Splurt!
The middle-aged man had no time to react. He could only watch as his arm was severed, blood gushing out.
He let out a miserable scream. The enormous force hurled his entire body backwards. He crashed heavily onto the ground and spat out a mouthful of blood.
Step, step, step.
Li Feng walked slowly towards him.
The man stared at Li Feng, eyes filled with horror and disbelief. He had known that anyone able to obtain so many treasures in the underground city could not be weak. He had prepared himself for possible defeat, but he had never imagined it would be this crushing.
At this moment, he finally understood that this was someone he absolutely should never have provoked.
“You… you cannot kill me.”
Enduring the excruciating pain, the middle-aged man forced the words out.
Li Feng stopped one metre away and asked coldly, “Cannot kill you? Why not?”
“Hmph, I am not the only one following you today. Kill me, and many more will come after you. If you let me live, I will help you evade them,” the man said hurriedly.
“So I should thank you, then?” A trace of disdain flashed through Li Feng’s eyes.
“No, no need…” The man’s expression changed drastically.
“Die.” Li Feng gave a cold snort. Killing intent flared as he swung his sabre again.
The man knew death was certain now. Instead of fear, a ferocious cold laugh twisted his lips. “If you dare kill me, you won’t live either…”
Splurt!
The blade glow flashed. The man’s body was cleaved in two. Blood soaked the earth.
Li Feng laughed coldly. Threatening him even on the brink of death? How ridiculous. Did this fool really think he, Li Feng, was easy prey?
After killing the man, Li Feng did not leave immediately. He knew this was not the only tracker who had followed him out of the underground city.
He looked around. Though the surroundings were silent, he knew countless people were hidden nearby.
With that thought, Li Feng abruptly unleashed his divine sense. His aura surged upwards. A peak ninth-layer Acquired Realm presence exploded from his body.
This was the first time since his battle with Du Wen in the Hundred Thousand Mountains that he had used divine sense to release his full momentum.
“Anyone who wants the treasures on me, come and take them. I only hope you have the lives to do so,” Li Feng said coldly into the darkness, then flashed away.
“This… peak ninth layer of the Acquired Realm?”
“He’s a peak ninth-layer powerhouse.”
“A peak ninth-layer expert on the verge of stepping into the innate realm?”
After Li Feng left, the hidden figures emerged one by one, filled with shock. The treasures Li Feng had obtained, especially the thousand-year ice dew, were priceless cultivation resources that everyone coveted. They had thought him just a young man whose strength, however impressive, could not be overwhelming. They had held back earlier because he had been in VIP box 35 at the auction; anyone who understood the association’s rules feared a powerful backer protected him.
But now, feeling the peak ninth-layer aura he had released, they realised that even without any backer, Li Feng himself was far beyond their ability to challenge.
Innate realm experts did attend the association’s auctions, but they were exceedingly rare. One or two at most per event. Facing a peak ninth-layer youth, every one of them felt fear.
Moreover, he was so young. A peak ninth-layer expert in his twenties was something they had never seen. Had they not personally sensed that terrifying aura, they would never have believed such a young peak ninth-layer expert existed.
After their expressions shifted several times, the hidden watchers departed one after another. Treasures were tempting, but losing their lives for them was not worth it.
“Peak ninth layer?” In a dark corner, the fox youth stared incredulously at Li Feng’s retreating back. In the arena, Li Feng’s early eighth-layer strength had already shocked him. Now this peak ninth-layer aura left him utterly stunned.
“Yes, I never expected it either,” the old man beside him said, horror in his eyes. He himself was peak ninth layer, yet he had needed decades of cultivation to reach it. Compared to a youth in his twenties, he felt as though he had lived his entire life in vain.
“Do you think this peak ninth layer is his true strength?” A wild thought suddenly occurred to the fox youth.
“Young master, you mean… no, that’s impossible…” The old man looked incredulous. He understood what his young master implied. If even peak ninth layer was not Li Feng’s true power, then Li Feng might already be innate realm.
“Impossible?” The fox youth gave a bitter laugh and turned to the old man. “With him, what is impossible? Back in the arena, no one expected him to be early eighth layer. No one expected him to kill a peak eighth-layer expert while only at early eighth layer. Had I not seen it with my own eyes, I would never have believed it. Yet the truth was right in front of us.”
Thinking of how proud he had been of reaching fourth layer, a dim light entered the fox youth’s eyes. Compared to Li Feng, any talent or genius he possessed was worthless.
“Indeed, without seeing it personally, who would believe it?” The old man sighed. Despite all his advantages, decades of cultivation had left him inferior to a young man. The truth was hard to accept.
“It seems obtaining the Foundation Pills and thousand-year ice dew from him is impossible,” the fox youth said gloomily. Those items would have helped his cultivation greatly, and he had schemed to acquire them, but against a peak ninth-layer expert, he could only give up.
“Young master, shall I make a move?” the old man asked gravely.
The fox youth shook his head. “Your strength is roughly equal to his. You might not be able to keep him. Moreover, do you think the person capable of raising such a young powerhouse is ordinary?”
The old man shuddered. Producing a peak ninth-layer expert so young required no common backer. Behind Li Feng must stand a terrifying power.
“Someone like this is beyond our ability to provoke. Not just us, even our entire family could not afford to offend him,” the fox youth said with a bitter laugh. Thinking of how he had earlier plotted to seize Li Feng’s treasures, he realised he had been courting death.
The old man’s gaze dimmed. Today’s events had dealt him too great a blow. Even after living most of his life, he struggled to accept it.
“Let’s go.” The youth removed his fox mask, revealing an extremely handsome face.
Tianya Pavilion.
“Li Feng, you’re finally here.”
“Li Feng, are you alright?”
When Li Feng entered a private room, Hu Yuanyuan, Zhong Shuhui, Ge Feng, and Ge Ying immediately stood up with concern.
“Do I look like something happened to me?” Li Feng smiled and looked at the four of them. “You’ve all met each other?”
“Yes, we’ve been introduced,” Hu Yuanyuan nodded. She had worried all night while Li Feng and Zhong Shuhui attended the association auction. She was relieved he had returned safely.
“Good. Ge Feng, Ge Ying, while you’re in Tianhai City this time, don’t stand on ceremony with me. Enjoy yourselves,” Li Feng said with a nod.
Ge Feng replied, “Li Feng, we plan to stay in Tianhai City for a while. In just over a month there will be a Fist King Championship. That’s why we came. Do you know about it?”
“You mean for the Nine Dragons Jade?” Li Feng was slightly surprised. He had not expected the Ge siblings were also here for the championship. It seemed more and more people were gathering for this event, and it was growing ever more interesting.
After all, in Li Feng’s view, the Ge siblings were no ordinary folk; they clearly did not come from a common family.
“Exactly,” Ge Feng nodded. Having witnessed Li Feng’s strength, he was not surprised Li Feng knew. If Li Feng had been unaware, that would have been strange.
“What exactly is this Nine Dragons Jade?” Li Feng asked solemnly. So many people were after it. Did it possess some special property?
“Li Feng, have you ever heard a certain saying?” Ge Feng asked.
“What saying?” Li Feng shook his head.
“When the dragon jade appears, a thousand opportunities arise, and the world falls into chaos…” Ge Feng said gravely.
“When the dragon jade appears, a thousand opportunities arise, and the world falls into chaos…?” Li Feng froze upon hearing it. Was there some deeper meaning?
The dragon jade probably referred to the Nine Dragons Jade, but what did “a thousand opportunities arise” and “the world falls into chaos” mean?
Hold on.
Dragon jade. Hu Yuanyuan’s great-grandmother had once said the jade on Hu Yuanyuan was dragon jade, and the piece he himself carried was also dragon jade.
Did “when the dragon jade appears” refer to the dragon jades they possessed?
“Correct, that very saying. It is a prophecy that has circulated for over two thousand years,” Ge Feng nodded.
“A prophecy? Ge Feng, you’re saying ‘when the dragon jade appears, a thousand opportunities arise, and the world falls into chaos’ is a prophecy? But it feels like the sentence is incomplete,” Li Feng said. The more he heard, the more mysterious it seemed, yet as a martial artist he did not dismiss it as nonsense like ordinary people would.
“Indeed, it is a prophecy more than two thousand years old. And there is another half to the sentence, though I do not know what it is,” Ge Feng said solemnly.
Li Feng thought for a moment, then asked, “What is the connection between this Nine Dragons Jade and the dragon jade?”
