“Chu Feng, congratulations.”
The guardian senior smiled as he spoke to Chu Feng.
“Thank you, Guardian Senior.”
Chu Feng quickly stepped forward and bowed to this guardian senior.
Earlier, when Chu Feng’s cultivation had not yet recovered, if not for this guardian senior’s intervention, he might really have suffered at Xia Ran’s hands.
Swish—
But at that moment, the guardian senior took out a testing stone and tossed it at Chu Feng’s feet.
“Guardian Senior, what is this?”
Chu Feng looked at the guardian senior in confusion.
“Since you could break Lord Dugu Lingtian’s record, having divine-grade aptitude is not surprising.”
“This old man’s testing stone is absolutely without any issues.”
“Test it again. If you succeed, this old man will give you an explanation.”
The guardian senior said.
“Thank you, Guardian Senior, for standing up for this disciple.”
Chu Feng did not hesitate and immediately stepped onto it.
Not long after, the astonishing phenomenon burst forth from the testing stone.
This time, everyone present got to witness it.
“It really is divine-grade aptitude. This phenomenon is just too beautiful, isn’t it?”
Although they had already guessed that Chu Feng could trigger divine-grade aptitude, seeing it with their own eyes still left people in awe.
“Using a forged testing stone to slander a fellow junior brother.”
“Xia Ran, how do you explain this matter?”
The guardian senior looked towards Xia Ran.
“Senior, I… I do not know. I do not know what happened.”
Xia Ran hurriedly tried to explain.
“Still daring to quibble.”
The guardian senior flicked his large sleeve. A token appeared in his hand, engraved with the character for “Punishment”.
The punishment character on the token emitted light, and a barrier gate emerged.
That barrier gate was transparent, allowing a clear view of the scene inside.
It was a blood-red valley, filled with terrifying monsters. Wails echoed endlessly, resembling hell itself.
“Heavenly Peak Hell?”
Seeing that barrier gate, many people showed fear in their eyes and retreated backwards.
“Guardian Senior, this disciple knows his mistake. This disciple knows his mistake.”
Xia Ran immediately knelt on the ground and begged the guardian senior for mercy.
It could be said he was already scared out of his wits.
“Disciple Xia Ran used despicable means to slander a fellow disciple.”
“If this matter happened elsewhere, this old man would not care. But since it happened at Snow Domain Heavenly Peak, this old man absolutely cannot sit idly by.”
“Today, you are punished to enter Heavenly Peak Hell and undergo tempering for one hour.”
With those words, the barrier gate released a suction force and directly pulled Xia Ran inside.
Seeing this scene, everyone looked panicked and nervously swallowed hard.
What kind of place Heavenly Peak Hell was, they had long heard rumours about. There had once been a disciple sent in by the guardian senior.
After only two hours of tempering, when he came out, he had gone mad.
Another person went in for three hours and came out almost crippled.
Although Xia Ran was only to undergo one hour, his fate after that hour would surely be extremely miserable.
The guardian senior rarely did this.
His actions today made it hard for people not to connect him with Chu Feng.
Thus, not only did the news of Chu Feng breaking Lord Dugu Lingtian’s record begin to spread wildly.
There was also another rumour: this guardian who watched over Snow Domain Heavenly Peak, Lord Zhao Yushu… greatly favoured Chu Feng.
Some even rumoured that this guardian senior wanted to take Chu Feng as his disciple.
Of course, these were just rumours. After punishing Xia Ran, the guardian senior drove Chu Feng and the others out of Snow Domain Heavenly Peak entirely.
After that, he was never seen with Chu Feng again.
As for Chu Feng, he had returned to his own residence early to rest.
The matter of breaking Lord Dugu Lingtian’s record caused a huge sensation.
After it spread, all four academies were discussing it.
But the ones most affected were the people of Southern Sparrow Academy.
By now, night had already fallen…
Inside Southern Sparrow Academy, within a grand palace, five old men had gathered.
They were all elders of Southern Sparrow Academy, and their status was quite high.
Besides these five old men, there was also one junior: Xia Ran.
At this moment, Xia Ran’s skin had turned purple, as if poisoned.
His whole body was covered in shocking wounds, as though he had been gnawed by ferocious beasts. Even one of his arms was missing.
His appearance was extremely wretched.
He had already fainted and was lying on the ground.
Four of the elders were currently treating his injuries.
“Truly useless. It is only Heavenly Peak Hell. Back in my day, this old man went in for three hours and came out fine. How could one hour turn him into this?”
Inside the grand hall, the only yellow-haired old man not treating Xia Ran spoke with great displeasure.
“Lord Tuoba, your aptitude is extraordinary. Even back then, you outshone everyone.”
“Xia Ran naturally cannot compare to you.”
Although those elders were treating Xia Ran’s injuries, they did not forget to flatter this Elder Tuoba.
This person was named Tuoba Jianshu.
He was one of the leading elders of Southern Sparrow Academy, a Martial Venerable realm powerhouse with extremely strong cultivation.
“Useless thing.”
Tuoba Jianshu was very angry at this moment and still looked at Xia Ran with dissatisfaction.
“Lord Tuoba, that Zhao Yushu has already discovered the testing stone was fake. Will he investigate thoroughly?”
“What if…”
The other elders asked somewhat nervously.
Because that testing stone had been tampered with by them.
It was after their tampering that they sent Xia Ran to make things difficult for Chu Feng.
Precisely because they had done it, Chu Feng had been unable to detect anything amiss.
So they feared that if a thorough investigation really happened, they too would not escape punishment.
“No, Zhao Yushu rarely meddles in others’ affairs. Since he has already punished Xia Ran, that is actually a warning to us, but he will not truly act against us.”
Tuoba Jianshu said.
“Lord Tuoba, then in the future, can we only sit back and let that Chu Feng grow?”
“If it were merely divine-grade aptitude, that would be one thing.”
“But this child is so heaven-defying that he even broke Lord Dugu Lingtian’s record.”
“Are we really going to watch helplessly as Lord Dugu Lingtian’s record is broken by this Chu Feng?”
“If that really happens, then in the future, my Southern Sparrow Academy will truly be unable to stand in Wolong Martial Sect.”
The other four elders said with great worry.
“You need not worry. I already have a plan.”
Tuoba Jianshu said.
At that moment, the hall doors opened, and another elder rushed in.
“Lord Tuoba.”
“I have inquired. Lord Zhao Yushu is still inside Snow Domain Heavenly Peak and has not gone to Northern Xuan Academy to secretly protect Chu Feng.”
“Lord Tuoba, if needed, this subordinate will go to Northern Xuan Academy right now and kill that Chu Feng.”
The elder who had just entered reported.
Hearing this, the others exchanged glances.
They seemed to understand Tuoba Jianshu’s plan.
It was to go all the way: directly eliminate Chu Feng.
“If you go, it is not secure enough.”
“It is better for this old man to go personally. As long as Zhao Yushu does not interfere, no one in Northern Xuan Academy can stop me.”
Tuoba Jianshu said.
“Lord Tuoba, isn’t this a bit too dangerous?”
“If it gets out… the reputation of our Southern Sparrow Academy will be ruined.”
Two of the elders present tried to persuade him.
“Do you still not trust the way this old man handles things?”
Elder Tuoba looked at those two with cold eyes.
And those two did not dare respond.
“I am doing this entirely for the sake of our Southern Sparrow Academy.”
“If we let that Chu Feng continue to grow, Southern Sparrow Academy will become the weakest academy in Wolong Martial Sect. I do not care what others think.”
“But I, Tuoba Jianshu, will absolutely not allow such a thing to happen.”
At this point, Tuoba Jianshu’s eyes revealed a ruthless glint.
“Moreover, you need not worry. I can definitely handle this matter without anyone knowing or suspecting.”
As Tuoba Jianshu spoke, he took out a transparent bead.
Although the bead was transparent, it emitted an extremely powerful aura.
“This is… the Invisible Soul-Evasion Bead?”
Seeing this bead, the other elders’ hanging hearts finally settled, and some even showed smiles on their faces.
Because they knew how powerful the Invisible Soul-Evasion Bead was.
Once consumed, it could completely hide the body and aura, and even pass through many powerful barriers.
This was an extremely valuable treasure.
Specially used for escaping danger and assassinating others.
Tuoba Jianshu acted as soon as he decided. When the night grew deep, he swallowed the Invisible Soul-Evasion Bead.
Under the power of this bead, Tuoba Jianshu smoothly infiltrated Northern Xuan Academy and even entered Chu Feng’s residence without issue.
It must be known that Chu Feng had always been cautious. His residence originally had no barrier, but Chu Feng himself had added one.
Yet that barrier was completely useless against Tuoba Jianshu after he consumed the Invisible Soul-Evasion Bead.
After entering the residence, Tuoba Jianshu immediately saw Chu Feng sitting cross-legged and cultivating.
At this moment, Chu Feng had not noticed that someone had intruded into his residence.
Even less did he notice that danger was approaching him.
Upon seeing Chu Feng, Tuoba Jianshu did not waste words. He raised his hand, intending to blast Chu Feng into pieces.
Snap—
But just as he was about to strike, a hand suddenly appeared out of nowhere and gripped Tuoba Jianshu’s wrist.
The moment his wrist was gripped, the surrounding scene shifted, and his body floated up.
When Tuoba Jianshu steadied himself, he had already left Chu Feng’s residence and arrived at a desolate, uninhabited area in Northern Xuan Academy.
“Who is it?”
At this moment, Tuoba Jianshu was greatly shocked inside. He had clearly consumed the Invisible Soul-Evasion Bead. How could he have been discovered?
Most importantly, there was no one around him at this time. He did not know who had grabbed him and brought him here.
“Today I spare you once. If you dare touch Chu Feng again, your dog life is forfeit.”
But just as he panicked, a voice filled with killing intent rang in his ears.
