Chapter 506: Making a Name in the Capital

The news that Cheng Feng had swiftly killed four people of the same rank from the Cheng Wang Mansion and reversed the kill on one person in the True Qi Realm spread through most of Tianqi City in less than half a day, as if it had grown wings.

The blood on the West Three Array Platform at the Great Drill Ground had not yet dried, and people were running over to look in wave after wave.

Several bold youths squeezed to the bottom of the platform, stretching their necks to peer up; seeing the bloodstains and shattered armor fragments that hadn't been cleaned away yet, their faces turned pale on the spot.

Some old veterans squatted by the edge of the platform, looking at the deep blade marks on the stone floor, and after touching them with their rough hands, they clicked their tongues and said, "How much strength must it take to hack bluestone like this?"

After this battle, Cheng Feng's name became the new sensation in Tianqi City.

In the gambling dens, his odds dropped all the way from one-to-three to three-to-one, and people kept betting silver on his name. The storytellers on the street corners were the most adept at making a scene; that very night, they concocted a new tale called something like "The Hard-Training Lad Bravely Charges the Five Tigers Array, the Duanjiang Blade Slashes the Heavenly Capital Three Times."

The lyrics were half-true and half-false, but the listeners were enthusiastic; in the teahouses, people were slapping tables and tossing copper coins, and they didn't disperse until midnight.

Cheng Feng knew nothing of all this. He hadn't left his room since returning to Lan Yuan; he bathed, changed his clothes, and sat in his room slowly regulating his breath.

Those few moves of the Duanjiang Blade were indeed physically exhausting; his arms, waist, and back were aching severely, and the purple-black chain mark on his right arm was still throbbing with pain.

But his Flood Dragon Body's recovery speed was not slow either.

Cheng thought for a moment.

Hmm, not bad, about ten breaths or so.

He pulled up his Panmian and took a look. The first transformation of the Dragon Snake Nine Transformations had already risen to seven hundred and twelve.

Through successive fierce battles, plus the assistance of the Snake Coil Seal, the proficiency was faster than he had expected.

Cheng Feng sighed with emotion; although this Martial Dao gathering was a life-or-death ordeal, for someone like him who relied on his physical body and combat to make a living, it was indeed the best whetstone.

Others grew more fatigued the more they fought, but he, on the contrary, became more spirited the more he fought.

"Fight two more matches, and the second transformation might be within reach," he muttered to himself.

The door was knocked. Wang Ji's voice sounded from outside: "Come out, there's something to discuss."

Cheng Feng got up to open the door. Wang Ji did not enter, but stood under the veranda, holding several folded slips of paper in her hand, her expression neither good nor bad.

She glanced at him, turned, and walked toward the front hall, and Cheng Feng followed.

In the front hall, Liu Yu, Huo Luan, and Gu Niangzi had all arrived. Huo Luan was draped over the back of a chair like a lazy snake, but her eyes were very bright.

Liu Yu was holding a cup of tea but not drinking it, his brows slightly furrowed.

Gu Niangzi was teasing her Black Jade Snake, her fingertips tapping the snake's head, distracted.

"The top ten have been decided." Wang Ji placed the slips on the table, her fingertips flipping them open one by one. "Our team is among them. This is the list of the top ten."

Cheng Feng glanced at it. Ten teams; besides the Zhennan Wang Ji Team, there were the Hengyang Lu Clan, the Huaiyang Bai Clan, the Blood Fire Sect, the Copper Armor Sect, the Pingbei Wangfu, the Tianyu Sect, several clan teams formed by old veterans from the army, and two sects Cheng Feng had never heard of.

"These are our opponents??" Liu Yu asked after looking at the list.

Wang Ji nodded: "The upcoming opponents are no weak teams. Every one of the top ten has at least one person who can deliver the final blow. Our tactic of relying on Cheng Feng alone to charge ends here."

Cheng Feng did not refute this. He also knew that the Cheng Wang Mansion match was because the opponent was careless, not expecting him to take the initiative to attack, and even less expecting that he, in the Organ Refining Realm, could crush someone in the True Qi Realm. But other teams would not fall for the same trick twice.

"Who is the next match against?" Cheng Feng asked.

"The Copper Armor Sect," Wang Ji said. "Drawn today. That team led by Tong Shan."

Huo Luan perked up upon hearing this: "Is that the big guy who controls copper? I heard his copper skin is even thicker than Cheng Feng's. Two iron lumps colliding, that will be something to see."

Liu Yu, however, shook his head: "Tong Shan is not just hard. Controlling copper is different from Hard Qigong; he is not only physically strong, but his Martial Dao realm is also the True Qi Realm, and his True Qi can form a layer of Copper Armor True Qi on his body surface, which is equivalent to two layers of defense."

"If Cheng Feng fights him one-on-one, he won't gain any advantage. Moreover, the other members of the Copper Armor Sect are not kind-hearted either; they are all fellow disciples Tong Shan brought out from the Copper Armor Sect, and they all practice Hard Qigong."

"Hard Qigong is fine," Cheng Feng said. "What I am best at is fighting Hard Qigong."

"What are you going to use to fight?" Gu Niangzi spoke up abruptly.

"Use a blade to hack, his copper skin is tougher than your iron. Use your fists to smash, his strength might not be less than yours."

"Your advantage is agility, but Tong Shan's heavy fists are not slow either."

"If you fight him to the death, you are just slamming your strengths against his strengths; that's stupid."

Cheng Feng was silent for a moment, not arguing. Gu Niangzi's words were harsh, but they often hit the nail on the head.

"So we must change our approach." Wang Ji straightened the slips and tucked them into her sleeve. "Next match, break the array with an array."

"The Copper Armor Sect is fierce and strong, so don't fight them head-on."

"Liu Yu, tonight you take the 'Wandering Swallow Array' and modify its flanking variations; Cheng Feng, do not fight from the front anymore. Let him maneuver."

"I maneuver?" Cheng Feng frowned.

"You are the fastest person among us." Wang Ji looked at Cheng Feng. "Your blade is fast, and your movement technique is fast. You might not gain an advantage by competing in strength with Tong Shan, but he cannot catch you either."

"You must use your movement technique and speed to wear him down, leaving him with strength he cannot use; wait until his own True Qi dissipates, then strike to kill."

Liu Yu added: "Tong Shan's copper control is different from Cheng Feng's Hard Qigong; he cannot sustain it. His True Qi supporting the copper armor is like a person wearing a wet cotton quilt; the longer it lasts, the heavier it gets. We only need to stretch out the battle line, and he will inevitably show a flaw. We will hold the line in the early stages."

The group discussed for a while longer, and Wang Ji let everyone go to rest. Today's blood had let people see enough of Cheng Feng's "hardness" and "speed."

In the next match, it was time to let the people of Tianqi City see the "variability" and "stability" of their team.

After Cheng Feng returned to his room, he took out the Snake Coil Seal again, placed it on his knees, and closed his eyes to circulate the Dragon Snake Nine Transformations.

He did not dare to enter deep meditation, only letting his Blood Qi circulate through his meridians at a steady, unhurried pace.

Moonlight leaked in through the window lattice, and the snake eyes on the seal occasionally flashed with a dark red light, as if it too were hungry, swallowing the purest moonlight of the night.

And in Tianqi City, there was no telling how many courtyards still had their lamps unextinguished.

Some were flipping through Cheng Feng's household registration records overnight, wanting to know where this young man who started in Qingxi County had studied.

Some were writing letters to relatives serving in the Immortal Sect, inquiring whether those above had taken any notice of this person named "Cheng Feng."

There were even several families who had already dispatched men to guard the entrance of the Lan Yuan alley; from the moment he stepped out, there would be people following him.

The top ten were set.

The gaze of the Immortals would also pour down.