Chapter 1036: Gu Xun'er's Challenge

This ancient demon, I never expected it to be injured like this!

Gazing at the pitch-black ancient demon, as black as a huge chunk of charcoal, the field instantly filled with rising and falling sighs.

Besides Lin Feng, nobody expected that this ancient demon would lose to Xiao Yan.

Why... damn it!

Seeing the ancient demon defeated, Yang Hao and the others in the distance angrily cursed under their breath, then clenched their fists unwillingly before finally relaxing them.

After all, even one of the Four Great Commanders, the ancient demon, has been defeated—what can they do?

Alas, what a pity—if the ancient demon could hold on a little longer, the loser would be Xiao Yan.

Seeing the ancient demon looking like a roasted pig, Huo Zhi shook his head and then said nothing more.

However, compared to the previous ones, the people of the Soul Clan are much more brutal.

After seeing the ancient demon lose, he immediately shouted, "Trash, you can't even beat Xiao Yan—yet you made that expression earlier. We who didn't know actually thought you were formidable!"

As for Lin Feng, he merely smiled faintly and continued to watch the show quietly.

However, unlike those idle spectators earlier, Gu Xun'er at this moment was anxiously worried.

After seeing her clan's elder rescue the ancient demon, she quickly pointed at the unconscious Xiao Yan and shouted, "Hurry, go save Brother Xiao Yan—if anything happens to him, what will we do?"

Upon hearing that, not only the three Ancient Clan elders but also the surrounding Ancient Clan members saw their expressions dim almost simultaneously.

The former, being a member of the Ancient Clan and the clan chief's daughter, didn't even glance at her injured clansmen, instead anxiously worrying about an outsider.

In such a situation, who among the Ancient Clan could feel good?

However, while the Ancient Clan members felt sorrow, the others were pleased.

After seeing Gu Xun'er's reaction, the guests invited by the Ancient Clan immediately put on a look of watching the show.

After all, the Ancient Clan's eldest lady ignored her own clansmen and instead cared for an outsider.

Such a bizarre scene is rarely seen, hehe.

The elder who had rescued the ancient demon, upon hearing Gu Xun'er's urging, silently gestured to summon the Black Nirvana Army soldiers, who brought the unconscious ancient demon down for treatment.

As for him, amidst Gu Xun'er's incessant urging, he entered the spatial barrier filled with five-colored strange fire once more and brought out the unconscious Xiao Yan as well.

Brother Xiao Yan, are you alright?

The moment he brought Xiao Yan out, Gu Xun'er came running, tumbling and crawling, threw herself beside him, and asked anxiously.

While speaking, after confirming Xiao Yan's breath was roughly normal, she hesitated not at all, flicked her space ring, took out an eighth-grade healing pill exuding a medicinal fragrance, and fed it to her lover.

She then lifted her gaze to the distant Black Nirvana Army soldiers and scolded, "You're still dazed—haven't you seen that our clan's guest was hit by the ancient demon's Great Annihilation Technique, injured by its annihilating force? Hurry up and send Brother Xiao Yan for treatment; remember, find the best alchemist!"

Yes.

In response to that order, the Black Nirvana Army soldiers dared not refuse and could only reply weakly.

Then they stepped forward, escorting Xiao Yan toward the distant building.

Whoosh!

However, after Xiao Yan was taken away by the Black Nirvana Army soldiers, an old man silently appeared in the sky.

Seeing Gu Xun'er below unwilling to let Xiao Yan go, wanting to chase after him, the old man immediately spoke expressionlessly: "Xun'er, the Xiao clan's descendants will naturally have someone to treat him; as for you, finish your coming-of-age ceremony first."

As for this person's identity, Lin Feng knew it was none other than the Ancient Clan elder named Gu Yi whom he had seen before.

As soon as his words fell, the old man lightly flicked his sleeve, and the spatial barrier below, together with the raging five-colored fire waves, vanished instantly without a trace.

Even the heavily damaged floor below was instantly restored at that moment.

A clean, smooth stone plaza then reappeared before everyone's eyes.

This is.

Hearing his words, Gu Xun'er promptly nodded and replied.

After his words fell, he restrained the urge to warn Lin Feng, then stepped forward lightly and elegantly toward the plaza.

The upcoming ceremony will be presided over by me.

Seeing him walk toward the center of the plaza, Gu Yi suddenly spoke.

Upon hearing that, the three elders who had previously conducted the coming-of-age ceremony were startled, then seemed to understand something, their eyes flashing with shock.

Immediately afterward, they took out the items needed for the ceremony and then bowed and retreated below.

After the three elders successively withdrew, Gu Yi slowly descended from the sky, turned his gaze toward the figures in the special area, and softly said, "Xun'er, begin."

At the moment his words sounded, the star disk suddenly moved on its own, swooping to hover before Gu Xun'er.

Hearing that, she lightly nodded, extended her jade hand, placed it upon the star disk, and gently closed her eyes.

Hum.

Accompanying her movements, the dim stars on the star disk suddenly blazed forth one by one!

At the same time, the gazes of everyone present nearly all converged upon that star disk.

After all, even though Gu Xun'er's personality is not likable, as fellow Ancient Clan members, the others still hope her bloodline power can be as high as possible.

Because no matter what, she is the Ancient Clan's eldest lady; a higher limit is never a disadvantage.

Moreover, each sparkling star on that small star disk causes many people in the plaza to feel their hearts jump violently.

One. Two, five, seven, eight.

As the shining stars on the star disk increased, the breathing of many Ancient Clan members in the plaza grew heavy because of it.

Even people like Lin Feng with keen perception could sense that the space of this horizon was subtly undulating at this moment.

Faintly, traces of a hidden yet powerful aura emanated.

Obviously, many powerful elders of the Ancient Clan, though they did not show their faces,

but at this moment they were also paying attention to Gu Xun'er on the plaza.

And under the gaze of countless eyes, shortly after the eighth star appeared on the star disk, a strong light gathered again, and the ninth star quickly blazed forth amid the sounds of everyone drawing in cold breaths.

Nine stars—it's a nine-grade bloodline!

Gazing at the nine brilliant, dazzling stars on the Star Disk, nearly all the Gu Clan people drew a sharp breath of cool air.

Even the Gu Clan Elders who had appeared nearby silently clenched their fists, staring unblinking at the Star Disk, their excitement and agitation needing no words.

Nine-grade Bloodline means that, with sufficient resources, the Gu Clan will soon produce another new Dou Saint expert.

Dou Saints, symbolizing the peak of this world, are highly prized even by superpowers like the Gu Clan.

For such powers, the only thing they compete over is how many Dou Saints each clan possesses.

Whoever has more Dou Saints and higher Dou Saint star ranks is the true peak power.

However, the members of the other Dou Emperor clans felt deep displeasure upon seeing this.

Most of them kept shouting "stop" in their hearts.

At this moment, they desperately wished the commotion on the Star Disk would stop.

After all, if Gu Xun'er possessed only a Nine-grade Bloodline, they wouldn't be too worried.

After all, among this generation of youths from the other major Dou Emperor clans, aside from the Flame Clan being rather weak—yielding only the two Eight-grade Bloodlines Huo Xuan and Huo Zhi—the other clans were quite strong.

Even the Stone Clan had, for the first time, produced a bearer of a Nine-grade Bloodline.

That Stone Clan genius who possesses the Stone Clan's Nine-grade Bloodline will surely be nurtured with the clan's full strength.

In a thousand years, likely another high‑level Dou Saint will emerge.

Even the Thunder Clan has, after an interval of thousands of years, produced a genius possessing a Divine-grade Bloodline.

However, if Gu Xun'er possessed a Divine-grade Bloodline, the other major Dou Emperor clans would likely feel tremendous pressure.

After all, the Gu Clan's earlier generations already had excellent bloodlines, and if Gu Xun'er's were Divine‑grade as well,

then the Gu Clan could quickly gain several more Dou Saints, which would undoubtedly be extremely bad news for the other major Dou Emperor clans.

However, these things do not change according to human will.

In the plaza, the light from the ninth star on the Star Disk beneath Gu Xun'er's hand grew ever more brilliant amidst the ecstatic gazes of the surrounding Gu Clan people.

"The bloodline power has reached the peak of Nine-grade."

Gu Yi, who oversaw the coming‑of‑age ceremony, fixed his gaze tightly on that star, brilliant to the point of being painfully bright.

Even now, as a Dou Saint expert, his heart could not help but pound violently!

And shortly thereafter, as countless gazes converged, Gu Xun'er's fair palm‑rested Star Disk suddenly trembled.

Immediately afterward, her jade‑like arm swiftly turned translucent in that instant.

Within her flesh, the blood in her veins surged at high speed.

Tiny golden specks, flowing with the blood, rapidly gathered onto the hand touching the Star Disk.

"Siss!"

As the golden specks grew denser, eventually her entire arm seemed forged of gold.

And when that light's brightness peaked, the Star Disk emitting that blinding light suddenly shuddered violently!

Thereafter, fine cracks silently appeared on it and then spread rapidly.

"How terrifying the bloodline power—it can't even be withstood by the Star Disk! This means hope for the revival of my Gu Clan!"

Upon seeing this, not only ordinary Gu Clan people but even the usually aloof Elders showed looks of shock.

To shatter the Star Disk with bloodline power—something they had never witnessed before!

"Tsk tsk, what a rich bloodline power—the Gu Clan has struck it big this time."

Gazing at the changes in the plaza, the long‑silent Hao Yan clicked his tongue and exclaimed in surprise.

However, he felt no panic at all over the Gu Clan producing such a bloodline‑power genius.

After all, they too possess Divine‑grade bloodlines, and moreover, they have the Dragon‑Phoenix Body.

Meanwhile, Lin Feng stood calmly, watching the scene.

As for Gu Xun'er's bloodline grade, he already had the answer in his heart.

Therefore, he naturally felt no curiosity.

As for the people of the other major clans, upon seeing this they immediately had a vague suspicion in their hearts.

Consequently, their gazes almost simultaneously turned grim.

After all, the emergence of such a genius is hardly good news for them.

"Buzz!"

At the same moment those people's expressions changed, a faint point of golden‑yellow fluorescence suddenly appeared, flickering into view on the Star Disk before Gu Xun'er.

And with the appearance of that first golden‑yellow fluorescence, all sound in heaven and earth vanished in that instant.

Even the faint, lurking qi swirling in the sky seemed to carry a hint of spreading delight.

Meanwhile, the golden‑yellow fluorescence on the Star Disk, upon appearing, spread rapidly.

In the span of a few blinks, that point of golden fluorescence grew to roughly the size of a thumb.

Next, the fluorescence began to wriggle, and in the blink of an eye it activated the last dim star on the Star Disk.

"Bang!"

At the instant the tenth golden‑yellow star appeared, the Star Disk, about to complete the coming‑of‑age ceremony, burst open with a bang.

At the same moment, a golden‑yellow column of light shot violently upward from Gu Xun'er's jade hand, piercing the heavens!

Immediately afterward, an extremely domineering aura burst from the light column and rapidly spread, enveloping the entire plaza.

Under this aura, the vast majority of the Gu Clan present had their Dou Qi cease flowing at that very moment.

Even deep within their souls, a sense of reverence spread outward.

This is the reverence of the inferior toward the superior!

"Ten stars—this is a Divine‑grade bloodline!"

The vast majority of people present were all staring, mouths agape, at the golden-yellow light pillar that shot straight up to the sky.

As for those of the ancient clan, whether ordinary ancient clan people who came to watch the ceremony or the Black Nirvana Army maintaining order, they could not withstand this intense pressure and fell to their knees with a thud.

However, their faces showed no sign of humiliation; instead, they were filled with frenzy!

「Truly a god-tier bloodline; the sacrifice of that ninth-tier bloodline from the previous generation was worth it! 」

Finally confirming Gu Xun'er's bloodline rank, Gu Yi's face was filled with an almost manic excitement.

「Elder Gu Yi, please draw the clan pattern for me. 」

Seeing that he had forgotten the final item of the coming-of-age ceremony, Gu Xun'er immediately spoke up.

Because he is now eager to help his brother Xiao Yan retrieve those strange fires from Lin Feng's body.

Fortunately, after his brother Xiao Yan woke up, he gave him a big surprise!

Hearing that, Gu Yi finally realized that the coming-of-age ceremony had not yet been completed.

So he hastily focused his mind, then lightly grasped the void in front of him, and a dragon pen flashing with seven-colored light appeared in his hand.

「God-tier bloodline, I don't know if I can absorb it, and if I do, how much my strength will increase. 」

Watching Gu Yi straining to draw the clan pattern, Lin Feng felt a surge of heat in his heart.

After all, this thing's potential is so strong that it surely surpasses the energy of those two fifth-tier bloodlines from before by ten million times.

But unfortunately, he can't get it!

「Xun'er, your coming-of-age ceremony is now complete; you may step down. 」

Meanwhile, as he was dazed, the clan pattern drawing in the distance also succeeded, and then Gu Yi looked kindly at Gu Xun'er.

However, she did not follow his instruction to leave; instead, after bowing to him, she turned and gazed toward a certain spot in the VIP section.

「Lin Feng, I now challenge you; if you're a man, come up and fight. Of course, you can also be a shrinking turtle, hiding timidly to the side! 」

Gu Xun'er's sharp gaze shot directly at the lazily seated Lin Feng in the distance, her voice full of provocation, and it slowly spread across the entire square.

「Whoosh! 」

And as his shout rang out, countless gazes instantly converged on a certain spot in the VIP section.

「Hehe, I'm tired from fighting earlier; I don't want to move now, so I refuse. As for whether I'm a man, that's for my wife to know; it's none of outsiders' business! 」

Facing his provocation, Lin Feng simply ignored it.

After all, if he doesn't accept, the other side can't do anything; so why would he take on this challenge for no reason?

Even Gu Qingyang's case—if not for the strongman Hao Yan of the Ancient Dragon Clan urging him, he might not have stayed in place waiting for a challenge.

「Lin Feng, you damn... 」

Seeing that he didn't give face to their ancient clan's young lady, including Yang Hao, some hot-tempered ancient clan members immediately wanted to step forward and argue with Lin Feng.

Fortunately, most of the ancient clan members still retained their reason.

Upon seeing those people intending to cause trouble for Lin Feng, they quickly moved to stop them.

After all, Gu Xun'er's challenge was legitimate and compliant.

And if they now rush forward to cause trouble for Lin Feng, wouldn't that be giving the other side leverage?

「Damn it, this guy really won't release the hawk until he sees the rabbit! 」

Seeing that Lin Feng remained in his lazy demeanor, Gu Xun'er silently cursed him in her heart.

He originally intended to directly provoke Lin Feng, stir up his competitive spirit, then go on stage to compete with her.

In the end, he planned to strike first and report later, directly on stage "accidentally" killing her and taking the strange fire.

This way, even if the Ancient Dragon Clan is unwilling and her own clan doesn't want it, there's no way to change the outcome.

Moreover, if this happens, her father and the clan's senior members would at most confine her.

Could it be that they would even kill her, this daughter and the sole god-tier bloodline genius of their generation in the clan?

The important thing is that she now knows the opponent's strength is not weak, worries about any mishap, and therefore deliberately did not set up a bet.

But she didn't expect that the opponent would not fall for it at all, directly refusing her invitation.

「Then how about this: in our ancient realm, there is an excellent blessed land called Tian Mu. That Tian Mu is extremely extraordinary, able to quickly enhance a person's strength with no side effects. If you enter with your current two-star Dou Zun level strength, I think you'll generally reach around four-star after coming out. 」

Saying this, Gu Xun'er's face showed a slight smile as she continued: "This time, I happen to have a quota. I can guarantee before everyone that if you can defeat me, I will offer this opportunity as a wager to you. How about that?"

「This Gu Xun'er seems to be aiming to deal with Lin Feng! 」

As the former's words fell, the hearts of those ancient clan members present immediately echoed with that sentence.

Although what Gu Xun'er said were all true,

but regarding many important matters about Tian Mu, the other party simply glossed over them.

Looking at this, it's clearly intended to put Lin Feng in a deadly situation!

Not enough, considering the ancient clan's formidable strength at its peak, other ancient peoples such as the Stone Clan and Medicine Clan chose to remain silent.

Even Huo Zhi, after a brief consideration, still chose silence.

After all, if she spoke up now, she might perhaps gain Lin Feng's favor.

but at the same time, it would also bring great trouble to the Flame Clan and herself.

Therefore, it's better to selectively not hear these words.

Meanwhile, Mang Tian Chi in the distance, upon seeing this, originally wanted to stand up and refute Gu Xun'er.

But the person beside him, upon noticing his intention, quickly grabbed him and signaled him not to act rashly.

After all, offending the ancient clan would bring no benefit whatsoever to the Thunder Clan.

Most importantly, if Mang Tian Chi helps Lin Feng expose Gu Xun'er's plot, isn't that betraying his own class and standing with the commoners?

As for the one who was held back, after struggling for a while, he eventually closed his eyes and sat quietly in place.

He merely sighed inwardly, wishing that Lin Feng's identity and Xiao Yan's were swapped.

Even if the clan has declined, as long as you are still counted among the ancient clans, he would gladly help!

「Should we help Lin Feng? I feel this is an opportunity; if we can now deliver charcoal in the snow, we might successfully win him over. 」

Seeing the situation in the field, on the Soul Clan's side, Hun Li, standing beside Hun Ya, spoke up to ask.

"For now, don't make a sound; the clan leader once said that we cannot offend too many ancient races right now, lest we alert them."

As soon as the former's words fell, the Hei Yi Ren who had been quietly standing beside Hun Ya and Hun Li suddenly broke his silence and spoke.

Although Hun Ya and Hun Li did not know their clan leader's schemes, as a Dou Saint Elder of the Soul Clan, he was perfectly clear in his mind.

Therefore, he naturally would not let these two juniors speak.

After all, offending the Ancient Clan is not a big deal, but if he betrays his own rank, it will attract the attention and vigilance of several other major clans.

Then his clan leader would probably not even have time to tend to his wounds, coming out to kill a few of them right away!

"That works; we'll listen to you, Elder."

Seeing the former suddenly speak, Hun Ya and Hun Li exchanged a glance, then immediately nodded, choosing to remain silent in resentment.

At the same time, seeing that no one stepped forward to refute her words, Gu Xun'er's lips curled slightly, revealing a faint smile.

Even before her coming-of-age ceremony, she had already devised many methods to lure Lin Feng into a trap.

And the tactic she is using now is one of those.

Furthermore, a few days ago, they all discussed this together, and everyone agreed to this tactic.

After all, the Ancient Dragon Clan does not know about Tian Mu, so they cannot provide Lin Feng with information.

And the other major Dou Emperor clans that could give Lin Feng information would, for various reasons, dare not speak up to remind him.

At the same time, the present circumstances also prove that her gamble was correct.

At this very moment, the people of the other ancient races, due to various misgivings, dare not tell Lin Feng the situation inside Tian Mu.