"Laughing at you for being a fool. Lending my jade token to you is my honor; then, would it also be your honor if you lent all the females in your family to me?" Yun Chen's words caused the gazes of the crowd to freeze.
This fellow had some nerve, actually daring to speak to Feng Wu like this.
No, this wasn't just talking; this was clearly humiliation—humiliating Feng Wu.
"You're courting death!"
Feng Wu was furious, his eyes turning blood-red, and his already gloomy-looking face became even more so.
The words had barely left his mouth when he moved, throwing a punch straight out.
Yet, facing this punch from his opponent, Yun Chen showed not the slightest intention of retreating. He stomped a foot onto the ground and threw a punch of his own.
A mere Mid Qi Condensation Realm cultivator—he hadn't taken him seriously at all.
Seeing that Yun Chen actually dared to trade punches with him, Feng Wu sneered inwardly, as if he could already see the scene of Yun Chen's fist being shattered and his arm broken by a single blow of his.
After all, his opponent was just a newcomer.
How strong could a newcomer possibly be?
Besides, this fellow was still wearing the attire of an outer court disciple!
If he had stepped into the Origin Opening Realm, this fellow would likely have already become an inner court disciple; why would he still be wearing outer court disciple robes?
Yet, the next second, his expression changed drastically.
Accompanied by a muffled bang, his fist was actually blasted open, the bones cracking. After shattering his fist, the immense force continued onward, slamming into his body and sending him stumbling back over a dozen steps until he hit the wall.
For a moment, the entire scene froze.
Feng Wu had actually lost, and lost so thoroughly.
Defeated by a guy at Qi Cyclone Realm Layer 1?
How was this possible?
They found it hard to believe.
"You..." Feng Wu was also filled with extreme shock and disbelief, never expecting Yun Chen's strength to be so terrifying. With his Mid Qi Condensation Realm cultivation, he couldn't even block a single punch from his opponent.
"Trash!" Yun Chen scoffed derisively, then produced his jade token and directly inserted it into the slot beside them.
The heavy door slowly opened, and he stepped right into the stone chamber.
"Kid, you wait for me! I won't let you off!"
Feng Wu said coldly, a venomous light flashing in his eyes.
He would definitely make Yun Chen pay the price.
"If you come to provoke me again next time, the price won't just be as simple as losing a fist!" His flat voice was laced with an unquestionable overbearingness.
This caused Feng Wu's gaze to flicker as he let out a cold laugh.
Threatening him?
Was he, Feng Wu, someone who could be threatened so easily?
Seeing Feng Wu leave, the crowd knew this matter was far from over.
Feng Wu had an older brother, and that older brother was an inner court disciple. Although not among the top ten disciples, he was still an Origin Opening Realm expert. Once Feng Wu brought his older brother over, it would be virtually impossible for Yun Chen to cultivate in peace inside the stone chamber.
Yun Chen knew nothing of this. At this moment, he was sitting cross-legged atop the stone platform.
The moment he sat down, strands of blue electric current suddenly surged from the floor, while an intensely dense concentration of heaven and earth spiritual energy poured out from the stone platform, rushing wildly into his body.
"Crackling!"
The surrounding bolts of lightning lashed out fiercely against Yun Chen, instantly tearing his clothes to shreds.
Though waves of pain washed over his body, Yun Chen completely ignored it and accelerated his cultivation.
The heaven and earth spiritual energy here was simply too dense; if he didn't seize the time to cultivate, his spirit stones would go to waste. Moreover, this was heaven and earth spiritual energy imbued with the thunder element—such a place was a rare find.
To think Dayan Mountain held such a treasure, and he hadn't even known about it before.
Time slips away unnoticed during cultivation.
In the blink of an eye, two hours had passed.
Yun Chen had become completely immersed in his cultivation.
...
The ninth level of the Cultivation Pagoda.
Three young men arrived outside the stone chamber where Yun Chen was cultivating.
Walking at the very front was none other than Feng Wu.
Following closely behind Feng Wu were two other men. Both of these men were Origin Opening Realm experts, and merely standing there, they exuded a powerful sense of oppression.
"It's an inner court disciple! Feng Wu's older brother, Feng Cheng, and beside Feng Cheng is Han Lingyu."
"Why are they here?"
"That fellow who offended Feng Wu is going to be in bad luck now. Although the Cultivation Pagoda has rules that others cannot be disturbed while cultivating, some rules simply don't apply to inner court disciples—especially geniuses like Feng Cheng."
Among the onlookers, quite a few people whispered amongst themselves.
"Go on, smash the door and make him crawl out!" Feng Cheng commanded coldly.
Feng Wu sneered, stepping forward to throw a punch.
Accompanied by a booming sound, his fist smashed fiercely against the stone door, producing a violent roar of impact.
Inside the stone chamber, Yun Chen—who had been cultivating and making an all-out charge toward the Qi Cyclone Realm Layer 2—opened his mouth and spat out a large mouthful of blood due to the sudden noise. The spiritual energy in his body turned chaotic, and he sustained some minor injuries.
Chapter 42: Who is Courting Death
In the ninth-level space, quite a few people were jolted awake from their cultivation by Feng Wu's door-smashing. They walked out of their stone chambers one after another, glaring angrily at the culprit.
However, upon catching sight of Feng Cheng and the others, the anger of these people instantly vanished into thin air.
Because Feng Cheng was someone they couldn't afford to offend.
This was a prominent figure in Dayan Mountain, and it was rumored that Feng Cheng had an elder backing him. Therefore, they didn't dare cross him at all.
"What's going on?"
Someone asked in a deep voice.
Feng Wu would never smash doors for no reason.
Immediately, someone recounted the incident where Feng Wu had clashed with Yun Chen.
Hearing this, one of the young men shouted angrily, "Bastard, he almost got me hurt!"
"If he comes out, I'll definitely give him a piece of my mind! Doesn't this guy know that Feng Wu isn't someone to mess with?" Another female said with chilling coldness, murder flashing in her eyes. A trace of blood spilled from the corner of her lips; clearly, she had suffered some injuries due to Feng Wu's door-smashing, and she blamed all of it squarely on Yun Chen.
The door of the stone chamber finally opened.
Yun Chen's figure appeared in everyone's field of vision.
At this moment, his expression looked somewhat ferocious.
Earlier, when Feng Wu had threatened to cripple his cultivation, he hadn't wanted to make a fuss and had merely taught the fellow a lesson. He never expected that the other party would still refuse to let go and actually come smash his door.
"Feng Wu, don't you know the rules of the Cultivation Pagoda? Aren't you afraid of being punished for doing this?" Yun Chen asked coldly.
Inside the Cultivation Pagoda, once someone stepped into a stone chamber, smashing doors was strictly forbidden.
Otherwise, it would disrupt the person cultivating inside, potentially causing them to suffer a deviation in cultivation, completely ruining their martial path, or even endangering their life.
Yet Feng Wu didn't seem to have considered any of this at all.
"Punishment? What punishment? Kid, I told you before, I will definitely make you pay the price!" Feng Wu laughed arrogantly.
Earlier, Yun Chen had made him lose all face, causing him to harbor a deep, burning resentment toward Yun Chen.
If he didn't teach Yun Chen a lesson, how could he possibly let it go?
Yun Chen's gaze turned slightly cold.
"What do you want?"
"It's very simple. Kneel down immediately, kowtow to apologize, cripple your own cultivation, break one of your own arms, hand over the storage ring you have on you, and get lost from this place. Then, this matter will be considered over," Feng Wu said indifferently.
"And if I say no?" Yun Chen felt that he had been somewhat too merciful; earlier, he should have just crippled Feng Wu on the spot.
"Feng Young Master, a mere ant like him doesn't warrant your personal intervention. Why not let us teach him a lesson and make him understand the difference between superiors and inferiors!"
"That's right, Young Master Feng. Because of this brat, our cultivation was disrupted, and we haven't even settled this score with him yet."
"Hmph, a newcomer who just arrived at Dayan Mountain and yet is so ignorant of the immensity of heaven and earth that he dares to come to the ninth level to cultivate—truly courting death!"
A few men and women not far away walked over, speaking with chilling coldness, the gazes they cast at Yun Chen laced with traces of murderous intent.
Hearing these people's words, Feng Wu chuckled, "Very well, then the few of you can properly teach him a lesson on this young master's behalf. Let him know that in Dayan Mountain, he must never act arrogantly—sometimes, arrogance comes with a price."
Both Han Lingyu and Feng Cheng remained silent.
Hearing Feng Wu's words, those Peak Qi Condensation Realm outer court disciples strode forward, wave after wave of oppressive force descending upon Yun Chen.
"It seems to me that I have no grudges with any of you, right?" Yun Chen said, looking at the group.
One of the young men sneered cruelly, "No grudges? You offended Young Master Feng, causing him to smash the door, which disrupted our cultivation and almost caused us to suffer a deviation in cultivation, and now you have the nerve to say we have no grudges?"
"Long Fei, stop wasting breath on him, just cripple him!" the female said with icy coldness.
When Feng Wu smashed the door, she had suffered the worst injuries.
However, she didn't dare vent her anger on Feng Wu, so she could only transfer all her rage onto Yun Chen.
Hearing this person's words, Yun Chen's eyes widened in disbelief.
There was such logic as this?
Feng Wu smashed the door, but they didn't dare vent their anger on Feng Wu, so they took it out on him instead?
What kind of ridiculous excuse was this?
Yun Chen had never imagined that there could be such shameless people in this world.
A blazing murderous intent instantly surged within his heart.
Even if it meant killing someone and having to bring up Yun Xiaoya, he would not hesitate.
"Don't worry, Jiaojiao, I'll definitely give this guy a good show!" As the young man named Long Fei spoke, he had already taken big strides forward, looking down at Yun Chen from above. "Kneel down right now and lick the dust off my shoes clean. Maybe if I'm in a good mood, I'll just teach you a lesson and spare your cultivation."
"And if I say no?" Yun Chen said indifferently.
"If you dare say no, I'll let you know what regret tastes like!"
Long Fei let out a cruel laugh.
"Then let's give it a try!"
Yun Chen was completely unfazed.
He wasn't like he had never fought a Peak Qi Condensation Realm cultivator before.
A real man, why fear a fight?
"Courting death!"
Seeing that Yun Chen showed not a shred of fear toward him, Long Fei grew furious. He drew the longsword slung across his back, and amidst flashing cold light, he slashed a sword directly toward Yun Chen's arm, intending to chop off one of Yun Chen's arms first.
"The one courting death is you!"
Instead of retreating, Yun Chen advanced, taking a single step forward. His tattered clothes fluttered in the wind, and a substantive killing intent howled forth from him as he raised his fist and smashed it straight ahead.
Chapter 43: Overbearing Feng Cheng
A momentum of heaven and earth converged onto Yun Chen, causing the entire space to grow grim and killing intent to fill the air.
The longsword thrust forward like a venomous snake, aiming to sever Yun Chen's arm.
Yun Chen's fist, however, did not dodge or evade at all, smashing directly toward the incoming sword tip. Imbued with thunder-element spiritual energy, his fist surged and churned wildly, giving off a heart-palpitating sensation.
Seeing that Yun Chen actually dared to smash his sword with his bare fist, Long Fei almost burst out laughing.
This fellow was truly courting death.
How could human flesh compare to a weapon?
Besides, Yun Chen was not a body-refining cultivator.
Even if he were a body-refining cultivator, at such a young age, how formidable could his physical body possibly be?
Yet the next second, Long Fei could no longer laugh.
Following a series of crisp cracking sounds and a dull bang, the longsword in his hand was actually smashed into pieces, shattering apart. At the same time, Yun Chen's fist slammed into his shoulder, the powerful spiritual energy surging forth and directly pulverizing his arm into a spray of blood across the sky.
"Ah!"
Long Fei let out a miserable, blood-curdling scream.
Yun Chen had no intention of letting him off. He stepped forward and kicked fiercely toward the other man's lower abdomen.
Accompanied by a soft squelch, a massive amount of spiritual energy instantly dissipated from Long Fei's body.
Clearly, his dantian had been directly shattered by Yun Chen, completely ruining his cultivation.
Moreover, just like that, he had also lost an arm.
"You..."
With his dantian destroyed, Long Fei stood frozen in a daze, casting a venomous gaze at Yun Chen as he momentarily forgot the pain of his shattered arm.
Yun Chen said coldly, "Those who humiliate others should expect to be humiliated themselves!"
He had no prior enmity with Long Fei; yet this person had vented his anger on him simply because Feng Wu smashed his stone chamber door, even attempting to cripple his arm and demanding that he lick his shoes. Such venomous intentions meant that not killing him on the spot could already be considered Yun Chen's mercy.
"You are so vicious!" Yu Jiaojiao looked at Yun Chen, her heart trembling uncontrollably.
"Vicious? I had no grudges with you lot, yet you wanted to cripple my arm and ruin my cultivation, and now that I've crippled you in return, I'm vicious?" A chilling light burst from Yun Chen's eyes. "Vile woman, does it mean you are only allowed to humiliate others, but others aren't allowed to touch you?"
As he spoke, Yun Chen moved once more.
Executing the Phantom Body Double technique, his entire body moved like a streak of flowing light, appearing directly in front of Yu Jiaojiao before delivering a kick that sent her flying through the air.
How could he possibly let this vicious woman go?
Just like Long Fei, Yu Jiaojiao's cultivation had also been crippled. Lying on the ground, her expression turned ashen gray.
She knew she was finished.
In the past, relying on her powerful cultivation, she had offended countless people within Dayan Mountain. Now that her cultivation was gone, she could well imagine the fate awaiting her.
A trace of regret inevitably welled up in her heart—she shouldn't have provoked this lunatic named Yun Chen.
Yes, in her eyes, Yun Chen was a lunatic, a lunatic who had no scruples whatsoever.
Feng Cheng and Han Lingyu had remained completely inactive the entire time.
Yu Jiaojiao and Long Fei had wanted to suck up to them; having their cultivation crippled now was only serving them right.
Yun Chen turned around and looked at Feng Wu and the others.
Meeting Yun Chen's ice-cold gaze, Feng Wu actually felt a hint of fear.
However, thinking of his older brother being right here, along with Han Lingyu, his courage returned. He shouted coldly, "Yun Chen, you have some nerve! To actually cripple the cultivation of a fellow sect disciple, what crime do you suppose that is?"
"Then do you know that striking someone else's stone chamber door and interrupting their closed-door cultivation is likewise a capital offense?" Yun Chen retorted.
For a moment, Feng Wu was left speechless.
At this moment, Feng Cheng finally spoke: "I'm the one who told my younger brother to do it. What, do you have a problem with that?"
His tone was calm, yet it carried an air of supreme arrogance.
He simply didn't put Yun Chen in his eyes at all.
Yun Chen's eyes narrowed slightly.
The person before him was an Origin Opening Realm expert whose internal spiritual energy had transformed into true elemental energy, making his strength more than twice that of his own.
"Could it be that an inner court disciple can just casually break the rules?" Yun Chen asked again.
"No, you're wrong. Not all inner court disciples have the qualification to break the rules, but I, Feng Cheng, possess that qualification. Because my master is a peak elder, I have the qualification to break the rules! Kid, seeing that your strength is not bad, from now on, stay by my side and be a dog to me. How about that?"
Yun Chen only possessed the strength of the Qi Cyclone Realm Layer 1, yet he could kill Peak Qi Condensation Realm cultivators.
This piqued his interest.
"Not how about that at all!"
"You think I wouldn't dare kill you?" Hearing Yun Chen's unhesitating refusal, Feng Cheng's gaze turned cold.
In his opinion, letting Yun Chen stay by his side was already an immense favor; the other party should be overflowing with gratitude.
"Then give it a try!"
Yun Chen showed no fear whatsoever. A fighting spirit surged straight into the heavens from his body, and a momentum of heaven and earth converged upon him, causing Feng Cheng's eyes to narrow slightly.
Yun Chen had already comprehended momentum.
Momentum was a profound and abstruse state—it could be considered a realm, yet also not one. However, once momentum was comprehended, a cultivator's combat power would multiply exponentially.
Yun Chen was precisely such a person.
Chapter 44: Overbearing Feng Cheng
Despite knowing that Yun Chen had comprehended momentum, Feng Cheng still didn't take him seriously.
The reason was simple.
Yun Chen was simply too weak.
A mere Qi Cyclone Realm cultivator.
While he was in the Origin Opening Realm—a full two major realms higher than his opponent.
The further one progressed in cultivation, the greater the gap became.
Many people could challenge Qi Cyclone Realm experts while they were in the Spirit-Guiding Realm, but once they reached the Qi Cyclone Realm, a Qi Cyclone cultivator trying to challenge a Condensation Realm practitioner was basically impossible.
Those capable of fighting across major realms—which one of them wasn't a peerless talent?
Yet throughout a millennium of history, no one had ever been able to leap from the Qi Cyclone Realm to challenge the Origin Opening Realm.
"Then give it a try!"
The moment those words were uttered, everyone looked at Yun Chen in utter astonishment—looking at that youth standing there who carried himself like a sharp, unsheathed sword.
"A mere Qi Cyclone Realm Layer 1 daring to be this arrogant; I really don't know where you get your confidence from. This young master admits that being able to defeat Peak Qi Condensation Realm cultivators at Qi Cyclone Realm Layer 1 makes your talent peerless. But what a pity, you shouldn't have, you simply shouldn't have touched this young master's younger brother, nor should you have provoked this young master. I will let you experience just how vast the gap between the Qi Cyclone Realm and the Origin Opening Realm truly is!"
Feng Cheng slowly took a step forward. With that single step, a massive amount of gold-element battle Qi suddenly flared across his body, instantly forming a suit of armor that enveloped his entire person.
This was battle Qi armor—one of the hallmarks of an Origin Opening Realm expert.
Battle Qi armor was something ordinary weapons found virtually impossible to damage in the slightest.
Transforming internal spiritual energy into true elemental energy was a qualitative transformation. Not only that, but Origin Opening Realm experts also possessed an innate suppression over cultivators below the Origin Opening Realm.
With powerful battle Qi materializing around his body, Feng Cheng's pupils seemed to transform into gold as he stared coldly at Yun Chen. "Even if I don't lift a finger, can you possibly manage to harm me?"
"Is that so?" Yun Chen moved.
In the blink of an eye, he appeared right in front of Feng Cheng. Executing the Earth-grade martial skill, Rushing Thunder Palm, lightning flashed wildly across his palm. An aura of complete annihilation erupted abruptly, and then, with a single palm strike, he stamped it heavily against his opponent's chest.
"Boom!"
A sound resembling a thunderclap echoed out. Feng Cheng couldn't help but stumble back a few steps, cracks actually appearing across the armor on his body, while a trace of blood even leaked from the corner of his mouth.
"You're courting death!"
Seeing that this fellow had actually managed to injure him, Feng Cheng roared in anger, drawing the longsword slung across his back. The blade carried a massive surge of sword Qi as it crashed downward fiercely.
"Swoosh..."
Under this single sword strike, a deep fissure instantly split open across the ground.
If not for Yun Chen's extremely swift reaction, he likely would have been cleaved cleanly in two by that blow.