Chapter 40: Su Huanxue and Chen Lingfeng

However, the very next day, the situation took a drastic turn!

News came from the Great Xu Kingdom that the Lihuo Sect had suffered consecutive defeats in the second and third matches of their duel against the Gale Sword Sect!

Although Su Yuwei won her match, the other two disciples who fought for the sect were both defeated!

When the news reached the sect, many disciples refused to believe it.

"How is that possible? Our Lihuo Sect is the number one sect in the Five Kingdoms territory!"

"The Gale Sword Sect has always been defeated by us, and this time will be no exception."

"The news must be wrong!"

However, when more definitive reports came pouring back, even these outer disciples no longer dared to speak casually.

In the second match, the one fighting for the Gale Sword Sect was... the Princess of the Great Cang Kingdom, Su Huanxue!

Her cultivation base was terrifying, and her phantom beast, the Thunder Twin-Tailed Griffin, had already reached the sixth rank.

The innate talent she displayed made people gasp in horror.

During the battle, she swept through everything almost effortlessly!

The person representing the Lihuo Sect was named Hu Heng, who was also an inner disciple with considerable strength.

Not a single disciple capable of directly entering the inner circle of the Lihuo Sect was weak!

Yet, Hu Heng was directly crushed and swept aside by Su Huanxue.

The outcome was much like the first match.

Hu Heng was utterly defeated by Su Huanxue within five moves.

After winning the Dragon Gate Assembly, Su Huanxue even dropped a bold declaration on the spot: she would lead the Gale Sword Sect to rise, surpass the Lihuo Sect, and in the future, the sole quota for a second-tier sect would undoubtedly be claimed by the Gale Sword Sect!

How arrogant! How utterly audacious!

For so many years, the Gale Sword Sect had always been the challenger.

Who could have imagined that today, they would completely bare their ambitions and claws!

Truly arrogant.

Their source of confidence came from two people: one was Su Huanxue, and the other... was Chen Lingfeng!

In the third match, Chen Lingfeng of the Gale Sword Sect stepped into the arena. He appeared to be smiling amiably, but in reality, his strikes were extremely ruthless, directly crippling the Lihuo Sect disciple and leaving him on the brink of death with severe injuries.

Had a Lihuo Sect elder not intervened in the nick of time, Chen Lingfeng might well have succeeded in taking his life.

This man, Chen Lingfeng, possessed a mysterious origin and background, yet wielded horrifyingly extreme talent.

He was even a cut above Su Huanxue!

Together, their momentum within the Gale Sword Sect even overshadowed the Young Sect Master, Feng Yu.

...

"Su Huanxue, it seems you are living quite well these days."

Standing inside the cultivation room, Lin Chen gazed at his palm as a jade-green light flashed across it, resembling translucent, flawless fine jade.

Gazing at the bronze dummy standing before him, a dense, profound killing intent flashed within his eyes.

The next moment, his vital energy erupted.

With a single palm strike, he forcefully slammed it directly onto the head of the bronze dummy.

"Boom!"

The bronze dummy instantly shattered into fine powder.

Lin Chen withdrew his hand, his gaze cold and sinister.

The hatred and killing intent residing in his heart had never once diminished.

It was just that, in order to prevent his elder sister from worrying, he usually concealed it remarkably well.

"Too weak! I am still too weak!"

A sharp gleam flashed through Lin Chen's eyes. He had to cultivate frantically if he ever hoped to gradually surpass this group of enemies!

Not a single quarter of an hour could be wasted.

"Crunch, crunch."

Not far away, Tun Tun was tossing two-pattern spirit jades into its mouth one after another, chewing them as if they were sweet candies.

Seeing Lin Chen like this, Tun Tun also smiled and said, "Lin Chen, if you want revenge, just find me some more Beast Origin Fruits so I can eat them and increase my rank. To put it simply, even if I only advance to the fourth rank, I'll be able to completely crush Su Huanxue into dust!"

"Finding Beast Origin Fruits—is it really that easy?"

Lin Chen let out a sigh, his gaze turning somewhat distant.

He began to ponder whether he should occasionally venture out a few times, aside from remaining in secluded cultivation?

Coop himself up in the courtyard indefinitely, and he might just go mad!

He remembered Xu Kun mentioning to him previously that three days from now, a Hundred Treasures Fair would be held in the back mountain of the Lihuo Sect.

It was spontaneously organized by the outer disciples, allowing them to trade treasures with one another according to their needs.

Perhaps he could try his luck and find a Beast Origin Fruit there?

Even without a Beast Origin Fruit, acquiring some other medicinal herbs capable of raising his rank and accelerating the unsealing of Tun Tun's bloodline would still be beneficial.

Three days time passed in the blink of an eye.

During these three days, Su Yuwei visited the courtyard once, but she did not say much. After finishing Lin Ninger's treatment, she left immediately.

Originally, Lin Chen wanted to chat with her for a bit, but seeing her demeanor—clearly in low spirits—he dismissed the thought.

On the fourth day, Lin Chen, who had kept his doors tightly shut, finally stepped out of the courtyard.

He stored several treasures into his spatial ring and walked toward the back mountain of the sect.

Some treasures, though precious, were of no immediate use to him, so he planned to trade them for items that could increase his phantom beast's rank.

"Look, is that Lin Chen?"

"Indeed, I saw him on my very first day entering the sect!"

"He's been secluded for so long, I never expected him to finally come out."

"Judging by this posture, is he heading to the Hundred Treasures Fair?"

Outside the courtyard, disciples were coming and going in a steady stream.

Upon catching sight of Lin Chen, those outer disciples all wore expressions of shock.

Ever since He Guan and Chen Han had been inexplicably ambushed and killed, no one dared to stand outside Lin Chen's door and hurl abuses anymore.

During this period, people had also dropped by from time to time, very politely expressing a desire to challenge Lin Chen.

Receiving no response, they simply left.

Everything remained peaceful and uneventful.

One disciple took the initiative to step forward, blocking Lin Chen's path.

"I am Jiang Song. I would like to witness Brother Lin's strength, and I ask for your guidance!"

The disciple cupped his fists, his expression respectful.

With the precedents of Chen Han and He Guan lingering in their minds, no matter who it was, none dared to act rashly or arrogantly when challenging Lin Chen.

"Brother Jiang!"

Lin Chen cupped his fists in return. "I come from a humble background with no backing or powerful patrons. As a completely ordinary outer disciple walking on thin ice within the sect, I live in constant fear of stirring up trouble. Furthermore, I have already promised my elder sister that I will never fight anyone outside. Therefore, I must apologize. If Brother Jiang truly wishes to cross swords with me, we can only meet at the Grand Sect Tournament!"

This speech was delivered with poise, striking a perfect balance between firmness and tact.

Jiang Song was left somewhat dumbfounded.

The crucial point was that he truly could not find a single flaw in those words.

The reasons provided were entirely valid; surely one couldn't just force someone to fight against their will?

To rush up and attack arbitrarily—how would that differ from sheer, unilateral bullying?

Consequently, Jiang Song could only watch helplessly as Lin Chen walked past him, completely devoid of options.

Arriving at the back mountain, Lin Chen was met with the sight of two tall disciples standing guard like temple guardians.

Their gazes were steady as they scrutinized the outer disciples coming and going.

Blending into the crowd, Lin Chen appeared completely unremarkable.

Upon entering the back mountain, Lin Chen discovered that at least a hundred outer disciples had gathered here.

They spoke in low murmurs, bargaining with one another over various displayed treasures.

"Why on earth are you selling this thing for ten two-pattern spirit jades? Are you trying to rob me?"

"If you can't afford it, don't bother my business! This is an absolute supreme treasure I have here!"

"My foot! If it were a supreme treasure, would you actually be selling it?"

"What the hell? You're selling these Three Gold Flowers for such a high price? Highway robbery!"

Taking all of this in, Lin Chen couldn't help but sigh softly.

He wondered if there was truly anything here that he was actually looking for!