Le Feng and Hu Yiba had the same thought. Since they were already powerless in striving for the top three, wouldn’t it be better if they did Chen Yu a favor at little cost? Either that or they were making up for the guilt they felt in their hearts.
On stage.
“Le Feng, right? You certainly are pretty good in terms of your overall strength. I also understand what your intentions are. You want to sound out what I’m all about, don’t you?” Nangong Li said in a leisurely manner.
Le Feng was stunned that Nangong Li exposed his intentions in such a straightforward manner.
That’s right.
He and Hu Yiba shared the same notion in probing out a few of the secrets the outer sect’s number one possessed. Hu Yiba’s preceding attempt was considered to be a success, so it was his turn now.
“Then, as you wish.”
The corner of Nangong Li’s lips curved upwards as he put on a magnanimous appearance.
Towering Cloud Step!
The damaged treasured sword in Le Feng’s hand worked in concert with his footwork just like a broken arc in the night sky as it swept directly toward Nangong Li.
Whoosh!
Nangong Li swayed and dragged a few afterimages out as he crossed with Le Feng face-to-face a few times.
“What a brilliant martial arts form!”
“This Nangong Li is sauntering so leisurely, yet his martial arts form even triumphs over Le Feng’s by a slight chip.”
Numerous disciples opened their eyes very widely.
This was the first time Le Feng’s [Towering Cloud Step] encountered a martial arts form that was stronger than his.
Naturally, Nangong Li’s martial arts form only triumphed over his by a line. If he played it safe, the disparity between them wouldn’t be so fatally large.
Constituent Astral Wind Fan!
Multiple astral winds and the images of a fan suddenly swept up from the folding fan in Nangong Li’s hand. A strong wind rose all around and condensed into a ball under an odd power. Other than a deep whistling, no other noises could be heard.
Clank, bang!
The strong and ferocious yet marvelous power on that folding fan surprisingly deviated the attack from Le Feng’s sword as he immediately sank into a weakened state.
Le Feng gritted his teeth as he prompted his martial arts form and swordplay to its peak state. He was resisting Nangong Li with the skill he had accumulated throughout his entire lifetime. He was not aiming to achieve the best possible result, but rather he was trying to avoid making mistakes.
In an instant, Le Feng was suppressed for more than a dozen moves. He was breathing rapidly and had fallen into an entirely disadvantageous position from all directions.
Offstage, Chen Yu frowned slightly as he attentively watched the battle progress. From the beginning of the fight until now, Nangong Li’s attacks were very free and liberal. It was evident that he wasn’t using his full strength.
“Elder Brother Yu.”
A soft and familiar voice rang beside his ear.
Hmm?
Chen Yu’s heart leaped. He saw a gorgeous young lady that resembled the first rays of the morning sun standing charmingly before him. Her fine black hair that resembled a waterfall paired with her delicate face that was pure and beautiful like first snow was enough to take the breaths of their contemporaries away in an instant.
“Xueqing? You…”
Chen Yu found this very unexpected.
“Elder Brother Yu, you engaged in a few battles in a row just now and exhausted quite a considerable amount of your energy. I’m afraid Le Feng can’t hold on a moment longer. Quickly take this top-ranked Qi Returning Pill.”
There was a sparkling and translucent pill on the young lady’s white hand. She also had a somewhat expectant look in her eyes.
“Just what exactly is this…”
Chen Yu found this somewhat inexplicably strange and he couldn’t understand what was going on.
In his mind, the lasting mark that originally belonged to the feelings he had for Mu Xueqing dulled a little bit a long time ago.
The path of martial arts and the peak of the sect was what he only yearned for the most now.
“Can’t I help you out a little even if we’re ordinary friends?”
The young lady smiled sweetly as she appeared to recall how Chen Yu was inarticulate in the past.
“Alright.”
Chen Yu’s thoughts turned as he took the top-ranked Qi Returning Pill.
He suddenly recalled his constitution’s frightening restorative abilities. It was best if he didn’t expose it lest he aroused the suspicions of even more people.
It just so happened that this Qi Returning Pill could conceal this matter.
If he just had great strength, he could say that he had eaten some kind of spiritual fruit which transformed his constitution and caused a great rise in his strength.
Similar fortunes existed in the sect world.
It would be difficult for him to explain the various suspicious points he had such as extraordinary strength, astonishing restorative abilities, abnormal self-recovery abilities, and being a genius in physical techniques, supposing that he revealed them all.
It was best if he didn’t expose it before he became powerful at the very least.
“Elder Brother Yu, you have to fight and become an inner sect disciple…”
Mu Xueqing tightly balled her white fists as if she cared about the matter more than Chen Yu himself.
“Yeah.”
Chen Yu nodded and ingested that top-ranked Qi Returning Pill.
Once the pill entered his stomach, Chen Yu felt his heart shudder as a strange suctioning force absorbed the medicinal power in a flash.
In a split second, a kind of enriching feeling spread through Chen Yu’s entire body.
In practically a split second, Chen Yu’s body absorbed all of the medicinal power of this spiritual medicine under the impetus of the mysterious heart.
Chen Yu felt that his vitality, qi, spirit, and his Inner Breath, in particular, had reached an unprecedented peak.
“Thank you. I’ll return it to you when I have the time to do so.”
Chen Yu glanced at Mu Xueqing a second time. The young lady’s charming face immediately turned red, which increased her gorgeousness and pure charm somewhat.
Wang Lingyun, who wasn’t too far away, was so jealous that he immediately clenched his teeth when he saw this scene.
He never thought that Chen Yu could not just enter the top three steadily, but he also had the possibility of contending for first place as well.
On top of that, Le Feng and Hu Yiba actually willingly paved the road for him to ensure his success.
Not to mention, Mu Xueqing, who was once the number one beauty of the outer sect, even personally gave him a precious Qi Returning Pill.
If!
If he could get first place, then wouldn’t that mean…he would soon succeed in obtaining rewards, beauties, and status?!
In a corner of the mountain peak.
“Why am I so bitter and unwilling to accept this in my heart? Could it be that I truly have feelings for this girl?” The Seventh Prince murmured in his heart.
At this moment, he had a kind of craving to embrace that gorgeous young lady, whose delicate face contained bashfulness like the first blooming of a tree peony and satisfy all of his needs.
But!
The young lady’s touching smile that contained bashfulness and such cherished feelings was directed at someone else.
All of a sudden, the Seventh Prince straightened out the expression on his face. The expression of indifference on his face disappeared as he appeared to have some kind of resolve.
At this exact moment, a turnaround occurred in the battle on stage.
“Hehe…this is the end of my warm-up. You’re the first person who can fight me to this level since the start of the competition until now.”
Nangong Li stopped.
Le Feng, who was directly in front of him was breathing roughly as beads of sweat were seeping out of his forehead.
All of the disciples offstage felt fearful as it hadn’t been that long. As Nangong Li played the situation down, he managed to force Le Feng to this level.
This was still a warm-up? He was exercising his muscles and bones?
“I’m ready.”
Nangong Li took the first step as he slowly walked toward Le Feng.
Le Feng could sense something, but just as his body moved, he felt a strangely rushed yet drawn-out sound jolt his brain.
In a split second, Le Feng shuddered and was almost unsteady on his feet.
“Secret Mental Technique — Soul Intimidation.”
Nangong Li’s lips squirmed oddly as he let out a series of drawn-out yet hurried sounds.
The aftermath from the power of that sound fell onto the ears of many disciples. All they felt was that their minds were unstable and that their qi and blood were restless.
“This voice…”
Chen Yu suddenly recalled the circumstances when formerly dealing with Honghu’s Three Fiends.
Amongst them, the Third Fiend produced a strange soundwave by blowing a mysterious flute, but it surely wasn’t a simple soundwave attack.
This involved the domain of the mind.
At this moment, Nangong Li unleashed a sound that intimidated one’s soul without the help of any items. His formidable power already triumphed over the Three Fiends from that time.
Le Feng only felt his mind tremble. His consciousness was in a disorderly state as a buzzing rang out in his mind.
Peng, bang!
That Nangong Li waved the folding fan in his hands. Astral winds and the images of a fan soon whistled, jolting Le Feng beyond a few meters. The treasured sword in Le Feng’s hand fell with a clank.
Le Feng lost!
A deathly stillness fell across the floor. All that was left was a sea of faces overwhelmed with shock.
This Nangong Li’s secret mental technique really was strange. It was impossible to guard against it!
“You can only let me use half of my secret mental technique even with your strength,” Nangong Li said as he shook his head.
The disciples offstage were shocked and felt incredulous.
“Martial Brother Chen, I’ve done all I could to this point.”
Le Feng smiled in agony.
A genius like him was nothing much to look at in the face of Nangong Li, the number one genius of the outer sect.
Naturally, he was not only gifted. That Nangong Li also had a magnificent family background and even a Sect Elder behind him.
“Come, Chen Yu! I want to see whether you have the ability to let me utilize the other half of my abilities.”
Nangong Li was calm and composed after winning one match.
“Alright!”
Chen Yu’s figure scuttled as he leaped onto the stage at an astonishing speed.
“Be careful, Elder Brother Yu. The most important thing in dealing with the secret mental technique is strongly defending your heart and resisting it with your willpower,” Mu Xueqing warned.
On stage, Chen Yu stored his Inner Breath as his heart throbbed slowly yet forcefully as though it was waiting for something.
“Aren’t you going to make a move? If I completely unleash my secret mental technique, you might not have a chance anymore…” Nangong Li said in an unhurried manner.
“I’ll wait for you to recover your vital energy so I can win fair and square. I don’t want to leave behind a pretext for gossip just because I fought in a wheel battle,” Chen Yu calmly replied.
Nangong Li became speechless.
This was the first person who dared to be prideful in front of him since the start of the competition.
“Even though Le Feng and Hu Yiba kindly helped me strive for first place, I want to rely on my true strength without the slightest shred of intervention from external forces,” Chen Yu added.
When they heard this, a few of the disciples present felt a deep veneration for him. A few of the higher-ups in the sect also looked at him commendably.
Chen Yu always made steady progress that was incomparably sturdy along his path of cultivation.
He also wanted to do it that way in obtaining first place.
“Well said! But you just fought three matches in a row a moment ago, so we’re even.
Nangong Li shamelessly smiled and attacked all of a sudden.
Whoosh! Pfft, bang!
He immediately closed in on Chen Yu with a speed that far exceeded that of when he was fighting Le Feng. He slapped out a sheet of fan images and astral winds from the folding fan in his hands, forming strong condensed winds.
How quick!
All of the disciples offstage couldn’t see the trajectory of the figures.
“That Nangong Li was still holding back in speed when he was fighting with me in close combat.”
Le Feng became dumbstruck in an instant.
This Nangong Li truly was a profound mystery. It was unknown how great his strength was in addition to that.
Towering Cloud Step!
The other figure was like a flying leopard that launched itself abruptly. He jumped high up in the air and dodged Nangong Li’s attack.
Hmm?!
Nangong Li’s fan missed its target, which was immensely unexpected to him.
“Shoot! This fellow was actually reserving his speed as well. He’s somewhat quicker than before.”
Cheng Yun looked gloomy as though he had suffered a huge blow.
Everyone watching the fight felt immensely stirred up as they earnestly watched the duo cross blows on stage.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Two figures crisscrossed a few times on stage. There was no clear distinction between them.
Thump, thump! Thump, thump!
The beating in Chen Yu’s heart sped up so that this body could truly erupt in speed.
“Just what kind of monster is this fellow exactly? He triumphs over me slightly in absolute speed. If it were not for the fact that my martial arts form is far superior…”
Nangong Li was secretly shocked.
One had to know that he cultivated a high leveled martial arts form that triumphed over [Towering Cloud Step].
Fiendish Cloud Fist!
All of a sudden, Chen Yu sucked in a deep breath and unleashed scathing Fiendish Cloud Inner Breath from his fist. Amidst strong whistling winds, a ball of fiendish qi and dark clouds faintly appeared.
Bronze Hand!
His arm was instantly plated with a layer of copper metal luster.
Constituent Astral Wind Fan!
When Nangong Li waved his fan, condensed astral winds, as well as the image of a fan, bombarded the fiendish qi and dark clouds.
Bang, boom!
The duo crossed blows on the spot. A shallow hole that was a few meters wide exploded on the solid tournament stage. This was made out of ore and rocks that were harder than steel.
Two figures separated amidst the powerful strong wind and airwaves.
Teng, teng, teng!
While that happened, Nangong Li held the folding fan in his hand and coughed a few times. He retreated a few steps back and appeared to be in a slightly difficult situation.
Chen Yu immediately retreated a few steps back while his complexion appeared to be slightly rosy.
Many of the spectators beneath the stage held their breaths as they stared at the duo.
“Very good. You’re the first person to face me head-on yet manage to faintly suppress me.”
Nangong Li’s face sank.
“But you’ll meet with an all-out attack from my secret mental technique next.”
Once his words fell, Nangong Li strode toward Chen Yu.
“Secret Mental Technique — Soul Intimidation!”
A drawn-out and piercing sound vibrated in Chen Yu’s mind. His mind trembled as it buzzed and rang out right away.