brother

Bi Fan will certainly emerge victorious in the end.”
 Chapter 156 – The Tao Bao Complex

‘The Yin Yang Sword’ attack had created a network of sword

blades, which was covering the entire stage now.

Bi Fan was trying to find room to survive inside the gaps of

this network of blades, and if weren’t for the sky-blue suit
which he had received from Yu Qing Yang, then he might have
injured himself.

Bi Fan started using ‘The dance of mist’ footwork, and it

appeared as if was dancing now, since he had started twisting
and turning his body, as he continued to dodge Xuan Liu Ge’s
attacks.

Meanwhile, Bi Fan was also watching Xuan Liu Ge’s

movements very carefully, and was trying to memorize them by
heart.

“Boy, where’s your arrogance now, huh?”

Xuan Liu Ge started casting out the most powerful form of

‘The Yin Yang Sword’ attack, and the network became even
denser, making it very hard for Bi Fan to evade his attacks.

Bi Fan realized that Xuan Liu Ge had already cast out the best
of his skills, and decided to launch a counter attack.

“The Flying Willow! A Thousand Willow Needles!”

Bi Fan employed the strongest two forms of the ‘Fufeng

Double-edged Sword’, along with the changes that he had made
to the skills.

Numerous blades charged out, and collided with Xuan Liu

Ge’s sword network.

“Bang Bang Bang Bang…..” the swords collided giving rise to

loud sounds, and the network that Xuan Liu Ge had created
gradually dissipated.

Even Xuan Liu Ge’s attack was neutralized, Bi Fan’s attack

hadn’t yet faded out, and his attacks started landing on Xuan
Liu Ge’s body.
 Xuan Liu Ge had been focusing his entire attention on
attacking, and wasn’t even slightly prepared to defend, since he
hadn’t expected Bi Fan to launch such a sharp and sudden
counter attack.

Xuan Liu Ge’s face started going pale, since he had sustained
several injuries in a matter of seconds.

Bi Fan’s sword was constantly swirling around, and his blade

was beginning to harass Xuan Liu Ge now.

Xuan Liu Ge knew that he’ll injure himself very seriously if he

wasn’t careful, and quickly cast out the ‘Tai Chi Sword’ to
defend, since he didn’t want to give up yet.

Bi Fan’s agility was at its pinnacle, and it appeared as if Bi

Fan’s silhouette was completely surrounding Xuan Liu Ge’s
body.

Bi Fan was constantly attacking Xuan Liu Ge, and even though
his sword was piercing every gap in his opponent’s defense, its
effect wasn’t visible since Xuan Liu Ge hadn’t sustained any new
injuries.
 Jing Feng was completely bewildered: “Brother Bi Fan is
clearly more powerful, and but I don’t get this…. He could have
beaten Xuan Liu Ge several times in the last minute itself, but
then why hasn’t he done it yet?”

“Because he wants to humiliate Xuan Liu Ge.” Yan Yu Si said

lightly.

Her beautiful eyes were constantly following Bi Fan’s every

movement, and the gleam in her eyes was clearly expressing the
joy of her heart.

“If Bi Fan continues to grow at this rate, then he’ll be capable

of becoming the backbone of the Quinyang Sect soon.” Yan Yu
Si was in a very cheerful mood at the moment.

“Ah!” Xuan Liu Ge suddenly uttered a scream.

“Haha….” The spectators in the stadium broke into laughter.

As it turns out, Bi Fan’s attacks were constantly being aimed

at Xuan Liu Ge’s clothing, and now, Xuan Liu Ge had been
stripped of his shirt, and was standing on the stage half naked.
 “I give up…..” Xuan Liu Ge’s words were filled with complain,
while eyes were wishing Bi Fan dead.

What Bi Fan had done, was worse than death for him.

On top of that, Xuan Liu Ge was a Wu Ji Sect disciple, and was

stronger than Bi Fan on the surface, so naturally, being stripped
half-naked in front of over two hundred thousand people was a
very shameful thing for him.

Xuan Liu Ge wasn’t the only one who had been ashamed, the
entire Wu Ji Sect was feeling the disgrace, and the eyes of their
disciples were red with rage, and most of them were itching to
kill Bi Fan.

Luo Xian Tian stated in a cold tone: “Bi Fan took it too far, and
has managed to anger the entire Wu Ji Sect. As the contest
progresses and we encounter more of their disciples, we are sure
to face a strong retaliation from them.”

“It doesn’t matter. The Wu Ji Sect is trying to assist the Ba

Gua Sect in replacing the Quinyang Sect, so they were already
hitting us very hard. Bi Fan’s actions have improved our
position, since now their Sect would be more careful in dealing
with the Quinyang Sect, so I’d say that Bi Fan did a good job.”
Yan Yu Si spoke up.

Luo Xiong started trembling with rage since Yan Yu Si was

always willing to defend Bi Fan, and couldn’t wait to kill Bi Fan
himself.

After winning the fight, Bi Fan didn’t boast in front of the

crowd, and slowly walked down the stage.

“I’ve never heard of this Bi Fan before, but it seems like the
Quinyang Sect’s dark horse might actually end up winning
this.”

“The Wu Ji Sect’s fights with the Quinyang Sect are definitely

going to very exciting now. On top of that, the Ba Gua Sect, the
City Sect, the Tian Shui Sect and the Rising Sun Sect also have
some very good fighters, so it looks like the contest is going to
be very intense this time.”

The more intense the tournament, the more fulfilling it would

be for the spectators.
 The manner in which Bi Fan had shamed Xuan Liu Ge had
offended many people in the Wu Ji Sect, but he had managed to
win the appraisal of the crowd, and many people were now
supporting Bi Fan for the championship.

After the contest ended, Bi Fan returned to the Quinyang

Sect’s seating area.

The atmosphere inside the seating area was quite weird, since
everyone knew that Luo Xiao Tian wasn’t happy with Bi Fan’s
actions. Luo Xiong hid his true sentiments very well, and put up
a smiling face, and even walked up to Bi Fan in order to
congratulate him.

Most of the other core disciples ignored Bi Fan, since they all
desired Yan Yu Si.

Nothing can be done about this; most of them fancied Yan Yu

Si, but had never been able to catch her eye, unlike Bi Fan did,
who now seemed very important to her, so obviously their
hearts wished him ill.
 “Brother Bi Fan, well done. Nice way to teach those arrogant
Wu Ji guys a lesson, and I hope you do the same to Wu Ji Xuan.”
Jing Feng laughed.

Luo Sheng commented in a cold voice: “It’s one thing to beat

up Xuan Liu Ge, and an entirely different matter to fight Wu Ji
Xuan.”

Bi Fan didn’t wish to bother himself with Luo Sheng, so he

completely ignored his comment. He knew that Luo Sheng
didn’t like him at all.

But Mo Nan and Jing Feng couldn’t stand it anymore and

glared at Luo Sheng coldly, but didn’t say anything to him due
to Luo Xiong’s presence.

Luo Sheng had a very cheap mouth on him, and if wasn’t for
his backer’s power, he would have definitely gotten himself
beaten up by now.

“Bi Fan, that was a good one, even though you played it a little
dirty in the end.” Lin Qing Yao said.
 Luo Jia laughed: “Young Bi Fan, you should have done more;
you should have paraded him around the stage, completely
naked.”

Bi Fan forced a smile, as he wiped the sweat off his forehead.

Luo Jia was quite literally a very devilish little woman.

Had he stripped Xuan Liu Ge completely naked on that stage,

then Xuan Liu Ge would have surely committed suicide, and it
wouldn’t be surprising if the entire Wu Ji Sect had decided to
come after Bi Fan.

As the contest proceeded, Wu Ji Xuan and Jing Feng managed

to win their fights quite comfortably.

Even though the first round was only half over after today’s
contest, the round was more or less decided now, but would
official end after the third day’s fights.

Tomorrow’s contest would be the most boring day of the

tournament, since it was very highly unlikely for someone to
miss out on the qualification after notching two straight wins.
 The contest was intentionally organized in this manner, since
it would allow the likely winners of the first round some rest.

There was a lot of free time in afternoon.

“The contest has been very exhausting so far, and you can all
have some free time in the afternoon now. But remember to
return to the Hotel by evening time, and do not go around
causing trouble in the city.” Luo Xiao Tian stated, after they had
all eaten a hearty lunch.

The Quinyang Sect wanted to broaden the horizons of its

disciples, and it wouldn’t be much use to make them spend their
days inside the Traveler’s Tavern, which is why Luo Xiao Tian
allowed them to go touring around the city.

Anyway, the Jiu Yu City was very heavily patrolled during the
hosting of these tournaments, and it was forbidden to cause any
conflicts on the streets, which meant that the streets would be
quite safe at this time.

Any breach of the city’s rules would be taken very seriously by

the administration of the tournament.
 “Awesome!” many disciples cheered as soon as Luo Xiao Tian
made the announcement.

Luo Xiong walked over to Yan Yu Si, and asked: “Miss Yan Yu
Si, would you like to accompany me to the Heavenly Dragon’s
Tao Bao complex?”

“You go ahead, I don’t want to go.” Yan Yu Si flatly refused

him.

Since his court was rebuffed again, Luo Xiong backed away,
and left with a group of other core disciples.

Soon, most of the disciples scattered into small groups and left
for a tour of the city.

Now, only Jing Feng, Mo Nan, Bi Fan etc were left, meaning
that their ten-strong group was likely to go out together again.

“Sister, take us to the Tao Bao complex, they have a huge

selection of items on sale, and we will all be able to buy some
necessary items there.” Luo Jia gently pulled at Yan Yu Si’s arm,
as she flashed her pampered look.
 The outer disciples were also looking at Yan Yu Si with a
hopeful look in their eyes.

The Tao Bao Complex is a very reputed establishment under

the Heavenly Dragon business group’s banner, and is as highly
reputed as their auction house. This shopping complex has a lot
of valuable items on sale, and anyone can buy them as long as
they can arrange the money.

Moreover, this complex prefers to keep the origination of

these items a secret, and only likes to talk about the price.

Bi Fan had heard about the Tao Bao complex, and wanted to
exchange all the items that he had obtained inside the Devil’s
Abyss for spars there. The Tao Bao complex was an ideal buyer
for his possessions, since they didn’t care about the manner in
which these items were obtained.

The Heavenly Dragon Business group was a large and reputed

establishment, and Bi Fan wouldn’t have to worry about his
safety there.
 “Bi Fan, where do you intend to go today?” Yan Yu Si asked.

“I want to go to the Tao Bao Complex, but I don’t know the

way.” Bi Fan said.

“Well, I’ll take you to the Tao Bao Complex.” Yan Yu Si

smiled.

Luo Jia pouted, as she teased: “…… Sister, you’re so biased.

When I asked you to take us to the Tao Bao complex, you simply
ignored me, and now that young Bi Fan wants to go there, you
immediately agreed.”

“Luo Jia, now you’re asking for a fight ah!” Yan Yu Si’s face
suddenly become red and she started chasing after Luo Jia to
teach her a lesson, looking very adorable and cute as she did
this.

Bi Fan’s heart started to race wildly.

“Does Miss Yan Yu Si really like me?” Bi Fan simply couldn’t

believe the idea.
 Chapter 157 – Enormous Wealth

Bi Fan’s party walked past the noisy pedestrians, who were

making a lot of noise with their chattering and giggling, while
their shadows were flickering on the busy street.

The Tao Bao complex was located in the central district of the
Jiu Yu City, and wasn’t very far away from the tournament’s
venue.

Since the contest had already ended, most of the young

disciples were moving towards the Tao Bao complex, under the
guidance of their seniors, since they all wanted to experience
this shopping area’s magnificence.

Along the way, Bi Fan saw several young disciples from

various sects, but most of them weren’t looking very hospitable,
and didn’t bother to smile back at him.

“Look, there’s a Ba Gua Sect group over there, and even Li

Qian Xun is with them.” Ji Ying Lan pointed.

Jing Feng said: “Li Qian Xun is very powerful, and you must
be very careful if you run into him. In fact, I’d say that you
should even consider conceding the fight before it starts, since
there’s a lot of hatred between our sects, and you must be aware
of his heavy weapon….”

“Yes, the Quinyang Sect has a lot of hopes from you, and it’s
very important that you grow strong someday. So, you need to
look after yourself.” Yan Yu Si added to Jing Feng’s advice.

Directly conceding a fight is a very shameful thing, even when

there’s threat to life. Even though killing other contestants is
prohibited in the contest, but since the participants are allowed
to use weapons, avoiding causalities can be a tough task
sometimes.

Each round normally ends with some injuries, especially

when hostile Sects are paired against each other, since they
sometimes try their best to eliminate hostile competition.

Bi Fan party was looking at Li Qian Xun, and Li Qian Xun felt
their gaze, which is why he turned around to look back at them.

Li Qian Xun exposed a withered smile, a very ugly one at that.

 Then, without any further action, he continued to walk with
the rest of the Ba Gua Sect group.

Jing Feng said: “This Li Qian Xun seems like a very mean guy,
we must be cautious against him.”

“The Ba Gua Sect must have been training him in secrecy for a
long time now.” Mo Nan sighed.

“Not necessarily though, he may have just come up recently

like Brother Bi Fan, and could be a real genius as well.
Whichever the case might be, he’s going to be a tough one to
match up to.” Jing Feng analyzed.

“What are we afraid of? If the Ba Gua Sect has Li Qian Xun,
then our Quinyang Sect has young Bi Fan, and young Bi Fan can
easily beat Li Qian Xun.” Wang Yun Fei smiled.

They reached the Tao Bao complex very quickly, and Bi Fan
was quite overawed to find himself standing in front of a ten
storey building.

Lin Qing Yao said: “The Tao Bao complex’s first two floors are
designed for selling your items, and for purchasing items
pertaining to the ‘Fetus’ layer. If you want to enter the third
floor, then you must be at least inside the ‘Emerging from the
Womb’ layer.”

“In other words, we can only buy items on the first two
floors.” Bi Fan was a little disappointed. “I didn’t know that,
what’s the best grade of weapons that we can buy on the first
two floors?”

“The second floor has high grade weapons, and you can buy
them there. The items which are on the second are usually in
very high demand at the time of the Jiu Yu Lists, and we will
not be able afford any of them….”

“We’ll just look around casually, buy if you fancy an item and
you aren’t carrying enough spar at the moment, then you can
call me, and I’ll buy it for you. We can always settle our
accounts at a later time.” Yan Yu Si said with a smile.

“Thank you sister!” the outer disciples and the two girls were
very happy.

Bi Fan said: “I don’t know where to sell the bodies of the

Devil’s Abyss demons. I have a few of them, and I also want to
sell some other items.”

“I’ll take you there; I also have some things that I want to
sell.” Jing Feng said.

Yan Yu Si said: “We are going to the second floor, and you can
join us over there later.”

The Tao Bao complex had a specialized staff for acquiring new
items, and this department was separate from the sales
department.

Once Jing Feng and Bi Fan entered the department, they were
both received by different people, and were taken to different
rooms.

The Tao Bao complex’s management did so in order to

maintain confidentiality.

No matter who is selling the items, or what items are being

sold, the Tao Bao Complex always helped their customers in
maintaining confidentiality, even if they weren’t interested in
the item.

“Dear guest, what would you like to sell?” Even though Bi Fan
is quite young in age, the Tao Bao complex’s staff didn’t neglect
him.

Bi Fan said: “I want to sell a lot of items. In addition to a large

volume of Devil’s Abyss demon corpses, I also have a large
number of weapons, out of which at least a dozen are good
quality magic weapons.”

In order to avoid trouble, Wang Zhong, Lone Leaf, and Blue

Dragon had all decided to give the weapons, which they had
obtained from their plunders, to Bi Fan.

“So many!” the young woman who was responsible for

managing the reception was quite shocked, and said: “I won’t be
able to look after you, please wait a while.”

Bi Fan quietly waited in the room. The Tao Bao complex had a
very elegant design and interiors, and had even placed some
flower pots inside the rooms, since the fragrance of the flowers
helped their customers in feeling more comfortable.
 After a few minutes, the young girl returned with a slim
middle-aged man, and then she turned around and left.

The middle aged man said: “I am the head of the acquisition

department; you can call me Di Guan Shi.”

“Di Guan Shi, I have some items that I’d like to sell, can we
arrange a trade here?” Bi Fan said.

“If you could please hand over the items to me, since I’d like
to do a valuation first. Do not worry, I have a space ring, so I can
accept as many items as you have, in one go.” Di Guan Shi
stated.

Bi Fan took out one Yin Yang pouch and handed it over to Di
Guan Shi, and said: “I have more Yin Yang pouches in my
inventory.”

Di Guan Shi took the Yin Yang pouch, and started transferring
the items to his space ring, while making a list of the items in
the process.

Di Guan Shi was worthy of being called the head of such a

large group’s acquisition department, since he was an extremely
skilled business man. There was a large volume of corpses inside
the Yin Yang pouch, but he was able to segregate them with
ease, and was simultaneously calculating their worth as well.

Bi Fan recovered the Yin Yang pouch and handed over the
second one.

Di Guan Shi was interested in buying the Yin Yang pouches as

well, but Bi Fan didn’t wish to sell them.

He continued to do his work for almost two hours, but then Di

Guan Shi’s space ring ran out of room. He was quite
embarrassed since he had to leave in order to store the items in
a separate location to make space inside the ring for more items.

Even though this was quite strange for the man, he still didn’t
ask Bi Fan about the history of such a large volume of Devil’s
Abyss corpses.

It took him more than one more hour before he was able to
complete the assessment of all the items.
 “Little Brother, are you sure that you don’t have anything else
that you might want to sell?”

“Yes; I’d like to exchange these items for Spars, and I would
prefer high grade spars.” Bi Fan said.

“Little Brother, you may not know this, since we don’t like to
say it… but we don’t keep a very big stock of high-grade spar in
the Tao Bao complex. But I will make sure that you get a priority
on the exchange of high-grade spars, while the rest of the
amount I’ll settle with low-grade spars. Is that okay with you?”
Di Guan Shi’s attitude was very friendly and polite.

“No problem! But I have a small condition, that is, the magical
weapons should not be sold outside the reach of the Jiu Yu
City.” Bi Fan smiled.

In order to avoid trouble in the future, it was very important

for Bi Fan to be careful with these things.

“Sure, no problem, we always try to meet the requirements of

our customers.” Di Guan Shi quickly started calculating the
total value of the items, but it took him almost ten minutes to
do so, since there were a lot of items in the list.
 “Little Brother, you can follow up the market price of these
items, and you’ll only be able to obtain one million three
hundred and nineteen thousand spars for them, but I’ll give you
one point four million since you’re making such a large
transaction.” Di Guan Shi stated.

“Deal!” Bi Fan was overjoyed.

Even though Bi Fan tried to control his emotions, he simply

couldn’t stop his face from gleaming a radiant smile. He had
never expected to make so much money from these items, and
was quite surprised at the figure that Di Guan Shi had quoted.

Although one point four million spars wasn’t much when

compared to the wealth of the powerful sects, but for an outer
disciple like Bi Fan, it was certainly a lot of money, and this
much money was also enough to buy to a top-grade weapon.

In order to avoid trouble in the future, Bi Fan even sold the

book that spoke about the hammer usage skills.

He had already memorized the book’s contents, so it was no

longer of any use to him.

Di Guan Shi left the room, and went to arrange the money.

Soon, Di Guan Shi returned to the room, smiled and said:

“There’s a total of hundred top grade spars, while there more
high grade spar in this Yin Yang pouch. The other Yin Yang
pouch contains the rest, which are mostly low-grade spars.
Please tally and transfer the spars to you pouch, my little
friend.”

Bi Fan took the Yin Yang pouches, and checked their contest,
and was very glad to know that they added up.

“Thank you Di Guan Shi, I’ll take my leave now. Good-bye!”

Bi Fan said, and left the room.
 Chapter 158 – Spirit Illusion Needles

“This young man was able to enlist so many treasures at such

a young age, he’s definitely not an ordinary youngster and we
need to treat him well!” Di Guan Shi stated after Bi Fan had left
the room, apparently he had left a very strong impression on
the man.

Jing Feng had sold his items very quickly and was waiting for
Bi Fan at the reception.

At this point, Jing Feng had been waiting for Bi Fan for over
four hours, but didn’t seem to mind it much.

“Brother Bi Fan, you’ve kept me waiting a long time, you’re

going to have to compensate for this later on.” Jing Feng
laughed.

“No problem, if there’s something that you fancy, then I’ll

buy it for you.” Bi Fan was in a very jolly mood, which was
obvious from the manner in which he was talking.

Jing Feng said: “Brother Bi Fan, it seems that your last trip to
the Devil’s Abyss was a very rewarding experience.”

“Yes it was Brother Jing Feng. I also obtained some very good
things and I have kept some for you as well. There are some
specialty items in my possession, which I didn’t sell at the Tao
Bao Complex, and you’re simply going to love them.” Bi Fan
intentionally said this in a mysterious manner.

In reality, Bi Fan was quite surprised that he hadn’t already

given Jing Feng an Ogre flower petal, but then he knew that
he’d have a hard time explaining its history.

Bi Fan had only told Yan Yu Si and Xiao Feng about the Ogre
Flower petals, since he knew that they would keep his secret.

“Since you’re being nice about it, I’ll let you off the hook this
time. Now let’s go to the second floor, Miss Yan Yu Si and the
others must have been waiting a long time for us.” Jing Feng
smiled.

Once they reached the second floor, Bi Fan and Jing Feng
decided to temporarily hold off on shopping for items, since
they needed to find their group first.
 The entire second floor was divided into several smaller
segments, and some of these segments were the size of a football
field.

It took Bi Fan and Jing Feng a good amount of time to locate

Yan Yu Si and the others. They were also being accompanied by
Luo Sheng and Luo Xiong at present, and it seemed as if Luo
Xiong was trying to approach Yan Yu Si again.

“Brother Jing Feng, Brother Bi Fan, what took you guys so

long ah?” Mo Nan asked with a smile.

Bi Fan replied: “Something came up.”

Luo Xiong’s face changed colors the moment he saw Jing Feng
and Bi Fan.

Yan Yu Si had refused to go to the Tao Bao complex when Luo

Xiong had asked for her company, but was here now, with Bi
Fan, which clearly described his issue with the situation at
hand.

“Dear young ones, if there’s anything that you like here, I’ll
give you the money to buy it.” Luo Xiong announced in a loud
voice.

Everyone knew that Bi Fan had just entered the Sect as an

outer disciple, which obviously would indicate that he wouldn’t
have much wealth on his hands, which is why Luo Xiong tried
to switch their competition to a financial one.

Luo Xiong started staring at Bi Fan, in the hope of

embarrassing him.

Bi Fan thought for a moment, smiled and said: “Brother Luo

Xiong is being so generous; refusing his offer would be very
disrespectful…”

“Many thanks Brother Luo Xiong, you came just in time,

there’s a lot of necessary things that I needed to buy, and now
I’m all set, thanks to you.” Jing Feng quickly realized Bi Fan’s
intention and added to his idea in a patronizing tone.

“Yes ah! Let’s all go and pick some magical weapons. Brother
Luo Xiong is being so kind today; we simply mustn’t waste this
opportunity.” Mo Nan also pitched in.
 Luo Xiong’s face suddenly became very unsightly, and he
sharply turned around and left, along with Luo Sheng.

Luo Xiong had just offered pretentiously, but if everyone

decided to pick magical weapons then he wouldn’t have the
money to pay for it. Even if did have the money for it, he still
wouldn’t want to spend it in this manner.

Since things were likely to end in embarrassment for him, Luo

Xiong definitely couldn’t stay any longer.

However, this time Luo Xiong was unable to conceal his

intentions, and sharply glared at Mo Nan, Jing Feng and Bi Fan
as he left their company.

“Hahaha….” Bi Fan and the others burst into laughter.

“You ah!….” Yan Yu Si shook her head.

Yan Yu Si obviously didn’t want any strife inside the

Quinyang Sect, but knew that it would be unavoidable due to
Luo Xiong’s presence. But now, she was even more optimistic
about Bi Fan, Mo Nan, and Jing Feng’s future, since all three of
them were readily providing support to each other.

“It seems that we won’t get to buy free items now…” Wang
Yun Fei sighed.

Bi Fan smiled: “Everyone can choose something for

themselves. Don’t pick something expensive, since I don’t have
a lot of money…. but it I can afford to buy something small for
everyone.”

“Ha ha, don’t hesitate; Brother Bi Fan has just exchanged the
winnings from his adventures for a lot of spars, if you don’t take
advantage of it now, then you may not get another chance.”
Jing Feng laughed.

Now that Luo Xiong was gone, everyone was in a cheerful

mood, and they were entertaining themselves by cracking jokes
at each other.

Luo Jia quickly glimpsed at Bi Fan and asked: “Are you really
going to let us buy something?”

“Yeah, let’s do this!” Bi Fan spoke up.

 Everyone quickly separated and fled, since no one wanted to
miss the opportunity of buying their favorites for free.

“Miss Yan Yu Si, does the Tao Bao complex have an area
which sells practice books?” Bi Fan asked.

“Of course, you come with me.” Yan Yu Si raised her head
again. The goods on the second floor were beneath her, which is
why she wasn’t interested in buying anything from here.

The Tao Bao complex had a specialized area for the sale of
practice books, and even though the room wasn’t big, it was
enough to accommodate a few hundred books.

Bi Fan looked around, and found that there were about

eighteen weapon skills books, in addition to several other books
which spoke about various skills to use kicks, fists, and various
other skill sets. However, these books were sealed and placed
inside cupboards, which had a transparent glass in front, and
only the name of the books were visible.

Yan Yu Si said: “Most of these books are quite common, and

the best you may find here will only be comparable to the
‘Fufeng double-edged sword’.”

“Excuse me, can I take the books out to browse them?” Bi Fan
asked.

The service personnel replied: “We have a detailed overview

of every book that we have on sale. You can take a look at the
introductions, and I’ll arrange the books that you like the best.”

Bi Fan was hoping to read through the books, and memorize

their contents without actually having to pay for them, so he
was obviously a little disappointed by this.

“Excuse me, can you help me in picking a book that describes

methods to practice concealed weapons?” Bi Fan asked after
thinking for a while.

‘The Immortal Finger’ is a concealed attack, and works very

well with sword techniques, while adding an element of
surprise, which makes it a very aggressive concealed strike. If Bi
Fan was able to learn a specialized method in concealed
weaponry, then he’d be able to use it to improve the output of
‘The Immortal Finger’ attack.
 ‘The Immortal Finger’ was already a very dangerous strike,
and if Bi Fan was able to disguise it even better, then it would
play a very crucial role in his future adventures.

“Please wait dear guest.” Two service personnel quickly went

around and selected two books on concealed weaponry.

“Sir, these concealed weaponry books are relatively rare, and

are only found on the second floor of this complex. Please read
the introductions, and make your selection.”

Bi Fan read the introductions of the two books, wherein the

first one was called ‘Spirit Illusion Needle’, while the second
one was named ‘basic secrets to concealed weaponry’.

The ‘Spirit Illusion Needle’ was priced at one thousand spars,

while the ‘basic secrets to concealed weaponry’ had an asking
price of three hundred spars.

“Okay, I like them. I’ll take them both.” Bi Fan stated.

 “Bi Fan, do not pick very complicated skills. You’re already
learning some very complex skill sets, but if you overdo it, then
it might have a very negative affect on your future training.”
Yan Yu Si cautioned.

“Don’t worry, I will not be practicing these methods, I just

intend to use these books for reference on my research.” Bi Fan
smiled.

“That’s great! Do you have enough spars? You will also have
to spend some spars on the other students as well, so let me help
you in buying the ‘spirit illusion needle’ book.”

Bi Fan’s heart was growing a pang of sweetness to see that Yan

Yu Si was so concerned about him.

“I have enough spars, so I’m good, but thanks.”

Yan Yu Si didn’t insist since she knew that Bi Fan had spent a
lot of time hunting inside the Devil’s abyss, and realized that he
would have made a lot of money in the process.

After Bi Fan purchased the two books, he was quite uncertain

about buying anything else, since he didn’t know what he would
need in the future.

“Miss Yan Yu Si, what would you like to buy? I’d like to buy
you something.” Bi Fan said.

“I don’t need anything. If you have more money, then you

should buy something for yourself; perhaps something that
might help you in the future rounds of the contest.” Yan Yu Si
replied.

Bi Fan thought for a while, but didn’t feel the need to buy
anything else.

“Let’s take a look, and see if we like anything else.”

Bi Fan wished to be alone with Yan Yu Si, but was worried

that he may not be able to keep her entertained. Now that he
was alone with her, he simply couldn’t control the speed at
which his heart was pumping.
 Chapter 159 – Hand-Eye Coordination

Jing Feng wasn’t too hard on Bi Fan, and only made him
spend a total of four thousand spars.

Four thousand spars was nothing for Bi Fan, but for the other
outer disciples, it was an astronomical number.

“Young Bi Fan is really very powerful; and not just in terms of

strength, but he also has a lot of money. He is truly worthy of
being called a genius.” Wang Yun Fei spoke up.

“That’s right, young Bi Fan, you’re truly amazing!”

“Well, don’t clap for me now; I really didn’t treat you guys for
this reason.” Bi Fan smiled.

Subsequently, they strolled their way out of the Tao Bao

complex.

Just as they stepped out of the Tao Bao complex, they ran into
a large group of youngsters, and there was one man who seemed
to know Bi Fan quite well: Xuan Liu Ge.

The two sides met each other right in front of Tao Bao
complex, and immediately came to a standstill at the same time,
but their eyes were constantly sizing each other up.

Xuan Liu Ge first sized up Yan Yu Si, and then started glaring
sharply at Bi Fan; his eyes were as cold as ice.

“Bi Fan, boy, you were able to beat me today because I was
very careless. But you won’t be this lucky in the future, and my
friends in the Wu Ji Sect fraternity will avenge me later on in
the tournament.”

“Yes, well, they are welcome to try at any time!” Bi Fan

replied.

The Wu Ji Sect disciples were holding their head high out of

sheer arrogance.

“The Quinyang Sect is rubbish, and they simply aren’t

qualified enough to be standing next to us.”
 “That’s right. Anyway, the Quinyang Sect is going to get
replaced by the Ba Gua sect sooner or later, so we might as well
not waste our time on these guys.”

“Get lost motherfucker!” Jing Feng cursed.

Jing Feng stepped forward, and started glaring at Xuan Liu Ge

with a glint of a murderous spirit in his eyes.

Jing Feng had an outstanding reputation, and was far

stronger than Xuan Liu Ge.

Xuan Liu Ge took a step back out of fear, since his confidence
was beginning to shake in front of Jing Feng’s might.

Yan Yu Si intervened: “We’ll see in time. Strength isn’t

decided by the words you utter, and everything will be become
clear during the contest.”

Jing Feng still wasn’t ready to step away, and continued to

stare at Xuan Liu Ge, with eyes as sharp as blades.
 Xuan Liu Ge said: “Yes, all will be decided in the tournament,
but you should start fearing the Wu Ji Sect.”

“Just wait and see! Anyway, your body language is clearly

demonstrating your courage.” Jing Feng laughed lightly.

Then, Jing Feng and Yan Yu Si left along with the rest of the
Quinyang Sect team. Xuan Liu Ge’s face exposed a color of
malice as he stared at the backs of Jing Feng and the rest of his
friends: “Jing Feng, Bi Fan, just wait, Brother Wu Ji Xuan will
crucify you two.”

“Brother Wu Ji Xuan is too strong; Jing Feng and Bi Fan won’t

be able to last a second against him.”

… …

Jing Feng said: “These Wu Ji Sect guys are so arrogant, I

really want to teach them all a lesson, but the Jiu Yu City
doesn’t permit us to resolve person feuds, otherwise….”

“Anyways, Brother Bi Fan has already defeated Xuan Liu Ge,

so now we just have to worry about defeating Wu Ji Xuan.” Mo
Nan stated.

“Yes…. but Wu Ji Xuan is too strong, and I’m still not sure if I
can beat him.” Jing Feng said.

Yan Yu Si said: “The Wu Ji Sect’s Wu Ji Xuan and Xuan Yuan

Po are considered once in millennia geniuses, and even though
we’re quite good, there’s still a big gap. We must rely on
constant practice if we wish to catch up to them someday.”

“Miss Yan Yu Si, you don’t worry, we will practice as hard as

it takes, and we’ll catch up to Wu Ji Xuan soon enough.” Jing
Feng said.

Mo Nan and Ji Ying Lan’s eyes were also firmly resolute,

while Bi Fan’s eyes were burning with a fervent desire to beat
Wu Ji Xuan.
 “I must beat Wu Ji Xuan, I must!”

Bi Fan had already made up his mind some time ago, but his
determination was only getting stronger with each passing day.

It was already late in the evening by the time they reached the
hotel.

Luo Xiong’s party hadn’t returned yet, so Bi Fan and his

friends quickly finished their dinner and returned to their
rooms to get some rest.

As soon as Bi Fan returned to his room, he quickly started

recalling the memories from today’s contest in order to embed
them deeper into his mind, since he’d want to research them
later.

Bi Fan was paying special attention to the Wu Ji Sect’s ‘Tai

Chi Sword’ and ‘Yin Yang sword’, since Bi Fan regarded them as
high grade martial skills.

Once he was done recalling the skills that he had seen today,
Bi Fan started meditating in order to restore his body to its peak
state.

Soon after, Bi Fan took out the two books that he had
purchased today, and started reading them. The started with
the ‘basic secrets to concealed weaponry’ first.

‘Basic secrets to concealed weaponry’ emphasized on

enhancing the sharpness of vision, and the strength of hands.
The book stated that hand-eye coordination is the key to
achieving success with concealed weaponry skill sets.

After the Yin Yang lotus had taken residence in Bi Fan’s body,
his vision had become almost ten times as sharp as an ordinary
human’s.

As for the strength of his hands, Bi Fan’s hands and fingers

had become awfully strong due to the practice of ‘The Immortal
Finger’ attack.

However, Bi Fan didn’t know how to improve the

coordination between his hands and his eyes, which seemed
quite important since the book was stressing quite heavily upon
it.
 The ‘basic secrets to concealed weaponry’ also contained some
elementary methods which would help in improving the hand-
eye coordination.

Bi Fan didn’t want to practice these methods right now and

only wished to know about them for future reference.

The book was quite thick, and contained a lot of tips, so it

took Bi Fan over an hour to memorize its contents.

Subsequently, Bi Fan pulled out the ‘Spirit Illusion needle’

book, and discovered that this book had various methods which
described the usage of needles as a form of concealed weaponry.
The book also contained several ways to create illusions in order
to mask a strike, and was as devious as a Devil’s method in
terms of its usage.

“Illusions! Illusions!” Bi Fan’s eyes suddenly lit up.

An idea suddenly sprouted into Bi Fan’s mind; if he was

somehow able to conceal ‘The Immortal Finger’ attack in the
falsehoods and disguise of an illusion, then the attack would
become awfully difficult to detect.
 However, at this point, this was only a fantasy, and applying
these methods in reality would take a lot of practice.

Bi Fan quickly memorized the methods, but didn’t practice

any of them either.

At the moment, Bi Fan’s mind was completely focused on the

Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon List, and it was vital for him to win the
first prize in the contest.

Even if he started to study and research these new techniques,

which were described in the ‘spirit illusion needle’ and the
‘basic secrets to concealed weaponry’ book, right now, he
wouldn’t be able to successfully use them in such a short period
of time, and they were quite unlikely to help in increasing his
strength either.

Bi Fan decided to concentrate his attention on learning the

skills of his opponents, and finding their flaws, since this
approach was likely to dividends in the later part of the
tournament.

The night passed quickly, and the sun dawned soon enough.
 In today’s contest, Bi Fan was supposed to fight the man who
had lost to Xuan Liu Ge, and as long as Bi Fan was able to defeat
him, he’d qualify for the second round.

Everyone knew that today’s contest would be the most boring

of all, which is why almost half of the seats were empty inside
the arena today.

Ling Xin Ya said: “Today Wang Yun Fei, Mo Nan, Ji Ying Lan,
Bi Fan and Jing Feng have an excellent chance to qualify for the
next round, and I hope that you all make the best of it. If all five
of you can qualify for the next round, then this will be the
highest number of contests that the Quinyang Sect has ever
been able to send to the second round of the Jiu Yu Hidden
Dragon list.”

This contest’s rules are very cruel, and a participant has to

win the first three fights in succession to get promoted to the
second round.

Wang Yun Fei and Ji Ying Lan were quite lucky since neither
of them had encountered any tough opponents so far, and had
been able to win their first two fights with ease.
 It must be mentioned that the Jiu Yu City has hundreds of
Sects, which means that there are a large number of talented
martial artists within the city’s reach, since even the smaller
sects had some very powerful fighters in their ranks.

“You will not lose at any cost; the Quinyang Sect’s reputation
depends on it.” Luo Xiao Tian expressed is opinion in a cold
manner.

Luo Sheng’s pale face was enough to narrate the disappointed

of his heart. Ji Ying Lan and Wang Yun Fei were both weaker
than Luo Sheng in terms of strength, but had still managed to
win their first two fights, unlike him. This, obviously, was a
very shameful thing for Luo Sheng.

“Victory! Victory! Victory!”

Wang Yun Fei, Ji Ying Lan, Mo Nan, Jing Feng, and Bi Fan
bumped their fists together.

The Quinyang Sect’s delegation marched into the final third

of the first round in high spirits.
 Chapter 160 – Snap Out And You’re Finished

The third day of the tournament was very boring, and almost
everything went according to common predictions.

Out of all the cases, only a few turned out to be exceptions,

since a few people were unable to qualify after winning their
first two sets. In all these cases, the person who was in line for
qualification had either been injured very seriously or hadn’t
been able to fully recover their energy.

All of the Quinyang Sect’s five aspirants cleared their bouts,

and successfully advanced to the second round.

The Quinyang Sect’s seating area had turned in to a party hall

since it was a major achievement for them, and only Luo Sheng
and Luo Xiong seemed unhappy within the delegation. Even Luo
Xiao Tian was reluctantly flashing a smile.

Luo Xiao Tian was quite sore to see Luo Sheng’s disappointed
face. In order to help him gain fame, Luo Xiao Tian had given
Luo Sheng a top grade weapon called Tian Yun before coming to
the tournament, to assist him in his fights.
 However, Luo Sheng had been unable to live up to the
expectations, and had been eliminated in the first round itself.

Luo Xiao Tian was very disappointed with Luo Sheng in this
regard, since he would no longer be able to brag about Lou
Sheng to the people he’d sit and live around, in the future.

Out of love for his grandson, Luo Xiao Tian had started to
dislike the achievements of Bi Fan and others.

Today’s contest ended in half a day, and the contest would

resume tomorrow, starting with the allotment of groups for the
second round.

After the first round’s elimination, only eighty four

contestants were left.

This time, only the core disciples were allowed to go

sightseeing, and the outer disciples were led straight to the
Hotel by Luo Xiao Tian and Ling Xin Ya.

The second round of the tournament was even worse than the
first round, since the participants would be arranged into
groups of three, out of which at least two would be eliminated
in this round.

However, the most brutal part of this round was the fact that
the winner of this round would be decided in only one day,
which meant that a participant would have to win two fights in
the same day to make it to the third round of the contest.

Most of the contestants who had made it past the first round
were quite strong, and were mostly considered high level
talents, which naturally means that winning two straight fights
in a single day would be very hard.

“Today, your task is to rest and prepare for the tough

challenges that you will be facing tomorrow.” Ling Xin Ya
stated.

Luo Xiao Tian said in a solemn voice: “Tomorrow’s contest is

very crucial. If all five of you can qualify for the third round,
then it will play a very big role in making the Quinyang Sect
famous, and will also help the Sect is making a strong stand in
the list of top-five Sects.”
 “We’ll do our best!” Jing Feng and the others said in unison.

Once a disciple enters the third round, the disciple’s Sect gets
a few extra points in the decennial rating system. So naturally,
if a higher number of students qualify for the third round, their
Sect obviously benefits.

Relatively speaking, the second round is considered much

harder than the first one, mainly since there’s not much time to
rest between two fights. In case a participant consumes too
much energy in the first fight, or gets injured very seriously,
then he’s bound to suffer a disadvantage in the second fight.

The eighty four contestants that still remained in the

tournament were all considered elites in their respective sects,
and since a large majority of them had already reached the
‘transformation’ layer, the gaps in their strengths wasn’t very
big either. There were only a very few ‘enormous layer’
participants who had managed to reach the second round.

Bi Fan returned to his room very early, and started practicing.

Bi Fan didn’t know which group he would end up inside, in

the second round, but wasn’t bothered about it. To Bi Fan, the
most important thing at this time was to practice, and enhance
his strength.

Bi Fan spent the entire afternoon studying and researching

the Wu Ji Sect’s trade mark skills, ‘The Tai Chi Sword’ and ‘The
Yin Yang Sword’, since the Wu Ji Sect’s Wu Ji Xuan was Bi
Fan’s biggest enemy and it was very important for him to be
prepared to face the man at any point in the tournament.

Even though Li Qian Xun was very strong as well, Bi Fan

wasn’t paying much attention to him at present.

Bi Fan was so engrossed in his training that he had completely

forgotten about food and sleep, and continued to study ‘The Tai
Chi Sword’ and ‘The Yin Yang Sword’ in detail. Although these
two sword skills were not as complicated as the ‘Floating
Sword’, they were far more complex than the ‘Fufeng double-
edged sword’.

As Bi Fan continued to learn from his memories of the

displays of these two skills sets, he started gaining more insights
about his own sword play, which helped him in increasing his
power outputs further.
 Bi Fan strongly believed that continuously learning new and
improved skills would help him in making his own skill sets
more powerful over time.

The fourth day of the contest began, and the ballots were
drawn. Based on these draws, the contestants were divided into
twenty eight groups, consisting of three participants each.

Bi Fan pulled out the number eighteen, which meant that he’d
be last member of the sixth group; this was a good sign.

The number sixteen and the number seventeen would have to

fight each other first, and then the winner would fight Bi Fan.

If Bi Fan was able to win against the winner of the first fight,
and was then able to beat the loser of the first fight, he’d qualify
for the next round. His main advantage, however, was that his
two opponents were likely to consume a high amount of energy
in their first fight. Wang Yun Fei, Ji Ying Lan, Mo Nan, Jing
Feng and Bi Fan all drew numbers close to each other, but
fortunately no two people ended up in the same group.

Since only eighty four people were left in the tournament at

this stage, there was a high probability of facing competition for
within the same sect, especially for the bigger sects.

For the time being, they were unaware of their opponent’s

names, but there was a strong possibility that they might have
to face competition from a hostile Sect.

Out of the ten disciples of the Wu Ji Sect, eight had made it to

the second round. Four disciples of the Rising Sun Sect had also
made it to the second round, whereas the Ba Gua Sect was being
represented by three disciples, making it a total of fifteen
possibly hostile participants for the Quinyang Sect disciples.

The Quinyang Sect had a bad relation with these three sects,
and in case their disciples ran into a disciple from one of these
sects, then the fighting was expected to take a very intense
route. The more intense the fighting, the higher the energy
consumption would be, which would only make it harder to
qualify for the next round.

Today, in order to allow each person to gain their share of the

limelight, none of the fights were conducted at the same time.

Ji Ying Lan was assigned the first group, since he had drawn
the number two.
 When the referee asked the participants to prepare, Ji Ying
Lan started marching towards the ring to meet his opponent.

“I hope that Brother Ji Ying Lan doesn’t get a very strong

opponent, otherwise it will be very hard for him to qualify for
the next round.” Jing Feng prayed.

Ling Xin Ya analyzed: “Good luck is in the minority now, since

there are virtually no weak participant left at this stage.
Strength is the key from here on, and strength is the way of the
world.”

Bi Fan and the others didn’t object to his opinion, and simply
prepared to cheer for Ji Ying Lan.

“Brother Ji Ying Lan is such a lucky guy! Look at that, his first
opponent is only an ‘Enormous strength’ layer fighter.” Mo Nan
smiled.

Jing Feng said: “Perhaps this is a sign that the heavens are
supporting the Quinyang Sect.”
 Ji Ying Lan’s opponent was a man named Wu Guo Feng, and
hailed from a small sect. He had been very lucky in the first
round, since he had been put in a group full of ‘enormous
strength’ layered fighters, and was already quite overjoyed to
make it this far.

“Start!”

Ji Ying Lan cast out his most powerful form of the ‘Fufeng
double-edged sword’, with the intention of finishing the fight as
soon as possible, since he wanted to consume as less energy as
possible.

Ji Ying Lan was confident of his victory, and after winning his
first fight, he would have to wait for the other twenty seven
groups to finish their first fights, post which he’d have to fight
his second one.

Ji Ying Lan was far stronger than his opponent, plus had a
specialized knowledge of his skill set, which is why he had
decided to charge into action with his entire strength.

As it turns out, Wu Guo Feng was even weaker than most had
anticipated, and the fight barely lasted a few minutes. But, if it
wasn’t for Ji Ying Lan’s mercy, Wu Guo Feng would have
sustained some very serious injuries.

“Brother Ji Ying Lan, thank you for being merciful!” Wu Guo

Feng was sincerely thankful.

“Thanks for letting me win!”

Ji Ying Lan stepped off the contest stage, and returned to the
Quinyang Sect’s seating area.

Now, there were another twenty seven fights left, post which
Ji Ying Lan would have to fight his second fight, so it was very
important for him to make the best of this time, and recover his
expended energy.

The second group’s fight had already begun, and Li Qian Xun
was a part of the duel.

Li Qian Xun’s opponent wasn’t strong enough to match him,

and Li Qian Xun wrapped up the fight in three strikes.
 Moreover, Li Qian Xun had attacked so ruthlessly, and had
brought his blade swinging down so fiercely, that he almost
slashed his enemy into two, and completely stunned the man,
who was left with no other option but to concede the fight.

“He’s so fierce! We’ll have to be very careful against Li Qian

Xun, and we must focus against him at all times. If we snap out
of it, he’ll finish us.” Mo Nan warned.

“Yes, this kid isn’t just mighty powerful, but also very
ruthless. Considering the hatred between our sects, it’s best to
be very careful and cautious against him.” Lin Xin Ya advised.
 Chapter 161 – Tragedy

The third group was asked to report to the stage, and it was
time for Wang Yun Fei to contest his fight.

Wang Yun Fei was out of luck, and was faced with Wu Ji
Sect’s Xuan Yuan Feng.

“Quinyang Sect’s Wang Yun Fei, today is defiantly a bad day

for you.” Xuan Yuan Feng said in a cold tone.

“A Wu Ji Sect guy, this is terrific ah!” Wang Yun Fei said

loudly.

Xuan Yuan Feng is being considered a dark horse for this

tournament, and is quite strong since he has already made it to
the upper level of the ‘transformation’ layer.

Wang Fei Yun, however, had just entered the ‘transformation’

layer, which meant that there was a big gap in their strengths.

The Wu Ji Sect disciples were quite arrogant, so naturally

Wang Fei Yun wouldn’t want to admit his defeat very early, and
wished to give his opponent a tough fight since he wanted the
man to consume a large amount of energy during the process of
winning this fight.

“The Yin Yang Sword!”

“Fufeng double-edged Sword!”

Xuan Yuan Feng and Wang Fei Yun launched their attacks at
the same time. The speed and ferocity of their attacks was
simply marvelous.

This was especially quite commendable of Wang Fei Yun,

since his strength and weapons were no match for Xuan Yuan
Feng’s. But if the fight continued for a long time, then he might
not be able to keep up with Xuan Yuan Feng.

“This isn’t good… Brother Wang Yun Fei is trying too hard…
I’m afraid that he’ll end up hurting himself….” Mo Nan said.

“Yes, the Wu Ji Sect disciples are very notorious, and seems

like they simply cannot wait to kill our Quinyang people. I hope
that Wang Yun Fei concedes the fight soon, otherwise Xuan
Yuan Feng will certainly try to kill him, and we won’t even be
able to raise an objection either.” Jing Feng said in a serious
manner.

Bi Fan gasped in admiration: “I hope that everything goes well

for Brother Wang Yun Fei.”

At present, they couldn’t help him in any way, and could only
sit on the sidelines and sigh or admire his commendable display.

Xuan Yuan Feng cast out the second form of ‘The Yin Yang
Sword’, and his sword started forming a crisscross network, as
he charged towards Wang Yun Fei.

Wang Yun Fei’s counter was unable to match up to Xuan Yuan

Feng’s attack, and Wang Yun Fei’s arm was hurt very seriously,
and blood started to drip from it.

“Ah….” Wang Yun Fei howled, but rushed in again, and

continued to attack ferociously, without paying any attention to
his bleeding arm.
 “Wang Yun Fei, now you’re courting your death, I wonder if
it’s my lucky day!” Xuan Yuan Feng’s face revealed a color of
viciousness.

“Oh shit! Xuan Yuan Feng is going after his hand!” Ling Xin
Ya seemed quite worried for Wang Yun Fei.

Bi Fan was also anxious: “Is there any way to get him out of
there, or make him admit his defeat quickly?”

“Unless he concedes his defeat, we cannot interfere. If we

interrupt the contest, then the punishment will be very severe,
and we may even be forbidden from participating in the next
contest.” Ling Xin Ya’s face was quite strained in helplessness.

“If the Wu Ji Sect goes after his hand, then I’ll take the hands
of every Wu Ji Sect disciple that I encounter.” Jing Feng was
extremely angry.

They needed to keep a calm head, since the punishment for

violating the rules of the tournament is quite severe.

If any Quinyang Sect man violates the rules of the contest

then the entire Sect would have to pay its price, and the Sect
may even be banned from participating in the next tournament,
which would be a huge loss for the whole Sect.

Jing Feng and Mo Nan’s eyes were red with rage and concern,
and they simply couldn’t watch Wang Yun Fei getting injured
like that, since there was a major threat to his life now. But the
Quinyang Sect’s reputation was also very important, and it was
vital for the Sect to maintain their top-five status in the Jiu Yu
City.

“GO TO HELL!” Xuan Yuan Feng launched a violent attack,

and his sword charged towards Wang Yun Fei; it was aimed
right at his chest.

“I’ll take you with me!” Wang Yun Fei didn’t even try to
dodge the attack, and charged right back at Xuan Yuan Feng,
with his sword pointed at his opponent’s stomach.

Wang Yun Fei’s fast attack charged swiftly towards Xuan

Yuan Feng, and Xuan Yuan Feng realized that the two attacks
would make contact at the same time, and he’d end up injuring
himself.
 Xuan Yuan Feng’s face changed slightly, and exposed an awe-
inspiring look.

Xuan Yuan Feng realized the threat, and opened his body
slightly in order to avoid the incoming blade, but didn’t change
the direction of his own.

Wang Yun Fei suddenly accelerated his pace, and his attack
started to move a lot faster than Xuan Yuan Feng’s and both
men made contact at the same time.

Xuan Yuan Feng’s face became pale, as he knelt to the ground,

while his sword dropped from his hand.

“Ah!”

“Ah!”

They both issued a blood-curling shriek at the same time.

Wang Yun Fei’s left hand was dangling from his body; almost
as if it had been cut off by his opponent’s sword, and was
hanging from the rest of his arm by the last remaining inch of
his skin which was still intact.

Xuan Yuan Feng was also hurt quite seriously, since Wang
Yun Fei’s sword had pierced through his upper body. Even
though Xuan Yuan Feng had tried to dodge the attack, the
increase in Wang Yun Fei’s pace at the last moment had caught
him off guard, and the sword had pierced through his armpit.
The sword had left two huge wounds, and the blood had started
to drip from the wounds.

“Ah! I’ll kill you!” Xuan Yuan Feng was furious, and seemed to
have lost his mind now.

“I give up!” Wang Yun Fei’s face was distorted with pain, but
he managed to smile as he conceded his defeat.

“Stop!” Since Wang Yun Fei had admitted his defeat, the
referee intervened, and blocked off Xuan Yuan Feng’s strike.

Wang Yun Fei had achieved his objective, and had managed to
inflict a very severe wound to Xuan Yuan Feng, which meant
that Xuan Yuan Feng would have a tough time in the next fight.
 Jing Feng clenched his fists and said: “Young Wang Yun Fei is
so brave!”

“Yes, however, Wang Yun Fei was too impulsive, and has paid
a very heavy price for it. I’m afraid that one arm isn’t going to
be enough for him.” Ling Xin Ya sighed.

Jing Feng, Mo Nan and Bi Fan desperately ran out of their

seating area, and Yan Yu Si followed after them, just in case
they tried to get into a fight.

Bi Fan had managed to retain his composure, and quickly

brought Wang Yun Fei back to the seating area of the Sect.

The moment Wang Yun Fei reached the seating area, he was
unable to bear the pain anymore, and fainted to the floor.

“He was trying to be brassy when he knew that he’d lose. He

deserves this!” Luo Sheng commented in a cold tone.

“What did you just say? I dare you to say that again!” Jing
Feng roared.
 Everyone present in the seating area turned around to face
Luo Sheng and glared at him with murderous eyes. Luo Sheng’s
face immediately turned pale since he got scared, and knew that
he was wrong, which is why he didn’t say anything further.

“First save him, and then fight amongst yourselves!” Yan Yu

Si stated loudly.

Jing Feng, Bi Fan, and the others, immediately calmed down,

and looked at Wang Yun Fei, but didn’t know where to start.

Ling Xin Ya was already working hard to stop Wang Yun Fei’s
bleeding. Once he succeeded in stopping the bleeding, he started
inspecting Wang Yun Fei’s arm.

Ling Xin Ya’s face was looking very depressed, and he shook
his head as he said: “Wang Yun Fei’s hand is done now.”

“Damn it! The Wu Ji Sect will have to pay for this; I’ll sort
them out right now!” Mo Nan turned around with the intention
of leaving their dressing area. His blood-red eyes were clearly
expressing his intentions, while his whole body was shuddering
in a murderous rage.
 Bi Fan and Jing Feng had no other option but to start after
him, and even though Ji Ying Lan still hadn’t finished restoring
his energy yet, he too got up from his meditation.

“Stop! Are you trying to do your opponents a favor? If you go

around causing trouble, then you will certainly not be allowed
to participate in the tournament any further. Do you really
want to give the Ba Gua Sect and the Wu Ji Sect cheap
victories?” Yan Yu Si stopped them.

“Bang!” Mo Nan punched the wall, and tears started to roll

down his cheeks: “What about Wang Yun Fei’s sacrifice, do we
just forget about it?”

“Of course not, you must honor him by defeating the Wu Ji

Sect disciples and bringing glory to our Sect.” Yan Yu Si said:
“Sooner or later, you will all encounter Wu Ji Sect disciples, and
you can settle Wang Yun Fei’s account then, but not now.”

Many of the Quinyang Sect disciples were in tears, and their

eyes were brimming with hatred towards the Wu Ji Sect.

“I will beat the Wu Ji Sect guys; I will even beat Wu Ji Xuan.”

Bi Fan pledged.

“And now he’s blowing more….” Luo Sheng started to mutter.

Even though his voice was quite low, everyone still heard it.
Outer and core disciples alike, turned towards Luo Sheng and
started glaring him with murderous intentions.

“SHUT UP!” Luo Xiao Tian roared loudly. He was afraid that
his grandson might end up provoking an outrage; and outrages
are awfully difficult to deal with.

Luo Sheng got up and walked away, as he was too afraid to say
anything now.

“Deputy of the Sect, can anything be done to fix Wang Yun

Fei’s arm now?” Yan Yu Si’s eyebrows were tensed.

“I’m afraid not…” Ling Xin Ya was still shaking his head.

At this time, Wang Yun Fei faintly regained consciousness,

and gritted his teeth to hold the pain back.
 He was barely able to speak due to the pain: “Is my arm
gone?”

Nobody had the courage to look him in the eyes and explain,
and they all continued to silently sob.

“I may have lost my left hand, but I still have my right hand. I
can still hold a sword in my right hand.” Wang Yun Fei said.

Jing Feng squeezed out a smile, and said: “Yes!! Even if you
only have one hand, you’ll still be a hero. You’re a tough guy
Brother Wang Yun Fei!”

“Wang Yun Fei, you’re tough guy!”

 Chapter 162 – The Six Diamonds

The atmosphere inside the Quinyang Sect’s dressing area was

somewhat varied, while most were depressed, some had
managed to remain clam. Almost all of them, however, were
feeling a bit sad owing to the tragic end of Wang Yun Fei’s brave
display.

Although Wang Yun Fei wasn’t feeling discouraged or

depressed, Bi Fan, Jing Feng and Mo Nan were unable to bear
the suffering that the Wu Ji Sect had brought upon their
Brother.

A few people had already secretly vowed to beat up every Wu

Ji Sect disciple that they may encounter in the contest from
here on, in order to avenge Wang Yun Fei.

The next few groups didn’t have any Quinyang Sect disciples
in them and the few Wu Ji Sect disciples who were contesting in
these groups managed to get easy victories.

The Wu Ji Sect disciples were quite strong, and the eight men
who had made it into this round were already above the mid-
level of the ‘transformation’ layer. So basically, they were
winning with clean sweeps.

The sixth group’s turn came around, but Bi Fan wasn’t

required to compete yet.

“Brother Bi Fan, you’re in luck, there’s a Wu Ji Sect disciple in

your group.” Jing Feng smiled.

Bi Fan said: “That’s good, but I hope that he doesn’t lose early
on.”

“That guy is called Chao Rui, he’s one of the six diamonds of
the Wu Ji Sect; he’s not going to lose very easily.” Jing Feng
said: “In fact, even I would have a tough time sorting him out.”

“The Six Diamonds huh, well beating him will certainly be

good for me.” Bi Fan smiled.

“Young Bi Fan, you must be careful with Chao Rui; he’s a

tough one, but you must also send him back crawling from the
ring.”
 “Yes, we must take revenge for what they did to young Wang
Yun Fei.”

… …

Most of the core disciples disliked Bi Fan, but for the time
being were trying to encourage him, putting their personal
feeling aside, since they all wanted to avenge Wang Yun Fei at
any cost.

However, Bi Fan knew that gaining their true allegiance

wouldn’t be this easy.

As long as Yan Yu Si showed care towards Bi Fan, these core

disciples were likely to be envious of him.

Chao Rui is a very powerful fighter, and is truly worthy of

being one of the Six Diamonds of the Wu Ji Sect. He managed to
finish the fight in less than ten minutes, and his opponent
wasn’t even able to fight back starting right from the first
second of the fight, to its very last.

“Chao Rui is a very strong guy, and his opponent wasn’t even
able to fight back, even though the man was already inside the
‘transformation’ layer.” A core disciple observed: “Young Bi
Fan, do you feel that you can match him?”

“I’ll give my best, and anyway, I have to avenge Brother Wang

Yun Fei.” Bi Fan replied lightly.

Bi Fan didn’t care about Chao Rui’s performance, and had

only been focusing his attention on Chao Rui’s martial skills.

Chao Rui was indeed very powerful, and had used both sets of
the ‘Yin Yang sword’, and his power output was simply
magnificent.

As the contest progressed, Mo Nan wasn’t required to fight

yet, and Jing Feng’s opponent gave in before the fight started.

The Wu Ji Sect disciples managed to win all their fights with

ease, and Ba Gua Sect’s Li Qian Xun, and Chen Kang also
managed to resolve their battles with ease.

Today’s contest had been very thrilling so far, and Bi Fan was
overjoyed by the number of the advanced martial skills that he
had been able to memorize so far.

Today, since all the martial artists were quite strong, their
understanding of their skill sets was also quite deep. He had
been able to get a very good look at all the famed skills of the
other Sects, and some people had also used the skills which they
had obtained during their adventures.

This was a tough round, and on top of that, all the contestants
were quite strong, which is why many people were being forced
to use their trump skills.

Bi Fan was paying a very close attention to the display of these

unique skill sets.

The first set of the second round came to end, and it was time
for Ji Ying Lan to take the stage again.
 “Ji Ying Lan, how much have you managed to recover?” Ling
Xin Ya asked.

“Feel at ease Deputy Master, I have almost recovered my

entire energy.” Ji Ying Lan assured.

Jing Feng smiled: “Brother Ji Ying Lan, you have to win. We

cannot allow anyone to underestimate the Quinyang Sect,
especially after young Wang Yun Fei has demonstrated such
exceptional valor. Whoever hurts the Quinyang Sect must repay
ten times over.”

“We’ll make them repay ten times over!” All the Quinyang
Sect disciples roared in unison.

The lady luck seemed to be sitting on Ji Ying Lan’s shoulders,

and even though his opponent for this fight had already entered
the ‘transformation’ layer, he had only done so very recently.

After an arduous battle against the exceptionally skilled Ji

Ying Lan, and after facing the entire ‘fufeng double-edged
sword’ suit, the man finally gave in, making Ji Ying Lan the
first contest to qualify for the third round.
 “Congratulations Brother Ji Ying Lan!”

“Congratulations….”

“Well done!”

The entire delegation of the Quinyang Sect was very pleased

to see Ji Ying Lan making it to the third round, since it meant
that his feat would help the Sect by increasing their odds of
retaining a top-five spot in the decennial rating system.

The Quinyang Sect disciples were quite excited, and Ji Ying

Lan’s value seemed have increased in the eyes of everyone.

Luo Sheng was the only one who looked sad and gloomy.

During the disciple’s contest, Luo Sheng had beaten Ji Ying

Lan. At present however, Luo Sheng had been eliminated in the
first round, whereas Ji Ying Lan had already made it to the
third.

Luo Sheng was lamenting his bad luck, and his hatred for Ji
Ying Lan, Jing Feng, Mo Nan, and Bi Fan was reaching new
heights. He was even envious of Wang Yun Fei.

Wang Yun Fei had injured himself after a heroic display, and
everybody was applauding him for his effort and loyalty.
Everyone seemed to care for him, and his efforts had become
the focal point of the Sect’s morale.

Luo Sheng’s mind was sinking in to a depression, and he was

already beginning to hate everyone in the room, so much so that
he wished to kill them all.

Evil energy had started to emanate from Luo Sheng’s body,

and a lot of people had started feeling the chills.

Bi Fan was the first one to sense it, since the time he had spent
inside the Devil’s Abyss had made him very sensitive to the
presence of evil energy.

“It seems that I will have to be wary of Luo Sheng, if things

keep going at this rate, then this boy will lose his mind very
soon.” Bi Fan thought to himself.
 In the second set, Li Qian Xun won his fight as easily as ever.
In fact, his opponent was so intimidated by him, that the man
wasn’t even able to play his strengths properly.

Once Li Qian Xun had successfully secured his promotion, it

was finally time for Bi Fan to fight his set.

The spectators had been awaiting this contest between Bi Fan

and Chao Rui for a while now, since there was a very strong
sense of hatred between the Wu Ji Sect and the Quinyang Sect.
On top of that, since a Wu Ji Sect disciple had crippled
Quinyang’s Wang Yun Fei earlier, the entire audience was even
more excited to see this contest.

There was a smell of gunpowder in the air as the Quinyang

Sect and Wu Ji Sect exchanged hateful glances; any fool could
make out that the two Sects weren’t on good terms.

“I think Chao Rui will definitely win this fight, since he’s
considered one of the Six Diamonds of the Wu Ji Sect. Even
though he’s only come up in the last three years, his strength is
absolutely dominating.”

“Obviously Chao Rui is more powerful, whereas the Quinyang

Sect guy hasn’t even made it to the ‘transformation’ layer yet.
Once the fight starts to drag on, the Quinyang Sect guy will not
be able to match up to the depth of Chao Rui’s energy level.”

“I don’t think so; I think that Bi Fan can win this. If you saw
his earlier fights, then you will have noticed that he’s not that
easy to beat.”

“Yes, I also agree that Bi Fan is very good, but anyway, I

cannot fathom the idea that he is capable of beating Chao Rui.”

“No matter who wins the fight, I expect the contest to be a

fierce one. I can’t wait for it to get started.”

… …

The enthusiasm with which the audience was discussing this

fight was a clear indication that they were really looking
forward to it.

Bi Fan was sitting in the dressing room, and Mo Nan and Jing
Feng were trying to boost his morale.

“Brother Bi Fan, don’t go easy on him okay, you must beat

Chao Rui to a pulp.” Jing Feng was even more excited about this
fight than Bi Fan was.

“Yes, you have to avenge Wang Yun Fei, so you mustn’t go

easy on Chao Rui.” Mo Nan added.

Luo Jia said: “Young Bi Fan, you ought to destroy Chao Rui,
and make the Wu Ji Sect feel the pain of it.”

“Destroy Chao Rui, how do you destroy a man ah?” A core

disciple laughed.

“Directly cut off his….” Luo Jia made a few gestures to

indicate her meaning, and revealed a wicked smile at the same
time.
 The male disciples couldn’t help as they covered their lower
body parts with their hands, out of fear.

“Luo Jia, really….” Lin Qing Yao blushed.

“Haha….”

“Miss Luo Jia’s proposal is worth considering ah!” Bi Fan

suddenly spoke up, and a chill ran down everyone’s spine.
 Chapter 163 – Triple Transformation Sword

Bi Fan and Chao Rui were glaring at each other with a grim
look on their faces.

Even though Chao Rui was very strong and very arrogant, he
never underestimated any opponent.

Moreover, Bi Fan’s previous performances had attracted a lot

of attention from the Wu Ji Sect, which is why Chao Rui was
going to be even more careful against Bi Fan.

Bi Fan, like Chao Rui, wasn’t underestimating his opponent

either, and was aware that if Chao Rui was capable of standing
out in Sect like the Wu Ji Sect, then he’d certainly be very
talented.

The referee announced the start of the contest, but neither Bi

Fan, nor Chao Rui made any movements.

The people sitting in the stands had been waiting for a long
time for this fight, and started roaring impatiently.
 “Fight ah! Silly!

“Chao Rui, kill Bi Fan!”

“Bi Fan, chop down Chao Rui!”

Bi Fan and Chao Rui were so sharply focused on each other

that they weren’t even paying attention to the sounds that the
people in the arena were making. They were staring each other
with so much focus, that they were blind to everything else.

“Die!”

“Die!”

They both acted at the same time.

They roared out at the same time, and made their move.

With the Dragon Scale Sword in his hand, Bi Fan charged out
with an indomitable vigor.

Chao Rui was also holding a high-grade weapon, a sword.

Chao Rui was quite confident of his strength, and acted out
very boldly, making no move to dodge the incoming attack.

“Fufeng Double-edged Sword!”

“The Yin Yang Sword!”

“Bang…..”

Sparks flew as the two swords collided, which also gave rise to
a deafening sound.

As a first move, both the fighters had charged in recklessly,

and were both sent back a few steps as a counter effect of the
collision, and it seemed that there was no disparity in their
strength.
 “Amazing power!” Chao Rui said in a cold manner.

“Good strength! Stupendous sword-play!” Bi Fan praised in a

calm tone.

Even though their voices were quite soft, everyone heard it,
since the scene had suddenly quieted down after the sound of
their first collision.

“Stupid Sword-play! Haha…..” A lot of people misunderstood

Bi Fan’s remark and broke into laughter.

Chao Rui’s face suddenly turned red with anger, and he

prepared to eliminate Bi Fan.

Bi Fan was a little depressed since he hadn’t meant to curse,

but smiled all the same, since there was no redeeming this one.

Anyway, the angrier Chao Rui would get, the more intensely
he’d fight back, which is exactly what Bi Fan wanted.

Bi Fan moved again, and the two of them exchanged hundreds

of strokes in quick succession, but were still equally matched.

Their silhouettes were moving so fast that many spectators

were unable to see the particulars of their actions.

“Some people are saying that Bi Fan is very strong, and may
be worthy of being called a Dark Horse in this tournament.”
Xuan Yuan Feng observed.

“When a dark horse runs into Brother Chao Rui, it becomes a

dead horse.”

The Wu Ji Sect disciples were so relaxed due their unwavering

belief in their Brother’s strength, that they were even cracking
jokes at Bi Fan.

In the Quinyang Sect however, many people were worried

about Bi Fan’s safety.

Most of the core disciples were very worried about Bi Fan,

since most of them had missed out on Bi Fan’s displays at the
Disciple’s contest, which is why they didn’t have a very
profound understanding of Bi Fan’s talents.
 “That Chao Rui is very strong, and is attacking so decisively…
even though Bi Fan is quite fast, he may not be able to withstand
that guy’s strength.” A core disciple stated in a worried tone.

“Don’t worry, Chao Rui is indeed quite strong, but he’s still
not as strong as me. And even I cannot match Brother Bi Fan, so
this Chao Rui obviously has no chance of winning here.” Jing
Feng smiled.

Jing Feng wasn’t even afraid about losing face, as he spoke out
in support of Bi Fan.

Those who had seen Bi Fan’s fights in the Disciple’s

tournament were confident of his victory, and were
concentrated on cheering and boosting his morale.

There were over two hundred thousand spectators in the

arena at the moment, and the majority was supporting Chao
Rui. The people, who had been supporting Bi Fan until now,
were a little shy to cheer their favorite at the moment.

Bi Fan and Chao Rui had exchanged several hundred strokes

now, and Chao Rui had already cast out the ‘Yin Yang Sword’
twice now, but still hadn’t been able to harm Bi Fan in any way.

“Bi Fan, you might be a little skilled, but you’re a Quinyang

Sect guy at the end of the day, which is why you’re doomed to
die at my hands.” Chao Rui stated in cold and sharp tone.

“Utter nonsense; unless you have something more in your

arsenal, you’ll lose this fight.” Bi Fan replied in an indifferent
manner.

Bi Fan was finally beginning to reveal his true intentions now,

and was trying to provoke Chao Rui into casting his best strikes.

Bi Fan had already memorized the two forms of the ‘Yin Yang
sword’ by now, and firmly believed that Chao Rui would know
more than just the ‘Yin Yang sword’ and the ‘Tai Chi Sword’
techniques.

“Watch out for the ‘Triple Transformation sword!’” Chao Rui

was completely outraged by Bi Fan, and tried to attack him with
a more profound skill.
 ‘Triple Transformation sword’ was a high grade skill, and had
undergone generations of research before reaching its current
form. In order to cast out this skill, a practitioner would have to
be extremely strong, and the attack was very ferocious in its
make.

But since the ‘Triple Transformation Sword’ was a very

complicated attack, only a few people in the Wu Ji Sect were
capable of using it in battle.

Formerly, Chao Rui was a relatively unknown name in the Wu

Ji Sect, because of which the Sect had delayed teaching him the
move. They had only decided to impart this skill to him one
year ago, post which his strength saw a massive raise, and with
the help of this skill, he suddenly became a member of the
coveted Six Diamonds of the Wu Ji Sect.

Chao Rui was somewhat like Ji Ying Lan in this respect, and
had managed to achieve his status owing to the extensive
amount of research that he had carried out on his skills.

It appeared as if his body had given rise to two more shadow

bodies, once Chao Rui cast out the ‘Triple Transformation
sword’.
 Bi Fan suddenly felt as if he was being attacked from all sides,
since the shadows were attacking him from all direction,
creating a net of blades in the process.

Bi Fan kept dodging the attacks very speedily, but his dodging
space continued to get more and more compressed.

If things continued to carry on at this rate, then eventually Bi

Fan won’t even be able to find a foothold in this ring, and would
ultimately end up losing the fight.

But then again, Bi Fan really wanted to get a view of the

complete skill set, which is why he wasn’t acting out to
interrupt the technique.

This was a new high grade skill, and Bi Fan had always easily
been attracted to such amazing skills.

Bi Fan was already imagining incorporating this skill with his

‘Immortal Finger’, and had already started drooling at the
imaginary power of the newly fused skill.

This sword technique was already a very powerful move, and

then adding the effects of ‘The Immortal Finger’ would make
the resulting fusion unimaginably more powerful.

With this thought in mind, Bi Fan decided to allow Chao Rui

to cast out the entire moves of the ‘Triple transformation
sword’.

Even though Bi Fan was busy memorizing this new skill, he

was still able to dodge the attacks.

Chao Rui was gaining an upper hand, and had already landed
several attacks on Bi Fan’s body. If it weren’t for Bi Fan’s sky-
blue suit, and the soft armor, he would have definitely injured
himself by now.

“What’s the matter with Brother Bi Fan? Brother Bi Fan is

strong enough to repel the attack, and even interrupt it.” Jing
Feng was completely baffled, and was getting more and more
confused with every passing second.

Jing Feng wasn’t the only one; the other Quinyang Sect outer
disciples were as confused as Jing Feng. Yan Yu Si and Ling Xin
Ya were also quite puzzled, but had faith in Bi Fan’s strength
and tactics.
 “Bi Fan is dodging instead of using his true strength. If he was
unable to dodge these attacks, then he would have definitely
pushed Chao Rui back… it seems that Bi Fan’s got a plan.” Ling
Xin Ya commented.

Luo Sheng couldn’t keep his mouth shut anymore: “Bi Fan is
getting creamed… didn’t I always say that he just talks big.”

Luo Sheng’s heart was very happy to see Bi Fan in a losing

position, and even Luo Xiong was smiling at the sight.

Chao Rui had been increasing the intensity of his attacks, but
hadn’t been able to knock Bi Fan down until now. Every time
he’d come close to winning, Bi Fan would block the attacks, and
Chao Rui simply couldn’t understand his enemy’s intentions.

“This kid is really tough, buy today he’s a dead man.” Chao
Rui spoke to himself.

Bi Fan said in an undertone: “I can’t figure out how many

stokes are there in this ‘Triple transformation sword’, since
there are so many changes in its forms. I guess I’ll just have to
let him attack for a while more.”

Bi Fan was using the support of his defensive armors to

withstand Chao Rui’s attacks. And even though he hadn’t
sustained any injuries so far, his body’s core was beginning to
vibrate under the influence of the attacks, which was causing
him some discomfort.

However, Bi Fan simply gritted his teeth, and endured the

pain, since was unwilling to let this opportunity of memorizing
the ‘Triple transformation sword’ slip by.

“Brother Chao Rui is so powerful… he’ll qualify with ease.”

“Not yet. It’s too early to call this fight right now.” Wu Ji
Xuan spoke up.

The Wu Ji Sect disciples were very surprised with Wu Ji

Xuan’s opinion.

“Triple Transformation sword – Trinity Unity!”

 Chao Rui finally decided to cast out the last form of the ‘triple
transformation sword’, and the three bodies gradually fused
into one, marking the sign of an unparalleled terror.
 Chapter 164 – Shadow Kick

Bi Fan’s mouth fell open while his, now, round and big, eyes
were glued to this new disposition skill’s display. (Disposition
skill is a name given to a category of skills which create a clone,
or a shadow of a fighter, like the Shadow Clone Jutsu in
Naruto.)

He stood glued to his place with a silly look on his face.

“Quick, dodge it, ah!” Jing Feng shouted out loudly, since he
was afraid that Bi Fan might get injured by the incoming attack.

Luo Sheng and Luo Xiong’s faces exposed a sinister smile, as

they watched Chao Rui’s sharp sword storming towards Bi Fan.

“I’ve finally been able to see the entire set of the ‘Triple
Transformation skill’!” Bi Fan’s was very excited and overjoyed.

Bi Fan suddenly moved his Dragon Scale sword into action,

but didn’t cast out any move, and simply applied his strength
into the attack.
 In order to launch this attack, Bi Fan decided to use his entire
strength, and even drew support from his physical strength.

The Dragon Scale sword clashed with Chao Rui’s weapon, and
the collision sent Chao Rui flying into the air.

“Boom!” an ear splitting sound was issued by the massive

collision.

No one realized what happened, and were confused to see

Chao Rui flying out from center of the collision.

Bi Fan followed after the helpless Chao Rui, and unleashed a

‘Shadow Kick’ in mid-air. The powerful strike sent Chao Rui
flying thirty feet into the air.

Chao Rui opened his mouth to concede his defeat, but was
unable to utter the words due to the immense pain that Bi Fan’s
kick had inflicted on his body. Not that it mattered in the least;
he was going to land outside the stage anyway.

The instant reversal of the situation left most people dizzy.

 Almost everyone in the arena was blankly staring at the scene,
while their mouths were gaping in disbelief.

“Brother Chao Rui has actually lost this fight, how did that
happen?” Most of the Wu Ji Sect disciples were so taken by this
surprise reversal that they even forgot to look at Chao Rui’s
condition.

“Ha ha… what was I thinking…. Brother Bi Fan isn’t going to

lose that easily.” Jing Feng laughed out loudly.

“Bi Fan! Bi Fan!……” The audience was finally beginning to

realize that Bi Fan had won, and had started cheering him.

Bi Fan had just presented them with a brilliant display, so

they naturally wanted to return the favor by applauding him.

Bi Fan was very calm and collected at the moment. Anyway,

he had gotten accustomed to such responses by now.

Once the referee announced Bi Fan as the winner, Bi Fan

returned to his Sect’s dressing area.

“Brother Bi Fan, that was awesome!” Jing Feng punched Bi

Fan’s stomach out of sheer excitement.

“Ah….” Although Jing Feng hadn’t punched hard, Bi Fan was

still unable to control his own reaction.

“Brother Bi Fan, are you hurt?” Jing Feng asked in a

concerned manner.

“I’m fine; I just need to practice for a while now.” Bi Fan

shook his head.

“Are you really alright? Let me have a look…” Jing Feng

insisted.

Bi Fan really didn’t want anyone to know about the soft

armor, which is why he couldn’t allow Jing Feng to check his
body for injuries.

“I’m fine, I just need to meditate.”

 Bi Fan immediately sat down, in order to meditate. In reality
however, Bi Fan wasn’t actually meditating, and was trying to
recall the moves of the ‘Triple Transformation skill’.

The ‘Triple Transformation Skill’ was very important for Bi

Fan, and he simply didn’t want to forget the moves of the skills.

So as a precaution, Bi Fan decided to use this time to replay

the moves once again in his head, in order to create a deeper
impression of the skill in his mind.

So much so, that he was even willing to miss out on the skills
that he could have learnt from the contests that were taking
place in the meanwhile.

Bi Fan played the moves over and over again until he was sure
that their images were etched into the depths of his memory.
Once he was done, he started practicing the ‘Free Burst’
technique in order to restore his injuries.

The Yin Yang Lotus had already started issuing radiant white
strands at an earlier stage, which were working their way
around Bi Fan’s body, and were busy repairing his body from
within.

Bi Fan’s body had suffered a few heavy concussions, but the

cuts were a very few in number, and weren’t very serious either.

But since he didn’t want these injuries to affect him in the

contest later, Bi Fan decided to restore his body to its normal
state.

On the other hand, Chao Rui was in a very miserable state,

and was still lying on the ground, unable to move. It was a while
before the Wu Ji Sect disciples realized that their Brother was
quite seriously injured.

Chao Rui had attacked Bi Fan with a very strong attack, and
had put his entire strength behind the strike. Even though the
collision had sent him flying, he hadn’t really been injured by
the collision of their swords. Bi Fan’s mid-air shadow kick
however, had sent him flying over thirty feet in the air, and the
sheer intensity of the attack, plus the force with which he
landed on the ground, had left him immobile. He felt as if his
whole body was falling apart.
 If Bi Fan hadn’t held back a bit, Chao Rui wouldn’t have
landed alive on the ground.

But Bi Fan didn’t want to expose his real strength yet, since he
wanted to save some surprises for his fight against Wu Ji Xuan.

Chao Rui was nothing compared to Wu Ji Xuan.

By the time his peers carried him back to their Sect’s dressing
room, Chao Rui had already lost consciousness.

“Just imagine Bi Fan’s strength. If you guys run into him, you
must be very careful.” Wu Ji Xuan said.

Wu Ji Xuan had an unparalleled reputation amongst the outer

disciples of the Wu Ji Sect, and even though no one would dare
to neglect Bi Fan’s strength now, they all wanted to see him
beaten.

“Brother Wu Ji Xuan, we need to take action against Bi Fan.

We simply cannot allow him to get away after hurting Brother
Chao Rui this badly. We must kill him to avenge Brother Chao
Rui.”
 “Yes, Bi Fan is an exceptionally talented youngster, and is
definitely better than Jing Feng, so it is very important for us to
find a way to eliminate him as soon as possible; otherwise his
progress might threaten the Wu Ji Sect’s status in the future.”
Wu Ji Xuan said in a cold manner: “You guys don’t worry, as
long I get to fight Bi Fan, I won’t allow him to leave the ring
alive.”

The Wu Ji Sect disciples were relieved to hear Wu Ji Xuan’s

words.

As the set progressed, Jing Feng and Mo Nan also won their
fights without much struggle.

Jing Feng had already ensured his position in the top twenty
eight, but Bi Fan and Mo Nan still had one more fight to go.

Given their strengths, they were very likely to ensure their

seats in the third round as well, which effectively meant that
the Quinyang Sect would be represented in the third round by a
total of four people.
 If the Quinyang Sect was able to secure four places out of the
total twenty eight in the third, then it would be a very proud
moment for the entire Sect.

“Bi Fan, Mo Nan, you two must win your next fights. The
Quinyang Sect will definitely be in the limelight after that.”
Ling Xin Ya smiled.

“Yes, Deputy Master!” both Mo Nan and Bi Fan had already

recovered their energies, and were ready to finish the job.

Even though Bi Fan had missed out on a few very interested

matches, he was still in a very cheerful mood.

Since a few groups had already been decided, there was no

need to conduct the remaining fight of that group, which is why
the final Set didn’t have a lot of fights in it.

For example, the first and the second group’s winners were
already guaranteed, since Ji Ying Lan and Li Quin Xun had
already won their two fights.

Bi Fan’s turn to contest his fight came much sooner than

expected, and Bi Fan left the dressing area and made his way to
the stage, carrying himself in an imposing and confident
manner.

Bi Fan waited on the stage for a while, but his opponent didn’t
show up.

“If that’s so, then this fight is declared a walkover, and Bi Fan
from the Quinyang Sect is the winner by default.” The referee
announced since his opponent didn’t show up in the scheduled
waiting time.

“No! Don’t do that….” Bi Fan was a bit depressed.

Logically speaking, Bi Fan should be happy, since this meant

that he was into the third round now, but he knew that he’d
win anyway, and had now missed out on the opportunity to
learn some new skills.

Bi Fan didn’t realize that he was going to face some

interrogation once he’d return to his dressing area due to this
latest comment of his.
 “Brother Bi Fan what’s the matter with you? You just won the
match, and you didn’t even smile, and were rather sad about
it… did something happen?” Mo Nan asked in a puzzled tone.

Bi Fan suddenly realized that his behavior would be

considered very unusual under normal circumstances, and
estimated that a lot of people would have noticed his reaction.

“I just wanted to beat someone up…. But unfortunately my

‘free sandbag’ didn’t show up… I don’t know why people don’t
like being my ‘sandbags’.” Bi Fan smiled wickedly.

“Hey, I still have to fight in this tournament, so don’t even

look at me.” Jing Feng quickly ducked away.

Mo Nan too, hastily put some distance between himself and Bi

Fan, since he afraid that Bi Fan might just start punching him.

Bi Fan had a notoriously high physical strength, and his

punches would be quite painful to take.

The contest continued, and Bi Fan resumed watching the

fights.
 There were some very entertaining fights in the few
remaining groups that were still undecided, and a few moves
caught Bi Fan’s eye from time to time.

The contest ended for the day, and the third round was
scheduled to start the following day.
 Chapter 165 – The Big List

Once they returned to their hotel, Bi Fan quickly made an

excuse and returned to his room.

The ‘Triple Transformation Sword’ had suddenly broadened

Bi Fan’s horizons, and his mind was flooded with a lot of new
ideas.

Bi Fan was very unfamiliar with disposition skills, but there

was no shortage of disposition skills in this world, in fact, the
Quinyang Sect too had its own unique disposition technique.

However, not a lot of people practiced such skills, not unless

they desperately needed it in their arsenal, since this world only
respected power and strength.

In fact, more people were known to be practicing alchemy and

refining than disposition skills.

This wasn’t such because these skills weren’t powerful

enough, but simply because these skills required a lot of training
and practice, which meant that learning them would be a very
time consuming act.

Life is a limited by its timeframe, which is why it is very

important to increase strength as soon as possible, failing to do
which, would result in an early death.

This was the core reason why most people refrained from
learning disposition skills, but the ones who did, were usually
quite well known fighters.

Bi Fan’s interests in alchemy had arisen due to his knowledge

and understanding of herbs, which was fairly normal.

But now, he was completely taken by disposition techniques,

but if he tried to invest his time in learning these skills, then his
practice would surely get stalled for a while.

Since Bi Fan was aware of this fact, he was a bit hesitant in

making the decision.

Ultimately, Bi Fan decided that he should try and research the

‘Triple Transformation Skill’ to some extent, just to check its
compatibility with ‘The Immortal Finger’, since it would allow
him to get an idea of the power that this combination could
generate.

If the effect was indeed as amazing as Bi Fan was picturing it

be, then he’d spend some time in learning a good disposition
technique.

After he was done with his meditation, Bi Fan replayed the

memories of the skill set again, since wanted engrave it very
deeply into his mind for future training.

Strength enhancement was very crucial for Bi Fan, especially

after the beating that he had given to Chao Rui today, since a lot
of Wu Ji Sect disciples would be gunning for him in the later
stages of the tournament.

No one had tested Wu Ji Xuan’s true strength, which is why it

was very important for Bi Fan to be fully prepared for anything
against him.

The next day dawned pretty soon, and the final list of the
twenty eight participants who had made it to the third round
was announced publicly.
 The Wu Ji Sect had the maximum number of entries, six,
namely, Xuan Wu Ji, Xuan Yuan Feng, Xuan Ming Yang, Xuan
Yuan Yun, Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu, and Wu Ji Xuan.

The Quinyang Sect had four entries: Jing Feng, Mo Nan, Bi

Fan, and Ji Ying Lan.

The Rising Sun had three: Tang Tian Feng, Jiang Wen, and
Gu Da Tong.

The Tian Shui Sect had three: Ma De Biao, Hong Yun Tian,
and Hong Yun Kai.

City Sect was being represented by four disciples: Tan Guang

Cheng, Wang Feng, Wang Lan, and Su Yang.

The Ba Gua Sect had two fighters in the list: Li Qian Xun, and
Chen Kang.

The Eastern Aristocracy had two as well: Blue Dragon, and Zi

Feng.
 The other four contestants were Sangriyan Cloud’s Zhou
Feng, Li Bei’s Li Jia, Zhao Yun Fei of the Dan Yang Sect, and
Zhong Jian’s Du Feng.

The Wu Ji Sect was indeed worthy of being called the most

powerful Sect in the area, since this list clearly demonstrated
that they had the highest number of powerful youngsters in
their ranks.

The Quinyang Sect was the closest to them, but still only had
two-thirds of their number in the list.

The third round’s rules were even more brutal, since the
draws would be completely random. Each person would have to
fight two matches each day for the next ten days. The winner
would get three points, and the loser wouldn’t get any. In case
there was a draw, both fighters would get one point each.

Everyone was required to fight twenty fights, and the

rankings would be decided on the basis of these points. If two
contestants had the same number of points, and hadn’t yet
played against each other, then they would have to fight a tie-
breaker for the higher rank.
 This rule was very favorable for the Sects who had a higher
number of representatives in the round, since if two people
from the same Sect were paired against each other, then the
weaker was likely to admit his defeat before the start of the
fight, and both the fighters would be able to get some extra time
to rest, which would eventually pay dividends against the next
opponent in the next match, and would help their Sect in
accumulating more points.

The Wu Ji Sect had six fighters in this round, so they were

naturally at an advantage.

Although everyone was aware of this, but since these rules

were laid down thousands of years ago, the management was
very unlikely to change them.

In this round, luck was a very important factor, but then

again, luck is always considered a subset of strength.

If a participant was extremely lucky, then he might only face

fights against the weakest fighter in all the twenty rounds, and
would be able to maintain an undefeated record, which would
allow this person to proclaim the first rank.
 However, the probability for such a case was almost
negligible, and this case had never happened in the history of
the tournament.

Since the draws for the first fight were about to be pulled out,
Bi Fan, Mo Nan, Jing Feng and Ji Ying Lan stepped out of the
dressing room together, and strolled over to the center stage.

Even though there were twenty eight contestants, the chits

only contained numbers from one to fourteen. There were two
chits with the same number, and the contestants who pulled out
the same number would have to fight each other.

Ji Ying Lan, Mo Nan and Jing Feng were busy talking about
the draw, and were praying since neither of them wanted to
come up against Bi Fan or Wu Ji Xuan.

Obviously, beating Wu Ji Xuan was out of question, but they

knew that the case isn’t much different against Bi Fan either.

Even though Bi Fan was anxious to fight Wu Ji Xuan, he still

wanted to face him only in the final round.
 It was evident that the Sects that had made it this far were
broadly divided into three factions. The Wu Ji Sect, The Rising
Sun Sect, The Ba Gua Sect, and the Li Bei Sect, comprised the
first faction since they were all on friendly terms. The Quinyang
Sect was with the City Sect and the Tian Shui Sect, while the
Dan Yang Sect, The Sangriyan Sect, The Zhong Jian Sect and
The Eastern Aristocracy were considered neutrals.

The four Sect alliance of the Wu Ji Sect deeply hated the three
Sect alliance which was led by the City Sect, and the manner in
which their respective disciples were staring at their
counterparts, made this even more obvious.

“Please proceed to the ballots!”

Once the balloting was announced, the contestants walked

onto the stage and nervously pulled out their numbers.

After which they all returned to their dressing rooms, and

began preparing for their bouts.

“Number one, Quinyang’s Jing Feng and Rising Sun’s Tang

Tian Feng may please proceed to the ring.” The referee
announced loudly.
 “Jing Feng! Jing Feng!…” A lot of girls were already
screaming his name.

Jing Feng’s reputation and looks were so suave that he was

capable of standing out, even a place as big as the Jiu Yu City.

In contrast, Tang Tian Feng had a much lesser fame attached

to his name, and barely anyone was cheering for him.

“Young Jing Feng, best of luck!”

“Brother Jing Feng, you must teach these arrogant Rising Sun
guys a lesson.” Ji Ying Lan said with a smile on his face.

Bi Fan simply patted Jing Feng on the shoulder, and even

though he didn’t say anything, his eyes were enough to express
his concern for his friend.

“Dear friends, please relax, and feel assured that I will bag the
three points.” Jing Feng smiled.
 Jing Feng had ranked third in the last Jiu Yu List, so there was
obviously no doubt about his strength and capability. Unless he
was very unlucky, he’d be able to get a good ranking this time
around as well.

Jing Feng calmly made his way to the stage.

Although Tang Tian Feng was being considered a dark horse,

Jing Feng’s reputation was enough to stifle his motivation, and
his body language was very clearly expressing his lack of
confidence.

“Quinyang’s Jing Feng, pleased to meet you!”

“Yes, the audience made sure that I got that down properly.
I’m Tang Tian Feng from the Rising Sun.”

Once they made their salutations, the match was started.

“Hegemon Pike – Rushing Thunder!” Jing Feng launched a

fierce and quick attack.
 “The Rising Sun!” Tang Tian Feng cast out The Rising Sun
Sect’s trademark skill, which was also the most commonly used
skill by The Rising Sun disciples.

Even though there wasn’t much of a difference in his style,

Tang Tian Feng’s power output was much higher than that of
his colleagues.

But unfortunately, Tang Tian Feng had run into Jing Feng,
and he didn’t have a gambler’s chance of winning against this
opponent. On top of that, Jing Feng’s weapon was very
appropriately named ‘Hegemon’.

The two people had barely exchanged a dozen strokes, and

Jing Feng had already started dictating the fight. He kept
pushing with a constant onslaught of power waves of attacks,
and Tang Tian Feng was beginning to run out of room to dodge
into.

“Boom!” Jing Feng seized his opportunity, and launched a

violent attack, forcing Tang Tian Feng back several steps.

Jing Feng’s pike’s shadow resembled a serpent, as it violently

made its way towards Tang Tian Feng’s face.
 Tang Tian Feng’s face was enough to express his fear, and he
quickly moved his sword to obstruct Jing Feng’s overbearing
weapon.

“Boom!” The sword’s tip collided with Jing Feng’s Hegemon

Pike, and sparks flew as Tang Tian Feng’s sword bent at the top.

Tang Tian Feng’s pupils started to dilate, while sweat started

to cover his body, since Jing Feng’s weapon hadn’t stopped yet,
and was inching closer to his body now.

“I surrender!”
 Chapter 166 – Mangalica Pig

“Jing Feng! Jing Feng! I love you…..”

The Jiu Yu City women were as crazy about Jing Feng as

Quinyang’s are, and Jing Feng flirted his way back to the
dressing room.

Although Jing Feng was expected to win the fight over Tang
Tian Feng without any issues, many of the Quinyang Sect’s
disciples still congratulated him in praise.

“Jing Feng, well done!” Even Luo Xiao Tian praised Jing Feng.

Ling Xin Ya nodded with satisfaction: “A neat victory like that

one is the key to winning this contest, and there’s no need to
unnecessarily beat up your opponents.”

Ling Xin Ya’s comment was obviously directed towards the

rest of the disciples, and it seemed like he was trying to instill
some composure inside the fervently passionate dressing room.
 “Number two, Wu Ji Sect’s Xuan Ming Yang and City Sect’s
Su Yang, please report to the stage.”

Xuan Ming Yang was also one of the Six Diamonds of the Wu
Ji Sect. He had been luckier than Chao Rui, and had made it to
the third round without any difficulties so far.

But this time, his opponent was City Sect’s Su Yang, who had
finished in the top ten last time. Su Yang was at the peak of the
‘transformation’ layer, and was known to be a very difficult
opponent.

Even though Xuan Ming Yang was over the mid-level mark of
the ‘transformation’ layer, Su Yang’s face reflected no stress.

Even though neither of the two men made any advances, their
momentum had already started to rise as they took to the stage.

Xuan Ming Yang wasn’t looking shy either, and the sharp look
in his eyes was clearly reflecting his self-confidence.

The moment the referee announced the start of the fight,

Xuan Ming Yang stated in a loud voice: “Come out my partner.”
 Suddenly a Mangalica Pig appeared besides Xuan Ming Yang,
and it was apparent that Xuan Ming Yang had managed to pet
the beast.

The beast looked quite sturdy and his ‘transformation’ layer

strength was surely going to be very difficult to deal with.

“Roar!” The Mangalica Pig’s hair shook as he roared, and it

was obvious that he was ready for a fight.

Su Yang’s originally confident look had now changed into a

gloomy one.

Beast pets are hard to come by, and many of the powerful
youngsters in the young generation had been working on
procuring their own.

Su Yang had also tried to tame a beast, but hadn’t been able to
achieve any success so far.

Now, however, his opponent had a beast pet to aid him in the
battle, and Su Yang was already kicking himself mentally. Had
he known that he would have to face beast pets in the
tournament, he would definitely tried harder to get one for
himself.

“Attack!”

Xuan Ming Yang and the Pig charged side by side as they
launched their first attack.

Xuan Ming Yang employed ‘The Ying Yang Sword’ whereas

the Pig launched a direct attack.

Su Yang quickly snapped out of his regretful thoughts, since

he realized that he’d have concentrate harder in this fight.

The City Sect had a feud with the Wu Ji Sect, so even though
the odds were now stacked against Su Yang, he wouldn’t allow
himself to lose the fight very easily.

Su Yang made no attempts to back off as Xuan Ming Yang

directly charged towards him.
 Su Yang launched a fierce attack of his own, which clearly
reflected his strategy: concentrate on Xuan Ming Yang, and
dodge the Pig.

Even though Su Yang’s tactic was quite good, the Pig’s attacks
were constantly distracting him, so he was unable to employ his
true strength.

In a very short while, Su Yang was already finding himself in a

disadvantaged position.

“I didn’t expect that a beast pet would be this effective in a

match.” Bi Fan was quite astonished.

The thought of the Chimera crossed Bi Fan’s mind, but the

Chimera hadn’t woken up yet, since his evolution phase hadn’t
completed yet.

Bi Fan was afraid that the Chimera’s evolution into an

‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer beast might get affected
negatively since his current evolution was taking a very long
time to finish.
 Anyway, Bi Fan could always just give the Chimera an Ogre
flower petal, which would help the Chimera in making that
breakthrough.

But as it turns out, the bottleneck of the ‘Emerging from the

Womb’ layer is a lot harder for the beasts as compared to
humans, and even an Ogre Flower petal may not guarantee
success.

But for now, Bi Fan was only praying for the Chimera’s
successful evolution, and a timely one at that.

As for the Marten, well, even though he was awfully agile, he

wasn’t much good at fighting.

When it comes to devouring herbs, no other creature can

match his expertise and desire, but when it comes to facing an
opponent, the Marten’s strategy was to quickly find refuge and
pray for Bi Fan’s victory.

Su Yang was so busy attacking Xuan Ming Yang that he didn’t

notice the Pig as it charged right into him.
 The Pig’s attack landed quite hard on Su Yang’s body, and he
was sent flying out of the ring.

The contest was over, and Xuan Ming Yang had managed to
strengthen his claim, with his beast pet’s support.

The City Sect’s dressing room was full of downcast faces, and
they simply couldn’t get over the fact that a Wu Ji Sect disciple
had beaten one of their finest fighters.

A defeat is a defeat, and on top of that, Su Yang had lost the

fight in a square manner.

“I hope I don’t bump into Xuan Ming Yang in the contest

later…. Being thrown out of the ring like that will be very a
shameful thing.” Mo Nan expressed.

“The Wu Ji Sect isn’t to be trifled with… they are defeating

the most elite contestants with ease. It seems that I’m going to
end up becoming a ‘free points pouch’…. I’d prefer giving them
to you guys, and I hope that I only get to face my Brothers in the
future rounds; at least I’ll be of some use to the Sect that way.”
Ji Ying Lan stated in a gloomy manner.
 Indeed, Ji Ying Lan’s luck wasn’t going to help him in this
round.

In this list of twenty eight contests, Ji Ying Lan was on the

wrong end of the strength curve.

The third set pit two Wu Ji Sect disciples against each other:
Xuan Yuan Wu Ji and Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu. Even though Xuan
Yuan Wu Ji seemed more powerful than Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu, he
directly conceded the fight, allowing Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu to get
three easy points.

A lot of people were very surprised by this turn of events,

since most people were under the impression that Xuan Yuan
Xiao Yu had been lucky to get this far, since she hadn’t done
anything exceptional thus far in the tournament.

Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu is a very petite little belle, and no had been
taking her seriously.

But now, Xuan Yuan Wu Ji, who was adorned with the title of
‘Six Diamonds’ had immediately conceded his defeat to her,
which was a clear indication of her underlying strength.
 “The Wu Ji Sect is too strong, and their current younger
generation is even stronger than their previous ones…. They
must be working very hard on training their youngster. I’m
afraid that the Quinyang Sect may not be able to catch up with
them.” Ling Xin Ya stated in a defeated tone.

“…..not only that, since the Wu Ji Sect is a very famed name

in this region, they automatically attract the best talent every
year, which keeps adding more firepower to their lines.” Luo
Xiao Tian added.

“I don’t know how long it will take for us to bring up a young

generation that’s as strong as the Wu Ji Sect’s…” Ling Xin Ya
wondered.

Bi Fan was beginning to wonder about the Quinyang’s future

now.

Soon, the fourth match was announced and it was time for Bi
Fan to take the stage. Bi Fan’s opponent was Ba Gua Sect’s Chen
Kang.

Both Bi Fan and Chen Kang had emerged in this Jiu Yu

Hidden Dragon List, and both men were being considered as
‘dark horses’.

It was dark horse vs dark horse, and the crowd seemed very
excited to see the result.

The Ba Gua Sect wanted to replace the Quinyang Sect in the

top five Sects in the rating system, which meant that Chen Kang
was obviously going to fight very ferociously. The Quinyang
Sect was also attaching a lot of importance with this fight, and
both, Ling Xin Ya and Luo Xiao Tian, had urged Bi Fan to put his
best effort.

The moment they took the stage, their eyes intertwined and
sparks started to fly.

There was no room to politeness here, and their momentums

started to rise.

“Come out my Brother!”

Chen Kang’s momentum was falling short of Bi Fan’s, so he

called out his magical pet, a Mangalica Pig, just like Xuan Ming
Yang. The beast emerged out of his pet belt and showed its ugly
face to the crowd. Chen Kang’s beast was also inside the
‘Transformation’ layer.

“Bi Fan, you can admit your defeat right now, and save
yourself from a world of pain ah.”

“Oh, this is what your brother looks like…. I can’t imagine

that you share your bloodline with a swine, really?…..” Bi Fan
sighed and shook his head, almost as if he pitying his opponent.

Bi Fan’s comment gave rise to an uproar of laughter from the

stands.

Chen Kang was naturally quite furious with Bi Fan’s remark,

and his face started turning red.

“He’s my pet; a pet is like a friend or a partner, which is why I

call him Brother.” Chen Kang explained.

“Your cover-up explanation isn’t going to conceal the truth… I

feel sorry for you…” Bi Fan started laughing.
 Chen Kang’s face became even more distorted, while the
initial redness had turned to a shade of black now.

“Attack! Let’s kill him!” Chen Kang roared angrily.

“Slow down, the contest hasn’t even started yet.” Bi Fan’s

smile stretched even further.
 Chapter 167 – A Top-Notch Match-Up

“Referee, quickly start this fight!” Chen Kang was pale with
anger.

The referee gave Chen Kang a cold look: “I’m still your
referee, aren’t I? Or do you want that job as well?”

Chen Kang realized that he had made a mistake, and promptly

bowed his head: “Referee, of course, you’re the referee, I’m very
sorry about this.”

Offending a referee is nothing short of courting death, and

Chen Kang was aware that the consequences would be very
severe.

“Humph!” The referee groaned coldly, and announced the

beginning of the match.

As soon as the referee waved his hand, Chen Kang and his Pig
rushed towards Bi Fan.
 Chen Kang stormed out waving his machete, in the hope
chopping Bi Fan into two.

Bi Fan showed no signs of fear, and kicked the Pig, while his
Dragon Scale sword charged in Chen Kang’s direction.

“Woooo!” Bi Fan’s kick was so powerful that the Pig was

forced to recoil a few steps, as it cried out in pain.

Meanwhile, the Dragon Scale Sword collided with Chen

Kang’s machete, and sparks flew in all directions.

“That was a very quick reaction, but how long will you be able
to withstand us huh? My Brother and I will keep attacking you!”
Chen Kang sneered.

“More nonsense huh, what’s your talent… using your hands

or your mouth?” Bi Fan sneered back.

“Brother! Attack!” Chen Kang was furious.

Chen Kang and the Mangalica Pig launched their second

attack, and with much more ferocity than before.

“A death wish, it is.” Bi Fan stated in a cold undertone.

“Floating Sword!” Bi Fan directly cast out a very strong killer

attack. His goal was the Pig.

Although it is forbidden to kill your opponent in the contest,

but the pets don’t enjoy the safety of any such prohibitions.

The Ba Gua Sect is a sworn enemy of the Quinyang Sect, and

Bi Fan wouldn’t mind spending a little extra effort to weaken
the enemy’s strength.

“Boom!” The Pig tried to dodge Bi Fan’s attack, but was unable
to match up to Bi Fan’s speed. The Dragon Scale Sword hit the
Mangalica Pig.

By the looks of it, the Dragon Scale sword seemed as if it was

floating in the air, but with no strength to back it. However, in
reality, Bi Fan had secretly employed his entire strength in that
attack, which had now crossed over twenty eight Yun Shi,
which effectively made this strike equivalent to that of an
‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer fighter, maybe even more.

“Woo….” The Pig was hit right between the eyes, and started
rolling on the floor as it lamented for a few seconds, and then its
body went motionless.

Chen Kang was a bit slow to arrive next to his Beast, but either
way, he couldn’t have saved the beast even if he wanted to.

“You….. You killed my Brother!” Chen Kang’s eyes were red

with rage, while the veins of the hand in which he held his blade
were blue from the strain.

“You know, it’s still killing me know that you had a Pig
Brother.” Bi Fan laughed out.

“I…..I will kill you.” Chen Kang gnashed his teeth.

Bi Fan sneered: “I’m afraid you’re not strong enough to do

that.”

“AAAAAAAAAAA!”
 Chen Kang screamed wildly as he frantically charged towards
Bi Fan. He madly raised his machete high, but didn’t apply any
skill, and simply tried to slice Bi Fan’s body.

Bi Fan slid sideways in order to open Chen Kang’s attack, and

craftily used his Dragon Scale sword to attempt a stabbing
maneuver on Chen Kang’s armpit.

Chen Kang was no fool either, and had earned the dark
horse’s title on his own merit. He easily managed to divert his
strength, and successfully dodged Bi Fan’s attack.

Bi Fan wasn’t surprised by it, and launched another attack.

The Ba Gua Sect has always been known for its heavy and
forceful attacking styles, and always stresses on using a large
amounts of force while casting the attacks, which was the
reason behind Chen Kang’s confidence.

But unfortunately, he was facing Bi Fan today. Even though

the Quinyang Sect’s style was all about elegance and grace,
someone with Bi Fan’s physical strength wouldn’t exactly be
easy to over power in combat.

Bi Fan wasn’t even trying to use his elegant martial skills, and
simply waved and hacked with his sword. Bi Fan had turned
this contest into a game of sheer strength now.

Chen Kang was stupid enough to believe that he was stronger

than Bi Fan, and was quite happy, since he’d get to avenge his
Brother.

He was in the middle of exposing a wide smile, but then it

suddenly froze mid-way.

He had realized that Bi Fan was too strong, far strong than
him. So basically, he was beaten in every aspect now.

Many of the viewers were gaping in awe as Bi Fan violently

hacked and chopped with his sword, making an easy game out
of Chen Kang.

Even though Chen Kang was constantly able to block Bi Fan’s

strikes, the winner was obvious.
 “I surrender!”

Bi Fan hadn’t expected that Chen Kang would concede the

fight.

However, Chen Kang had admitted his defeat, so there was no

reason for Bi Fan to continue attacking him, and he
immediately came to a halt.

“Bi Fan! Bi Fan!…..”

More and more number of people had started cheering for Bi

Fan now.

Chen Kang’s face was looking very ugly, and he held his
deceased pet in his arms as he cried over his loss. His cold and
tearful eyes would glare Bi Fan from time to time.

It was obvious that Chen Kang was emotionally very attached

to his pet, and Bi Fan had now managed to earn his hatred by
killing the beast.
 Bi Fan didn’t pay much attention to the crowd’s cheering, and
quickly returned to the dressing room.

“Bi Fan, well done!” Ling Xin Ya smiled.

“Thank you for the praise Master, but I was only trying to do
my duty.” Bi Fan replied.

“Brother Bi Fan, good job getting rid of Chen Kang’s pet!” Jing
Feng gave Bi Fan a thumbs-up.

“Brother Bi Fan, you did us all a favor!”

Bi Fan had been surrounded by the other disciples and was

becoming the focal center of the Sect’s praise at the moment.

Luo Sheng and Luo Xiong’s eyes were flashing from one point
to the other, and it was obvious that their hatred for Bi Fan was
only deepening.

Bi Fan could feel a nip in the air, but he didn’t pay much
attention to it.
 The contest continued, and the fifth round paired two very
strong fighters against each other.

The audience cheered loudly as Tian Shui Sect’s Hong Yun

Tian and Rising Sun’s Jiang Wen approached the stage.

Hong Yun Tian and Jiang Wen were both ranked in the top
five of the last Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon List. Even though Hong
Yun Tian had ranked below Jiang Wen, it didn’t mean that
Hong Yun Tian was weaker in any way.

In the last tournament, Hong Yun Tian had been very

unlucky, and had only encountered very strong opponents
throughout.

The Tian Shui and the Rising Sun Sect had a very fiery
relationship with each other, which very closely resembled the
one between the Quinyang Sect and Ba Gua Sect.

Hong Yun Tian and Jiang Wen were now face to face, and
their eyes had already started to clash.
 “Jiang Wen, last time, you wanted to fight me, but
circumstances didn’t allow it. This time, I’ll give you a war to
remember.” Hong Yun Tian stated.

“That’s precisely what I was hoping for. In fact, I really hope

that you will be able to give me a real warm up.” Jiang Wen
replied.

Jing Feng smiled and said: “Jiang Wen and Hong Yun Tian
seem prepared for a tough battle.”

“The more brilliant the fight, the better it is!” Bi Fan was
intently waiting for the contest to start.

Bi Fan was well aware of ‘The Rising Sun’ sword play, so

much so that he could even use it battle, but he didn’t know
much about any other skill of the Sect.

As for the Tian Shui Sect, Bi Fan didn’t know much about
them, and he was very anxious to get a good look at their high
level skills.

According to Bi Fan’s knowledge, Rising Sun Sect’s martial

skills were very powerful, and domineering in nature.

The Tian Shui Sect’s martial skills were exactly the opposite,
and were very feminine in their make. Their skills were known
for their softness, and smooth flow.

Many people were desperately awaiting the start of this fight,

since they wished to see the end result of the battle.

From Quinyang Sect’s standpoint, the Tian Shui Sect was an

ally and Bi Fan obviously wanted Hong Yun Tian to win the
match.

Hong Yun Tian had seen Jiang Wen in action several times,
and was very well aware of his skill set and style, especially his
‘rising sun’ technique. Jiang Wen, likewise, had seen Hong Yun
Tian in action several times in the past, and was well aware of
his popular ‘Jade Ripple’ technique.

Irrespective of their respective knowledge of each other’s

style, the same skills, when casted by martial artists of their
caliber are bound to deem a very different result.
 On top of that, since they were both extraordinary young
martial artists, it was expected that they would know more
advanced skills as well.

Bi Fan was eagerly looking forward to the contest, and was

hoping to see some new and advanced skills in action.

Even watching ordinary skills, when casted by men of their

class, would be a great learning experience, since they would be
making their own personal changes to the techniques.
 Chapter 168 – Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu

Jiang Wen and Hong Yun Tian’s match was indeed very
interesting, and was producing some excellent moments, which
had been keeping Bi Fan completely enthralled in their contest.

Both men were extremely skilled and their understanding of

their martial skills was beyond comparison, which was turning
this into an excellent learning experience for Bi Fan.

Both, Jiang Wen and Hong Yun Tian, were comparable in

terms of internal energy levels, and martial skill expertise. Both
men had rich combat experience to back their skills, and even
though the match had been continuing for almost an hour, it
still wasn’t possible to pick a winner.

“Raging Flame Sword!” Jiang Wen finally decided to raise the

stakes, and casted out a more advanced technique.

“Three thousand rivers!” Hong Yun Tian simultaneously

casted out the Tian Shui Sect’s high level skill to match Jiang
Wen.
 Even though both martial skills were of equal quality, their
styles were exactly the opposite of each other.

Bi Fan was so immersed in the contest that he’d completely

forgotten about the outside world; he only had eyes for Hong
Yun Tian and Jiang Wen’s movements.

Jing Feng pointed out: “Notice Bi Fan, once he starts watching

a contest, he turns a blind eye to everything else. Even if you
call him, he won’t notice it.”

“Yes, well, why don’t you show us?” Luo Jia smiled.

“Bi Fan, KKOO…” Jing Feng trash talked in Bi Fan’s ears, and
darted away, but Bi Fan didn’t show any signs of noticing his
mischief.

Luo Jia laughed: “Really… it seems that if we ever feel like

cursing Bi Fan, we should do it when he’s watching a match.”

“You should take inspiration from his diligence rather than

making fun of him, really!” Yan Yu Si spoke up.
 Luo Xiong was raging with fury to see that Yan Yu Si was once
again ready to defend Bi Fan, and it appeared as if he’d die from
excessive anger.

If eyes could kill, then Luo Xiong would have murdered Bi Fan
millions of times by now.

The contest was approaching its climax, but Luo Xiong was
busy glaring at Bi Fan.

Hong Yun Tian and Jiang Wen’s match was reaching a critical
juncture, and their fierce collisions and extreme speeds were
keeping the audience on the edge of their seats.

Both men were very popular, and their supporters were

rhythmically cheering them on.

They both were obviously doing their best, and neither man
seemed willing to lose this epic battle which had been raging for
over an hour now.

Eventually, neither man’s energy was able to outlast the

other’s, and they came to a mutual agreement on settling the
match as draw.

Bi Fan asked in a concerned tone: “Brother Jing Feng, do you

think you can beat them in a fight?”

“One on one, I’m not sure… but since I have a Beast Pet, I’ll
win for sure.” Jing Feng replied.

“Jing Feng, you also have a beast pet? Ah, it seems like I have
a lot of catching up to do.” Mo Nan smiled.

Mo Nan obviously didn’t seem jealous, and in fact, seemed

rather happy for Jing Feng. When these two men weren’t busy
competing with each other, they usually turned into friends.

“I’m just a little luckier Bother.” Jing Feng smiled and said:
“Don’t worry, later in life, we’ll all have beast pets of our own.”

Jing Feng glanced over to look at Bi Fan as he said this, since

he knew that Bi Fan had extra Jungle Python eggs in his
possession.
 Bi Fan had been intending on giving the last two remaining
Jungle Python eggs to Mo Nan and Ji Ying Lan, but knew that
this wasn’t the right place for it.

Even core disciples rarely have beast pets, and even if they
have one, their pets aren’t very powerful, or have limited room
for growth.

Jungle Pythons can easily transform into powerful beasts, and

it’s even possible to evolve them into real dragons.

Blue Dragon possesses a Nucleus, and once his Jungle Python

swallows the same, he might actually transform into a real
dragon.

Once a beast is able to transform into a dragon, its strength

grow by leaps and bounds, and it can possibly turn into a
formidable killing machine.

Bi Fan had started caring about the Quinyang Sect’s future,

and wished to help his friends in gaining some strength.
 However, giving them the Jungle Python eggs wouldn’t be of
any use over the course of this tournament, since the eggs
would take a long time to hatch. Even after the egg has hatched,
they will need to allow the serpent to grow a bit, which would
take even longer.

Now wasn’t the time to reveal his valuables, and so Bi Fan had
decided to wait for a more appropriate time and place.

The tournament proceeded and continued to excite everyone.

Over the course of the next matches, Ji Ying Lan was met with
Wang Feng, and Wang Feng added three more points to his bag.
Ji Ying Lan straight away conceded the fight since his opponent
was far more powerful and an ally of the Quinyang Sect.

But Bi Fan’s real concern was regarding the situation

surrounding Wu Ji Xuan, since the man had met Li Bei’s Li Jia,
and had managed to score an easy victory.

Since the start of the tournament, till present, Wu Ji Xuan

hadn’t faced anyone strong enough to pose any challenge to
him. Bi Fan was slightly disappointed by this, since he still
hadn’t been able to get a glimpse of Wu Ji Xuan’s real strength.
 Bi Fan was sure that he’d have to face Wu Ji Xuan at some
point in the contest, so naturally it would better for him if he
knew his opponent’s cards.

The morning round ended, and out of the four Quinyang Sect
disciples, three had emerged victorious, while Ji Ying Lan had
lost to an ally.

Ling Xin Ya and Luo Xiao Tian were both very happy with the
sect’s performance, and both men repeatedly praised their four
disciples.

The contest suspended for an hour’s break, allowing everyone

to disperse for lunch. After the lunch break, the second round
commenced, and the lottery was drawn again.

These draws are always dependent purely on luck; the lady

luck could pave a man’s path to glory here.

This time, Bi Fan pulled out the number twelve, and even
though he didn’t know his opponent’s identity, he wasn’t
concerned about it, since he had already recovered his energy.
 However, since Bi Fan had already recovered his internal
energy, he was quite anxious for the contest to proceed, since he
wanted to get his eyes on some more new skills.

The contest progressed quickly, and soon it was time for Mo

Nan to take the stage.

Mo Nan seemed to be a bit out of luck this time, since he had

pulled out the same number as Wu Ji Sect’s Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu.

Although Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu is a woman, her strength

supersedes that of men like Xuan Yuan Feng, which meant that
she was only second to Wu Ji Xuan, within the Wu Ji Sect.

This world only respects strength, and if Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu

was stronger than Xuan Yuan Feng, then Mo Nan was certainly
going to have a lot of problems.

Xuan Yuan Feng was strong enough to give Jing Feng some
serious problems in battle, and this woman was even stronger.

Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu was a complete mystery, and no one knew

what she was really capable of.

“Brother Mo Nan, you must be very careful, no one knows

about Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu’s real abilities. Also, do not get lured
in by her beauty.” Jing Feng cautioned.

Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu was really beautiful, elegant and refined

in appearance, so much so that even Yan Yu Si wouldn’t be able
to overshadow her easily.

It was hard to tell her real age since she had a very young face.

“You’re joking right? I like mature women. She might be

beautiful, but I’m not a Lolicon.” Mo Nan curved his lips as he
replied.

Jing Feng said: “She is still young right now, but she’ll grow
up to be a mature and beautiful woman in a few years’ time.”

“Cut it out!”

“Brother Mo Nan, you must win this, it won’t look good if you
lose to such a little and delicate looking girl.” Bi Fan said.

“Don’t worry, I don’t care about her beauty, and I’ll fight with
my full strength.” Mo Nan stated.

Mo Nan started making his way towards the stage where Xuan
Yuan Xiao Yu was waiting for him.

Ever since Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu had taken to the stage, all the
men in the arena had been ceaselessly screaming and whistling.

The young girl was so attractive that even middle-aged men

were unable to hold themselves back.

“Brother Mo Nan is going to have a tough time…. It’s going to

be so hard to fight such a cute girl. But well, at least he won’t be
able to take his eyes off her.” Ji Ying Lan laughed.

“I’d like to see the faces of the Wu Ji Sect people if Brother Mo

Nan somehow manages to seduce her into admitting her
defeat.” Jing Feng flashed an evil smile.
 “I’m afraid that only you, Jing Feng, can pull off something
like that….” Luo Jia commented.

“Ha ha… that would be fun to see! But, yes, only young Jing
Feng is charming enough to do that…” Yan Yu Si burst out in
laughter.

The Quinyang disciples simply couldn’t help but stare at Yan

Yu Si’s beautiful face as she laughed.

Yan Yu Si was renowned for her beauty, but she rarely ever
laughed like this.

Luo Xiong had known Yan Yu Si for a long time, since they
had grown up together, but even he hadn’t seen Yan Yu Si laugh
in this manner.

Yan Yu Si’s carefree laughter was a clear indication that she

was enjoying her current company, which was making Luo
Xiong’s heart even more uncomfortable than before.
 Chapter 169 – The Fiend Fright Burst

Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu had such a weak appearance that a lot of

men were fantasying about being her knight in the shining
armor. But once her momentum started to burst out, the
storming force of it shocked Mo Nan, along with all the knights.

Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu’s momentum was extremely violent, and

was full of evil spirits, just like the Devil’s Abyss race.

“How can that be?” Bi Fan was extremely surprised: “How can
a human have such a powerful influence of evil spirits? I have
faced so many creatures of the Devil’s Race, and her
momentum’s composition is very similar to theirs’.”

“It seems that Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu has been practicing ‘The
Fiend Fright Burst’ for a very long time, and that’s probably
why she has such a large amount of negative force inside her
body.” Ling Xin Ya stated.

“The Fiend Fright Burst?” the Quinyang Sect disciples were

quite confused since they had never heard of this method
before.
 Ling Xin Ya explained: “’The Fiend Fright Burst’ is a tabooed
method. It’s very powerful, and even though its practice is very
good for raising inner energy levels. However, due to prolonged
practice, a person might lose control over their own body and
mind, and is likely to go on a wanton killing spree. The Wu Ji
Sect banned the practice of this method a long time ago, and
burnt down all the books that they possessed on the skill. But it
seems to me that the Wu Ji Sect saved some of those books, and
has been using them to teach her this skill now. I couldn’t have
ever imagined them doing this!”

“So, this little girl is actually very powerful?” Jing Feng asked:
“Is there any danger to Brother Mo Nan’s life here?”

Ling Xin Ya sighed: “Unfortunately Mo Nan hasn’t been able

to perfect ‘The Sword of the Land’ skill yet, otherwise he could
have sorted her out in no time. But right now, Xuan Yuan Xiao
Yu poses a big threat to his safety…”

Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu’s momentum continued to rise, but it also

started suppressing Mo Nan’s.

Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu’s pigtail was flying in air, under the
influence of all the baleful energy that surrounded her.
 Mo Nan bore the burn of it, and promptly started rearranging
his inner energy to resist the corrosion.

“This is chick is too powerful, and it seems that I’m going to

have a tough time.” Mo Nan thought.

“The Yin Yang Sword!” Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu’s voice sounded so
cold that it seemed as if it was coming straight from hell.

At this point Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu was no longer the beauty

that had walked onto the stage, but a messenger from the
infernal hell.

“Ah….” Many of the male spectators had been fantasizing

about her, but at this point they were all looking at her with a
hint of fear in their eyes.

Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu was a thorn rather than the rose, and now
that the evil spirits had started to break out of her body, no one
wanted to go anywhere near her.
 Mo Nan was in a lot of trouble; not only did he have to face
wave after wave of her attacks, but was also being forced to
recirculate his inner energy to ward off the erosion from the evil
spirits.

Therefore, Mo Nan was being forced to consume a lot of

energy, but Mo Nan didn’t want to admit his defeat, which is
why he decided to play one last card, and cast out ‘The Sword of
the Land’ attack.

This was his trump card, and if this attack wasn’t enough to
beat Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu then Mo Nan was ready to concede the
fight.

‘The Sword of the World’ was an ancient skill, and only the
older generation was able recognize the technique.

“That looks like Xiang Wen Tian’s ‘The Sword of the World’!
How’s a Quinyang Sect disciple able to use it?” Xuan Yuan Ling
Feng was extremely surprised.

Most people from the older generation had either seen Xiang
Wen Tian in action, or had at least heard of him, but the
younger generation was completely new to this strange ancient
skill.

As soon as Mo Nan cast out ‘The Sword of the World’, the

battle’s standing started to change very quickly.

A perfect display of ‘The Sword of the World’, and no enemy

stands a chance!

His indomitable and invincible momentum started weakening

the evil spirits.

Mo Nan launched a quick attack, even though he wasn’t adapt

at the skill, since he wanted to finish the fight as soon as
possible. The longer the fight dragged on, the more unfavorable
it would be for him.

The moment Mo Nan launched his quick attack, Xuan Yuan

Xiao Yu also changed her tactics, and started using ‘The Tai Chi
Sword’ to defend. She wasn’t allowing Mo Nan to take
advantage of his exceptional skill.

They exchanged hundreds of strokes in quick succession but

Mo Nan was unable to hurt Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu, and eventually
his momentum started to get weaker since he was consuming
too much energy.

“You won’t be able to impose on me for long, let’s see what

happens once you’re done!” Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu sneered.

“I give up!” Mo Nan wisely threw in the towel. It was just the
first day of the final round, and Mo Nan still had nine days to
make up for his loss. But if he got injured today, then he may
not be able to participate in the future rounds, which would be a
huge blow to his hopes of getting a good rank.

Considering that Mo Nan was beaten, he took his best

available choice, since it would be foolish to unnecessarily damp
his future opportunities.

“Brother Mo Nan, alas…” Jing Feng shook his head.

“Just my luck Brother…. I ran into such a doughty little

cutie.” Mo Nan sighed.

“Practicing ‘The Fiend Fright Burst’ is very risky…it’s a pity

that such an adorable little girl is doing such an activity!” Ling
Xin Ya sighed.

Jing Feng asked out of curiosity: “Deputy Master, are you

suggesting that she….”

“Yes, thousands of years ago, many people used to practice

‘The Fiend Fright Burst’ because it was very powerful. But it
wasn’t very surprising when many of these people were
eventually possessed by the Devil since their bodies were
flowing with much negative energy.” Ling Xin Ya explained.

He paused for a moment and continued: “After the

experiments of several people, it was decided that ‘The Fiend
Fright Burst’ must not be practiced, since only a very few people
were able to escape the negative effects of the method.”

“It’s really a pity… she’s such a beautiful little girl!” a core

disciple muttered.

“The Wu Ji Sect certainly knows the hazards of practicing

such methods and knows that it will eventually take hold of
Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu’s body.” Ling Xin Ya stated.
 Luo Xiao Tian analyzed: “If the Wu Ji Sect started using the
evil methods once again, then I’m afraid that no other Sect in
the Jiu Yu City will be able to stand against them, and they’ll
end up dominating the entire region.”

Ling Xin Ya hadn’t thought of this possibility yet, and his face
changed very drastically all of a sudden.

‘The Fiend Fright Burst’ was a very powerful method, and the
evil spirits it evoked, weakens the opponent’s strength.

The Wu Ji Sect was once known for practicing this method,

and no one could overlook that fact.

“The Fiend Fright Burst!” Bi Fan’s heart was full of curiosity,

and he wished to experience the method firsthand.

In fact, the ‘Blood Devil’ method was also quite excellent to

increase the inner energy, but its prolonged practice would fill
the body with evil spirits, since all evil spirits have the same
purpose.

Bi Fan had some heart in his body, which is why he didn’t

wish to practice the ‘Blood Devil’ method rigorously.

“Master, ‘The Fiend Fright Burst’ is obviously a Devil’s

method, then why are the Buddhist disciples allowed to practice
it?” Bi Fan asked.

Ling Xin Ya replied: “The Buddhist disciples are prohibited

from practicing such methods but some people still do it to
increase strength. Since it increases strength very quickly, no
one interferes unless the person starts getting violent…”

“Ah!” Bi Fan was secretly very delighted.

“Bi Fan, you will not touch the Devil’s Methods! The practice
of these methods is very cruel, and it’s very easy to lose your
mind, and you you’ll end up becoming a killing machine. Once
you do that, all the other Sect’s will team up against the
Quinayang Sect, and then there will be no saving you.” Ling Xin
Ya warned.

Luo Xiong commented: “If some people aren’t afraid of death,

then they can practice such methods, and no one will stop
them.”
 “We are all disciples of the Buddhist Way, and it’s best to
refrain from practicing such evil methods. Sometimes it doesn’t
reflect very early, but eventually the body gets possessed by the
devil.” Yan Yu Si added.

“Yes…” Bi Fan nodded.

“Humph!” Luo Xiong snorted.

Bi Fan was already thinking about this method in high spirits,

and was quite seduced by its lucrative advantages since it was
very similar to the ‘Blood devil’ method.

But he was a bit worried too, since he didn’t wish to lose his
mind.

Bi Fan wanted to increase his strength as fast as possible, but

he didn’t wish to turn into a slaughtering machine.

Knowing the negative influence of such evil methods, Bi Fan

couldn’t gather the heart to practice them.
 Bi Fan’s eyes suddenly became very staunch; he had made up
his mind. And once Bi Fan makes a decision, he doesn’t alter it.
 Chapter 170 – Zhao Yun Fei

Ji Ying Lan was out of luck again. This time it was Wu Ji

Xuan, and Ji Ying Lan promptly conceded the fight.

There was nothing he could have done; Wu Ji Xuan was

simply too strong for him.

On top of that, there was a rampant sense of hatred between

the Wu Ji Sect and the Quinyang Sect, and if JI Ying Lan had
tried to fight back then Wu Ji Xuan might have injured him
seriously just to avenge his comrades.

Considering the situation, it was very wise of Ji Ying Lan to

concede the fight before it started.

“Why don’t I get to face the ‘Delivery Boy’?” Jing Feng

complained with a straight face.

“Brother Jing Feng, you know that I don’t like that name in
the first place, but you’re still making fun of me?…” Ji Ying Lan
looked a little gloomy.
 Jing Feng replied: “Well, you’re being forced to give free
points to everyone, so you might as well give them to your own
Brothers.”

“Well, tell me what number you’re picking next time, and I’ll
follow you, he he.” Ji Ying Lan replied.

Even though Ji Ying Lan had lost both his fights today, he
didn’t seem depressed by it, and was constantly chatting and
joking about with the other disciples.

The Quinyang Sect’s results were a lot better than they had
ever been in the recent past, and everyone was very happy
about it. No one was worried about their individual
performance right now; well, almost no one.

Bi Fan was competitive and ambitious, and he wouldn’t settle

for anything less than the first spot.

Soon, it was time for Bi Fan to take the stage, and Jing Feng’s
contest was next in line.
 This time, Bi Fan was met with Dan Yang Sect’s Zhao Yun Fei.
Zhao Yun Fei was being considered an underdog, and had
managed to gate-crash into the third round since he hadn’t met
any strong opponents so far.

The Dan Yang Sect was best known for its alchemy. Out of all
the famous alchemists in the Jiu Yu City, almost eighty percent
hailed from the Dan Yang Sect.

On top of that, the Dan Yang Sect was also quite powerful in
its own right, and no force in the Jiu Yu City wanted to offend
them.

In fact, all the top-five Sects of the Jiu Yu City were trying to
reel in the Dan Yang Sect to their side, since they all wanted to
buy Dan from them.

The Dan produced by the Dan Yang Sect was of much higher
quality than any other Sect.

The Dan Yang Sect’s disciples were trained in alchemy from a

very early age, which is why most of them weren’t very strong
in terms of fighting ability.
 But, Zhao Yun Fei’s strength wasn’t bad at all, in fact, he had
already reached the mid-level mark of the ‘transformation’
layer.

Zhao Yun Fei was quite famous, not because of his strength,
but because of his talents as an alchemist.

Zhao Yun Fei was three years old when he first came in
contact with alchemy and herbs. He was six when he started
watching the elders brew potions, and by the time he was ten
years old, he was already assisting them.

At the age of twelve, he managed to brew his first Dan.

A twelve year old successfully making Dan was practically

unheard off, and had never happened before in the entire
history of the Dan Yang Sect.

Due to his natural gift for alchemy, the Dan Yang Sect had
decided to focus a lot of attention on him.

In order to make him focus on training and raising his

strength, the Dan Yang Sect’s elders had unanimously agreed on
forbidding him from practicing alchemy for the time being.

Zhao Yun Fei’s innate gift for alchemy was too precious, and
they simply couldn’t allow him to waste his gift by dying at a
young age.

The Dan Yang Sect wanted Zhao Yun Fei to raise his strength
as soon as possible, which would guarantee a longer life span for
him, and he could be of use to the Sect for a longer duration this
way.

The Dan Yang Sect’s approach was undoubtedly very wise,

and they had been training him very vigorously. His strength
had been growing by leaps and bounds, and he had already
established himself as a well-known martial artist.

Even though Zhao Yun Fei looked weak and tender by

appearance, his staunch eyes exhibited his willpower.

“Bi Fan from the Quinyang Sect, pleased to meet you!” Bi Fan
made his salutation.

“Dan Yang Sect’s Zhao Yun Fei!” Zhao Yun Fei seemed like a
very quiet and serious man.

Bi Fan intended on befriending Zhao Yun Fei, but didn’t know

how to proceed since the man wasn’t exactly very friendly by
appearance.

The contest started.

Zhao Yun Fei took out his weapon, a very odd one at that. He
was using a Tripod, which was blazing with actual fire.

Obviously this tripod was designed for making Dan in the Dan
Yang Sect. Even though Zhao Yun Fei was banned from
practicing alchemy for now, he was so fond of the science that
he had decided to use his tripod as a weapon in martial training.

Tripods are very heavy, and not exactly a very good choice for
a weapon. Even though his selection was bound to affect his
combat effectiveness, Zhao Yun Fei had insisted on using it.

This was the first time that Bi Fan was faced with this
weapon, and was momentarily unable to find a way to deal with
it.
 “Tripod shakes the Ninth Heaven!” Zhao Yun Fei launched an
attack.

The tall man raised his weapon high, and jumped in the air.
He brought his weapon down at an amazing speed, and went
straight for Bi Fan’s head.

Bi Fan’s face changed as he saw the manner in which the

tripod approached him, and quickly got out of the way.

The tripod weighed at least a few kilograms, and if it smashed

straight into Bi Fan’s body, then even with the support from his
true strength, Bi Fan couldn’t be sure of the result.

Uncertain of the circumstances, Bi Fan decided that it was

best to back away.

Bi Fan had expected the Tripod to hit the ground, but the
tripod unexpectedly changed its direction mid-air, and went
straight towards Bi Fan’s new position.
 “Damn!”

Bi Fan barely managed to block the attack with his sword.

“Bang!” the collision gave rise to a loud noise.

Bi Fan’s sword had managed to block of the tripod, but he had

only been able to do so at the cost of straining the blade. If the
Dragon Scale sword wasn’t as tenacious, then it would have
surely broken into pieces by the impact of the collision.

“That Tripod is too powerful; I can’t afford to be reckless.” Bi

Fan thought.

Bi Fan thought for a while, and came up with a solution.

Bi Fan decided to use his tricky sword play, and figured that if
merged it with some moves from the ‘Tai Chi Sword’ skill, then
he could easily leverage enough power to resist the tripod.

Bi Fan’s trick worked like a charm, and he was easily able to

brush the Tripod’s subsequent attacks.
 Bi Fan might be having it easy, but Zhao Yun Fei wasn’t. That
large Tripod was quite heavy, and its usage was consuming a lot
of inner energy.

Soon enough, Zhao Yun Fei’s attacks started to slow down.

Bi Fan was already thinking about finishing fight.

When suddenly, Zhao Yun Fei knocked the Tripod over and a
raging fire flew out from it.

“Whew!” Zhao Yun Fei twisted his palms, and redirected the
flames towards Bi Fan.

Bi Fan quickly cast out the ‘Floating Sword’ attack, and

warded off the incoming flames.

“Zhao Yun Fei, you should concede the fight now!” Bi Fan
smiled.
 Although Zhao Yun Fei hadn’t admitted his defeat yet, he was
well aware that he couldn’t beat Bi Fan since his inner energy
was almost completely depleted by now.

“Thank for being merciful!” Zhao Yun Fei conceded the fight.

Indeed, Bi Fan had been presented with a couple of

opportunities to resolve the fighting over the course of the
contest, and had he used his chances, then Zhao Yun Fei
wouldn’t even have had enough time to admit his defeat before
the attacks struck him.

He had seen Bi Fan’s speed, and knew that Bi Fan could have
killed him more than once.

Zhao Yun Fei evidently knew that Bi Fan had been very
merciful, and was grateful for it.

“If given the opportunity, I’d like to consult with you

regarding alchemy and Spirit Poison Grass, since that’s your
field of expertise. I hope that when the time comes you will not
be stingy towards your Brother…” Bi Fan said.
 “Not at all!” Zhao Yun Fei replied in a pleasant and cheerful
manner.

Bi Fan had mentioned alchemy and Spirit Poison Grass, so

obviously Zhao Yun Fei couldn’t refuse.

“See you later then.” Bi Fan started to step down the stage.

Bi Fan had successfully taken the first step in narrowing the

distance that separated the two men.

Bi Fan firmly believed that as long as he was sincere and

honest, he would eventually be able to befriend the man.

Zhao Yun Fei’s expression returned to its normal state, and he

started walking off the stage.

Bi Fan ignored the cheers, and directly returned to Sect’s

dressing room.

“Congratulations on getting three more points, Brother.” Jing

Feng smiled.
 “Congratulations!”

“Congratulations!” …

“Thank you!” Bi Fan quickly shook everyone’s hand.

Bi Fan had returned victorious once again, and Luo Sheng

couldn’t help but hate him even more.

However, Luo Sheng wouldn’t dare to expose his wrath in

public at this time.

As for Luo Xiong, well, he was a smiling tiger.

In fact, Bi Fan was aware of this, but he didn’t care about the
two brothers anyway.

If the two brothers weren’t being backed by their grandfather,

Luo Xiao Tian, then Bi Fan would have already sorted them out
by now.
 At Bi Fan’s present strength, he was confident that even Luo
Xiong wouldn’t be able to kill him, so he wasn’t exactly scared
of the man anymore.
 Chapter 171 – Practicing Blood Devil Method

As the contest progressed, Li Qian Xun demonstrated another

strong performance, while Blue Dragon exposed a fraction of
hidden strength and established himself as one of the strongest
contenders.

Moreover, Xuan Yuan Feng, Xuan Ming Yang, Xuan Yuan Wu

Ji and Xuan Yuan Yun summoned their beast pets to assist
them. All four of them had Mangalica Pigs.

Although Mangalica pigs are quite ugly in appearance, they

can be quite strong.

It appeared that the Wu Ji Sect had found a den of Mangalica

Pigs, perhaps that’s why so many of their disciples had them as
pets.

All these Pigs were quite strong, and had already reached the
‘transformation’ layer.

With their Beast pets to help them in the contest, they were
able to effectively make their fights a two vs one contest, and
were able to win their matches with ease.

The faces of the Tian Shui Sect, the City Sect, and the
Quinyang Sect were quite sore to see that all the Wu Ji Sect
disciples had such powerful Beast pets.

On the other hand, the Rising Sun sect looked quite excited
since their ally was stronger than they had anticipated, which
meant that their common enemies would suffer.

The Ba Gua Sect’s Chen Kang also used to have a Mangalica

Pig, and many people were beginning to reassess the extent of
their alliance with the Wu Ji Sect.

Thankfully enough, the Rising Sun Sect hadn’t summoned

any Mangalica Pigs yet.

Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu and Wu Ji Xuan hadn’t summoned any

Beast Pets yet, but it didn’t necessarily mean that they didn’t
have any. Up until now, neither of them had faced anyone
strong enough to force them to reveal their true strengths.

Of course, it was possible that they didn’t have a Beast pet, but
the probability was quite small.

The Quinyang Sect’s results were a bit of a mix and match on

day one.

Bi Fan and Jing Feng had established a two game winning

streak, while Mo Nan had lost one and won one, whereas Ji
Ying Lan was forced to concede both his fights.

In addition to this, the Wu Ji Sect had displayed some very

eye-catching performances. Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu’s ‘Fiend Fright
Burst’ especially, had given rise to a very heated debate.

As for the others, Wang Feng, Hong Yun Tian, Jiang Wen, Li
Qian Xun, and Blue Dragon had also given good performances,
and had won both their fights.

Even though the contest was over for the day, Bi Fan was still
reluctant to leave.

Today, Bi Fan had learnt a lot more than he had in the

previous days, and felt that these new skills that he had
witnessed were going to prove very useful in his research.
 In addition to this, Bi Fan had also learnt that the disciples of
the Buddhist way could learn and practice the Devil’s laws as
well.

Since Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu was practicing ‘the Fiend Fright

Burst’, Bi Fan could also practice ‘The Blood Devil’ method.

As long as the ‘Blood Devil’ method’s practice didn’t overtake

his body’s pure energy, there wouldn’t be an issue.

A reserve of evil energy could prove out to be very useful at a

critical time, and might even save his life.

As they walked back, Bi Fan was humming in excitement.

“Brother Bi Fan, why are you so happy? You’re practically

going lelele…” Jing Feng asked.

“Nothing, I’m thinking that tomorrow’s contest will be even

better.” Of course, Bi Fan couldn’t speak his mind freely in front
of everyone.
 “What was so wonderful about today?” Ji Ying Lan wasn’t
very happy with the tournament so far. His strength was at the
bottom of the list, and he was suffering for it.

If he encounters a strong enemy, then he would have to

concede the fight for the fear of getting injured. If he runs into
someone of equivalent strength, then he’d have to worry about
conserving his energy for the next round.

Ji Ying Lan’s generally merry face would turn gloomy every

time he had to walk to the contest stage.

Jing Feng and Bi Fan hadn’t been able to comfort him so far,
but Bi Fan gave it another try anyway: “Brother Ji Ying Lan,
you like to study martial arts right? You can use this
opportunity to observe some more advanced skills of the
different sects, and maybe that will help you with your own
research of the ‘Fufeng Double Edged Sword’….”

“Yes, ah, I could learn a lot of new thing here… why didn’t I
think about that?” Ji Ying Lan’s eyes suddenly lit up.

Ling Xin Ya stated: “Not only Ji Ying Lan, all of you must
watch the contests very carefully, and pay special attention to
details since it would help you in your future. This is the reason
we brought so many extra people to the Jiu Yu City this time…”

Once they returned to their hotel, Bi Fan hastily finished his

meal and sprang back to his room.

As always, he quickly replayed the entire memories of the day

to create a deeper impression.

Subsequently, once he had restored his energy, he started

practicing the ‘Blood Devil’ law.

If the ‘Blood Devil’ law is used to increase the internal energy,

then with time the body would eventually accumulate a large
amount of evil energy.

Bi Fan understood the value of this evil energy, especially

since he had seen its power and effect now.

In fact, since Bi Fan had already learnt and practiced the

‘Blood Devil’ method earlier, he didn’t need to study it again
since it was already imprinted onto his mind.
 But practicing the Devil’s laws can be very risky, especially
while raising internal energy, and upon even the slightest
mistake, the practitioner’s body might end up getting possessed.

However Bi Fan didn’t hesitate for even one moment and

immediately started his practice. He had made up his mind, and
once he does that, he doesn’t alter it.

Since he had some time now, Bi Fan had decided to start with
the practice of inner energy first, and then he even wished to
practice some of the martial skill of the ‘Blood Devil’ law, post
which he’d practice some methods for promotion of physical
strength.

Since this practice was very risky, Bi Fan was proceeding very
carefully.

He started his practice slowly, and began absorbing the Aura

of the outside world, which upon entering his body started
converting into evil energy.

Once this evil energy entered into his Dan Tian (Pubic region,
Qi), his internal energy immediately started resisting it, and it
appeared as if the two energies were revolting from blending
together.

Bi Fan got a bit worried, and halted his practice temporarily

since he was afraid that his body might get possessed, and
started inspecting the situation very carefully.

The evil energy wasn’t being supported by his body, and his
Dan Tian was constantly repelling.

He tried to push it down again, when suddenly the Yin Yang

Lotus issued the black silk threads and swallowed the entire
negative energy.

“The Black Silk threads acted up again, it seems that the evil
spirits and evil energy are its favorites, ah.” Bi Fan was quite
surprised.

Bi Fan thought for a second, and figured that since he his body
isn’t willing to accept this negative energy, then maybe he give
it directly to the Yin Yang Lotus. This negative energy would
certainly be of some use to the Lotus, which might give some
very unexpected and helpful assistance in the future.
 The Yin Yang Lotus had been very helpful to Bi Fan in the
past, so naturally Bi Fan was confident that it will stay the same
way in the future as well.

Out of the all treasures that Bi Fan possessed, the Yin Yang
Lotus was the most precious one, but also the most mysterious
one.

Since the idea had crossed his mind, Bi Fan decided to verify
it, and continued to practice the ‘Blood Devil’ method.

He half expected the idea to crash out, but it didn’t.

The outside Aura quickly converted to negative energy under

the influence of the ‘Blood Devil’ law, and Bi Fan was
comfortably able to circulate it around his body.

Bi Fan was overjoyed at first, but calmed down soon enough.

He pushed the energy to his Dan Tian and towards the Yin Yang
Lotus.
 Once the evil energy reached close to the Yin Yang Lotus, the
black petals started acting up again, and issued the threads,
which immediately absorbed their food. After the black threads
had absorbed the evil energy, the black lotus seeds grew bigger.

Bi Fan’s idea had worked, so he was obviously quite happy.

“I don’t know why, but since the Yin Yang Lotus seems to be
benefiting from the evil energy, I must help it out in my free
time.” Bi Fan had made his decision.

The ‘free burst’ was a continual practice, but didn’t require

dedicated practice time, whereas the ‘Fire and Ice burst’ method
only needed a finite time every day, and its excessive practice
wasn’t very fruitful.

Practicing ‘Blood Devil’ laws would be a good use of free time

since it would help in the growth of the Yin Yang Lotus’s seeds.

Bi Fan had tried several techniques to achieve this result in

the past, but had always failed.

He figured that since the black petals absorb the negative

energy, then the white petals might be interested in absorbing
the positive energy.

Since the idea had crossed his mind, Bi Fan started using the
‘Fire and Ice burst’ law to absorb the positive energy in his
surroundings, and circulated it towards his Dan Tian and sent it
straight towards the White petals of the Lotus.

Once the positive energy reached close to the Lotus, the white
petals gave rise to White strands, which quickly absorbed the
entire positive energy. Bi Fan carefully observed the Lotus, and
realized that the Lotus had sprouted small white seeds now.

Bi Fan was very excited by his findings, and decided that he

would invest his free time in feeding energy to the Yin Yang
Lotus, since the quicker he was able to help the Lotus mature,
the sooner he’d be able to benefit from its new and improved
capabilities.
 Chapter 172 – Beast Pet Showdown

Bi Fan had gone the whole night without sleep again, and he
was so engrossed in studying the Yin Yang Lotus that if Jing
Feng hadn’t called him, then he wouldn’t have realized that it
was already time to leave for the contest.

After an entire night of feeding, the Lotus’s seeds had grown a

bit in size.

The Lotus’s seeds grew at a very slow pace, so it would be a

while before they completely matured.

The Yin Yang Lotus had saved Bi Fan’s life several times in the
past, in fact even Bi Fan couldn’t count the exact number.

Since the Yin Yang Lotus had always helped Bi Fan in critical
junctures, Bi Fan didn’t mind putting in some extra effort in
helping it grow stronger.

Bi Fan groomed himself and stepped out of his room.

 Jing Feng was waiting for him outside. He saw Bi Fan’s
haggard face and couldn’t help himself: “Brother Bi Fan, are you
okay?”

“Nothing, I didn’t sleep last night.” Bi Fan replied lightly.

“Don’t work so hard, this might cause you an issue in a critical

moment in the contest.” Jing Feng’s words silenced Bi Fan.

Bi Fan knew that he had been working very hard, but started
to realize that he might be taking it a little too far.

“I know.”

Bi Fan realized that after an entire night of practice, it would

be a little difficult for him to be a hundred percent in the
contest.

“I must be careful, if I keep getting carried away like this, then

it will affect my performance.” Bi Fan thought.

The first day of the final round was very intense, and since
nine more days were left, it was vital for Bi Fan to preserve his
stamina.

As far as feeding the Yin Yang Lotus was concerned, Bi Fan

would only do it in free time now.

He had realized that he wouldn’t be able to use the ‘Blood

Devil’ method in the manner in which he had intended to, but
wasn’t disheartened by it.

The contest started and the contestants were asked to draw

their slots again.

The Wu Ji Sect disciples had received a lot of praise for their

performance on day one of the third round, which is why they
were acting even more arrogant now.

At the time of balloting, Wu Ji Xuan and Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu

were standing expressionless, but the other four were eyeing the
Quinyang Sect, City Sect, and the Tian Shui Sect
contemptuously.

In fact, Xuan Yuan Feng even passed a sarcastic comment to

deliberately mock the City sect.

“Some Sect is getting weaker by the day. They are so busy in

being seated at their throne that they’ve completely forgotten
about tactics.”

His comment was obviously directed at the City Sect since the
Wu Ji Sect was trying to replace their status.

In this contest, Wang Ming Fei was unlucky, and had been
knocked out early. He one of the best in the City Sect and had
finished seventh last year. In this regard, the City Sect was
already quite disheartened and the comment made them even
more furious.

Tan Guang Cheng almost attacked Xuan Yuan Feng, but

fortunately Wang Feng held him back.

If Tan Guang Cheng had been allowed to act impulsively, then

the City Sect would have found themselves in a very
disadvantaged position.

The third round was very important in terms of ratings, so it

was vital to perform well in this round.

“Their Pigs are fueling their damned arrogance!” Jing Feng

stated coldly in a low tone.

Bi Fan smiled and said: “Let them brag, if I come across them,
I’ll straight away kill their pets.”

“Ah, if we can kill their pets in battle, then our brothers won’t
have to worry about facing them later.” Jing Feng’s eyes lit up.

Jing Feng immediately walked over to Wang Feng and Hong

Yun Tian, and conveyed the idea.

Wang Feng and Hong Yun Tian were both standing with a
tense look on their faces, but their eyebrows eased upon hearing
Jing Feng’s words.

The balloting ended and everyone returned to their respective

dressing rooms.

The tickets were sold-out today, and the arena was full, which
was making the contestants very nervous since there was
additional pressure now.

Ji Ying Lan and Mo Nan were also quite nervous since their
strengths were relatively weaker.

“We mustn’t take too much stress. This round will continue
for several days, so it’s important to act smartly. If you run into
a very strong opponent, just concede the fight and concentrate
on getting a strong total rather than individual victories.” Ling
Xin Ya advised.

After Luo Sheng’s early exit, Luo Xiao Tian had taken a back
seat, and Ling Xin Ya was the effective leader of the platoon
now.

At his present strength, Mo Nan was strong enough to stand

his ground against the likes of Xuan Yuan Feng, but if the latter
summoned his Beast Pet, then Mo Nan was beaten for sure.

Mo Nan didn’t wish to face the Wu Ji Sect disciples anymore,

and could only pray to the heavens for support.
 Jing Feng saw that Mo Nan had already closed his eyes, and
had folded his hands in silent prayer.

He smiled and said: “…Brother Mo Nan, do some extra

praying on my behalf as well. Pray that the Wu Ji Sect guys keep
running into Brother Bi Fan so he can kill their pets. That way
we won’t have to worry about facing their pets in the future.”

“Ah, that’s better, I’ll pray for it.” Mo Nan started seeing a
glimmer of hope.

The contest began and the first match pit Wang Feng against
Xuan Yuan Feng.

The glared each other like enemies on a narrow road, Xuan

Yuan Feng had just mocked the City Sect, and now he was
facing Wang Feng in a match.

Wang Feng was very strong, and had only lost to Wu Ji Xuan
in the last tournament, while ending up square with Jing Feng
and Jiang Wen. But unfortunately, he ranked below Jing Feng
and Jiang Wen since he had to face Wu Ji Xuan thrice.
 The Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon’s list wasn’t just determined by an
individual’s strength, but also by that of their Sect’s, while luck
also played an important role.

Xuan Yuan Feng wasn’t strong enough to face Wang Feng

alone, so he immediately summoned his Mangalica Pig.

Once the huge Mangalica Pig appeared on the stage, Xuan

Yuan Feng’s original meek expression restored to its usual
arrogant shade.

“Wang Feng, I know you’ve been waiting for this a long time,
but unfortunately you’re just going to be another stepping stone
in my path.”

“Yes, well, I’ve been looking forward to this, and I hope that
your performance meets my requirements.” Wang Feng replied
in a calm and indifferent tone.

“Attack!”

Xuan Yuan Feng knew that he wouldn’t be able to beat Wang

Feng alone, and so his Beast charged right beside him from the
start of the fight.

Wang Feng cast out ‘The sounds of thunder’ at an exceptional

pace, but his two opponents were able to cope up without much
difficulty.

‘The sounds of thunder’ was a high level martial law in City

Sect’s arsenal, and was comparable to Quinyang Sect’s ‘Floating
Sword’, and brought a gale of winds and the strikes of thunder
along with it.

This was the first time that Bi Fan was seeing this skill, so he
was obviously watching it very carefully.

‘The sounds of thunder’ was a very fast, accurate, and sharp

attack, and its overall ferocity made it a rare skill.

Xuan Yuan Feng’s ‘Yin Yang Sword’ wasn’t enough to deal

with Wang Feng, but he was able to hold his own owing his
excellent understanding with his Beast pet. And gradually, Xuan
Yuan Feng started gaining an upper hand in the fight.

Wang Feng was very strong, but winning against two

opponents at once wasn’t going to be very easy.

However, Wang Feng wasn’t panicking, and figured that he’d

need to break their teamwork.

Once he was able to break up Xuan Yuan Feng and the Pig’s
teamwork, then he’d have a chance.

Xuan Yuan Feng was very excited since he was sure that he’d
win the match. If he was able to beat a man who had finished in
top five last time, then he’d gain instant recognition.

Fame and glory have always been very enticing temptations

for youngsters. Xuan Yuan Feng had been trying to press Wu Ji
Xuan’s status. The other Wu Ji Sect disciples considered Wu Ji
Xuan to be untouchable, but Xuan Yuan Feng wanted to try.

He wanted more and more people to know about him, and he

could only do this by defeating more famed opponents. Wang
Feng was a famed name, and beating him would obviously be
good for Xuan Yuan Feng.

Xuan Yuan Feng launched another fierce attack since he was

quite desperate to impress.

His pig rammed straight in Wang Feng’s direction at such a

fast pace, that it brought a gale of winds along with it.

But Wang Feng was a very experienced fighter, and quickly

dodged the attack.

Xuan Yuan Feng tried to sneak up on Wang Feng, in the hope

of launching a pincer attack.

Suddenly, a huge black bear appeared in front of Xuan Yuan

Feng. The Bear issued a gigantic roar and charged straight at
Xuan Yuan Feng.

Wang Feng also had a Beast Pet, but hadn’t disclosed it to

anyone until now.

Now that he had summoned his Beast pet as well, it was now a
two vs two fight, and he was no longer in any danger of being
outflanked by his opponents.
 Chapter 173 – You’re A Waste

“Wang Feng has been keeping his own secrets huh, but he
timed his Bear’s arrival to perfection.” Jing Feng exclaimed.

The Bear’s sudden appearance had completely startled Xuan

Yuan Feng.

Black Bears are very strong, are even stronger than Mangalica
Pigs in general.

Moreover, Black Bears are known for their brute power, and if
this bear went wild, then he could easily finish the fight on his
own.

Thus, Xuan Yuan Feng was effectively rendered helpless, and

chose to retreat his advances.

Wang Feng had turned his entire attention towards the Pig.

He cast out ‘The Sounds of Thunder’ in a very powerful

manner.
 The Pig was very fast, and was able to twist and turn his body
very quickly, but Wang Feng was beginning to press the play
now.

Wang Feng obviously didn’t want to miss out on this

opportunity, and had resorted to launching a full scale attack,
managing to stab the Pig twice in the process, while Xuan Yuan
Feng was still struggling to cope up with the bear.

The Pug issued a blood curling scream as it fell to its death.

Xuan Yuan Feng roared: “Wang Feng, you killed my Pet! I will
yours now!”

Unfortunately for him, Black Bears have a notoriously rough

skin and tough flesh, and even though Xuan Yuan Feng
managed to land several blows on the Bear, he wasn’t able to
cause it any damage.

After killing the Pig, Wang Feng redirected his attention to

Xuan Yuan Feng, and started to assist his bear in the task.

Xuan Yuan Feng wasn’t foolish either, and immediately

calmed down and conceded the fight.

Wang Feng smiled as he walked off the stage.

“Yeah! Good work Wang Feng.” Jing Feng cheered.

Mo Nan smiled: “One more pig is dead, less trouble for us.”

“Yeah, the pigs aren’t really going to be an issue for me, Hong
Yun Tian and Brother Bi Fan, as all of us have the strength to
kill them. But the Wu Ji Sect guys are going to be more cautious
in using their pigs against us now, since they know that we are
looking to kill their pigs.” Jing Feng said.

Bi Fan smiled: “I have already killed one, so I doubt that the

Wu Ji Sect guys will summon their pigs to die at my hands.”

“Or perhaps not, the Wu Ji Sect guys are very arrogant, and
are egotistical enough to try and beat you in any way possible.”
Jing Feng shook his head.

Yan Yu Si hadn’t spoken in a while, but she had been

observing and thinking this entire time.

The Quinyang Sect was fairly unified at this stage, and apart
from Luo Sheng and Luo Xiong, all the core disciples were
backing Bi Fan now.

Yan Yu Si wanted Luo Xiong and Luo Sheng to make friends

with Bi Fan, but knew that the two men had a very difficult
relationship with him.

But Yan Yu Si was growing more and more optimistic about

Jing Feng, Mo Nan, Bi Fan and Ji Ying Lan’s future, and could
sense that the Quinyang Sect’s future would be a lot more
prosperous once the four of them grew up.

If they were unable to sort out their differences, then Yan Yu

Si was even considering the idea of getting rid of Luo Xiao Tian.

Luo Xiao Tian occupied a very important position in the

Quinyang Sect’s hierarchy, and if he was removed then the
Quinyang Sect would certainly take a huge hit.

Even though Yan Yu Si was considering the idea, she knew

that Yu Qing Yang may not have the courage to take such a
major decision.

Therefore, Yan Yu Si decided that it was best to give Luo

Xiong and Luo Sheng a chance to make their peace with Bi Fan,
but also persuade Yu Qing Yang for the worst, if demanded by
circumstances.

The contest was much more intense than yesterday, but Bi

Fan was completely ignoring everything since he was solely
focused on learning new skills.

Since only one match was being contested at a time, Bi Fan

was able to focus his energy properly, and was able to memorize
even the most subtle of movements.

In reality, these subtle movements were very important, and

often these subtle movements were the difference between
average power and greatness.

Ji Ying Lan was a lot luckier this time since he was paired
with Sangriyan Cloud’s Zhou Feng Ya.
 Jing Feng could sense that Ji Ying Lan was quite excited and
said: “Young Ji Ying Lan, this time you should definitely be able
to return victorious.”

Ji Ying Lan smiled but didn’t say anything, and it seemed as if

he simply couldn’t wait to get to the stage.

“Now, now, let’s not get that anxious.” Jing Feng laughed.

Even though the Sangriyan Cloud wasn’t a big Sect, Zhou

Feng Ya had managed to stand out, and was being considered a
genius inside her Sect.

Although Zhou Feng Ya had been lucky to advance this far,

she was still quite strong.

On top of that, Zhou Feng Ya was very beautiful and delicate

in appearance, and was being considered a rare beauty.

Ji Ying Lan’s eyes were completely awed by Zhou Feng Ya’s

beauty.
 “Scoundrel!” Zhou Feng Ya rebuked disgracefully.

Ji Ying Lan snapped out and promptly replied: “I’m sorry,

you’re way too beautiful, I panicked and forgot my manners…”

“What a disgraceful disciple!” Zhou Feng snorted sharply.

Ji Ying Lan hadn’t performed well in this stage so far, so Zhou

Feng Ya obviously was looking down upon him.

Ji Ying Lan on the other hand, was completely taken by her

beauty, and had seemingly lost his mind.

“Ji Ying Lan is going to be in some trouble here; it’s evident

that he’s completely infatuated to Zhou Feng Ya.” Jing Feng
laughed.

“Zhou Feng Ya is a real beauty, so I’m not surprised that

young Ji Ying Lan likes her ah.” Luo Jia spoke up.

Ji Ying Lan had noticed Zhou Feng Ya earlier, but now that he
was face to face with her, he found her even more beautiful than
before, and was completely mesmerized by her beauty.

The contest started, but Ji Ying Lan hadn’t yet snapped out of
his imagination.

Zhou Feng Ya had a very graceful posture, and her movements

made it seem as if she was elegantly dancing on the stage.

Ji Ying Lan couldn’t help but stare at her, and seemed to have
completely forgotten about the match.

Zhou Feng Ya couldn’t see the honesty in Ji Ying Lan’s eyes,

and was quite angry that he was glaring at her, which reflected
in the ferocity of her attack.

In a matter of minutes, Ji Ying Lan had sustained several

minor scratches, and blood started to stream down from his
body, and his mind was suddenly alerted to his physical
situation.

However, Ji Ying Lan was in no mood to fight back, since he

was faced with his dream girl and simply couldn’t be ruthless
towards her.
 “I surrender!”

“You’re a waste!” Zhou Feng Ya finished her sentence, and

turned around to exit the stage.

Zhou Feng Ya’s scolding made Ji Ying Lan lose his manners
again.

“I’m not a waste, and I will prove it to you.” Ji Ying Lan

almost shouted back at her.

“Humph!” Zhou Feng Ya groaned sharply as she made her way

back to her dressing room.

Ji Ying Lan almost dropped to the floor from desiccation as he

watched her rear view while she was making her way back to
her dressing room.

“I don’t think that Brother Ji Ying Lan will be able to

withstand this shock, we must go and get him before he makes a
show of himself in front of everyone.” Jing Feng said.
 Jing Feng, Mo Nan and Bi Fan quickly walked out and
returned with Ji Ying Lan.

“Ji Ying Lan, didn’t you even think twice about the Quinyang
Sect’s reputation?” Luo Xiao Tian shouted at him.

“I’m sorry, I was wrong.” Ji Ying Lan lowered his head.

Even Ling Xin Ya didn’t shield him this time: “Ji Ying Lan, no
matter what, you must always remember that you’re a man of
the Quinyang Sect, and your words and actions will reflect on
the entire Sect.”

“Deputy Master, there will be a next time.” Ji Ying Lan

replied in a serious tone.

Jing Feng patted Ji Ying Lan on the shoulders, smiled and

said: “Brother Ji Ying Lan, it seems that ‘lover-boy’ is a more
appropriate title for you.”

“Don’t lose hope Brother Ji Ying Lan.” Mo Nan shook his

head.

Ji Ying Lan’s mental state didn’t look too good, and it was
evident that he still hadn’t recovered from the shock.

“Brother Ji Ying Lan, if you desire Zhou Feng Ya, then no

matter what happens, it’s necessary for you to defeat her, so you
can build a strong image in her heart.” Bi Fan said.

“I will. If I meet her again, I will personally beat her up.” Ji

Ying Lan’s eyes seemed very resolute.

Ji Ying Lan had made a spectacle of himself, and a lot of

tongues were already wagging.

Zhou Feng Ya on the other hand, was snorting disdainfully at

Ji Ying Lan since she considered him to be a pervert.
 Chapter 174 – The Discord In The Eastern
Aristocracy

The following rounds were quite exciting, but Bi Fan was only
concerned about the martial skills on display and didn’t care
about the results of the tournament. Fortunately, Jing Feng, Mo
Nan and Bi Fan had won their contests in the morning half of
the day.

In the afternoon round, Bi Fan pulled out the number one,

and was very excited to know that he was facing Wu Ji Sect’s
Xuan Wu Ji.

Xuan Wu Ji was a member of the ‘Six Diamonds’ and was a

very popular youngster.

Most people were expecting Xuan Wu Ji to win this match.

He was one of the top ranked Wu Ji Sect disciples, so it was

obviously that he must know some excellent skills.

Bi Fan seemed very nervous when the contest began.

 Xuan Wu Ji was already looking down on Bi Fan and was
considering this to be an easy match.

Seeing the nervous look on Bi Fan’s face made him even more
confident of his victory.

On the other hand, Bi Fan had already achieved his primary

objective, and was smiling inwardly.

As the fight started, Bi Fan intentionally started dodging his

attacks, in an attempt to make it look as if he was having a hard
time.

Xuan Wu Ji was getting more and more excited since he

believed that he wasn’t far from victory, so much so that he
didn’t even feel the need to summon his Pet.

Bi Fan was beginning to get a bit anxious since he was aiming

to kill Xuan Wu Ji’s pet, which wouldn’t be possible unless
Xuan Wu Ji summoned it onto the stage.

“Xuan Wu Ji, you’ll never be able to beat me, I’m afraid that
you’re too weak.”

Bi Fan temporarily reversed the situation and started raining

of Xuan Wu Ji’s parade.

“Yes, well, I don’t think that you’ll be able to do anything if I

have assistance.” Xuan Wu Ji immediately summoned his beast
pet.

Ever since Wang Feng had killed Xuan Yuan Feng’s Mangalica
Pig, Xuan Yuan Ling Feng had given strict orders to his disciples
that they shouldn’t use their pets unless they are certain of their
pet’s safety and a victory.

Beast pets are a rarity, and the ones that the Wu Ji Sect had
were already inside the ‘transformation’ layer, which were even
harder to procure.

Xuan Yuan Ling Feng was already grieving the loss of one
Mangalica Pig, and if they lost another, then he’d be furious.

Xuan Wu Ji was very confident of his victory, so it was quite

understandable that he summoned his pet without thinking
twice.

Bi Fan appeared very scared when the Mangalica Pig appeared

on the stage, but in reality he was laughing his belly out.

“The pig is finally out, and now that it is, I won’t allow it to
leave this stage alive.”

Bi Fan had already made his decision and was thinking of

ways to kill it in a single strike.

“Bi Fan, you’re dead. I’m not Ba Gua’s Chen Kang, so don’t
expect to beat me.” Xuan Wu Ji laughed loudly.

Xuan Wu Ji and his pig launched a fierce attack, and indeed,

he wasn’t Chen Kang. The understanding between him and his
pet was far better than the former, and this duo was far stronger
in every respect.

Even though Bi Fan was certain of his victory, they were still
putting him under a lot of pressure.
 It appeared as if Bi Fan was in a mess since he had come
within inches of losing, several times.

The more embarrassed Bi Fan looked, the more excited Xuan

Wu Ji would get, and he’d try even more desperately to finish
the fight early.

Bi Fan was continuously retreating since he was looking for

the optimal opportunity for a one shot kill.

While backing off, Bi Fan was employing the ‘Floating Sword’

skill, but his style seemed to have changed a lot, and he was able
to use his skill very effectively in a defense manner as well.

In reality, Bi Fan had unknowingly been drawing a lot of

defensive tactics from the ‘Tai Chi Sword’ which was the reason
his defense had suddenly become so strong.

Xuan Wu Ji was very skilled with his sword-play, but still

wasn’t able to inflict any damage to Bi Fan.

Even though this situation was a bit strange for Xuan Wu Ji,
he still didn’t think much into it, and continued to draw
support from his pet, since he was desperate to defeat Bi Fan.

However, Xuan Wu Ji was keeping the Pig very close to his

body, and wasn’t giving Bi Fan any opportunity to attack his
pig, let alone kill it.

“It seems that I’ll have to create my own chances.” Bi Fan

thought.

Bi Fan thought for a second, and suddenly fell to the ground

while engaging his two opponents.

The Pig naturally rushed towards Bi Fan to tear him apart, the
moment he fell to the ground.

Xuan Wu Ji was overjoyed and wanted to kill Bi Fan with his

own sword, but held himself back since he didn’t want to hurt
his own pet in the process.

“And there’s my chance!”

Bi Fan suddenly got up, and charged right back. He casted out
a powerful sword attack, and a glimmering light covered his
sword. His sword’s blade appeared to be glimmering in a radiant
blue light as it cleanly cut off the Pig’s head.

“You…. You….. ” Xuan Wu Ji went mad with rage when he

saw his pig’s beheading with his own eyes, and charged at Bi
Fan.

“Haha, in my eyes, you’re no different from Chen Kang.

You’re both completely useless.” Bi Fan stated in a cold voice.

This was a good chance to attack the frenzied Xuan Wu Ji, so

Bi Fan obviously didn’t hold back.

“I will kill you…..” Xuan Wu Ji accelerated his pace.

“I’m not sure about that.”

Bi Fan was open to the idea of ‘accidentally’ killing Xuan Wu

Ji, and in fact, was counting on it.

Xuan Wu Ji saw the manner in which Bi Fan launched his

attack, and suddenly, the angry look on his face changed to a
frightened one.

Xuan Wu Ji knew that he was beaten, and shouted loudly: “I

give up!”

“Coward!” Bi Fan cursed out.

“Bi Fan, just you wait and watch, someone from the Wu Ji
Sect is going to take your case.” Xuan Wu Ji’s face was clearly
expressing the gloom in his heart, and he it was obvious that he
was wishing Bi Fan dead.

“It’s a pity, that person will never be you.” Bi Fan smiled.

“Quinyang Sect’s Bi Fan is victorious!” the referee announced

loudly.

“Bi Fan! Bi Fan!….”

Bi Fan’s solidarity and reputation was growing within the

crowd, and more and more number of people had started to
support Bi Fan now.

Bi Fan had already killed two pet pigs, and many people had
started dubbing him as the ‘Pet Slayer’.

The other contestants who had beast pets were now a little
frightened of Bi Fan, and were praying that they don’t run into
him.

Furthermore, Bi Fan had defeated a few members of the ‘Six

Diamonds’ now, and had established a very strong identity in
this tournament.

At first, most people were only looking at his ‘Enormous

strength’ layer strength, and were considering him to be easy
game, but now, no one wanted to face him.

Until now, Bi Fan hadn’t revealed any extraordinary skills,

and had only been using the Quinyang Sect’s usual martial
skills, so no one could understand the root cause of his unusual
power.

People are usually afraid of what they don’t know since it’s
difficult to prepare against the unknown.

Bi Fan had managed to progress this far against the common

expectations, which was beginning to scare his opponents.

As Bi Fan continued to rise in the tournament, people started

considering him to be the biggest ‘dark horse’ in this race since
he hadn’t lost any fights thus far.

Blue Dragon was also a ‘dark horse’ in this tournament, since

he was exposing more and more of his true strength. Even
though he didn’t have a Beast Pet to help him in this
tournament, his physical strength was sufficient to win against
almost all contestants.

Blue Dragon, Jing Feng and Bi Fan would be standing close to

each other during the balloting process, but were unable to
exchange any words.

After the contest day ended, the Sects would straight away
lead their disciples back to their respective hotels, so they
weren’t allowed any time to get together after the tournament
either.
 Today, Blue Dragon had attracted quite a bit of limelight since
he had managed to kill Xuan Ming Yang’s beast pet, adding one
more to Wu Ji Sect’s list of dead pigs.

The Wu Ji Sect had now lost three Mangalica Pigs and the
Quinyang Sect, City Sect and Tian Shui Sect disciples were
overjoyed by this.

Since three of the Wu Ji Sect contestants had lost their pets in

battle, their effective strength had been greatly reduced, and the
many more disciples now had a chance of winning a fight
against them.

Blue Dragon’s match had been a very entertaining fixture, but

he still suffered abuse at the hands of the Eastern Aristocracy’s
members after his victory.

“Bastard…. Do you know what you’ve done? Today you’ve

managed to offend the Wu Ji Sect disciples, and if their Sect
makes our life difficult, then you’re the one responsible for it.”

The head of the family, The Eastern Yan Fei, was furious. He
had always despised Blue Dragon; in fact, he hated Blue Dragon,
and naturally wasn’t going to miss this opportunity to shame
him in front of everyone.

Yan Fei wasn’t the only one; almost everyone inside the
Eastern Aristocracy despised him, and had bullied him when he
was a child. Today however, Blue Dragon had grown in
strength, so naturally, no one would dare to provoke him, but
that still didn’t stop them from picking on him verbally.

Blue Dragon seemed to have gotten accustomed to this abuse,

and remained silent, almost as if hadn’t even heard Yan Fei’s
words.

However, the moment when he had heard the word ‘bastard’,

Blue Dragon’s face had changed very drastically and he had
sharply glared at Yan Fei, but quickly concealed his feelings and
redirected his gaze at the ground, speechlessly.
 Chapter 175 – Desert Blade

If Blue Dragon hadn’t intended on participating in the Jiu Yu

Hidden Dragon list, then he wouldn’t have stayed with the
Eastern Aristocracy after his return from the Abyss.

Blue Dragon had already suffered more abuse than he could

bear with, since he wasn’t strong enough to make it in the
outside world on his own in the past. But now, he was strong
enough to survive on his own, so he obviously didn’t wish to
stay with the Eastern Aristocracy.

In the entire Eastern Aristocracy, there was only man who

had been good to him, but that man had gone missing almost a
decade ago. That man was his father.

Ever since Blue Dragon’s father had gone missing, his

situation had gone from bad to worse.

Blue Dragon clenched his teeth as vowed to make a better life

for himself.

The second day had ended and he was still unbeaten, which
meant that he had the same points as Bi Fan and Jing Feng.

The tournament proceeded very quickly and another six days

passed in a flash. Now, only the last two days of the third round
remained.

In these first eight days, Bi Fan had already beaten Xuan Yuan
Feng, Xuan Ming Yang, Xuan Wu Ji, Xuan Yuan Yun, Hong Yun
Kai, Wang Lan, Su Yang, Blue Dragon, Zi Feng, Chen Kang,
Tang Tian Feng, Gu Da Tong, Zhao Yun Fei. Blue Dragon had
straight away conceded the fight.

Until now, Bi Fan hadn’t lost a single contest, which meant

that he was at par with Jing Feng, Wu Ji Xuan, Xuan Yuan Xiao
Yu, and Li Qian Xun.

Blue Dragon had lost one fight so far, to Bi Fan, which meant
that he too was still ranked in the top few.

In these eight days, Wu Ji Xuan and Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu still

hadn’t summoned their beast pets, but their other four
comrades had lost their pets in battle.
 A lot of things had happened in these last few days. Bi Fan’s
chimera had woken up after successfully evolving into a
formidable monster; while his strength was now almost at par
with the ‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer.

Bi Fan was very happy to see the Chimera waking from its
sleep since the Chimera would now be his best trump card in the
tournament.

In addition to this, Li Quin Xun had also summoned his Beast

pet against Wang Feng, a Mangalica Pig, and had managed to
defeat Wang Feng with the help of his advanced
‘Transformation’ layer pet.

Beating Wang Feng had given a major boost to Li Qian Xun’s

morale and standing, and he was the only new comer who had
managed to overshadow Bi Fan in the eyes of the public.

On the ninth day of the contest, every one reached the contest
arena earlier than usual, and the place got so crowded that the
staff was unable to accommodate the entire audience in the
arena.

“Brother Bi Fan, Brother Jing Feng, only two days remain…

just four more matches, and you have to win them all.” Mo Nan
stated.

Mo Nan had lost against Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu, but since he had
won every other fight, he was still ranked quite high in the
charts.

“I don’t want to run into Wu Ji Xuan in these last two days, I

want him for the finale.” Jing Feng said.

“I’m also hoping for the same; let’s see what fate has in store.”
Bi Fan smiled.

“Brother Bi Fan, for the sake of the Quinyang Sect, I pray that
you encounter Wu Ji Xuan and then you beat him. Once you’re
done with him, I hope you meet Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu and Li Quin
Xun as well. Once you’ve beaten all three of them before the
final, the Quinyang Sect can get the top two spots in the List.”
Jing Feng looked quite serious about it.

“Brother Jing Feng, you cannot expect me to beat three of

them in two days…. Beating one a day is still possible, but two a
day….” Bi Fan was a little surprised.
 Luo Sheng was growing more and more restless, but knew
that if he spoke up out of turn, then he’d paint a target on his
back, so much so that he may not even receive support from Luo
Xiong and Luo Xiao Tian this time around.

It would appear as if Jing Feng’s predictions were about to

come true and Bi Fan ran into Li Qian Xun in the seventeenth
set.

Li Qian Xun was very strong even without the support of his
Beast pet, and wasn’t very far behind Blue Dragon.

As soon as they took the stage, Li Qian Xun summoned his

Beast pet.

Even though Bi Fan was being dubbed as the ‘Pet Slayer’, Li

Qian Xun had enough confidence that he could protect his pet
and use it to beat Bi Fan at the same time.

Li Qian Xun’s strong self-confidence had its roots in his

amazing strength, and he didn’t even seem afraid of Bi Fan.

“Bi Fan, you’re strong! But, you’re no match for me, and I’ll
beat you for the glory of my Ba Gua Sect.” Li Qian Xun
announced.

Li Qian Xun was a man of very words, but couldn’t help

himself since he had finally met Bi Fan in a match.

Bi Fan replied: “You’re quite strong as well, but since you’ve

met me, it seems that you’re not destined to play in the finals
anymore.”

As soon as the referee started the fight, Li Qian Xun casted

‘The Universe Blade’, the Ba Gua Sect’s trademarked skill.

The Pig was right behind Li Qian Xun, and was just waiting to
outflank Bi Fan. In case Bi Fan exposed even the slightest of
weakness, the Pig would charge straight for him.

Since Li Qian Xun was leading the charge, killing the Pig
wasn’t going to be an easy task for Bi Fan.

Li Qian Xun was ready to lead the charge against Bi Fan,

which clearly indicated that he was quite confident about his
strength and ability.
 Li Qian Xun was fairly strong physically, and on top of that he
was using a very heavy golden nine ring broadsword, so
naturally his attacks were quite ferocious.

The large Golden Nine Ring Broadsword glimmered in a

radiant golden light as it powerful charged towards Bi Fan.

Bi Fan didn’t dare to neglect the threat and responded in a

very careful manner, constantly using his ghostly agility to
dodge the attacks.

He wasn’t afraid of Li Qian Xun, but feared that things

wouldn’t go well if he gave the Pig a chance to get in the game.

Bi Fan didn’t wish to summon the Chimera for now, since the
Chimera was his best weapon, and he was trying to save its
entry for the most critical of junctures.

Killing the Mangalica Pig, while beating Li Qian Xun, was a

very hard task without any assistance.
 But while being engaged in the fight with Li Qian Xun, Bi Fan
was constantly coming up with new ideas to change the course
of the battle.

Li Qian Xun was also fighting very cautiously, and wasn’t

giving Bi Fan any room to make a move.

Li Qian Xun’s idea seemed very clear: Step by step, force Bi

Fan back, and slowly deplete his energy till he can’t carry on
and force him to admit his defeat.

Bi Fan didn’t wish to expose too many of his trump cards at

the moment, so using the Scared Rune or the Chimera was
obviously out the equation for him.

Bi Fan could easily defeat Li Qian Xun with a sudden burst,

but he wasn’t doing it since he still wanted to kill his beast pet.

After losing to Bi Fan, Li Qian Xun would have the same

points as Mo Nan and Blue Dragon, which meant that the two of
them might have to face him in the tie breakers. If Li Qian Xun
had his pet for support, then their chances of notching a victory
would be non-existent.
 Bi Fan wanted to win the tournament, but also wanted his
friends to do well too.

Li Qian Xun obviously didn’t know this, and was visible happy
since he was presently winning this fight.

Both men were fighting ferociously, and Bi Fan was

constantly being pushed back in this intense match-up.

“What is Brother Bi Fan doing? Why isn’t he hurrying up to

finish off this fight? The longer he keeps stalling, the more
energy he’ll consume…. He still has the afternoon fight left,
ah.” Mo Nan was getting anxious at this point.

Jing Feng smiled: “Don’t worry, Brother Bi Fan can finish this
fight whenever he wants. If he’s still dragging it out, then he’s
surely looking to kill that Mangalica Pig for the rest of us.”

Yan Yu Si was also a bit concerned, but was still quite satisfied
with Bi Fan’s fighting. She would smile and nod from time to
time, as she continued to watch his contest.

In fact, even Yan Yu Si could tell that Bi Fan could win the
fight at a moment’s notice.

“Desert Blade!” Suddenly, Li Qian Xun changed the gears, and

employed a new technique.

This attack was even tougher, and a lot more straightforward

in its style. This law was especially designed for people with
excessive physical strength; for people like Li Qian Xun.

Li Qian Xun’s strength and ‘The Desert Blade’ law were

beautifully complementing each other, and as a result, the
power of the attack was being amplified to a great extent.

Now, faced with a new and more powerful attack, Bi Fan was
looking even worse than before.

Li Qian Xun wasn’t even falling for Bi Fan’s tricks and crafty
plots, and was still trying to force Bi Fan into conceding the
fight.
 Chapter 176 – The Pet Slayer

Sometimes the most basic moves are more useful than the
most powerful of attacks, and Bi Fan knew that Li Qian Xun was
looking for his weaknesses.

Bi Fan knew well that Li Qian Xun’s beast pig was just waiting
on the flanks, waiting for him to expose a weakness.

Suddenly, Bi Fan intentionally exposed a flaw in his

movement, and Li Qian Xun recklessly charged straight into
him with tremendous force, pushing Bi Fan back several steps.
The attack was so forceful that Bi Fan almost dropped his
Dragon Scale sword.

“Great Lion, attack!” Li Qian Xun had nick named his Pig
‘Great Lion’.

The Mangalica Pig immediately charged out the moment Li

Qian Xun gave the command, like an arrow from a bow, at the
speed of lightening.

“Ah….” Bi Fan screamed as he staggered back.

 The Pig was quite intelligent and was overjoyed to see Bi Fan’s
reaction, so naturally he increased the pace of his advance.

“Oh shit!” Li Qian Xun’s face suddenly became pale as he

remembered the manner in which Xuan Wu Ji had lost his pet,
and realized that Bi Fan was about to do the same to his.

“Great Lion, quickly come back…..”

Unfortunately, Li Qian Xun’s reaction was too slow. By the

time he reversed his initial command, his pet pig had already
increased his pace, and was already beyond the point of making
a return.

“Excellent!”

Bi Fan was more careful this time. He first used ‘The

Immortal Finger’ and targeted the pig’s eyes, and then
immediately used his sword to follow up after the recoiling pig.

“Woooo!” The Pig opened his mouth to scream after he took

the first attack.

The moment the pig opened his mouth to scream, Bi Fan

quickly and accurately stabbed it in its mouth with his Dragon
Scale Sword.

The pig didn’t scream this time, but sprayed out a lot blood as
it fell down to the ground.

Li Qian Xun had charged after his pig to rescue it, but was too
late to arrive.

“Bi Fan, you actually killed my Great Lion?” Li Qian Xun’s

voice was ice-cold.

“Why do you call it ‘Great Lion’? It was really just a pig ah.” Bi
Fan scoffed in disdain.

“AAAA!” Li Qian Xun howled and then wildly rushed towards

Bi Fan. He slashed his golden nine rings broadsword at Bi Fan
with the intention of chopping him to pieces.
 This time, Bi Fan didn’t dodge and instead used his sword to
block the incoming attack.

“Bang!” the fierce collision sent sparks flying in all directions.

Bi Fan was actually in an advantageous position after blocking

this attack.

The faces of the audience were revealing the disbelief of their

hearts, since the large golden nine ring broadsword was very
heavy; everyone knew that.

Such a huge blade, when brought down with such huge force
shouldn’t get blocked off by such a light weight sword like Bi
Fan’s dragon scale sword.

This situation could only have one explanation: Bi Fan was a

lot stronger than Li Qian Xun.

Li Qian Xun couldn’t believe his eyes either, and looked rather
dazed by these sudden turn of events.
 Bi Fan couldn’t be lenient at this critical juncture, and his
dragon scale resembled a viper as it made its way towards Li
Qian Xun’s body.

Li Qian Xun quickly collected his wits and somehow managed

to dodge Bi Fan’s attack.

However, Bi Fan didn’t hold back, and switched his attack

mid-way and managed to scratch Li Qian Xun’s arm, and blood
started to flow from the wound.

Li Qian Xun was looking at Bi Fan with hateful eyes, and

charged straight back at him again, swinging his heavy blade as
viciously as he could.

Bi Fan started adopting a tricky play once again, and decided

to stay back, while occasionally launching a counter attack to
make things more uncomfortable for the injured Li Qian Xun.

Bi Fan was constantly increasing the force of his attacks, and

even Li Qian Xun’s heavy blade wasn’t proving to be of any use.

Even though Li Qian Xun didn’t wish to, he was forced to

admit his defeat.

Bi Fan had managed to overwhelm Li Qian with sheer force,

which had always been Li Qian Xun’s main attribute.

On top of that, Li Qian Xun seemed quite dazed after the death
of his pet, which was an even greater blow to him since he was
no longer able to play his strengths properly.

“Bi Fan! Pet Slayer! …..”

“Bi Fan! Bi Fan! ….”

After beating Li Qian Xun, Bi Fan established himself as the

biggest ‘dark horse’ of this tournament, and was now amongst
the only four people who were unbeaten in the tournament so
far.

Jing Feng and Wu Ji Xuan were both renowned fighters,

whereas Bi Fan and Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu were both new comers.
But Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu was expected to be good since she hailed
from the Wu Ji Sect, which is why no one was very surprised by
her progress.
 But Bi Fan’s case was different since he was only a Quinyang
Sect disciple, and wasn’t even in the scene three years ago,
which is why no one had even heard of his name.

“What’s this Bi Fan’s bottom line? How did the Quinyang Sect
manage to procure such a talent?” Xuan Yuan Ling Feng was
very surprised, and was quite curious about Bi Fan’s history.

“The Quinyang Sect could have been concealing Bi Fan from

the eyes of the world, so he could make a sudden appearance
here and shine.”

“Unlikely. The Quinyang Sect’s situation isn’t very luxurious

at the moment, and they aren’t exactly in a position to conceal
such talents…. They need the attention, and they need it as soon
as possible… it has been the same for a long time now.” Xuan
Yuan Ling Feng shook his head.

“So that means that this Bi Fan has only emerged in these last
three years, which means that he’s even more talented than we
thought.” This time, it was Wu Ji Xuan who spoke up.
 “After we return, we must immediately investigate into this
matter. If Bi Fan is as talented as we are beginning to imagine,
then we must find a way to eliminate him as soon as possible.”
Xuan Yuan Ling Feng’s tone was cold, and devoid of any
emotions.

Bi Fan returned to his Sect’s dressing room and found himself

surrounded by his comrades, all of whom wanted to
congratulate him on his performance.

“Brother Bi Fan, you just have three more matches left. As

long as you can win them all, you’re guaranteed a place in the
finals.” Jing Feng stated.

“Brother Jing Feng, you’re almost there yourself, you also

only have four games left.” Bi Fan smiled.

Mo Nan said: “Brother Bi Fan, now you’re the real ‘Pet

Slayer’, and this title is getting you a lot of limelight as well.”

“Bi Fan, you must be very careful in the contest later on. You
might have to face more difficulties still.” Yan Yu Si cautioned.
 Even though Yan Yu Si wanted to give Bi Fan a positive
remark, she knew that too much praise might put him under a
lot of pressure.

Too much pressure isn’t a good thing, and people sometimes

are unable to perform properly if they are subjected to too much
pressure.

“I will.” Bi Fan nodded fiercely.

The contest continued and both, Mo Nan and Jing Feng, got
weaker opponents and managed to get three points with ease.

As for Ji Ying Lan, he met Zhou Feng Ya a second time. This

time, Ji Ying Lan didn’t act mindlessly, and applied the ‘Fufeng
double-edged Sword’ law to his best knowledge, and managed to
win the fight in less than ten minutes.

“I’m not a waste!” Ji Ying Lan finally raised his head.

“You’re strong! I guess I was mistaken, you’re just another

horny guy.” Zhou Feng Ya said lightly.
 Ji Ying Lan looked even gloomier now. He had managed to rid
himself of the ‘waste’ tag, but had worn a new and worse
‘pervert’ hat.

Then, Zhou Feng Ya turned around and disembarked the stage

immediately, and Ji Ying Lan didn’t get a chance to explain
anything to her.

In reality, Ji Ying Lan wasn’t amongst the weakest in the

tournament, and had managed to win quite a few matches as
well.

The contest was getting more and more exciting with each
passing set.

The top-ranked fighters were especially under a lot of

pressure, since even upon losing one match, their ranking
would get very badly affected.

Everyone wanted to face weaker opponents, but someone

would have to face Wu Ji Xuan in each round.
 In the eighteenth round, it was Jing Feng’s turn to face the
misfortune since he picked up the same number as Wu Ji Xuan.

Jing Feng knew that he was no match for Wu Ji Xuan, but he

still didn’t wish to concede his defeat very easily. Regardless of
the outcome, Jing Feng wanted to give his best in the match.

“Jing Feng, do you really want to fight this match?” Ling Xin
Ya asked.

“Yes, I’ve been waiting three years for this. No matter what
the outcome is, I want to test my limits against Wu Ji Xuan, so I
can know the disparity in our strengths.” Jing Feng’s tone was
very firm.

Ling Xin Ya shook his head and sighed: “Then you must be
very careful, and remember that you still have two more
matches tomorrow. If needed, don’t shy away from conceding
the fight early.”

“I will.” Jing Feng nodded.

As Jing Feng left the room, almost everyone seemed to be

concerned for his safety.

Wu Ji Xuan was so strong that no one had been able to persist

for more than five minutes against him, and Wu Ji Xuan would
inevitably win the fight cleanly and easily.

On top of that, the hatred between the two sects had been on
the rise in the tournament, so there was an added threat that
Wu Ji Xuan might try to harm Jing Feng, purely to spite the
Quinyang Sect.

Jing Feng was a mainstay of the Quinyang Sect, and his safety
was very important for the future of the Sect.

Yan Yu Si wanted to personally convince Jing Feng to give up

the fight, but knew Jing Feng’s temperament, and was well
aware that he wouldn’t change his mind once he had made a
decision.

“I hope that Jing Feng doesn’t get hurt!”

Everyone was praying the same thing.

 Chapter 177 – The Spotted Leopard

“Wu Ji Xuan vs Jing Feng! This one match is worth the money
I paid for the ticket!”

“Who do you think will win this match?”

“Well, Wu Ji Xuan will obviously win this match. Wu Ji Xuan

is already almost as strong as the ‘Emerging from the Womb’
layer, and no one here is capable of beating him.”

“Yes, I also think that Wu Ji Xuan will win this match.”

The spectators had already started talking about the match,

but it seemed that a very few people were supporting Jing Feng
in this match. Even the females, who were usually cheering
after Jing Feng didn’t seem very optimistic about his chances,
and it seemed from the look on their faces that they were a bit
worried about his safety.

Jing Feng could hear the buzz around the stadium, but he still
looking very calm and composed.
 At this point, Jing Feng had already engrossed his mind in the
battle that lay ahead, and was completely oblivious to his
surroundings.

As the two men slowly embarked onto the stage, their

respective supporters started cheering for them; waves after
waves!

Wu Ji Xuan was tall, and his lofty, chiseled body reeked of

masculinity, but he wasn’t exactly very good looking.

His momentum was quite calm, but was still towering above
Jing Feng like a mountain.

Bi Fan was eagerly waiting for the contest to start since he

would finally get a chance to see Wu Ji Xuan’s strength to some
extent.

During Wu Ji Xuan’s previous contests, his opponents had

either directly conceded the fight, or hadn’t been able to extract
much out of him, which is why Bi Fan didn’t know anything
about Wu Ji Xuan’s fighting style.
 Bi Fan was confident that Jing Feng would at least be able to
force Wu Ji Xuan to use his real strength, and so he really didn’t
mind the wait.

As two men finally came face to face, Jing Feng started

exposing his momentum, which started to shoot up very
sharply, while Wu Ji Xuan’s momentum was still as placid and
calm as before.

The contrast was obvious; Jing Feng’s constantly rising

momentum was clearly expressing his nervousness.

Wu Ji Xuan, on the other hand, was still calm and hadn’t

made any movements yet, which clearly demonstrated him
confidence in his own ability.

Jing Feng charged violently as soon as the referee announced

the start of the fight, waving and sweeping his hegemon pike in
an attempt to strike Wu Ji Xuan.

Wu Ji Xuan, on the other hand, had quickly come up with his

weapon, and his two hands were now wielding a sharp and cold-
edged sword; a two-handed sword, which was almost two
meters in length.
 “That’s Wu Ji Sect’s ‘Jing Hong’ sword!” Ling Xin Ya seemed
quite shocked.

Mo Nan asked: “Is the ‘Jing Hong’ sword very powerful?”

“Of course, the ‘Jing Hong’ sword is almost a top grade

magical weapon. I hadn’t anticipated that they would give it to
Wu Ji Xuan so early.” Ling Xin Ya exclaimed.

Mo Nan said: “Then Brother Jing Feng’s chances of winning

are going to get even small now.”

Wu Ji Xuan was easily coping up with Jing Feng’s attacks, and

his sword was easily able to ward of Jing Feng’s spear.

Wu Ji Xuan’s swordplay was very strange, even though it

seemed a little like ‘The Tai Chi Sword’ and the ‘Yin Yang
Sword’, it was still very different from the two style in many
ways.

“It was reported that Wu Ji Xuan had managed to blend in the

‘Tai Chi Sword’ and the ‘Yin Yang Sword’ to create a new law
called the ‘Wu Ji Sword’….. it seems that the rumor is true!”
Ling Xin Ya’s mouth had fell open in surprise.

Ji Ying Lan muttered: “Wu Ji Xuan is so powerful that he

even owns his own martial law… he’s just an outer disciple right
now…”

“This cannot be considered a unique martial skill yet, but he

was still able to blend a few martial skills to create a new set,
which is very rare.” Yan Yu Si sighed.

She paused for a moment and then continued: “Fortunately,

he hasn’t been able to perfect his moves yet, otherwise it would
have been very difficult to beat him.”

Yan Yu Si had intended to address Bi Fan, but Bi Fan’s

attention was already glued to the match, and he was oblivious
to this discussion.

The ‘Wu Ji Sword’ was very subtle law and Bi Fan was quite
fascinated by it.
 Wu Ji Xuan’s sword play was defensive and offensive at the
same time, and he was able to deal with Jing Feng quite easily.

Even though Jing Feng’s Hegemon Pike was very powerful

and heavy, he still hadn’t been able to get past Wu Ji Xuan’s
defense yet.

Jing Feng knew that he was no match for Wu Ji Xuan, but he

hadn’t anticipated the gap to be this huge.

Even though Jing Feng was quite frustrated, he still wasn’t

ready to concede the fight just yet.

“I must force Wu Ji Xuan to reveal more of his strength and

skills…. it will help prepare Brother Bi Fan.”

Jing Feng continued to attack Wu Ji Xuan, wave after wave.

He knew that he had already lost the fight but wasn’t intending
on saving up his energy.

Even though Jing Feng was already at the peak of the

‘transformation’ layer, Wu Ji Xuan wasn’t having much
difficulty in facing him.
 Wu Ji Xuan was constantly changing his moves, and hadn’t
even repeated a single move yet.

It would appear that Wu Ji Xuan’s sword play was quite

complicated and it wouldn’t be easy to force him to reveal its
true potential.

“Come on my Partner, time to for you to play!” Jing Feng

couldn’t help it anymore and called out his Beast Pet.

A huge spotted leopard appeared on the stage. The spotted

leopard was almost three meters in length, and was already
reached the peak of the ‘transformation’ layer.

Even though Jing Feng had a Beast Pet, he had never

summoned it before, in fact, this was the first that even Bi Fan
was seeing it.

Wu Ji Xuan saw the huge leopard appear, but didn’t show any
signs of panicking.
 “Jing Feng, you’re stronger than I thought, but you’re still no
match for me.” Wu Ji Xuan smiled.

“Yes, well, I’d like to try anyway.” Jing Feng replied lightly.

“Brother Leopard, let’s go!” Jing Feng commanded the

leopard, and the two of them started to attack in unison.

The leopard was complimenting Jing Feng very well, and

their combined power was quite formidable.

Now, faced with two peak of the ‘transformation’ layer

opponents, even Wu Ji Xuan was having a tough time.

Wu Ji Xuan’s swordplay started becoming more and more

fierce.

It was evident that Wu Ji Xuan was being forced to come up

with his real strength now, and even though he was still using
the same style, his moves had become a lot sharper now.

“Even though Wu Ji Xuan is very strong, Jing Feng is finally

being able to extract his real strength now. I think that Wu Ji
Xuan also has a beast pet, but I don’t think that Jing Feng will
be able to force him to summon it.” Yan Yu Si stated.

“Wu Ji Xuan is far above his peers, and I’m afraid that he’ll
turn into a very powerful backbone for the Wu Ji Sect.” Ling
Xin Ya’s face seemed quite worried.

If the Wu Ji Sect became more powerful, then it wouldn’t be

very good for the Quinyang Sect.

Even though Jing Feng and his leopard had a very good
understanding between them, they were still unable to break
past Wu Ji Xuan’s defense.

The ‘Wu Ji Sword’ had inherited its defensive abilities from

the ‘Tai Chi sword’, but seemed even stronger, and was still
capable of being used offensively since it comprised of moves
from the ‘Yin Yang Sword’ as well.

It was obvious that Wu Ji Xuan was no ordinary talent.

The spotted leopard was awfully fast and extremely powerful,

and would advance and retreat in a jolts, bringing a gale of
winds along with it.

Being faced with the leopard’s attack, Wu Ji Xuan would use

his massive sword to push the leopard back.

Wu Ji Xuan’s speed was increasing constantly, but his sword

didn’t seem to be having any negative effect on his movements.

His sword was very sharp and very heavy, and Jing Feng had
been having a very hard time in dealing with it.

If it weren’t for his spotted leopard’s assistance, then Jing

Feng would have lost a long time ago.

However, even with his leopard’s help, it was evident that

Jing Feng wouldn’t be able to last very long now since Wu Ji
Xuan’s attacks were becoming more and more violent, and he
was beginning to dominate the fight.
 Chapter 178 – Enemies On A Narrow Road

“Wu Ji Sword – Wu Ji Reversal!” Wu Ji Xuan lost his patience

and straight away cast out his final move.

A network of hundreds of blades slashed outwards and

converged to form a very large blade.

“Brother Leopard, quickly retreat!” Jing Feng shouted as he

ducked out of the way.

The spotted leopard was in the middle of pouncing at Wu Ji

Xuan, and even though he tried to twist his body to dodge the
attack, escape was difficult at this point.

“Boom!” the sword hit the spotted leopard and sent it flying.

The Spotted Leopard was nearly cut into pieces; death was the
inevitable end after being struck by such a heavy blow.

“I concede the fight!” Jing Feng promptly abandoned the fight

and ran over to his partner’s dead body. Tear drops fell like rain
drops from Jing Feng’s eyes as he held the bloodied corpse of his
friend.

Real men don’t cry easily; Jing Feng’s tears of blood were a
clear indication of the sentiments that he held in his heart for
his pet.

“Consider this may payback for the Mangalica Pigs that your
‘Pet Slayer’ has killed in this tournament.” Wu Ji Xuan stated
coldly.

Jing Feng ignored Wu Ji Xuan’s words and silently

incorporated the Spotted Leopard’s corpse into his Yin Yang
pouch, and returned to his Sect’s dressing room.

“Brother Jing Feng…..”

“I’m fine; I just want to be alone right now.” Jing Feng waved
his hand.

Everyone knew that Jing Feng was very sad and enraged,
which is why no one dared to bother him about it.
 “I wish I could get my hands on Wu Ji Xuan.” Bi Fan said.

Mo Nan said: “Brother Bi Fan, if Wu Ji Xuan is this

powerful…. then I’m afraid that only you can beat him.”

“I will do my best.” In fact, even Bi Fan wasn’t certain of a

victory.

Jing Feng hadn’t been able to draw out Wu Ji Xuan’s true

strength, and it was evident that he had more tricks up his
sleeve.

Since Wu Ji Xuan’s true threat was still unclear, it was hard to

comment on the subject of defeating the man.

As the afternoon round proceeded, Mo Nan was met with Wu

Ji Sect’s Xuan Wu Ji, and since his rival’s pet had already been
slain in battle, Mo Nan was able to win the match.

Mo Nan’s results had been very good so far, and he was now at
par with Jing Feng, having lost only one match over the course
of the contest.
 As for Ji Ying Lan, he was also quite lucky and bumped into Li
Bei’s Li Jia and managed to win his match as well.

Bi Fan was pitched against the Rising Sun Sect’s Gu Da Tong,

who tactfully conceded the fight, allowing Bi Fan to bag a
walkover victory.

Apart from the disappointment of Jing Feng’s pet, Bi Fan had

learnt a lot of new things, while Wu Ji Xuan’s ‘Wu Ji Sword’
had broadened his horizons.

Since Wu Ji Xuan had been able to assemble his own martial

style, Bi Fan was now confident that he could also achieve
something similar.

Bi Fan had one advantage over Wu Ji Xuan in this respect:

‘The Immortal Finger!’. ‘The Immortal Finger’ was a very
powerful attack and was capable of being fused with a very wide
range of martial laws, which meant that Bi Fan could pick his
moves from a very wide range of skill sets.

Moreover, ‘The Immortal Finger’ was a very powerful attack

and was so taciturn in nature, that it would be very hard to
detect it if it was used slyly with a sword-based skill.

After returning to his room, Bi Fan once again recalled the

memories from the day. By now, his knowledge base had
become far broader, and even his perceptive abilities had seen a
major boost.

Nowadays, Bi Fan was capable of identifying the flaws in most

martial laws by just looking at them once.

However, Wu Ji Xuan’s case was very different, and even

though Bi Fan inspected his skill set very carefully, he was still
unable to find any flaws in it.

But Bi Fan didn’t give up immediately and was convinced that

he’d be able to find some, in time.

Bi Fan studied the skill throughout the night, but was only
able to find very minor flaws in Wu Ji Xuan’s martial law.

Even though he had managed to tear holes in this cloth, Bi Fan

knew that he wouldn’t be able to exploit his findings in battle
since Wu Ji Xuan was very tactful, and would actively change
his skill during the course of the fight.

Bi Fan could make out that since Wu Ji Xuan’s skill was near
perfection, he must have spent a lot of time in creating and
practicing it.

The next day arrived in no time at all. Today was the final day
of the third round and the rankings would be announced at the
end of the day.

If two or more contestants were drawn in terms of points,

then the contest would proceed for two more days and would go
into the tie-breakers.

Since this day was potentially the last day of the tournament,
a huge gathering had assembled inside the stadium. Some of the
spectators had urged that they were willing to watch the contest
even if they weren’t able to find seats to sit on.

Since they were still willing to pay the full price of a ticket,
the City Sect gladly allowed it.

On the other hand, Jing Feng’s morale seemed restored after a

good night’s rest.

“Brother Jing Feng, how are you feeling?” Bi Fan seemed a bit
worried.

“Brother Leopard’s death won’t affect me in this contest

Brother.” Jing Feng stated.

Bi Fan recalled that he still had a couple of Jungle Python eggs

in his possession, and figured that he could give one of them to
Jing Feng since it would help in making him feel a little better.

But this wasn’t the time or the place for such acts, and Bi Fan
decided to wait for the right time.

Once the balloting was over, the contestants started gearing

up for the final day of the third round, and seemed awfully
focused on getting the best out of their respective situations.

Today, Jing Feng’s first opponent was his old nemesis: Jiang
Wen.
 “Jiang Wen, last time, I lost to you by a very small margin.
This time, I will make up for it.” Jing Feng narrated.

“Jing Feng, if your beast pet was still alive, then I would have
conceded the fight early, but now, I don’t think that you’ll have
it easy against me.” Jiang Wen replied.

Jing Feng calm demeanor suddenly changed to an angry one,

the moment Jiang Wen mentioned the death of his pet.

“Yes, well, I will beat you today!” Jing Feng stated in a cold
voice.

The moment the referee announced the start to of the fight,

the two men charged out towards each other.

Since Jiang Wen and Jing Feng knew each other’s strengths
quite well, the fight’s tempo escalated very quickly.

The contest was extremely exciting, and the audience was

naturally enjoying watching it.
 However, since the two men knew each other’s abilities so
well, both men were able to protect themselves, and neither
man seemed to be gaining any advantage over the other.

Both men were already using their full strength, but still
neither seemed to be superior to the other.

“It looks like Brother Jing Feng and Jiang Wen’s fight is going
to end in a draw…. If Brother Jing Feng’s spotted leopard was
still alive, then he would have won this fight quite easily.” Mo
Nan sighed.

“They both understand each other quite well, and are equally
matched in every respect…. So I’d say that it would come down
to a case of ‘who wants it more…’.” Ling Xin Ya commented.

Jiang Wen and Jing Feng, both wanted to win the fight
desperately, and both men were fighting ferociously. Both men
were consuming a lot of energy and it seemed like they would
both be running out very soon.

Even now, both men seemed tied in every respect, and it was
still impossible to predict a winner.
 Both men got rid of their weapons, in order to reduce energy
consumption, and started engaging each other in hand-to-hand
combat. Their sweat studded bodies were clearly depicting the
state of their energy consumption, while the reducing speed of
their movements was indicative of their respective fatigue.

“Who will win this match?” almost everyone was craning in

their necks to know.

“Jing Feng! Jing Feng! Hit Jiang Wen….”

“Jiang Wen! Jiang Wen! Beat Jing Feng!”

Both men were very popular, and it seemed that their fans
were having a competition of their own since it seemed like they
were trying to subdue their favored contestants’ enemy’s
supporters, and the arena was witnessing an unprecedented
uproar of cheers.
 Chapter 179 – An Unfavorable Situation

“Ah!”

“Ah!”

Jing Feng swept his hegemon pike at Jiang Wen at the same
time that the latter slashed his sword at him. Since both men
attacked at the same time, neither was able to dodge the other’s
attack, and both men injured their arms.

Now, both the men were injured and both men were tired;
however, their injuries weren’t very serious.

Both men struggled back onto their feet since neither wanted
to give up.

Both men were carrying the same idea: Win the fight at any
cost.

They resumed fighting, and continued to attack each other at

the same time.
 Since they were both fatigued, it became harder to dodge the
attacks, and in a flash of an arrow, both men had sustained
more injuries, and were struggling to get back to their feet at
this point.

“Ha ha, Jiang Wen, I will beat you this time; at any cost!” Jing
Feng laughed loudly; it seemed as if he had lost his mind.

“You…. You’ve gone mad!” Jiang Wen looked terrified of Jing

Feng’s demeanor.

Jiang Wen was also desperate to win, but he also knew that
he’d have to fight one more contest today. In case he injured
himself very seriously, then he may not be able to participate
further…. So even if he managed to win the fight, it still
wouldn’t be worth it.

“I concede the fight. I’m not fighting against this lunatic.”

Jiang Wen stated loudly.

Jing Feng struggled back to his feet, but immediately fell

down on the ground.
 “I finally won!” Jing Feng said in a loud voice.

“Quick! Let’s go and help Brother Jing Feng.” Bi Fan said.

Bi Fan and Mo Nan quickly ducked out of the dressing room,

and hurried down to get Jing Feng back.

“Jing Feng, are you okay?” everyone was worried about Jing
Feng since his body was wounded in three places, and his
wounds were bleeding incessantly.

Although neither of the injuries were dangerous to his life, he

was still bleeding quite a bit, and people were afraid that he may
not be able to participate in the evening round.

Ling Xin Ya personally checked Jing Feng’s condition and

bandaged his wounds, and then said: “Jing Feng, you must
quickly take a Dan pellet and start working on restoring your
energy.”

“Yes!” Jing Feng was in a very merry mood after beating Jiang
Wen.

Since Jing Feng was busy in restoring his energy, no one

disturbed him.

The contest continued, and Li Qian Xun ran out of luck again.
This time, he met Hong Yun Tian.

Hong Yun Tian was extremely powerful, but Li Qian Xun was
no less. Their contest was very exciting, but the end startled the
crowd’s expectations.

Li Qian Xun actually managed to beat Hong Yun Tian, but

only at the cost of sustaining severe injuries.

Even though Li Qian Xun and Hong Yun Tian’s contest was
very exciting, it wasn’t as good as Jiang Wen and Jing Feng’s.
However, both contests ended on a tragic note.

In fact, Li Qian Xun’s injuries were far more serious than Jing
Feng’s, and it seemed as if he may not be able to participate in
the evening round.
 The Quinyang Sect disciples were quite happy to see that Li
Qian Xun had injured himself so seriously since he had the same
points as Jing Feng at this stage in the tournament.

If Li Qian Xun was strong enough to beat Hong Yun Tian, then
he was certainly strong enough to match Jing Feng, which
meant that if the two men were required to fight each other in
the tie breakers, then Jing Feng may lose.

Since he may not be able to participate any further, and was

quite likely to lose even if he insisted on participating despite
his injury, the Quinyang Sect disciples were obviously relishing
their luck.

“Li Qian Xun is awfully strong, but fortunately he’s seriously

injured now; otherwise we would have had a hard time against
him.” Mo Nan laughed.

“Yes, he’s strong enough to match Brother Jing Feng. His

injury is a good thing for the Quinyang Sect.” Ji Ying Lan
smiled.

The contest continued and Bi Fan luckily bumped into Zhong

Jian’s Du Feng.

Even though Du Feng wasn’t particularly strong, his powerful

fighting style and heavy sword would still be quite difficult to
deal with.

Bi Fan had wanted to test the style out in person, and was
quite glad that he was being presented with the opportunity.

Du Feng knew that he was no match for Bi Fan, but he still

wasn’t inclined on admitting his defeat easily since the two
sects’ didn’t have a harmonious relationship.

Bi Fan didn’t act out aggressively when the fight started since
he wanted to get his opponent’s best moves out of the closet.

Du Feng, as a result, was quite relieved to see that Bi Fan

wasn’t as strong as he had imagined, and ended up giving Bi Fan
his wish.

In an instant, the two men ended up exchanging hundreds of

blows, but it didn’t seem like either of them was winning the
contest.
 “What is Brother Bi Fan doing? He could have finished this a
long time ago, so why is he still dragging it out?” Mo Nan still
hadn’t understood Bi Fan’s intention.

Yan Yu Si explained: “Bi Fan seems to be purposefully

concealing his strength since he wants to learn his opponent’s
skill set.”

“Miss, are you saying that Bi Fan wants to learn the Zhong
Jian sect’s sword-play styles?” Lin Qing Yao asked.

“No.” Yan Yu Si was sure of her answer.

As the fight continued, Du Feng started running out of new

moves.

“That ought to be the end.”

Bi Fan quickly launched a fierce attack, and overpowered Du

Feng in two moves.
 Du Feng was very surprised in the sudden manner in which Bi
Fan overpowered him, and felt as if his opponent was cheating.

Even though Du Feng was quite angry, he admitted his defeat

since he knew that he wouldn’t be able to win now.

As the contest progressed, Mo Nan won his fight easily, while

Ji Ying Lan ran into Wang Feng and promptly conceded the
fight since the man was an ally.

On the overall, the Quinyang Sect’s performance had been

exceptional. So far, Bi Fan had won all his matches, while Mo
Nan and Jing Feng had only lost one match each.

In fact, it could be said that this was the Sect’s best

performance in almost a century.

“Let’s have a proper rest and prepare for the evening round.”
Luo Xiao Tian stated.

Since the Quinyang Sect was doing so well, the leader, Luo
Xiao Tian, was naturally quite happy about it. Although he was
still not very satisfied with Bi Fan.
 Even though Bi Fan was his best performer, Bi Fan had
managed to offend both his grandsons, so he obviously couldn’t
help despising the youngster.

After the morning contest, there were only three people who
had managed to remain unbeaten so far in the contest; namely,
Bi Fan, Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu and Wu Ji Xuan.

If the trio continued to remain unbeaten at the end of the

third round, then things were quite likely to get very
unfavorable for Bi Fan, and he was unlikely to win the
championship under those circumstances.

Moreover, both the contests would be carried out on the same

day; so basically, Bi Fan would have to beat them in quick
succession, which was practically impossible for him. Even if he
managed to win the first fight, he wouldn’t be able to recover
enough energy to win the second fight.

Bi Fan had already started thinking of alternatives since he

didn’t wish to lose the championship after coming this far.
 Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu had been very lucky so far since she hadn’t
met anyone who could test her limits.

Even though Mo Nan had been able to force her to reveal ‘the
fiend fright burst’, but Bi Fan was convinced that she had more
tricks up her sleeve.

Bi Fan was praying for her to bump into someone strong in

the final set of the third round, such as Wang Feng or Jing Feng,
or better yet, himself… since he wanted to personally defeat
her.

However, things don’t just happen on request and Bi Fan

knew that his prayers were probably going waste.

There wasn’t much time to rest, and balloting for the evening
round started very soon.

“Brother Bi Fan, who do you wish to face?” Jing Feng asked.

“Wu Ji Xuan or Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu.” Bi Fan replied without

hesitation.
 “Why Brother Bi Fan? Do you like tough challenges?” Jing
Feng seemed a bit puzzled.

“Not really, but all three of us are unbeaten right now, and
they both belong to the same sect.” Bi Fan laid out his problem.

“Oh…. So you basically want to clear out one name from that
‘unbeaten’ list early ah.” Jing Feng finally saw the light.
 Chapter 180 – Goodwill

The balloting began; and Bi Fan started to pray.

Ultimately, Bi Fan pulled out his lucky number; twelve.

The second round of tenth day was the last set of the third and
final round. The following day was scheduled to be a resting
day, and the day after that, would be used to carry out the tie-
breakers, following which the final rankings would be
announced.

The contest was resumed without any further a-do and since
Ji Ying Lan had pulled out the first number, he embarked onto
the stage, and prepared to face the Eastern Aristocracy’s Zi
Feng.

Even though Zi Feng was a woman, she was awfully strong in

terms of physical strength.

Zi Feng’s weapon of choice was a machete; a very heavy

machete, which looked very contrasting to her petite and
delicate figure.
 Zi Feng fought the match effortlessly, while Ji Ying Lan
seemed to be running from pillar to pole. The fight ended in less
than ten minutes, with Zi Feng notching a comfortable victory.

“Why is the Eastern Aristocracy so violent in their fighting

style? Brother Blue Dragon also always seems to be slashing his
scimitar as if he wants to injure his opponents, and now this
girl, Zi Feng, is also violently rampaging around the rings like a
mad-bull…. Do they have a hereditary problem?” Jing Feng
laughed.

“Brother Jing Feng, you should ask Brother Blue Dragon

about this, or perhaps Zi Feng….” Bi Fan shook his head as he
forced a wry smile.

“Oh just forget it; Brother Blue Dragon doesn’t like talking
about his family….” Jing Feng replied.

“You are also friends with Blue Dragon ah? Blue Dragon is
really powerful! He’s just lost one game so far…” Mo Nan was a
bit surprised.
 Jing Feng explained: “Previously, Brother Bi Fan and I met
outside the Devil’s territory and made plans to go in together
for training. Brother Blue Dragon also joined us there, and we
became good friends. Back then, Brother Blue Dragon wasn’t
very strong, but Brother Bi Fan knows about this recent change
in his strength and power better than I do….”

“Brother Blue Dragon is indeed very strong, and apart from

Wu Ji Xuan and me, the others will have a hard time against
him.” Bi Fan stated.

“… and here we go again….” Lou Sheng commented in a cold

tone.

He was finally getting a chance to say something, so he

obviously wasn’t going to let it slip by.

Bi Fan didn’t take his words to heart and continued: “Xuan

Yuan Xiao Yu’s strength and abilities are still unclear to me, but
I believe that she may also be able to defeat Brother Blue
Dragon.”

Soon, it was Mo Nan’s turn to take the stage. This time, his
luck seemed to be testing him a bit, and he ran into Xuan Yuan
Yun.

Xuan Yuan Yun had only lost two fights so far, so he was
obviously quite strong.

“Brother Mo Nan, you must defeat Xuan Yuan Yun. We

cannot let the Wu Ji Sect out do us.” Jing Feng stated.

“Don’t worry Brother; I’ll beat him for sure.” Mo Nan was full
of confidence.

Xuan Yuan Yun had already lost his beast pet, so Mo Nan had
no extra opponents to worry about.

The two men coldly glared at each other as they ascended to

the stage. The hatred between the Quinyang Sect and Wu Ji Sect
was deepening with every passing match, and the disciples of
the two factions were fighting each other out of sheer hatred.

“Mo Nan, I’ll beat you, and then we’ll end up with the same
points. Then, I’ll beat you again in the tie-breakers and then I’ll
be ranked above you.” Xuan Yuan Yun laughed.
 “I’d like to see you try.” Mo Nan challenged in a cold voice.

“The Yin Yang Sword!”

Xuan Yuan Yun cast out his martial skill, and a network of
sharp sword charged towards Mo Nan.

“The Sword of the Land!”

Mo Nan straight away cast out his best skill, and his graceful
sword-play gave rise to a vast network of blades, which covered
the entire scope of the stage as it charged towards Xuan Yuan
Yun’s network.

“Boom!” the two attacks collided, and Xuan Yuan Yun’s attack
was crushed in an instant.

Mo Nan’s attack was obviously much stronger and fiercer

than his opponent’s.

Mo Nan took his opportunity and started to press the play.

 ‘The Sword of the Land’ was an extremely imposing attack,
almost as if an emperor was gracing commoners with his
presence.

Xuan Yuan Yun wasn’t even able to use his entire strength
against Mo Nan’s imposing attacks, and finding it very difficult
to cope up.

However, Xuan Yuan Yun wasn’t yet ready to admit his defeat
and continued to retaliate.

The Wu Ji Sect disciples were known for their arrogance and

pride, and wouldn’t allow themselves to be outdone with ease.
But speaking in their merit, they did have a very strong desire to
win.

Xuan Yuan Yun cast out his sword-play with all his strength in
the hope of suppressing Mo Nan.

But Mo Nan wasn’t weak either and raised his game as well.
Mo Nan’s imposing display of ‘The Sword of the Land’ was
outdoing Xuan Yuan Yun’s each and every attempt to gain a
foothold in the battle.

In the blink of an eye, the two men had exchanged hundreds

of strokes, and Mo Nan was really beginning to dictate his will
at this point in the contest.

Xuan Yuan Yun gritted his teeth as Mo Nan continued to

increase the ferocity of his attacks, anxiously trying to defeat
the man.

“Brother Mo Nan is really good! We’re going to win this!” Jing

Feng observed.

“Fortunately everyone worked with the same mindset and

eliminated the Wu Ji Sect’s pets earlier.” Ji Ying Lan stated.

Xuan Yuan Yun was also thinking the same thing: “If I still
had my pet besides me, then this Mo Nan would have never
been able to beat me.”

Mo Nan’s attacks were becoming more and more ruthless

with every passing move, and Xuan Yuan Yun seemed a bit
scared since he was being completely dominated at this point.
 “I…. I give up….” Xuan Yuan Yun was running out of options
and was forced to admit his defeat.

“And now you’ll be ranked way below me.” Mo Nan smiled.

“Humph!” Xuan Yuan Yun eyed Mo Nan covetously, and then

turned around to exit the stage.

The moment Mo Nan returned to the dressing room, the other

disciples surrounded him and started to celebrate his
achievement.

Mo Nan had only lost one match in the entire tournament,

which meant that he’d be ranked very highly in the final list.

Mo Nan also seemed very happy since he hadn’t anticipated

that he’d be able to get such a high ranking, and was thanking
his stars for shinning some light on his fortunes.

Jing Feng hadn’t been able to restore his energy completely

since the rough and enduring contest in the morning, and was
only at about eighty percent of his full capacity at the moment.

Soon, it was time for Jing Feng to take the stage, and he
seemed quite nervous and was afraid that he might run into a
strong opponent.

In his present state, Jing Feng wouldn’t be able to contest

against the likes of Wang Feng or Hong Yun Tian.

“Brother Jing Feng, I wish you good luck!” Bi Fan patted him
on the shoulder.

“As long as I don’t meet Wu Ji Xuan, or someone as sick as

you; I’ll win.” Jing Feng laughed.

“Yes well, what if you run into Brother Blue Dragon, do you
think you’ll win?” Bi Fan contemplated.

“Brother Blue Dragon is sick, but not as sick as you.”

“Number 10, Jing Feng and Zhao Yun Fei, please report to the
stage.”
 “Brother Jing Feng, you’re in luck! Zhao Yun Fei isn’t very
strong, and you’re going to win for sure.” Bi Fan laughed out.

“For sure.” Jing Feng finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Although Jing Feng would be fighting injured, he knew that

his condition wouldn’t affect the outcome of this match.

Once the two men had ascended the stage, the referee
announced the start of the fight.

Suddenly, Zhao Yun Fei spoke up: “Brother Jing Feng, the
Quinyang Sect is really powerful; you, Bi Fan, Mo Nan…. I really
admire the three of you.”

“Brother Yun Fei, what do you mean?” Jing Feng was

somewhat confused.

Everyone wants powerful friends, but this was a contest; not a

banquet.
 “What do I mean? I just want to be friends with you guys.”
Zhao Yun Fei smiled.

It didn’t sound like he was joking, in fact, Zhao Yun Fei

sounded very sincere.

Jing Feng was extremely surprised and couldn’t help

frowning his face, as he tried to understand his opponent’s true
intentions.

“Referee, I abdicate this match; I concede my defeat.” Zhao

Yun Fei announced loudly.

“Brother Yun Fei, thank you for this gift.” Jing Feng was
genuinely grateful.

Both men descended down the stage, but made sure that no
one was able to make out that the two men had secretly forged a
friendship on the contest stage.
 Chapter 181 – The Desire To Achieve

“Many congratulations Brother Jing Feng!” Bi Fan was

overjoyed with Jing Feng’s success.

In reality, Jing Feng’s injury would have affected the result of

this fight, and even though Jing Feng would have won the fight
in the end, but his injury would have gotten worse.

So under these circumstances, winning the fight by a

walkover was the most favorable result for Jing Feng.

Now, Jing Feng could take advantage of the scheduled ‘rest-

day’ and heal his injuries in time for the tie-breakers.

Bi Fan took advantage of the contest eleven’s time and focused

his attention on his upcoming battle.

Bi Fan was still praying that to face Wu Ji Xuan or Xuan Yuan

Xiao Yu; otherwise the situation might get very unfavorable for
him in the future.
 Bi Fan wasn’t sure about beating both of them on the same
day since he wasn’t aware of their true strengths and trump
cards.

Contest eleven was over and Bi Fan’s prayers were beginning

to reach the point of desperation now.

“Number Twelve, Bi Fan and Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu, please

report to the stage!”

“Ah! Great!” Bi Fan practically jumped out of his chair

screaming when he heard ‘her’ name.

“Ah….. Ah….” Jing Feng laughed: “Brother Bi Fan, you’re

going to be in some trouble here ah….”

“I’m not; but why would you say that?” Bi Fan was a bit
confused.

“Well, you screamed out the minute you heard that beauty’s
name… that’s definitely going to be a problem.” Jing Feng
teased.
 Bi Fan’s complexion changed since he was worried that Yan
Yu Si might take it in the wrong sense. Yan Yu Si on the other
hand, turned her face away and completely ignored the remark.

“Brother Jing Feng, you know what I want… so please don’t

make fun of me.” Bi Fan’s face was looking a bit sore now.

Anyway, Bi Fan completely ignored Jing Feng’s follow-up

remarks and walked out of the dressing room, prepared to face
his enemy.

Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu was a complete mystery, and almost no

one knew the true extent of her abilities. She was always very
cold and detached towards her surroundings and no one in the
Wu Ji Sect dared to come near her; apart from Wu Ji Xuan,
who’d whisper a thing or two to her, every once in a while.

Perhaps due to her practice of ‘The Fiend Fright Burst’, her

body was always exuding some amount of negative energy, and
most of the Wu Ji Sect Disciples preferred to stay away from her
since it gave them goosebumps.

As the two fighters ascended the stage, their eyes met each
other’s, and sparks started to fly.

Bi Fan’s eyes were extremely staunch and firm, whereas Xuan

Yuan Xiao Yu’s eyes were cold and indifferent.

Neither of the two spoke a word, but it was obvious from their
gaze that they wished to kill the other.

“The Contest begins!”

The referee announced the start of the contest, but neither of

the two moved from their place. In fact, they didn’t even draw
their weapons, and continued to gaze into each other’s eyes.

“Brother Bi Fan hasn’t fallen for the pretty girl, right?” Jing
Feng laughed.

Yan Yu Si said: “They both believe that they’ve met someone

of equal strength, so neither of them will want to attack first;
the person who attacks first, will probably be a chip short of the
other.”
 “That’s exaggerating it a bit… are you saying that Xuan Yuan
Xiao Yu is stronger than me?” Jing Feng was extremely
surprised.

“Yes. If my estimate isn’t wrong, then you’re likely to lose

against Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu.” Yan Yu Si seemed very sure.

“Is Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu that strong?” Mo Nan was overawed.

The Wu Ji Sect already had Wu Ji Xuan, and in case Xuan

Yuan Xiao Yu was of the same caliber, then things were bound
to get very difficult for the other sects.

“’The Fiend Fright Burst’ is no ordinary method, and its

practice can make a martial artist extremely strong over time.”
Ling Xin Ya explained.

“If that’s so, then is Brother Bi Fan in danger here?” Jing

Feng’s face exposed a color of concern.

Even though Jing Feng and Bi Fan tend to make fun of each
other in peace time, but in critical junctures, both men worry
about each other’s safety.
 “Don’t worry about Bi Fan; Even I haven’t been able to assess
the true extent of his strength. He will not lose.” Yan Yu Si was
confident of Bi Fan’s victory.

Bi Fan and Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu’s momentum was constantly

rising, and Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu had already started evoking ‘the
Fiend Fright Burst’. Evil spirts had started to soar out of her
petite body, and were beginning to lower the temperature of the
atmosphere inside the arena.

Bi Fan was beginning to feel a bit scared, while his body was
studded with goosebumps. His momentum was beginning to get
suppressed, and was now much lower than he had intended it to
be.

Bi Fan was finally beginning to understand the ordeal that Mo

Nan had faced earlier. If your momentum is being suppressed,
then fighting ability automatically tends to suffer
proportionately.

“I can’t wait much longer, or else I won’t be left with enough

strength to attack.” Bi Fan though gloomily.
 Just when Bi Fan intended to withdraw his sword and charge,
suddenly the Yin Yang Lotus started to act up.

The Yin Yang Lotus’s petals started to tremble, and they

issued black and white rays, which started to flow throughout
Bi Fan’s body.

As those rays circulated around Bi Fan’s body, his body’s

temperature started to rise and returned to normal, and he
could no longer feel the corrosion from the evil spirits.

“I almost forgot that the Yin Yang Lotus might have been able
to provide assistance here.” Bi Fan was extremely excited.

Now that Bi Fan wasn’t worried about the corrosion from the
inauspicious energy around him, he was no longer anxious to
attack first, and continued to play around with Xuan Yuan Xiao
Yu.

Moreover, Bi Fan put up a gloomy face, and continued to

make his appearance look worse with time.

Xuan Yuan Xian Yu was obviously quite happy to see that Bi

Fan was being affected by her evil spirits, and naturally wished
to cripple him completely.

Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu knew that she may not be able to win if Bi
Fan was fighting at full strength, so obviously she didn’t wish to
attack first.

“Oh shit, Brother Bi Fan is being very badly affected by those

evil spirits. If Brother Bi Fan doesn’t attack soon, then the
circumstances will get even worse for him.” Mo Nan’s face was
going pale with concern.

“Yeah, ah, if Brother Bi Fan’s momentum continues to get

worse, then he might actually have to concede the fight
directly…..” Jing Feng feared the worst.

At present, based on their exhibition of momentums, it

seemed that Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu was gaining the upper hand.

“Ah!” Bi Fan suddenly yelled out, pulled out his Dragon Scale
sword and charged out towards his opponent.

“Damn it. Bi Fan attacked first… things are not looking good.”
Ling Xin Ya’s voice clearly expressed his anxiety.

“Brother Bi Fan won’t lose a little girl right?” Jing Feng was
completely alarmed by the prospect.

“And what’s wrong with losing to women?” Luo Jia pouted.

“Nothing, of course! I was just thinking about the sect!” Jing

Feng promptly replied.

Bi Fan was casting out the ‘Fufeng Double Edged Sword’ law,
and by now, his comprehension and expertise of the skill was
much deeper than Ji Ying Lan’s, so naturally the attack was
much more powerful as well.

Numerous blades enveloped the stage, and swiftly dazzled

towards their target.

Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu started using ‘The Tai Chi Sword’ to

defend herself, while constantly exuding more inauspicious
aura since she wished to completely cripple Bi Fan’s strength.
 There was nothing wrong with her plan, apart from the fact
that she wasn’t aware that Bi Fan was impervious to it.

On the other hand, Bi Fan was acting very slyly, and seemed
to have completely fooled Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu.

Bi Fan continued to put on a weak face, and even though he

was attacking very fiercely, he wasn’t putting much strength
behind his attacks. In fact, he was even intentionally crooking
the angles of his attack to make it seem as if he was unable to
fight properly.

Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu was obviously overjoyed by this, and

continued to simulate Bi Fan.

Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu was very confident of her evil methods,

and was confident that someone of equal strength would never
be able to resist her evil energy.

She was continuously trying to suppress Bi Fan’s momentum

further since she wished to completely stifle all resistance from
him.
 Since ‘The Fiend Fright Burst’ was a very powerful law, it
consumed a lot of energy; in fact, far more than ordinary laws.

And as a result Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu was obviously a bit

anxious, and was hoping to end the fight as soon as possible.

Bi Fan was smiling within his conscious, obviously aware that

she was falling into his trap, step by step, and was consuming
more and more energy unnecessarily.

From the start of the tournament and until now, Xuan Yuan
Xiao Yu hadn’t summoned her beast pet since she hadn’t faced
anyone strong enough to force her to do just that. As a result, no
one knew if she actually had one to begin with.
 Chapter 182 – The Green Phoenix

As for Bi Fan, he hadn’t even considered the idea of bringing

out the Chimera yet.

The two fighters had exchanged hundreds of strokes in an

instant, and Bi Fan’s situation was looking even worse than
before.

Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu’s entire body was reeking with

inauspicious aura, and it seemed as if she had come straight
from hell.

Moreover, Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu had turned her defensive into

attack now, and had started using ‘The Yin Yang Sword’.

Bi Fan had already seen ‘The Yin Yang Sword’ law in action
several times, but he was still finding it difficult to cope up.

Bi Fan knew where the flaws of the skill lay, but since Xuan
Yuan Xiao Yu was changing her style very quickly, Bi Fan was
unable to react quickly enough to exploit his knowledge’s
potential.
 Moreover, since Bi Fan needed it to look as if he was being
affected by the evil spirits, he couldn’t use his true strength,
which is why he wasn’t attacking with brute force.

Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu on the other hand, was callous and

aggressive, while her evil spirits seemed very frightening.

Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu was so pleased with her position that she
had completely forgotten about her energy consumption levels.

“What is Brother Bi Fan doing? He’s even allowing little girls

to bully him now?!” Jing Feng was getting impatient now.

“It’s a little strange… Bi Fan seems to be acting weak for some

reason. Maybe he’s just trying to trick her into consume more
energy.” Yan Yu Si seemed unsure about her assessment.

“That’s actually quite possible; this kid is very tricky, and

tends to hide his real strength. If he was actually using his real
strength, then he’d have finished this a long time ago.” Jing
Feng nodded.
 The Yin Yang Sword – the negative and positive sword!

Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu suddenly cast out a strong attack since she
realized that she had consumed too much energy, and was now
looking to adapt a blitzkrieg strategy to end the fight as soon as
possible.

“Floating Sword!” Bi Fan finally stopped pretending and

launched a ferocious counter attack.

Bi Fan employed his real strength in the attack, and

immediately turned the tables.

Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu was completely overawed to see the

sudden change in Bi Fan’s strength. She was completely
confused to see this new fighting power from Bi Fan since she
was expecting him to have been affected by her evil spirits.

“How could that be? Don’t tell me?…. was ‘the Fiend Fright
burst’ ineffective?” Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu was terribly confused.

But then again, she was one of the best disciples of the Wu Ji
Sect, and she immediately regained her composure.
 Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu clearly knew that she had consumed too
much energy and wouldn’t be able to compete with Bi Fan at
this point.

“Phoenix, come out.” Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu had no other option

but to call out her beast pet.

A huge green colored Phoenix appeared on the stage. The bird

quickly spread its huge wings, soared into the sky and started
hovering over the stage.

The beastly bird’s majestic beauty was gracefully concealing

its underlying strength.

Judging by the bird’s momentum, it seemed as if the phoenix

had already reached the peak of the ‘transformation’ layer.

The green colored phoenix wasn’t just beautiful in

appearance, but awfully strong as well.

Since Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu had summoned her beast pet, it was
evident that she was aiming for a victory here.

If she defeated Bi Fan, then the Wu Ji Sect would inevitably

occupy the first two spots of the Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon list.

But now, Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu had no more hidden trump cards
left; and nothing else to hide either.

The faces of the Quinyang Sect disciples drastically changed

colors the moment the Phoenix made its entrance, and they all
seemed to have lost hope now.

“Oh gosh, Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu’s pet is so strong, ah.” Mo Nan
was completely astonished.

“Brother Bi Fan also has a beast pet, so there’s no need to

worry about him. He always gets us worried for no reason at
all.” Jing Feng’s smile eased up the mood in the dressing room.

“What? Brother Bi Fan has a beast pet? Why would he conceal

it from us for so long then?” Mo Nan was a bit peeved.
 “Oh, I’m definitely not going to let him off easy for this.” Ji
Ying Lan laughed.

Jing Feng said: “That’s for sure. But I’m afraid that we’ll have
to wait a bit longer to see Brother Bi Fan’s pet.”

“What are you saying? Brother Bi Fan has more hidden

strength?” Ji Ying Lan’s mouth fell open in shock.

“Yes. Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu isn’t strong enough to force Brother

Bi Fan into summoning his beast pet.” Jing Feng was very
confident about his analysis.

The green colored Phoenix and its master immediately started

attacking Bi Fan in unison.

Since Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu had consumed a lot of energy, the

Phoenix was leading the attacks.

The green colored Phoenix was so strong, that Xuan Yuan

Xiao Yu barely had to do any work, while Bi Fan was already
struggling to cope up.
 Bi Fan wasn’t much afraid of the Phoenix, but was still playing
cagey since he was wary of Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu.

Even though she had consumed a lot of energy, Xuan Yuan

Xiao Yu was still an elite Wu Ji Sect disciple at the end of the
day, and it would be quite foolish to write her off yet.

Bi Fan was using his sword to battle the Phoenix, but wasn’t
able to do any harm to it.

The Phoenix’s feathers were quite dense and strong, and his
attacks were barely able to scratch the bird’s body.

“Beating my Phoenix is beyond your skill.” Xuan Yuan Xiao

Yu narrated in a cold voice.

First the Phoenix had an astonishing defense, and on top of

that, since it was an aerial enemy, Bi Fan’s sword play, and
generally speaking close-combat techniques, was plainly
ineffective.

But the Phoenix was accustomed to fighting ground-bound

targets, and would suddenly and ferociously dive downwards,
employing its scary claws to attack the enemy.

Bi Fan had barely managed to avoid the bird’s claws a few

times, and was beginning to fear the bird’s capability now; a
fact, which was obvious from his sweat studded body.

Since Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu had revealed all her trump cards, Bi
Fan decided to employ a blitzkrieg strategy as well.

“The Immortal Finger – The Immortal Yin Yang!”

Bi Fan cast out his stunt, and the attack charged towards its
target with a force much greater than that of a sword attack.

The invisible attack charged out silently and hit the bird
accurately in its lower abdomen.

“Wooo…..” the bird screamed as it lost some of its feathers,

and started to spiral downwards from the sky.

The bird quickly realized that it was spiraling down into the
mouth of its death, and started to flap its wings in a desperate
attempt to regain altitude, too afraid to descend to the ground
below.

Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu quickly realized that the Phoenix had

sustained a major injury, and immediately conceded the fight
without any making any further attempts to fight back; tears
streamed down her cheeks when she saw her magnificent bird
in a state of acute pain.

Bi Fan had won, and without making too much of an effort

either.

Many of the spectators dropped their glasses when they

realized that Bi Fan had won; since not a lot of people were
expecting him to get a favorable result.

In fact, the few people who were supporting Bi Fan at the

beginning of the contest had already abandoned hope when
Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu had summoned her beast pet.

Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu’s green colored Phoenix was the strongest
summoned pet of the tournament so far.
 Even Bi Fan hadn’t expected to beat the bird this easily.

“It worked!” Bi Fan was so excited that he almost cheered out.

“Bi Fan! Bi Fan!…..”

Several viewers jumped up in cheers as Bi Fan strode down

the contest stage.

Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu’s cold eyes were watching Bi Fan’s back,
while her bird bled in her arms.

“Ooo…. Chilly!” Bi Fan suddenly felt a chilly sensation

creeping down his back.

Bi Fan immediately realized that this sensation was being

incited by Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu, but he didn’t turn around to
confront her, and quickly returned to his Sect’s dressing room.

Mo Nan pulled Bi Fan aside and said: “Brother Bi Fan, you’ve

been concealing too much from us! What other secrets are you
hiding?”
 “Ah! Since you say that they are secrets, then I can’t really
expose them.” Bi Fan smiled.

“There’s no need to push Brother Bi Fan; I believe that we’ll

get to see his all his tricks when he plays against Wu Ji Xuan day
after tomorrow.” Jing Feng came to Bi Fan’s rescue.

Mo Nan said: “Well, I’ll let you slip by this one time. But since
Brother Bi Fan has beaten Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu, we must go back
and celebrate today.”

“Yes, we must celebrate properly today. The Quinyang Sect’s

results have never been so good; we’ve achieved a record
today!” Ling Xin Ya was beaming a proud smile.

The Quinyang Sect’s contests had already ended, so the

disciples continued to chatter and laugh excitedly.

The contest day ended, and Wu Ji Xuan had remained

unbeaten; as expected, and had qualified to face Bi Fan for the
first spot of the Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon List.
 Day after tomorrow, Bi Fan would have to face Wu Ji Xuan,
and their duel would determine the winner of the tournament.
 Chapter 183 – The Chimera After Evolution

Li Qian Xun met Su Yang in the final set of the third round.
The former had already sustained heavy injuries in the morning
round, and now that he was faced with a strong opponent in Su
Yang, he ended up losing the battle; his second loss for the
tournament.

Since Li Qian Xun was no longer in contention for a rank with

Mo Nan and Jing Feng after his second defeat, the Quinyang
Sect’s party got even merrier.

“Well, we must have a proper party after we return to the our

hotel. And then we’ll have a proper rest tomorrow so we can
prepare for day after’s battles.” Luo Xiao Tian stated.

“Yes!” The Quinyang Sect delegation seemed very excited.

Luo Xiao Tian’s change in demeanor was evidently displaying

that the Sect hadn’t anticipated such amazing results.

Firstly, four disciples from the Quinyang Sect had managed to

enter the final round; then out of the these four, three disciples
had done exceptionally well with Bi Fan finishing the round
undefeated, while Jing Feng and Mo Nan had only lost one
match each.

Out of the twenty eight disciples who had been selected to

participate in the third round, only two men had remained
undefeated throughout the tournament, while there were five
men who were tied for the third spot; namely, Mo Nan, Jing
Feng, Wang Feng, Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu and the eastern
aristocracy’s Blue Dragon.

The Quinyang Sect was already guaranteed three spots out of

the top seven, which could be described as a very impressive
feat.

The Quinyang Sect’s delegation was walking towards the exit

when they bumped into the Tian Shui and the City Sect
delegations.

The City Sect’s steward Wang Yun flashed a big smile as he

came over: “Luo Xiao Tian, many congratulations to you on
getting such amazing results!”

“Thank you! It was just good luck, otherwise we wouldn’t

have been able to get such good results.” Luo Xiao Tian humbly
replied.

“Luo Xiao Tian, being so modest is very unlike you.” Hong Fei
Hu laughed.

Wang Yun said: “You’re Bi Fan, right? You’re really

powerful.”

“Bi Fan salutes the masters!” Bi Fan greeted his elders

respectfully.

“Bi Fan, do you think you can beat Wu Ji Xuan?” Wang Yun
asked.

Bi Fan didn’t know how to answer the question, and was left
feeling a bit embarrassed.

“Wu Ji Xuan is quite strong, but Bi Fan can match him;

however, the final outcome will depend on the circumstances at
hand.” Ling Xin Ya quickly intervened to help Bi Fan out of the
awkward situation.
 “Yes, ah, but I hope that Bi Fan beats Wu Ji Xuan. The Wu Ji
Sect is getting more and more aggressive and arrogant; we must
suppress their attitude.” Wang Yun said.

“Of course; we also want to win.” Ling Xin Ya replied in

agreement.

Soon, the Ba Gua Sect delegation came down from their

dressing room, looking visibly upset over their results.

Since the Quinyang Sect had done exceptionally well in the

Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon list, it would be even more difficult for
them to replace the Quinyang Sect in the top-five rankings.

The Ba Gua Sect disciples came face to face with the Quinyang
Sect’s delegation, but didn’t have anything to say this time.

“Luo Xiao Tian, wait and see, we’ll beat the Quinyang Sect
sooner or later.” The Ba Gua Sect elder stated.

“Yes, well, the Ba Gua Sect doesn’t have what it takes; and the
Quinyang Sect is always ready to face a challenge.” Luo Xiao
Tian bragged unashamedly.

“Humph!” The Ba Gua Sect delegation walked out of the

Arena.

Luo Xiao Tian, Ling Xin Ya, Wang Yun, Hong Fei Hu chatted
for a while, and then left with their respective delegations.

Once the Quinyang Sect returned back to their inn, they

started to celebrate.

“I’ll go upstairs and practice.” Bi Fan wanted to return to his

room in order to recall the memories of the martial skills that
he had seen earlier during the contest.

Jing Feng pulled Bi Fan back into the party, smiled and said:
“Brother Bi Fan, you’re the star of the day, so we’re not letting
you go anywhere tonight.”

“That true! In fact, we’re going to party all night, which really
shouldn’t be a problem for you since you’re accustomed to
sleepless nights anyway.” Mo Nan also started dragging Bi Fan
back to the party.
 Bi Fan didn’t really have a choice now: “Well, we’ll celebrate
then!”

While all the Quinyang Sect disciples were busy drinking in

celebration, Luo Sheng and Luo Xiong were drinking to drown
their sorrows.

“Brother, you see… Miss Yan Yu Si and Bi Fan are coming

closer. If things don’t change soon, then you’ll miss your
chance.” Luo Sheng narrated in an undertone.

Luo Xiong said: “You think that Bi Fan can match me?”

“Brother, I’m just telling you to be cautious; Bi Fan is getting

better with every passing day.” Luo Sheng said: “So I’d say that
it’s best to take advantage of the situation while he’s still
young.”

Luo Xiong was already contemplating schemes at this point.

“Brother, if Bi Fan wins the Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon List, then

Miss Yan Yu Si will certainly start to fancy him even more. I
think we should eliminate him before he becomes an even
bigger problem.” Luo Sheng continued to fan the flame.

“Bi Fan might be good, but Wu Ji Xuan is no average person.”

Luo Xiong narrated.

“Brother, Bi Fan is a genius as well; how could you explain his

excellent results so far?” Luo Sheng continued to add more
insult to the injury.

“Shut up; let me do the thinking.” Luo Xiong seemed too lost
in his schemes at this point.

Luo Xiong was constantly eyeing the Mo Nan, Jing Feng, Bi

Fan and Yan Yu Si, who were laughing and talking some
distance away from him.

“Bi Fan, wait and see; I’ll make you suffer crushing defeats in
the future, and then Miss Yan Yu Si wouldn’t even want to look
at your face.”

Luo Xiong gritted his teeth as he finally decided to take on Bi

Fan.

Bi Fan suddenly felt a chill running down his spine, but

couldn’t identify the reason.

Everyone continued to celebrate late into the night hours, and

then eventually returned to their rooms for some rest.

After Bi Fan returned to his room, he quickly started

replaying the memories of the day, and the started restoring his
internal energy.

Then, he started practicing ‘The Fire and Ice Burst’ and then
the ‘Blood Devil’ law; which had now become his daily routine.

However, Bi Fan didn’t spend a lot of time in his practice

tonight since he had started fairly late to begin with.

It was already early morning hours when Bi Fan decided to

bring out the Chimera.

The Chimera had been inside the pet belt for a very long time
now, so he was obviously quite excited to finally come out of the
enclosure.

“Chimera, keep your volume down okay… do not disturb the

others.” Bi Fan said in a low voice.

The Chimera’s body had seen a big change after his evolution
and was now almost thirty meters in length and five meters in
height. But more importantly, the Chimera’s body was now
adorned with scales.

These closely packed thumb-sized scales covered his entire

body, and it was quite obvious that they were exceptionally
strong in defensive terms.

Moreover, the Chimera’s tail was now much longer than

before, and was covered with small scales of its own. These
scales however, exuded a faint greenish-blue light, which meant
that the Chimera’s barbed tail was now far more toxic than
before.

The Chimera had transformed into a complete fighting

machine after its evolution and Bi Fan was obviously quite
happy with its progress.
 Since the Chimera had successfully evolved and woken up just
before the final battle, Bi Fan was even more confident of his
victory now.

“Chimera, you’re simply amazing!”

“Humm….” The Chimera held its head high as it produced a

low-pitched sound.

“Oh, and now you’re bragging ah?” Bi Fan started laughing.

Bi Fan started to stroke the Chimera’s scales and it was

obvious that Bi Fan’s was growing more and more emotionally
attached to the Chimera now.

The Chimera wasn’t very strong at the time when Bi Fan had
first tamed it; but as time progressed, the Chimera managed to
swallow two nucleuses and had successfully evolved twice; it
had come a long way now.

At present, the Chimera was already strong enough to kill off

an Abyss Dragon in a one-on-one combat.

Bi Fan had been watching and studying the understanding

that the other participants had with their beast pets, and
couldn’t help but envy them.

Although the Chimera was far stronger than the pets that Bi
Fan had seen in the tournament so far, their personal
understanding wasn’t as good as their counterparts. However,
Bi Fan and the Chimera had some time at hand before their
fight against Wu Ji Xuan, and they decided to use this time to
build an understanding in combat.

They practiced until dawn, but since Bi Fan’s room wasn’t big
enough for the Chimera to move unrestrained, they weren’t
able to get much out of their training session.

Bi Fan incorporated the Chimera back into the pet belt at

dawn, since he didn’t wish to expose his pet’s identity just yet.
 Chapter 184 – Tense Atmosphere

Bi Fan had no time to rest today, so he quickly finished his

breakfast and ran back to his room to get some more practice
under his belt.

Jing Feng, Bi Fan and Mo Nan still had a few contests left, and
all three men were busy nurturing and refining their skills.

As for the others, they were all out touring the Jiu Yu City;
after all, this was a rare opportunity for them, and they didn’t
wish to sit idly in the hotel and waste their day.

Bi Fan didn’t wish to train with the Chimera in broad

daylight, so he began practicing the various skills that he had
learnt over time.

Of course, Bi Fan was paying specific attention to the research

of Wu Ji Sect’s skills like ‘The Tai Chi Sword’ and ‘The Yin
Yang Sword’.

On top of that he was also paying special attention to Wu Ji

Xuan’s ‘Wu Ji Sword’.
 Even though he knew that he wouldn’t be able to learn the
skill in one day, he still wished to understand it better.

Bi Fan wasn’t sure of winning the match, but was preparing

himself to give his best shot, leaving the rest to fate.

Bi Fan continued to practice the entire day.

After thoroughly researching ‘The Wu Ji Sword’, Bi Fan had

even started admiring Wu Ji Xuan’s talent, and even though he
knew that he may not be able to win, he had decided that he’d
do his best to walk down the stage with his head held high.

Bi Fan summoned the Chimera in the evening and carried out

a few training sessions to help improve their understanding.

Time flew like an arrow, and the final day of the contest
arrived.

Bi Fan was extremely excited, so he took a bath earlier than

usual and descended downstairs for an early breakfast.
 Bi Fan had barely stepped into the dining room when he
found Mo Nan and Jing Feng already dining there.

“Brother Jing Feng, Brother Mo Nan, it seems like you guys

are even more anxious than me ah.” Bi Fan laughed.

Mo Nan said: “Naturally Brother Bi Fan, we are tied in a five-

way contest…. so our situation is much worse than yours.”

“That’s true…. The tie-breakers are much worse. We’ll have

to fight somewhere between two to four fights before the final
rankings are announced. Given the strengths of our
competitors, defeating even two people on the same day will be
a very hard task.” Jing Feng added.

Bi Fan said: “Brother Jing Feng, Brother Mo Nan, your

situation isn’t as bad as you think. Out of the five contestants,
only you three belong to the same sect, so you’re at an
advantage. But I’m awfully familiar with Brother Blue Dragon’s
skills, so I’d recommend that you concede your defeat if you run
into him. He’s much stronger than you guys since he also pays a
lot of attention to physical strength.”
 “This….” Mo Nan and Jing Feng were both a bit hesitant.
Since they had both come this far, they naturally didn’t wish to
admit their defeats very easily.

But they knew that Bi Fan rarely ever missed on shooting, and
were convinced that Bi Fan wouldn’t put his friend’s interests
above his Sect’s.

Jing Feng said: “Brother Bi Fan, it’s not that we don’t believe
you…. But we’d like to test him out, and if we can’t match him,
then we won’t waste our energy against him.”

“As is your right. Brother Jing Feng, Brother Mo Nan, you

must also practice physical strength later…. It will play a big
role in the future.” Bi Fan thoughtfully added.

“We’ve been waiting to learn some laws for tempering our

physical strength.” Jing Feng said with a smile: “We’ll ask you
for help after the contest; you will help us, right?”

“Of Course!”

Soon, the other disciples started coming down from their

rooms one by one. In fact, everyone seemed quite anxious and
seemed to be feeling Mo Nan, Jing Feng and Bi Fan’s pressure; a
fact which was obvious from the manner in which they ate their
breakfast.

Since the final list was guaranteed to be announced today, the

stadium was even more crowded than the previous day.

The crowd stood from their seats and cheered as Bi Fan and
the others entered the arena.

Bi Fan and Jing Feng seemed the most popular, while Mo Nan
also received a warm welcome.

The Quinyang Sect disciples were obviously quite excited; but

Luo Sheng and Luo Xiong were carrying a very dull look on
their faces.

Luo Sheng simply couldn’t watch the smile on Bi Fan’s face,

while Luo Xiong couldn’t look at Bi Fan and Yan Yu Si together.
Luo Xiong was constantly contemplating his schemes as he
watched them wave to the crowd, and couldn’t help smile evilly
in his heart.
 Bi Fan could feel as if something was amiss, but he couldn’t
identify the cause of this strange feeling in his heart.

“Everyone, let’s head to the dressing room. Mo Nan, Jing

Feng and Bi Fan, you three have a very tough task ahead of you
today, so you need to focus your attention on the task at hand.”
Luo Xiao Tian stated in a serious tone.

As they made their way towards their dressing room, their

excitement started transforming into anxiety.

Many sects were going to be involved in today’s tie-breakers.

This time, even the allies would be competing against each

other, since every sect wished to get good results.

Like Jing Feng and Wang Feng, even though the two friends
belonged to Sects which usually sided with each other in times
of trouble, but these two would fight each other ferociously for
the sake of their sect’s prestige today.

As soon as they entered their dressing room, Bi Fan sat down

in meditation and closed his eyes, excluding all noise from his
conscience.

Jing Feng and Mo Nan also sat down in meditation, but were
unable to focus, and kept staring at Bi Fan’s calm and composed
demeanor.

One hour passed soon enough, and the contest started.

Bi Fan and Wu Ji Xuan’s contest was scheduled to be carried

out in the evening since it was highlight of the tournament, and
the management wished to save the best for the last.

The management was also taking measures to ensure safety of

the two contestants, since they knew that both men were
awfully powerful and hailed from rivaling sects.

Such a marvelous contest was bound to draw a lot of attention

and along with it, a lot of pressure. They would need to ensure
that no contestant harmed the other; or themselves in order to
achieve a victory.

Out of Mo Nan, Jing Feng, Blue Dragon, Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu

and Wang Feng, only Wang Feng and Jing Feng were known
names before the start of the tournament, but now Blue Dragon
and Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu had also gained a lot of fame due to
their indomitable rise in power.

“Who will finish in the third place? Either way, I think that
the contests are going to be very exciting.”

“Even though the Quinyang Sect disciples have only lost one
game each, they were a bit lucky… I doubt that they’ll win this
time around.”

“The Ba Gua sect has been trying to replace the Quinyang Sect
for a while now, but it’s going to be very difficult for them
now…. it’s a pity that their dark horse lost early.”

“Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu is also very strong, and has only lost to Bi
Fan so far… she might be able to win the third spot.”

“I think Blue Dragon is going to win… he’s so ferocious.”

 … …

The crowd was discussing all alternatives enthusiastically,

and it seemed as if they were more in favor of Xuan Yuan Xiao
Yu and Blue Dragon, rather than the their old favorites, Jing
Feng and Wang Feng.

The Ba Gua Sect’s dressing was thundering with the sounds of

Li Qian Xun’s chattering teeth.

“Brother Qian Xun, if it weren’t for your injury, then you

would also be completing with the likes of Jing Feng.”

“Don’t worry, I will beat them all someday.” Li Qian Xun’s

eyes were blatantly exuding the murderous desires of his heart.

“Brother Qian Xun is the strongest… but luck isn’t favoring us

at the moment, that’s all….”

Xuan Yuan Feng was sitting with a shameful look on his face
inside the Wu Ji Sect dressing room.

This time, apart from Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu and Wu Ji Xuan, the
other Wu Ji Sect disciples had performed far below the Sect’s
expectations.

Wu Ji Xuan was sitting with a gloomy look on his face, and it

was hard to tell his thoughts.
 Chapter 185 – The Overbearing Underdog

The balloting began; Mo Nan, Jing Feng, Blue Dragon, Wang

Feng and Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu embarked onto the stage to draw
their numbers.

The five of them were quite nervous, and also a bit worried.

They knew that there was not much difference in their

personal strength and that of their competitors, which mean
that winning each match would be a very difficult task.

Even though Wang Feng, Blue Dragon, Jing Feng and Mo Nan
were friends outside the ring, they didn’t engage in any sort of a
conversation this time since they were all on alert due to the
competition that they were about to face.

The balloting ended very quickly with Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu

drawing one and Jing Feng drawing two; Blue Dragon ended up
pulling out three, whereas Wang Feng drew four, and Mo Nan
was left with the number five, and a bye in the morning round.

The spectators started discussing all possible scenarios once

the balloting results were out.

Many people had already analyzed the situation at hand, and

were now beginning to pick their favorites.

Since everyone had a differential opinion and assessment, the

debate on picking a winner was obviously quite fierce.

Jing Feng and Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu were asked to report to the
stage for the first fight of the tie-breakers.

“Brother Bi Fan, you’ve fought against Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu…

do you think that I can beat her?” Jing Feng asked, unsure of his
chances.

“Brother Jing Feng, do you wish to hear the truth, or a lie?” Bi

Fan asked.

“The truth; of course.”

“Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu is stronger than you; but I suggest that

you force her to consume as much energy as possible, and then
abandon the fight prematurely.” Bi Fan suggested.

“Good! I’ll do my best.” Jing Feng nodded.

Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu was surely going to use ‘The Fiend Fright
Burst’, plus she also the Green-colored Phoenix for support, so
her chances of winning were naturally higher.

Jing Feng straight away launched his best moves once the
fight started.

Since Jing Feng was under no pressure to perform well, he

was able to cast out his skills to his best ability.

On the other hand, Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu started out with ‘The
Fiend Fright Burst’ and ‘The Yin Yang sword’ in an attempt to
end the fight as early as possible.

Once ‘The Fiend Fright Burst’ came into play, Jing Feng’s
strength started to gradually weaken.

However, Jing Feng knew that he had nothing to lose.

 And as result, Jing Feng was fighting with all his strength,
and only conserved a small amount of his true strength for
emergency usage.

Jing Feng’s energy levels were much deeper than Xuan Yuan
Xiao Yu’s, so even though her evil spirits were decreasing Jing
Feng’s output, Jing Feng was still able to persist for a long time.

One hour passed in an instant and Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu finally

started to suppress Jing Feng.

However, she still hadn’t summoned her beast pet yet, which
clearly indicated that the Phoenix still hadn’t fully recovered
from its injuries.

Even though Jing Feng was struggling to cope up with Xuan

Yuan Xiao Yu at this point, he continued to strive hard since he
wished to tire her out as much as possible.

Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu had already realized Jing Feng’s

intentions, but still couldn’t do anything about it.
 Because Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu wouldn’t get any assistance from
any of her competitors, winning the third place was likely to
become a very hard task for her.

The fighting continued for another hour, and Jing Feng’s

momentum continued to weaken under the effect of Xuan Yuan
Xiao Yu’s inauspicious aura.

“I give up!” Jing Feng finally abandoned the fight, unable to

persist any longer, and unwilling to incur any injuries.

Since he knew that he was beaten, he didn’t see any reason to

put himself in harm’s way.

Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu seemed very depressed, even though she

had won the match. In fact, she punched the air in frustration
as she descended down the stage.

Now that Jing Feng and Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu’s contest was
over, it was time for Blue Dragon and Wang Feng to take the
stage.

“Brother Blue Dragon and Wang Feng’s contest is very crucial

ah. If Brother Blue Dragon beats Wnag Feng with ease, then I
can give him a walkover… and then he’ll be fresh against a tired
Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu……” Jing Feng analyzed.

“Yeah, we need to act unanimously if we wish to spearhead

Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu. If we wish to beat her, then we’ll need to
pick the strongest amongst ourselves, and we’ll have to save
‘his’ energy.” Mo Nan added in agreement.

Bi Fan laughed: “Well, that’s one way to go about it.”

Although there had been no discussion on this subject, Wang

Feng, Mo Nan, Jing Feng and Blue Dragon were all carrying the
same idea.

As for Luo Xiao Tian and Ling Xin Ya, since they hated the Wu
Ji Sect, they were onboard by default. As long the Wu Ji Sect
lost, the Quinyang Sect and the City Sect were willing to
participate unconditionally.

Blue Dragon and Wang Feng made their salutations, and the
contest began.
 Both the men started casting out their best skills with their
real strengths right from the start since they wished to
determine the better fighter, and wanted to preserve their
strengths to compete against their common enemy.

Wang Feng’s challenge was backed by his deep energy levels

and profound combat experience.

Even though Blue Dragon’s internal energy wasn’t as strong

as Wang Feng’s, his physical strength was profound enough to
give him an edge over Wang Feng.

Their fierce and powerful fight was attracting a lot of cheers

from the stands, and the spectators were really enjoying the
show.

“They are both equally strong…. This is going to be very

difficult….” Jing Feng observed.

Bi Fan said: “Wrong; Brother Blue Dragon hasn’t used his

physical strength yet… once he starts using his combined
strength, he’ll gain the upper hand in no time at all.”
 “Well, in that case, Brother Blue Dragon is as sick as you are,
and I’m not going to waste any energy against him.” Jing Feng
laughed.

“Arghhh!” Blue Dragon suddenly revealed his entire strength,

and his momentum immediately become extremely
overbearing.

Wang Feng didn’t seem very surprised by it: “… first there

was Bi Fan, then Li Qian Xun, and now this guy as well… it
seems that physical strength is genuinely very important.”

While Wang Feng was trying to analyze this fact, Blue Dragon
had already launched a violent attack.

“Boom!” the collision of their weapons gave rise to a loud

noise, and Wang Feng was sent repelling.

“Pop pop….” Wang Feng retreated a few steps to regain his

balance.

He had barely regained his footing and Blue Dragon was

already upon him again, leaving him with no other option but
to face this violent onslaught.

Even though Wang Feng tried to fight back, things got even
worse this time around, and he was sent another seven or eight
steps back.

Blue Dragon wasn’t going to easy either, and continued to

attack ferociously.

Blue Dragon’s scimitar drifted seamlessly through the air,

imposing its master’s will.

The scimitar was so quick in Blue Dragon’s hands, that Wang

Feng was barely able to cope up.

Blue Dragon kept increasing the speed and strength of his

attacks, and Wang Feng was unable to find any room to breathe.

Wang Feng realized that he wouldn’t be able to defeat Blue

Dragon barely a few minutes into the contest, and gave up.

“Blue Dragon, I admit by defeat. And I hope that we have

more chances to test our strengths against each other in the
future.” Wang Feng stated sincerely.

“Brother Wang Feng, thanks for letting me win.” Blue Dragon

replied modestly.
 Chapter 186 – A World Without Swords

Blue Dragon’s public reputation changed very drastically after

he beat Wang Feng, and he suddenly became the strongest
contender for the third spot.

The entire eastern aristocracy seemed very surprised, and all

the disciples who had previously bullied him were now carrying
a very depressed look on their faces.

“Blue Dragon has become stronger than me now….. won’t he

try to take revenge now?” one of the outer disciples seemed very
worried.

“If he dares to provoke anyone, then I’ll kill him.” Another

core disciple stated in reassurance.

“Yes…. Blue Dragon is growing too fast, and he’s going to turn
into a big threat if we don’t exterminate him soon.” Many of the
disciples who had bullied him in the past now feared Blue
Dragon’s retaliation.

The head of the Eastern Aristocracy looked at them, and

warned in a cold tone: “You listen well… and tell the others as
well, you mustn’t provoke Blue Dragon in the future. If anyone
provokes Blue Dragon now, then I’ll personally deal with you
all….”

The head of the eastern aristocracy had a very majestic and

overbearing presence. His tone was so solemn that no one dared
to utter anything in retaliation, and the entire dressing room
went silent all of a sudden.

Even though a lot of spectators were cheering for Blue

Dragon, not many people had expected him to actually win the
match; his victory had surprised almost everyone inside the
arena.

“Just imagine how strong he must be! If he can beat Wang

Feng so easily, then even Mo Nan and Jing Feng won’t be able to
beat him either. So the third place’s competition is definitely
going to be between Blue Dragon and Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu now…
although it’s difficult to predict the winner.”

“It seems that the contest is going to get even more exciting
now; I’m really looking forwards to it ah.”
 “What do think is going to happen when Blue Dragon faces
Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu?”

Often, the things that haven’t yet happened are the ones that
ignite the maximum antsy.

“Brother Bi Fan was absolutely right; I don’t have any chance

of winning against Blue Dragon, so I think that it’s better if I
waive off my afternoon bout with him.” Jing Feng analyzed.
“Wise elder, Deputy Master, what do you suggest?”

“Give up against Blue Dragon, and do your best against Wang

Feng to get a win.” Ling Xin Ya advised.

At this point, everyone was trying to make their own

calculations to get the best out of the situation at hand in order
to improve their standings in the competition.

Luo Xiao Tian didn’t say anything in reply, which meant that
he was in agreement with Ling Xin Ya by default.

The tie-breakers carried on, and the remaining contestants

were giving their best effort to win their respective matches.
 Bi Fan was keeping a very close eye on these matches, and was
trying to memorize as much as possible. These contestants were
some of the finest martial artists of the young generation, and
most of them were doing their best to improve their ranking; in
fact, most of them were desperate.

Faced with such a desperate situation, no one was trying to

conceal their trump cards anymore, which only made things
better for Bi Fan.

Time flashed by, and the morning rounds were already over.

The afternoon rounds were scheduled to be opened with Jing

Feng vs Blue Dragon, followed by Wang Feng vs Mo Nan.

After a good rest in the morning, Mo Nan was full of energy

and ready for a fight. Wang Feng on the other hand, was a bit
fatigued after a grueling duel with Blue Dragon, and hadn’t been
able to restore his energy in the time which was provided.

Jing Feng and Blue Dragon had both consumed a fair bit of
energy, but were mostly at par in terms of percentage of
available strength.

Blue Dragon and Jing Feng took the stage as the afternoon
contests started.

“Brother Dragon, it’s been a long time since I saw you; I had
no idea that you had become so powerful.” Jing Feng smiled.

“Brother Jing Feng, the credit for my strength goes to Brother

Bi Fan, and to some extent… fate.” Blue Dragon smiled.

“The two of you are abnormal; I think I’ll train with you guys
from now on, just to make sure that you don’t leave me too far
behind.” Jing Feng smiled, as he stated his intention without
any traces of envy in his tone.

“Brother Jing Feng, it would be awesome if you could join us

in the future!” Blue Dragon seemed very happy.

Given his temperament, it was awfully rare for Blue Dragon to

make friends, and he had always regarded Jing Feng as a very
close friend; so he obviously quite happy to know that Jing Feng
wished to share his adventures with him.
 “Brother Dragon, let’s get down to business now; it’s our turn
to fight, but I’ll concede this fight right now if you’re sure that
you can beat Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu…..” Jing Feng stated in
intention.

“I can’t be sure of beating her.” Blue Dragon replied honestly.

“Well, I’ll still concede this fight.” Jing Feng smiled again.

His question had been quite pointless to begin with; apart

from Bi Fan and Wu Ji Xuan, no one was assured to beat Xuan
Yuan Xiao Yu.

Jing Feng’s decision to concede the fight without making any

effort left everyone completely puzzled.

Jing Feng and Blue Dragon had a very usual relationship, and
not many people were aware about this.

Wang Feng seemed quite depressed by this new development

since he hadn’t expected Jing Feng to waive off the fight.
 Since Jing Feng abstained from his contest against Blue
Dragon, he’d be fresh and ready for his next contest, which was
against Wang Feng.

Wang Feng obviously understood the reason behind Jing

Feng’s actions, but knew that he was helpless in this regard.

Mo Nan and Wang Feng were asked to report to the stage

immediately after Jing Feng and Blue Dragon stepped off. Since
Wang Feng wasn’t at a hundred percent, he wasn’t sure about
beating Mo Nan.

If circumstances didn’t change soon, then Wang Feng would

end up being the most unlucky contestant in the race for the
third spot.

However, Wang Feng knew that there were no other options

left for him, and he quietly made his way towards the stage.

He looked a bit lonely as he dejectedly strode onto the stage.

 “Brother Wang Feng, we finally have a chance to match out
strengths.” Mo Nan smiled courteously.

“Ah yes, I recall that you weren’t even in the top ten in the
last contest, so I’m quite amazed by your sudden progress
Brother.” Wang Feng smiled back.

“Nothing but luck, Brother.” Mo Nan seemed rather humble.

The referee announced the start of the contest the moment

the two men made their official salutations.

It wasn’t in Wang Feng’s nature to admit defeat easily, and

since he wanted to end this fight as quickly as possible, he
shifted the intensity of his attacks to top gear from his first
move.

Mo Nan didn’t sit back either, and straight away employed

‘The Sword of the Land’ attack.

This was a contest of big skills, and neither of the two men
was using any of the usual techniques at this point.
 Both men seemed quite desperate to win, and even though
neither wanted to hurt the other in the process, they were still
fighting very fiercely.

Wang Feng’s movements were very subtle and crafty, while

Mo Nan’s ‘The Sword of the Land’ was a very dominating
attack.

Wang Feng was unable to get close to Mo Nan due to the

monstrously overbearing force of Mo Nan’s attack.

Therefore, Mo Nan started to gain an upper hand fairly

quickly.

Since Wang Feng hadn’t been able to regain his strength

properly, he was only at eighty-ninety percent of his usual
strength.

Even though Wang Feng was trying to seek opportunities to

beat Mo Nan, Mo Nan wasn’t giving him any openings to make a
fight.
 The longer the fight dragged, the harder it would become for
Wang Feng.

Even though Wang Feng knew that his chances of winning

were quite low, he didn’t wish to admit his defeat. He regarded
Mo Nan as the weakest of the five people in their pool, and
knew that if he lost to Mo Nan, then he’ll end up losing all of his
four fights.

“Arghhh!” Wang Feng screamed as cast out his best moves

with his entire strength, enveloping the entire stage in a
network of swords.

This gigantic network of sword brought a ferocious gale of

winds along with it.

Mo Nan felt a nip in the air, and the hair on his body stood up
in fear.

The Sword of the Land – A world without swords!

This law immediately vanquished Wang Feng’s entire sword-

network, and left only Mo Nan’s majestic and overbearing
attack alive.

“Zhumm….”

Wang Feng was forced to face Mo Nan’s attack head on, and
was forced to retreat his steps to avoid the danger.

“I surrender!”

Left with no scope of a victory, Wang Feng ultimately chose to

abandon the fight.

“Mo Nan, it seems that even if I were at my best, you’d still

prove to be a tough task.” Wang Feng made a genuine remark.

“Your words are very kind, Brother Wang Feng.” Mo Nan

replied merrily.

Mo Nan was glad that he hadn’t held back, and believed that
Wang Feng would understand his reasons.
 Chapter 187 –The Vigor To Match-Up

As Mo Nan and Wang Feng strode down the stage, anyone

could tell that the two men were still on good terms with each
other.

Even though the City Sect was a bit depressed that Wang Feng
lost to Mo Nan, they still weren’t blaming him in any way since
they knew that he was already quite tired.

Since he had lost fair and square, they accepted his defeat
gracefully.

The Ba Gua Sect delegation looked even gloomier after Mo

Nan’s victory.

The Quinyang Sect’s performance had already surpassed that

of the City Sect and was just below that of the Wu Ji Sect.

The Ba Gua Sect had been trying to replace the Quinyang Sect
for a long time now, and it was evident that their hopes had
been dashed once again.
 As soon as Mo Nan entered into the Quinyang Sect’s dressing
room, he was surrounded by everyone since they all wished to
congratulate him for his excellent performance.

Even Lou Xiao Tian and Ling Xin Ya were overly pleased with
his work, and both of them personally praised his achievement.

Moving up one spot in the ranking gives extra points to the

Sect; Mo Nan just moved up one spot, which meant that the
Quinyang Sect would fare better in the ranking than before.

“Brother Mo Nan, that was amazing! You creamed Brother

Wang Feng.” Jing Feng laughed.

Mo Nan seemed rather modest about it: “Brother Wang Feng

was very generous, and his performance was very elegant.”

“Come on, he’s no generous guy; he was just pretending to be

cool, that’s all.” Jing Feng laughed.

After Mo Nan and Wang Feng’s contest ended, people started

to ignore the remaining contests since they were all anxious to
watch the final battle.

The final battle was the most crucial contest of the day since
the other contests barely affected the final rankings in any way.

The contests for the third to the seventh position were still of
some importance, and were cheered by the crowd since the
fights were quite splendid.

But Bi Fan vs Wu Ji Xuan was the most anticipated contest,

which was scheduled towards the end of the tournament.

The spectators weren’t very interested in the remaining

contests, and were already openly discussing the outcome of the
final battle between Bi Fan and Wu Ji Xuan.

No one could question Wu Ji Xuan’s strength since he had

already won the previous Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon list three years
ago, and had exhibited complete dominance.

Until now, no one was aware of Wu Ji Xuan’s true strength.

 It could be stated that most people were expecting Wu Ji Xuan
to beat Bi Fan and retain the championship this time.

On top of that, most of the spectators had seen Wu Ji Xuan in

action several times in the past, and believed him to be the
strongest of his generation.

Forget about other Sects, even the Quinyang Sect wasn’t

confident about Bi Fan’s victory.

Wu Ji Xuan was far stronger than his peers, which was the
reason that no one was expecting him to lose the fight.

Even though Bi Fan was awfully strong, the Quinyang Sect’s

delegation was well aware that he had just started out in the
martial world.

Even though the Quinyang Sect considered Bi Fan to be a

special kind of genius, they didn’t have enough faith in him at
the moment.

If this was the popular sentiment in the Quinyang Sect, then

there was no point in blaming the others.
 “It seems that the final battle of the Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon
List won’t be much of a suspense after all, and I expect Wu Ji
Xuan to notch an easy victory. But still, the Quinyang Sect is
very powerful… three disciples in the top seven isn’t a joke.”

“The Quinyang Sect was mostly lucky; If Bi Fan hadn’t killed

the pets of the Wu Ji Sect disciples then even Jing Feng and Mo
Nan wouldn’t have been able to get such good rankings.”

“The Wu Ji Sect will surely want their revenge on Bi Fan; it

seems as if they are angry enough to kill him. If Wu Ji Xuan can
win this tournament, then their reputation won’t take a very
big hit.”

… …

Bi Fan’s eyes were closed, and he wasn’t paying any attention

to any of the other contests.

The final match was too crucial, and he simply couldn’t afford
any carelessness.

The atmosphere inside the Quinyang Sect dressing room was

very serious, and people were even trying to control the sound
of their breathing for the fear of disorienting Bi Fan’s focus.

In fact, Jing Feng and the others seemed more nervous than Bi
Fan since his performance could make their Sect very famous.

If Bi Fan was able to win the final battle, then it would be the
perfect end to a very successful campaign.

The atmosphere inside the Wu Ji Sect was very similar to that

of the Quinyang Sect, and no one was daring to disturb Wu Ji
Xuan.

The stakes were too high, and everyone was aware of its
severity.
 Xuan Yuan Ling Feng’s eyes were revealing a murderous aura,
and it seemed as if he would burst out cursing at any moment.

Time seemed to be passing very slowly, and the viewers had

already started urging the management to start to the final
battle, unable to wait any longer.

The desires of everyone’s hearts were on their tongues.

Finally, the other contests ended, and the referee asked the
two finalists to report to the stage. This announcement was
followed by a huge uproar from the crowd.

“Wu Ji Xuan! Wu Ji Xuan! You’re the champion!…..” most

people were clearly in favor of Wu Ji Xuan.

Of course, there were a few who were cheering for Bi Fan, but
their voices were being subdued to the sheer lack in their
number.

Bi Fan opened his eyes; ready for war.

 Bi Fan stood up tall and confident, while his eyes clearly
reflected his determination.

Mo Nan and Jing Feng shook his hands, but didn’t say
anything; not even a single word.

Even though Yan Yu Si seemed a bit concerned, she didn’t say

anything, completely aware that her words would be
unnecessary.

Luo Sheng looked quite gloomy, and it was hard to guess his
thoughts. Luo Xiong on the other hand was wearing a very cold
and sly smile on his face.

Bi Fan faced the rest of the sect and nodded. Then, he

resolutely left the dressing room, and started walking towards
the contest stage.

The title fight was scheduled to take place on the center stage,
and the referee was already in place.

The entire stadium was on its feet, loudly hooting and

cheering for their favorites in excitement.
 The situation was almost getting out of hand, but the
management was somehow controlling the crowd with
excessive patrolling.

As both men ascended to the stage, the crowd started howling

even more wildly, with most people supporting Wu Ji Xuan.

Bi Fan seemed unmoved by his environment, and his steady

pace was clearly demonstrating his unflinching determination.

Wu Ji Xuan’s face on the other hand, was displaying his

confidence.

The moment they embarked onto the stage, their eyes met
and sparks started to fly. Neither man seemed willing to take his
eyes off the other.

Neither man seemed willing to back down, while their

momentums continued to rise as they continued to glare at each
other.
 Most people were very surprised upon sensing the sharp rise
in their momentums since no one had expected outer disciples
to have such high strengths.

The referee started the contest.

But neither man moved; however, their momentums

continued to rise.

As their momentum reached the peak of the ‘transformation’

layer, Mo Nan, Wang Feng and Jing Feng’s mouth fell open in
shock.

“But ah! Brother Bi Fan and Wu Ji Xuan are strong enough to

be capable of competing against ‘emerging from the womb’
layer fighters?!” Jing Feng was completely shocked.

Jing Feng had been under the impression that he knew Bi

Fan’s strength, but now he was beginning to realize that Bi Fan
was far stronger than he had anticipated.

“Bi Fan is really strong! Even I can’t expose so much strength

very easily!” Lou Jia cutely stuck out her tongue.
 Ling Xin Ya was as amazed as anyone else: “Good; Very Good!”

Ling Xin Ya was obviously extremely pleased with Bi Fan, and

was very happy that he had obtained such an excellent disciple.

Luo Xiao Tian was looking on with a very straight face, and it
was almost impossible to guess his thoughts.

Luo Sheng looked awfully pale, and it was evident that he

already feared Bi Fan’s might.

The Wu Ji Sect dressing room was starting to look very tense

now since Bi Fan’s display clearly showed that he was far
stronger than they had expected.

Previously, no one was optimistic about Bi Fan’s chances, but

his burst of strength had already conquered the hearts of many.

“I’ve decided; I will support Bi Fan.”

 “Imagine, he’s so young and still so powerful! This is really
very good!”

Bi Fan hadn’t even started fighting yet, but had already won
the admiration of everyone present by just exposing his
strength.
 Chapter 188 – The Dazzling Sacred Tiger

Their momentums reached their respective peaks at the same

time, and started to converge simultaneously.

The momentums of Bi Fan and Wu Ji Xuan were almost

comparable as opposed to the expectations of the crowd.

“Bi Fan, since you’re quite strong, I will give you my best
game.” Wu Ji Xuan was finally giving Bi Fan real attention,
which meant that Wu Ji Xuan respected Bi Fan’s strength.

“Come on then, I’ll give you a real fight too.” Bi Fan replied
loudly.

Wu Ji Sword!

As Wu Ji Xuan attacked, his Jing Hong sword drifted

seamlessly through the air, displaying his expertise.

‘The Wu Ji Sword’ was Wu Ji Xuan’s proprietary martial law,

so naturally he was very well accustomed to it, and it goes
without saying that the power output of his skill was enormous.

Bi Fan knew that he couldn’t be careless at all, which is why

he decided to start with his most familiar skill – ‘the fufeng
double edged sword’.

Even though Bi Fan’s understanding of the ‘fufeng double

edged sword’ was far superior than that of Ji Ying Lan, and his
personal modifications had made the sword-play even more
powerful, it was still no match for Wu Ji Xuan’s ‘Wu Ji Sword’.

Bi Fan knew that this wouldn’t be enough to win the match,

but he also knew that he could use this skill to test out his
opponent without facing much difficulty.

Wu Ji Xuan kept pressing harder and harder, and his attacks

were constantly becoming fiercer. Bi Fan had already turned to
defending rigorously, and wasn’t allowing his opponent’s
attacks to penetrate through.

Even Wu Ji Xuan wasn’t capable of breaking past Bi Fan’s

defense very easily in such a short period of time.
 Moreover, since Bi Fan had been studying Wu Ji Xuan’s sword
play for a long time now, he knew his opponent’s general
routine, and was able to apply the required countermeasures
with ease.

Bi Fan had started the match fairly well, which was obviously
recognized by everyone, and many more people had already
started cheering for him now.

“Brother Bi Fan is really talented….. the ‘fufeng double edged

sword’ is a lot more powerful in his hands than mine….. I’ve
studied the law for so many years, but I still can’t match his
expertise; I should be ashamed of myself.” Even though Ji Ying
Lan was happy for Bi Fan, he still felt at a loss for his own self.

Jing Feng patted Ji Ying Lan on the shoulder, smiled and said:
“Brother Bi Fan is abnormal, so you mustn’t compare yourself
with him. However, the fact is that your knowledge of your
martial skill is amazing, so you must continue to strive on the
path that you’ve chosen for yourself.”

“Yes, comparing yourself with Brother Bi Fan will only bring

you discomfort.” Mo Nan added: “Brother Bi Fan is even
managing to match up to Wu Ji Xuan after such a short practice
time… however, I doubt if he will be able to win today. I can’t
be sure of the result… it really depends on their trump cards
ah.”

Everyone was very tense, so much so that most people weren’t

even blinking as they continued to watch the contest from the
edge of their seats.

Bi Fan and Wu Ji Xuan were still intertwined with each other

on the contest stage, and had already exchanged countless
strokes.

Due to the strength and speed of their attacks, the audience

was barely able to see the real exchange of their strokes, and
weren’t exactly able to tell the two men apart.

The Dragon Scale sword and the Jing Hong sword were both
very powerful swords, and their sharp blades were constantly
issuing glorious sparks.

The collisions of the two swords were constantly issuing

dazzling sparks, and the crisp voice of the collisions could be
heard throughout the arena.
 Bi Fan had started exposing his physical strength very
gradually, which was steadily increasing the power output of his
attacks, while the application of ‘the dance of mist’ was
gradually increasing the pace of his attacks.

Wu Ji Xuan wasn’t lacking either, and was constantly

matching Bi Fan’s pace and strength.

Bi Fan was a little surprised and a bit shocked to see that Wu

Ji Xuan was capable of matching his power-packed attacks so
easily.

Even though the two men had already exchanged thousands

of strokes, neither man seemed tired. Moreover, both men were
still constantly increasing the pace and power of their attacks.

“Bi Fan and Wu Ji Xuan are indeed stronger than me, but I
must beat them both someday.” Li Qian Xun’s eyes were
sparkling in dazzling rays of unwavering determination, and it
seemed that he had already made up his mind.

Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu wasn’t convinced upon losing to Bi Fan;

but after watching Bi Fan’s true ability, she realized that her
defeat was indeed the inevitable result.
 However, Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu wanted to take her revenge on
Bi Fan, and secretly vowed to become even stronger someday.

Today, many people had started regarding Bi Fan as their

target goal, and would strive harder to beat his strength in the
future.

As for the younger disciples, Bi Fan was their idol; even his
defeat wouldn’t detriment the respect they felt for him.

“Bi Fan, you’re quite strong, but you’ll need to do more if you
wish to beat me.” Wu Ji Xuan smiled challengingly.

Suddenly, Wu Ji Xuan changed his martial law, and his sword

play became even more powerful. Bi Fan had never seen this
attack before.

Bi Fan suddenly felt the increase in pressure, and quickly

turned defensive to protect himself.

“Does Wu Ji Xuan also practice physical force?” Bi Fan’s heart

had already started getting a bad feeling at this point.

Wu Ji Xuan had already reached the breakthrough point a

long time ago, but he still hadn’t gone ahead with it yet. So it
was quite likely that he was concentrating on increasing his
physical strength at the moment.

So far in the Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon List, Wu Ji Xuan had only

demonstrated very little physical strength, and it seemed that
he was only as strong as Jing Feng and the others in that
respect.

But now, it seemed that he had far more physical strength

than he had exposed before, which meant that whatever little
advantage Bi Fan was counting on, was now gone.

Since their overall strength was roughly the same, Bi Fan

would find himself at a disadvantage due to a gap in their
realms.

Bi Fan was well aware of the severity of the matter, and

decided that he must employ his complete strength in order to
achieve the desired result. His strength suddenly burst out and
crossed twenty eight Yun Shi in a matter of seconds, surpassing
the ‘emerging from the womb’ layer mark.

Bi Fan suddenly reversed the situation, turning his defense

into offense. He continued to launch wave after wave of
powerful attacks, giving Wu Ji Xuan no room to breathe.

Wu Ji Xuan’s face was clearly reflecting the shock of his heart.

Wu Ji Xuan had already displayed his best, and even though

he was strong enough to stand his own ground, he knew that he
was falling short of Bi Fan. He was well aware that in fight as
critical as this one, even the slightest of gaps can be enough to
affect the result.

His internal energy was far superior to Bi Fan, but his physical
strength was falling short by a very significant margin.

Overall, Wu Ji Xuan was only about two Yun Shi short of Bi

Fan’s total strength.

Bi Fan on the other hand, was well aware that Wu Ji Xuan

might still be concealing some more secrets; maybe even a beast
pet.
 In order to extract his secrets, Bi Fan started employing both
his hands simultaneously, and was now using his left hand for
casting out the ‘prancing tiger’ fist boxing and ‘The Immortal
Finger’ attack, making things even harder for Wu Ji Xuan.

Bi Fan was repeatedly casting out ‘The Immortal Finger’

attack, since he was sure that this skill must be known to
superior sects like the Wu Ji Sect.

Therefore, Bi Fan started to prevail as a result of the

increasing pace, power, and ferocity of his attacks.

Wu Ji Xuan was constantly retreating, and had already started

using the Wu Ji Sect’s defensive laws to protect himself.

As people saw the gradual manner in which Bi Fan was

beginning to take the upper hand, their mouths fell open in
shock, while their faces were exposing a look of utter disbelief.

“How could Bi Fan be strong enough to fight an almost

‘emerging from the womb’ layer fighter….. he’s only inside the
‘enormous strength’ layer.”
 “Bi Fan is even stronger than Wu Ji Xuan…. It seems that we
are looking at a once in a millennium genius here!”

“The Wu Ji Sect is so out of luck… there’s nothing anyone can

do against such a talent…. He’s costed them so much in this
tournament already, and now he’ll take the first spot also.”

Majority of the spectators were perspective enough to spot the

talent inside Bi Fan, so naturally they couldn’t hold back from
praising him.

As for Wu Ji Xuan’s previous achievements…. They had

already been overshadowed.

Wu Ji Xuan’s face was filled with a color of hate, and it was

obvious that he wouldn’t reconcile to admitting his defeat so
easily.

“Come out my partner!” Wu Ji Xuan said in a loud voice.

“Roar!” A five meter tall, pure-white tiger appeared onto the

stage, and issued a deafening roar.
 The moment this dazzling sacred tiger appeared on the stage,
its tyrannical momentum started to explode.
 Chapter 189 – A Two VS Two Showdown

“The Sacred Tiger is extremely strong. I’m afraid that it’s

almost on the verge of turning into an ‘emerging from the
womb’ layer beast.” Many people exclaimed out.

Bi Fan could sense that the Sacred Tiger was strong enough to
match the strength of the Abyss Dragon he had faced in the
Devil’s Abyss.

Obviously, had the Sacred Tiger already stepped into the

‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer, then he would have been
much harder to deal with.

Bi Fan’s face had changed colors in a matter of moments. Bi

Fan had been expecting Wu Ji Xuan to possess a pet, but hadn’t
expected that his pet would be this strong.

Wu Ji Xuan’s Sacred Tiger shared the same bloodline as that

of a white tiger, but was purer than the latter. Due to the
strength of its race, the Sacred Tiger still had a lot of room for
evolution, which meant that he’d probably turn into a very
powerful beast someday.
 It was evident that Wu Ji Xuan must have spent a lot of effort
in taming the beast.

However, Wu Ji Xuan’s eyes reflected a hint of tenderness as

he looked at his pet.

“Bi Fan, I admit that you’re extremely strong, but you’re still
no match for me and my pet.” Wu Ji Xuan laughed as he shook
his head.

“Ha Ha…..” Bi Fan joined him.

“Since you’re using a beast pet, shouldn’t I also be allowed to

use mine?”

Now that Wu Ji Xuan had exposed all his cards, Bi Fan was
more than willing to allow the Chimera to make a shocking
debut.

“Chimera, come out!” Bi Fan’s voice was so loud that everyone

inside the arena heard his words clearly.
 The Chimera appeared on the stage, and its momentum
immediately burst out, suppressing the Sacred Tiger’s soaring
momentum.

The Chimera’s eyes raged a cry for battle the moment he saw
the Sacred Tiger, and he roared as he challengingly
demonstrated his strength to the Sacred Tiger.

The Sacred Tiger retreated a few steps in fear. However, the

Sacred Tiger’s strength wasn’t far behind the Chimera’s, and he
immediately stepped forward and roared back.

Since the Chimera’s physical appearance had changed very

drastically after its evolution, not many people were able to
recognize its race.

“Bi Fan’s beast pet is weird…. A bit different from anything

else on the land, and it even seems a little more powerful than
Wu Ji Xuan’s pet!”

“This beast pet seems very dangerous; you see that tail, it’s
barbed and resembles that of a snake…. I’m quite sure that it’s
poisonous too. I was certain that Wu Ji Xuan was going to win
after he summoned his pet, but now that Bi Fan’s revealed a
more powerful beast….. could Bi Fan really become the
champion?”

“Let’s not start making our assumptions…. It’s too early to see
which pet is more powerful.”

The spectators were even more excited since the match was
turning out to be even better than they had expected.

The Wu Ji Sect was staring at the contest stage dumbfounded;

in fact, even the Quinyang Sect delegation was watching with
their mouths hung open in disbelief.

“I never thought that Brother Bi Fan’s pet would be this

powerful!” Jing Feng exclaimed.

Mo Nan said: “Finally…. we get to see Brother Bi Fan’s pet…..

He’s just as abnormal as Brother Bi Fan!”

The people who were already inside the ‘emerging from the
womb’ layer were even more surprised than the rest of the
crowd since they had seen the ‘emerging from womb’ layer
version of the Chimera, and knew just how powerful the beast
could become in the future.

Xuan Yuan Ling Feng’s face had become very ugly at this
point, and he narrated these words in an undertone, almost to
himself: “Bi Fan must be removed from the Quinyang Sect. The
Quinyang Sect must have spent a lot of money in procuring this
beast for Bi Fan. I hope this doesn’t create a big problem for Wu
Ji Xuan… let’s just hope that he can finish this fight in a
victory.”

Even Xuan Yuan Ling Feng wasn’t fully aware of his disciple’s
true strength.

However, due to this reason, he wasn’t sure if Wu Ji Xuan was

in control of the situation or not.

Wu Ji Xuan was the Wu Ji Sect’s most treasured outer

disciple, and if anything untoward happened to the youngster,
then Xuan Yuan Ling Feng wouldn’t be able to bear the burden
of the blame.

In fact, Xuan Yuan Ling Feng was so anxious that he was even
willing to concede a defeat in order to ensure his disciple’s
safety.
 Wu Ji Xuan panicked the moment he saw the Chimera, but
managed to restore his composure almost immediately.

“Well, I didn’t think that you’d also have such a powerful pet;
it seems that their encounter will make a good spectacle.” Wu Ji
Xuan stated in a cold voice.

“Yes, the pets will have some fun of their own; but you’ll still
have to deal with me on your own again.” Bi Fan smiled.

With the Chimera in support, Bi Fan’s confidence was

reaching new heights.

Even though Bi Fan hadn’t seen the Chimera in action after its
evolution, he was sure that the beast would have certainly
become a lot stronger.

Bi Fan didn’t even need to instruct the Chimera since the

monstrous beast was so anxious to fight that he charged in
without anyone’s consent.
 The Sacred Tiger was a fairly resourceful beast as well, and his
sharp claws and long tail were strong enough to uproot a tall
and thick tree with ease.

The two beasts started engaging themselves in a fierce battle,

like two battle tanks on a field of battle.

Bi Fan and Wu Ji Xuan also started fighting again, and the

speed of their movements was making it hard for the spectators
to tell the two men apart.

“Jhumm…..” loud clamors of clashing were unceasingly

erupting from the stage as the battle continued to rage on.

As the two beasts continued to fight, they started getting even

angrier.

The Chimera especially seemed extremely angry, and was

constantly roaring. Soon the Chimera even started using its
more powerful weapon; it’s barbed tail.

The force of the Chimera’s scaled tail’s sweep was certainly

not easy to take.
 Moreover, since the barbs on the Chimera’s tail were capable
of injecting poison, if these barbs managed to penetrate the skin
of the target, then the poison would wreak havoc.

The Sacred Tiger seemed to be aware of this threat, and was

deliberately dodging the Chimera’s tail.

The Chimera obviously wasn’t allowing the Sacred Tiger to

get away easily, and had been constantly sweeping his tail in all
directions to narrow down the movement space for the Sacred
Tiger.

Wu Ji Xuan started pressing harder upon seeing his pet’s

plight.

Bi Fan had already earned the title of ‘The Pet Slayer’, and Wu
Ji Xuan was afraid that Bi Fan may end up killing his pet as well.

The red-eyed Wu Ji Xuan started launching a desperate

onslaught of attacks at Bi Fan.
 Since Wu Ji Xuan was going berserk, Bi Fan intentionally
started recoiling to avoid injuries, and chose to dodge instead of
confronting the attacks.

Wu Ji Xuan Smartly took advantage of the opportunity of this

opening, and quickly repositioned himself next to his pet, and
started assisting him in dealing with the Chimera.

Wu Ji Xuan and his pet had an excellent tactical

understanding between themselves, which increased the
effectiveness of their attacks, forcing the Chimera to retreat.

Bi Fan immediately recognized the threat, and promptly

offered assistance to the Chimera.

Unfortunately, Bi Fan and the Chimera hadn’t been able to

train together properly, owing to which their understanding
wasn’t very good. Even though the two of them were
individually stronger than their respective opponents, their
combined strength started falling short.

Seeing that Bi Fan and the Chimera weren’t able to coordinate

their attacks properly, Wu Ji Xuan and the Sacred Tiger started
launching a very fierce onslaught in order to take advantage of
the opportunity.

Wu Ji Xuan clearly knew that Bi Fan and his Chimera’s

understanding would inevitably improve over the course of the
fight.

The better they were able to coordinate with each other, the
harder it would be for Wu Ji Xuan to win the match.

Therefore, Wu Ji Xuan was obviously intending on ending the

fight as soon as possible.

“Jhumm…..” the Chimera had already lost a few scales due to

the fierce collisions. His eyes were red with anger, and he was
constantly roaring out in pain.

Bi Fan wanted to fight back, but was unable to because the

Chimera’s large body was constantly getting in his way.

“What is Brother Bi Fan doing? He’s got such a good pet, but
he can’t even fight with it!” Jing Feng almost cursed out at Bi
Fan in anxiety.
 Majority of the fists inside the Quinyang Sect were clenched in
anxiety, while their faces were painted in a color of concern.
 Chapter 190 – Wu Ji Xuan Advances

Even though Bi Fan was under pressure, he didn’t seem to be

in a hurry since he knew that he was not in any immediate
danger.

Since this was an excellent opportunity to align his fighting

style with the Chimera, Bi Fan naturally didn’t wish to cut it
short.

Bi Fan had already ordered the Chimera to refrain from using

his most powerful weapon; the black fire.

Whenever things got out of hand, Bi Fan would use his

‘Immortal Finger’ attack to push Wu Ji Xuan back
momentarily.

‘The Immortal Finger’ was a really powerful attack, but most

importantly, was exceptionally difficult to detect. Since Wu Ji
Xuan was also unable to detect this near invisible attack, he was
acting cautiously as well.

They had been fighting fiercely for a long time now, but still
Wu Ji Xuan hadn’t been able to lay a finger on Bi Fan until this
point.

“Bi Fan, I admit that you’re extremely powerful, but you still
don’t have any chances of winning!” Wu Ji Xuan had been
getting very impatient.

“Well, it looks that other way right now; I’m getting better
and better in cooperating with my Chimera, and you’ll
eventually have to concede….” Bi Fan laughed back.

“I know; but it’s time to show you my real strength now!” Wu

Ji Xuan narrated in a cold tone.

Suddenly, Wu Ji Xuan’s momentum burst out and started

reaching new heights.

Bi Fan felt a strange chill running down his spine all of a

sudden.

“Oh, Wu Ji Xuan is trying to make the break through right

now….?” Yan Yu Si cried out in fear.
 Yan Yu Si was unable to control her concern; otherwise she
would never have spoken out in this manner.

“Wu Ji Xuan was already at the peak of the ‘transformation’

layer three years ago….. three years is more than enough time
to make the breakthrough; he must have been suppressing it
intentionally.” Jing Feng analyzed.

“If Wu Ji Xuan makes that breakthrough right now then we

won’t be able to do anything about it…. and Bi Fan is sure to
lose the fight in that event.” Ling Xin Ya sighed.

The faces of the Quinyang Sect delegation had suddenly

turned very unsightly out of sheer concern for Bi Fan.

Meanwhile, Luo Sheng and Luo Xiong were trying hard to

conceal their smiles.

The Wu Ji Sect disciples seemed very happy with this new

turn of events, and had already started laughing and chatting
loudly.
 “Brother Wu Ji Xuan is finally making the breakthrough! He
could have made that breakthrough two years ago, but he had
intentionally suppressed it until now.”

“Oh, Brother Wu Ji Xuan should have made that

breakthrough a long time ago….”

The Wu Ji Sect disciples were openly expressing their

opinions, comforted by their belief that Wu Ji Xuan would be
undefeatable in this tournament after making the formidable
breakthrough.

Not only the Wu Ji Sect, even the other Sects were convinced
that after making the breakthrough, Wu Ji Xuan would be far
beyond any other outer disciple’s reach.

“If Wu Ji Xuan makes the breakthrough then Bi Fan will not

be able to match up to him.”

“Yes ah, it seems that he was the strongest fighter all along.”

Bi Fan sensed the danger and shouted out: “Chimera, let’s

charge!”
 Bi Fan and Chimera simultaneously charged towards Wu Ji
Xuan.

“Roar!” The Scared Tiger planted himself in front of the

meditating Wu Ji Xuan.

The hairs on the tiger’s body were erect in fear of his two
opponents, but his eyes were clearly stating his rebellion, ‘Not
while I’m around.’

“Sacred Tiger, since you wish to court death, I’ll grant you
your wish.” Bi Fan commanded in a cold voice: “Chimera, kill
it!”

The Chimera despised the Sacred Tiger, so he was obviously

attacking mercilessly, but now that Bi Fan had given the secret
command, the Chimera started to prepare his formidable
weapon.

Bi Fan charged again to obstruct the meditating Wu Ji Xuan

but was blocked off by the Sacred Tiger once again.
 Bi Fan’s face became pale since he was well aware that it
would impossible to obstruct Wu Ji Xuan’s practice unless the
Sacred Tiger was killed off first.

“Glorious Tiger, you’re dead now!” Bi Fan thought to himself.

Bi Fan used his right hand to cast out ‘The Floating Sword’,
while using his left hand to eject a five-fingered ‘Immortal
Finger’ attack.

Bi Fan’s powerful sword attack was hard enough for the

Sacred Tiger to deal with, which when accompanied by the
explosive invisible attack, made it near impossible for the Tiger
to evade the combination in time. Even though the tiger
somehow managed to dodge the sword and three of ‘The
Immortal Finger’ bursts, he was caught by the remaining two
strikes, which punctured two bloody holes in its body.

“Woo!” The Sacred Tiger wailed out loudly.

“Poof!” The Chimera sized its opportunity and sprayed out the
flame.
 This was the first time that the Chimera was using its flame
after its evolution.

Post its evolution, the Chimera’s black colored fire had

condensed in its size, but had become far more influential and
powerful in its make.

The black colored conflagration made a bee-line for the Scared

Tiger.

The Sacred Tiger immediately realized the threat of the

incoming attack and promptly ducked side ways to dodge the
fire, but found his way blocked by Bi Fan’s incoming attack.

Seeing his way blocked by Bi Fan, the Sacred Tiger suddenly

discharged a white colored ice-ish beam straight back at the
Chimera’s flame.

The Sacred Tiger had used its own secret attack in the hope of
obstructing the black flame, but the Chimera’s flame was so
powerful that it immediately melted the ice beam, and
continued to charge towards its trapped target.
 The Sacred Tiger was unable to react in time and remained
glued to its spot, and was caught by the fire.

“Boom!” the Sacred Tiger’s entire body was enveloped in the

black colored flame.

“Woooo……” the Sacred Tiger issued wild and desperate

screams, begging for help as it started to roll on the floor in an
attempt to extinguish the fire, which continued to grow bigger
and bigger.

Bi Fan smiled slyly as he thought: “No one can save you now
Sacred Tiger… ha ha….”

Seeing that his main obstruction was incapable of blocking

him anymore, Bi Fan sprang towards the meditating Wu Ji
Xuan.

As Wu Ji Xuan’s momentum had continued to grow, his body

had started to exude a white colored ray, which had enveloped
his whole body in a cocoon.

Bi Fan had finally been presented with an opportunity to

obstruct Wu Ji Xuan’s advance, and had desperately sprung
forward to utilize it properly.

Even though Bi Fan was quick to react, he was once again

stopped by the flaming Sacred Tiger, who even in his dying
moments wasn’t prepared to budge from its duty.

Bi Fan backed away instantly since he was aware of the

contagiously corrosive nature of his pet’s flame.

“Ah!” Wu Ji Xuan roared out as he stood up again with his

head held high.

But then he saw his dying pet, and his entire body started to
tremble with rage.

“Sacred Tiger…..”

Wu Ji Xuan’s eyes were red with rage: “Bi Fan! You killed my
Sacred Tiger! Now you’re dead!”

After breaking into the ‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer, Wu

Ji Xuan’s internal energy had directly reached twenty eight Yun
Shi.

And as the Aura started to rinse his body’s meridians, his

physical strength also saw a huge surge, and had reached
nineteen Yun Shi now, which was almost powerful enough to
compete with an ‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer fighter on its
own.

Wu Ji Xuan’s total strength had now suddenly reached forty

seven Yun Shi, which head-to-head was enough to pulp-wash Bi
Fan.

Bi Fan burst forth with his entire strength, all twenty eight
Yun Shi of it, but still fell short of Wu Ji Xuan.

This sudden burst in the red-eyed Wu Ji Xuan’s momentum

had left the entire arena shuddering with fear.

Bi Fan was unable to stand his ground, and was forced to

retreat backwards.

Bi Fan wasn’t the only one who was afraid of Wu Ji Xuan’s

new strength; even the Chimera was visibly scared of Wu Ji
Xuan.

Even though the Chimera was as strong as an ‘Emerging from

the Womb’ human, his physical strength and internal energy
were still not sufficient to add up to even forty Yun Shi.

“Bi Fan, since you’ve killed my pet, I’ll kill yours!” Wu Ji Xuan
roared vengefully.

“Kill my pet? You’re dreaming!” Bi Fan suddenly burst out

laughing.

“Really? Now, I’ll show you what I can really do!” Wu Ji Xuan
was hysterical at this point.

Bi Fan wasn’t willing to back down either: “Now that you’re

stronger, you’re finally worth of being my true opponent.”
 Chapter 191 – Reversing The Situation

Bi Fan’s comment made Wu Ji Xuan even more impatient, and

his fleeting sword made its way towards Bi Fan with the
intention of beheading its target.

His attacks had become far more powerful, far thicker, and
much sharper than before.

Bi Fan didn’t dare to meet his attacks head on, and quickly
dodged the incoming attacks. Bi Fan realized that he could no
longer conceal his strength, and would require the Sacred Rune
if he wished to win the fight.

His strength doubled up and reached fifty-six Yun Shi the

moment he employed the Sacred Rune.

Fifty Six Yun Shi of strength made Bi Fan stronger than Wu Ji

Xuan in theory, but Wu Ji Xuan’s body was also being supported
by Aura, which made his body stronger than it appeared.

Bi Fan didn’t expose his enhanced momentum immediately,

and decided that he’d use it at the appropriate time to inflict
maximum possible damage to Wu Ji Xuan.

Even though the Chimera was quite scared at this point, he

was still charging forward to support Bi Fan.

Bi Fan and the Chimera continued to engage Wu Ji Xuan in

combat.

Wu Ji Xuan’s strength had increased by a lot, and the sheer

might of his attacks was constantly forcing Bi Fan and the
Chimera to retreat wincing.

“Oh gosh, Brother Bi Fan is really in a lot of trouble this time

around. He killed Wu Ji Xuan’s beast pet, which has really
angered Wu Ji Xuan….. I’m afraid that Wu Ji Xuan might try to
kill Brother Bi Fan to avenge his pet’s death.” Jing Feng was
extremely worried about his friend’s safety.

“Yes, ah, Wu Ji Xuan’s state is beginning to stabilize very

quickly, and once he’s completely settled into his new state,
then he’ll be in complete control of this fight.” Yan Yu Si
analyzed.
 Mo Nan said: “Brother Bi Fan has no chance of winning, so he
might as well concede the fight early…. Otherwise there’s
always a chance that he’ll end up giving Wu Ji Xuan an
opportunity to inflict injuries to his body.”

“Bi Fan probably won’t admit his defeat….. if he wanted to

concede the fight, he would have already done it by now.” Ling
Xin Ya shook his head as he sighed, afraid that his disciple
might meet with an unfortunate accident.

It is hard to find a good teacher, but even harder to find a

good student. Bi Fan’s achievements had already surpassed the
boundaries of his talent, and if something untoward happened
to him, then Ling Xin Ya may never be able to find another of
his kind.

Luo Sheng was smiling brazenly as he continued to watch the

fight with cold eyes, desperate to watch Bi Fan’s death.

Luo Xiong was also quite happy, but could still feel a sense of
gloom since he wanted to play a role in Bi Fan’s demise.

The Wu Ji Sect delegation was already laughing and cheering,

and it seemed that they had already started celebrating their
impending victory.

Wu Ji Xuan’s attack power was constantly growing, and his

‘Wu Ji Sword’ attack was now a lot more powerful than before.

Bi Fan looked like a mess; in fact, even the Chimera had lost a
few more scales to Wu Ji Xuan’s attacks.

If the Chimera’s defense hadn’t increase enormously after its

evolution due to the growth of his scales, then he’d sure have
injured himself very seriously by now.

But even then, had the Chimera played against Wu Ji Xuan

alone, then he’d already have lost the fight a long time ago.

In fact, if the Chimera wasn’t Bi Fan’s pet, then he would have

already fled a long time ago.

Bi Fan was still looking for an opportunity, refusing to match

Wu Ji Xuan’s strength since he knew that he only had one
chance, and in case he allowed Wu Ji Xuan to be prepared for
that critical juncture, then he might not be able to achieve the
desired result.
 The increasingly intensifying battle had been keeping the
audience at the edge of their seats. Although most people
weren’t clearly able to see the movements of the two men, but
their dazzling silhouettes were enough to tickle their
imaginations.

“They are so powerful! Will I even be able to reach at par with

Wu Ji Xuan and Bi Fan?”

“I’d be satisfied with just half of their strength, really!”

… …

Wu Ji Xuan – Wu Ji Reforms!

Seeing that he had been unable to defeat Bi Fan after having

fought with him for so long, Wu Ji Xuan decided to cast out his
most powerful trick.

Thousands of blades converged together, forming a very thick

sword.

The power and might of this attack was almost explosive.

Bi Fan’s face changed colors and he started increasing the pace

of his movements in order to make it harder for Wu Ji Xuan to
find his trail.

Meanwhile, the Chimera receded backwards, unable to find

the courage to face Wu Ji Xuan’s attack.

“Go to hell!” Wu Ji Xuan released his attack, and sent it

straight at Bi Fan in the hope beheading him.

The large sweep radius of the attack didn’t leave Bi Fan with
much room to escape into.

Bi Fan remained calm, and pushed ‘The dance of mist’

footwork to its extreme, and was somehow able to dodge the
attack.

“Plop…” the attack still nicked Bi Fan’s dress, and the

collision gave rise to sparks.

Fortunately, Bi Fan’s body was being protected by his high

grade soft armor, and the sky-blue suit which had been given to
him by the Quinyang Sect, owing to which he managed to
escape unharmed.

However, Bi Fan’s entire body was covered in sweat, and he

was visibly frightened by the danger of the attack.

Wu Ji Xuan was very surprised to see that even his best attack
wasn’t enough to inflict any damage to Bi Fan.

But he immediately calmed down, and decided that he’d try to

force Bi Fan into gradually consuming his energy, post which
he’d finish Bi Fan off in a single strike.

Bi Fan on the other hand, was intentionally making his

condition look worse than it really was in order to cloud Wu Ji
Xuan’s judgement.

Soon, it started seeming as if Bi Fan was beginning to lose his

morale; in fact, even his speed had started seemingly slowing
down.

“My opportunity has finally arrive; Bi Fan, now you’re toast!”

Wu Ji Xuan thought to himself.

Wu Ji Xuan took his opportunity, and launched a fierce and

desperate attack.

Wu Ji Xuan was so excited that he almost abandoned his own

defense.

Bi Fan saw this, and suddenly his momentum burst out as he

decided to take advantage of the Sacred Rune’s enhancement.

The Floating sword!

The Immortal Finger!

 Bi Fan cast out a series of his strongest attacks with all his
force.

Bi Fan’s explosive momentum left everyone shocked since he

was almost as strong as Wu Ji Xuan now.

Wu Ji Xuan’s face became pale with fear since he had expected

to win this fight after this move; he had never imagined that Bi
Fan would be concealing more strength.

“Bi Fan, even though you have more hidden strength than I
thought, you’ll still never win!” Wu Ji Xuan shouted furious.

Bi Fan’s sword replied to Wu Ji Xuan’s challenge.

“Jhum…..” his successive attacks caught Wu Ji Xuan

unprepared, while ‘The Immortal Finger’ hit Wu Ji Xuan
several time, poking three bloody holes in his body.

Bi Fan was fighting very smartly; he wasn’t targeting Wu Ji

Xuan’s upper body since he knew that Wu Ji Xuan’s upper body
would be protected by some sort of high end defense equipment.
 Bi Fan’s had chosen to attack Wu Ji Xuan’s limbs since he
knew that injuring his enemy’s limbs would eventually affect
his fighting.

Wu Ji Xuan had fallen prey to his tactic, and blood had

already started streaming from his wounds.

Wu Ji Xuan growled furiously, and then charged back at Bi

Fan to kill him.

Bi Fan had expected a fierce retaliation, and was more than

prepared for it.

Bi Fan knew that winning this fight still wouldn’t be easy for
him.

Wu Ji Xuan on the other hand was getting more and more

desperate since he knew that the longer this fight wore on, the
more unfavorable the situation would get for him.

Wu Ji Xuan was trying to force Bi Fan into a decisive

exchange, but unfortunately for him, Bi Fan was cleverly
dodging his attacks, refusing to engage him directly.

On top of that, the Chimera was also holding back and was
staying close to Bi Fan, just in case he needed to rescue Bi Fan.

Therefore, it had become very difficult for Wu Ji Xuan to end

this fight quickly.

Moreover, Wu Ji Xuan was also afraid that Bi Fan’s strength

might erupt again.

No one was aware that Bi Fan had used the Sacred Rune to
increase his strength, so naturally no one was aware that Bi Fan
had already expended his ‘one-off’.

Bi Fan’s body was turning and twisting in weird ways, and he

was solely relying on his agility to drag the fight longer.

More and more blood continued to stream from Wu Ji Xuan’s

wounds as the battle wore on.
 Moreover, since Wu Ji Xuan was constantly attacking, his
energy levels had also seen a major depletion, which was
making things even harder for him.

The entire arena was watching the contest dumbfounded

since no one had ever anticipated that Bi Fan would be capable
of reversing the entire situation in just one sequence.

“Bi Fan is just an ‘enormous strength’ layer fighter, where is

he getting so much strength from?” A lot of people were
thinking about this, but no one had raised this doubt publicly
since everyone knew that this wasn’t the time or place for the
debate.

In fact, even the Quinyang Sect delegation was completely

baffled since even they could explain how Bi Fan had been able
to increase his strength in that astonishing sequence.
 Chapter 192 – The Guangdong Saber

“Why didn’t I realize that Brother Bi Fan was concealing his

real strength….. he was never going to lose this fight.” Jing
Feng laughed.

Mo Nan asked: “Jing Feng, why didn’t you say that earlier?”

“Since it was Brother Bi Fan’s secret, I really couldn’t leak it.”

Jing Feng replied without blinking an eye.

Yan Yu Si asked: “Jing Feng, do you know how Bi Fan

managed to explode his strength past the ‘emerging from the
womb’ layer mark?”

Everyone craned their necks since everyone wanted to know

the answer.

Luo Sheng and Luo Xiong were especially straining their ears
since they both wanted to know more about Bi Fan’s secrets.

Jing Feng smiled: “I was just running my mouth, but I don’t

really know how Brother Bi Fan did that; I too will be asking
him this question once he returns ah.”

“Deputy of the Sect, Bi Fan is your disciple…. You must know,

right?” Luo Xiao Tian asked.

Ling Xin Ya smiled: “I don’t know either. But I think that Bi

Fan must have learnt some method to increase his strength
momentarily, which is what helped him in increasing the
strength of his attacks for a short burst.”

Ling Xin Ya’s argument was quite reasonable, and Luo Xiao
Tian nodded in approval.

Even the Wu Ji Sect delegation was speculating the reason

behind Bi Fan’s sudden burst in strength.

Xuan Yuan Ling Feng said: “It appears that Bi Fan has learnt a
method to simulate the gates of the realms…. This is not a
trivial matter.”

“Are you suggesting that Brother Wu Ji Xuan is going to

lose?” the faces of the Wu Ji Sect disciples were showing a color
of disappointment.

Xuan Yuan Ling Feng shook his head and sighed deeply:
“There’s little hope of Wu Ji Xuan’s victory now…. it seems like
our Wu Ji Sect is going to suffer another crushing defeat.”

Wu Ji Xuan however, still wasn’t convinced and was trying

his utmost to defeat Bi Fan.

Wu Ji Xuan had always been a winner and had always been

chased after by the world; he simply couldn’t fathom losing
such a big match.

In fact, he had secretly vowed to kill Bi Fan.

Therefore, he kept increasing the power and ferocity of his

attacks, but his face reflected a hint of desperation.

Even though Wu Ji Xuan was risking his life in his attacks, Bi

Fan was constantly dodging him.

Blood was constantly dripping down from Wu Ji Xuan’s body,

and Bi Fan’s heart was blooming at the sight of it.

“Keep flowing, keep streaming…. the higher the quantity of

blood loss, the better it is for me.” Bi Fan thought to himself.

The increasing ferocity of Wu Ji Xuan’s attacks was only a

false mask; he was becoming increasingly weak in reality.

His hands and feet were injured, which was affecting his
mobility, while excessive blood loss had already killed his body’s
robustness.

Bi Fan quickly saw past his mask, and decided to launch a

counter attack.

Bi Fan’s actions were mimicked by the Chimera as well, and

they sprang towards Wu Ji Xuan together.

The Chimera was certainly not holding back, and was

constantly letting his flame lose every now and then. On top of
that, he was also using his tail to limit Wu Ji Xuan’s movement
space.
 Wu Ji Xuan had immediately calmed down upon seeing those
corrosive jets of flame, and realized that he simply couldn’t take
any chances, which is why he was constantly dodging their
attacks.

Bi Fan stated loudly: “Wu Ji Xuan, you’re going to lose; it will

be better if you conceded right now.”

“Ah….” Wu Ji Xuan roared loudly, almost as if he was trying

to vent out his frustration and anger.

Bi Fan and the Chimera saw the manner in which he roared,

and immediately prepared themselves for any uncertainties.

After all said and done, Wu Ji Xuan was no average man. If he

had anymore hidden trump cards, then he could easily injure
them if they acted recklessly at this point.

After roaring madly, Wu Ji Xuan instantly calmed down, and

remained motionlessly glued to his spot.

However, Bi Fan and the Chimera didn’t dare to go anywhere

near him, believing that he was accumulating his energy and
could unleash a formidable attack at any moment.

But no one would have ever anticipated that he would sigh

and say: “Well…. I give up.”

Wu Ji Xuan’s sudden and unexpected words had completely

startled Bi Fan, along with the rest of the crowd.

“Bi Fan! Bi Fan! …. Champion! Champion!….”

A moment after Wu Ji Xuan conceded the fight, the crowd

jumped to its feet and started howling cheers for Bi Fan.

Bi Fan was just an ‘enormous strength’ layer martial artist,

but he had still managed to beat an ‘emerging from the womb’
layer expert, and had also killed the man’s beast pet; No one
could question Bi Fan’s strength and skill.

Since Bi Fan had beaten Wu Ji Xuan, all his supporters had

already switched sides, and were now cheering for the new
champion. Such was the reality of this world; strength gave way
to respect.
 The winner takes it all! This is the unquestionable truth.

Bi Fan’s face reflected a strange sense of happiness in the

backdrop of loneliness when the referee officially announced
him as the new champion.

Bi Fan had wanted to win this championship for a long time

now since he felt that it would help him getting close to Yan Yu
Si. He was well aware that there was a huge gap in his social
status and Yan Yu Si’s, but he felt that winning this
championship would help him in narrowing that gap to some
extent. Now, he felt as if he could justify his pursuit of Yan Yu
Si, and even though he still didn’t have the courage to confess to
her face, he was confident that he could be capable to asking for
her hand in marriage one day.

Bi Fan needed to win this championship in order to raise his

self-esteem, or else he would have never had the courage to
make his confession.

Bi Fan was determined to win this tournament, and he had

already achieved his objective.
 Bi Fan was extremely happy to see that almost two hundred
thousand people were cheering and shouting his name, and
were celebrating his victory.

After today’s victory, Bi Fan’s fame was sure to surpass Wu Ji

Xuan’s in the Jiu Yu City.

Wu Ji Xuan was feeling very dejected and desolate. Even

though he had just made a major breakthrough, he still didn’t
seem happy.

His eyes had already started tearing at the sight of his Beast
Pet’s ashes, and it seemed that his eyes were bathing in the light
of an unrestrained murderous Aura.

“Bi Fan, you might have beaten me today, but I once my state
has stabilized, I will seek you again, and I’ll beat you. I will get
back at you for this disgrace someday.” Wu Ji Xuan stated in a
dull voice.

“Well, I’ll be waiting for you. But remember that while you’ll
be progressing, I too will be advancing… you’ll never be able to
defeat me.” Bi Fan replied in an impassionate manner.
 Bi Fan was brimming with so much confidence at the
moment, that it seemed as if he wasn’t afraid of anyone.

“Brother Bi Fan actually defeated Wu Ji Xuan, this is really

amazing!” Jing Feng’s mouth was hung open in disbelief.

Mo Nan nodded excitedly: “Yes ah, but Brother Bi Fan has

been keeping too many secrets…. That is simply unacceptable.
Let’s extort his confession once he comes back!”

“Good! Very good!” Ling Xin Ya was smiling from one ear to
the other, obviously very pleased with his disciple’s
performance.

Luo Sheng and Luo Xiong were looking even worse than
before. Luo Xiong was especially looking very disheartened
since he had secretly mixed a colorless poison into Bi Fan’s tea
before the fight. The poison that he had used was called the
Nine Chong poison.

The Nine Chong poison was a very special kind of poison

which was made from the venom of the creatures of lower life
forms. The body of the target would show no symptoms of
poisoning after its injection, but once the person was seriously
injured, and their internal energy was depleted, then the
toxicity of this poison would burst out, and would wreak havoc
inside the host’s body. The poison would go straight into the
victim’s heart, and the person would simply drop dead in a
matter of moments.

Luo Xiong had injected his poison into Bi Fan’s body since he
was confident that Bi Fan would lose the fight.

Unfortunately for him, even though Bi Fan had consumed his

internal energy, he hadn’t sustained any major injuries, which
is why the poison never came into play.

Luo Xiong smiled coldly: “Bi Fan, you were lucky this time,
but the poison is still inside your body, and I don’t believe that
you will never get injured. There will come a time when this
poison will take its effect, and on that day you will die the most
painful death; and no one will ever suspect my hand in it!”

“Hmmmm! Bi Fan, just wait and watch; you’re going to die

soon!” Luo Xiong’s face revealed an evil smile.

Bi Fan was awarded the championship, and was asked to

collect his reward.
 In addition to the extra points to the sects, the tournament
also offered substantial rewards to the winners.

The top twenty three fighters were given weapons, with the
best ones going to the top ranking fighters.

Even though the prizes were quite good, Bi Fan showed no

interest in them.

The top prize was a high-grade Guangdong Saber, which was

completely useless for Bi Fan, but was still worth a lot of Spar in
the open market.

Bi Fan seemed very happy as he collected his reward.

 Chapter 193 – Reaping Appreciations

Bi Fan collected the Guangdong Saber and walked off the

stage.

Wu Ji Xuan felt so disgraced by his defeat that he didn’t even

show up to collect his reward.

As for the other rankings, since they weren’t decided yet,

their rewards would obviously be discharged later.

The Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon tournament’s management was

very friendly in that sense, and they would reward the winners
simultaneously, allowing the winners to go back and celebrate
their achievements immediately rather than waiting for their
prizes.

Bi Fan returned to his Sect’s dressing room after collecting his

prize.

Just as he entered the Sect’s dressing room, he found himself

surrounded by the other Quinyang disciples, who then picked
him up and started flinging him up and down in the air.
 Today, Bi Fan had not just earned the respect of the Sect’s
outer disciples since even the core disciples were in awe of him.

Bi Fan was only sixteen years old, and was already capable of
beating an ‘emerging from the womb’ layer martial artist of Wu
Ji Xuan’s caliber.

Wu Ji Xuan was regarded as a once-in ten thousand years

talented genius; therefore Bi Fan could only be categorized as a
once in a millennium genius.

By the time they put Bi Fan down on his feet again, he felt as if
he’d faint and fall down.

“Brother Bi Fan, you need to give a full account of your secrets

when we get back to the Inn, you’ve been keeping too many
secrets from us.” Jing Feng said as he laughed.

“Yes, and you simply cannot say no!” Mo Nan added.

“Well, of course.” Bi Fan helplessly surrendered.

 Since the tournament contests had ended for the day, the
audience had already started leaving the arena.

Because of the sheer volume of people pouring out of the

stadium, the Quinyang Sect decided to wait a while to avoid the
traffic.

In the meantime, the Tian Shui and the City Sect’s delegates
come over to the Quinyang Sect’s dressing room to congratulate
Bi Fan.

Ling Xin Ya and Luo Xiao Tian were beaming pleased and
excited smiles; although these Sects were their allies, even allies
were competitors in this world.

The Quinyang Sect had always occupied the lowest status in

their alliance since the Quinyang Sect had always been at the
bottom of the top five list; naturally, the Tian Shui Sect and the
City Sect had always considered the Quinyang Sect to be
somewhat beneath them.

But right now, both these Sects had come to the Quinyang
Sect to make reprisals by praising the Sect’s performance, so
naturally Ling Xin Ya and Luo Xiao Tian were proudly holding
their heads high.

The Quinyang Sect’s outer disciples were admiring Bi Fan to

the point where it felt as if he was their hero.

The Quinyang Sect delegation returned to their Inn, and

celebrations continued.

The Quinyang Sect’s performance was obviously being

credited to Bi Fan; their hero.

“Brother Bi Fan, now start talking; how did you beat Wu Ji

Xuan?” Jing Feng asked.

“There’s not much to talk about…. I learnt a secret law which

can momentarily double up strength. I simply took advantage of
Wu Ji Xuan’s unpreparedness against that burst and wounded
him; otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to beat him.” Bi Fan
smiled.

The Sacred Rune was one of Bi Fan’s biggest secrets, so he

simply couldn’t disclose it.

The vast and boundless Tian Yu world was full of all kinds of
secrets, but objects which could be used to double up strength
were a minority, which is why Bi Fan knew that no one would
ever suspect it.

He didn’t mention the name of this secret law since he knew

that no one would ask.

“You’re really lucky Brother Bi Fan…..” Mo Nan and Jing

Feng seemingly admired and envied him at the same time.

Bi Fan smiled: “The secret law is useful, but it’s very

restrictive, otherwise it could have made us invincible.”

Ling Xin Ya stated: “Bi Fan, all secret laws have limitations,
otherwise we’d never be content with what we have.”

“Yes master.” Bi Fan smiled.

Yan Yu Si hadn’t spoken a single word, but even she was

overawed.

Bi Fan’s talent was defying the natural order of the world.

Bi Fan had only been practicing for two years, and since Yan
Yu Si had always been overlooking his progress, she knew his
condition better than anyone.

Even though Yan Yu Si was a more accomplished martial

artist than Bi Fan, she had done so by consuming Dan from the
age of three. By the time she turned six, she had already started
practicing martial arts. It took her ten years to reach the
‘emerging from the womb’ layer…..

But Bi Fan had managed all this in less than two years. Even
though he hadn’t reached the ‘emerging from the womb’ layer
yet, his strength was still enough to compete against someone
who had.

Such a talent and such a practice speed weren’t just a rarity in

the Jiu Yu City, but also in the rest of the world.

In the entire Jiu Yu Da’s young generation, there were only a

very few disciples who were capable of matching up to Bi Fan at
this point.

And even these disciples had achieved their current status

after receiving the best education and abundant resources; their
Sects had spent a lot of manpower and money on their training.
And Bi Fan had managed to achieve all of this with barely
anything.

In comparison to the other well-known geniuses of his

generation, Bi Fan was probably one step ahead in terms of raw
talent.

If Bi Fan was able to practice at this rate in the future as well,

then it wouldn’t be surprising if he was able to grow into a
renowned and powerful martial artist, which would
automatically make the Quinyang Sect famous.

Yan Yu Si was looking at Bi Fan, and was hoping that he’d

illuminate the Quinyang Sect’s future.

Bi Fan, Mo Nan, Jing Feng and Ji Ying Lan were busy smiling
and chatting as they continued to celebrate Bi Fan’s victory.
 “Bi Fan, Mo Nan, Jing Feng and Ji Ying Lan are the future of
the Quinyang Sect. I must convince father to provide them with
the best resources upon my return to Quinyang….. we need to
help them grow faster.” Yan Yu Si thought to herself.

Yan Yu Si was quite happy at the moment, but she was still
concerned about Luo Sheng and Luo Xiong.

Luo Sheng and Luo Xiong were both incompatible with Bi Fan
and his friends. If these two parties didn’t form a congenial
relationship soon, then it could possibly result in a falling out
within the Quinyang Sect.

If this happened, then Yan Yu Si was clearly in favor of siding

with Bi Fan and his friends.

The celebration carried on for a long time, but Jing Feng and
Mo Nan returned to their room early since they had more
matches tomorrow morning.

After returning to his room, Bi Fan started carefully replaying

his fight with Wu Ji Xuan.
 As Bi Fan started carefully analyzing the fight, he started
figuring out several things which he previously didn’t
understand very clearly. His understanding of his own martial
arts was beginning to improve a lot, and once he was able to
find some time to work on some changes, he felt that his
proficiency would see a major boost.

Bi Fan could also feel an improvement in his strength, and felt

that he was just one step away from breaking into the
‘transformation’ layer now.

“It seems that it won’t be long before I can break into the
‘transformation’ layer. If I’m successful, then my strength will
increase again, and then I won’t have to fear Wu Ji Xuan
anymore. Wu Ji Xuan will certainly try to extract his revenge
from me, but I need to make sure that I don’t give him any
chances.”

Bi Fan was very happy, not just because he had won the
championship, but also because his strength had increased
significantly.

Bi Fan was also quite confident that his improved knowledge

of his martial arts would help him in improving his efficiency,
and once he was able to integrate these new changes into ‘The
Immortal Finger’ attack, then his power output would see a
major increase.

Bi Fan couldn’t find any time to work on his skills tonight

since he was busy studying his fight against Wu Ji Xuan.

In fact, Bi Fan was beginning to realize that he had made a lot

of mistakes; otherwise he would have won the fight relatively
easily.

Bi Fan was so engrossed in his research that if Jing Feng

hadn’t knocked on the door, he would have never realized that
it was morning already.

“Brother Bi Fan, get ready quickly…. Let’s eat our meal so we

can leave for the arena together.” Jing Feng sounded very
motivated.

Bi Fan ended his practice, groomed himself, and prepared to

go downstairs for his meal.

Jing Feng and Mo Nan’s ranking still hadn’t been finalized

since they still had a few more tie-breakers left. Since they were
both like brothers to him, Bi Fan obviously wanted to cheer
them on.
 Chapter 194 – No Arrogance In Victory, No
Despair In Defeat

As the contest proceeded, most people were only concerned

with Blue Dragon and Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu’s match.

They were both contesting for the third place, so their contest
was obviously expected to be quite entertaining.

As far as Bi Fan was concerned, he’d finally get an opportunity

to see Blue Dragon’s progress.

Even though Blue Dragon was quite strong, Xuan Yuan Xiao
Yu would still prove out to be a real challenge for him since she
was fairly strong even without the support of the ‘Fiend Fright
Burst’. Plus, she also had her Phoenix Beast pet for support.

Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu was already shouldering the heavy

responsibility of rescuing her Sect’s campaign, and in case she
lost the fight, the Wu Ji Sect would truly face a lot of shame.

The contest began.

 Blue Dragon started out with the ‘Hegemon Blade’ while Xuan
Yuan Xiao Yu cast out ‘The Yin Yang Sword’ and the ‘Fiend
Fright Burst’.

Both sword plays were at par with each other.

It appeared that Blue Dragon was well aware that dragging the
fight would be detrimental to his objective.

Blue Dragon was attacking with all his might right from the
start, and his combined strength was already lingering on the
border of the ‘emerging from the womb’ layer.

Even though Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu was quite powerful, she was
having a tough time in keeping up with him.

As a last resort, Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu summoned her green

colored Phoenix, even though the bird hadn’t fully recovered
since she needed to stabilize the situation quite desperately.

Once the situation was stabilized, Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu started

spending more and more of her energy to cast out the ‘Fiend
Fright Burst’ in order to suppress Blue Dragon’s overbearing
momentum.

Blue Dragon kept attacking with all his might still, but Xuan
Yuan Xiao Yu started finding it easier to deal with his majestic
strength.

‘The Fiend Fright Burst’ eventually started playing a big role

in their fight and started weakening Blue Dragon’s strength.

The battle continued to excite the audience for a while, but

then Blue Dragon eventually lost the battle. However, he still
won the crowd’s appreciation.

“Brother Dragon lost, but he did his best still.” Bi Fan stated.

“Yes ah, Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu’s ‘Fiend Fright’ burst is very hard
to compete against, and it’s very difficult to beat her unless
you’re far stronger than her.” Jing Feng forced a smile on his
face.

Once the contest was over, the final rankings were

announced. Bi Fan received the first spot, while Wu Ji Xuan was
awarded the second. Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu was number three,
Blue Dragon was four, Jing Feng was positioned at five, with Mo
Nan right behind him at number six, while Wang Feng was
awarded the seventh place.

The City Sect was quite depressed by Wang Feng’s position in

the final list since it wasn’t at par with his previous
tournament’s ranking.

As for Jiang Wen and Hong Yun Tian, their rankings had
dropped out of the top ten this time.

Even though Li Qian Xun had made a big impact in the

beginning of the tournament, but his performance had gone
completely downhill after his match against Bi Fan.

The Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon List tournament had just ended,

when the announcement for the Jiu Yu Imperial List was made.

The number of contestants in the Jiu Yu Imperial List was

much lesser in comparison, but the contest was still expected to
be more exciting since there was obviously no comparison
between the outer and the core disciples’ strength and expertise.
 Moreover, Xuan Yuan Po Jun and Yan Yu Si’s inclusion in the
list of participants made the contest even more exciting since
they were both considered leading figures in the entire world.

The Quinyang Sect was busy celebrating their victories in the

Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon List.

Three of the top of seven disciples in the list belonged to the

Quinyang Sect, which was the Sect’s best ever performance in
their entire history.

While the Quinyang Sect was enjoying their position, the Ba

Gua and the Wu Ji Sect looked overly dejected by theirs.

Even though the City Sect and the Tian Shui Sect weren’t
happy about their results, they were still happy to see that the
Wu Ji Sect and the Rising Sun Sect had suffered heavily as well.

After the proceedings of the tournament were over, the

Quinyang Sect, the Tian Shui Sect and the City Sect’s leaders sat
down to have a discussion.

Bi Fan, Mo Nan, Jing Feng, Ji Ying Lan and the rest of the
Quinyang Sect disciples decided to use this time to talk amongst
themselves for a while.

“Brother Bi Fan, Brother Jing Feng, Brother Mo Nan, Brother

Ji Ying Lan… you guys have gotten such good results; I really
envy you.” Wang Yun Fei stated.

Jing Feng smiled: “…. There’s no reason to envy us, even my

results aren’t as good as the last time’s….. Brother Bi Fan, you
said that you’ll help us in learning some methods to improve
our physical strength, and I hope that you will not back off on
your word.”

“Of course, that’s not a problem, but tempering physical

strength is very time consuming, and its takes a lot of time for
the changes to reflect, so it’s better that you all prepare yourself
mentally for the hard work that you will need to put in.” Bi Fan
smiled.

These disciples were unaware that Bi Fan wanted them to

learn and grow so he could one day turn them into the backbone
of the Quinyang Sect.

“Brother Bi Fan, we know that tempering physical strength is

very difficult, but we’ve seen you, Blue Dragon, Li Qian Xun in
action, so we all know that these practice methods have a lot of
benefits. So matter how difficult the road is, I’ve decided that I
will strive for it.” Mo Nan stated.

“Yes, we will all strive to practice.”

“No matter what kind of hardships we have to bear, we must

enhance our strength.”

Bi Fan could see the enthusiasm and the determination in the

eyes of the others, so he didn’t say much, and started giving
them the basic instructions to practice the basic methods of his
modified ‘Blood Devil’ law.

Jing Feng and the others listened very carefully since Bi Fan
was instructing something very important which they all
believed would help them in becoming more powerful in the
future.

“Brother Bi Fan, you’ve really impressed us. If we are ever in a

position to help you in the future, then we’ll do our utmost to be
of help to you.” Wang Yun Fei stated.
 “Yes ah, Brother Bi Fan, no matter the strain, we will always
be there to support you.”

In the Tian Yu world, cultivation methods were regarded as

top secrets, and even a master never imparted his entire
knowledge to his disciples. In a world such as this, it was very
rare to come across people like Bi Fan, who would openly
impart their knowledge to others.

“We are all fellows of the same Sect, so there’s no need for me
to hesitate. We must work together in the future and help our
Sect flourish.” Bi Fan stated.

Jing Feng: “We must all go back and practice this method, but
we mustn’t bother Brother Bi Fan too much about it.”

Once they returned to their hotel, everyone went straight to

their rooms, and started practicing, allowing Bi Fan to
peacefully conduct his training.

Bi Fan had already decided to use the next half month to

comprehend and perfect all the martial skills that he had seen
and learnt so far.
 Bi Fan knew that he couldn’t get complacent about his
victory, and knew that he would need to practice and prepare
himself for the next level of competition.

People who always compete with the ones who are stronger
than them, are usually the ones who find success in their life.

Since Bi Fan had already tasted the sweetness of physical

strength’s benefits, he had decided to pay more importance to
the methods described in the Jade Book.

In fact physical strength had become so important for to Bi

Fan, that he was even willing to compromise on internal energy
for its sake.

The devil’s way of martial arts was very well suited for
physical training since the number of methods available was
much higher.

Even though Bi Fan followed the Buddhist way of life, he was

still very interested in practicing these methods since he wanted
to avail the benefits of these laws.
 Since he was interested in availing these gains, he had started
growing a fondness for Devil’s laws.

Even though the Devil’s way of life was despised by the

Buddhist culture, a lot of people still practiced these evil laws
since they were quite unique.

As far as physical strength was concerned, the Devil’s laws

were far more versatile and productive.

In fact, a lot of disciples from the Buddhist-oriented Sects

were known to practice Evil methods, and were never
prosecuted for it as long as they continue to live peacefully in
the society.

Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu, for example, was openly using the ‘Fiend
Fright burst’, which was a known law of the Devil’s martial
style, but she had never been boycotted by the community for it
since she had never caused a menace in the society.

Moreover, since she belonged to such a powerful Sect, no one

dared to question her since her own Sect was allowing it and
was supporting her in achieving her goals.
 Bi Fan too was willing to practice the Devil’s way of martial
arts in order to increase his strength, and wasn’t afraid of facing
the world as long as his conscious was clear.

Thus, Bi Fan immersed himself in his physical training.

Although Bi Fan was already being considered as one of the

top outer disciples in the Jiu Yu City, he wouldn’t be able to
enjoy the same fame on a world-wide scale yet.

When it came to the entire Tian Yu world, apart from the Jiu
Yu Da, there were several other small and big sects who had
some very talented youngsters of their own; and then there
were also the Devil’s followers.

Bi Fan knew that he couldn’t afford even the slightest of

relaxation time since he had his heart set on pursuing Yan Yu Si,
and knew well that he’d have to defeat several extremely strong
opponents to get to her, such as Shuai Ying Tian, who was
obviously far stronger than him.

Anyway, enhancing strength had always been the most

important thing for Bi Fan.
 Chapter 195 – Gold Dan Layer And Primordial
Spirit Layer

Bi Fan got up early in the morning.

The Jiu Yu Imperial List contest was about to start from

today, so Bi Fan was naturally inclined on going and watching
the contest.

He was sure that the core disciples must be knowing some

unique and cleaver moves; in fact, even the most ordinary skills
were definitely going to seem very different in the hands of
these experienced fighters, which is why Bi Fan was expecting
this to be a great learning opportunity.

The Quinyang Sect had selected Yan Yu Si, Luo Xiong and
several others, and was hoping that they would get good
rankings.

Although, Bi Fan was a bit worried about Yan Yu Si’s safety

since Xuan Yuan Po Jun was considered extremely strong and
dangerous.
 The Jiu Yu Imperial List contest’s rules were the same as Jiu
Yu Hidden Dragon List’s, and all the contestants were to be
divided into groups of four in the first round, with only one
person being allowed to progress to the next round.

The draws were pulled out quite quickly, and the contest was
started soon after.

Since the Jiu Yu Imperial List contest was expected to be even

more exciting that the Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon List, an even
higher number of people had showed up to witness the event,
which is why the crowd control personnel were also present in
higher numbers.

The Jiu Yu Imperial List started out marvelously with Lin

Qing Yao facing a Rising Sun sect disciple in the first fight of the
contest. Lin Qing Yao started with the ‘Floating Sword’ law,
while her opponent cast out ‘The Raging Flames’ law.

Even though Bi Fan’s understanding of ‘The Floating Sword’

skill was quite profound, it was evident that Lin Qing Yao’s
understanding of the skill was in a different league altogether.

Bi Fan hadn’t yet been able to learn the entire range of strokes
of the law yet; in fact, this was the first time that he got to see
the skill’s entire collection of strokes.

The style behind ‘The Raging Flames’ technique was still a

complete mystery to Bi Fan, which is why he couldn’t
understand the skill properly.

Either way, Bi Fan knew that he only needed to memorize the

skill for now.

Since several contests were taking place simultaneously, Bi

Fan needed to be selective once again, and he chose to memorize
only the most exquisite laws from amongst the ones on display.

He knew that once he was able to memorize a law, he could

eventually unlock its secrets in time.

Yan Yu Si and Xuan Yuan Po Jun also finished their respective

matches early on, and were able to win their matches with ease;
in fact, their opponents didn’t even try very hard.

Luo Xiong was also quite impressive, and seemed to have

already crossed into the ‘Bone’ Layer.
 Once a martial artist reaches the ‘Bone’ layer, the body goes
under a massive transformation and the physical strength of the
practitioner increases by a lot, along with an increase in the
internal energy.

Since Luo Xiong had already reached the ‘Bone’ realm, his
physical strength had reached eighteen Yun Shi without any
physical training, and was now effectively higher than Bi Fan’s.

If and when Bi Fan was able to reach the ‘Bone’ layer, then his
physical strength would see an enormous rise.

Bi Fan’s strenuous training of physical strength was very

likely to pay back very heavily in the future by this theory.

However, Bi Fan could feel an increase in pressure on himself

as he continued to watch these core disciples in action. These
people were nothing in comparison to people like Shuai Ying
Tian, and he would first have to overtake them before he could
even hope of competing against the man.

The contest kept the viewers hooked the entire day, and Bi
Fan, Mo Nan and Jing Feng enjoyed the displays thoroughly.

Bi Fan, Mo Nan, and Jing Feng had never anticipated that the
gap between their strengths and that of the core disciples would
be so huge, and it took them a while to recover from the shock.

But still, Bi Fan was very comforted to see Yan Yu Si’s

performance.

In fact, even Yan Yu Si was a bit worried that Bi Fan might get
complacent after his victories, and may not pay attention to this
tournament, but as she watched Bi Fan observe the contest with
full focus, she realized that she needn’t be worried.

The Quinyang Sect disciples did a very job on day one, and
most disciples won all their matches, with only one disciple
losing a match.

The contest proceeded to the next day, and the first round
came to a close soon enough.

Five of the Quinyang Sect disciples managed to advance to the

second round, which could be considered a very good result.
 The best result was still obtained by the Wu Ji Sect since eight
of their disciples advanced to the second round.

The total of sixty contestants who had advanced to the second

round was equally divided into twenty groups, and it was
already quite hard to speculate the winners of this round.

Out of the Quinyang Sect’s delegation, in addition to Yan Yu

Si and Luo Xiong, there was another man named Yang Yan who
had already advanced into the ‘Bone’ layer, and was expected to
make it to the third round without much trouble.

The other two aspirants, Lin Qing Yao and Luo Jia were only
inside the ‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer at the moment, and
weren’t certain to advance to the third round.

A contestant was required to win both their matches of the

second round in one day in order to advance to the next round.

Since all the remaining contestants were quite strong at this

stage in the contest, so beating even one opponent in a day was
likely to come at the cost of high energy consumption, making
this round a very difficult one to get past.

Even though this rule was quite cruel, it was the only possible
way to elect true elites from the lot.

In fact, even Luo Xiong and Yan Yang weren’t guaranteed to

progress to the next round, while it appeared as if Yan Yu Si
hadn’t even exposed her real strength yet.

Yan Yu Si’s first contest of the Second round was against a

‘Gold Dan’ layered Wu Ji Sect disciple named Xuan Yuan Ling.

Xuan Yuan Ling was a very highly seeded contestant, but it

seemed that he had run out of luck since he had met Yan Yu Si
so early in the contest.

Once inside the ‘Gold Dan’ layer, a martial artist is able to

condense their energy in their Dan Tian, and this is capable of
increasing the combat effectiveness of the fighter.

A senior martial artist is only considered to be a genuinely

strong fighter after they advance into the ‘Gold Dan’ layer.
 The ‘Gold Dan’ realm is the third layer after the ‘emerging
from the Womb’ layer, with ‘Developing Marrow’ and ‘Bone’
layer in between. As compared to ‘Bone’ layer, which provides a
massive boost to the physical strength, the ‘Gold Dan’ layer also
provides the ability to condense energy inside the Dan Tian.

This condensed energy can be very powerful and can be used

as a life saving measure in critical junctures. This obviously
adds another threatening attack in the arsenal of the fighter.

Therefore, one must be very careful while competing against a

fighter who has already crossed into the ‘Gold Dan’ layer since
such an opponent is capable of creating an explosion out of this
condensed energy.

Yan Yu Si however, seemed very indifferent towards Xuan

Yuan Ling; in fact, she didn’t even draw her weapon against
him. So far, she hadn’t considered anyone to be worthy of
facing her weapon.

“Die!” Xuan Yuan Ling screamed as he charged towards her,

making it obvious that he wasn’t interested in conceding the
fight very easily.
 Xuan Yuan Ling’s ‘Yin Yang Sword’ attack was far more
powerful than Wu Ji Xuan’s ‘Wu Ji Sword’, and a large network
of blades fiercely condensed into one as they aggressively
charged towards Yan Yu Si.

Seeing this dense and acutely fierce attack charging towards

Yan Yu Si made Bi Fan a bit worried about her safety.

However, Yan Yu Si just glamorously stood glued to her spot,

with no expressions of her face, and it was evident that she
didn’t mind facing the attack head-on.

“Miss Yan Yu Si, you need to be careful….” Bi Fan was really

very worried at this point.

As the attack approached closer to her body, Yan Yu Si finally

made her move. Yan Yu Si slowly raised her delicate hand, and
breezed the incoming attack aside at such a fast pace that Bi Fan
couldn’t even see her movements properly.

“Miss Yan Yu Si is insanely powerful! Just how strong is she?

She actually managed to defuse Xuan Yuan Ling’s attack so
casually?!” Bi Fan wondered out loud.
 “Yes, ah, when will we be able reach her strength level?” Jing
Feng also exclaimed.

Ling Xin Ya smiled and said: “Miss Yan Yu Si’s strength isn’t
very far behind the elders of the Sect, so Xuan Yuan Ling is
definitely no match for her. If you wish to catch up to her, then
you must redouble your efforts.”

“Master, just how strong is Miss Yan Yu Si?” Bi Fan couldn’t

help asking.

Bi Fan naturally wished to know her strength since he wanted

to catch up with her in the future.

Everyone craned their necks to listen in since everyone

wanted to know more about Yan Yu Si.

Ling Xin Ya replied with a smile: “I’m not very clear on Miss
Yan Yu Si’s real strength as yet, but I believe that she has
already broken into the ‘Primordial Spirit’ layer.”

“Primordial Spirit!” Jing Feng exclaimed out loud.

 The ‘Primordial Spirit’ layer was a big jump in the martial
world, and once a martial artist breaks into this layer, then it
possible for the person to survive even if their physical body is
destroyed.

Yan Yu Si had managed to break into this layer at a very

young age, which indeed effectively made her stronger than
some of the martial artists of the older generations.

Jing Feng had been under the impression that he was genius
martial artist. But he was now beginning to realize that the
difference between him and a real genius was still too large.

Yan Yu Si was two layers above Xuan Yuan Ling, so it wasn’t

surprising that she was able to neutralize his attacks very
casually.

As the fight continued, Yan Yu Si went on to defeat Xuan

Yuan Ling with ease.

Xuan Yuan Ling was left lamenting his luck for meeting such a
strong opponent so early in the tournament.
 Yan Yu Si seemed very calm and composed after winning the
match. A complete lack of emotion on her part was clearly
exhibiting that she didn’t consider him to be any match for her.

Xuan Yuan Po Jun was also displaying extremely strong

performances, and even though his opponents weren’t directly
conceding their fights either, he too was able to defeat them
very comfortably.

Even Xuan Yuan Po Jun didn’t brandish his weapon over the
course of the second round, same as Yan Yu Si.
 Chapter 196 – Confluence With Wang Zhong

(Mustang: A lot of people were confused about this at the end

of the previous chapter, so allow me to clarify: Emerging from
the womb < developing marrow < Bone layer < Gold Dan < ? <
Primordial Spirit< …..< Spirit <….. Immortals.)

The Quinyang Sect was obviously very pleased with Yan Yu

Si’s performance.

But the Wu Ji Sect was left feeling dejected once again. They
had expected Xuan Yuan Ling to make it into the top ten
without facing much difficulty.

Luo Xiong and Yang Yan were luckier and won their fights
easily.

The winners of the morning round were required to fight

again in the evening, and only the winners of this set would
progress to the next round.

At the end of the evening round, only three Quinyang Sect

disciples were able to advance to the third round, namely, Yan
Yu Si, Luo Xiong and Yang Yan.

The top twenty of the tournament was composed of three

Quinyang Sect disciples, four City Sect disciples, three Tian
Shui disciples, five Wu Ji Sect disciples and three Rising Sun
fighters. The remaining two fighters were Yuan Bing from the
Eastern Aristocracy, and Dao Yang from the Ba Gua Sect.

The third round was obviously going to be far more taxing on

the fighters than the previous two.

Bi Fan was really looking forward to the third round since

he’d get to watch the most elite fighters contest against each
other, which would obviously give him an opportunity to learn
a lot of new and useful things.

However, there was one day gap in between to allow the

already-eliminated round-two contestants to finish their final
fights.

“Brother Bi Fan, you don’t have any plans for tomorrow, do

you?” Jing Feng asked.
 “No. I’ll still be practicing though….” Bi Fan stated lightly.

Jing Feng said: “Well, I’m planning on taking you out to see
the Jiu Yu City tomorrow, and you’re not allowed to say no.”

“That’s right. Ji Ying Lan and I will also be going along! The
four of us definitely need to take a day off… it will help us in
relieving all the tension from this hectic schedule.” Mo Nan
added.

Bi Fan thought for a second and said: “Well, I can go out for
one day……”

Striking a balance between work and rest is very important to

optimize practice outputs.

Bi Fan had been overdoing things recently, and figured that he

needed to adjust his system a bit.

The other disciples had taken time out to see the city several
times by now, but Bi Fan had only gone out once in his entire
time in the city so far.
 “Good! That’s a deal then; we’ll all go out early in the morning
tomorrow, and we’ll eat our breakfast out in the city only.” Jing
Feng clapped his hands to finalize the decision.

The weather was really good in the morning, and the faintly
blue sky added to the beauty of the city.

Bi Fan, Mo Nan, Ji Ying Lan, and Jing Feng set out early in the
morning.

The massive city was busy even in the morning hours, and
most of the morning business revolved around selling breakfast.

Bi Fan and his friends had a sumptuous breakfast.

Bi Fan was left delighted at the end of the meal since he had
never tasted such delicious food before.

Bi Fan was hooked: “I had never imagined that food could be

so delicious…. It would have been a shame to miss out on it.”
 “There’s so much more in this city… you don’t even know
what all you’re miss out on.” Jing Feng laughed.

“Hmmm…. I guess I’ll have to go out more often.” Bi Fan

forced a smile.

The Jiu Yu City had a lot of unique things on display which

left Bi Fan dazzled, and he ended up buying a lot of things.

Bi Fan was especially taken by the range of snacks, dried fruits

etc… of course, wine was one of Bi Fan’s favorite items in the
world, so he obviously bought a lot of it.

Although the calabash which Bi Fan had obtained inside the

Wan Snake Cave contained a lot of wine inside it, but he
couldn’t do any more than smelling it since most of those wines
were medicinal in nature, and were quite strong in their make.
Bi Fan would only be capable of drinking these wines after he
broke into the ‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer.

Moreover, the wines inside the gourd couldn’t be used to

entertain friends, so he naturally felt the need to buy more.
 On top of that, Bi Fan also bought a lot of items of everyday
use.

Clothing, ropes, tents, food, Dan etc…. Bi Fan went around

wantonly filling several of his Yin Yang pouches in the process.

Jing Feng said: “Brother Bi Fan, don’t you think you’re buying
too many things?”

“Ha ha, they aren’t useless….. most of these things are very
useful, okay…..” Bi Fan smiled.

Bi Fan continued to shop until noon, but his friends didn’t

seem to mind much.

“Let’s go and get lunch.” Bi Fan smiled.

“Well, there’s an anchovy shop nearby…. I tried it three years

ago, but the taste still lingers in my mouth to this day.” Jing
Feng swallowed his saliva.

Jing Feng’s face was enough to validate the taste of the food.
 “In that case, we definitely need to try it out.” Bi Fan smiled.

The others had a hard time keeping up with Jing Feng as they
made their way towards the shop.

The shop was located in a very spacious street, but the place
was still very crowded at this time.

They were forced to wait for the others to finish.

They entered into the dining hall and started waiting for a
table to vacate.

“Brother Bi Fan? That’s really you, isn’t it?” Someone called

Bi Fan.

Bi Fan turned around to locate the speaker.

“Wang Zhong! That is you!” Bi Fan was amazed.

 Wang Zhong was sitting alone on a table with some food and a
cup of wine.

“Brother Bi Fan, I made this trip especially to see you. I heard

that you were participating in the Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon List, so
I decided to come and find you.” Wang Zhong seemed very
happy.

Jing Feng came over, smiled and said: “Are you a friend of
Brother Bi Fan’s? Well, since you’re a friend of Brother Bi Fan’s,
you’re automatically my friend as well. Can we all sit together?”

“Of course! Brother Bi Fan, quickly get your friends to this

table.” Wang Zhong stated.

“Well, I guess we need not wait after all.” Bi Fan was already
very hungry, and very excited.

Bi Fan, Jing Feng, Mo Nan and Ji Ying Lan joined Wang

Zhong on his table.

Wang Zhong seemed very pleased to meet Bi Fan’s friends:

“Brother Wang, these are my friends, Ji Ying Lan, Mo Nan and
Jing Feng. We all study and practice together.”

“Brother Wang, any friend of Bi Fan’s is a friend of ours, and

thanks for being so kind to us.” Jing Feng smiled.

“That’s right. If you ever need any help, then you can always
count on us.” Mo Nan added.

Wang Zhong laughed: “Let’s drink to that!”

Wang Zhong drained the entire cup of wine in one single gulp.

Wang Zhong and the others started getting along very

smoothly; in fact, they were sharing all kinds of experiences
with each other… credit to the wine, it seemed.

Bi Fan couldn’t help noticing that even though Wang Zhong

was at the peak of the ‘transformation’ layer, he still hadn’t
made his breakthrough yet.

Wang Zhong possessed an Ogre Flower petal, and was ready

for the breakthrough; in fact, he was almost guaranteed to make
it through. His decision to wait was clearly indicative of the fact
that he was trying to enhance his physical strength before
making the leap.

Bi Fan had taught him the laws for physical enhancement

several months ago, and Wang Zhong had made very good use
of that information, and had already enhanced his physical
strength to eight Yun Shi.

It was obvious that Wang Zhong had been working very hard
on his training.

In fact, Bi Fan could tell that Wang Zhong’s thirst for power
had been compelling him to train day and night; otherwise it
wouldn’t have been possible for him to increase his strength so
quickly.

“Brother Wang, when are you planning on making the

breakthrough?” Bi Fan asked with a smile.

“In time; don’t worry.” Wang Zhong replied with a smile.

The Wang Zhong that Bi Fan had originally met just couldn’t
wait to break through the bottleneck and increase his strength
as fast as possible.

But now, Wang Zhong didn’t seem so anxious anymore. A

stronger physical body was surely going to be very beneficial
while making the breakthroughs to the various layers since
‘Emerging from the Womb’, ‘Developing Marrow’ and ‘Bone’
layers provided a surge of aura which enhanced and amplified
this inherent strength of the practitioner’s body.

“That’s good, this is one thing that needs to be done

patiently… the more abundant your accumulation of strength,
the more beneficial it will be in the future.” Bi Fan smiled.

“I’m very thankful to you Brother; otherwise I would have

never known this.” Wang Zhong replied gratefully.

“Brother Wang, Brother Bi Fan, how did you guys come in

contact?” Jing Feng asked.

“It’s a long story…. We met inside the Devil’s Abyss, and then
the four of us, Brother Wang, Brother Blue Dragon, Brother
Lone Leaf and I, stuck together and fought inside the Abyss for
months.” Bi Fan said with a smile.
 Wang Zhong added: “Brother Bi Fan lead us through the
Abyss, and we stole the show in all four directions! I was so
inspired by Brother Bi Fan that I decided to follow him in the
future as well, and decided that I want to make a career
alongside him.”

“Well, maybe we could all battle the world together

someday!” Jing Feng smiled.

The anchovies were delivered to their table soon after; Bi Fan

had never bit his tongue while tasting a variety of food before.

“Delicious! Really delicious!” Bi Fan couldn’t stop praising the

food.
 Chapter 197 – Convincing Wang Zhong

Bi Fan’s friends were enjoying their new company so much

that they took almost two hours to finish their lunch.

As the afternoon hours approached, Bi Fan’s party decided to

head back to their hotel.

“Brother Jing Feng, what about Brother Wang? Can we take

him back to the hotel with us?” Bi Fan asked.

Jing Feng thought for a second and then replied: “It’s not
impossible….. we could say that he’s our friend, and doesn’t
have a place to stay since all the other inns are overcrowded at
this time inside the city….. we could get him settled in one of
the empty rooms in our inn.”

“It would be amazing if Brother Wang could stay with us.” Bi

Fan seemed very happy at the thought of it.

Wang Zhong laughed: “I would also like getting to know you

guys a little better, so it would be amazing if we could all stay
together.”
 “Great! Let’s head back to the hotel then.”

Bi Fan and his five man group continued to shop on the way
back to their hotel, and were only able to make it back by dinner
time.

Seeing that Bi Fan had returned with a stranger, Luo Sheng

immediately spoke up: “Well, you guys have brought a stranger
to our hotel!”

“Deputy Master, wise Elder, Brother Wang Zhong is our

friend… he arrived in the Jiu Yu City and doesn’t have a place to
stay; could we accommodate him here for the time being?” Jing
Feng explained.

Wang Zhong cupped his hands in salutation and said: “I

apologize for the inconvenience my seniors.”

Ling Xin Ya smiled and said: “Since you’re a friend of Jing

Feng’s, you can stay with us.”
 Seeing that Ling Xin Ya had already given his word, Luo Xiao
Tian didn’t argue, and simply nodded in agreement.

Wang Zhong had already decided to follow Bi Fan, and seemed

very happy to know that he’d get more chances to train with Bi
Fan

“Master, wise Elder, thank you!” Bi Fan was very grateful.

Jing Feng and Bi Fan took Wang Zhong upstairs and helped
him in picking a room.

Once they had made arrangements for Wang Zhong, they all
had their dinner, post which Bi Fan decided to return to his
room; but Yan Yu Si stopped him.

“Bi Fan, what’s the case with Wang Zhong?” Yan Yu Si asked.

Bi Fan replied with a smile: “Miss Yan Yu Si, Brother Wang is

my friend; we met inside the Devil’s Abyss and we battled
together for months. I can assure you that there will never be an
issue with Brother Wang, and he’s not associated with any Sect,
so you shouldn’t worry about him being a spy either.”
 He paused, and then continued: “Moreover, Brother Wang is
only living with us temporarily, so there’s no need to worry
about anything.”

“I’m not afraid of Wang Zhong harboring any ulterior

motives. I noticed that Wang Zhong is a very talented
youngster, which is quite rare.” Yan Yu Si said with a smile.

“Miss Yan Yu Si, do you mean……” Bi Fan understood her

intention in a heartbeat; Yan Yu Si seemed interested in pulling
Wang Zhong into joining the Quinyang Sect to increase the
Sect’s talent, which would help in building a better future for
the Sect.

“Yes, if you could make Wang Zhong join the Quinyang Sect,
then with his talent, he could certainly become a pillar for the
Sect in the future.” Yan Yu Si stated her intentions.

Bi Fan pilfered a glance towards her face and realized that she
seemed very hopeful; naturally, Bi Fan couldn’t disappoint her.

“Miss Yan Yu Si, I’ll talk to Brother Wang, but I cannot

promise since I don’t know how he’d feel about it.” Bi Fan
replied.

“Bi Fan, you must think of a way to make him join the
Quinyang Sect. The Quinyang Sect’s talent acquisition has been
withering in these past few years, and we desperately need to
add some talented fresh blood to the Sect.” Yan Yu Si spoke in a
very earnest tone.

The manner in which Yan Yu Si uttered these words made Bi

Fan very excited, and he decided to go straight to Wang Zhong
in the hope of persuading him to join the Sect.

Just the idea of making Yan Yu Si happy was enough to make

Bi Fan happy.

“Don’t worry Miss Yan Yu Si, I’ll spare no effort in persuading

Brother Wang.” Bi Fan tried to assure her.

“I knew you’d agree.” Yan Yu Si laughed out, feeling very

pleased.

Yan Yu Si’s laugh was so terrific that it could bring about the
downfall of an entire nation; Bi Fan was just left standing
dumfounded in his stead, while his mouth inadvertently
murmured: “Miss Yan Yu Si, you’re so beautiful! You’re even
more beautiful than a fairy!”

Bi Fan was mumbling mindlessly since he had lost control

over his heart’s desires.

Bi Fan had just uttered these words, and then he suddenly

snapped out of it fearing that Yan Yu Si would stir a scene.

Bi Fan sneakily looked at her face, only to realize that her face
was blushing red.

“Miss Yan Yu Si, I was just talking nonsense, please don’t pay
any attention to it.” Bi Fan was inwardly laughing as he said
these words.

Even though Bi Fan knew that his words weren’t appropriate,

he was at least able to tell that Yan Yu Si didn’t resent him in
any way.

“Please let me know how Wang Zhong responds; I need to go

back and rest.” Yan Yu Si turned around and quickly sped away,
but Bi Fan could tell from behind that even her ears were
turning red.

“Ha ha, Miss Yan Yu Si was so shy…… it seems that I could try
and joke about with her in future….. it will definitely give me a
chance to get closer to her.” Bi Fan thought to himself.

Even the thought of getting a chance to talk and joke about

freely with Yan Yu Si was enough for Bi Fan to risk death.

But now that he had promised her, Bi Fan straight away went
to Wang Zhong’s room to persuade him into joining the
Quinyang Sect.

“Brother Bi Fan, what brings you here?” Wang Zhong asked.

“Brother Wang, I wanted to talk to you about something.” Bi

Fan seemed very embarrassed as he opened the discussion.

“Brother Bi Fan, you’re my master; your words are my

commands.” Wang Zhong smiled.
 Bi Fan took a deep breath: “Brother Wang, Miss Yan Yu Si
wants you to join the Quinyang Sect…. what do you think about
it?”

“What do you want Brother Bi Fan? If you want me to join the

Sect, then I’ll just follow your orders.” Wang Zhong replied
without even thinking about it.

“I just wish to know your thoughts on the subject. If you don’t

wish to join the Sect, then I will not force you by any means.” Bi
Fan smiled.

Wang Zhong replied after giving it some thought: “You, Mo

Nan, Jing Feng, Ji Ying Lan are all members of the Quinyang
Sect, so it’s definitely a good place for me…. And then it will
also give us all more chances to train together and learn new
skills.”

“Brother Wang, is that a yes?” Bi Fan was amazed.

Nowadays, Bi Fan was becoming increasing loyal to the

Quinyang Sect, so he naturally wanted the Sect to have good
and powerful future.
 “Yes! And once I have the support of a martial Sect, then I
think that my problems will also reduce.” Wang Zhong laughed.

“Brother Wang, this is great! We will certainly get a lot of

chances to learn together and grow together.” Bi Fan was
extremely excited.

Bi Fan immediately thought of telling the news to Yan Yu Si,

and couldn’t help to dash out of Wang Zhong’s room.

“Brother Wang, I’ll go and convey this good news to Miss Yan
Yu Si; I’ll take your leave now…..”

“He left in such a hurry…. It seems that Brother Bi Fan really

likes Miss Yan Yu Si.” Wang Zhong shook his head.

Bi Fan hastened out of Wang Zhong’s room, but only to realize

that he didn’t know which room Miss Yan Yu Si resided in. Left
without any reasonable options, he decided to wait until
tomorrow.

Bi Fan was certain that Yan Yu Si would be very happy after

knowing that Wang Zhong had agreed.

Bi Fan was in the stairwell when he ran into Luo Xiong and
Luo Sheng.

Luo Sheng said in a cold tone: “Bi Fan, don’t think that just
because you’re the champion now, that you can even bring
about strangers to our Sect; and don’t even think of trying
anything fishy.”

“Well! What fishy things could I do? Brother Wang is my

friend, and is only staying with us temporarily; I don’t see
anything wrong with that. Also, if there are any issues with this
regard, then I will obviously take full responsibility for it, so
you needn’t go about meddling in other people’s affairs.” Bi Fan
replied coldly.

“Bi Fan, don’t be so arrogant; you might have to pay for it one
day.” Luo Xiong butt in.

Bi Fan laughed: “Arrogant? I’m afraid that you’re the one

who’s being arrogant right now. Even the elder and the Deputy
Master didn’t have an issue with this, so why are you sticking
your leg in?”
 “We don’t intend to be nosy, but we felt that it was necessary
to remind you.” Luo Sheng replied.

Then, Luo Xiong and Luo Sheng left; Luo Xiong coldly eyed Bi
Fan as they walked past him.

Bi Fan felt a chill running all over his body, but couldn’t
understand the reason behind it.

Bi Fan returned to his room, and started to practice.

Wang Zhong’s practice speed was adding more propulsion to

his ambition.

“I have to try harder; I cannot let Brother Wang Zhong

overtake me.”

‘Against the Devil’ body burst was far superior to the laws
that he had taught Jing Feng and the others, so naturally Bi Fan
wanted to take full advantage of his knowledge.
 Bi Fan started concentrating on his practice of ‘Against the
Devil’ body burst, and hoped that he’d reach the next level
soon.
 Chapter 198 – Purple Night Blade Law

Everyone gathered in the dining room early next morning for

breakfast.

For some reason Wang Zhong didn’t come down.

Yan Yu Si asked: “Bi Fan, did you succeed in talking Wang

Zhong into joining the Quinyang Sect?”

Yan Yu Si’s voice was loud enough for everyone to hear her
words.

Jing Feng was surprised: “Miss Yan Yu Si, if Brother Wang

Zhong joins the sect, then it would be really great!”

“I would like to invite him into joining the Sect, but I don’t
know if Deputy Master and Wise Elder are in agreement…..”
Yan Yu Si asked smilingly.

Ling Xin Ya thought and said: “Wang Zhong is a good talent;

attracting good talent into the sect is always a good thing.”
 “This doesn’t sound very good…. We don’t know anything
about his history.” Luo Xiao Tian frowned.

Yan Yu Si said in a cold voice: “Wang Zhong’s origins might

be unknown to us for the time being, but if we squander time in
finding out about his past then some other sect might seize the
opportunity.”

“Since Miss Yan Yu Si is strongly in favor of this, I will not

intervene.” Even though Luo Xiao Tian was an Elder, he still
wouldn’t dare to offend Yan Yu Si.

Yan Yu Si wasn’t just the daughter of the Sect’s master, but

she was also a very highly talented Xuannv Palace disciple. It
was quite possible that she could surpass Luo Xiao Tian in the
future.

Bi Fan was very pleased to hear the verdict since he had

already convinced Wang Zhong.

“Miss Yan Yu Si, I was able to persuade Brother Wang Zhong

into joining the Quinyang Sect last night.”
 “That’s really great.” Yan Yu Si seemed very pleased. “Bi Fan,
why don’t you go and get Wang Zhong?”

Bi Fan quickly went upstairs to fetch Wang Zhong.

“Brother Wang, the Quinyang Sect has agreed to let you join
the sect, and now we just need to wait until we return to the
Quinyang Mountains for your official indictment.” Bi Fan
informed him.

“As long as we get to practice together, no place is an issue for

me.” Wang Zhong was very excited at the thought.

Bi Fan said: “Brother Wang, you should come and watch the
Jiu Yu Imperial list with us today!”

“Well, I really want to watch the young generation of the Jiu

Yu City in action.” Wang Zhong readily agreed.

“Let’s go down for breakfast then. The contest will help you
broaden your horizons.”
 Since the third round was expected to be very exciting, a lot of
people had showed up to watch the contest.

Each contestant would have to fight twice in the same day, so

the weaker contestants were not very likely to perform well.

However, some core disciples like Yan Yu Si and Xuan Yuan

Po Jun were far above their peers.

Amongst the others, City Sect’s Wang Yang, Rising Sun’s

Jiang Zi Long, Tian Shui’s Hong Hu, and Wu Ji Sect’s Xuan Yu
had already reached the ‘Primal infant’ layer.

[Mustang: Primal Infant layer seems to be the unknown layer

between Gold Dan layer and Primordial Spirit layer.]

The other fourteen were inside the ‘Gold Dan’ layer or lower
realms.

The balloting ended and Yan Yu Si met with a ‘Bone’ layer

fighter in the first fight, and she notched her victory without
making much of an effort.
 Luo Xiong had a bout with bad luck since he ran into Wu Ji
Sect’s Xuan Yu.

Since the Wu Ji Sect despised the Quinyang Sect, Xuan Yu

attacked mercilessly, and even though Luo Xiong tried his best,
he eventually lost the fight.

Though there were no two ways about it, Luo Xiong was still
very upset with his loss.

Yang Yan fared a lot better since he ran into Bu Gua Sect’s Li
Dao Yang.

Even though both men were inside the ‘Bone’ layer, Yang Yan
was slightly stronger since he was at the peak of the realm while
his opponent was at the mid-level mark.

After an arduous and dragged out battle, Yang Yan managed

to win the fight.

“This is wonderful! I really wish to reach the strength of a

‘Bone’ layered fighter as soon as possible.” Wang Zhong was
astonished by the display.

“I don’t know what kind of effort it would take to reach that

high….” Jing Feng laughed.

“I never thought that I’d learn so much from just watching

them in action.” Wang Zhong was quite surprised and excited.

Xuan Yuan Po Jun didn’t need to expend much energy in

winning his fight either.

Wang Yang and Jiang Zi Long’s contest was the most awaited
fight of the morning round since both men belonged to
opposing Sect’s, and given their strength, the fight was expected
to be very intense.

Both men were at the peak of the ‘Primal Infant’ realm, and
were using similar weapons. As for their martial skills, Wang
Yang cast out the ‘Purple night Blade’ law, whereas Jiang Zi
Long decided to go with an equally matched ‘Raging Flames’
law.
 Soon, both men resorted to using the highest forms of their
skills.

Once Wang Yang employed the best move of the ‘Purple Night
Blade’ law, a purple light surged out of his body. This light was
so intense that it completely concealed Wang Yang within its
radiance.

Similarly, as Jiang Zi Long cast out the ‘Raging Flames’ law,

countless flames raged onto the stage and surrounding his body
within their intense flames, making his figure completely
invisible from the outside.

A loud voice shook the entire arena as the purple light collided
with the infernal flames.

Even though Bi Fan was watching very carefully, he was still

only able to see some very basic movements, so he obviously
knew that he wouldn’t be able to practice either of the laws at
this point, and would need to research the skills in depth before
being able to use them in any capacity whatsoever.

This is was the first time that Wang Zhong was able to watch
Bi Fan’s dedication towards watching the contests: “Why does
Brother Bi Fan seem so enthralled?”

“Brother Wang, do not bother Brother Bi Fan, he always

watches the contests in this manner. Trust me…. he doesn’t
even respond if you call him……” Jing Feng laughed out.

“I guess there’s no point in bothering him then.”

Wang Yang and Jiang Zi Long’s contest was far from over at
this point. Since both men had already failed to win the match
after using their best skills, their anger started coming into
play.

“AAAAAA!”

“ARGHHHH!”

Both men started attacking reckless, and soon they started

sustaining injuries.

But neither man seemed to be paying any attention to their

physical condition since both men would charge right back into
the fray after an injurious collision.

“Bang!….”

Their unceasing tragic collisions were continuously adding to

the increasing number of wounds on their bodies.

But still neither man seemed willing to be reconciled into

losing the fight. The City Sect and the Rising Sun sect were old
enemies, and both men were willing to do whatever it took to
impose their Sect’s dominance by the medium of this battle.

“Boom!” their weapons collided once again and the violent

encounter sent both men flying away from the point of the
collision.

They sprayed blood from their mouths as they fell to the

ground.

Both men tried to get up and onto their feet, but their efforts
went in vain as their bodies failed to leave the floor of the ring.
 “One, two… five, six….. nine, ten. I declare Jiang Zi Long and
Wang Yang’s match as a draw!” the referee announced loudly.

“Wang Yang! Wang Yang!…..”

“Jiang Zi Long! Jiang Zi Long!…..”

The spectators always love a good show, and since both men
had tried their best, the audience cheered for the both them in
appreciation.

“Amazing! These two men are so powerful; I must try and

combat them some day.” Wang Zhong was extremely
impressed.

“You are only inside the ‘transformation’ layer; you will never
be able to fight against people like Wang Yang.” Luo Xiong
commented in a cold voice.

Wang Zhong shook his head and said: “I’m no match for them
at this point, but that doesn’t mean that I will never be able to
match them in the future.”
 “You’re so far away from them that it’s impossible for you to
catch up.” Luo Xiong replied indifferently.

Jing Feng said: “Brother Luo Xiong, don’t say what you may
not be able to justify in the future. We are young; and that’s our
biggest strength and advantage.”

Jing Feng had realized that since Wang Zhong hadn’t yet
joined the Sect, he wouldn’t be in a position to answer back to
Luo Xiong, which is why Jing Feng decided to rescue him.

Jing Feng wasn’t afraid of offending Luo Xiong since the two
men didn’t have a very congenial relationship to begin with.

Wang Zhong knew his status well, and decided to keep his
mouth shut for now.

Verbal arguments do not determine winners and loser; it’s

better to let facts decide the outcome of any disagreement.

Wang Zhong had already vowed that he’d catch up with Wang
Yang and Jiang Zi Long as soon as possible.
 Wang Yang and Jiang Zi Long were both extremely strong,
which would put Wang Zhong under a lot of pressure during his
training. But pressure can also be a very strong driving force,
and Wang Zhong felt that it would propel him into practicing
harder.

Bi Fan was watching from the sidelines, and even though he

didn’t say anything, Luo Xiong and Luo Sheng’s actions had
already crossed the threshold of his patience.

“Luo Xiong and Luo Sheng have been a thorn in my side since
the very start, if don’t eliminate them soon then they will bring
me down instead.” Bi Fan thought.

Ling Xin Ya had been secretly watching the exchanges

between Bi Fan’s group and the Luo Brothers, and knew well
that their differences were increasing by the day.

Ling Xin Ya was worried that if Lou Xiong and Bi Fan

continued in this manner, then there would be some serious
disputes within the Quinyang Sect.
 Chapter 199 – God Of Water, An Ancient Sect

After a short break post the morning round, the contest

proceeded to the afternoon sets.

The first contest of the afternoon set turned out to be a very

interesting match since Hong Hu and Xuan Yu were poised to
face each other.

Both men belonged to opposing Sects, and since they were

both quite powerful, their match was obviously expected to be
an eye-opener.

“I hope that Hong Hu wins…. The Wu Ji Sect simply cannot

be allowed to win all the time.” Jing Feng said.

Yan Yu Si replied lightly: “Even though Hong Hu and Xuan Yu

are equally strong, beating Xuan Yu still won’t be very easy.”

Indeed, the Wu Ji Sect disciples were often equipped with

better weaponry and skills, which made them slightly superior
to their counterparts in other sects.
 Even if they were fighting someone of equivalent strength,
they were more likely to win the fight.

The contest started.

Hong Hu casted out the ‘Three Thousand Rivers’, while Xuan

Yu started with the ‘Triple Transformation Sword’.

‘Three Thousand Rivers’ was a very powerful but a very soft

attack, and was capable of killing the enemy without any traces
of aggression.

‘Triple Transformation Sword’ was even more powerful in

comparison, and it seemed that Xuan Yu had made some
changes to the technique since his improved version of the law
seemed even more powerful than the original, and he started
attacking his opponent from all sides.

Xuan Yu’s sharp display left Bi Fan completely dazzled.

Whereas, Hong Hu found himself in a losing position soon

after the contest started.
 “Oops, I’m afraid that Hong Hu is going to lose very soon…..”
Yan Yu Si observed.

“If Xuan Yu continues to improve this law at this rate, then

the Wu Ji Sect will remain at the top spot…..” Ling Xin Ya
exclaimed.

Yan Yu Si forced a smile: “Overtaking the Wu Ji Sect isn’t

going to be very easy…..”

The key to Wu Ji Sect’s strength was the quality and quantity

of skill sets in their arsenal. On top of that, they were backed by
the strongest Sect in the world, The Yuan Shi Sect.

Yan Yu Si could feel the pressure on her shoulders; in fact, she

was finding it hard to breathe. She had always been strong, but
her heart was still very fragile.

…. ….

Hong Hu and Xuan Yu were still tangled with each other, and
their speed was making it difficult to tell the two men apart.

Although Hong Hu had been losing right from the start, Xuan
Yu was still hadn’t been able to finish the match off since the
former was still an advanced ‘Primal Infant’ layered martial
artist at the end of the day.

However, it was obvious to all that Hong Hu would eventually

lose the fight.

Nevertheless, Hong Hu kept increasing the ferocity of his

attacks rather than conceding the fight.

“Hong Hu, I know that we’re old rivals, but you’re no match
for me…. So why are you even bothering about it?” Xuan Yu
stated as he continued to launch fierce attacks from all sides.

“Huh? I’m not good enough to beat you? You’ll know at the
end of the fight!” Hong Hu shouted back.

Hong Hu’s suddenly changed his martial skill as he charged in

screaming; no one in the audience was able to recognize this
new skill.
 Even though this new skill of Hong Hu’s was as soft as water,
it came with the force of a Tsunami.

With the help of this new skill, Hong Hu quickly turned the
tables.

“Amazing sword-play! This new skill so powerful!” Bi Fan

praised out loudly.

Ling Xin Ya shook his head, and said: “This isn’t a Tian Shui
Sect martial law….. even I can’t recognize this skill…. Wise
Elder, have you ever seen this skill before?”

“This law seems to resemble the skill of an ancient Sect…. I

heard my master speak about it once……” Yan Yu Si suddenly
spoke up.

“Miss, you know the name of Hong Hu’s law?” Ling Xin Ya
promptly asked.

“I’m just guessing, but I can’t be certain.” Yan Yu Si added: “If

I’m not mistaken, then Hong Hu’s skill seems to resemble the
ancient Sect, ‘God of Water’s’ martial skill… as for the name of
this skill…. Only Hong Hu can answer that.” Yan Yu Si replied.

“‘God of Water’….. was a very powerful Sect in the ancient

times, in fact, it was even more powerful than the Yuan Shi
Sect. No one knows why it faded away…..” Luo Xiao Tian
seemed as surprised as anyone else.

Ling Xin Ya said: “Hong Hu is really lucky to have inherited a

law from such an ancient Sect!”

Jing Feng and the others were envious of the man since they
all knew that it was extremely rare to learn something so special
from an era gone by.

The Wu Ji Sect was really beginning to curse their luck now; a

sure shot victory was beginning to turn into a defeat right in
front of their eyes.

“Brother Po Jun, will Brother Xuan Yu be able to win?” One of

the Wu Ji Sect’s disciples asked, seemingly losing faith in his
senior.
 Xuan Yuan Po Jun replied: “I’m afraid that we will lose this
fight. Hong Hu got lucky this time around.”

Xuan Yuan Po Jun’s tone was so flat that it seemed as if he

really didn’t care about the result of other people’s matches.

“How did the Tian Shui Sect come up with such an aggressive
martial law……” many people were beginning to wonder.

Bi Fan was completely focused on memorizing the skill

regardless of everything else. Since this powerful martial skill
was passed down from generation to generation, Bi Fan knew
that he would need to be very careful, because even the slightest
of errors while researching this skill could result in severe
injuries to his body.

Hong Hu continued to increase the ferocity of his attacks, and

Xuan Yu’s started getting suppressed.

“Ha Ha…. Xuan Yu, I don’t see you winning this fight…. even
by a long shot.” Hong Hu laughed.

Xuan Yu was on the verge of conceding the fight, but Hong

Hu’s arrogant laughter changed his mind.

“I would’ve conceded the fight, but I can’t allow my Sect to

lose.” Xuan Yu yelled back.

Xuan Yu reluctantly summoned his entire inner energy, and

used it to cast out the strongest form of the ‘Triple
Transformation Sword’.

Hong Hu sneered at the increasing intensity of his opponent’s

attack, but managed to neutralize them very quickly.

Xuan Yu had already expended most of his strength, and was

beginning to feel some weakness now.

Hong Hu noticed this change, and started attacking even more

ferociously since he wished to use the charged up environment
on the stage to kill Xuan Yu.

Xuan Yu calmed down after he sustained several injuries over

a very short period of time afterwards.
 “I surrender!”

Xuan Yu wasn’t foolish enough to die over such a minor

dispute, which is why he conceded the fight.

Hong Hu was forced to stop his onslaught.

“Hong Hu from Tian Shui Sect wins!” the referee announced.

The declaration was followed by a loud uproar from the

crowd.

“Ha ha, this is good! The Wu Ji Sect lost again.” Jing Feng
laughed out.

Bi Fan was still obsessed with Hong Hu’s display: “Hong Hu’s
law is so powerful! I really wish to experience it someday!”

“I would also like to try it… but we’re no match for him right
now.” Wang Zhong seemed to be longing for a contest as well.
 “If we continue to work hard, then we might be able to match
up to him someday.” Mo Nan was brimming with confidence.

Mo Nan had learnt the ‘Sword of the Land’ law, and even
though the skill wasn’t as ancient as Hong Hu’s, it was still a
very powerful law. Mo Nan was confident that as long as he was
able to master the law, he would be able to match up to Hong
Hu.

Moreover, a person’s inherent strength and Physical force

were more important than skills known.

Even an abundance of powerful laws were of no use without a

proper power-packed backing.

Of course, if two fighters were equally matched in terms of

overall strength, then knowledge of superior laws would prove
to be the difference.

Ling Xin Ya said: “You are still very young and you’ll find
many opportunities… as long as you work hard, even beating
Hong Hu isn’t impossible in the future.”
 Ling Xin Ya had just intended to casually comfort the
youngsters, but even he knew that catching up with the likes of
Hong Hu for people like Jing Feng was easier said than done.

“Well!” Luo Xiong had also heard this conversation: “You’re

dreaming if you think that you can beat Hong Hu.”

Luo Xiong knew that even he wouldn’t be able to match Hong

Hu, so he was obviously just taking out his frustration on the
others.

Jing Feng and Mo Nan’s temper immediately soared, and they

got up to confront Luo Xiong but were stopped by Ling Xin Ya.
It would have been very embarrassing if the Quinyang Sect
disciples broke into an internal fight in the middle of the Jiu Yu
Imperial List.

On the other hand, Hong Hu’s display had given rise to a lot of
debates, and a lot of people were talking about this mysterious
law that they had just witnessed.

The contest continued, and soon it was Luo Xiong’s turn to

take the stage.
 Luo Xiong was much luckier this time around since he met a
‘Gold Dan’ layered martial artist from the ‘Rising Sun’ sect.

Luo Xiong charged in very aggressively from the moment the

fight started, and launched a volley of fierce attacks.

“Luo Xiong is attacking so wildly, he’s definitely going to win

this one.” Jing Feng smiled.

“That true. Luo Xiong is far superior… he should win with

ease.” Mo Nan’s tone was very dull.

Luo Sheng seemed a bit angry for some reason.

Luo Xiong was afraid that Jing Feng and the others would
start making fun of him unless he demonstrated his might,
which is why he was attacking so ferociously.

Since Luo Xiong was much stronger, and was equipped with
better skills and weaponry, he managed to win the fight very
quickly.
 “Brother won!” Luo Sheng was very excited.

Jing Feng also exclaimed in admiration: “Brother Luo Xiong is

very powerful… he won the fight so quickly!”

Even though Luo Xiong wasn’t very popular, the Quiayang

Sect disciples were still happy about his victory.

Luo Xiong returned to the Sect’s dressing room with an

expressionless face, but his eyes were constantly staring at Bi
Fan and his friends; it seemed that he was trying to gloat his
accomplishment.
 Chapter 200 – Low Grade Spirit Weapons

Yan Yu Si and Xuan Yuan Po Jun won their evening sets with
ease. Even Yan Yang was fortunate in this respect.

The contest continued to excite the audience since Jiang Zi

Long and Wang Yang also showed up to contest their matches,
and managed to win despite their respective injuries.

The first day of the third round evidently demonstrated the

best amongst the lot, but it was still hard to guess at the
championship’s winner due to the rules of the contest.

Once they returned to their hotel, the core disciple quickly

finished their dinner and returned to their rooms in order to
practice.

The day had been very productive for Bi Fan, since not only
had he witnessed some extraordinary skills, he had also gotten
to watch an ancient law in action.

This law from a by-gone era had really broadened his

horizons.
 Bi Fan made sure that he replayed the law enough times in his
mind to memorize it thoroughly.

Even though he was able to memorize it, he knew that he

wouldn’t be able to practice it until a much later time in life.

After watching such inspiring displays, Bi Fan was even more

motivated to practice.

Early in the morning, even before the sky lit up to the Sun’s
rays, Bi Fan went to the hotel’s courtyard in order to find more
room for practicing his sword-play.

Bi Fan had just started practicing when Wang Zhong showed

up.

“Brother Bi Fan, you work so hard…. You’re truly worthy of

being my mentor.” Wang Zhong smiled.

Bi Fan put his Dragon-scaled sword away, smiled and said:

“Brother Wang, did you get up so early to practice?”
 “Yes, I’ve just realized that I’m still too weak. I’ll need to
practice even harder if I ever wish to catch up to those core
disciples.” Wang Zhong nodded.

“Good! Then let’s practice together, that way we will be able

to improve much faster.” Bi Fan was overjoyed.

Wang Zhong promptly waved his arms, smiled and said:

“Brother Bi Fan, I don’t wish to cross swords with you…….”

Left with no other choice, Bi Fan continued to practice his

sword-play alone.

Wang Zhong on the other hand, started practicing his

physical force again, despite all the pain he was suffering as a
result.

Bi Fan was watching Wang Zhong’s practice from the corner

of his eye, and couldn’t help admiring his progress speed.

“Brother Wang, if you continue to practice like this…. Then,

you’ll overtake me very soon.”

“I started too late Brother… I doubt it.” Wang Zhong forced a

smile.

They practiced until dawn, post which they returned to their

respective rooms to freshen up, and then joined the others for
breakfast.

The Jiu Yu Imperial List contest continued, and the fighting

kept becoming more and more intense with each passing day.

Time passed quickly, and the contest reached its climax very
soon.

Only Xuan Yuan Po Jun and Yan Yu Si remained unbeaten as

the last day of the third round ended.

Even Hong Hu had lost one match; against Xuan Yuan Po Jun.

Xuan Yuan Po Jun and Yan Yu Si, being unbeaten in the entire
contest so far, were destined to meet each other in the final
round for the championship.

“Miss Yan Yu Si will need to be careful against Xuan Yuan Po

Jun.” Bi Fan’s face was covered in concern.

Bi Fan had payed careful attention to Xuan Yuan Po Jun over

the course of the tournament, and had realized that he hadn’t
even exposed his true strength yet.

Xuan Yuan Po Jun had settled all his fights in less than ten
strokes; even Hong Hu hadn’t been able to push him any further
than that.

In fact, Xuan Yuan Po Jun hadn’t even used his best skills so
far, and had won his fights by simply overpowering his
opponents.

Yan Yu Si practiced under the banners of Xuannv Palace,

whereas Xuan Yuan Po Jun belonged to the Yuan Shi sect,
therefore it was expected that he’d have better skills in his
arsenal.

It could be said that their battle was the most anticipated

match of the contest.

“I hope Yan Yu Si can beat Xuan Yuan Po Jun….I really want

those arrogant Wu Ji Sect guys to lose again.”

“Yeah, Xuan Yuan Po Jun is way too arrogant, and callous….

I’m supporting Yan Yu Si as well.”

“Xuan Yuan Po Jun will win again this time, just like he did
three years ago. And Yan Yu Si will die this time around.”

“Xuan Yuan Po Jun is invincible, he’s even stronger than

some of the elders. I’m really looking forward to his final
performance.”

…. ….
 It appeared from the crowd’s discussions that half of the
people were supporting Yan Yu Si, while the other half was in
support of Xuan Yuan Po Jun; and no was willing to budge.

Yan Yu Si’s peerless beauty seemed to have enticed the men

into favoring her, while Xuan Yuan Po Jun’s strength had won
the women over.

As for the major sects, they were simply supporting the

interests of their allied sect.

As the talk surrounding the most-anticipated contest

continued to expand, Xuan Yuan Po Jun and Yan Yu Si finally
took the center stage.

“Xuan Yuan Po Jun, it’s finally our turn to contest again. I’ve
been waiting for this time for three years!” Yan Yu Si stated.

“Yes, it’s been three years. I’ve had to wait a long time to beat
you again.” Xuan Yuan Po Jun replied.

“Let’s see what you’ve learnt in these last three years then.”
Yan Yu Si said lightly.
 “Well, I’m also looking forward to seeing what you’ve learnt.
Now don’t go about disappointing me again.” Xuan Yuan Po Jun
replied in a cold manner.

Neither of the two contestants moved as the referee

announced the start of the match; in fact, they didn’t even
expose their momentums.

Unable to understand the reason behind their inactivity, some

of the spectators resorted to making noise.

“What are you doing? Are you just going to stand there, or are
you guys going to fight?”

“Come on, hurry up and start the contest……”

The impatient audience started crying out in anticipation.

Even though only a small number of the two hundred

thousand spectators were making noise, the momentum was
still very alarming.
 However, there was still no action from either of the two
contestants as they simply stood on the stage eye-balling each
other.

“Master, Miss Yan Yu Si will return unharmed, right?” Bi Fan

was still very concerned about her safety amidst all the chaos.

“Don’t worry, the difference in their strength is very limited,

so it won’t be easy for either one of them to kill the other.” Ling
Xin Ya stated: “But neither of them will attack first since they
are overly familiar with each other’s fighting styles.”

“So how long will they keep standing like that?” Jing Feng
asked.

“They’ll start it soon.” Ling Xin Ya stated.

“Watch out for the ‘Xaunnv Palace purge winnowing sword!’”

“Infinite Horizon sword!”

 As Yan Yu Si and Xuan Yuan Po Jun launched into action
simultaneously, two sharp swords blazed across the stage.

Their swords moved so fast that they were almost invisible to

the naked eye.

“They are too strong! Their attacks are insanely condensed!”

Jing Feng exclaimed in shock.

“Wrong! That’s not their sword-play……. Xuan Yuan Po Jun

and Miss Yan Yu Si are using low-grade Spirit weapons.” Ling
Xin Ya smiled.

“What! Low-grade Spirit weapons?! They actually possess

completely intact Spirit weapons?” Everyone’s mouth hung
open in shock.

Spirit weapons are very precious, and very rare. Even the
Quinyang Sect only had a handful of spirit weapons in their
possession.

A Spirit Weapon’s owner is able to employ his weapon even

without touching it, which enables them to kill their enemies
from a distance; even as far as kilometer away…..

On top of that, a Spirit device is extremely fast, almost like a

fleeting arrow.

“Yes, the weapons are both low-grade Spirit Weapons! And

since they are completely intact, their strength is almost
boundless!” Ling Xin Ya smiled again.

“When will we be able to procure such weapons?” Jing Feng

was obviously envious of the two fighters on the stage.

“It’s very difficult to get one unless you’re really luck. Even I
don’t have one as yet.” Ling Xin Ya sighed.

The two fleeting weapons continued to clash in the air,

issuing crisp sounds which ceaselessly shook the entire arena.

Yan Yu Si and Xuan Yuan Po Jun seemed to be controlling

their weapons from a distance; in fact, they weren’t even in the
frame of the two colliding weapons.
 Both fighters were fighting very cleverly. They were even
using their weapons to build shields around their bodies in
order to protect themselves from their opponent’s blade. The
moment the enemy’s sword came closer, they’d strengthen this
shield to guard their body, and block the incoming attack.
 Chapter 201 – Intense Fighting

“Bang Bang ……”

“Boom…..”

Although only their spirit weapons were clashing against each

other’s, the spectators were still thoroughly enjoying the show.

This sort of a spectacular battle was very rare. Not to mention

the normal people, even the people from the top five sects rarely
ever got to witness such an exquisite battle between two spirit
weapons.

Bedazzled, Bi Fan was praying to get his hands on a spirit

weapon for himself.

He was unaware of Bloodshed’s (Xue Ren) grade for now, but

he clearly knew that the sword was definitely not ordinary, and
was well aware that he wouldn’t be able to use it for some time.

“Bloodshed Bloodshed! Just wait till I reach the ‘emerging

from the womb’ layer.” Bi Fan’s heart was full of expectations.

A spirit weapon was completely useless without the ability to

control its spirts.

The two spirit weapons had exchanged hundreds of strokes

already, and still no one could predict a winner.

Yan Yu Si raised her lily-white hands, and she grabbed her

sword as it flew back to her.

Xuan Yuan Po Jun also grabbed his weapon in a similar

fashion, and then the two of them started staring at each other
once again with a solemn look on their faces.

The meter-long sword in Yan Yu Si’s hands was called Xuannv

Quinyang Sword; she had given the sword’s name herself after
taking over its ownership.

Xuan Yuan Po Jun’s sword was an epee, and looked very

ordinary in its make, as opposed to Yan Yu Si’s. In fact, no one
could ever tell that the sword was a spirit grade weapon. Xuan
Yuan Po Jun had also given his sword a name, Boundless Po
Jun.

Boundless Po Jun and Xuannv Quinyang Sword were weapons

of equal influence, and it was hard to pick a favorite between
these two swords.

However, the fighters needed to bring this match to a

conclusion, and hence they started fighting again.

This time, Yan Yu Si casted out the ‘Xuannv Flying Rainbow’,

and her dazzling sword started fleeting through the air once
again.

Xuan Yuan Po Jun started displaying Yuan Shi Sect’s ‘Shaking

Heavens Sword’, and it seemed that he had made some
alterations of his own to the skill.

The sounds of their intense fighting filled the atmosphere as

the two of them started casting out some exquisite skills.

Bi Fan had never seen such amazing martial skills before, and
it took him a while to calm his mind down.
 Bi Fan’s memory and understanding had become a lot better
after all the training. Nowadays, he was able to learn and adapt
a skill much faster than he could in the past.

“Miss Yan Yu Si is really very powerful! Her practice speed is

insanely fast…. I never thought that the gap between us would
be so big!” Jing Feng praised.

Ling Xin Ya said: “Miss Yan Yu Si is a peerless genius. Xuan

Yuan Po Jun would never have been able to match up to her if
he hadn’t received first-class training from the Yuan Shi Sect.”

He paused and then continued: “As of now, it is hard to tell

who’ll win this match…..”

Wang Zhong was completely hooked: “I’ve seen so many new

things today…. This insight into the strength of such powerful
martial artists has been a real eye-opener for me.”

“Yes ah, Miss Yan Yu Si and Xuan Yuan Po Jun are too
strong…. When will we be able to match them?” Jing Feng
shook his head.
 “Ha Ha! Miss Yan Yu Si and Xuan Yuan Po Jun are considered
the best talents of the world… and for a good reason! We’ll
never be able to match up to them!” Mo Nan stated in
admiration.

Jing Feng knew that he would be laughed upon if he claimed

to set his goals on matching such talents at this stage in his life.

Xuan Yuan Po Jun and Yan Yu Si’s fighting continued to

become more and more intense, and they continued to display a
variety of the moves which Bi Fan had never seen before.

Bi Fan could see that the heterogeneous mix of their martial

skills was far beyond anything he had ever attempted.

Bi Fan had started getting a bit complacent about his vast

knowledge of martial skills.

But now, he was beginning to realize that there were several

others who transcended his very imagination.

An hour had passed soon enough, and even though the two
fighters had exchanged innumerable strokes, neither had been
able to lay a scratch on the other.

Yan Yu Si and Xuan Yuan Po Jun had already broken into the
‘Primordial Spirit’ realm, because of which their energy
recovery rates were very fast, which is why they were able to
recover their energy rates at a very quick pace during the course
of a fight.

Their constant fighting had kept the spectators hooked

throughout the fight, which was evident from all the cheering
and shouting around the stands of the arena.

Bi Fan was anxiously hoping for the contest to continue

forever since he was learning a lot of new things from it.

It was a pity that Bi Fan had never gotten a chance to join a

Jiu Yu Da sect, and was forced to rely on his memorizing ability
to learn a myriad of skills the hard way. His only option was to
integrate these skills into ‘The Immortal Finger’ since he was
unable to decipher every bit of these skills as of now.

However, he was unaware that it would take him a long time

to integrate these skills completely into ‘The Immortal Finger’
and increase its power as he had imagined.
 In fact, Bi Fan was unaware that he wouldn’t be able to
research these skills properly until a much later time in his life,
and it would be a long while before he would be capable of using
them in battle.

“Xuannv Quinyang Sword – Kill and behead!”

“Boundless Po Jun – Po Jun Dominance!”

Yan Yu Si and Xuan Yuan Po Jun clashed against each other,

and were both forced to retreat a few steps.

After a moment’s delay, both fighters charged right back at

each other.

“It’s weird that martial artists of their caliber don’t have beast
pets… and if they do, then why haven’t they brought them out
yet?” Jing Feng seemed very puzzled.

Mo Nan said: “Who knows, maybe they don’t have beast

pets…..”
 “Beasts advance as quickly as humans, but beast pets are often
unable to keep up with the strength of their owners over the
long run. Therefore summoning their beast pets would be quite
useless at this stage since they would be able to behead each
other’s pets with ease, and would obviously end up losing their
own as well.” Ling Xin Ya explained.

“Ah, so basically…. Beast pets become useless after some

time.” Jing Feng observed.

“That’s not what I meant. If you train your pet well, then
your pet will become a very good assistant.” Ling Xin Ya shook
his head.

Jing Feng nodded in understanding.

It was hard to tell how long it took, but the two fighters
finally started getting tired, and everyone could sense that they
were beginning to slow down now.

It appeared that their fight was finally reaching its climax.

 “Yes, the battle is about to end!”

“Ah, I hope they can decide a winner soon now!”

“Yan Yu Si! Yan Yu Si! You’re the champion!…..”

“Po Jun! Po Jun!…….”

As the contest seemingly started to reach its climax, the

spectators started cheering even louder to add more oil to their
fiery favorites.

The Quinyang Sect and the Wu Ji Sect were nervously hoping

for their respective sect to win.

“Oh God! I hope Miss Yan Yu Si wins this!” Jing Feng’s hands
were folded in prayer.

Bi Fan wasn’t even memorizing the martial arts at the

moment since he was too busy praying.
 Bi Fan wasn’t bothered about the result of the match; he was
only concerned with Yan Yu Si’s safety.
 Chapter 202 – Devil’s Transformation

Yan Yu Si and Xuan Yuan Po Jun’s battle was reaching its

climax, and both fighters were completely focused on it since
neither could afford to be careless at this point.

“Bang….”

The two of them were fighting in close quarters now, and if it

weren’t for their high-end defense equipment, both would have
surely sustained some heavy injuries.

However, Yan Yu Si and Xuan Yuan Po Jun didn’t really seem

bothered about their own safety at the moment, and were
desperately trying to win the match.

Neither fighter wanted to concede the fight. But their

strengths were comparable and they were overly familiar with
each other’s style, which was making it very hard for either to
overpower the other.

Soon enough, their outer clothing was adorned with seven or

eight holes in it.
 Fortunately, Yan Yu Si was wearing high-grade defense armor
on the inside, or else she would have started leaking blood by
now.

Yan Yu Si’s face was as cold as ice as she continued to launch

one wave of attacks after the other, but Xuan Yuan Po Jun’s
expression was becoming increasingly gloomy.

Xuan Yuan Po Jun had been practicing very hard these last
three years, and had also learnt several new and high level
martial skills. However, his spirit weapon was of a slightly
lower grade than Yan Yu Si’s, otherwise he would have beaten
her by now. His ego obviously couldn’t accept that he might
possibly lose to someone slightly weaker than him.

“It seems that it’s necessary to use my secret law now.” Xuan
Yuan Po Jun’s eyes suddenly become sharper than his sword.

“Devil’s Transformation!” Xuan Yuan Po Jun casted-out his

secret law, which turned out to be a Devil’s law, capable of
increasing the strength of the user by almost three times.
However, this law had one limitation: the practitioner would be
rendered incapable of fighting any further once the law’s effect
wears off!

Xuan Yuan Po Jun’s entire body started to change under the

effect of the law, and started becoming bulkier, while his eyes
became completely red.

“Arrghhh!….”

Xuan Yuan Po Jun roared loudly as he charged towards Yan

Yu Si with his sword held high.

Xuan Yuan Po Jun moved so fast that Yan Yu Si was unable to

dodge him, and ended up falling prey to his strike.

“Bang!” A loud noise sounded as Yan Yu Si was sent out flying

into the air, vomiting blood from her mouth along the way.

“Time to die!” Xuan Yuan Po Jun followed after her at an

extremely quick speed, making it obvious that he intended on
killing her in one swoop.

Xuan Yuan Po Jun was obviously a very cold hearted man; it

takes someone extremely cold to even think of killing a beauty
like Yan Yu Si.

Yan Yu Si immediately realized his intention, and acted

decisively; she opened her mouth in mid-air: “I concede the
fight!”

Then, Yan Yu Si didn’t even try to break her fall, and instead
made sure that she landed outside the ring to be sure of her
safety.

Xuan Yuan Po Jun shook his head vigorously, while his red
eyes reflected the regret of his heart.

Missing out on the opportunity to kill Yan Yu Si was as good

as losing the battle in his eyes.

On top of that, he had already exposed his secret in front of

Yan Yu Si, which meant that she would certainly be prepared to
face him better in the future.

Obviously, killing Yan Yu Si would be a lot harder for him in

the future.
 Since she had sustained a serious injury, Yan Yu Si refused to
collect her prize, and straightaway made her way towards her
Sect’s dressing room.

Bi Fan wanted to go out and assist Yan Yu Si, but decided

against it.

“Xuan Yuan Po Jun, I will kill you one day!” Bi Fan secretly
swore.

Despite her loss, many of the spectators still cheered for Yan
Yu Si.

Xuan Yuan Po Jun was handed over his prize, which turned
out to be a high-end weapon.

The Jiu Yu Imperial List was basically over now since the
remaining few contests, which were scheduled for the following
day wouldn’t affect the rankings much.

Xuan Yuan Po Jun had been ranked one again, followed by

Yan Yu Si at two, while Hong Hu was awarded the third
position.

“Who would have thought that Xuan Yuan Po Jun would

possess such a secret law? And that too something so powerful
that it could defeat Miss Yan Yu Si in one single strike!” even
though Jing Feng was quite amazed by the display, he also
seemed very frightened by it.

Xuan Yuan Po Jun was already considered extremely

powerful, but the addition of such a law to his arsenal
practically made him invincible in the eyes of people like Jing
Feng.

“I couldn’t have imagined that Xuan Yuan Po Jun would

actually be possessing the secret to this law….. the secret to
‘Devil’s transformation’ law has been lost for thousands of years
now, which is one of the major reasons behind the decline of the
Devil’s way. Nowadays even the best of the Devil’s following
sects aren’t in the top ten Sects anymore.” Ling Xin Ya smiled.

“Xuan Yuan Po Jun was already too strong, and now that he
has such a law under his belt, it will be even more difficult to
beat him in the future.” Mo Nan’s head was hanging down from
his chin.
 “I’ll beat him…..”

Bi Fan spoke up from the corner of the room.

“You’re so egoistic! You haven’t even reached the ‘emerging

from the womb’ layer yet, and you’re already talking about
beating the likes of Xuan Yuan Po Jun…. you should really step
down from your cloud nine!” Luo Sheng hated Bi Fan enough to
have him killed; he obviously wasn’t going to miss out on an
opportunity to slander him.

Bi Fan replied: “Whether or not I beat him, time will tell; but
I’ll do whatever it takes to bring him to down to my feet, but I
don’t think that he’s even worthy of kissing my feet.”

Bi Fan had opened his mouth after a long time, but no one had
expected him to talk this dirty.

Yan Yu Si entered the dressing room pale-faced with blood

dripping down from the corner of her mouth.
 Bi Fan was obviously very concerned: “Miss Yan Yu Si, are you
alright? …. Can I do anything….?”

“Nothing. I’ll be back to normal after a few days of nursing

my injuries. Unfortunately I missed out on the
championship…..I doubt that I will get another chance of
participating in this contest….” Yan Yu Si replied.

Since her defeat had been very convincing this time around,
Yan Yu Si didn’t have much to complain about.

Seeing that Yan Yu Si seemed more or less out of any

immediate dangers, Bi Fan’s heart calmed down. In case Xuan
Yuan Po Jun had really killed her in the fight, Bi Fan would
have surely acted out recklessly.

The contest had come to an end for the day, and the audience
started to leave the arena, whereas the Wu Ji Sect set out
celebrating their victory.

The Quinyang Sect decided to wait for everyone to leave first

as usual, which obviously allowed Yan Yu Si some time to tend
to her injuries.
 Yan Yu Si ignored everyone and went to one corner, ingested
a long Dan pellet and started meditating.

The Quinyang Sect waited a long time, almost until the entire
arena was empty.

Bi Fan had been staring at Yan Yu Si’s face the entire time,
and only found his relief once her cheeks restored to their usual
rosy shade.

“I apologize for making you all wait this long.” Yan Yu Si

ended her practice once she had temporarily suppressed her
injuries.

“You’re too polite Miss; as soon as we return to the hotel,

we’ll assist in nursing your injuries.” Luo Xian Tian said.

“Let’s go then.”

The Quinyang Sect delegation was the last to leave the arena.
Luo Xiong and Yan Yang’s contests were also over, but the two
men had received mediocre ranks.
 The Quinyang Sect wasn’t intending on returning the
following day to watch the remaining of the contest since they
all needed to take a break.

As soon as they reached their inn, Yan Yu Si went straight to

her room in order to meditate.

Bi Fan was still quite worried about her health, and naturally
didn’t feel like eating his meal.

As for Wang Zhong and the others, they were all discussing
the magnificent displays of the day in high spirits.

There were very few secret laws in the world which were
capable of effectively increasing the strength of a practitioner in
an instant for any length of time.

Naturally, everyone wanted to learn such laws since such a

law would obviously come in handy in a tough spot.

Unfortunately, such laws weren’t just secrets of the trade, but

were also extremely rare. In fact, the Quinyang Sect didn’t have
any such law in their records.

Even the Jiu Yu Da weren’t known to have any such laws in

their records either. However, the Devil’s Sect schools weren’t
just known to practice physical strength, but were also known
for such laws as well.

“ ‘Devil’s transformation’… the secret to this law would make

us all invincible!” Wang Yun Fei said with a smile.

“I don’t think so….. being invincible isn’t that easy.” Mo Nan

interjected.

Ling Xin Ya was also listening in to their conversation: “Yes,

there’ no point in knowing such a law if you don’t have enough
physical strength to use it. These laws are obviously more suited
for the Devil’s way since they practice physical strength as
opposed to the Buddhist way, which prefers the practice of life’s
essence.”

He paused for a moment, and then continued: “If you wish to

practice methods such as the ‘Devil’s transformation’ law, then
you must first work on uplifting your physical strength,
otherwise these laws will be useless for you… even if you knew
one.”

Ling Xin Ya’s words were obviously quite sensible, and

everyone was even more inspired to work on their physical
strength after understanding his point.

Even if Jing Feng and the others were able to procure a Shock
Rune similar to Bi Fan’s, they still wouldn’t be able to use it
properly.

However, if Yan Yu Si possessed one, then she would have

beaten Xuan Yuan Po Jun with ease.

These ideas were mere dreams for everyone, expect Bi Fan; for
him, it was lying in his Tian Yuan ring.

“Brother Bi Fan, what are you thinking?” Jing Feng asked.

“Nothing, you guys carry on.” Bi Fan shook his head.

 Chapter 203 – Tong Cheng Region

Since the Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon tournament and the Jiu Yu

Imperial List had basically come to an end, Luo Xiao Tian and
Ling Xin Ya announced that the Quinyang Sect delegation
would only stay inside the Jiu Yu City for three more days.

These three days’ time would allow Yan Yu Si to heal her

injuries, while also allowing the rest of the disciples to tour the
city.

Luo Xiao Tian and Ling Xin Ya were planning on spending

these three days at the City Sect’s headquarters to plan and plot
their future moves.

The Wu Ji Sect and the Rising Sun Sect had been growing in
power over the past few years, and had invited several other
Sects including the Ba Gua Sect to join their cause; in fact the Ba
Gua Sect had grown so ambitious that they were even plotting
to replace the Quinyang Sect in the top five’s list.

Therefore, the City Sect had invited the Quinyang Sect and
the Tian Shui Sect’s leaders to discuss official business.
 Certain of their safety, Bi Fan, Mo Nan, Jing Feng, Wang
Zhong and Ji Ying Lan decided to team up with Blue Dragon for
a tour around the Jiu Yu City.

The five men left their hotel early next morning.

Given their performances in the Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon

contest, the six of them were sure that no one would dare to
confront them openly in the city.

They stepped out of their hotel, and found Blue Dragon

waiting for them outside.

They greeted Blue Dragon and then set out.

“Brother Bi Fan, what do you intend on doing afterwards?”

Blue Dragon asked.

Bi Fan thought and replied: “First we’ll head back to the

Quinyang Mountains so Brother Wang Zhong can officially join
the Sect, and then I plan on going out for another adventure.
Although, I don’t have a particular place in mind.”
 “Well, I’ll also join you.” Blue Dragon was obviously quite
excited at the thought of another adventure.

Blue Dragon obviously had never receive a decent treatment

from his family…. therefore he had no intention of spending
any time with them; especially when he could spend that time
venturing out in risky areas with his friends instead.

“Since we’ll be six in number this time, we’ll be a lot better

off.” Jing Feng smiled.

Mo Nan was as excited as anyone else: “We should go out of

the Jiu Yu City’s reach and experience something different. The
world in vast and boundless, so let’s go and see some of it!”

“I have an idea; but I don’t know if you guys would be willing

to go there……” Wang Zhong spoke up.

“Where?” Bi Fan promptly asked.

Wang Zhong didn’t hail from the Jiu Yu City, so it was quite
possible that he would have a good and diverse option in his
mind.

“There’s a place adjacent to the Jiu Yu City; The Tong Cheng

region.” Wang Zhong answered.

“Tong Cheng region…. That’s the first I’ve heard of it…. is it

worth going to?” Jing Feng asked.

Wang Zhong replied with a smile: “I passed through the

region when I came here, and I heard that there might be some
precious treasure in that region. In fact, I even heard that a lot
of powerful martial artists are searching for it…. so the
information isn’t very likely to be false either; we should
definitely go and see for ourselves.”

“Precious treasure!”

Just these two words were enough to increase everyone’s

heartrate.

The world has many precious treasures in it, and even some
ancient ones. If one is able to procure even a couple of these
ancient treasures, then one’s fortunes can change practically
overnight.

However, several people can be expected to be competing for

such treasures, and since Bi Fan’s party wasn’t exactly the
strongest one around, circumstances could become very
dangerous…..

Bi Fan thought for a second, and then said: “Let’s not go

treasure hunting from the start, but we should definitely go and
see the situation there…. We’ll learn a lot even if we just get to
see some powerful people in action.”

“I’d still prefer the treasure, but I don’t know much about it.”
Ji Ying Lan stated.

“I’d really regret if I don’t try out for a treasure…. So at least

let’s go and check it out.” Mo Nan also agreed.

Jing Feng and Blue Dragon weren’t going to object since they
both loved a good and dangerous expedition.

“Well, then we’ll all go together. As long as we stay out of the

limelight, we shouldn’t really run into much trouble.” Wang
Zhong seemed very excited.

If he felt that they weren’t strong enough to compete, Wang

Zhong would have never suggested it in the first place. And
given his personality, he was always likely to seek out Bi Fan
before venturing out in search of a treasure.

Finding a treasure was never an easy task, but if fortunate

enough, one could receive some much unexpected benefits.

Wang Zhong hadn’t been associated with any Sect in the past;
therefore he was habitual of seeking out such treasures.

Since the six men were thinking the same thing, the venture
was finalized harmoniously.

They ate their breakfast, and set out to shop for the necessary
items.

Dan pellets were an essential; and it would obviously be very

sensible to find some good defense equipment since it would
help in increasing the chances of survival.
 With this thought in their minds, the six of them entered the
Tao Bao Complex.

The Tao Bao complex had a reputation of having everything

in its inventory; even spirit weapons…

Wang Zhong was particularly excited since it was his first

time inside this Tao Bao complex.

“The Heavenly Dragon Business group is indeed very

influential! They’ve even managed to open a Tao Bao complex
inside the Jiu Yu City.” Wang Zhong seemed pleasantly
surprised.

Wang Zhong had visited several cities in the past, and almost
each one of them had their own Tao Bao complex.

However, since Wang Zhong never really had the money to

any buy items there, he would normally just roam around the
complex rather than purchasing anything.
 “Everyone must buy the necessary items, and if you need any
money… just find me and we can settle our accounts later.” Bi
Fan offered.

Wang Zhong and Blue Dragon were well aware that Bi Fan had
earned a lot of money during their time in the Devil’s Abyss,
and were unlikely to hesitate from asking for a loan.

In fact, they too had made a lot of money for themselves, and
hence it was unlikely that they would need his support.

Of course, these men were unlikely to go around purchasing

any defense equipment or weapons since they already owned
better ones than the items which were available on the first
floor of the complex.

They decided to prepare according to their own needs, and set

out in different directions to do the same.

This obviously wasn’t the first expedition for any of them, so

they obviously knew what they needed.

Bi Fan’s first thought was to buy some needles since he’d need
them to use the ‘Soul Illusion Injection’, which could come in
handy later on.

Initially Bi Fan had no intention of practicing this method,

but his study revealed that this method could delude the target,
which would effectively increase ‘The Immortal Finger’s’ effect.

‘The Immortal Finger’ was quite difficult to guard against as it

is, but when coupled with a law which could send target’s mind
into fantasy, the effect and accuracy of ‘The Immortal Finger’
would stand to redouble.

Bi Fan intended on buying an extra set of needles since he

would first have to experiment the skill for a clearer
understanding.

Therefore, Bi Fan made his way towards the ‘Concealed

Weapons’ section, and was left shell-shocked.

A myriad of weapons were on display at the counters….. death

nails, rotary blades, blood needles, peer needles, tiger hair
needles, bee tail needles, throwing knifes……
 Bi Fan had never even seen so many types of concealed
weapons before.

Concealed weaponry wasn’t a very commonly practiced form

of martial arts in this world, which is why Bi Fan had never
actually seen anyone demonstrating it. Hence, Bi Fan was under
the impression that it might be quite difficult to procure the
necessary items.

He had never really expected that the Tao Bao complex would
contain such a wide variety of concealed weaponry.

Since he obviously didn’t know much about this form of

martial arts, he didn’t rush to the shelves.

Instead, he first made his way towards the steward in order to

make enquiries about the suitable type of needles for his
practice.

“There are a total of eighteen types of needles…. All of them

are available here with us. Which one does this young man
need?”
 He would naturally need to test each one out before he’d be
able to tell their pros and cons.

“Give me two boxes of each type.” Bi Fan stated.

“Two boxes of all the eighteen types?” the steward was

somewhat taken aback.

“Yes. Don’t worry about the money.” Bi Fan reassured.

The man went about arranging Bi Fan’s order without

another word.

Owing to his previous traumatic experiences with injuries, Bi

Fan had learnt that Dan pellets were extremely important. The
Tao Bao complex had a special zone for the sale of Dan pellets,
but Bi Fan wasn’t expecting to bump into Jing Feng there. Soon
the others also joined in, and the six youngsters found
themselves standing in the same place once again.

Wang Zhong advised: “We must buy good quality healing

Dan, detoxification Dan, and purifiers to be ready for anything.”
 The Tao Bao complex’s reputation was for a reason; the
complex had a wider range of selection available for sale than
any other place in the region. They had every variation of every
healing Dan, detoxification Dan and purifier pellet.

[Purifiers are a preventive measure against poisonous

atmosphere; Bi Fan had bought Sunset Jade purifier before
entering the Devil’s territory.]

They all bought a few pellets of Yellow Springs Purifier

pellets, amongst other types of Dan; owing to Bi Fan’s deep
pockets, the price of these pellets didn’t hinder them from
buying only the best ones.

They spent almost half a day buying the necessary items, and
then the other half window-shopping, post which the returned
to their hotel to get some much needed rest.
 Chapter 204 – Returning To The Mountain To
Become A Disciple

Bi Fan spent these three days roaming around the Jiu Yu City
with his friends, and encountered several disciples from the
other sects during his tours of the city.

Even though some of these disciples were hostile, but their

actions were limited to glares since no one would dare to start a
fight in the Jiu Yu City owing to the City’s strict rules and
regulations.

Even though no one would get physical, but verbal conflicts

were unavoidable.

Coming from a humble background, Bi Fan had gotten

accustomed to verbal abuse, however his retaliation was often
enough to offend his aggressors, and Bi Fan made sure that he
used this fact to his advantage.

Bi Fan was in the limelight inside the City since everyone

knew him; winning the title of the Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon List’s
champion was enough to make almost any one envious of his
fame.
 Ji Ying Lan, Mo Nan, Blue Dragon, Jing Feng, Wang Zhong,
and Bi Fan would inevitably tour the city together; in fact, most
people in the city were able to recognize them owing to their
respective performances in the competition earlier. In fact,
someone even nicknamed them ‘the six brothers’, since they
were acting like they were sworn to an oath of brotherhood.

Wang Zhong was the only ‘relatively’ unknown figure in the

group; however, no one would dare to underestimate him since
Mo Nan would always refer to him as ‘elder brother’.

Lou Xiao Tian and Ling Xin Ya led the Quinyang Sect
delegation back to the Quinyang Moutains after their three
days’ rest-time came to an end.

Blue Dragon had already decided against following the Eastern

Aristocracy back to their center of operations, and hence
followed after the Quinyang Sect delegation instead.

Blue Dragon had already arranged to meet up with Bi Fan and

the rest of their group in the Quinyang Town, post which they
all intended on venturing into the Tong Cheng region together.
 Since Lou Xiao Tian and Ling Xin Ya were leading the
Quinyang Sect delegation on the way back from the Jiu Yu City,
no one dared to provoke them and they all had a very pleasant
journey back to the mountains.

However, since Luo Xiao Tian was in-charge of the group,

Blue Dragon kept a safe distance from their delegation on the
way back.

Wang Zhong was temporarily asked to stay with Ling Xin Ya

at the Yang Shan peak after returning to the mountains.

“Wang Zhong, you will stay here at the Yang Shan peak for
the time being while I’ll go and consult with the master of the
Sect. I’d like to enroll you here at the Yang Shan peak, same as
Bi Fan if that’s alright with you.” Ling Xin Ya smiled as he
stated.

“An opportunity to become a disciple to such a learned master

is more than this humble boy could ever have wished for.”

Wang Zhong looked at Bi Fan happily; he was obviously quite

overjoyed since this would mean that he would get ample time
to practice with Bi Fan.
 Wang Zhong really admired Bi Fan, and felt that if he was able
to receive the same training and environment as Bi Fan, then
this alliance would bear endless benefits for him.

“Bi Fan, you will help Wang Zhong in settling down; I’ll
immediately go and consult with the master of the Sect.”

Ling Xin Ya instantly drifted away like the wind; Bi Fan and
Wang Zhong weren’t even able see the stealth with which he
left the peak.

“I really can’t even guess master’s realm…. I don’t know if

we’ll ever be able to catch up to our master!” Bi Fan marveled.

“Brother Bi Fan, given your talent, you’ll be able to catch up

to him in time to come.” Wang Zhong smiled.

Bi Fan shook his head, and said: “My talents aren’t that great.
I can tell that I’m very far behind, especially now that I’ve seen
Miss Yan Yu Si and Xuan Yuan Po Jun in action.”
 It wasn’t that Bi Fan was low on self-confidence, he was
simply well aware that his late start had left him lagging behind
by a big margin.

However, Bi Fan firmly believed that he had now procured all

the basic necessities which could assist him in becoming a
genuinely strong martial artist someday.

Bi Fan led Wang Zhong to his residence, and helped him in

settling down within his own practice area since it would allow
them to learn from each other easily.

Once he was done assisting Wang Zhong in making the basic

arrangements, he started practicing the ‘Soul Illusion Injection’
law.

The ‘Soul Illusion Injection’ law wasn’t just a concealed

weaponry law, but also comprised of several illusion laws. This
blend of concealed weaponry and illusion methods was nothing
short of genius, if implemented in the right manner.

Since most people considered concealed weapon martial arts

to be beneath themselves, not many people were aware of this
secretive and marvelous martial law.
 If it weren’t for ‘The Immortal Finger’ law’s ability to fuse
with concealed weapon martial arts, Bi Fan would have never
bought the book.

Bi Fan’s discovery of this law was nothing more than a mere

coincidence, and now his heart was already set of exploring the
secrets of this martial arts style.

The ‘Soul Illusion Injection’ didn’t pay much attention to

conceal weaponry like most martial laws in its domain, but
instead focused on Illusions.

Not many people practiced illusion techniques in this vast

world. However, there was a rumor about a Sect which
specialized in concealed weaponry in the ancient times, The
Soul Illusion Sect. However, this Sect faded away over time and
its secrets were lost.

In the present age, the practice of illusion laws was very rare.

Bi Fan had already started contemplating the idea of fusing

the ‘Soul Illusion Injection’ with ‘The Immortal Finger’. The
‘Soul Illusion Injection’ would delude the enemy, while ‘The
Immortal Finger’ could then be used to kill off the enemy. He
felt that these two laws would bring out the best in each other.

Once he was done practicing the ‘Soul Illusion Injection’, he

started practicing the ‘Blood Devil’ law and the ‘Fire and Ice’
burst laws to provide energy to the Yin Yang Lotus.

Another two seeds of the Yin Yang Lotus were reaching close
to their stage of maturity after all this time he had been feeding
them.

Once he was done, he started practicing the ‘Against the Devil’

body burst law.

He unequivocally understood that a stronger physical base

would prove out to be very useful later on in life.

Later, he started memorizing the martial arts that he had seen

over the course of the tournament, and started contemplating
ways to integrate them into ‘The Immortal Finger’.

‘The Immortal Finger’ was a very straight forward strike, but

its power and effect could be increased significantly upon being
fused with some of the more complicated laws.

Even though Bi Fan’s idea was quite good, he had no idea as to

how long it could take to succeed in this experiment.

However, Bi Fan wasn’t anxious, and firmly believed that as

long as he was able to devote time to this experiment every day,
he’d eventually be able to succeed.

In order to succeed as soon as possible, Bi Fan started with

integrating ‘The Immortal Finger’ with the ‘Fufeng Double
Edged Sword’ first.

This law was his most well-researched law, and would prove
out to be the easiest to work with, and could possibly make it
easier to integrate the other laws into ‘The Immortal Finger’ in
the future.

Wang Zhong was working even harder than Bi Fan, and was
solely focusing on tempering his physical strength. However,
since the law he was practicing wasn’t very advanced in it’s
make, his progress pace was obviously slower.
 Wang Zhong was anxious to take his physical strength to the
‘transformation’ layer, and was decided on using the Ogre
flower petal to break into the ‘emerging from the womb’ layer
only afterwards since the breakthrough would amplify his
strength, and would make him far more powerful than his peers
in one single swoop.

Wang Zhong was very tempted to make this breakthrough

early after witnessing the strength of some of the ‘emerging
from the womb’ layer martial artists over the course of the
tournament, but he was willing to endure this anxiety in favor
of achieving even greater success.

Lin Xin Ya returned the following day.

“Wang Zhong, the master of the Sect has allowed you to join
the Quinyang Sect. You will follow me to pay respects to our
ancestors later, and I’ll officially indict you into the Sect
thereafter.” Ling Xin Ya seemed very happy since it meant that
he would add another top talent to the Yang Shan Peak’s line.

“Congratulations Brother Wang Zhong!” Bi Fan smiled.

Wang Zhong promptly knelt down, and knocked his head on

the ground thrice in salute: “Disciple Wang Zhong is grateful to
the master.”

“Well! Good!” Ling Xin Ya’s hearty laugh was enough to

express his happiness.

Wang Zhong smiled: “Brother Bi Fan, does this mean that I

should now be referring to you as ‘elder brother’?”

“You can still call me ‘Brother’, and I’ll still call you ‘Brother’;
it sounds more familiar.” Bi Fan said. But then he looked up at
Ling Xin Ya, fearing that Ling Xin Ya may object, but Ling Xin
Ya was too busy feeling pleased with his fortune.

Subsequently, Ling Xin Ya led Wang Zhong to pay respects to

the ancestors, making it rather obvious than he deeply
respected his master.

Thereafter, Ling Xin Ya handed over scrolls containing the

secrets to the ‘Fufeng Double edged sword’, ‘Floating Sword’,
and the ‘Quinyang Weather’ burst laws, along with a high-end
double edged sword and defense equipment.
 The ‘Quinyang Weather’ burst was the Sect’s primary internal
energy practice method, which Bi Fan had also learnt in the
past. However, since this method didn’t work well with the
‘Free burst’, the ‘Blood Devil’ and the ‘Fire and Ice’ burst, Bi Fan
didn’t practice it much.

Instead, Bi Fan used the ‘Longevity Burst’ to achieve the same

result. Even though the ‘Longevity Burst’ was much slower, but
something is always better than nothing.

Wang Zhong immediately started realizing the benefits of

joining a martial Sect; earlier, he would have to spend a lot of
time and energy in learning new laws, or procuring new
equipment, but now all this had just been handed over to him
by his Sect without a second thought.

“Thank you master!” Wang Zhong seemed very grateful.

“There’s no need to thank me; you just focus on practicing

hard.”

“Master, please feel assured; I will spare no effort.” Wang

Zhong solemnly vowed.
 Bi Fan and Wang Zhong stayed another three days at the Yang
Shan peak, which was enough for Wang Zhong to memorize the
basics of the ‘Fufeng Double edged’ and the ‘Floating Sword’
laws.

“Master, we intend on going down the mountains to gain

some experience; please grant us permission.” Bi Fan asked.

The date they had set with Blue Dragon was upon them, and
therefore they needed to ascend down the mountains to reunite
with him.

“You may go; but be more careful this time!” Ling Xin Ya saw
no reason to stop them.

He was aware that good talents can only be nurtured to

greatness with practice and experience, and hence saw no
reason to stop them from gaining some.

Wang Zhong and Bi Fan hurried down the Yang Shan Peak
and met with Jing Feng, Mo Nan and Ji Ying Lan. Then, the five
of them rushed towards the Quinyang Town to meet up with
Blue Dragon.
- End of Book 04 -
 Chapter 205 – Ying Song Hotel

The five Quinyang Sect disciples reunited with Blue Dragon

and then immediately set out.

Even though the Tong Cheng region was just adjacent to the
Jiu Yu City, it was still almost a month’s journey from the
Quinyang Mountains on foot.

The Tong Cheng region was rumored to be the secret

residence for the last remaining Tong Tian Sect followers, and
this news had already spread out through the entire world.

The Tong Tian Sect was an ancient Sect; and even though the
Sect was never the most powerful in the world, it had still been
powerful enough to attract a lot of attention in its time.

The rumor was that, most of its followers migrated as the Sect
started to decline, while some stayed behind to pass on their
heritage. Most of these were murdered by rivalling Sects and
were rumored to have left behind several treasures.

The treasures of this ancient Sect weren’t expected to be

worth a lot, but in case someone was able to locate these last
remaining followers of the Tong Tian Sect, then they could get
their hands on the secrets of this ancient Sect. Naturally, no one
wanted to miss out on this opportunity.

Therefore, once this rumor started to spread from city to city,

several youngsters started making their way towards the Tong
Cheng region.

However, this sudden interest in the Tong Cheng region was

mostly limited to the younger generation.

It was mandatory for a person to be under the age of fifty in

order to join a following, therefore the older generation wasn’t
much interested in this rumor.

Wang Zhong was sure that the rumor had a base in reality,
which is why Bi Fan and his party were eager to reach the
region, and was speeding their way towards their destination in
a hurry.

Given the fact that the Tong Tian Sect was a powerful ancient
Sect, the benefits of joining its following would be endless.
 Obviously, Bi Fan and his friends were anxiously hoping that
they could simply fly their way towards the Tong Cheng region.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t a possibility, and they were

restricted to travel on foot, and could only use the divine
essence seals to speed up their journey a bit.

Bi Fan and his friends weren’t really bothered about comforts

on the way, and hence spent most of their nights camping out in
the open.

The road obviously wasn’t very peaceful or secure given the

barbaric mentality of the world, and several thieves tried to rob
them since they looked young and naïve, and ended up dying at
the hands of Wang Zhong and his companions as a result.

Bi Fan and his friends reached the boundary of the Jiu Yu City
soon enough, and started approaching the Tong Cheng region
immediately after.

The Jiu Yu City’s border was almost a thousand miles in

perimeter, and this side of the border only had one hotel; the
Ying Song Hotel. Everyone travelling back and forth between
the Tong Cheng region and the Jiu Yu City would inevitably
take shelter in this hotel for a night before proceeding further
with their journey.

“We’ll spend the night in the Ying Song Hotel up ahead. We

must get some good rest before entering the Tong Cheng region
because I don’t think that we’ll see any sight of inhabitation for
thousands of miles ahead.” Wang Zhong said.

“I’ve seen too much of these mountainous roads lately… I

could definitely use some rest.” Jing Feng laughed.

“Well, then let’s spend the night in the hotel.”

Even though the Tong Cheng region and the Jiu Yu City’s
perimeter were known to be riddled with thieves, the Ying Song
hotel was considered a very safe place, which was an obvious
indication of the hotel owner’s strength.

Bi Fan obviously understood this fact clearly, and had hence

decided to stay clear of trouble for the time-being.

But unfortunately, they ran into a group of Wu Ji Sect

disciples upon entering the hotel. This group of six Wu Ji Sect
disciples was made up of Xuan Yuan Feng, Xuan Yuan Yun,
Xuan Yuan Wu Ji, Xuan Ming Yang and two more disciples, who
looked strong enough to be core disciples of the Sect.

To make matters worse, Bi Fan had killed the beast pets of

several Wu Ji Sect disciples, including some of these youngsters’
during the Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon contest.

“Ah, good! Who would have thought that we’d end up

meeting the Quinyang Sect’s Bi Fan, Mo Nan, Jing Feng, Ji Ying
Lan and the Eastern Aristocracy’s Blue Dragon in this far away
land! It’s our genuine pleasure!” Xuan Yuan Feng laughed.

Even though his words had been courteous, but it was evident
from his tone that he only meant to provoke them.

“Ah, it’s brother Xuan Yuan Feng, Brother Xuan Yuan Yun,
Brother Xuan Yuan Wu Ji and Brother Xuan Ming Yang! And
who are those two elder brothers of mine?” Jing Feng came
forward and greeted them with a smile: “Meeting our brothers
from the Wu Ji Sect in such a far-away place is surely a sign
from the stars.”

Jing Feng’s hearty greeting and magnanimous attitude

instantly overwhelmed Xuan Yuan Feng’s hostility.

Bi Fan had already guessed that these six Wu Ji Sect disciples

were also going into the Tong Cheng region in search of the
Tong Tian Sect’s treasures.

As for those two unknown disciples of the Wu Ji Sect, Bi Fan

could clearly tell that these two men had already broken into
the ‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer since they seemed far
stronger than Xuan Yuan Feng and the others.

“The six of you simply aren’t strong enough to go into the

Tong Cheng region by yourself. You’re fools.” Xuan Yuan Feng
sneered.

Bi Fan replied lightly: “We are going into the Tong Cheng
region; but whether that’s foolish or not… only time will tell!
We all belong to the same city, and I hope that our internal
strife will not make a joke out of our City’s unison.”

“Don’t worry, we’re too lazy for that. Anyway, there will be
plenty of other people in the Tong Cheng region who will sort
you out in no time at all.” Xuan Yuan Feng answered back
coldly.
 Bi Fan had timely brought up the Jiu Yu City’s custom of
uniting against the power of other cities in times of need.

This custom wasn’t just limited to the Jiu Yu City; in fact,

most other cities had similar customs.

In case the internal strife of a City’s powers resulted in

eliminating the City’s people from getting their hands on a
treasure, then the City’s social norms would become the butt of
all jokes around the world.

Naturally, most of the weaker teams from the same city were
uniting together to increase the threat of the challenge.

However, Xuan Yuan Feng and his friends didn’t consider Bi

Fan’s party to be worthy of their partnership, and were
obviously against collaborating with them.

The other two Wu Ji Sect disciples with them had been

concentrating on drinking their wine, and hadn’t even raised
their heads to look up at Bi Fan and his companions this entire
time.
 Although Bi Fan had managed to win the Jiu Yu Hidden
Dragon list, but he was still an outer disciple, which is why
these two core disciples were confident of defeating him with
ease.

These two men were completely at ease as a result since they

didn’t consider Bi Fan and his friends to be a threat.

Not to mention, since Wu Ji Xuan wasn’t present in this

company, Bi Fan and his friends weren’t very likely to run into
trouble with them at the moment.

Everyone checked into their rooms first, and then proceeded

to the dining hall for dinner.

The Ying Song hotel was packed to the limit since a lot of
youngsters had decided to venture into the Tong Cheng region
in search of the Tong Tian Sect’s last remnants.

Even though the Hotel had hundreds of rooms, Bi Fan’s six

man team was only given two rooms despite them offering extra
money.
 Since they didn’t wish to sleep outside in the open, they
reluctantly agreed.

Bi Fan’s team’s mood had turned sour after bumping into the
Wu Ji Sect team.

Therefore, the quickly finished their meal, and returned to

their rooms to discuss matters.

It was important to note that neither the Quinyang Sect, nor

the Wu Ji Sect’s name would be sufficient to save them from a
testing ordeal in this region.

Strength was the supreme law, and that was the only way of
surviving in the Tong Cheng region.

Bi Fan and his friends weren’t very strong as compared to

some of the others, which is why they were planning on keeping
a low-key status.

The Wu Ji Sect disciples were carrying the exact same idea.

 “We’re really unlucky that those Wu Ji Sect guys have showed
up to contest for the Tong Tian Sect’s treasures….. let alone so
many other powerful people…….” Ji Ying Lan had been
wringing his hands endlessly.

“It’s a good thing that we ran into them here. They won’t
oppose us for the time being, and we could always use them to
get forward!”

“Exactly. There is a lot of competition for this treasure, and

we could certainly use some help.” Wang Zhong laughed.

“The Wu Ji Sect guys aren’t stupid; they will also be afraid

that we could cut them off at any point.” Mo Nan interjected.

“Don’t worry about that. It’s not going to be easy for anyone
to win this treasure alone since so many powerful people have
showed up to compete for it……. the Wu Ji sect maybe very
powerful within the Jiu Yu City’s reach, but they’re nothing
here.” Bi Fan smiled: “We can use their strength to eliminate
some competition from the other cities.”

“Ha ha… yes, that’s a really good idea!” Jing Feng laughed.
 Chapter 206 – Martial Street Matches

More and more strong youngsters continued to pack inside

the Ying Song hotel, all travelling to the Tong City’s region in
search of the Tong Tian Sect’s secret storehouse.

This storehouse was also rumored to be the secret library of

the Sect, but had a limitation that any newly entering member
must be below the age of fifty.

The age of fifty wasn’t considered to be very high for a

practitioner; in fact most talented martial artists under the age
of fifty were able to enter into the ‘Emerging from the womb’
layer by then.

Of course, the likes of Xuan Yuan Po Jun and Yan Yu Si were

considered peerless geniuses, but treasures such as the Tong
Tian Sect’s library weren’t enough to entice their attention, and
hence they were unlikely to compete for it.

The Tong Tian Sect’s library wasn’t a very big thing in its
own, but it was the lure of its inheritance that had made it so
popular.
 Inheritance is only a mere illusion, and no one is ever truly
guaranteed to inherit anything.

In contrast to this, the secret library inside the Tian Yuan ring
was far more important, and was far better than the Tong Tian
secret library.

However, Bi Fan hadn’t been able to use the Tian Yuan Ring,
the Gourd, or the sword ‘Bloodshed’ properly, which is why he
wasn’t considering them to be worth much at the moment.

No one bothered Bi Fan and his friends in the hotel, and hence
they were able to set out early in the morning without any
delays.

However, because they were afraid that the Wu Ji Sect

disciples might try to cause mischief on the road ahead, they
decided to tread very carefully.

They finally managed to reach the Tong City after a hectic and
tiring journey.
 They saw several powerful youngsters on the way, all of them
seemingly travelling to the same destination, and with the same
goal.

However, since Bi Fan, Mo Nan, Jing Feng, Blue Dragon, Ji

Ying Lan, and Wang Zhong were all quite strong in their own
merit, and moreover were walking together, no one dared to
bother them.

At the end of it all, the road to the Tong City turned out to be
less troublesome than they were expecting it to be.

The Tong City was quite spectacular, and was spread over a
larger area than the Jiu Yu City.

The Tong City’s territory had two major factions inside it, the
Hong Sect and the Bai Sheng palace.

The Hong Sect and the Bai Sheng palace were both considered
to be far more powerful than any of the top five sects of the Jiu
Yu City.

There were several other Sects in the region, and quite a few
of them were comparable to the top Five sects from the Jiu Yu
City.

It could be said that the Tong City was more powerful than
the Jiu Yu City in general.

Since Bi Fan and his friends had agreed upon keeping a low
profile in the city, they decided to seek refuge in small and
isolated hotel.

“Many strong youngsters from several different Sects have

already arrived in the Ting City already, but it seems that they
haven’t yet opened the Tong Tian secret Library yet. We’ll all
take turns in making enquiring separately, and then we’ll
decide on a plan of action.” Wang Zhong suggested.

“Walking around separately won’t be an issue?” Bi Fan asked.

“Don’t worry, the Hong Sect watches over the Tong City, and
they forbid all personal clashes in the city. So unless you’re
trying to be an outlaw, you’ll be fine.” Wang Zhong smiled.

“Oh that’s good!” Jing Feng eased up a bit.

 Most cities didn’t allow personal clashes within the scope of
the city, but most cities had exceptions to their rules.
Fortunately, the Tong City had none.

Since they were staying in a small and isolated hotel, it was

hard for them to make their enquiries, and therefore, the six of
them took turns touring the city, and made their enquiries
simultaneously.

After a few days, they had managed to gather enough

information to figure out the overall situation.

The Tong Tian Sect’s secret storehouse hadn’t been opened

yet; moreover, no knew one when it would be opened. In fact,
no one even knew its location.

Since several strong youngsters had gathered from all over the
world, Bi Fan and his friends could obviously feel the pressure
mounting on their shoulders. It was evident that the treasures
in this storehouse would be very limited, and only one person
would be allowed to inherit it, therefore it was awfully hard for
any person to be successful in this venture.
 However, since Bi Fan and his friends had no intention of
returning without giving things a try, they decided to use this
time to learn more about it, and sharpen their skills until it was
time to move into action.

This was obviously a rare opportunity since they were all

under the age of fifty, and might actually be capable of
competing for the treasures.

However, it was also a very dangerous task; no adventure can

ever be undertaken without undertaking its risks.

Moreover, an opportunity to cross swords with people from

different corners of the world was an even rarer opportunity,
and wasn’t one that Bi Fan would want to miss on.

As far as Bi Fan was concerned, the treasure and inheritance

of the Tong Tian Sect was secondary to increasing his strength
and expanding his experience.

One day Blue Dragon returned with a confirmed new, and

seemed quite excited with his discovery.
 “Brothers, I’ve found an amazing place to spend our time here
at, what do you say?”

Bi Fan shook his head, and smiled: “Brother Dragon, what’s

the name of this amazing place?”

“The Martial Street!” Blue Dragon announced loudly: “There

are several rings in the Martial Street, and we can watch the
matches there meanwhile we wait for more news about the
Tong Tian secret storehouse.”

“Well, staying in this hotel is very boring anyway; let’s go

check this place out.” Jing Feng agreed in a heartbeat.

Young hearts are often impatient. Bi Fan and his friends

immediately set out.

The Martial Street was the name of a zone inside the Tong
City which housed several rings, almost a hundred of them in
close proximity.

Each ring had its own ‘Lord’, and one could win good rewards
upon beating the Lord of the ring; in case a contestant lost to the
Lord, then they would have to pay a certain amount of spars as a
losing charge.

The more powerful the Lord of a ring was, the higher the
ring’s collection amount. As long as one was able to defeat the
Lord, the contestant would get to walk away with half of the
ring’s collection. And in case one was able to defeat the lord,
he’d be given two options; defeat the lord three times in a row
and walk away with the entire collection of the ring, or step off
the ring immediately with just half.

The Hong Sect would often pour some money into these rings
in order to attract more people into fighting in these rings, and
would then use these rings to train their disciples. They would
also use these rings to recruit more talent into their sect.

The existence of these rings had made their sect quite

powerful, and they weren’t much bothered about the money
they were pouring into these rings on occasions.

Since this Street was quite popular, the Hong Sect had
deployed a dedicated and strong faction of their people to
manage it.
 Bi Fan and his friends reached the Martial Street zone quite
early in the morning, and decided to find a new hotel to settle
down in.

Since a lot of strong youngsters had poured into the Tong

City, this place was even livelier than usual.

Bi Fan and his friends found a decent hotel soon enough and
then immediately went to the nearest ring to spectate the
matches.

They had barely arrived at the ring when a contest started.

Two fairly strong people were engaged in a rather fierce battle

on the stage above.

Both these men were ‘transformation’ layer martial artists,

and were using some very sophisticated style of martial arts that
Bi Fan had never seen before. Naturally, Bi Fan quickly found a
place to sit, and started watching the contest keenly.

The battle between these two strong fighters lasted almost as

hour before the Lord managed to emerge victorious.
 “The Lord wins. The ring now has twelve thousand Spars in
its collection. You can get Six Thousand Spars if you beat the
Lord!” the referee being a man from the Hong Sect was
obviously trying to create a hype in order to attract more people
into participating in the ring.

Blue Dragon started getting an itch in no time; and this was

one kind of itch he simply needed to scratch: “I want to contest
in this ring…. You won’t try to oppose me brothers, will you?”

“If you’re contesting in this ring, we naturally won’t oppose

you brother. Anyway, there are too many other rings here for us
to contest in.” Jing Feng said with a smile.

There weren’t too many restrictions for participating in these

rings; one only needed to younger than thirty years in age. The
Hong Sect had built a separate ring for people above the age of
thirty.

Since no one else was taking up the challenge, Blue Dragon

was no longer able to stop himself: “I’ll play against the Lord!”
 Blue Dragon slowly made his way to ring, his face red with
excitement.

“What is the name of my competitor?” The Lord was a big

man, but it was difficult to tell his age attributing to his dark
complexion.

This might have been the man’s usual vocal tone, but it
sounded like the rumbling of thunder to Bi Fan’s ears.

Even though the man was only a ‘transformation’ layer

martial artist, his physical strength was quite high.

Therefore, it would obviously be difficult for an equal-layered

challenger to defeat him unless the challenger also had a decent
amount of physical strength.

This man had already beaten five martial artists from the
same layer as him, and was obviously quite confident in his own
ability.

Blue Dragon had already seen enough about this man’s

fighting style during the previous contest.
 “Jiu Yu City’s Blue Dragon; please to meet you!” Blue Dragon
greeted his opponent.

“Tong City’s Iron Hands; pleased to meet you!” that dark

colored man greeted in return.

“Start the contest!” the nervous looking referee waved the

contest to a start.
 Chapter 207 – Xuan Yuan Long

“Arghhh!” Iron Hands roared as his big fist pounded in Blue

Dragon’s direction.

Iron Hands wasn’t using any weapon; however, he was

wearing iron mittens in both hands.

His iron mittens looked quite heavy, and it seemed rather

obvious that it would be best to avoid them.

“Hegemon Blade!” Blue Dragon’s scimitar hacked down with a

huge momentum.

“Bang!” the collision gave rise to a loud noise!

Iron Hands didn’t dodge the attack, and actually went ahead
and punched Blue Dragon’s blade. Sparks flew as the two
weapons collided, but Iron Hands’ iron mittens didn’t budge
from their position.

Even though Blue Dragon was slightly surprised to see this, he

immediately launched another storm of attacks.

However, this time Blue Dragon didn’t attack as recklessly as

before since he had already sensed Iron Hands’ strength and had
no intention of losing this fight.

Blue Dragon could already sense that it would be difficult to

overpower the man.

Therefore, Blue Dragon immediately changed his strategy,

and started attacking at a fast pace, and would then duck away,
and would only return upon seeing an opening in Iron Hands’
defense.

Blue Dragon’s strategy was working rather well since Iron

Hands wasn’t as nimble or smart.

Iron Hands would usually rely on his brute strength to win a

fight since he was physically much stronger than most
youngsters. However, even though Blue Dragon wasn’t as
strong as him, he was strong enough to stand his own, even
after facing several head-on collisions.
 Blue Dragon occupied the higher hand soon enough; and it
didn’t take long for him to win the fight thereafter.

“Jiu Yu City’s Blue Dragon wins Six Thousand Spars!” the

referee announced loudly.

After handing over the spars to Blue Dragon, the referee

asked: “Blue Dragon, would you be interested in defeating three
more Lords of this ring? You can win a lot more spars if you do.”

“More Lords?” Blue Dragon thought for a moment, but then

shook his head and refused.

Although Blue Dragon really wanted to contest more fights in

the ring, he had no intention of fighting against an unknown
opponent.

The chances of winning a fight and the spars as a result, were

much higher if Blue Dragon was allowed to watch the Lord in
action before making a challenge.

Blue Dragon rejoined his friends, and they all congratulated

him on his victory.
 “Well done Brother Blue Dragon!” Jing Feng laughed.

Blue Dragon seemed very excited: “That felt good. I really

want to find another ring now so I can fight again.”

Wang Zhong suggested: “Let’s all spread out and look for
rings to fight in, and then we can all meet up in the Hotel later
in the evening.”

A challenger’s layer in a Martial Street contest wasn’t allowed

to be higher than the Lord since it would help in avoiding
injuries; even if the Lord and the challenger were off the same
level, the chances of injuries over the course of the contest was
very less.

Moreover, the referee of the ring wasn’t just a show piece, and
was generally much stronger than the Lord of the ring, and was
hence capable of preventing any casualties if needed.

Bi Fan and his friends set out in different directions precisely

because of these reasons, believing that the area was safe
enough.
 This was obviously a rare opportunity and these six
youngsters naturally wanted to make the most of it.

Bi Fan would mostly just walk around, and would only stop at
a ring if the contest was beginning to get interesting; He’d find a
seat, and would then concentrate on memorizing their martial
skills.

Since the youngsters here had gathered from different cities,

there were a lot of new skills on display which Bi Fan had never
seen before.

And hence, Bi Fan was planning on spending his entire time in

watching these contests rather than fighting himself.

Actual combat was obviously very important for Bi Fan, but

he simply couldn’t miss out on this amazing opportunity of
witnessing some exquisite skill sets.

Bi Fan spotted several youngsters from the Jiu Yu City along

the way; some of them had even contested and lost against him
in the past.
 Bi Fan spotted the six disciples from the Wu Ji Sect a few
arenas down the lane. Out of those six, Xuan Yuan Yun was
contesting on the stage against the Lord.

The Wu Ji Sect’s martial skills were indeed very powerful;

even though Xuan Yuan Yun was contesting against an equal-
layered Lord, he managed to defeat the Lord in less than fifty
strokes.

Xuan Yuan Feng had spotted Bi Fan at the time Bi Fan stepped
into the arena.

“Bi Fan, are you interested in fighting against me?” Xuan

Yuan Feng came over and asked.

“Well, you go ahead and fight; I won’t fight.” Bi Fan smiled.

Xuan Yuan Feng’s face changed slightly, but restored its

composure soon enough: “Brother Bi Fan, you can smile since
even I know that I can’t beat you. However, this is my senior,
Xuan Yuan Long; He’ll be renting the ring after the Lord steps
down; I hope you’ll contest against him.”
 Bi Fan looked at Xuan Yuan Long, and realized that the man
was an ‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer martial artist;
however, he could only be regarded as very weak core disciple
amongst his peers.

However, he was still a core disciple at the end of the day, and
it would naturally be difficult to deal with him since he was an
‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer martial artist.

Bi Fan was quite sure of defeating the man, but he had no

intention of rising to fame so early here.

In case an ‘Enormous Strength’ layer martial artist was able to

defeat an ‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer martial artist, the
news would obviously spread very quickly.

The shot hits the bird that pokes its head out; and Bi Fan had
no intention of getting shot.

“Not interested.” Bi Fan turned around to leave.

Xuan Yuan Long ducked sideways to obstruct Bi Fan’s path,

making it rather obvious that he wouldn’t allow Bi Fan to leave
without a match.

“Aren’t you the Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon List’s champion? How

could you be so timid? You’re saying that you’re afraid of a
challenge?”

“You’ll have to come up with something better if you wish to

force me into fighting. Otherwise don’t waste my time.” Bi Fan
replied back indifferently.

Xuan Yuan Long asked in a cold voice: “Like what?”

“Erm…. Like a Top Grade weapon. I’m willing to fight for a

top grade weapon’s stake, but I’m not sure if you’re up for it.” Bi
Fan grinned.

Xuan Yuan Long hesitated for a bit since Bi Fan had already
defeated Wu Ji Xuan, an elementary ‘Emerging from the Womb’
layer martial artist. Xuan Yuan Long wasn’t much stronger than
Wu Ji Xuan, and was simply relying on his superior weaponry
to challenge Bi Fan.

In case he was to defeat Bi Fan, word would spread out, and he

would earn himself some much needed fame.

“Done! I’ll place a top-grade weapon as an additional bet, but I

hope that you can come up with something of equal value.”
Xuan Yuan Long stated loudly.

“I don’t have a top grade weapon with me right now. But my

Dragon scale sword almost qualifies as a top-grade weapon,
right?” Bi Fan smiled confidently.

Bi Fan’s dragon scale sword had become rather famous

throughout the Jiu Yu City, and Xuan Yuan Long’s envy and
greed had already started to reflect on his avaricious face at the
thought of winning the famed weapon.

Xuan Yuan Long could only be regarded as an average talent

in the Wu Ji Sect’s pool, and had hence received much less
training and importance than Xuan Yuan Feng and the others.
And although his Sect had given him a top-grade weapon, but
the weapon still wasn’t as good as Bi Fan’s dragon scale sword.

Xuan Yuan Long and Bi Fan sealed the bet, and proceeded to
tell the referee about their private bet, making the stake an
official one.
 In case a challenger lost in a Martial Street Contest, the
challenger would have to honor the bet; else they’d be kicked
out of the Martial Street region.

Once, a renowned ‘Gold Dan’ layered youngster lost a contest

in Martial Street, and refused to pay up claiming that he had
been cheated. Later, he was intercepted by the authorities, but
he still refused to pay up. He continued to refuse paying his
stake despite threats from the authorities, and ended up dying
at the hands of the Hong Sect martial artists.

“The Contest Begins!”

This wasn’t a regular contest since Xuan Yuan Long had

rented the stage for a private contest.

Even though the referee announced the start of the contest,

neither man rushed into action.

Xuan Yuan Long was aware of Bi Fan’s strength, and therefore

knew that he couldn’t afford to act carelessly.
 Xuan Yuan Long was simply waiting to find a flaw in Bi Fan’s
defense, but he wasn’t succeeding at the moment since Bi Fan
was simply standing idly on the stage.

Xuan Yuan Long was quite patient by nature, and didn’t seem
to be getting anxious.

However, he did have this strange feeling inside his heart that
he wouldn’t be able to surpass Bi Fan’s momentum.

As Bi Fan’s momentum continued to rise, he even started

questioning his decision of making this challenge.

Xuan Yuan Long’s face started turning pale with fright as he

started to realize that Bi Fan’s bare momentum was higher than
his own.

Bi Fan was intentionally exposing his enormous momentum

in the hope of forcing Xuan Yuan Long to make the first move.

Bi Fan was confident that he would be able deal with Xuan

Yuan Long a lot more easily as long as Xuan Yuan Long made
the first move.
 “Arghhhh!” Xuan Yuan Long roared loudly as he unwilling
made the first move.
 Chapter 208 – More Limelight

Xuan Yuan Long attacked with a lot of momentum and power.

However, he had fallen right into Bi Fan’s trap by attacking

first, and Bi Fan charged right back at him using the ‘Prancing
Tiger’ boxing in full force.

The ‘Prancing Tiger’ technique was tailor made for Bi Fan,

and was complementing his style even more now that his
strength had increased.

The amazing force which was being displayed by Bi Fan was

simply breathtaking; moreover, it seemed that his punches were
taking the shape of a Tiger’s shadow, which made the visual
display even more marvelous to watch.

Xuan Yuan Long’s face had already gone pale with fright since
he wasn’t been expecting Bi Fan to be this strong, and he
immediately started backing away; unfortunately for him, he
wasn’t even strong enough to get away from Bi Fan.

Although Xuan Yuan Long was a core disciple, he was quite

weak in comparison to his peers; so much so, that he wasn’t
even remotely qualified to compete in the Jiu Yu Imperial List.

Xuan Yuan Long took out his sword, and started using the
‘Yin Yang Sword’ technique to slow Bi Fan down.

Unfortunately for Xuan Yuan Long, his total strength was far
weaker than Bi Fan’s, and even his improvised strategy was
unable to deliver him from Bi Fan’s clutches since Bi Fan had
already gotten a good hold over this fight.

Soon enough Bi Fan had managed to establish complete

control over this contest, leaving Xuan Yuan Long scuttling
around the ring in fear.

Bi Fan’s mouth-watering display had already attracted a lot of

attention, and several people were watching his fight in awe at
the moment.

“Who is this young guy? He’s only in the ‘Enormous strength’

layer right now, and he’s still beating up an ‘Emerging from the
Womb’ layer man?! This is unbelievable; I’ve never seen
anything like this before!”
 “This youngster definitely isn’t from my city…. else I
would’ve surely heard about him!”

“Just look at this….. that ‘Emerging from the Womb’ guy

can’t even get away from him! He’s being completely overrun!”

“That’s right! This guy isn’t just winning, he’s winning in

style!”

The other Wu Ji Sect disciples had no option but to listen to

all these remarks, and even though these remarks were turning
their faces green with anger, their egos wouldn’t allow them to
open their mouths and explain the situation.

It didn’t take long for Bi Fan to win the match since Xuan
Yuan Long conceded the fight early, fully aware that he didn’t
stand a chance.

Bi Fan had gone all out in this fight, and had demonstrated his
true ability and strength.

Bi Fan’s confidence had been growing along with his strength,

so much so, that not only was he confident about facing an
‘emerging from the womb’ layer martial artist, he was even
confident about winning the fight with ease.

His confidence was the reason behind this amazing display of

his.

A lot of eyes were looking at Bi Fan with a timid expression in

them; and many of these people had already decided to flee in
case they ever ran into Bi Fan since they were too afraid of
provoking him.

“This guy is simply too strong…. And he’s only going to get
stronger when he enters into the ‘Emerging from the Womb’
layer…. It’s just better to stay away from him altogether.”

Many people were carrying the same idea as this youngster,

and several of these people were already considered renowned
martial artists in their respective cities.

However, there were still some others who felt that they were
powerful enough to contest against Bi Fan; naturally, Bi Fan’s
display only incited their desires, and their momentums.
 “This boy is fit to be my opponent! I’m going to fight him if I
get a chance!”

“He’s strong, and interesting. I like my opponents that way;

I’m going to find him, and then I’m going to beat him.”

A lot of sparkling eyes were fixed at Bi Fan, while the

momentums of their masters were beginning to break out due
to the excitement.

Bi Fan immediately sensed this rise in momentum around

him, and quickly isolated each source while making a mental
note of their faces for future reference.

Bi Fan could tell by this surge in the atmospheric momentum

that several of these people were worth taking note of.

Xuan Yuan Long had not only lost the match, but also a top-
grade weapon; this had obviously turned into a ‘double-
whammy’ for him.

Since they were inside the Tong City, even Xuan Yuan Long
didn’t dare to go back on his word, and he obediently presented
Bi Fan with a top-grade weapon called the ‘Devil Annihilation
Axe’.

Hatchets weren’t the preferred choice of weapon for the

majority of people in this world; so obviously the market price
of hatchets was quite low. So much so, that even though this
hatchet was a top-grade weapon, it still costed a lot lesser than a
sword of lesser quality.

Bi Fan didn’t bother himself much with this since he only

intended to send a message to the Wu Ji Sect disciples. Anyway,
this hatchet would still fetch him a good enough amount of
spars at the right shop.

“Brave Bi Fan, would you interested in acting as the Lord of

this ring for a while?” the referee came over and asked.

Bi Fan immediately shook his head and refused.

Bi Fan had already attracted a lot of attention over the course

of this one fight; therefore he naturally wanted to avoid more of
it since it would only cause unnecessary trouble in the future.
 The referee was rather left disheartened by Bi Fan’s refusal,
but knew well that he couldn’t force Bi Fan to act as the Lord of
the ring.

Bi Fan simply ignored the hateful glances from the Wu Ji Sect

disciples, and leisurely walked away.

After seeing the manner in which Bi Fan had defeated Xuan

Yuan Long, the rest of the Wu Ji Sect disciples realized that they
needed to stay clear of Bi Fan and his team.

“This boy is growing too fast…. We must get rid of him as

soon as we can….else he’ll become a big problem for our sect.”
Xuan Yuan Long stated in a cold voice.

“You’re right brother. The Tong Tian Storehouse’s opening

will be a good opportunity…. There will be several other very
strong people there at that time, and we can use some of them
to help us out with our dirty work.” Xuan Yuan Feng exposed a
sinister smile.

Bi Fan walked out, and then continued to watch the contests

along the way.
 The Martial Street’s reputation was well-deserved, and many
strong youngsters were contesting these rings to test out their
strength and luck. The Hong Sect’s scheme seemed to be rather
well-intended since it allowed people to train and test their
skills whilst allowing the Hong Sect to attracted several talented
youngsters into their Sect at the same time.

Bi Fan didn’t even realize that the sun had already started to
set, and he seemed rather reluctant to leave.

Therefore, Bi Fan continued to stroll around the area until the

rings closed down for the day, and then reluctantly made his
way back to the hotel.

Bi Fan walked his way back to hotel rather cautiously since he

sensed that he was being followed.

Bi Fan figured that this was due to his display against Xuan
Yuan Long, and realized that several of these people would try
quite hard to gather more information about him.

Bi Fan knew that it wouldn’t be possible to hide his identity

for long from these people. Since he knew that it would fruitless
to try and avoid exposure, he decided to allow them to track
him.

Therefore, Bi Fan ignored his trackers, and made his way back
to his hotel.

Jing Feng, Mo Nan, Wang Zhong, Ji Ying Lan, and Blue

Dragon had been anxiously waiting in Hotel Lobby for Bi Fan.

“Don’t worry…. Brother Bi Fan is very strong…. He won’t run

into trouble. Just trust me.” Jing Feng was smiling from time to
time to reassure the rest of his company.

“I know that Brother Jing Feng, but I still can’t help it.” Mo
Nan anxiously smiled back.

Everyone instantly relaxed the moment they saw Bi Fan intact

and back in the hotel lobby.

“Sorry for worrying you brothers… I really am….” Bi Fan

apologized.

Wang Zhong asked: “Why did you get so late brother? Did you
run into trouble?”

“I ran into a bit of trouble at one point, but I took care of it.
Let’s return to our rooms first, and then we’ll discuss
everything.” Bi Fan suggested.

Several people had entered the Hotel’s lobby after Bi Fan;

therefore discussing their personal matters in the open
wouldn’t be appropriate. Hence, Bi Fan quickly suggested that
they return to their rooms since it would best to avoid leaking
out their information to the entire city.

Jing Feng and the others were smart enough to interpret Bi

Fan’s idea, and they all immediately followed Bi Fan back to his
room.

“Brother Bi Fan, I saw several people sneaking into the hotel

after you…. Were they all tracking you?” Wang Zhong asked.

“Probably; that’s why I thought that it’s better to talk here.”

Bi Fan nodded as he explained.

“Brother Bi Fan, you were barely out for a few hours, and
you’ve already attracted so much attention; you’re truly by
idol!” Jing Feng smiled in mockery.

“Don’t make fun of me brother….. I ran into the Wu Ji Sect

guys again, and Xuan Yuan Long forced me to fight him… I
really didn’t have an option but to accept his challenge.
Although I won the match, but I couldn’t help avoiding
attracting all this attention from other people.” Bi Fan smiled
with guilt.

Jing Feng seemed rather surprised: “Brother Bi Fan, did you

really defeat Xuan Yuan Long? Xuan Yuan Long is an ‘Emerging
from Womb’ layer martial artist! Wow… how did you beat
him?”

“I was lucky brother; it was just a fluke, so there’s nothing

worth mentioning about it.” Bi Fan shook his head.

Ji Ying Lan was already admiring Bi Fan enviously: “When

will I be able to beat up an ‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer
guy? Ah……I’m really waiting for that day to come….”

Bi Fan had been hearing similar things all day long today;
therefore he obviously paid no attention to it.
 They started discussing proposals for the future once Jing
Feng and the others had revealed their findings and
experiences.
 Chapter 209 – Women Disguised As Men

Bi Fan discovered several new things after they all discussed

their findings.

First, out of the several youngsters who had arrived to

participate in this event, some of the contenders had already
broken into the Gold Dan layer.

Second, several Lord of the Rings in the Martial Street arenas

belonged to the Tong Tian Sect; in fact it was rumored that
their numbers were even higher than that of the Hong Sect.

Third, the Hong Sect and the Bai Sheng Palace had a very
difficult relationship; so much so that the disciples of these two
sects were often known to use these rings to settle their
personal disputes.

…. …..

Bi fan naturally felt that the information regarding their

competition was the most interesting one amongst the lot.
 Bi Fan and his friends seemed rather eager to compete against
such powerful youngsters since it would help them in
enhancing their own skills.

“Brother Jing Feng, Mo Nan, Ji Ying Lan, you need to focus

on increasing your physical strength since it will improve your
combat effectiveness, which in turn will increase our chances of
winning the treasure. Meanwhile, Brother Wang Zhong and
Blue Dragon, you must focus on enhancing your strength,
whereas I must focus on breaking into the ‘transformation’
layer.” Bi Fan thoughtfully suggested.

The competition for the Tong Tian Sect’s secret storehouse

was likely to be very dangerous, and the danger could increase
for them in case their strength wasn’t enough to compete.

“Yes, given our present strength, we may somehow be able to

get away in case our enemy had an ‘emerging from the womb’
layer martial artist in their team, but if there is even one Gold
Dan layer fighter against us, then we’ll end up in a lot of trouble
at our present stage.” Jing Feng added in agreement.

Bi Fan took out two Jungle Python eggs, and handed one to Ji
Yang Lan and the other to Mo Nan.
 “Brother Ji Ying Lan, Brother Mo Nan, these Jungle Python
eggs are for you; try to hatch them as early as possible. They
may not be very useful right now, but they’ll surely come in
handy later on in life.”

Bi Fan paused for a second, and then continued: “Brother Jing

Feng, whenever we get an opportunity in the future, we will all
try to work together in finding you a suitable Beast Pet as well.”

As the thought of his Beast Pet crossed his mind, Jing Feng’s
face turned a bit unsightly.

“Brothers, I don’t need a new Beast Pet right now….. I still

haven’t been able to forget my Spotted Leopard yet.”

Amongst these six youngsters, Ji Ying Lan, Mo Nan, Blue

Dragon and Wang Zhong each had a Jungle Python, whereas Bi
Fan had tamed a Chimera; Jing Feng was the only one without a
Beast Pet at the moment.

Jing Feng was awfully depressed in this regard, and even

though everyone was fully aware of it, they really couldn’t do
much to ease his pain.

Previously, Bi Fan had offered one of the Jungle Python eggs

to Jing Feng, but Jing Feng had refused despite Bi Fan’s
persistence. Therefore, Bi Fan had secretly vowed that he would
assist Jing Feng in taming a suitable and better Beast Pet later
on in the future.

However, finding the right Beast Pet was a matter of chance.

Bi Fan and his friends quickly finished their dinner and then
immediately returned to their respective rooms to practice.

Ji Ying Lan, Mo Nan and Jing Feng were focusing their

attention of tempering their physical strengths, but since their
physical strength was quite poor at the moment, it was easier to
see the results.

Wang Zhong and Blue Dragon’s physical strength had already

been cultivated to a certain extent, which is why their progress
had slowed down, and hence they were focusing their attention
primarily on their martial skills and techniques for immediate
results.
 Bi Fan was mostly focusing his energy on memorizing the
skills he had seen earlier, and practicing the prancing tiger fist,
the Blood Devil Law, tempering his physical strength, and
various other skills which he had learnt, in addition to spending
his time in researching the possibility of fusing the ‘Fufeng
Double Edged Sword’ skill with the ‘Immortal Finger’…..

Even though he was working quite hard, Bi Fan always felt

that he didn’t have enough time.

Moreover, since his research was quite complicated, it was

hard for him to concentrate on multiple things at the same
time.

Bi Fan was learning several different and advanced techniques

at the same time, and didn’t wish to give up on even a single
one.

Take the ‘Prancing Tiger’ fist technique for example, Bi Fan

had used this skill to defeat an ‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer
martial artist named Xuan Yuan Long.

In case Bi Fan was to be able to cultivate his strength to the

‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer, then the Aura surging
through his body would easily double-up the power output of
this skill.

Therefore it was obviously difficult to abandon and renounce

such a skill.

Bi Fan was trying to dedicate as much time to each technique

as possible since the deeper his knowledge of a particular skill,
the easier it would be to integrate that particular skill with ‘The
Immortal Finger’.

And once he was able to fuse all his known skills with ‘The
Immortal Finger’, his combat effectiveness would increase
multifold.

These thoughts had been constantly acting as a motivational

factor for Bi Fan, and had been propelling him to practice even
harder.

Since he was extremely focused on his practice, time always

flew past, and it would be morning before he’d even realize it.

Since Bi Fan wanted to see as many contests as possible, he

finished his practice early morning, and was combing his hair
when Jing Feng called him out.

Jing Feng and the others were also eager to test themselves
out against the other youngsters from the surrounding cities,
which is why they had also readied themselves for an early
departure.

They finished their breakfast in a hurry, and quickly left the

hotel.

They had decided to follow the same strategy as the previous

day, and set out in separate directions to allow each person the
maximum exposure.

Bi Fan had barely set out when he realized that he was being
tracked once again.

Bi Fan didn’t bother himself much with these spies, and he

quickly strode out towards the Martial Street. Since Bi Fan and
his friends were staying quite close to the Martial Street, it
didn’t take him long to reach the area.
 Even though Bi Fan had set out early, several others had set
out even earlier, and by the time Bi Fan reached the Martial
Street, several rings were already busy catering to some young
and eager challengers.

Bi Fan quickly glanced around and entered a ring which

attracted his interests. He quickly found himself a place to sit,
and then started watching the contest carefully.

Bi Fan was secretly watching his followers as well, and had

noticed that he was still being followed by a lot of people.
However, it seemed that these people belonged to different
parties since none of them seemed to communicating with each
other, and most of them seemed to be on guard against each
other.

The two men fighting inside the ring were fairly strong, and
had already reached the peak of the ‘transformation’ layer,
which was obvious from the brilliant energy waves their attacks
were exuding in the surrounding area.

Moreover, they both seemed to be under the age of twenty,

which meant that they both must be amongst the leading
figures of their respective cities.
 As the competition became more and more exciting, Bi Fan
simply couldn’t help cheering loudly; and had soon turned into
the most active spectator inside the arena.

Most of the people tracking Bi Fan today weren’t the same

people who’d started out after him yesterday.

Most of these people didn’t recognize Bi Fan by face, and were

only going by the description they had been given by their
comrades. At this point, most of these people had started to
wonder if they were following after the right person or not.

The contest was decided soon enough, and since no one

immediately rose to the stage to contest the lord, Bi Fan left the
arena, and continued forward.

Bi Fan had once again decided to refrain from competing in

the rings himself since he didn’t wish to attract more attention
than he already had.

Upon entering the next ring, Bi Fan quickly found himself a

seat, and was soon joined by a rather handsome looking man.
This handsome looking man was also watching the contest very
enthusiastically, but his face seemed a little strange…. Almost as
if it was too handsome to be a man’s.

Bi Fan couldn’t help but stare at the man’s face for a few
moments, but the man realized that someone was staring at his
face, and quickly shot Bi Fan a dirty glance in return.

Since Bi Fan didn’t wish to cause any trouble, he immediately

looked away, and decided to focus his attention on the contest
instead.

Even though the two fighters on the stage weren’t particularly

strong, Bi Fan had still decided to watch the match since they
were both using very unique weapons; a meteor hammer, and a
hook.

“That guy just doesn’t know how to use a meteor hammer! He

can’t even beat a hook with his hammer….. and that hook isn’t
even being used properly…… what a waste! I’ve never seen such
a horrible use of a hammer!”

The man beside Bi Fan passed a comment about the fighting,

and even though the man was speaking negatively about the
fight, his voice still sounded quite sweet.
 Although this person had tried to transform his voice, Bi Fan
was immediately able to figure out that it was woman disguised
as a man instead of an actual man. Bi Fan quickly sized up the
body of this person to confirm his suspicion and then looked
away again.

Bi Fan knew well that it wouldn’t be in his best interests to

provoke a woman, and therefore he felt that it was best to keep
his distance.

Bi Fan felt this glances might have been misunderstood by the

woman, and therefore he turned his body slightly away from
this woman.

“Boy, you seem further away…. Why are you moving away?
I’m not going to eat you.” The woman suddenly became angry.

Bi Fan was left baffled since he had never expected that

shifting his buttocks away would enrage this person into
accusing him.

Bi Fan didn’t realize how hard it can be to assess a woman’s

mind, but decided that it was best to stay away from this
woman.
 Bi Fan didn’t open his mouth to answer, but that only made
this woman angrier.

“Boy, I’m talking to you, why aren’t you answering me?”

Bi Fan pretended to not hear, and continued to watch the

contest instead.

The woman got up and approached Bi Fan, and then said in a

cold voice: “Boy, I was talking to you, so why weren’t you
answering?”

“Ah! Are you talking to me?” Bi Fan asked in a tone of

surprise.

“Boy, quit pretending….. do you think that indulging in

histrionics will get you a girl’s attention…. Ah! What am I
saying?” this woman obviously wasn’t very experienced, and
had ran her mouth a little more than she needed to. She seemed
rather alarmed and a bit frightened all of a sudden.
 “Ha ha…..” Bi Fan couldn’t prevent himself from breaking
into laughter.
 Chapter 210 – Naive Zi Wei

“Laugh again and I’ll rip open your mouth.” The woman
disguised as a man bared her fangs and brandished her claws as
she threatened ferociously.

It was rather rare to come across such an unruly and

uncivilized woman.

Bi Fan simply didn’t wish to provoke this girl any further, and
said: “What do you want, miss?”

Intentionally or unintentionally, Bi Fan had shifted away

from this girl once again.

“Well, come up to the stage and I’ll show you what I want!”

“My strength is too low, so I won’t be able to match you.” Bi

Fan forced a smile.

“Ah, you’re only in the ‘Enormous strength’ layer, so it’s not

very surprising.” The young maiden rolled her eyes as a look of
disdain flashed across her face: “You shouldn’t go around
adventuring with such weak strength to back you. This girl will
take mercy on you; if you follow me, I’ll protect you.”

Bi Fan almost laughed out, but didn’t since he realized that

this woman was very pure and simple, and only meant well.
However, the secrecy regarding her identity was making him
nervous.

“Thank you Miss!” Bi Fan replied sincerely.

“You can call me Zi Wei; this Miss, Miss is really not very
pleasing to my ears.” Zi Wei puckered her brows and said.

This girl must have been address as ‘Miss’ for too long now,
and had perhaps gotten bored of it.

“Miss Zi Wei, which Sect do you hail from?” Bi Fan asked.

“I am…. Ah, I cannot tell you.” Zi Wei smiled.

Each and every movement of this girl was rather funny, and
Bi Fan was no longer able to control his laughter anymore.

“Boy, why are you laughing?” Zi Wei stared at him with her
big and beautiful eyes.

“Nothing.” Bi Fan was left waving is hand again and again in

denial.

Bi Fan somehow controlled his laugher, and said: “Miss Zi

Wei, how about I tell you my origin first, and then you tell me
yours? That’s fair, right?”

“Your body may not be very big and bulky, but you’ve got a
big brain.” Zi Wei laughed out: “That’s right, you must tell me
your name first.”

Bi Fan smiled, simply unable to fathom the existence of

someone so simple and naive.

“I’m Bi Fan of Quinyang Sect; I hail from the Jiu Yu City. May
I ask your name?” Bi Fan stated.
 “Jiu Yu City? Where is that? And what’s the Quinyang Sect?
I’ve never heard of it before.” Zi Wei asked.

Bi Fan realized that the girl had avoided answering his

question again, but knew well that it wouldn’t be appropriate to
force her.

“The Jiu Yu City is very close to the Tong City, and the
Quinyang Sect is one of the top Five Sects of the Jiu Yu City.” Bi
Fan explained patiently.

“Oh, so the Quinyang Sect is one of the top Five Sects of the
Jiu Yu City….. is it as strong as my Bai Sheng Palace?” Zi Wei
simply revealed her origin without feeling any pressure.

“No wonder that Miss Zi Wei hails from the Bai Sheng
Palace…. This is the reason you were able to assess my strength
so easily.” Bi Fan complimented.

Bi Fan had decided to take the diplomatic road since he

wanted to avoid making this girl angry again.

The girl obviously seemed to like the compliment, and

therefore she smiled and said: “Naturally; the Bai Sheng Palace
is one of the top two most powerful Sects of the Tong City!”

“Yes! You’re very powerful Miss!” Bi Fan laughed.

Bi Fan didn’t wish to continue humoring this girl any further

since he genuinely wanted to avoid as much trouble as possible,
and therefore backed away once again.

Seeing that Bi Fan didn’t push the conversation, Zi Wei came

up with another topic: “Bi Fan, is the Jiu Yu City an interesting
place?”

“Yes.” Bi Fan replied in a casual tone.

“Really? Can you take me to the Jiu Yu City so I can see it?”
the girl suddenly became very excited.

“No!” Bi Fan flatly refused: “I have some work in the Tong

City, and I won’t return to the Jiu Yu City until I’m done here.”

Zi Wei looked and Bi Fan and asked: “Are you here for the
Tong Tian Sect’s Secret Storehouse?”

“Yes.”

“Good, because I’m also interested in the Secret Storehouse,

but since you’re strength is too weak, you must follow me, and
I’ll protect you.” Zi Wei stated in an assuring manner.

Bi Fan was left dumbstruck; it was difficult for him to refuse

such well-intended assistance, but he really couldn’t allow a
woman to protect him.

“Miss Zi Wei……” Bi Fan was finding it difficult to refuse her:

“I have several companions for this trip… I really wouldn’t need
your protection, so you please head back to your Sect, and stay
there.”

“No! I won’t go back. I’ve managed to get away with so much

difficulty; I’m never going back again.” Zi Wei shook her head:
“It’s settled then. I’m in charge of your protection.”

“Miss Zi Wei, thank you for your kindness, but I really have a
lot of companions… I must leave now.” Bi Fan got up and
quickly left.

This young maiden had fled her home, and given the power of
her benefactors, Bi Fan would end up in a lot of trouble in case
someone misunderstood their association, and assumed that she
had fled with him.

Bi Fan was experienced enough to know that it wouldn’t be in

his best interests to provoke the Bai Sheng Palace.

Bi Fan was walking fast, but Zi Wei was walking faster, and
she somehow always managed to keep up with him despite his
best efforts otherwise.

Zi Wei seemed only fifteen or sixteen years in age judging by

her looks, but her strength had already reached the ‘Emerging
from the Womb’ layer, which was quite unusual.

Given her talent, she must be considered rather valuable to

the Bai Sheng Palace, and now that she had fled from her Sect,
the Bai Sheng Palace would surely be searching for her.

If Zi Wei was found roaming around with Bi Fan, then he’d

end up in a lot of trouble for it.

However, it seemed that there was no possible way to getting

rid of her, which was making Bi Fan very gloomy.

Ultimately Bi Fan gave up, and decided to make home where it

is.

“Well, since you’re not willing to let go, I guess you can stay
with me for a while.” Bi Fan stated helplessly.

“That’s the right thing to do. You need my protection, even if

your honor doesn’t allow you to thank me for my mercy.” Zi
Wei exposed a proud smile.

Zi Wei’s actions looked rather ridiculous since she was

disguised as a man at this moment; however there was still a
hint of an inexplicable charm about her. In fact, it could even be
stated that her beauty was comparable to Yan Yu Si’s, apart
from the fact that her body was still rather young and
immature.

Bi Fan simply couldn’t help stealing a glance or two: “Young

Miss, you’re certainly going to grow into a peerless beauty in the
years to come, but given how simple and kind hearted you are,
it’s not best for you to adventure alone in this vast world; it
could get very dangerous for you.”

She ignored his comment, and Bi Fan didn’t push any further.

Bi Fan was still very interested in watching as many contests

as possible, and had no intention of returning to his hotel early.

“Bi Fan, what’s the point of watching these weaklings….. but

I’ve heard that they sell a lot of beautiful clothes in the markets
here.” Zi Wei pouted and said.

“Please go ahead, I’d like to watch some more fights.” Bi Fan

replied indifferently.

Zi Wei pointed a finger at Bi Fan as she suddenly realized:

“Ah… I know, you’re trying to get rid of me. I won’t allow you
to; I will follow you, and I will protect you!”

Even though Bi Fan was a bit agitated by this, he was still

unable to get angry on her for reasons beyond his
comprehension.

Bi Fan continued to watch some contests until noon without

any further objections from her.

Zi Wei continued to talk non-stop, but Bi Fan didn’t mind it

much.

Suddenly, Zi Wei started throwing a tantrum: “Bi Fan, I’m

really hungry, let’s go eat something.”

“I had packed some food earlier; I’ll eat that for now, and I’ll
eat a proper meal later at my hotel tonight.” Bi Fan replied.

“I don’t want to eat packaged food! I’ve finally managed to

come out into the city, so I want to taste the City’s finest
delicacies.” Zi Wei didn’t even wait for Bi Fan’s reply and simply
started pulling him along the street, making it very difficult for
him to find a suitable contest to watch.

Out of utter desperation under Zi Wei’s constant nagging, Bi

Fan located a restaurant in the immediate vicinity, and went
inside.
 “What would you boys like?” the waiter asked.

“Give me the best food and wine you have in this restaurant,
and hurry up, this….. boy is really hungry.” Zi Wei stated
loudly.

“Oh, that is a girl after all!” a man pointed towards Zi Wei in

surprise: “Brother, I told you that this boy was a girl dressed as
man, didn’t I? Since we’ve finally found ourselves a beauty, we
might as well have some fun!”

The three other men on that table also got up, and the four of
them made their way towards Zi Wei.

“Oh, you better run; and run fast and away from the Tong
City, because if I catch up with you, you’ll regret it.” Zi Wei
retorted.

“Really? You’re going to teach us a lesson?” the man who

seemed to be leading this group spoke up, while the immoral
expression in his eyes was enough to make anyone vomit.
 “Yes, that’s right. What’re you going to do about it, boy?” Zi
Wei replied coldly.

“Look at you, you’re a good looking girl. Such words don’t suit
you.” The youngster laughed.

“Back away brother…..” Bi Fan couldn’t help himself at this

point.

“You’re courting your death!” Zi Wei shouted back angrily.

Unexpectedly, Zi Wei drew her sword with her lily-white

hands, and immediately launched an attack.
 Chapter 211 – The Xuannv Ninth Heaven
Sword

“Take mercy on your Uncle’s little restaurant! Please don’t

fight here!” the shop’s owner quickly came over trembling in
panic.

Bi Fan promptly pulled Zi Wei back, and whispered: “Private

fighting isn’t allowed in the Tong City, so if you really wish to
fight them, you should take them to the Rings.”

Bi Fan’s sound was loud enough for those four men to make
out his words.

“Hold on!” the youngster in lead spoke up again: “Girl, if you

have any courage, then come and contest me in the ring.”

“Come on, come on, it’s not like I’m afraid of you!” Zi Wei was
simply unwilling to back down.

The four brawny men led the way, and Zi Wei followed out
after them.
 It was already too late for Bi Fan to say anything; therefore he
simply shook his head helplessly, and followed after them.

Those four men searched around quickly, and found an empty

ring soon enough.

“Let’s make this challenge more fun, I bet ten thousand spars,
how about it?” the youngster challenged.

“Don’t take it….” Bi Fan promptly whispered in Zi Wei’s ear.

“Ten thousand Spars for ten thousand spars! Additionally, if

you lose, then you’ll have to kowtow and admit your mistake.”
Zi Wei retorted loudly.

“Well, if I win, then I won’t ask for you to apologize, but you
will have to spend an entire day with us! In fact, you don’t even
need to pay up.” The youngster’s face once again reveled in a
rather nefariously obscene smile.

Zi Wei’s face turned red with anger, but looked rather cute
still, and Bi Fan simply couldn’t help staring at her face for a
moment.

“You’re courting your death!” Zi Wei’s face had turned as cold

as ice.

Zi Wei and that youngster embarked onto the stage, and

stationed themselves opposite to each other.

“Start the contest!” the referee announced loudly.

“Xuannv Flying Rainbow!”

Zi Wei cast out the Xuannv Palace’s trademarked technique,

leaving Bi Fan dumbstruck.

Bi Fan couldn’t help wondering inwardly: “So Zi Wei also

belongs to the same Sect as Miss Yan Yu Si…. That’s quite a
coincidence!”

That youngster obviously didn’t recognize the origin of Zi

Wei’s skillset; else he wouldn’t have dared to fight her.
 However, this youngster was quite tall and lofty in his own
accord, and was using a machete for a weapon; it seemed that
his physical strength was around the same mark as Blue
Dragons’.

Since the youngster started the contest on a high note as well,

his companions started cheering for him.

“Tang Tian Yang to victory! Tang Tian Yang to victory!……”

Tang Tian Yang seemed rather complacent with his position,

and was seemingly paying a lot of attention to the pack of
rogues who were cheering him on.

Tang Tian Yang was respectably strong, and even though he

hadn’t yet reached the ‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer yet, but
his physical strength was sufficient to enable him to compete
against a poor beginning level ‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer
martial artist.

Moreover, Tang Tian Yang had a lot of combat experience,

and was far superior to Zi Wei in that respect.
 Zi Wei on the other hand, barely had any combat experience,
and even though she was much stronger than Tang Tian Yang,
she started losing the fight right from the beginning.

Fortunately, Zi Wei’s sword was a high-end weapon, and

hence Tang Tian Yang was keeping his distance which was
seemingly delaying his victory.

Even though Bi Fan could sense that Zi Wei’s fighting

experience was quite low, and knew that she’d do better in case
he offered advice, but he decided to keep his mouth shut since
he felt that it was better for her sake if she learnt it from her
own mistakes.

“Time to end this!” Tang Tian Yang raised his blade as he

summoned his strength and charged forward to behead her in
order to finish the fight.

“Ah!” Zi Wei quickly dodged the attack in panic.

Zi Wei had lowered her head to dodge the attack, but Tang
Tian Yang’s blade brushed off her hairband and cut open her
hair lose.
 “Ah!” Zi Wei cried out in alarm.

“Ha ha! She’s quite the beauty ah! It seems that my bet turned
out to be even better than I thought! Little girl if you lose, then
you’ll have to honor your promise. Ha ha….” Tang Tian Yang
laughed out loudly in a very vulgar manner.

Tang Tian Yang’s three companions also shouted out after

him: “Tang Tian Yang, you’re so lucky with women! Ha ha
ha……”

Zi Wei’s face became pale with anger, and she coldly shouted
back: “Your shameless is the reason why no girl will ever like
you!”

“Xuannv Ninth Heaven Sword!”

In her angered state, Zi Wei casted out the Xuannv Palace’s

paramount technique; a technique which she had accidentally
stumbled upon since this technique had been lost almost a
thousand years ago.

Although Zi Wei didn’t seem very well-versed with this

technique yet, she decided to use it anyway since she was
running out of options at this point.

Just as she casted out this supreme skill, a powerful sword

network of seemingly-fairies flew out, and charged towards
Tang Tian Yang, who was so flabbergasted by the might of this
attack, that he didn’t even counter the move.

“Ah!” Tang Tian Yang screamed out as Zi Wei’s sword injured

his hand, making his weapon drop to the ground.

Zi Wei rested her sword on his neck, and Tang Tian Yang
started begging for mercy: “Spare my life ah, I surrender, I
concede my defeat…..”

“Since you’ve already conceded the fight, you might as well

kowtow and admit your mistake now!” Zi Wei seemed rather
cheerful.

Zi Wei wasn’t used to winning fights, and was rather excited

now that she had won a real match.

“I was wrong, please have mercy.” Tang Tian Yang quickly

knelt down to his knees and pressed his forehead against the
ground in submission.

Zi Wei pointed to his other three companions and said:

“There, them also….”

“Do a kowtow now!” the pale-faced Tang Tian Yang snapped

at his friends.

“Miss, we were mistaken.”

The three men had also realized that their leader had lost the
match, and therefore bent down to the ground and apologized
since they were afraid that she might come down and fight
them.

“And now my reward.” Zi Wei extended her hand.

Zi Wei took the spars, climbed down the stairs, and then
walked over to Bi Fan, smiled and said: “See, I’m qualified
enough to protect you, aren’t I?”
 “Yes, you’re very strong!…..” Bi Fan really didn’t know what
else to say.

“If we were out in the wild, then I would’ve obviously killed

these goons.” Zi Wei stated.

“Oh.. well.” Bi Fan was still pondering over the martial

technique that he had just seen. This skill was extremely sharp
and powerful, and was even more advanced than the ones that
Yan Yu Si and Xuan Yuan Po Jun had used in the tournament
previously.

Unfortunately, the fight had ended before Zi Wei was able to

display the entire collection of moves, and Bi Fan was already
itching to see the rest of it.

Therefore, Bi Fan decided to keep her around for bit more

since it could mean that he might get a chance to see the rest of
the skill set.

The sun set in the sky soon enough, and Bi Fan made no
attempts to contest in any of the rings the entire day, but he was
still reluctant to leave since he wanted to see more action.
 However, since Bi Fan had spent the entire day watching and
learning different skill sets, he decided that it would be best to
return to his hotel and replay them all in his head once.

“Miss Zi Wei, let’s go back to my hotel.” Bi Fan stated.

“Yes! I’m so tired, I just want to go back and take a bath, and I
want some rest.” Zi Wei started clapping her hands.

Bi Fan looked at the innocence on her face, and simply

couldn’t understand that unspeakable feeling that gripped his
heart in that brief moment.

Zi Wei had already changed into women’s clothing by now,

and was looking rather adorable.

Zi Wei was quite young and feminine, and had a rather

charming aura around her.

Since he was being accompanied by such a beautiful girl, the

number of spies following after him increased by a bit.
 Bi Fan payed no attention to them and quickly escorted Zi Wei
back to his hotel.

Jing Feng and the others saw Bi Fan walking in with such a
beautiful young girl, and couldn’t help themselves from staring
at him with their eyes and mouths wide open.

“Brother Bi Fan, it seems that its time I started calling you

‘Lover Boy’…. you’ve barely been out for a day, and you’ve
already picked up such a beautiful young girl ah!” Jing Feng said
with a smile.

Bi Fan’s face suddenly flushed with embarrassment: “Brother

Jing Feng, please don’t tease me. I met this girl by accident, and
I had no other option but to bring her here.”

Zi Wei sized up Jing Feng, Mo Nan, Wang Zhong, Blue Dragon

and Ji Ying Lan, and then smiled and said: “You must be Bi
Fan’s friends! You’re all decently strong… well, at least you’re
all stronger than Bi Fan… but you’re still not stronger than me.”

Jing Feng and the others immediately realized that Zi Wei

lacked practical experiences, and was a bit too innocent the
moment she opened her mouth.
 Jing Feng walked over to Bi Fan’s side and whispered:
“Brother, tell me honestly, where did you pickup this beautiful
girl?”

“I really didn’t, ah, she insisted on following me.” Bi Fan

replied with a smile.

“What are the two of you whispering?” Zi Wei pouted,

seemingly dissatisfied.

Bi Fan quickly spoke up: “Miss Zi Wei, aren’t you really tired,
you should go up and get some rest.”

“Yes! Yes! I’m soaking in sweat after today’s tour, so I really

need a proper bath now. Bi Fan, I tell you, don’t you leave
without telling me first, okay?”

“Don’t worry, we’ll take you with us when we leave for the
Storehouse.” Bi Fan replied reassuringly.

Zi Wei looked at Bi Fan’s earnest expression, and sensed that

he wasn’t lying, and hence she quickly went in search of a room
to find accommodation in.

Seeing that Zi Wei was finally out of sight, Bi Fan breathed a

sigh of relief.

“Brother Bi Fan, looks like you won’t miss Miss Yan Yu Si

after all, huh?” Mo Nan teased.

“I don’t like Miss Yan Yu Si, so why will I miss her?” Bi Fan
promptly defended himself.

“Okay, I was just saying…..”

“Brother Bi Fan, you’re not very honest with us. Even though
you secretly like Miss Yan Yu Si, you still won’t admit it to us.”
Jing Feng joined in.

“I don’t…. I’m telling you, I don’t.” Bi Fan’s face instantly

turned red, and then he quickly turned around and ran back to
his room.
 “Ha Ha….” The five remaining companions broke into
laugher.
 Chapter 212 – Mischievous Zi Wei

As Bi Fan returned to his room and thought about the way Zi

Wei talked and reacted, he couldn’t help but have a hearty
laugh.

“This young girl is not only very strong, she also has the
innocence of a child which is very rare to find in grown-up
people.”

It was awfully rare to come across girls like Zi Wei in this

world, or it was at least the first time that Bi Fan had met such a
person.

It was expected that the Bai Sheng Palace would have shaken
up after Zi Wei’s escape, and they were likely to send numerous
strong fighters to bring her back.

In case these people were to find Zi Wei, then Bi Fan wouldn’t

know whether to fight for her or to let them take her away.

Bi Fan cared about Zi Wei since she had displayed the

powerful ‘Xuannv Ninth Heaven Sword’. He wanted to spend
some more time with Zi Wei so that he could get an opportunity
to see this martial skill again.

Although still stuck in the confusion, Bi Fan finally calmed

himself down and started his practice.

Time flew by and the next morning Zi Wei knocked Bi Fan’s

door.

“Bi Fan, get out of your bed!”

Bi Fan ended his practice, combed his hair, washed his face
and opened the door.

“Have you rested properly, Zi Wei?” Bi Fan smiled.

“Yes, I have rested enough. Although it was not as

comfortable as my home, but I won’t nag about it.” Zi Wei
shook her head.

At this time, Zi Wei had already resumed her dress-up of a

man and looked quite handsome. If any gay man saw her
dressed up as a man, he’d immediately fall in love with this
handsome youngster!

Bi Fan and Zi Wei treaded downstairs. Jing Feng and others

weren’t present in the lobby yet, therefore Bi Fan ordered
breakfast for all of them.

Soon afterwards, Jing Feng and others joined them in the

lobby.

“Bi Fan, Zi Wei girl, you both got up early.” Jing Feng greeted
them.

“Jing Feng, don’t call me a girl here….” Zi Wei immediately

snapped at Jing Feng.

“What else should I call a girl?” Jing Feng smiled.

“You should call me ‘brother’. Have you ever seen such a

handsome young man?” Zi Wei raised her head high and puffed
her chest in pride.
 “No, I certainly haven’t…..” Jing Feng shook his head.

Zi Wei was almost perfect at dressing up as a man, but she was

so beautiful that her beauty betrayed her dress up.

Zi Wei turned to Bi Fan and asked, “Bi Fan, where are we

going for shopping today?”

“You can go and shop; I have no time to accompany you since

I’ll be going to watch the martial arts matches.” Bi Fan replied.

“No, you have to accompany me, and anyway those matches

are so boring!” Zi Wei tried to convince Bi Fan.

“You go. I don’t have any time to roam here and there.” Bi
Fan flatly refused.

An angry expression surfaced on Zi Wei’s face seeing that Bi

Fan had turned his face away, and was no longer paying any
attention to her.

Jing Feng and the others, who had been gossiping amongst
themselves quieted down immediately since they didn’t wish to
provoke her.

Zi Wei was an innocent young girl and being sad or angry

didn’t suit her nature since her words or acts could be malicious
even though she didn’t intend them to be as such.

Bi Fan paid no attention towards the angry Zi Wei and gulped

down his breakfast.

Zi Wei didn’t even touch her food and instead kept sulking the
entire time.

Jing Feng and the others wanted to laugh out loud, but since
they couldn’t, it was getting more and more difficult for them to
hold back their laughter with each passing second.

Therefore they ate their breakfast quickly and departed in

haste.

As Bi Fan also started to leave, Zi Wei quickly caught up with

him, and shouted angrily: “Bi Fan, wait for me! Wait for this
girl…err…your brother!”
 “Aren’t you going out for shopping?” Bi Fan smiled.

“Going alone is of no use.” Zi Wei sulkily replied.

Bi Fan shook his head but still didn’t pay any attention to Zi
Wei. After exiting the hotel, Bi Fan made his way towards the
arenas so he could watch people fight, and started watching the
matches earnestly.

The fighters contesting in these arenas hailed from different

places and hence displayed a wide range of martial skills.

This was a golden opportunity for Bi Fan since he could now

memorize several new martial skills every day.

Since these martial artists belonged to different cities, they’d

all inevitably contest fiercely in order to enhance their personal
reputation and that of their native city. However, since they
weren’t desperate for a victory, they’d often refrain from
exhibiting their best skills.
 Bi Fan however, was still delighted since he could still learn a
wide range of skill sets.

Zi Wei was unable to figure out why Bi Fan was so interested

in just watching these matches, even though he didn’t seem
very interested in contesting in person.

“Bi Fan, why don’t you go and fight in the arena? Are you
afraid of getting beaten up?” Zi Wei asked with a smile.

“Hey…yes, my strength is so low that I’m afraid I’ll be

thrashed.” Bi Fan replied back.

Zi Wei was a bit disappointed to see that her remarks weren’t

sufficient to provoke Bi Fan.

Her eyes started gleaming with the thought of another idea

since she had failed to provoke Bi Fan directly.

The ongoing match in the arena had ended rather quickly,

and ‘transformation’ layered contestant who had won this
match had assumed the position of the Lord.
 “Is there anyone else who wants to challenge me? Deng Bai
Chuan is eager to teach you a lesson!” The man roared atop the
stage.

“My brother wants to!” Zi Wei shouted loudly.

She shouted out and then pointed towards Bi Fan!

The people surrounding Bi Fan and Zi Wei immediately

looked at Zi Wei, and then redirected their gaze towards Bi Fan.

“Your brother Deng Bai Chuan is waiting for you little

brother!” The man replied back as he cupped his hands in
greeting.

Bi Fan shook his head and reluctantly made his way towards
the arena, but gave Zi Wei an angry glance before entering the
arena.

Zi Wei stuck out her tongue, and then broke into laughter.
 She wanted to see Bi Fan’s prowess, but he wasn’t interested
in showcasing his skills, and therefore she decided to take this
step knowing that he wouldn’t back out of a challenge in front
of everyone.

“You haven’t challenged me yet, brother!” Deng Baichuan

spoke up again.

“I am Bi Fan, nice to meet you!” Bi Fan greeted him by folding

his hands.

“Brother Bi Fan, I see, you are just at enormous strength level.

You shouldn’t fight me.” Deng Bai Chung said.

Deng Bai Chung had some ethics of his own, and therefore he
didn’t deem it fair to fight someone weaker than him since it
would be tantamount to bullying.

“Since I have entered the arena, I request that you fight me.
Even if I lose, I will learn something from you.” Bi Fan said:
“Brother, please start the fight.”

“Then I shall fight only with my fists.” Deng Bai Chuan

stated. Since he was facing an opponent with a lower strength
level, he decided against using a weapon against this opponent.

Bi Fan thought to himself, ‘Wan Zu’ fist was an ordinary skill,

and possibly useless; but the ‘Prancing Tiger’ fist might be too
strong. Since Deng Bai Chuan was a kind hearted person, he
didn’t want to hurt him. Finally, Bi Fan decided to use
‘Swimming Dragon’ fist to display his prowess.

Bi Fan employed the ‘Swimming Dragon’ palm and ‘Babu

Swimming Dragon’ technique, and his entire body transformed
into a whirlwind of tornados.

Although Deng Bai Chuan was stronger than Bi Fan, but he

wasn’t very skilled, and was therefore quite impressed with Bi
Fan.

“Brother Bi Fan, good footwork!” Deng Bai Chuan said with a

big smile.

“Thank you brother.” Bi Fan stated: “Now watch this!”

Since Deng Bai Chuang had been generous to him, Bi Fan

decided to end the fight quickly since he didn’t wish to make a
show out of the man.

Therefore, he launched another attack, but this time he

attacked with all his strength.

“Bang! Bang!….” Deng Bai Chuan was forced to retreat a few

exchanges later since Bi Fan’s display had completely shocked
him.

“You’re very impressive Brother Bi Fan…. Deng Bai Chuan

admits defeat!” Although Deng Bai Chuan’s expression was bit
unsightly at this point, but he didn’t hesitate in admitting his
defeat.

“Thank you for letting me win, brother.” Bi Fan folded his

hands in greeting.

Seeing that Bi Fan had won the match, Zi Wei opened her
mouth in surprise: “How could this happen? Bi Fan’s strength is
much lower than Deng Bai Chuans’, then how could he win?
Did Deng Bai Chuan let him win intentionally?”
 After receiving the prize spars, Bi Fan refused to continue
fighting and exited the arena.

“Let’s go.” Bi Fan was unable to remain angry with her after
watching her adorable ‘stunned’ expression.

“Bi Fan, how did you win? Did you bribe Deng Bai Chuan?” Zi
Wei bombarded him with questions.

“I’m not going to tell you; why don’t you go and ask Deng
Baichuan?” Bi Fan smiled.

Although he cared about Zi Wei, but he thought it better not

to tell her the truth.

Zi Wei had a rather mischievous nature, and hence it was

difficult to guess what she’d do next.

Bi Fan continued to watch the matches and kept memorizing

the martial skills. However, he refrained from contesting in the
arenas since he didn’t wish to practice skills just yet.
 Moreover, if the news of fighting ability got out, he’d have a
difficult time in maintaining his ‘low-key’ profile.

Anyway, the opening of the Storehouse would be the ideal

opportunity to test out his skills.

Zi Wei still couldn’t figure out how Bi Fan won, so she kept
trying to make him blurt out his secret, but Bi Fan was cleverly
dodged her each time.

“Bi Fan, you are such a coward! You have been watching the
matches all day long and yet you couldn’t gather the courage to
fight in the arena!” Zi Wei sneered.

“I am so weak…. my strength level is so low. I don’t want to

die here.” Bi Fan replied humbly.

“You…you rascal!” Zi Wei simply could not have her way with
Bi Fan.

Every time Zi Wei would try some trick to make Bi Fan spill
the beans, Bi Fan would ingeniously ruin her plans. This
naturally made her angry, and she kept raining curses at Bi Fan
incessantly.

Since Bi Fan knew that he couldn’t do anything about it, so he

pretended to not hear her remarks.

It was only because Bi Fan was aware of her nature that he

was maintaining his composure, had it been anyone else, Bi Fan
would’ve already taught the said-person a good lesson.

However, Bi Fan couldn’t manage to get angry at Zi Wei since

he was seeing her as a spoilt little child.
 Chapter 213 – Love At First Sight

It had been two weeks since Bi Fan had been in the Tong City
but the Tong Tian Sect’s secret storehouse hadn’t been opened
until now; on the other hand, more and more strong youngsters
were swarming in to the Tong City every day.

Bi Fan would go to the Martial Street every day to watch the

matches. Occasionally, he would even contest a match, but he
only used his boxing techniques while fighting there since it was
useless to display his real strength.

In the recent days, Bi Fan had watched the matches of some

genuinely strong youngsters, some of whom had already
reached at ‘Gold Dan’ layer.

Those inside the ‘Gold Dan’ layer were extremely strong and
Bi Fan was well aware that he couldn’t compete with them.

Therefore, Bi Fan was striving hard to maintain a low-key

presence and even urged Jing Feng and the others to try not to
fight with anyone in order to avoid unnecessary trouble.
 Jing Feng, Wang Zhong and the others always followed Bi
Fan’s advice, and no matter how strong their urge to fight was,
they did their best to restrain themselves.

Zi Wei followed Bi Fan all the time. She knew that Bi Fan had
an unfathomable secret and was actually more powerful than he
showed. Even Jing Feng and Wang Zhong, who were much
stronger than Bi Fan on the surface, always seemed to listen to
Bi Fan which only increased her curiosity to know more about
him.

“What is the Bi Fan’s history? He must have enhanced his

physical strength, that’s probably why he is stronger than he
seems. Of course, he is powerful….. If he wasn’t, then why
would strong martial artists like Jing Feng and Wang Zhong
follow him?” Zi We was still puzzled.

Zi We had asked Bi Fan, Jing Feng and the others a number of

times, but instead of answering her incessant questions, they
would only smile at her.

Zi We had decided not to leave their company and had vowed

to find out more about Bi Fan. Obviously, she didn’t have any
malicious intentions behind this, she was just overly curious.
 Another ten days passed by, and by this time, Jing Feng and
the others had become habitual of having Zi Wei around them,
and even Zi Wei wasn’t ready to leave them, so naturally they
couldn’t do anything about it.

Moreover, Zi We was always innocently smiling when she was

around Bi Fan, whether it was intentional or unintentional, but
it made Bi Fan quite happy.

These six youngsters always treated Zi We like a spoilt little

child; and acted as if they needed to take care of her.

Since more and more powerful people were now contesting at

the Martial Street, every time Bi Fan would go to watch a
match, the others would accompany him instead of going
separate ways; so just in case they encountered some trouble,
they could help each other.

“Bi Fan, let’s go out for shopping instead of going to watch

those matches again. You have been watching those boring
matches every day from the past two weeks! Let’s go shopping
today instead!” Zi We sneered.

“No…”
 Jing Feng smiled and said: “Brother Bi Fan, let’s go and have a
stroll in the city. It’s a bad idea to watch matches every day.”

“Yes, he’s right!” Mo Nan added.

Mo Nan simply couldn’t refuse since Zi Wei had looked

pitifully at him, and he simply couldn’t dodge her childish
charms.

Once Zi Wei looked pitifully at them, Jing Feng and the rest of
the company could never refuse to any demand she was making.

Bi Fan was the only one capable of immunizing himself of her

charms, and hence was the only one capable of refusing her.

Bi Fan looked at Jing Feng and the others, and finally nodded
in agreement.

When on the road of cultivation, it is important to take breaks

at regular intervals. Fanatically practising can cause more harm
than good.
 Since they all had decided to go out and have some leisure
time, Bi Fan opened up and was enjoying every single moment.

“This mask is so nice! I will buy it.”

“This dress is so pretty! I will buy it.”

“Son, this dress is meant for girls. Do you really want to buy
it?” The shopkeeper inquired.

Zi We was immediately reminded that she had dressed up like

a boy, and hence she snapped back at the shopkeeper: “Of
course I want to buy it. Can’t I buy my girlfriend a nice dress?”

“Oh! I am sorry, son.” The shopkeeper hastily packed the

dress.

Bi Fan, who was accompanying Zi We, had nothing to buy

from these shops, and was left bitterly shaking head as the only
job he had now was to carry Zi Wei’s shopping bags.
 On the other hand, Zi Wei was interested in anything that she
came across, irrespective of whether it was meant for her or
not, she continued having a look at the goods in the shop.

“It is so refreshing to be here. It’s been a long time since I last

bought something for myself, so now I will buy all the things
that I like.” Zi We laughed since she was having a good time.

“Oh! Such a handsome young man is shopping for girls…..” A

pleasant voice sounded from behind.

One could judge by the sweet voice that the speaker was a
charming young lady.

Soon the person approached towards them. It was indeed a

pretty and young woman, almost of the same age as Zi Wei. Her
white teeth were peeping behind her rosy lips and her eyes were
as bright as pearls. She had an exquisite stature, and a graceful
body which made her figure even more appealing.

“She is really very beautiful!” Jing Feng exclaimed while

swinging his jade fan.
 Bi Fan and the others could not help but steal some glances.
This girl was really very beautiful and was no less than Zi Wei in
terms of appearances.

The girl approached Zi Wei and started staring at her;

mesmerized.

She was already regretting her mocking remark.

“Girl, can’t a boy go and shop?” Zi Wei looked at Bi Fan who

was already staring at the girl, and her face turned sour.

“No, no! I admit it, I shouldn’t have said that.” The girl waved
her hands as she spoke up.

The girl was staring lovingly at Zi We; perhaps she had fallen
in love with Zi Wei at first sight! She was really unfortunate
since she didn’t know that the young man she had fallen in love
with was actually a girl disguised as a boy.

“Bi Fan, let’s go, I don’t want to stay here anymore.” Zi We

made an ugly face.
 “Mister, can I have the honour of knowing your name? My
name is Hong Yan.” The girl asked in a pressure manner.

Jing Feng smiled and commented in an undertone: “Zi Wei is

looking so charming while dressed up as a man that her charm
has abdicated this girl’s sanity.”

Blue Dragon shook his head and said: “You are right, and it’s
getting more and more interesting.”

Zi We looked at strange manner in which Hong Yan was

staring at her, and couldn’t help blushing.

“Let’s go back to the hotel. I don’t want to shop anymore

today.” Zi Wei announced.

Bi Fan and the others, who never wanted to go out for

shopping in the first place, happily agreed.

But just as they all left the place and started walking, they
noticed that Hong Yan was following after them.
 Zi Wei said coldly: “Stop following us or get ready to face the
consequences!”

Hong Yan realized that Zi We was getting really angry which

this left her terrified, and she hastily said: “Fine, I will not
follow you from now on.”

Zi Wei and the others reached the hotel soon. Since it was
afternoon already, they all ordered lunch and had a good meal,
and thereafter decided to stay in and rest in the hotel itself.

Just when they were about to exit the lobby to return to their
respective rooms, Hong Yan unexpectedly entered the hotel!

“Oh! What a coincidence!” Hong Yan pretended to be

surprised.

“Yes, what a coincidence! Miss Hong Yan is also here.” Jing

Feng said with a smile.

Bi Fan clearly understood that Hong Yan had followed them

all the way to the hotel and hence couldn’t help bursting into
laughter.
 However, Zi We was not much experienced with people and
hence she really believed that Hong Yan was there just by
chance, which made her face a little distressed, but she didn’t
get angry this time.

“Young men, this was not a mere coincidence. It clearly

proves that we are destined to be friends. It’s a pity that we
haven’t been formally introduced yet.” Hong Yan said with a
smile.

“My name is Jing Feng.”

Jing Feng, Bi Fan and everyone else introduced themselves to

Hong Yan. It was only Zi We who seemed reluctant to tell Hong
Yan her name.

“May I have the honour of knowing your name, young man?”

Hong Yan asked Zi Wei. It was Zi Wei’s name that Hong Yan
wanted to know the most. She knew Bi Fan and the others were
constantly looking at her, so she waited first for them to finish
introducing themselves so that she could finally ask Zi Wei’s
introduction.
 “My name is Zi Wei.” Zi Wei noticed that Hong Yan was
extremely happy at knowing her name.

“Zi Wei! Zi Wei! What a pleasant name!” Hong Yan looked

rather overjoyed.

Hong Yan came and sat down beside Zi Wei, already having
made up her mind against leaving her alone.

“Young men, have you also come to this city to compete for
the Tong Tian Sect’s secret storehouse?” Hong Yan asked.

“Well, since most of the other youngsters have arrived in the

Tong city to hunt for the Tong Tian Sect’s hidden storehouse,
we naturally can’t be exceptions.” Jing Feng said with a smile.

“That’s great! Then I will join you.”

Jing Feng and the others stared at her with their eyes wide
open, simply unable to find their words.

Zi Wei looked rather embarrassed as she said: “Hong Yan, you

are a girl. You shouldn’t stay with us.”

“Ha ha ha!……” Jing Feng could no longer contain his

laughter!

Zi Wei was a girl dressed up as a man and she had caused Hong
Yan to fanatically follow her – this was just too much for him.

Zi Wei heard Jing Feng’s laughter and was afraid that he

might spill the beans, and therefore she flashed a glare in his
direction.

“Why are you laughing? Have I cracked a joke?” Zi Wei

snapped at Jing Feng.

Hong Yan smiled and said: “What difference does it make if I

am a girl? To gain respect in this world of martial arts, one has
to be powerful irrespective of whether the person is a boy or a
girl.”

“You are getting me wrong; what I meant was that it would be

inconvenient for you to stay with seven young men.” Zi Wei
stated.
 “What inconvenience would that cause for me? At the worst, I
would have to dress up like a man.” Hong Yan surprised Zi Wei
with her come back.

This time, Bi Fan and all his other five companions broke into
laughter in unison. Zi Wei had finally met someone who was as
persistent as Zi Wei herself, which was obviously very amusing
for Bi Fan and his companions.

“It’s not right; I’m telling you it’s not right!” Zi Wei retorted
resolutely.

Hong Yan said firmly: “I live in this hotel; I am not following

you.”

Hong Yan went straight to the reception to get herself a room

since she had decided to stay there.

Zi Wei made an ugly face since she was completely helpless

now.
 “Bi Fan, can’t we change our hotel, ah?”

“I’m afraid that won’t be possible. Right now every hotel in

the Tong City must be fully occupied. If we left this hotel, we
might have to spend the night on the road!” Bi Fan stated as he
shook his head.

Zi Wei was left extremely dejected by his reply, and therefore

she hurried back to her room sulking.

“It seems that the show is over for now!” Jing Feng said, still
unable to control his laughter.
 Chapter 214 – Treasure Hunt Commences
Soon!

The company of two beautiful girls would’ve been a matter of

joy for anyone else, but not for Bi Fan.

Hong Yan seemed to be innocent but Bi Fan and his

companions knew nothing about her background.

Bi Fan didn’t want to start a quarrel, but he knew that

expelling Zi Wei and Hong Yan wouldn’t be easy.

Among Bi Fan and his companions, only Jing Feng had a way
with girls. But in front of two young girls, even he was helpless.
Jing Feng didn’t have the heart to deceive them, especially Zi
Wei.

“If these two girls continue to stay with us, we might miss the
opportunity to find Tong Tian Sect’s hidden storehouse!” Wang
Zhong smiled bitterly.

“Ah, yes, if we kept these girls in our company, someone will

surely thrash us.” Blue Dragon had no interest in girls; he was
only interested in practising martial arts.

Bi Fan was as helpless: “There’s no other way out. We have to

work step by step.”

The next morning, Zi Wei and Hong Yan started their battle of
wits while Bi Fan was greatly irked by it.

He decided to skip his breakfast and went out immediately left

for Martial Street to watch the matches.

Not knowing what to do, Zi Wei followed Bi Fan and was in

turn followed by Hong Yan.

“It seems that he has grown sick of all the drama.” Jing Feng
laughed on as he and the other boys followed Bi Fan.

After reaching the Martial Street, Bi Fan searched for a ring

and started watching the ongoing match earnestly.

Bi Fan didn’t want anyone or anything to disturb him while

watching the match.

“Zi Wei, what is Brother Bi Fan doing? These matches are so

boring, yet they interest him so much. Hasn’t he ever seen
people fighting each other?” Hong Yan asked.

Hong Yan’s curiosity was no less than Zi Wei’s, so she casually

asked her.

Hong Yan was always following Zi Wei, finding excuses to talk

to her. She obviously wanted to get closer to her.

“I don’t know what goes on inside his head, but he watches

these matches every day.” Zi Wei replied indifferently.

Zi Wei didn’t want to talk to Hong Yan and she was always
dissatisfied with Bi Fan for watching matches every day, which
had made her a little rude towards both of them.

Bi Fan heard her words, but chose to remain silent and

continued focussing on remembering the martial skills.
 Bi Fan specialized in memorizing the other people’s martial
skills by just watching them once; he obviously couldn’t tell
anyone about it.

A lot of talented people existed in this world but very few

people can remember the techniques used by the people
contesting in such matches.

As there was no law against memorizing and using other

people’s battle techniques, even if one couldn’t memorize the
techniques, he always could gain some experience by watching
the matches.

Bi Fan wanted to find a martial skill that he could integrate

with ‘The Immortal Finger’ technique to enhance its power.
Therefore, he was putting his heart and soul in memorizing the
maximum number of techniques while watching these matches.

Since ‘The Immortal Finger’ technique was a well-kept secret

of Bi Fans’, he would definitely not tell anyone about his
intentions of integrating this technique with some other martial
skills.

If in due time Bi Fan succeeded to infuse the immortal finger

with some other techniques, then no one would ever be able to
detect it, which would allow him to use it to a great effect.

“Zi Wei, haven’t you known Brother Bi Fan from a long

time?” Hong Yan asked.

“Oh no, no! I met Bi Fan only ten days ago.” Zi Wei, being
overly innocent, didn’t see any reason to lie to her.

Hong Yan was surprised: “Then why do you follow him?”

“I don’t follow him. It’s just that we found ourselves to be

compatible to each other, and so we decided to hang out
together.” Zi Wei replied plainly.

“Zi Wei, I find you to be compatible with me. That’s why I

want to stay in your company.” Hong Yan couldn’t hide her
excitement while speaking.

“This…You should go back to the place you came from. Your

family must be worried about you.” Zi Wei made an ugly face.
 She wanted to stop Hong Yan’s advances, but had been largely
unsuccessful thus far. Moreover, she couldn’t risk exposing her
real identity right now.

“Don’t worry about my family. I informed them before I came

here.” Hong Yan replied with a smile.

Hong Yan had made up her mind, and she was willing to say
anything to stay with Zi Wei.

Bi Fan was busy watching the matches. Zi Wei would often

look towards Bi Fan, then have a glance of the match and would
look at Bi Fan again, doing her best to ignore the pestilent Hong
Yan who continued to stare at her adorably without even
blinking her eyes.

Zi Wei was quite embarrassed by her interests, which made

her face blush.

At the same time, she couldn’t stop being amused by the fact
that she, being a girl, was being adored by another girl.

Zi Wei thought to herself: “Hong Yan is really interesting. It

would be fun to have her around.”

“Dear Hong Yan, how do you think of Brother Bi Fan?” Zi Wei

asked her.

“Ah, well, he is a very nice person.” Hong Yan was baffled by

this sudden question.

“Really? Even I think so! That’s why I like him so much.”

“Ah!” Hong Yan revealed a colour of surprise; she looked at Zi

Wei and then at Bi Fan; she had clearly misunderstood Zi Wei.

Zi Wei continued: “Sister Hong Yan, since you like Brother Bi

Fan, let me introduce him to you.”

“No…No…Please…I don’t want to…” Hong Yan hastily waved

her delicate hands.

Zi Wei sighed: “Oh! So you like Jing Feng. Well, Jing Feng is
such a pathetic boy. I don’t know what makes girls drool after
him. Do you really like him? If not, who do you like? Brother
Wang Zhong? Brother Blue Dragon? Brother Mo Nan? Or is it
Brother Ji Ying Lan that you like?”

“No, no! I don’t like any of them! Zi Wei, I… I…” Hong Yan
wanted to express her feelings but couldn’t gather the courage
because of they were surrounded by so many people at that
time.

“You don’t like anyone? Well, then let me watch the match.”
Zi Wei said hastily as she didn’t want to get embarrassed in
front of so many people.

Hong Yan feared being rejected by Zi Wei in front of everyone,

and she decided to keep her mouth shut.

On the other hand, Zi Wei found Hong Yan to be same as her

and didn’t want to hurt her feelings in front of everyone,
therefore she resorted to watching the match.

However, Hong Yan had been following Zi Wei everywhere

and was clinging to her, which was rather annoying for Zi Wei;
not knowing any means to get rid of Hong Yan only made her
more anxious.
 She looked towards Jing Feng urging for help, but Jing Feng
shook his head, implying that he couldn’t help her.

Jing Feng and the others had been laughing among

themselves while watching Hong Yan clinging to Zi Wei and had
no intentions of helping her out of this mess.

Therefore, Zi Wei turned to another side, ignoring Hong Yan.

Bi Fan also noticed Zi Wei’s embarrassment while watching

the matches and was quite content at his heart, deriving
pleasures from another’s misfortunes.

The mischievous-minded Zi Wei had finally found someone

who could trouble her, and therefore he decided to allow Hong
Yan to pester Zi Wei.

“Jin Suo, you think you can seize the treasure of the Tong
Tian sect’s secret storehouse? You are so stupid!”

“Tan Yun Fei, you are no better than me. Your school is so
mediocre that they couldn’t teach you any special skills. You
just don’t have what it takes to find the secret storehouse!”
 Such petty arguments were a common sight all around the
Tong city. The competition to find the treasure of Tong Tian
sect’s secret storehouse hadn’t commenced yet and this had
created a huge unrest among the martial artists who had
gathered in the city. As a result, they would often provoke each
other and eventually ended up fighting amongst themselves.

“Strong martial artists have gathered in the city from all over
the land, please be careful everyone. Avoid provoking and
getting provoked by anyone.” Bi Fan urged again and again.

Bi Fan knew that the treasure hunt had not commenced yet.
He was well aware of the fact that once the treasure hunt
commenced, several martial artists would try to settle their
personal enmities and many people would die in this process.

They all had to stay away from trouble as much as they

possibly could before the treasure hunt finally commenced.

Although Bi Fan and all his companions were quite powerful

in their own accord, still they didn’t want to stir up unnecessary
trouble.
 “What are you afraid of? Are you not powerful enough?”
Hong Yan asked.

Jing Feng smiled: “Yes, our strength is not too much. If we

provoked a powerful enemy, then we all might get killed.”

Assessing from the way Hong Yan carried herself, Jing Feng
and the other knew that Hong Yan belonged to a noble family
and perhaps was a disciple of some renowned school just like Zi
Wei.

Jing Feng definitely didn’t want to argue with her and hence
agreed with whatever she said rather than explaining
everything to her.

Mo Nan said: “The martial artists that have gathered here to

hunt for the treasure of Tong Tian sect’s secret storehouse are
indeed powerful; we can’t look down upon them.”

“Since the treasure hunt hasn’t started yet and you all are
already afraid, I won’t ask you to take any risk. I have heard
that treasures like this are limited and the number of
competitors is always too high. Most of the contenders will
want to seize the transmission token, and that’s what usually
causes fierce a struggle and eventually leads to bloodshed.”
Hong Yan said.

Even the innocent Zi Wei had assessed by now that Hong Yan
hailed from some influential family or school. Otherwise, she
wouldn’t have known so much.

“Sister Hong Yan, how do you know so much about the

treasure hunt of the Tong Tian Sect’s secret storehouse?” Bi Fan
couldn’t stop himself from asking.

All of them were really amazed with Hong Yan’s knowledge.

“Well… I won’t tell you; it’s a secret.” Hong Yan said, holding
her head high.

“Sister Hong Yan, we are friends. Your secret will be safe with
us.” Jing Feng said with a smile.

“I don’t trust anyone here except Zi Wei.” Hong Yan said.

“Zi Wei, come here, I’ll tell you.”

 Since Zi Wei was also curious about knowing how Hong Yan
had so much information about Tong Tian sect’s secret
storehouse, she walked towards her.

Hong Yan whispered something very lightly in Zi Wei’s ear;

her voice was so low that no one could hear her except Zi Wei.

“What! There are three days left for the treasure hunt to
commence!” Zi Wei could not help but exclaim loudly.

“Zi Wei, didn’t I ask you not to tell anyone?” Hong Yan was
short of breath.

Zi Wei waved her hand: “I’m sorry, Hong Yan. I didn’t intend
to disclose it to the others. I was just too surprised to stay
silent.”

“Alright, but don’t tell anyone else now.” Hong Yan said.

“Of course, Hong Yan. We’ll keep our mouths shut.” Mo Nan
assured her.
 Knowing that the treasure hunt was about to begin, Bi Fan,
Jing Feng and the others were obviously quite excited now.
 Chapter 215 – Entering The Tong Tian Sect’s
Secret Storehouse

After knowing that the treasure hunt of the Tong Tian Sect’s
secret storehouse was about to begin, Bi Fan and all his
companions pretended as if they knew nothing about it and
continued watching the matches.

Bi Fan knew that many people around them had been secretly
watching them, and therefore he couldn’t dare to commit the
slightest of negligence.

The news about the treasure hunt’s commencement was not

known to many people; those who knew about it had kept their
mouths shut.

Hong Yan had kept everyone in dark till now. She had told Zi
Wei only because she liked her.

Aware of the fact that the treasure hunt was about to

commence, Bi Fan had already decided to practise even harder
than before.
 In the evening, after Bi Fan and all his companions returned
back to the hotel, Bi Fan commenced with his vigorous practice.
He wanted to break through the bottleneck of ‘enormous
strength’ layer so that he could enter the ‘transformation layer’
as soon as possible.

There would be numerous ‘transformation layer’ martial

artists, ‘emerging from the womb’ layer martial artists and even
‘gold dan’ layer martial artists competing for the treasure.
Enhanced strength was important not only for contending with
such powerful people but also for saving one’s own life.

If Bi Fan was able to promote himself to the ‘transformation

layer’, his internal strength as well as physical strength would
get enhanced by leaps and bounds. By the time the treasure
hunt would start, Bi Fan would be able to contend with a
‘developing marrow layer’ opponent with the help of the shock
rune, which would certainly ensure his survival to a higher
degree.

Bi Fan had consulted with Jing Feng and they both had
decided to stay inside the hotel for a while. Bi Fan wanted to
have a closed-door practice for three days in hope of becoming a
‘transformation layer’ martial artist.
 It was a matter of shame that Bi Fan and his companions were
amongst the lowest in strength among all the groups that had
arrived in the city.

Had it been a competition among the martial artists of their

own age group, Bi Fan would’ve certainly been the best. But
unfortunately for them, martial artists of less than fifty years of
age were allowed to participate in this treasure hunt.

Even with moderate talent, a fifty years old martial artist can
easily enter ‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer. With a little more
talent, a fifty year old person could easily make it to somewhere
between the ‘developing marrow’ layer and the ‘bone’ layer.

Generally speaking, if a martial artist reaches the ‘Gold Dan’

layer before they reach the age of fifty, then they are considered
extremely talented.

Bi Fan and his companions were most afraid of the ‘Gold Dan’
layer martial artists. If they ever encountered one, the only way
of saving themselves would be to immediately flee from the
place.

Wang Zhong wanted to consume the petals of the ogre flower

to promote himself to the ‘Spiritual Layer’ but Bi Fan stopped
him from doing so.

If Wang Zhong consumed the ogre flower petals right now, his
strength may increase for now but in long run it might cause
him some disadvantages.

Jing Feng, Mo Nan, Ji Ying Lan and Blue Dragon were

temporarily unable to break through. Anyway, they needed to
increase their physical strength to a higher level before making
the breakthrough.

Bi Fan’s physical strength was sufficient but his inner

strength level was low, therefore it wasn’t possible for him to
breakthrough just yet.

Bi Fan, Jing Feng and the others locked themselves up inside

their respective rooms and commenced with their practice,
hoping to enhance their strength.

Zi Wei didn’t want to stay at the hotel; she wanted to go out

for shopping instead. But the thought of Hong Yan pestering her
again forced her to stay at the hotel as well.
 Three days passed in a flash. By the third day, Bi Fan had not
only entered the ‘Transformation Layer’ but his internal
strength had also reached fifteen Yun Shi.

In addition to this, his physical strength had also increased to

a great extent and had reached seventeen Yun Shi after breaking
into the ‘transformation’ layer.

Now, Bi Fan wouldn’t need to use the shock runes while

facing an ‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer opponent anymore;
his physical strength was enough to defeat such a person.

With the Chimera by his side, Bi Fan definitely had many

hidden cards with him, and he was quite confident that even if
he couldn’t defeat a person, he would at least be able to save his
own life.

During his practice, Bi Fan had also studied the ‘Soul Illusion
Injection’, and with great difficulty had managed to incorporate
this technique with ‘The Immortal finger” technique, making it
even harder to detect.

The treasure hunt was going to be open the next day,

therefore Bi Fan decided to recharge his energy.
 Although three days was a very short period of time, but Jing
Feng and the others had also enhanced their strength during
this time.

The next morning, Bi Fan woke up quite early feeling rather

refreshed.

It was the day Tog Tian sect’s secret storehouse was to be

opened for treasure hunt, and the scene was completely
different since the entire city was bustling with excitement.

“Oh boy! The whole Tong city is bustling today. It seems that
keeping our mouths shut about the commencement of the
treasure hunt has proved to be useless!” Mo Nan was quite
disappointed.

“All this hustle is because the treasure hunt would be open

only for ten days, and one has to collect the entry token before
entering.” Hong Yan replied.

“Ten days. We have only ten days – not for hunting the
treasure but to enhance our combat experience.” Bi Fan said.
 “What! If you had no interest in the treasure and only wanted
to enhance your combat experience, then why did you wait for
the treasure hunt to start? You could’ve easily done that by
fighting in the Martial Street!” Hong Yan was baffled.

“The fights of the Martial Street are of no use to us. Life

endangering situations, like the ones we might encounter
during the treasure hunt will help to boost up the strength
rapidly.” Wang Zhong explained to her.

“Life endangering situations! You could get killed! Aren’t you

afraid?” Hong Yan asked.

“In this world, strength is everything. There’s no place for

fear. The worst that could happen is that we could die. Everyone
has to die sooner or later.” Ji Ying Lan smiled.

Bi Fan said loudly: “Let’s go now! The entry to the treasure

hunt is still afar.”

The entry to the secret storehouse was located in Hong Guang,

which was the busiest area of the Tong city and was around ten
miles away from their hotel.
 Bi Fan and his companions hurried towards the entrance of
Tong Tian sect’s secret storehouse.

On their way, they could see several young martial artists

moving with great pace in groups of four or five people; while
some even seemed alone.

Since most of these people were here for the treasure hunt,
they were naturally impatient and were trying to reach the
entrance of Tong Tian sect’s secret storehouse as fast as
possible.

Bi Fan knew that the treasure was not as important as the

chance to enhance their strength was, so he and his companions
were moving at a comparatively slower pace.

The strongest of the teams were gathered around the entrance

point.

While those who were weak dared not to enter the storehouse
yet; for them entering the storehouse at this point was more like
a suicide attempt.
 “It seems that participating in treasure hunt was not a bad
idea. This place is full of so many attractive people now!” Zi Wei
was very excited.

“If one wanted to know what ‘attractive’ means, they should

just look at you.” Hong Yan whispered.

Hong Yan was looking all around her as if she was trying to
find someone, however it seemed that she was afraid of being
recognised which is why she was speaking in a very low voice.

Bi Fan glanced at Hong Yan but soon went ahead without

saying anything to her.

They had never ill-treated Hong Yan, so even if someone from

her sect or family spotted her with them, they couldn’t blame Bi
Fan and his companions.

After all, it was Hong Yan who had persisted on staying in the
company of Bi Fan and the others, even after Bi Fan refused to
keep her with them.
 Given that Bi Fan was being accompanied by Zi Wei and Hong
Yan, he was rather easy to spot in this crowd.

Zi Wei had been following Bi Fan with the same persistence

that Hong Yan had been following Zi Wei. This had given two
pestilent tagalongs to Bi Fan, who was so helpless that he
couldn’t even expel them.

Jing Feng and the others had been laughing at Bi Fan for a
long time now, which was rather embarrassing for him.

Suddenly, a burst of a red coloured light flashed as the

entrance gates of Tong Tian sect’s secret storehouse opened.

“Finally! The gates have opened….”

“The treasure of Tong Tian sect is mine! Whoever dares to

seize it will court his death!”

“The treasure is ours! We will show no mercy to anyone!”

As the entrance gates of Tong Tian sect’s secret storehouse

opened, several powerful martial artists swarmed inside,
courageously striving to seize the treasure.

“Bi Fan, lets enter the storehouse quickly.” Zi Wei jumped up

in excitement.

“Don’t worry; the treasure hunt has just started. There will
probably be several treasure troves inside and several traps, and
so it’s not a very good idea to go in first.” Jing Feng laughed.

More and more people rushed inside the secret storehouse,

chasing one another.

“This is a really rare and grand occasion. It seems that we had

made the correct decision while coming here.” Wang Zhong was
very happy.

Wang Zhong and Blue Dragon were always interested in

enhancing their strength. Since they could fight with some
really powerful opponents here, they were obviously very
excited.

“Can we enter the storehouse now?” Zi Wei was clearly

impatient.

“Alright, here we go! But everybody, please stay vigil to avoid

getting ambushed.” Bi Fan said.

Bi Fan led the group and was very attentive to even the
slightest of the movements that occurred around him.

Most people here would go to any lengths in order to get hold

of this hidden treasure; being careful was the only way to stay
safe.

The entrance of the secret storehouse could accommodate five

people at a time, so Bi Fan and his team quickly entered the
storehouse. Luckily, there was no ambush at the entry gate.

Upon entering the secret storehouse, they found that the

place was very dim-lit and gloomy.

Bi Fan had a better ability to see in the dark and hence was
able to see everything in the radius of ten metres.
 “This is so unfair! How could anyone hunt for the treasure if
they can’t even see where are they going!” Zi Wei exclaimed.

“It really is too dark! I guess that night pearl’s actually going
to come in handy now.” Jing Feng smiled.

Jing Feng took out his night pearl which wiped all the
darkness away.

With the night pearl assisting them, Bi Fan and his team
started assessing their surroundings.

The secret storehouse of the Tong Tian sect seemed like a

separate world inside this world. It had mountains, rivers, lush
green grass – the landscape was very scenic inside the
storehouse.

The secret storehouse was a vast place, and the treasure could
be hidden anywhere, which made things rather difficult for the
treasure hunters.

Moreover, the people who had entered the storehouse before

them had already disappeared out of sight, leaving only a few
corpses in the path behind them.

It was evident that two groups of people had clashed there,

while searching for the treasure.

“Let’s move further. Beware of sneak attacks.” Bi Fan said.

To ensure their safety, Bi Fan decided to bring out his

Chimera.
 Chapter 216 – Battle In The Valley

“Arrghh…!”

“Now die…!”

Bi Fan and his team heard loud screams coming from up

ahead, and it sounded like there was a fierce fighting taking
place at some distance.

“Let’s go and see what’s happening there. Perhaps they have

found the treasure!” Zi Wei said excitedly.

Zi Wei was ready to move in the direction of the screams

without caring to guard herself from any potential attack.

“Zi Wei, stop! You shouldn’t go like this; it may be a trap. We

all will secret move forward and check what exactly is
happening there.” Bi Fan said hastily.

“Yes, Brother Bi Fan is right. We have to be careful if we want

to enjoy a good show. Otherwise, everyone else would enjoy the
show at our expense.” Hong Yan smiled.

“Alright.” Zi Wei was not happy at being held off.

Zi Wei followed Bi Fan while Blue Dragon walked behind her.

They all moved cautiously, without making any noise.

Completely unaware of what was about to be unleashed next,

they all continued walking forward like orioles.

After walking for quite some time, Bi Fan and his team
reached the spot from where the screams had originated. They
found that a group of people was engaged in a very fierce fight
there. Many people were lying on the floor – they were not dead
but were motionless because of the severe wounds that they had
received.

“They must have found the treasure. Otherwise, they

wouldn’t have been busy slashing each other’s throats.” Mo Nan
muttered.

“If not for the treasure, they might just be busy enhancing
their strength. Fierce fights help increase one’s strength
rapidly.” Jing Feng said with a smile: “Moreover, it is possible
that these people might have had some enmity in the past.”

“Look! The group of the people in the middle of the field have
a precious-looking sword. It must be one of the items from the
treasure of the Tong Tian Sect’s secret storehouse.” Zi Wei
spoke up suddenly.

“Ah, yes! From the appearance, the sword seems to be a high

quality weapon. No wonder these people are ready to kill each
other for it.” Bi Fan was quite surprised.

Jing Feng said with a smile: “We have not ventured too far
inside the secret storehouse. A magical weapon is just the thing
that we need to progress further. It seems like the Tong Tian
Sect has been quite mindful of the challenges that young martial
artists like us might face here. They might have hidden this
sword here to help younger martial artists like ourselves.”

“Our Quinyang school might make some good use of this

sword. Let’s seize this weapon!” Bi Fan exclaimed.

“Yes, let’s go and defeat these people.” Ji Ying Lan nodded in

accordance.
 “No, stop! We should wait for some more time. There are too
many people fighting there right now. If we go at this moment,
we might end up getting injured for no good. Let them fight
among themselves and we can enter the scene in the end and
the defeat whoever emerges victorious amongst them.” Wang
Zhong suggested.

There were more than ten people from each side that had
engaged in the fight initially. Most of them were already injured
severely while the rest of them were still engaged in a battle.

Most of these people were in ‘Transformation Layer’ while

some of them were in ‘Enormous Strength Layer’. However,
none of them belonged to the ‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer.

Both the groups were fighting each other quite fiercely,

unaware of the presence of Bi Fan and his team.

“Die…!”

“Go to hell…!”
 The sounds of their weapons slashing combined with their
loud screams created the most terrifying sound that they had
heard since entering this city.

Bi Fan and his companions were quite content at watching the

number of their enemies decreasing.

In this world of martial arts, strength was everything; no one

pitied the weak. Until and unless it was about their family or
friends, no one cared about the lives of the others.

In showing some mercy to the others, a person courted his

own death.

Bi Fan had himself killed some people earlier, so he watched

the fight without any pity or sadness in his heart.

Soon afterwards, there were less than ten people left fighting
inside the field.

“Brother Bi Fan, let’s charge now.” Jing Feng said.

 “Alright! Everyone, be quick in getting rid of these people.
Make sure you don’t leave any witness alive.” Bi Fan stated
decisively.

Being cruel and merciless was the only way they could ensure
their safety. Otherwise, they might encounter some problems in
the future.

“Kill!”

Jing Feng and the whole team shot together at once towards
the group of people. Even the Chimera charged along with
them, breathing fire.

Zi Wei and Hong Yan were the most excited within the group.
Zi Wei was quite young and had already entered in the
‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer. Hong Yan was also young,
and quite surprisingly, she had also entered the ‘Emerging from
the Womb’ layer herself. Clearly, they both were stronger than
Jing Feng at least, and had received excellent training from
their respective schools.

Jing Feng whispered to Bi Fan: “Zi Wei and Hong Yan are not
as simple as they appear to be. We should be careful of them in
the future.”

“Yes, but they are naive and chaste, and would certainly not
mean any harm to us. We shouldn’t be afraid of them.” Bi Fan
replied.

Jing Feng nodded and said: “Alright, now let’s pay attention
to what’s in front of us right now.”

The sudden appearance of Jing Feng, Bi Fan and the others

left the two groups of people in utter shock.

“We are under attack!”

Those who weren’t quick enough to defend themselves were

immediately killed by Bi Fan who was as quick as an assassin.

Within a few minutes, all the people were mercilessly killed

by Bi Fan and his team.

“Everybody, clean the battlefield fast and quickly move away

from this place.” Bi Fan said.
 Bi Fan seized the magical sword himself: “Let’s take this
sword to someone who could put it to some good use.”

Jing Feng and Mo Nan were as skilled as Bi Fan. They quickly

collected the weapons and other valuables from the dead bodies
and stored them.

Zi Wei and Hong Yan had seen this for the first time, and were
clearly quite surprised by it.

“You two, be quick and help us. Ah! We can trade these
weapons for a lot of spars!” Jing Feng said.

“Who? We? Ah, yes! I shall help you.” Zi Wei said hastily.

Zi Wei and Hong Yan came forward. Although they were

afraid of the dead bodies, they continued collecting the weapons
etc from the bodies in order to help Bi Fan and the others.

After collecting the best quality magical weapon, Bi Fan didn’t

show any interest in the rest of the articles and went on to
inspect the surroundings to make sure nobody had seen them.

Bi Fan did not know to which schools these two groups

belonged to, and since most of them had entered the
‘’Transformation Layer”, it was evident that these people
belonged to some influential schools. If their schools ever came
to know that Bi Fan and his team had slaughtered their
students, they would surely create trouble for all of them to seek
revenge.

Bi Fan was being extra careful so as not to encounter any

trouble in the future.

“Tong Tian Sect’s secret storehouse certainly contains much

more precious items than this magical sword. Let’s move
forward and hunt for the rest of the treasure.” Bi Fan said with
a smile.

“Alright, let’s go!” Jing Feng laughed.

The Chimera showed them the way, while Blue Dragon and
the others followed in search of more treasure.
 One their way, Bi Fan and the others came across several
corpses but not a single living person could be seen. It seemed as
if they were the only living people inside the secret storehouse.

Bi Fan asked everyone to increase their speed so as to avoid

missing any other opportunity to engage in a fight to enhance
their strength, or to seize the treasure.

Tong Tian Sect’s secret storehouse was enormous, so getting

the hold of the treasures wasn’t an easy task; they all had to look
for opportunities.

Bi Fan had made up his mind and didn’t stop anyone from
going anywhere now.

“Brother Bi Fan, this treasure hunt is growing really boring

now. Why is there not a single living person except for us?”
Hong Yan was impatient.

“Don’t worry, Hong Yan. More than a thousand people had

entered the secret storehouse. I’m sure some of them might still
be alive only to be killed by us.” Bi Fan laughed.
 “Grrrr grrr….!”

Suddenly the Chimera alerted everyone.

“Be careful, someone is coming.” Bi Fan warned.

Bi Fan and the others slowed down and then started

proceeding ahead quietly.

Ahead of them was a mountain valley, in which several

martial artists were fighting each other. The fight was so fierce,
and chaotic that it was hard to figure out who was fighting
whom.

Bi Fan and his team quickly hid themselves and started

observing the battle. Bi Fan saw several familiar faces he had
previously seen contesting at the Martial Street.

Since so many people were fighting this battle, one would

naturally assume that there would be a treasure in this valley.

Bi Fan looked around but was unable to find and sight of a

treasure.

“This is just impossible. Why have so many people gathered

here to fight each other when there is no treasure at all?” Bi Fan
was puzzled.

Jing Feng sighed: “We are unable to see the treasure because it
has already been taken away.”

“No. If someone had taken the treasure, he must have tried to

escape this place and all these people would’ve been chasing
him instead of fighting each other. I’m sure the treasure is still
inside this valley.” Mo Nan said.

“Since the treasure is inside the valley, let’s go and kill all
these people.” Zi Wei said excitedly.

“No, not like this. We must first ensure that there really is
some treasure inside the valley. Meddling rashly in such a fierce
opposition would do more harm than good.” Bi Fan stopped her.

Bi Fan paused for second, and then continued explaining:

“You see, there are several ‘Emerging from the Womb’ and
‘Developing Marrow Layer’ martial artists that are already
engaged in this fight. If we act thoughtlessly, we might be
killed. Therefore, we must first assess the whole situation and
find out the exact whereabouts of the treasure before launching
an attack.”

“Brother Bi Fan has considered everything very minutely. We

should listen to him” Wang Zhong said with a smile.

He was genuinely happy to see Bi Fan growing more and more

mature with each passing day.

Wang Zhong had lost to Bi Fan and had been followed him
ever since. Naturally, the more powerful Bi Fan becomes, the
better it would be for Wang Zhong.

“Zi Wei and Hong Yan, both of you are more powerful than
the rest of us. You should go and examine the surroundings.
Check whether there are some other martial artists hiding in
the vicinity. This task is very difficult; none of us could do it
better than you both.” Bi Fan said.

Zi Wei and Hong Yan were extremely happy on hearing Bi Fan

praising them and entrusting them with one of the most crucial
tasks. Both of them immediately started working on the task
assigned to them.

“Brother Bi Fan, you are growing to be an expert at handling

situations. How effortlessly did you put those irksome girls at
work! Maybe I should start worshipping you now!” Jing Feng
started laughing.
 Chapter 217 – Universal Stick

Bi Fan, Jing Feng, Mo Nan, Ji Ying Lan, Wang Zhong and Blue
Dragon – all six of them went in different directions looking for
any traces of the treasure.

The Chimera roamed in the surroundings in order to

safeguard Bi Fan and all his companions.

Zi Wei and Hong Yan also searched the vicinity to check

whether any other martial artists were hiding there.

Although Bi Fan didn’t find the treasure, he observed that

several people were trying to enter a large cave deep inside the
valley while fighting each other.

“It seems that the treasure is inside that cave.” Bi Fan thought
to himself and started looking around for a safe passage to the
cave.

Soon afterwards, Bi Fan and his companions reunited at one

place where each one of them informed the others about
whatever they had observed.
 “There are three groups of martial artists hiding around the
valley. They must be waiting for the right time to attack and
seize the treasure themselves.” Zi Wei and Hong Yan told Bi Fan
and the others.

Bi Fan, Blue Dragon and the others told the girls about the
possibility of the treasure being hidden inside the cave and the
secret passage that they had found to reach there.

“Brother Bi Fan, should we enter the cave and then ambush

the people from a secret hideout?” Hong Yan asked.

“No, we will wait here till the other martial artists who are
hiding in the valley lose their patience and jump in to fight.” Bi
Fan smiled.

“Yes, Bi Fan is right. We should wait till the treasure appears

and these people engage in a more fierce fight and injure each
other. We can step in later and then, taking the advantage of the
situation we can get rid of them and seize the treasure” Jing
Feng grinned.
 Zi Wei remarked: “You are so vicious! But all this is really
amusing.”

“Yes, yes. It is very amusing.” Hong Yan said hastily in order

to impress Zi Wei.

Blue Dragon frowned: “I don’t know what treasure is there,

but at least a hundred martial artists have gathered here to fight
each other!”

“I don’t think it’s going to be a Spirit Weapon.” Ji Ying Lan

guessed.

“It’s not totally impossible; there are possibilities, and if there

is a Spirit grade weapon in the treasure, then we should grab it
by any way possible. Spirit grade weapons are far more precious
than the high quality weapons.” Jing Feng clenched his fists to
control his anxiety.

In the valley, the fight was getting more and more intense and
loud screams could be heard every now and then.

From the intensity of the fight, it could easily be assessed by Bi

Fan and his team that there will be many more casualties soon
and once there are only few powerful martial artists left, the
people who were hiding in the valley would show up and kill the
remaining people.

Since they had no intention of stepping in the fight right now,

Bi Fan focussed himself on watching the manslaughter with
devotion in order to memorize the martial skills of these people.

Since these people were now engaged in a fatal fight, they

were using their best martial skills, all of which were being
secretly memorized by Bi Fan.

Bi Fan was enjoying the fight so much that he wished the fight
would go on forever.

However, this was impossible as lesser and lesser people were

fighting now; the rest were either critically injured or already
dead.

Four ‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer martial artists and one
‘Developing marrow’ layer martial artist had teamed up
together and were on a killing spree, slaughtering a lot of
people.
 Seeing more and more people dying, Blue Dragon was growing
extremely restless since he wanted to enter the fight as soon as
possible.

However, since Bi Fan had decided to wait a little longer, Blue

Dragon had to keep his patience.

It was Bi Fan who decided the course of action. The rest of

them, including Blue Dragon, followed him.

Suddenly, a strange light beamed from the cave. It seemed

that the treasure had appeared.

“The treasure has finally appeared! God knows what’s inside.”

Jing Feng said as he stared at the cave without blinking his eyes
even once.

The appearance of the treasure had made everyone even more

ferocious, and the battle was started becoming more and more
intense.
 “Die…!”

“The treasure is ours! Step aside or you’ll be courting your

death!”

All the people who had been fighting each other till now
started rushing towards the cave to seize the treasure.

Since most people were now running towards the cave while
exchanging blows with their enemies, the number of casualties
increased in a matter of moments, and soon the total number of
nearly hundred youngsters had reduced to about fifty.

Bi Fan was indulged in watching the fight and memorizing the

martial skills and had no intentions of stepping into the fight at
such a time.

Zi Wei and Hong Yan were getting more and more anxious.
The two girls were clearly excited and wanted to join the fight.

Both the girls were eagerly looking at Bi Fan, waiting for him
to permit everyone to fight.
 “Everybody, please wait a little longer. Let the people who are
hiding show themselves first. Joining the fight later would
benefit us more.” Bi Fan said.

Bi Fan was afraid that the two girls might rush untimely into
the fight, owing to their excitement. Therefore he had to keep
reminding them that they had to wait for some more time.

“Alright…” Although Zi Wei and Hong Yan were somewhat

unhappy about it, but still they complied with whatever Bi Fan
said and didn’t act rashly as a result.

The two girls again looked at Bi Fan eagerly a while later and
Bi Fan shook his head again; Jing Feng and the other boys burst
into laughter.

As the light that was beaming from the cave grew brighter and
brighter, more and more people rushed towards it, killing
anyone who came in their way.

“Boom!”
 Suddenly, an explosion occurred inside the cave.

“The treasure has appeared. Seize it quickly!”

“The treasure is mine. Keep your hands off of it!” A

‘developing marrow’ layer man shouted arrogantly.

However, no one paid any attention to him and he soon was

injured by another man who, unlike this man, had chosen to let
his sword shout.

Since everyone had their eyes for the treasure, no one cared
about the ‘developing marrow’ layer man.

The ‘developing marrow’ layer martial artist was indeed very

powerful, however there were too many people present on the
scene, who put together could kill him off easily.

Realizing this, he didn’t dare to shout again as he was clearly

afraid that the he might get severely injured before reaching the
treasure.
 A huge amount of dust had risen into the sky following the
explosion. It was only after the dust settled that everyone was
able to catch a glimpse of the treasure.

A long stick was sticking out from a large boulder. There was
a baguette at the end of the stick with engravings of nine vivid,
almost life-like dragons entangled ferociously with each other at
its base.

“Wow! If I get this weapon, then things will get really good for
me. Ah!” Blue Dragon exclaimed loudly.

“Brother Blue Dragon, you are not even accustomed to using a

sword…. how will you use this long stick as a weapon?” Bi Fan
asked.

“Brother Bi Fan, you didn’t know this earlier. Actually, I had

learnt a martial skill named as ‘Universal Stick’. Unfortunately,
I didn’t have a suitable weapon to practice this skill with, and
that’s why you’ve never seen me use it even once.” Blue Dragon
sighed: “If I seize this long stick, then I will get a chance to
practice the ‘Universal Stick’ martial skill.”

“Since Blue Dragon needs this stick, we all should help him
seize it.” Wang Zhong said with a smile.

Blue Dragon placed his palm on his chest and said: “Thank
you so much for your kindness, fellow brothers, but I don’t
want any one of you to risk your lives to fulfil my wishes.”

“Brother Blue Dragon, we all risked our lives the moment we

entered this secret storehouse. If we don’t take risks, how would
we possibly enhance our strength?” Bi Fan said.

Zi Wei said: “Let’s go immediately and seize that stick before

anyone else reaches it.”

“Relax! These people can’t reach the stick so easily.” Bi Fan

said with a smile.

Although a majority of the people inside the valley belonged

to the ‘Emerging from the womb’ layer, they were still facing
great difficulties in getting hold of the treasure.

As soon as a single person tried to step towards the boulder,

several people would encircle him and fight him till the person
died, as a result, everyone was stuck in their position, waiting
for their opponents to die first.

Within a few minutes, there were less than forty people

contending for the treasure.

“Attack….!”

“Kill….!”

Finally, one group among the three groups that were hiding
lost their patience and attacked the remaining people.

This group was soon followed by the other two groups, who
feared that the others groups might seize the treasure before
them.

These three groups consisted of around thirty people who

were quite powerful themselves. More importantly, they had
been waiting and hiding all this time and as a result of their
patience, they were now facing an exhausted group of enemies.

As these people joined the fight, it became as intense as it was

earlier.

Bi Fan was not interested in remembering the martial skills

now so he had sent his Chimera to stop anyone from
approaching them from behind.

Bi Fan was both careful and fierce in the battlefield. He knew

that there would certainly be exposed to many unseen dangers
once they join the battle, and could sense that in case he had to
focus his attention on any prospective ambush attacks, then he
may not be able to focus his entire attention on his enemies.

Those thirty people had killed several men by now and were
nearing the treasure.

The men who had already been fighting were exhausted and
injured, and the sudden ambush made them incapable of
finding any ways to save their lives.

Therefore, soon enough only the three groups of people who

ambushed the others were left alive.

These people were now suspicious of each other and could not
work together to seize the treasure.

“Everybody, be prepared to attack now. Remember that our

goal is only to seize the treasure. Try not to get deviated from
it.” Bi Fan said.

“So now we can’t even fight? This is really disappointing!” Zi

Wei whispered to herself.

“Relax! Fighting is inevitable. I hope that you are not scared.”

Jing Feng smiled.

“Jing Feng, these people are not powerful enough to scare us

off!” Hong Yan snapped back.

Obviously, Hong Yan was greatly angered, but she didn’t want
to lose her calm especially in Zi Wei’s presence.

Bi Fan had not ordered anyone to enter the fight yet. He was
waiting for the most opportune moment.

In the valley, more and more people were getting killed with
every passing moment.

Several of the ‘Emerging from the womb’ layer fighters had

already sustained severe injuries by now, and didn’t seem to
have much of their strength left to continue.

“Attack!” Finally the opportunity arrived, and Bi Fan waved

his hand forward.
 Chapter 218 – The Stick Of Nine Thundering
Dragons

“Arrgghhh….!” The frequency of the screams had increased

with time. Several people had already died by now.

A group of people was nearing the boulder on which the long

stick was placed, and was likely to reach it soon.

The battle was at its most intense point as almost all the
people were dead. Only nine men of ‘emerging from the womb’
layer stood alive.

In spite of receiving severe injuries, these people were still

fighting fiercely as they wanted to seize the treasure as soon as
possible.

“Keep on killing…..” Jing Feng whispered.

Bi Fan and his team was ready to charge but hadn’t entered
the fight yet because there were nine ‘emerging from the womb’
layer people still present there, and although they were injured
but they still couldn’t be underestimated.

Just then, one of the ‘emerging from the womb’ layer men
reached the boulder and grabbed the long stick.

“Ha ha! The treasure is mine…” the man laughed as he

grabbed the stick, but soon his laughter ceased.

A strong burst of thunder and lightning erupted from the long

stick and seeped into the man’s arm.

“Arrgghhh….!” The man screamed as the energy eroded his

whole body, and his charred body fell to the ground moments
after.

The remaining eight men were in shocked, and stopped their

fighting immediately as result.

“This is amazing! If this weapon possesses such tremendous

energy that it killed an ‘emerging from the womb’ layer person
within a few seconds, then it surely is a Spirit grade weapon.” Bi
Fan was amazed.
 Blue Dragon looked on and said: “This weapon is so powerful!
If I get hold of it, it will serve as an excellent means of practising
‘Universal Stick’ skill and will impart tremendous power to
me.”

“Brother Blue Dragon, we all will certainly help you. But first
we all should have a look at what these people do next.” Bi Fan
said.

“Thank you so much my brothers.” Blue Dragon replied

humbly.

The remaining eight men looked at each other, terrified, with

none of them daring to step forward in order to seize the
treasure.

“Well, if none of you has the guts to step forward, I will. The
treasure is mine.” One of the men laughed and walked towards
the boulder.

Since the other people were keen to see what happens next, no
one stopped him.
 The man mobilized his aura around his body in defence and
stretched his hand out.

“Brother Bi Fan, do you think the power of the stick would be

able to injure him even when he has activated his defence
mechanism?” Blue Dragon asked anxiously.

Blue Dragon wished in his heart for the treasure to be

formidably powerful so that these men couldn’t seize it. But on
the other hand, he was afraid that if the treasure was too
powerful, even he won’t be able to get hold of it. It seemed as if
he was stuck in the greatest dilemma of his life.

Bi Fan shook his head as he really had no idea about this

treasure’s power.

Zi Wei suddenly spoke up: “The spirit of the weapon is

damaged. If it hadn’t been so, these people would’ve already
been killed by the energy burst of the weapon. Although the
spirit is damaged, its remnants can still make tremendous
bursts of power eruptions. Since the treasure has been hidden
for god-knows-how-much time, the burst is unable to kill
several people at once.”
 “So, Mister Zi Wei, what else do you know about this
treasure?” Hong Yan asked with a smile.

Bi Fan and all the boys looked at Zi Wei curiously. Since the
Quinyang School didn’t possess many Spirit grade weapons, Bi
Fan knew nothing about them.

“I told you whatever I knew. There’s nothing else that I could

tell you all.” Zi Wei said indifferently.

The man extended his hand slowly, while the rest of the
people seemed clearly agitated as they were afraid this man
might really seize the treasure.

Although they all wanted to know what exactly this treasure

was, they had guessed that whatever it was, it contained
formidable power.

In this world, everyone wanted to enhance their powers by

learning some martial skills and seizing some treasures. Anyone
could learn martial skills by joining some school, but treasures
were rare and hard to find.
 As the man finally grabbed the stick, thunder and lightning
appeared again.

The burst of thunder attacked the man and his face soon
revealed the colours of pain.

Since he had his defence mechanism on, the burst couldn’t

cause fatal injuries to him. The man soon let go of the stick and
stepped back.

He was so scared now that he didn’t dare to try again.

“See, the residual thunder energy of the spirit is weakening. It

would be completely diminished before long.” Zi Wei smiled.

“That’s great! Everyone, be prepared to join the fight at any

moment now.” Bi Fan said: “Two of us will stay here with the
Chimera to guard the rest.”

Since it was a great opportunity for everyone to enhance their

combat experience, Blue Dragon and Jing Feng didn’t want to
be left behind, and were the first to declare their views.
 Wang Zhong said with a smile: “Brother Bi Fan, I will stay
behind with the Chimera. The rest of you should go now.”

“Alright, Brother Wang Zhong, but be careful.” Bi Fan said.

Bi Fan and the others sneaked into the valley quietly while
Wang Zhong and the Chimera guarded them against any sneak
attacks.

The eight people continued looking at each other, unable to

decide who would try his luck next. One of them, a man of
‘developing marrow’ layer stepped forward and roared: “I will
seize it!”

The man immediately extended his hands towards the

Baguette of the stick, already having concentrated his energy in
his palms.

The long stick trembled and shrieked but still didn’t give into
his force.

“I can’t believe it!” The ‘developing marrow’ layer man

moved forward as he increased the strength of his grip.

“sssssshhhhh….!” The coercion between his grip and the

weapon’s field gave rise to an immense sound.

“This man is really so powerful! His strength can even

withstand such a strong coercion!” One of the men exclaimed
out in surprise.

The long stick swayed fiercely for a while, but was eventually
pulled out of the boulder by the ‘Developing Marrow’ fighter.

“The treasure is mine!” The man roared.

“Everybody, we need to attack him together! We can’t let this

man snatch the treasure away from us!” One man shouted.

The seven remaining people rushed forward to kill the

‘developing marrow’ layer man.

“You all are courting your death!” the ‘developing marrow’

layer man howled as he waved the long stick in his hands to
release a tremendous burst of energy.

“Arrgghhh….!”

“No….!”

The two men who had charged forward screamed for a while,
and then soon fell to the ground.

The rest of the five people, after initial hesitation, still

charged forward to attack the man.

The lust for the treasure had certainly driven them all out of
their senses.

“Kill him….!”

The ‘developing marrow’ layer martial artist couldn’t use the

long stick this time and hence decided to rely on his other
martial skills.
 “You all are inviting your own destruction!” The man
shouted: “Bai Li solitary tomb!”

The man put the stick back, and used his unusual martial
skill; a huge network of swords fiercely charged towards the five
men.

The five men were clearly overpowered by this ‘developing

marrow’ layer martial artist, and hence were simply unable to
defend themselves.

“Boom….!” Several blows later, the five men flew in the air
with blood springing out from their mouths.

The ‘developing marrow’ layer man also retreated a few steps

and spat some blood.

While the man was still able to stand on his feet, the other five
men were unable to stand up and were left crawling about on
their bellies now.

“Finally this Spirit weapon is mine.” The ‘developing marrow’

layer man laughed and walked towards the long stick to pick it
up once again.

“Attack….!” Bi Fan had found the most opportune moment.

Zi Wei, Hong Yan, Jing Feng, Mo Nan, Ji Ying Lan and Blue
Dragon followed him and entered the valley.

The ‘developing marrow’ layer man saw Bi Fan and the others
approaching, so he immediately rushed towards the long stick
in order to grab it and flee from the place.

But the long stick still had some remnants of thunder and
lightning left, which made the man a little hesitant.

Finally, he clenched his teeth as he grabbed the long stick.

The stick shrieked and swayed once again, but the man kept
resisting it and didn’t let go.

Not much of the Spirit’s energy was left in the stick, so it

couldn’t cause any serious injury to the man at this point. The
roars of thunder soon dissipated as the energy of the Spirit was
completely exhausted.

“Finally, it has stopped attacking me! Now I can take this stick
with me.” The man laughed.

“Keep your hands off of the treasure!” Bi Fan shouted as he

used his shock rune, and straightaway attacked with full
strength.

A huge network of swords made a beeline for that man.

The ‘developing marrow’ layer man had been fighting for a

long time now, and had sustained several injuries in the process
of acquiring this stick.

The man was barely able to resist Bi Fan’s sudden attack, and
was forced to drop the stick in haste.

“This is the height of villainy! You all kept hiding while the
others competed for the treasure, and now you want to take
advantage of my injuries and exhaustion by suddenly attacking
me!” The man was obviously quite furious.
 Bi Fan ignored whatever the man said and talked to his
companions: “You all, kill all the injured people. Make sure you
don’t leave any witnesses alive. Let me deal with this man.”

Bi Fan immediately launched a series of fierce attacks, sparing

no time for the ‘developing marrow’ layer martial artist to catch
his breath or escape.

Bi Fan was launching the strongest of his martial skills since

was sure of his victory because the ‘developing marrow’ layer
man was already exhausted and injured.

Just a few blows later, Bi Fan pierced the man’s chest with his
sword, ending the fight.

Jing Feng was working at an amazing speed as well; he had

already killed several people and was now cleaning up the
battlefield.

Bi Fan picked up the long stick, analysed it carefully and

found ‘The Stick of Nine Thundering Dragons’ inscribed on it.
 “Brother Blue Dragon, I hand this ‘Stick of nine thundering
dragons’ to you.” Bi Fan said as he threw the stick towards Blue
Dragon.

Blue Dragon immediately caught the stick with great care for
he feared the stick might get damaged upon falling to the
ground.

“Thank you, Brother Bi Fan.” Blue Dragon was excited.

“Clean up this mess quickly; I’m going to check if there’s

anyone else hiding in the vicinity.” Bi Fan said as he left.

It was important to not leave any witnesses alive. Several

martial artists from various prestigious schools had died there
and if someone ever came to know, then Bi Fan and his
companions would obviously land themselves in a great amount
of trouble.
 Chapter 219 – Origins Of Zi Wei And Hong
Yan

Over a hundred people had died inside the valley, out which
the nine ‘emerging from the womb’ layer men were the
strongest, and so there corpses were naturally bearing several
valuable items.

Jing Feng and the others didn’t care to be polite and seized the
valuable articles from the corpses without any hesitation.

Zi Wei and Hong Yan, owing to their previous experience,

hadn’t panicked this time but were still too slow as compared to
the others.

It was the time to collect the harvest of their victory, and so Bi

Fan and Wang Zhong very patrolling very carefully along with
the Chimera to make sure there was no one approaching in their
direction.

It seemed like a massacre!

 Since there were corpses of over a hundred people, it was
almost impossible to clean up the mess in a short period of time.

Bi Fan was getting more and more anxious now. Several

strong martial artists had entered the secret storehouse and it
was probable that someone might end up near the valley soon.

“Brother Jing Feng, please be quick. Focus your attention on

the valuable items only and leave the rest before anyone finds us
here.” Bi Fan shouted.

Disarming corpses was not as easy as it sounded, and it

obviously consumed a lot of time.

Bi Fan and Wang Zhong continued their patrol, in the hope of

ensuring that no one ever gets to see them there.

During the patrol, Bi Fan and Wang Zhong noticed four

powerful men approaching swiftly in the direction of the valley.

Bi Fan and Wang Zhong exchanged glances. Bi Fan

immediately signalled the Chimera to block the way of the
people that were approaching.
 “Attack!” Bi Fan and Wang Zhong rushed forward at once in
order to kill those four people.

In this world, only the strongest could survive.

If Bi Fan and Wang Zhong showed any mercy right now, they
might end up getting killed later.

Both Bi Fan and Wang Zhong had formidable strength and

they soon killed one man each. The remaining two people tried
to escape.

“Catch them! Don’t let them slip away!” Bi Fan shouted to

Wang Zhong.

Wang Zhong and Bi Fan both caught one man each. At that
moment, the Chimera breathed dense black flame which
immediately turned one of the men into ashes.

Then the Chimera started chasing after the second man at a

speed much faster than that of Bi Fan and Wang Zhong’s.
 This man had just witnessed his companion being turned into
ashes by the Chimera, therefore he was naturally scared to
death and ran as fast as he could in order to save his life.

However, he was soon overtaken by the Chimera, who was in

no mood to spare his life. The Chimera immediately snapped at
his throat and killed the man in just a few moments.

“Brother Wang Zhong, we must keep searching the

surroundings. We can’t let anyone else enter the valley before
Jing Feng and the others have finished.” Bi Fan said.

“Alright.” Wang Zhong began with another round of patrol.

The Chimera was also searching the surroundings discreetly

since its smelling sense was much sharper than Bi Fan or Wang
Zhong’s.

It took Jing Feng and the others over one hour to clean the
valley.
 “Brother Bi Fan, we have found much more than the treasure.
This time we have collected over hundred good weapons.” Jing
Feng chuckled.

“That’s great! Now we all should leave this place as soon as

possible. Although we have collected so many valuable things
from this secret storehouse, but I won’t mind searching for
more.” Bi Fan was clearly very happy.

“This is so awesome! I never thought that robbing people

would be so interesting!” Zi Wei and Hong Yan were really
excited.

Hong Yan said: “Brother Bi Fan, we shall kill all our enemies.”

Bi Fan sighed: “Good. Now walk as fast as possible since the

other martial artists present in this secret storehouse would
soon be hunting for us!”

Bi Fan and his team quickly left the valley and continued
venturing deeper into Tong Tian sect’s secret storehouse.

One of the most valuable treasures that could be found inside

this secret storehouse was transportation token. It seemed that
all the young martial artists had directed themselves after the
transportation token.

The Tong Tian sect wasn’t one of the largest sects of the
ancient times, but some of its martial skills had no match in
today’s world.

With time, the Tong Tian sect disintegrated and its martial
techniques were soon forgotten by the people. Later, several
new sects emerged and along with these new sects emerged new
techniques.

The new sects created by the following generations were far

more inferior to the ancient sects in experience as well as in
martial techniques.

Therefore, it was only natural that the martial artists of this

generation eagerly seek the martial techniques as well as battle
weapons that belonged to the ancient sects.

This world has been a home to martial arts from times

immemorial, and hence there were several secret storehouses
like Tong Tian sects’ throughout the world, and the aspiring
martial artists could get ancient weapons from such places if
they were lucky enough.

No doubt that the thought of acquiring these weapons

brought endless bloodshed with it.

The Tong Tian sect’s secret storehouse had a very small

amount of treasure buried inside it. Since it also had an age bar
to enter, competing for treasures here was far easier than in
other treasure hunts.

Several young martial artists from various cities had arrived

there and Bi Fan had already encountered several ‘emerging
from the womb’ layer martial artists by now.

Fortunately for Bi Fan and his team, most of the people inside
the valley had died while fighting among themselves, otherwise,
the thought of seizing the ‘stick of nine thundering dragons’
was simply wishful thinking.

Bi Fan and his team were really very lucky in this respect.

Bi Fan and his team kept moving forward and fought with
several other teams, but couldn’t find any more treasures for a
while.

However, after facing several life threatening situations, their

internal strength increased quite rapidly.

Bi Fan, Jing Feng, Mo Nan, Ji Ying Lan, Wang Zhong, Blue

dragon, Zi Wei and Hong Yan – all eight of them had noticed
great change in their strength.

The progress wasn’t limited to these eight; even the Chimera

was also progressing along with them.

Several people had entered the secret storehouse to settle

their personal enmities. Whenever such people would spot their
enemies, they would start fighting without reasoning with
them.

Therefore it was not just the treasure that was causing

bloodshed inside the storehouse.

However, Bi Fan and his team had their own reasons for
killing people – they wanted to enhance their combat experience
and strength, and therefore they only killed the people they
didn’t know.

Finally, Bi Fan and the others reached a vast stretch of plains

after days of wandering in the woods.

The plain was extremely vast and several people were fiercely
fighting simultaneously at that place; it seemed more like living
hell.

There were a total of over hundred people fighting, and

seemed to be divided in two separate groups. From the intensity
of battle, one could judge that both these parties were highly
influential.

While pursuing the treasure, no one could be trusted. Even if

some temporary alliances were formed, people showed their
true colours as soon as they neared a treasure.

Therefore, for two people to be fighting together for the

treasure, absolute understanding was required.

“These two teams are really very powerful. They have several
‘Gold Dan’ layer people among them.” Bi Fan was quite
shocked.

“Yes ah! It’s rather surprising that so many people are

gathered at one spot.” Wang Zhong added.

Jing Feng laughed and said: “There are so many people

fighting. I think we can show them some of our talent as well.”

“There’s no need to hurry! Let’s check what they are up to

first. Once we enter the fight, it will be very difficult to
withdraw.” Bi Fan said.

At this time, complexions of both Zi Wei and Hong Yan had

already changed. Bi Fan carefully observed them and discovered
that they both were eyeing the fiercest team.

They seemed to be very concerned.

“Are Zi Wei and Hong Yan related to these people?” Bi Fan

thought to himself.
 The background of Zi Wei and Hong Yan was still unknown to
Bi Fan and the other boys. It was clear to them that they hailed
from some influential families or sects, but their exact origins
were still an unsolved mystery.

“Zi Wei and Hong Yan, do you know these people?” Bi Fan
asked them.

Zi Wei’s expression changed as she hastily shook her head and

replied: “I don’t know these people.”

“How could I possibly know these people? It’s such a large

world. Am I supposed to know every living man or woman in
this continent?” Hong Yan snapped back almost at the same
time.

“Oh! Of course, how would you know these people? Alright,

let’s wait for these people to injure themselves first. We will
attack them later when they are exhausted, kill them and take
their valuables.” Bi Fan said with a smile.

“No….! No….!” Zi Wei and Hong Yan replied in unison.

 Hong Yan swallowed her saliva a moment later, smiled and
said: “Brother Bi Fan, these people have already entered ‘Gold
Dan’ layer. How can we possibly fight them?”

“Ha ha….. Alright, if you are unwilling, I won’t force you.” Bi

Fan smiled.

Jing Feng said: “Ah, yes! After all, killing your fellow disciples
isn’t a good idea.”

These words changed Zi Wei and Hong Yan’s expressions and

they both made ugly faces. Although they were naive but they
were not idiots. There was a possibility that they were both
linked to these powerful people.

However, on the opposite sides……

Zi Wei asked: “Are you from Hong School?”

“Are you from Bai Sheng Palace?” Hong Yan asked.

“Ha ha…. So you both are from the two greatest schools of
Tong city.” Bi Fan laughed.

“Mister Zi Wei, why didn’t you tell me that you hailed from
Bai Sheng Palace?” Hong Yan looked rather pale.

Zi Wei forced a smile: “Hong Yan, you never asked me.

Moreover, you never told any of us that you hailed from Hong
School either.”

The situation between Zi Wei and Hong Yan was too delicate
right now, and therefore Bi Fan decided that it was best to not
intervene.

“It doesn’t matter which school you belong to. We are all still
a team!” Bi Fan feared that these two girls might have instantly
turned against each other.

“Humph!”

“Humph!”

Zi Wei and Hong Yan sneered as they turned their faces away
from each other.
 Chapter 220 – The Mighty Bi Fan

“So many powerful people have gathered here. Is there some

treasure that’s about to appear?” Jing Feng asked.

“No matter how powerful these people are, if there is some

treasure involved, entering the battle is worth a shot.” Mo Nan
stated plainly.

Wang Zhong said: “These people are just too powerful for us.
It wouldn’t be a good idea to meddle in the fight right now. Let’s
save our energy for later.”

Bi Fan and his team observed the fight carefully. They

certainly didn’t want to put themselves in danger, and hence
were looking for the teams to get smaller with time.

Over a hundred indomitably powerful people were fighting

each other in the plains. If any one of them entered the field to
fight at this point, it would be impossible for them to withdraw.

Since a very intense fight was going on, there was a great
possibility of several other people hiding in the vicinity of the
plains, waiting for an apt opportunity to strike.

Such being the case, Bi Fan and his companions decided to

wait and watch for the time being.

Although it was an excellent opportunity to enhance their

combat experience, it was not worth risking their lives.

Zi Wei and Hong Yan had been staring at the largest groups
without blinking even for once, their eyes clearly reflecting the
concerns of their hearts.

After realising that they were from rival schools, Zi Wei and
Hong Yan had stopped talking to each other; this had affected
Hong Yan the most. Since she liked Zi Wei, it was heart-
breaking for her to know that Zi Wei was actually her enemy.

Bi Fan and the other boys were sensitive enough not to make
fun of either of the girls and wanted to console them, but didn’t
know what to say to them.

At this time, the boys couldn’t let Hong Yan know that she
was a girl; else Hong Yan would despise her even more.
 Although Hong Yan hadn’t been in the group for a long time,
her innocence had made Bi Fan accept her as his friend. But
since he had met Zi Wei before he met Hong Yan, Bi Fan
thought it better to keep his mouth shut and not expose Zi Wei’s
secret.

All the boys could only sigh pitifully whenever they looked at
Hong Yan.

The Hong School and the Bai Sheng palace were the two most
influential schools of Tong Tian city. They naturally wanted to
subdue each other, and obviously bore an enmity that sprouted
from their rivalry.

Bi Fan and the other boys were simply helpless when it came
to the Zi Wei and Hong Yan.

It was a fierce fight; martial artists were fighting with all their
might and were killing as many enemies as they could. Two
‘Gold Dan’ layered men, one from the Hong School and one
from the Bai Sheng palace respectively, had turned out to be the
fiercest fighters and had killed several people on the battlefield
by now.
 They were recklessly killing the other people and had gotten
so good at it by now that all traces of emotion had been
vanquished from their eyes.

Bi Fan carefully observed these two men and realised that

these men had a lot of valuable articles with them, and
moreover, could sense that he would learn a lot by just fighting
against them.

“These men are really so powerful! I wonder when we would

attain such power…..” Ji Ying Lan said enviously.

Jing Feng said with a smile: “Brother Ji Ying Lan, we all are so
young. These men are around fifty years old. When we reach
that age, we all would’ve certainly attained similar or higher
levels.”

“Yes, our youth is our capital, and our group has some very
talented people like Bi Fan, Hong Yan and Zi Wei. In fact, Hong
Yan and Zi Wei are the most talented of us all. In spite of being
younger than us, these two have greater strength than any of
us.” Wang Zhong said.
 Hearing this, Zi Wei and Hong Yan didn’t say anything and
kept pretending to focus on the fight.

As for Bi Fan, since there was such a gruesome fight going on,
he had no time to indulge in talks and was completely lost in
observing the other people’s martial skills.

Those martial artists of ‘Gold Dan’ layer were not only

formidably powerful; they had also comprehended some unique
martial skills, which Bi Fan was busy grasping.

While Bi Fan didn’t care to notice his surroundings and Jing

Feng and the others were busy talking among themselves, a
group of people attacked them all of a sudden.

“Kill….!” These people had discovered that Bi Fan and his

team hiding and waiting for an opportunity, and hence they
launched a sneak attack on them.

Bi Fan was so lost in watching the fight that he didn’t realise

he was under attack.

Jing Feng and the others immediately rushed forward to

counter the attack launched by that group of people, and were
actually happy that they finally got someone to fight with.

“Kill….!”

Jing Feng, Mo Nan, Ji Ying Lan, Wang Zhong, Blue Dragon –

the five boys rushed to attack while Zi Wei and Hong Yan were
unable to detect the attack just like Bi Fan; the Chimera stayed
to Bi Fan’s side to protect him.

The opposite group had eight people and weren’t weak either.

After exchanging several blows, Jing Feng was sure that he

had bumped into a strong opponent.

“Brother Bi Fan, Hong Yan, Zi Wei, come fast! The enemies

are too powerful!” Jing Feng shouted.

They had to eliminate these people quickly; else they would

draw several other people to the place where Bi Fan and his
team had been hiding.
 Although it was difficult but the only way to survive was to
overpower these people.

Zi Wei and Hong Yan were stunned and couldn’t think of

what to do, but Bi Fan quickly launched ‘The Immortal Finger’
attack towards the attackers as soon as he noticed them.

Since this technique was undetectable, several people were

caught off their guards and were hit.

Bi Fan used immortal finger attack because he had observed

that there were several strong people hiding in the vicinity. The
terrifying power of this attack would definitely deter these
people and scare them.

Bi Fan was able to kill three people instantly. This scared the
other people who had been secretly watching them so much
that they immediately ran away and didn’t dare to turn back,
while their five remaining opponents were left shaking with
fear. Bi Fan decided against attacking them since he wanted his
friends to get some practice as well.

The remaining five people were quickly got ridden of by Jing

Feng, Mo Nan and the others. Even cleaning up the field didn’t
take them too long.

After killing those three people, Bi Fan resumed watching the

main battle.

Zi Wei and Hong Yan stared at Bi Fan with their eyes wide
open, simply unable to believe their eyes. Both of them had
higher strength levels, but still could never do what Bi Fan had
just demonstrated.

“Mister Bi Fan, what martial skill did you just display?” Zi

Wei couldn’t help asking.

Unfortunately for her, Bi Fan was busy watching the battle

and had no time to respond.

Jing Feng answered: “That was Brother Bi Fan’s special skill,

called ‘The Immortal Finger’. It’s very powerful.”

“The Immortal Finger? I have never heard of it before.” Zi

Wei was surprised.
 “Like I said, it’s Brother Bi Fan’s special skill. He received it
during one of its adventures; therefore we don’t know anything
about its origin.” Jing Feng replied.

Jing Feng had seen Bi Fan use this skill earlier and was aware
of the fact that Bi Fan had no intentions of keeping this skill a
secret from Zi Wei and Hong Yan either; else he wouldn’t have
displayed it in front of them.

Zi Wei and Hong Yan were quite surprised and couldn’t figure
out from where Bi Fan actually learnt this skill.

As the battle became more and more intense, more and more
people started joining it.

The fight between the people of Hong School and Bai Sheng
palace was growing even more gruesome since several people
had already died on the both sides.

Zi Wei and Hong Yan grew more anxious with each passing
moment. They wanted to join the fight and help the people of
their respective schools, but hesitated and stayed where they
were.
 They were not powerful enough to help in a battle of such a
large scale.

Suddenly, a strange red light flashed in the sky above the

plains.

“The treasure is about to appear!”

“Quick! The treasure will appear over there.”

“That visual was so magnificent, I’m pretty sure that the

treasure won’t a petty one; it may actually be completely intact
Spirit Weapon.”

“A completely intact Spirit Grade Weapon!”

Who wouldn’t be tempted to own a complete spiritual utensil?

After all, it was so rare, and was extremely high-priced in the
market. Even if someone didn’t use it for themselves, they could
simply auction it. They would be able to earn millions of spars
in exchange for such a weapon!
 The flashes of red light grew more frequent. By this time,
almost all the people had become aware of the fact that the
treasure was about to appear and hence several people had
hurriedly ran towards the direction of the light.

The people who had been fighting in plains had stopped

fighting at this time, while the people who had been hiding near
the plains continued hide in wait for the treasure to appear as
they knew there would be immense bloodshed soon after the
treasure appears.

The people from Hong School and Bai Sheng palace had also
stopped fighting and were constantly exchanging some
meaningful glances, as if they were on mutual alert against each
other.

Seeing that the people of Hong School and Bai Sheng palace
had stop fighting made Zi Wei and Hong Yan relax a bit.

“I don’t know what treasure is going to appear here, but I’m

sure that whatever it is, it’s far more powerful than ‘The stick of
the nine thundering dragons’. However, since there are so many
powerful people already competing for the treasure, we might
not be able to seize it.” Bi Fan said.
 Blue Dragon said: “I think it’s the transportation token.
Otherwise, why would such a huge crowd gather here?”

“No matter what it is, we all should be prepared to start

fighting anytime.” Jing Feng was full of fighting spirit.

Bi Fan thought for some time and said: “Be prepared to fight,
but keep your own safety as the first priority.”

Since there was some treasure about to appear, it was

impossible for Bi Fan to stop his companions.

There were several powerful people already fighting for the

treasure so the stakes were high, and this made Bi Fan a bit
uneasy. There were more than twenty people of the ‘emerging
from the womb’ layer in this contest, which meant Bi Fan and
his team would have to fight them too in order to seize the
treasure. Emerging victorious under these circumstances
seemed like a far-fetched dream.

“Brother Bi Fan, rest assured. Although the treasure is

important for us, we will not compromise with our safety in any
case.” Jing Feng smiled.
 The flashes of the red light were getting more and more
frequent. The treasure was surely about to appear.

“Everyone, be prepared to attack!” Bi Fan commanded.

 Chapter 221 – Kill To Collect Treasure

All the people looked on. They were ready to attack.

They all wanted to seize the treasure which was about to

appear.

After all, who would want to lose something that contained

such terrific power?

Even the people belonging to the same school were ready to

fight each other off for the treasure.

The power and possible value of the treasure was enough to

make anyone lose his rationality. People were ready to rebel
against their own schools and sects.

It was good that Bi Fan and his team didn’t drool over such
treasures. They would fight together, seize the treasure, and
would then hand it over to the person whom it suited the most.
For example, in the case of ‘the stick of nine thundering
dragons’, the whole group had decided to let Blue Dragon have
it.
 Jing Feng asked: “Brother Bi Fan, do we attack as soon as the
treasure appears?”

“We shouldn’t act recklessly. Even if we managed to get hold

of the treasure before anyone else, these people would form and
alliance against us. It would be difficult to fight so many
powerful people at once.” Bi Fan replied after thinking for a
while.

“Yes, that’s right. Even if this is the only treasure left, we have
to focus on saving our lives first. If there are more treasures, we
can surely try for the next one if we get out of here alive.” Wang
Zhong said.

Bi Fan and his companions hid themselves once more. Bi Fan

had commanded his Chimera to stay hidden too in order to help
them escape, if need be.

If each one of them went to fight when the treasure appeared,

they all would be stuck in the middle with no one to help them.
Therefore, it was important to keep the Chimera out of the
action.
 Moreover, the Chimera wouldn’t be able to help them in
seizing the treasure anyway, and so it was better for it to stay
hidden in the woods since it could help them with escaping the
place in a time of need.

As for Zi Wei and Hong Yan, Bi Fan hadn’t included them in

his plan thinking that they both might have their own plans.

Perhaps both these girls would join their respective schools

after this fight. Finally, Bi Fan had some hope of getting rid of Zi
Wei.

The flashes of the red light were growing fiercer. Most of the
people had shut their eyes because of the extremely bright light.

“Bang…!” The intensity of the tremors also increased, so

much that most of the people were finding it difficult to
maintain their balance.

Most of the people were perspiring, and felt rather parched

out of sheer nervousness, and were hence left breathing heavily.

The intensity of tremors and the flashes continued to increase

with each passing moment.

“Bang…!” Suddenly blast occurred as a crevice was split open

in the ground, and a transportation token flew in the air. The
blast was accompanied by an intense red light.

The light-flash was so intense that almost all the people

present involuntarily closed their eyes for a moment.

Since Bi Fan’s senses had been sharpened by the Yin Yang

Lotus, the light didn’t affect his eyes.

Although Bi Fan was the first to see it, the token flew in the
air at such a great speed that Bi Fan lost its track and had no
idea where it went.

A sword, a knife and a spear propelled out from the crevice in

a similar fashion and flew off to distant places just like the
transportation token had.

These three weapons were followed by several other weapons,

but these weapons were inferior to the previous weapons in
terms of quality and their speed, too, was much slower.
 “Brother Jing Feng, instead of entering the fight, we all must
chase those precious weapons.” Bi Fan said. Chasing the
transportation token was not possible for them at the moment,
but they simply couldn’t let the other three weapons slip away.

Bi Fan went after the sword but soon he discovered that two
other people, one from Hong School and the other from Bai
Sheng palace, were also pursuing it.

Although both of them hadn’t opened their eyes yet, but they
were running behind the sword and the knife by just following
their senses.

Bi Fan thought for a moment; he had to go after the third best

weapon – the spear.

Bi Fan used his ‘dance of mist’ footwork and was soon able to
catch up with the spear.

This spear also contained some traces of Spirit inside it, and so
Bi Fan had to be careful before grabbing it.
 “The Immortal Finger…!” Bi Fan shot several pebbles at once
towards the spear and kept attacking it. Under the influence of
its spirit, the spear continued to dodge all of Bi Fan’s attacks.

Bi Fan wasn’t discouraged by it and continued to attack the

spear in order to exhaust the energy of the Spirit inside it.

Since the spear had been buried for a really long time, it had a
limited energy which soon began to dry up.

After the spear’s energy got completely dried out, Bi Fan

happily grabbed it and stored it inside his Yin Yang pouch.

However, there was some dissatisfaction in Bi Fan’s heart.

Firstly, the weapon was an incomplete Spirit Weapon, and
secondly the Spirit of the spear was dormant, and so naturally
its power wouldn’t be as much as it would’ve been if its spirit
was active. However, if the spirit had been active, it would’ve
been almost impossible for Bi Fan to seize it.

After placing the spear in the Yin Yang pouch safely, Bi Fan
headed back.
 Needless to say, the ‘Gold Dan’ layer men who had been
pursuing the sword and the knife might have sensed Bi Fan’s
activities as well, and once they had been successful in their
pursuit, they could possibly attack Bi Fan at a later time in order
to rob him of the spear.

Bi Fan carefully went back to Jing Feng and the others,

dodging his path through the surrounding woods, preventing
himself from getting attacked or tracked by anyone.

Jing Feng took a sigh of relief when he saw Bi Fan returning

safely: “Brother Bi Fan, where did you go? We all were so
worried about you.”

Jing Feng was visibly worried, and didn’t seem to be making it

up.

Bi Fan was rather touched by his compassion, and so he

smiled and said: “I’m alright, brother. Now tell me, what
happened while I was away?”

“Several weapons have emerged out and these people are

ready to kill and die for these weapons. At least a hundred
people have already died by now.” Jing Feng informed him.
 “Now that I’m back, you should seize any opportunity you can
find, and grab yourselves some weapons. But remember, no
weapon is more important than your life.” Bi Fan said.

Blue Dragon chuckled: “Great, so finally we get to fight now.”

Blue Dragon and Jing Feng rushed away. They obviously had
some targets in their minds.

Although Mo Nan and Wang Zhong hesitated a bit at first, but

they left pretty soon enough as well.

Ji Ying Lan looked left and right, shook his head and took a
deep sigh. He didn’t leave.

“Brother Ji Ying Lan, don’t worry. We have already gathered

a lot of valuables till now. Later on, you can choose anything
you want from them.” Bi Fan smiled.

Ji Ying Lan was the least powerful of them all. He couldn’t

afford to rush after some weapon while being surrounded by
people who were much more powerful than him. Therefore, he
had resisted his temptation and had decided to stay.

“Don’t worry about me, Brother Bi Fan. I wouldn’t have gone

even if you hadn’t offered me a weapon of my choice.” Ji Ying
Lan smiled.

Since Zi Wei and Hong Yan hadn’t left either, Bi Fan assumed
that they hadn’t paid any attention to the treasure weapons.

Bi Fan observed the plains very carefully and found that there
was a deep crater from which this red light was still flashing on
regular intervals. Thirty five weapons had already emerged out
of this crater by now.

The Hong School and Bai Sheng palace were the most
powerful. They had been surrounding the crater and had
gathered most of the weapons.

However, out of third batch, several weapons had been

scattered here and there, and hadn’t been seized by anyone till
now.
 Several people were busy fighting each other fiercely around
each of these weapons.

Bi Fan didn’t bother about these weapons as they were only

top grade weapons, which had no use for Bi Fan.

However, Bi Fan soon selected an ‘emerging from the womb’

layer person to fight with. This person had already collected
two top grade magical weapons by now.

“Zi Wei, Hong Yan, act as you see fit. I’ll be back in a while.”
Bi Fan smiled and then went away.

“Here I come!”

Bi Fan directly launched an attack on that ‘emerging from the

womb’ layer man.

The man sensed Bi Fan’s cultivation level and sneered: “Boy,

you have just entered the ‘transformation layer’. You are
courting your own death!”
 “Time will decide who dies today.” Bi Fan shouted back
coldly.

This time, Bi Fan had decided to try something new with his
‘Immortal Finger’ technique.

Although he had never used this technique with any other

technique, he had already incorporated ‘The Immortal Finger’
with ‘Spirit Illusion Injection’ technique.

The fusion of these two techniques didn’t only contain terrific

strength, it was also impossible to detect.

Although the ‘emerging from the womb’ layer man was much
stronger than Bi Fan, the attack hit him pretty hard.
Fortunately, the man was somehow able to guard his vital
organs at the last second, and only suffered minor injuries as a
result.

Suddenly, the man’s complexion changed and he shouted

back in panic: “Which technique have you used? How can you
delude people in this manner?”
 The immortal finger technique, when combined with spirit
illusion technique, created illusions in the target’s mind,
making it hard for him to focus on the fight.

“You want to know which technique I just used? Fine, I’ll

grant your last wish. This technique is called ‘Immortal Finger’.
Now die!” Bi Fan said.

“The Immortal Finger?” The ‘emerging from the womb’ layer

man pondered for a while but couldn’t figure out the
technique’s origin.

“Since I have granted your last wish, now die in peace.” Bi Fan
said.

Bi Fan attacked the man once more, this time using his sword
to rain attacks on the man.

The ‘emerging from the womb’ layer man, who was still
trying to figure out what ‘The Immortal Finger’ technique was,
was unable to defend himself and was struck.

“Arrgghhh…!” Although he managed to dodge off most of the

initial attacks, but the last move of the attack pierced his throat.

After killing the ‘emerging from the womb’ layer man, Bi Fan
quickly collected his weapons, his yin yang pouch, and headed
back to the place where he had been hiding.
 Chapter 222 – A Breakthrough Between Life
And Death

Zi Wei and Hong Yan had seen the manner in which Bi Fan
killed his opponent once again, and were left quite shocked by
it.

They remained silent for a long time, but Zi Wei was

ultimately unable to help herself: “Bi Fan, I had never imagined
you to be so powerful. Your ‘immortal finger’ technique is just
awesome! I couldn’t even see the attack; and that man was dead
before I even realized it.”

“There’s nothing extraordinary about it. I was able to kill the

man just because I attacked him when he was unprepared.” Bi
Fan replied with a smile.

Zi Wei said: “No it wasn’t that easy. If you ever attack me, I
wouldn’t be able to defend myself.”

“Yes, yes, Bi Fan. If you attack me, even I wouldn’t be able to

stop you.” Hong Yan added in agreement.
 “Both of you are over-praising me. Although I managed to kill
that ‘emerging from the womb’ layer man, I don’t think I’m
powerful enough to defeat either of you.” Bi Fan said.

He had guessed by now that Zi Wei and Hong Yan weren’t

trained only by the Bai Sheng palace and Hong School since it
was impossible for these schools to harbour such talent. Their
origins weren’t as simple as they seemed to be.

Both Zi Wei and Hong Yan had entered into the ‘emerging
from the womb’ layer at a tender age and would be considered
to be great talents in this world. These two weren’t far behind
Yan Yu Si in talent and strength.

Such talented people were usually granted admission by the

Jiu Yu Da schools. Bi Fan couldn’t figure out why these two had
chosen to get admission in the schools of a small town like the
Tong city.

He had guessed that Zi Wei was related to the Xuannv Palace

but was still unsure of Hong Yan’s Sect.

Although Blue Dragon now had the ‘stick of nine thundering

dragons’, he was unable to use it properly and was trying to use
it in the same way he had been using his scimitar. However, he
was really very skilful when it came to using his scimitar.

Blue Dragon attacked his target at an awfully fast pace, and

left the man with almost no time to breathe; let alone counter
his attack.

Jing Feng however, was even fiercer. Even though he was

fighting a man of equal strength, his sharp and powerful attacks
had rendered his opponent completely overshadowed.

His recent practice of the physical laws had already ensured

him an early upper-hand in the battle.

The Hegemon pike was so fast that it left no chance of escape

for Jing Feng’s target.

He continued attacking the person again and again until he

finally snatched the treasure from him.

Mo Nan wasn’t lagging behind either, and was displaying his

‘Sword of the land’ technique, which was incomparably fierce.
 Ever since they had entered the Tong Tian sect’s secret
storehouse, Mo Nan’s strength had increased by leaps and
bounds. Moreover, his understanding of ‘Sword of the land’
technique had also enhanced.

Mo Nan had made a great progress; so much so, that he

would’ve ranked much better in the Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon List
with his now-increased strength.

Just like Jing Feng, Mo Nan also quickly retrieved the

treasure from his opponent.

Wang Zhong’s internal strength was better than any of his

companions, and his physical strength was only lesser than Bi
Fan and Blue Dragon. At this time, he was also fighting someone
equally powerful in order to get hold of a treasured weapon.

After joining the Quinyang School, Wang Zhong had learned

‘Fufeng double-edged sword’ technique and the ‘Floating sword’
technique. His relentless practice of these techniques had
already made him as proficient as Mo Nan with regard to their
usability.
 Ji Ying Lan looked at him enviously as Wang Zhong continued
to attack fiercely. Obviously he couldn’t go and fight because his
current strength level wasn’t enough to combat with such
strong opponents.

“Brother Ji Ying Lan, don’t worry. Sooner or later you would

be stronger than any of us. You have the spirit of learning.
Trust me, you will succeed someday.” Bi Fan said.

“Brother Bi Fan, rest assured. I will not let anything

discourage me. I will work even harder, and I’kk surely catch-up
with you guys.” Ji Ying Lan said with a smile.

“I wish you all the best.” Bi Fan smiled.

As more and more weapons continued to emerge out of the

crater, the fight continued to gain momentum.

Bi Fan said with a smile: “Zi Wei and Hong Yan, aren’t you
both excited? Don’t you want to grab some weapons for
yourselves?”

“These weapons are so common! I’m not interested in them.”

Zi Wei said indifferently.

“I have no need for such weapons either, so I have no reason

to enter the fight.” Hong Yan smiled.

Bi Fan smiled bitterly: “This is a very rare opportunity not

only for seizing treasure weapons but also for enhancing combat
experience. I just can’t understand why you two are reluctant to
fight.”

In reality, Bi Fan was well aware of the fact that both Zi Wei
and Hong Yan were avoiding the fight only because they didn’t
wish to fight with their own school mates.

Bi Fan was just joking with them; he had no intentions of

pushing them into the fight.

However, Bi Fan’s joke backfired soon afterwards since both

Zi Wei and Hong Yan rushed out and into the fray since they
thought Bi Fan was becoming suspicious of them.

Bi Fan followed after them and ended up getting involved in

the fight as well; however, he still continued to pay a great
amount of attention to the various skills on display.

The fight was so intense that it was just impossible to

withdraw without killing other people, which in turn made it
an even greater learning experience.

So many different kinds of martial skills amazed Bi Fan, who

almost forgot where he was standing, and was almost hit by an
enemy.

Fortunately, Bi Fan was fast enough to timely dodge the attack

and killed the man with his sword; otherwise he would’ve been
severely injured.

Bi Fan used his ‘Immortal Finger’ technique in order to kill

several powerful martial artists. The other people who saw Bi
Fan in action were naturally quite surprised and shocked, and
most were doing their best to avoid facing him on the
battlefield. Even the ‘Emerging from the womb’ layer martial
artists weren’t an exception.

Bi Fan had no intention of withdrawing from the fight at this

point, and therefore decided to go after some more weapons.
 Even if he wouldn’t be able to use some of these weapons, he
could always sell them to someone else in exchange of spars or
some other valuable articles.

In no time, Bi Fan managed to kill several powerful martial

artists and had collected various weapons in the process.

His prominent performance soon gained him the attention of

several people, including a number of ‘Developing marrow’
fighters.

“Boy, hand over the treasure to me. Perhaps I’ll spare your life
then.” One man of ‘developing marrow’ layer, named Leng
Sheng, shouted.

A total of four ‘developing marrow’ layer men surrounded Bi

Fan.

These men were so powerful that Bi Fan could barely even

withstand their momentum.

Just then, the Yin Yang lotus started moving into action, and
released a fine black-and-white coloured energy inside his body,
which suddenly counter-acted the oppressive exterior force on
his body. Suddenly, Bi Fan felt as his body was brimming with a
strange strength; strength far more powerful than his own.

“Arghh!”Bi Fan roared back, “Killing me isn’t going to be easy

for you!”

“Everybody, be careful. This boy has something strange about

him.”

“What is strange about him? He’s just a petty ‘transformation’

layer martial artist. He isn’t strong enough to face four
‘developing marrow’ people at once.”

“Let’s kill him quickly!”

Bi Fan knew that these men definitely wouldn’t leave him

alone. After all, no one spared the lives of the witnesses.

This was probably the most crucial fight of Bi Fan’s life till
now.
 Although Bi Fan could face a ‘developing marrow’ layer
enemy with confidence, but right now there were four people
who were going to attack him simultaneously, so naturally his
confidence was a bit low.

“Now die….!” Bi Fan attacked these men first since whoever

made the first move would have an advantage over the enemy in
this situation.

Bi Fan straightaway used his shock runes and attacked using

‘The Immortal Finger’, which made the attack even more
ferocious. Moreover, he decided to pick one man at a time this
time around.

“Arrgghhh….!” One of the men waved his sword and

screamed as blood sprung out of the several holes in his body.

Those four men attacked Bi Fan almost at the same time as he

launched his onslaught.

Although Bi Fan managed to knock one man down, he was

still faced with the incoming attacks of the three remaining
men.
 Since he was being attacked from all the sides and practically
had no room to dodge, he ultimately had to display his ‘dance of
mist’ footwork in order to dodge the attacks.

In spite of all his efforts, Bi Fan’s body was slashed deep to his
bone at more than three places, and blood started to flow
profusely from these wounds.

“Who wants to get killed? Come and face me. At worst, I’ll
die, but I’ll not spare you.” Bi Fan snapped at them.

The man who had just been struck by Bi Fan had been hit at
one of his critical points, and so he died almost immediately
after.

The other three men were completely taken aback by Bi Fan’s

strike since his move was extremely bizarre. Moreover, since his
attacks were undetectable, they had no means of defending
themselves.

Now they were hesitating. They weren’t sure whether to try

to kill Bi Fan once more or save their own lives.
 The three men exchanged glances and launched another
attack.

Bi Fan’s complexion changed: “Since you have decided to

court your death, let me assist you.”

The adrenaline rushing through Bi Fan’s body during this life-

and-dead ordeal had made his abilities even more potent than
normal; and he started using the skill he hadn’t been able to
realize in battle until now.

Bi Fan had been able to integrate ‘The Immortal Finger’

technique with his ‘Fufeng double edged-sword’ technique, and
he used this unique skill without any hesitation in this
desperate moment.

The Immortal Fufeng Sword!

Bi Fan’s version of the Fufeng double-edged sword itself was a

very powerful technique. Integrating it with ‘The Immortal
Finger’ made it extremely difficult to predict under the cover of
the ‘Soul Illusion Injection’, and even more formidable than
ever with the support of ‘The Immortal Finger’.
 A network of swords combined sharply and soundlessly with
his hidden attacks, producing a marvellous and formidable
attack.

“Arrgghhh…!”

His sword pierced through the armour and the chest of one of
those three men, who screamed pitifully as he fell to the
ground; and his death.

The other two men had attacked Bi Fan along with their
companion, but had managed to land their blows on their
target, adding a few more injuries to Bi Fan’s body.
 Chapter 223 – Zi Wei’s Identity Exposed!

“It doesn’t look good. Bi Fan is in danger!” Zi Wei shouted in

an alarmed tone. She had never been so anxious.

The next moment, Zi Wei rushed towards Bi Fan.

“Hahahaha….!”

Although Bi Fan’s face was turning pale due to excessive blood

loss and he was unable to stand straight, he was still laughing
and mocking his enemies.

Bi Fan had recently integrated his ‘immortal finger’ technique

with ‘Quinyang Fufeng double edged sword’ technique.
Although it was just one martial skill that he had achieved this
feat with, its might had increased by leaps and bounds now.

Watching Bi Fan laugh at them, the remaining two

‘developing marrow’ layer martial artists got scared. They
looked at each other and launched a fierce attack again.
 They were clearly aware of the fact that if they didn’t take the
advantage of the opportunity right now, Bi Fan would kill them
both without any major difficulty.

The immortal Fufeng sword!

Bi Fan displayed his newly comprehended skill once again, but

unfortunately the attack was not as powerful as it earlier had
been.

Bi Fan only managed to injure those two men with his attack.
His moves weren’t powerful enough to kill them.

“He is lacking strength, come on!”

“What games is fate playing with me? It was just now that I
comprehended this unique skill. I can’t die like this!” Bi Fan
thought to himself as he cried in his heart.

“Bi Fan, I’m here to help you!” Zi Wei’s voice instilled a surge
of strength in Bi Fan. He gathered all his courage to display
‘dance of mist’ footwork once again.
 Zi Wei rushed forward and blocked the path of the two
‘developing marrow’ layer men.

Although Zi Wei was quite powerful and was able to easily

defeat a ‘developing marrow’ layer person, fighting
simultaneously with two ‘developing marrow’ layer people
wasn’t possible for her.

Hong Yan was hesitant at first, but soon she rushed out of the
hiding place in order to aid Zi Wei in blocking the two men to
save Bi Fan.

As Bi Fan saw Zi Wei and Hong Yan blocking the two men, he
utilised this time to absorb Yuan Dan and Wupin Dan which
immediately stopped his bleeding.

Since he was surrounded by several other powerful people, Bi

Fan didn’t dare to stop even for a moment. He immediately
returned to the hiding place as he had his Chimera to protect
him there.

Zi Wei and Hong Yan’s appearance had caught the attention

of several people there as both the girls had stepped into
‘emerging from the womb’ layer. Moreover, had it not been for
their strength level, they would’ve certainly been noticed by
everyone for their unparalleled beauty.

“Miss Hong Yan, I can’t believe you too have entered the
storehouse!” The martial artists of the Hong School had clearly
recognised her.

Hong Yan was not at all surprised with these people for she
knew their motives.

“Miss Zi Wei, when did you enter the storehouse?” A disciple

of Bai Sheng Palace had recognised Zi Wei and had
inadvertently exposed her true identity.

Hong Yan’s eyes turned red with anger as she shouted at Zi

Wei: “You liar! You have been deceiving me all this time! You
are a girl!”

“Hong Yan, believe me, I had no intention of deceiving

you…..” Zi Wei tried to explain in haste.

Unfortunately for her, her opponent’s attack was so fierce

that she couldn’t spare herself a single moment to talk to Hong
Yan.

“You are a girl! Bi Fan and the other boys knew about it. You
all lied to me! I hate you!” Tears streamed through Hong Yan’s
eyes as she covered her face with her hands and ran away.

When Zi Wei finally got rid of her opponent, in spite of

wanting to pursue Hong Yan, she chose to return to Bi Fan in
order to protect him.

Hong Yan was heartbroken and couldn’t be reasoned with. Zi

Wei had really deceived Hong Yan in letting her think that she
was a boy. She did nothing to stop Hong Yan from falling in love
with Zi Wei, the boy.

In the meanwhile, Jing Feng and the other boys hastily

returned to the hiding place as they had seen Bi Fan getting
injured.

“Why did Hong Yan leave?” Jing Feng asked.

The boys had only seen Hong Yan running away; they had no
idea of what actually had happened.

Zi Wei sighed: “Hong Yan came to know about my real

identity. She was so hurt that she started crying and left the
place. I had no time to explain everything to her. Now she
thinks all of us deceived her. I just hope she doesn’t do anything
stupid…..”

Jing Feng, Mo Nan and the other boys felt guilty of putting
Hong Yan in such a condition since they all had helped Zi Wei in
upholding her facade of being a boy.

Hong Yan was hurt beyond any imagination. First she came to
know that the boy she loved belonged to her rival school and
now she discovered that the same boy was actually not a boy at
all!

While Hong Yan had a hard time accepting that Zi Wei was a
girl, she could simply not accept the fact that Jing Feng, Bi Fan
and every other boy was already aware of Zi Wei’s actual
identity and had been keeping it a secret from her all this time.

“Zi Wei, Bi Fan, you will have to pay for the injustice have
done to me. I, Hong Yan, pledge my eternal hatred to you!”
Hong Yan vowed to herself as she continued to run.

Heartbroken women are the most vengeful ones. Reasoning

Hong Yan out of this sworn enmity was impossible now.

When Bi Fan woke up and came to know about what all had
passed between Zi Wei and Hong Yan, he felt quite uneasy at
heart.

Hong Yan must have been greatly hurt by this discovery and
Bi Fan felt equally guilty of hurting her.

“Oh… Now we have to find Hong Yan and explain everything

to her.” Bi Fan sighed.

They were unaware of what plans might Hong Yan have next.
Unfortunately for them, she would not be affectionate to Zi Wei
anymore.

Pondering over the situation, Bi Fan and the other boys lost
their interest in the treasure.
 “We should leave this place now and find the transportation
token first.” Bi Fan said.

Just when they were about to leave, a ‘developing marrow’

layer martial artist approached them.

“Miss Zi Wei, come with me. My group will protect you.”

“Leave me alone and go away. I don’t want to join you.” Zi

Wei coldly said.

“Miss Zi Wei, there are several people in the storehouse that

may bear hideous intentions towards you. I want to protect you
from them.” The boy said as he looked towards Bi Fan and the
other boys with envious eyes. He clearly liked Zi Wei and didn’t
want her to venture out with unknown boys. He kept himself
calm just because of Zi Wei; otherwise he wouldn’t have
refrained from killing them.

“Go away! I can take care of myself.” Zi Wei was indifferent.

“Such being the case, I shall take your leave.” The boy gave a
hateful glance to Bi Fan and the other boys before leaving.
 Jing Feng said: “Zi Wei, who was this boy? Is he your fellow
disciple? The way he was looking at us made him feel like dig
his eyes out!”

“His name is Zhu Aotian. Please don’t pay any attention to

him.” Zi Wei replied.

After getting delayed because of Zhu Aotian, the team didn’t

want to waste any more time.

“Let’s find some peaceful place first. I need some time to

heal.” Bi Fan said.

A few minutes ago, Bi Fan had been engaged in a gruesome

fight and had managed to kill two people who were more
powerful than him, but this fight had been won at a great cost.
Although he had not received any injuries on the vital organs,
his body was full of scars and cuts. Excessive bleeding had
weakened him.

Jing Feng led the way while the Chimera walked behind as
they all moved further in search some peaceful place.
 Although Bi Fan didn’t know the exact location of the
transportation token, he had seen the direction in which the
token flew away. He guided everyone in the same direction.

In spite of not being sure whether he would be able to seize

the token, Bi Fan didn’t lose hope and continued to move
forward.

In this world, one had to persistently follow whatever he

wanted; there was no other way they could obtain that thing.

Although he was unaware of what dangers he might have to

face there, Bi Fan accompanied Jing Feng and the others to the
place.

The fight had left Bi Fan severely injured, but the display of
his strength had made all the other people who had been
fighting there refrain from following him.

After walking for a great distance, it seemed to Bi Fan that

there was a lake ahead.
 “I want to heal my wounds first before advancing further.
Please stay around.” Bi Fan said as he sat down a tree to
meditate.

In such dangerous circumstances, it was important for him to

restore his strength.
 Chapter 224 – Ji Ying Lan Meets With An
Accident

Bi Fan continued to meditate quietly. By the end of three

hours, more than half of his injuries had already healed.

Luckily, Bi Fan had quite a strong body, so he survived the

injuries that he had received. Moreover, the yin yang lotus was
emitting threads of white light which were healing Bi Fan’s
wounds so fast that it would take just a day for him to be
completely fit and fine.

Although the wounds were in a much better condition than

they earlier had been, Bi Fan chose to meditate further rather
than going out in search of the transportation token.

In spite of being engaged in a fatal fight and getting severely

injured, Bi Fan had gained a lot. He had found some new
insights to his martial skills.

The integration of ‘the immortal finger’ technique with other

martial skills was worth being in such dangerous situations.
 Upon integrating a martial skill with ‘the immortal finger’, its
strength increased by leaps and bounds.

Bi Fan meditated carefully in order to figure out some other

ways of integrating ‘the immortal finger’ with the other moves
of Quinyang Fufeng double-edged sword.

Since he had already integrated ‘immortal finger’ with one

move, integrating it with the others might not be a difficult task
for Bi Fan.

After spending just one more hour in meditation, Bi Fan

integrated three moves with ‘immortal finger’. He surely had
gained a lot.

Had Bi Fan earlier been able to integrate these three moves

with ‘immortal finger’, he would’ve faced absolutely no
difficulty in defeating those two ‘developing marrow’ layer
men.

However, Bi Fan didn’t have enough time to meditate

continuously. He wanted to find the transportation token first.
 “Are you alright, Brother Bi Fan?” Jing Feng was worried.

“Yes, I’m fine. Now let’s go and seek the transportation

token.” Bi Fan said.

Zi Wei was amazed: “Bi Fan, do you really know where the
transportation token is?”

“I’m not sure of it. I saw the transportation token flying away
among the other things, so I know the direction in which it
went. We can all try our luck by proceeding further in that
direction.” Bi Fan said.

“Are you sure it was the transportation token?” Mo Nan asked

excitedly.

“Yes, I’m sure of it. The transportation token was the first
thing that emerged out of that crater; not many people could see
it. Unfortunately, it went away so fast that I couldn’t follow it at
that time.” Bi Fan told everyone.

“Let Brother Bi Fan take the transportation token. He has

suffered too much.” Jing Feng said.
 Bi Fan said with a smile: “Although I haven’t been able to
seize some precious weapon, I have found a treasure of my own
which is no less powerful than the stick of the nine thundering
dragons itself!”

“What treasure are you talking about?” Jing Feng and all the
others asked in unison with curiosity.

Obviously, the word ‘treasure’ alerted them since they had

been chasing after treasures for so long.

“Have a look at it; Brother Jing Feng might need it.” Bi Fan
took out the spear.

“Nice spear! And it’s quite powerful too!” Jing Feng muttered
as he examined the spear closely.

“Brother Jing Feng, you can take this spear if you want to.” Bi
Fan was very generous with his friends.

“What? Really? Oh, thank you so much, Brother Bi Fan!” Jing

Feng was visibly delighted.

“There is no need of thanking me. We all are brothers.” Bi Fan

smiled.

Mo Nan, Ji Ying Lan and Wang Zhong looked at the spear

with envy. Not a single person in the whole Quinyang School
might have such a powerful spear.

Bi Fan sighed: “Unfortunately, the two most powerful

incomplete spirit weapons – the sword and the knife were seized
by Hong School and Bai Sheng Palace. The practitioners of ‘Gold
Dan’ layer are so powerful that they move with the speed of
light!”

“We are still here in the Tong Tian sect’s secret storehouse
and I’m sure we will get many more opportunities.” Mo Nan
said.

Zi Wei looked at Bi Fan, surprised. She had been with Bi Fan

for quite some time and yet she was unable to understand him.

Bi Fan’s performance was no worse than the most powerful

disciples of the nine great schools.

“Bi Fan is currently in ‘transformation’ layer. If he steps into

the ‘emerging from the womb’ layer, defeating ‘developing
marrow’ layer opponents would be a cakewalk for him.” Zi Wei
thought to herself.

Moreover, she had realised that she can never become an

enemy of Bi Fan.

A random encounter with Bi Fan had made Zi Wei accompany

him for some time. But now, Zi Wei didn’t want to leave Bi
Fan’s company because his secret intrigued her. She wanted to
stay until she unravelled the secret behind Bi Fan’s power.

Of course, Bi Fan had no idea about what Zi Wei had been

thinking. He was busy guiding Jing Feng and the other boys in
the direction of the transportation token.

If there were too many people already seeking the token, it

would be difficult for Bi Fan and his team to seize it.

“We all should look for the token separately. Let’s see who’s
luckier than the others.” Bi Fan said.

Since the secret storehouse was vast, Bi Fan and the others
went out in different direction while being separated by several
hundred metres. However, they would occasionally gather at
one point to ensure that everyone was safe.

All of them walked slowly while they searched for the token.
Although they weren’t aware of what it looked like, they could
find it out by sensing the aura.

As there was no aura being released by anything, they had to

depend solely upon their sight to find the token.

Searching for the token seemed more like looking for a needle
in the haystack. They had no idea where exactly it might be.

If they couldn’t find the token in spite of knowing the

direction in which it went, they would miss another golden
opportunity.

While searching for the token in the vast plain, Bi Fan

continued walking forward. Not a single person could be seen
by him.

This was actually good for them. More people meant more
competition for the token.

Bi Fan kept looking in all the directions to make sure they

weren’t being followed by anyone.

Suddenly, Ji Ying Lan’s scream broke the silence. The scream

soon faded away.

Since Bi Fan and the others were not too far from the place
where they had left Ji Ying Lan, they all immediately rushed
back.

When they reached the place where they had left Ji Ying Lan,
they found that he had disappeared.

“Brother Ji Ying Lan, where are you?” Bi Fan shouted.

“Ji Ying Lan, are you alright?” Jing Feng shouted loudly.
 They all got anxious. If Ji Ying Lan had an accident, they
couldn’t move further without finding him.

There was no reply from Ji Ying Lan; they had no idea where
he was now.

“Everybody, search the surroundings. We might find some

clue about what happened to Brother Ji Ying Lan.” Jing Feng
said.

“Be careful while searching. There must be some powerful

enemy hiding in the vicinity.” Bi Fan warned everyone.

They all dispersed in different directions, searching for the

clues.

“Look at this! The ground has a crack here, forming a ditch.

I’m afraid Brother Ji Ying Lan might have fallen into it!” Zi Wei
called out suddenly.

Bi Fan and the other boys immediately rushed towards Zi Wei.

They found that there indeed was a crack. Although it wasn’t a
very large crack, it was wide enough for someone to fall into it.

Bi Fan carefully looked around the crack and said: “Brother Ji

Ying Lan has surely fallen down into it. What should we do
now?”

The grass at the edges of the ditch was pressed. Ji Ying Lan
must have trodden onto it before he fell down into the ditch.

The ditch had been covered with a lot of hay. Ji Ying Lan had
been so earnestly finding the token that he didn’t pay any
attention towards the possibilities of some trap being laid out by
the enemies.

The possibility of the ditch being a trap worried Bi Fan a lot.

Although Bi Fan’s vision in the dark was better than everyone

else, he couldn’t see inside the ditch.

“Ji Ying Lan!” Mo Nan shouted.

The sound echoed down the ditch, but no one responded back.
This made Bi Fan, Jing Feng and the others to worry even more.

Jing Feng said: “I have a rope. Here, hold it and let me go

down.”

“Alright, Brother Jing Feng. Please be careful.” Bi Fan said.

Jing Feng tied the rope to a tree nearby and tied the other end
to his waist.

“I’m going down the crack.” Jing Feng said.

“Be careful, Brother Jing Feng.” Mo Nan said.

Jing Feng looked resolute as he nodded: “I won’t get hurt as

long as you all are here for me.”

The next moment, Jing Feng jumped into the crack.

The ditch was too deep. Jing Feng couldn’t see its bottom.
 After a while, Bi Fan shouted and asked: “Brother Jing Feng,
are you alright?”

“Yes, I’m alright.” Jing Feng’s voice echoed out the ditch.

“Brother Jing Feng, did you find Ji Ying Lan?” Mo Nan

couldn’t help asking.

Jing Feng’s voice came out once more: “Not yet. Loosen the
rope; I need to go further down.”

Bi Fan loosened the rope.

Bi Fan had to tie up another rope to add to its length since

Jing Feng hadn’t reached the bottom yet.

Occasionally, Mo Nan would ask Jing Feng whether he was

alright or not. Since Jing Feng was responding back, there was
not much to worry about him.

“I just hope Jing Feng finds Ji Ying Lan. I wish Ji Ying Lan is
fine.” Zi Wei prayed.

“Don’t worry. Both Jing Feng and Ji Ying Lan would be just
fine.” Mo Nan reassured her.
 Chapter 225 – On The Verge

Finally, Jing Feng reached the bottom of the crack and hence
he stopped asking for more rope.

The crack was so deep that by this time, Jing Feng couldn’t
hear the shouts of Bi Fan and the others anymore.

On the other hand, Bi Fan and the other people were growing
more and more anxious with each passing moment since Jing
Feng had ceased to reply.

It had been quite a while since Jing Feng had stopped asking
for more rope.

“I should go and have a look.” Bi Fan said.

“No, you shouldn’t. This place would soon be swarming with

several powerful people. With Ji Ying Lan and Jing Feng gone,
we need you here to fight with us till Jing Feng comes out of
that crack with Ji Ying Lan.” Mo Nan stopped him.
 Bi Fan thought for a while and realised that Mo Nan was right,
so he decided to stay there and wait.

Mo Nan’s prophecy was fulfilled soon as a large group of

powerful martial artists could be seen approaching in their
direction.

These martial artists belonged to the Hong School and Bai

Sheng Palace. Two ‘Gold Dan’ layer people were leading this
group.

“Do these Gold Dan layer martial artists also know that the
transportation token flew away in this direction?” Bi Fan
wondered.

Since these people had earlier tracked the exact location of the
incomplete spirit weapons, it didn’t seem strange to Bi Fan that
they had also discovered the location of the transportation
token.

“Zi Wei, why are you still here? Quickly return to our camp.”
One of the Gold Dan layer men said.
 He was the chief disciple of the Bai Sheng Palace. His name
was Shen Danyang. He was approximately forty years old in age
and had a fair complexion.

“Chief disciple! You are here?” Zi Wei was clearly surprised.

Just then, she saw Hong Yan standing among the other
people. She was bearing an expression of utter despise and
didn’t even bother to look back at Zi Wei.

Zi Wei felt herself guilty for the miserable state in which Hong
Yan was.

“We are here to track down the transportation token.” Shen

Danyang said. “What are you doing here?”

Zi Wei replied: “One of our companions fell inside this crack

and another one has entered the crack to rescue him.”

“Oh! I thought you have found the whereabouts of the

transportation token and that’s why you all have gathered
here.”
 Such remarks revealed the greed of the disciples of the Hong
school and Bai Sheng Palace. Finding the transportation token
would be a great feat for them.

However, even if they couldn’t find the token, they already

had two incomplete spirit weapons with them.

“We don’t have any time to find that stupid token. Our
companion is missing. We would like to stay here and find him
first.” Mo Nan coldly said.

“Do you really think it’s that easy to deceive us? We will see
for ourselves whether the transportation token is here or not.”
The Gold Dan layer disciple of the Hong school said. He was
called Hong Sheng and was equally talented as Shen Danyang.

“You want to go down the crack to check for yourselves, fine,

but I have one condition.” Bi Fan said.

The Hong school and Bai Sheng Palace were influential

schools and could pose a great threat to their lives if they
showed even the slightest of negligence.
 Bi Fan wasn’t afraid that they might find the transportation
token in the crack since he knew it wasn’t there.

“What condition is it? Speak up.” Hong Sheng said.

Hong Sheng had already assessed that Bi Fan was a fierce

warrior. He didn’t want any unnecessary casualties, so he tried
his best to avoid picking up a fight with him.

Moreover, the disciples of the Hong school had the disciples of

Bai Sheng Palace with them who were checking their each and
every move. A single rash decision would break the alliance and
cause massive bloodshed.

“Before any of you people steps inside the rack, I want you all
to take an oath that none of you would attack me or my
companions.” Bi Fan stated his condition.

“What rubbish! We aren’t going to pledge anything to you.”

Hong Sheng immediately rejected the condition.

In this world, oaths and pledges contained great mystical

forces within them. Once bound by an oath, a person had to
comply with it. If anyone tried to disrespect an oath by breaking
it, he or she would face severe consequences. That’s why no
martial artist would pledge anything to anyone in a casual
manner.

“Alright. If you refuse to take an oath, you shall have to face

me in order to enter the crack.” Bi Fan stood resolutely in front
of the opening of the crack.

“Well, well. If that’s what you wish for, I’ll be more than
happy to fulfil your wish. But let me warn you, by standing
against Hong school and Bai sheng palace, you are courting your
own death.” Hong Sheng was visibly angry as he disdainfully
uttered these words.

Bi Fan smiled and said: “It’s true that we are far inferior from
you all in strength, but that doesn’t mean we don’t know how to
fight. There will be casualties on your side too. If you get down
in the crack and find the transportation token there, you can
certainly walk out of here guilt-free, but if there’s nothing down
there, you’ll get your companions killed in vain.”

Bi Fan knew that there was no way they could compete with
Hong school and Bai Sheng palace so he tried to buy some more
time to let Jing Feng come out of the crack.
 Bi Fan’s words made Hong Sheng think deeply about it. He
realised that Bi Fan was right.

He had seen the transportation token flying away in this

direction with his own eyes. It would be a pity if he came this
far and didn’t even try to seize the token.

But if there was no transportation token inside the crack, his

companions would surely get injured in vain.

All these thoughts puzzled Hong Sheng, so he asked Shen

Danyang: “Shen Danyang, what do you say?”

Shen Danyang looked at Zi Wei and said: “Miss Zi Wei, why

don’t you help us?”

Zi Wei calmly said: “We don’t know whether there is some

transportation token inside the crack or not. We all have
gathered here solely because one of our companions fell inside
the crack.” She was not lying.
 Shen Danyang said: “I completely trust Miss Zi Wei’s words;
therefore, Bai Sheng Palace would not attack these people.”

“Since your Bai Sheng palace will not fight, I hope you will
not meddle in whatever the Hong school does next.” Hong
Sheng had got what he wanted. He dreaded that Bai Sheng
palace would interfere in order to save Zi Wei, but now he had
bound Shen Danyang to his own words.

Zi Wei anxiously shouted: “Chief disciple, help us.”

“I’m sorry Zi Wei, I can’t let my companions suffer for

nothing. Hong Sheng, we will not meddle in whatever you do if
you assure us not to harm Zi Wei.” Shen Danyang said.

“Alright. We won’t hurt Zi Wei.” Hong Sheng replied.

Bi Fan, Mo Nan, Blue Dragon, Wang Zhong and Zi Wei knew

what they had to do now. They all prepared themselves to fight
as they pulled their weapons out.

They were ready to do all they could in order to save Jing

Feng who had entered the crack to find Ji Ying Lan. They
weren’t sure whether Ji Ying Lan was still alive or not.

“Look, the rope is moving! Brother Jing Feng is coming out.”

Blue Dragon exclaimed with joy.

After they pulled the rope three times, they could finally hear
Jing Feng, who told them that he was fine.

“Great! He found Brother Ji Ying Lan!” Bi Fan shouted in

excitement.

Hong Sheng smiled viciously: “You are being happy too soon.
Have you forgotten that you have to fight the disciples of Hong
School now?”

“I just can’t believe someone could be as mean as you are! At

this time, we surely are no match for the disciples of your Hong
School. We can’t defeat you today, but we can run away to save
our lives. You won’t be able to catch us. But I promise you one
thing today, Hong Shen. When I’m as strong as you are, I will
return and destroy you!” Bi Fan said, clenching his jaw.

Hong Sheng’s complexion changed. If Bi Fan really did what

he just said, he would become a formidable enemy.

Hong Sheng had got a fair idea about Bi Fan’s powers from
Hong Yan.

“Chief apprentice, since their companions are coming out of

the crack, shouldn’t we wait for them to tell us what exactly is
there inside the crack?” Hong Yan said to Hong Sheng.

“Alright, but they better don’t test my patience. I will seize

that transportation token at any cost.” Hong Sheng coldly
replied.

Bi Fan was relaxed. He looked gratefully at Hong Yan.

Jing Feng was still inside that crack, so they all put their full
efforts in pulling him back.

“We all should make harder efforts. Pull the rope together.
We need to get Brother Jing Feng out as fast as possible.” Bi Fan
said.
 Mo Nan, Wang Zhong, Blue Dragon and Bi Fan – all four of the
boys pulled the rope together to get Jing Feng out of the crack.

After rigorously pulling the rope for one whole hour, the four
boys were finally successful in pulling Jing Feng and Ji Ying Lan
out of the crack.

Ji Ying Lan had lost consciousness due to the injuries that he

had been suffering from. His clothes were tattered and
bloodstained.

“Brother Jing Feng, what happened to Ji Ying Lan?” Bi Fan

asked.

“I don’t know, brother. When I found him he was

unconscious. However, his heartbeat seems normal.” Jing Feng
told Bi Fan.

Soon he noticed the presence of several other powerful

martial artists and figured out that something was wrong. So,
he decided not to talk much.

“Now hand the transportation to me fast. Your lives depend

on it.” Hong Sheng shouted.

“Transportation token? What transportation token? I don’t

have any such thing with me, neither have I seen it anywhere.”
Jing Feng told him.

“Ah! Do you really think your word will suffice to make me

believe you?” Hong Sheng sneered.

Jing Feng smiled and said: “I don’t think there is any other
way to save my companions apart from telling you the truth. I
have not seen the transportation token anywhere.”

Amidst this tense atmosphere, the disciples of Hong school

encircled them and were ready to attack.

Bi Fan and all his companions put Ji Ying Lan in the middle
and encircled him to protect him. They were ready to retort
back.
Table of Contents

Synopsis

Chapter 1 – Wan Snake Cave

Chapter 2 – The Strangely Wonderful Lotus

Chapter 3 – The Three Treasures

Chapter 4 – Tianyuan Ring

Chapter 5 – The Woman Turns

Chapter 6 – Longevity Burst

Chapter 7 – He Announces His Return

Chapter 8 – Greedy

Chapter 9 – The Fierce Duel Under The Mountain

Chapter 10 – Longevity Burst In Practice

Chapter 11 – Inventory Rewards

Chapter 12 – The Friendly Jing Feng

Chapter 13 – A Profitable Transaction

Chapter 14 – The Three Lists Of Jiu You

Chapter 15 – The Selection Begins

Chapter 16 – Cheered On

Chapter 17 – Cheers For Jing Feng

Chapter 18 – Forces Collide

Chapter 19 – The Contest Rages On

Chapter 20 – Number One

Chapter 21 – Watch And Learn

Chapter 22 – Disgraced

Chapter 23 – Prancing Tiger

Chapter 24 – The Champion

Chapter 25 – A Conspiracy Brews

Chapter 26 – A Bitter Encounter

Chapter 27 – Threads of Black Gas

Chapter 28 – The Trio’s Sneak Attack

Chapter 29 – The Battered Jade Book

Chapter 30 – A Robbery On The Way

Chapter 31 – The Black Tiger

Chapter 32 – A Helping Hand

Chapter 33 – The Mysterious Valley

Chapter 34 – The Sound Of Thunder

Chapter 35 – The Fierce Ape

Chapter 36 – Common Enemy

Chapter 37 – The Nefarious Chimera

Chapter 38 – Death Of An Enemy

Chapter 39 – Capitulation

Chapter 40 – A Breakthrough

Chapter 41 – Spirits
Chapter 42 – Strong Ones Join In

Chapter 43 – Seeds

Chapter 44 – Swept Away

Chapter 45 – JiaoLong Dragon

Chapter 46 – Eastern Blue Dragon

Chapter 47 – The Mighty Blue Dragon

Chapter 48 – Coincidence

Chapter 49 – Shamed

Chapter 50 – Enormous Disparities

Chapter 51 – Apprentice

Chapter 52 – Abyss Of The Devil’s Race

Chapter 53 – Clouds Of A Dark Gas

Chapter 54 – Evolution

Chapter 55 – Competition Among Brothers

Chapter 56 – Bei Ming’s Lone Leaf

Chapter 57 – Beleaguer

Chapter 58 – Deliberate Complications

Chapter 59 – Another Fierce Battle

Chapter 60 – Komodo Dragons

Chapter 61 – Komodo Annihilation

Chapter 62 – Dare To Draw Out A Blood Oath?

Chapter 63 – A Snap Of The Fingers

Chapter 64 – San Yuan School

Chapter 65 – The Dark Drake

Chapter 66 – Falling Back Again

Chapter 67 – Mid-Air Kill

Chapter 68 – Parting With The Pursuers

Chapter 69 – Enemies On A Narrow Road

Chapter 70 – One Shot Kill

Chapter 71 – Division Of Loot

Chapter 72 – The Devils

Chapter 73 – Another Breakthrough

Chapter 74 – Zi Chuan
Chapter 75 – Chimera On Fire

Chapter 76 – Ten Finger Extermination

Chapter 77 – Treasures

Chapter 78 – The Ogre Flower

Chapter 79 – Ferocious Pillagers

Chapter 80 – Mystery

Chapter 81 – The King Appears

Chapter 82 – Black Silk Threads To The Rescue

Chapter 83 – Bei Ming Hong

Chapter 84 – Gu Feng’s Watchful Eyes

Chapter 85 – Round Two

Chapter 86 – The Beautiful Zi Yan

Chapter 87 – Stone Giant Knocked Down

Chapter 88 – A Discorded End

Chapter 89 – Take The Enemy By Surprise

Chapter 90 – A War Of Words

Chapter 91 – A Noxious Selection Of Dates

Chapter 92 – The Nobleman, Mo Li

Chapter 93 – Self-Detonation

Chapter 94 – The Devil’s Secret Forest

Chapter 95 – The Purple Vine

Chapter 96 – The Jungle Python

Chapter 97 – The Chimera Notches Another

Chapter 98 – Jungle Python Eggs

Chapter 99 – Zheng Qi’s Li Xuan Feng

Chapter 100 – A Group Of Devils

Chapter 101 – Spirit Poison Grass

Chapter 102 – Under The Pool

Chapter 103 – The Huge Net

Chapter 104 – A Good Plan

Chapter 105 – Invincible Kernel

Chapter 106 – No Value For Word

Chapter 107 – No Mercy For Women

Chapter 108 – Exit

Chapter 109 – Return

Chapter 110 – Three Years In A Row

Chapter 111 – Breakthrough

Chapter 112 – Shock Rune

Chapter 113 – Meeting Jing Feng

Chapter 114 – She Returns

Chapter 115 – Yan Yu Si’s Intentions

Chapter 116 – Yu Qing Yang

Chapter 117 – Do You Like Him?

Chapter 118 – The Ever-Growing Charm

Chapter 119 – Stupid Sword-Play

Chapter 120 – Murder The Dragon

Chapter 121 – Women Chase After The Man

Chapter 122 – A Platform For Confrontation

Chapter 123 – Bi Fan Starts To Rise

Chapter 124 – The Changing Dan

Chapter 125 – A Real Fight

Chapter 126 – Establishing Prestige

Chapter 127 – Confident Of A Victory

Chapter 128 – Peerless Finesse

Chapter 129 – An Unexpected Ending

Chapter 130 – Importance Of Physical Exercise

Chapter 131 – The Sword Of The Land

Chapter 132 – Xiang Wen Tian

Chapter 133 – The Dragon-Scale Sword

Chapter 134 – A Devious Presence

Chapter 135 – Entry Into The Library

Chapter 136 – Setting Out

Chapter 137 – The Traveler’s Tavern

Chapter 138 – A Stroll Down The Streets

Chapter 139 – Disposing Off The Enemy

Chapter 140 – The Auction

Chapter 141 – Intense Competition

Chapter 142 – Life Prolonging Dan

Chapter 143 – The Dragon Scale Shield

Chapter 144 – The Green Bladed Sword

Chapter 145 – Sky High Prices

Chapter 146 – Rotary Kingland

Chapter 147 – The Winner Emerges

Chapter 148 – Against The Devil – Body Burst

Chapter 149 – The Contest Begins

Chapter 150 – Tai Chi Sword

Chapter 151 – The Yin Yang Shield

Chapter 152 – Li Qian Xun

Chapter 153 – Ba Gua’s Universe Blade

Chapter 154 – Yan Yu Si’s Jealousy

Chapter 155 – The Yin Yang Sword

Chapter 156 – The Tao Bao Complex

Chapter 157 – Enormous Wealth

Chapter 158 – Spirit Illusion Needles

Chapter 159 – Hand-Eye Coordination

Chapter 160 – Snap Out And You’re Finished

Chapter 161 – Tragedy

Chapter 162 – The Six Diamonds

Chapter 163 – Triple Transformation Sword

Chapter 164 – Shadow Kick

Chapter 165 – The Big List

Chapter 166 – Mangalica Pig

Chapter 167 – A Top-Notch Match-Up

Chapter 168 – Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu

Chapter 169 – The Fiend Fright Burst

Chapter 170 – Zhao Yun Fei

Chapter 171 – Practicing Blood Devil Method

Chapter 172 – Beast Pet Showdown

Chapter 173 – You’re A Waste

Chapter 174 – The Discord In The Eastern Aristocracy

Chapter 175 – Desert Blade

Chapter 176 – The Pet Slayer

Chapter 177 – The Spotted Leopard

Chapter 178 – Enemies On A Narrow Road

Chapter 179 – An Unfavorable Situation

Chapter 180 – Goodwill

Chapter 181 – The Desire To Achieve

Chapter 182 – The Green Phoenix

Chapter 183 – The Chimera After Evolution

Chapter 184 – Tense Atmosphere

Chapter 185 – The Overbearing Underdog

Chapter 186 – A World Without Swords

Chapter 187 –The Vigor To Match-Up

Chapter 188 – The Dazzling Sacred Tiger

Chapter 189 – A Two VS Two Showdown

Chapter 190 – Wu Ji Xuan Advances

Chapter 191 – Reversing The Situation

Chapter 192 – The Guangdong Saber

Chapter 193 – Reaping Appreciations

Chapter 194 – No Arrogance In Victory, No Despair In
Defeat

Chapter 195 – Gold Dan Layer And Primordial Spirit Layer

Chapter 196 – Confluence With Wang Zhong

Chapter 197 – Convincing Wang Zhong

Chapter 198 – Purple Night Blade Law

Chapter 199 – God Of Water, An Ancient Sect

Chapter 200 – Low Grade Spirit Weapons

Chapter 201 – Intense Fighting

Chapter 202 – Devil’s Transformation

Chapter 203 – Tong Cheng Region

Chapter 204 – Returning To The Mountain To Become A
Disciple

Chapter 205 – Ying Song Hotel

Chapter 206 – Martial Street Matches

Chapter 207 – Xuan Yuan Long

Chapter 208 – More Limelight

Chapter 209 – Women Disguised As Men

Chapter 210 – Naive Zi Wei

Chapter 211 – The Xuannv Ninth Heaven Sword

Chapter 212 – Mischievous Zi Wei

Chapter 213 – Love At First Sight

Chapter 214 – Treasure Hunt Commences Soon!

Chapter 215 – Entering The Tong Tian Sect’s Secret

Storehouse

Chapter 216 – Battle In The Valley

Chapter 217 – Universal Stick

Chapter 218 – The Stick Of Nine Thundering Dragons

Chapter 219 – Origins Of Zi Wei And Hong Yan

Chapter 220 – The Mighty Bi Fan

Chapter 221 – Kill To Collect Treasure

Chapter 222 – A Breakthrough Between Life And Death

Chapter 223 – Zi Wei’s Identity Exposed!

Chapter 224 – Ji Ying Lan Meets With An Accident

Chapter 225 – On The Verge