“Sister Kong Ci, we were just joking,” someone said with a cheeky grin.
“Yeah, just a joke,” others chimed in, laughing.
Their demeanor was a stark contrast to how they’d treated Kong Tianhui.
At this moment, Chu Feng confirmed that this woman was indeed Kong Ci, the strongest junior of the Divine Body Royal City.
“Joking? Did you think I didn’t see what happened?” Kong Ci shot them a cold glance.
“Uh…”
The crowd paled, some sweating profusely.
They were clearly terrified of her.
“Forget it, they’re family. We can’t really make them eat shit, right?” Kong Tianhui stepped forward, surprising even Chu Feng.
Those people had been so aggressive earlier that Chu Feng felt they deserved a lesson, even if it was just a trick. Kong Tianhui’s leniency caught him off guard.
But it also gave Chu Feng a new perspective on Kong Tianhui.
This guy was different from what he’d imagined.
“But Kong Feiyang, remember this: next time you see me, you better show proper respect. Got it?” Kong Tianhui pointed at Kong Feiyang.
Kong Feiyang ignored him, grinding his teeth, his face full of resentment.
“My brother’s talking to you. Are you deaf?” Kong Ci roared.
Her shout made not just Kong Feiyang but many others tremble.
“Kong Tianhui, I lost this time. I’ll keep my promise,” Kong Feiyang said reluctantly, bowing deeply to Kong Tianhui.
“What’s this? Everyone got too much free time?”
“Have you forgotten why we’re gathered here?”
“Go study the formation diagrams and train! Or do you want to keep getting crushed by those Zhutian Starfield guys?”
Kong Ci’s icy gaze swept over them, her voice sharp with reprimand.
The crowd hurriedly dispersed, heading deeper into the manor.
Chu Feng couldn’t help but marvel.
The gap in status between this brother and sister in the Divine Body Royal City was staggering.
What puzzled him most was that, despite not matching Kong Ci, Kong Tianhui’s strength wasn’t weak.
Yet Kong Tianhui seemed used to this treatment, suggesting it wasn’t new.
“Brother, why are you so spineless? They treat you like that, and you let them off? They’ll never change,” Kong Ci said to Kong Tianhui, clearly upset but more indignant on his behalf.
“Sigh, I get it. They target me because I’m close to Sister Xian Yun and Sister Long Ning. They’re jealous, aren’t they?”
“Who can blame them when I’m this handsome?”
“Since I’m already so outstanding, I shouldn’t stoop to their level,” Kong Tianhui said, flicking his hair.
Kong Ci gave him a disdainful look. “Brother, have some shame. You’re close to Xian Yun and Long Ning because you’re my brother, got it?”
“You think they’d bother with you otherwise?”
“No, it’s not about you. It’s because I’m handsome,” Kong Tianhui said shamelessly, then suddenly added, “Oh, let me introduce you.”
He pulled Kong Ci to Chu Feng.
“No need for introductions. Chu Feng, son of Chu Xuanyuan. Fought to a draw with Linghu Hongfei at the Ancestral Martial Ten Stars evaluation in the Nine Dragons Upper Realm.”
“Oh, almost forgot—the youngest Saint-Cloak World Spiritist in the Ancestral Martial Starfield.”
“Chu Feng, you’ve got quite the halo.”
“So, I don’t believe for a second that you’d lose to my idiot brother,” Kong Ci said to Chu Feng.
Chu Feng smiled, not responding.
“Chu Feng, you’re from the Ancestral Martial Starfield, right?” Kong Ci asked.
“That seems obvious,” Chu Feng replied.
“Then you’d fight for the Ancestral Martial Starfield, wouldn’t you?” she continued.
“By rights, yes. Miss Kong Ci, you seem to have something on your mind. Why not speak plainly?” Chu Feng said.
“Ever heard of the Zhutian Sect?” Kong Ci asked.
“No,” Chu Feng shook his head.
“The Zhutian Starfield?”
“No,” Chu Feng shook his head again.
Kong Ci frowned, “How do you know nothing?”
Kong Tianhui chuckled beside her, “Sis, you won’t believe this, but he didn’t even know about you before.”
“What?”
“That’s not just ignorance—that’s straight-up stupidity.”
“I can’t believe the son of Chu Xuanyuan, with all that talent, is so lacking in experience.”
Kong Ci flicked her sleeve and stormed off, clearly displeased.
“Uh…” Chu Feng stood there, then looked at Kong Tianhui. “What’s going on? How did this escalate to fighting for the Ancestral Martial Starfield?”
“Haha, Brother Chu Feng, you don’t know the half of it,” Kong Tianhui laughed, slinging an arm around him. “No worries, I’ll fill you in.”
He then explained everything he knew.
The Zhutian Starfield, like the Ancestral Martial Starfield, was within the Holy Light Galaxy, neighboring each other, so there was some interaction.
But this wasn’t for ordinary cultivators—only top forces, elite cultivators, and genius juniors interacted.
The Ancestral Martial Starfield had geniuses, and inevitably, so did the Zhutian Starfield.
Every so often, the juniors of both starfields would hold exchanges.
These weren’t simple martial duels but more like a game: the Ancient Warrior Chess.
The earth was the board, and they were the pieces.
This game tested not just martial prowess but strategy and skill.
Interestingly, the Ancient Warrior Chess was proposed by the Ancestral Martial Starfield—it was their creation, taught to the Zhutian Starfield.
Yet, after winning the first few matches, they’d lost consistently. The current record was grim:
Ten wins, one hundred thirty-nine losses.
A humiliating streak.
Before each junior exchange, geniuses from the Three Cities and the Starfield’s main realm gathered to strategize, study chess patterns, and seek a way to win.
“So, have you ever won?” Chu Feng asked.
“Win? Every time I’ve participated, we’ve lost. You have no idea how terrifying those Zhutian Starfield guys are. Facing them on the board feels like we’re not even in the same league.”
“I swear they don’t even cultivate—just study chess all day.”
“But their cultivation is strong too, especially that Nangong Yifan. That guy’s a freak, a chess genius.”
“Last time but one, we were well-prepared, and many of their key geniuses were absent due to other matters or injuries.”
“We thought we had it in the bag, even felt it’d be an unfair win. But at the critical moment, Nangong Yifan stepped onto the board.”
“The scariest part? He single-handedly led a bunch of weaklings to turn the tide and beat us.”
“But he only played that once. After that, he didn’t bother, like we weren’t worth his time,” Kong Tianhui said, his tone a mix of anger, admiration, and awe when mentioning Nangong Yifan.
This piqued Chu Feng’s curiosity about this Nangong Yifan from the Zhutian Starfield.
