“Even if young friend Beiyang Luo hadn’t said it, I could see it clearly.”
“The Fangtian Painted Halberd in young friend Nangong Yifan’s hands is wielded with wondrous attacks and natural defence. Every move and technique is extremely refined, not some ordinary skill, but one specifically trained for this weapon.”
“In this regard, young friend Chu Feng is indeed inferior.”
“However, young friend Chu Feng is still superior overall, and he achieves this through extraordinary combat experience,” Lord Shoujian said.
“Combat experience? You’re talking about combat experience?”
“Are you saying only Chu Feng has combat experience?”
“My junior brother Nangong has been diligently training his techniques every day since he began his martial path, sparring with our sect’s elders. If we’re talking about combat experience, my junior brother Nangong should rank first,” Beiyang Luo declared.
“Sparring, as you said, does improve combat experience, but it has its limits.”
“Young friend Chu Feng is different. His combat experience isn’t refined through sparring. It’s been forged through countless life-and-death battles.”
“You may not understand what I’m saying. You disciples from prominent clans, born into privilege, are feared by others and rarely challenged. Protected wherever you go, when have you ever faced true danger?”
“But young friend Chu Feng is different. Though I don’t know the specifics of what he’s been through, his current fighting style shows that his skills were honed through countless life-or-death encounters.”
“This is an advantage you lack, one that belongs solely to young friend Chu Feng,” Lord Shoujian explained.
“Bloody hell, according to Lord Shoujian, my brother Chu Feng must be constantly throwing himself into life-and-death duels? That’s just too reckless,” Kong Tianhui exclaimed, his mouth agape in shock.
Not just him, the juniors from the Ancestral Martial Starfield were all stunned.
They knew Lord Shoujian well; he never lied, nor did he speak without certainty. Thus, they fully believed his words.
“Suddenly, I feel a bit sorry for him,” Kong Ci said, her gaze toward Chu Feng shifting.
“Sorry? Sorry for who?” Kong Tianhui asked.
“Your brother Chu Feng, of course,” Kong Ci replied.
“Why feel sorry for him?” Kong Tianhui pressed.
“Brother, are you really that dense? What kind of person could survive so many life-and-death duels?”
“It means Chu Feng grew up with no one to protect him, which is why he faced so many dangers.”
“And didn’t they say he was banished to the lower realms? From birth, he was deemed unable to cultivate.”
“Even when he returned to the Great Thousand Upper Realm, it wasn’t the Chu Heavenly Clan that brought him back, right? I heard he made his way back on his own.”
“So, though he’s a junior like us, what he’s been through is absolutely different,” Kong Ci said.
“Hiss, you’re right, it does seem that way.”
Hearing this, Kong Tianhui and the others looked at Chu Feng with a trace of sympathy.
Indeed, they had all heard that Chu Feng was a discarded child, banished along with his father by the Chu Heavenly Clan.
Chu Xuanyuan might have fared better, but Chu Feng was just an infant at the time.
And the lower realms? That was a place with scarce natural energy, incomparable to the upper realms.
To Kong Tianhui and the others, even the mortal realms were backwater places, let alone the lower realms—a place they’d never want to visit in their lifetime.
Clang,
Clang,
Clang,
Suddenly, the sound of clashing weapons grew more frequent and piercing.
The onlookers could see that in the battle circle of Chu Feng and Nangong Yifan, the speed at which they wielded their weapons had reached a point where even Kong Ci and the others could barely follow.
“These two are just too strong, aren’t they?”
“Truly incredible. It’s hard to believe they’re both at the Second Rank Supreme Venerable realm, fighting without any martial skills or immortal techniques,” Kong Ci and Long Ning said, their beautiful eyes fixed unblinkingly on the battle.
Clang, clang, clang,
A particularly shrill sound rang out, and then Nangong Yifan’s Fangtian Painted Halberd spun through the air, leaving a trail of destruction before landing ten thousand meters away.
Looking at Chu Feng and Nangong Yifan now, it was clear that not only had Nangong Yifan lost his halberd, but his arms were trembling violently, his hands dripping with blood.
In contrast, Chu Feng still held the Blue Jade Mandarin Duck Sword, unscathed, his sword-holding hand showing not the slightest tremor.
At this sight, the juniors from the Ancestral Martial Starfield erupted in joy.
But those from the All-Heaven Starfield had faces dark with gloom.
Initially, they hadn’t believed Lord Shoujian’s words.
But the reality before them left no room for doubt.
Chu Feng was indeed terrifyingly strong, his combat experience far surpassing Nangong Yifan’s!
“Now do you see the gap?” Chu Feng asked Nangong Yifan.
“Again,” Nangong Yifan said, reaching out to summon the distant Fangtian Painted Halberd back into his hand.
Swish, swish, swish,
Nangong Yifan swung his halberd, launching another assault on Chu Feng.
This time, however, Chu Feng kept dodging, weaving through the attacks without countering.
Most astonishingly, Nangong Yifan couldn’t land a single hit. No matter how intricate his attacks, Chu Feng seemed to see through them all, evading effortlessly.
“What is Chu Feng doing?”
“Why isn’t he fighting back?”
Many were puzzled.
“It seems you still don’t understand,” Chu Feng said to Nangong Yifan. Despite constantly dodging Nangong Yifan’s near-frenzied attacks, his voice remained calm, showing that evading was effortless for him, without a hint of pressure.
“Damn it, fight back!” Nangong Yifan roared, more furious than anyone else. To him, Chu Feng’s actions felt like humiliation.
“As you wish.”
Swish,
Suddenly, Chu Feng moved with ghostly steps, no longer dodging but charging toward Nangong Yifan.
Chu Feng was so fast that by the time Nangong Yifan realized he was attacking, it was too late.
Splat,
A sword slashed, blood sprayed.
As Chu Feng passed Nangong Yifan, he left a bloody gash on his left waist.
“Argh!”
Struck by the sword, Nangong Yifan’s body stiffened, then he collapsed to the ground, hurriedly covering his wound with his arm.
At that moment, frost began spreading from the wound, soon covering Nangong Yifan’s entire body, making him look like a man encased in ice and snow.
“This sword is poisoned!” the All-Heaven Starfield juniors shouted, their voices filled with anger, as if Chu Feng had done something unforgivable.
“It’s not poison, but frost aura, as Lord Shoujian mentioned earlier. This is the advantage of my Blue Jade Mandarin Duck Sword, just as Nangong Yifan’s Fangtian Painted Halberd has the advantage of being rigid and yang,” Chu Feng explained, then turned back to Nangong Yifan.
“Now do you understand?”
“If I wanted to defeat you, one strike would suffice. I clashed head-on with you earlier to show you that even using the weakness of my Blue Jade Mandarin Duck Sword against the strength of your Fangtian Painted Halberd, I could still overpower you until you couldn’t even hold your weapon.”
“This is the gap between you and me,” Chu Feng said.
“That bastard!”
Hearing this, the All-Heaven Starfield juniors were livid, their faces pale with anger, yet they looked at Nangong Yifan with sympathy.
To them, Chu Feng was too ruthless. He could have defeated Nangong Yifan outright but chose to torment him instead.
Chu Feng’s intent was clear: to deal a heavy blow to Nangong Yifan, leaving him with a lasting shadow.
