Chapter 135: A Blow of Great Fury

"Yi Zhen, that idiot, how does he usually cultivate? He can't even beat a small cultivator in the Kaiyuan Realm." Amidst the silence, Yulong Zhenren twitched his face and snorted coldly.

Longyang Zhenren's white eyebrows flickered slightly, and he said indifferently, "Didn't you fail to beat him back then too!"

Yulong Zhenren's old face instantly flushed with shame; he stammered a few times but kept his mouth shut, not daring to speak again.

He wanted to explain that he had been severely injured by a Spirit Sparrow first, which was the only reason Xu Chen was able to take advantage of him.

But he had already explained this countless times; explaining it again would only invite ridicule.

No matter how unwilling he was to admit it, he could not escape the fact that he, a powerhouse in the Danyuan Realm, had been beaten by a small cultivator in the Kaiyuan Realm to the point of near death.

And at that time, Xu Chen was only in the early stage of the Kaiyuan Realm, completely like an ant in his eyes, one that could be blown away with a mere breath.

Although he was eventually saved by the joint efforts of the three Supreme Elders after obtaining information from Xu Chen regarding the Soul Bead, he suffered no lasting sequelae, and his cultivation level remained intact.

Yet, this resentment was something he could never swallow in his life, even though he had no choice but to swallow it.

It was he who had bullied others first, and later Danchenzi succeeded in Spirit Transformation, so this matter could only be left at that.

As for Xu Chen coming to Yuqing Hall this time, Yuyang Zhenjun had long since issued a decree, stating that he would present a pair of Seven-Star Golden Toads.

To a group of Danyuan Realm Elders, the Seven-Star Golden Toads were of little use, and whether they were gifted or not did not matter, but after the disciples under their tutelage learned of this, they were stirred into a frenzy, leading to disagreements among several Elders; thus, the scene today occurred where Xu Chen had just arrived and was surrounded by a group of Core Disciples from the inner sect.

The Great Elder, Longyang Zhenren, was nearly three hundred years old; although his cultivation was high, he had no hope of Spirit Transformation in this life, so he did not care much about these matters and spent his days diligently guiding a group of younger disciples in their cultivation.

The Third Elder, Huayang Zhenren, had been saved by Xu Chen at Black Wind Ridge, so he naturally still felt grateful and suggested it was best not to deliberately make things difficult and stir up new trouble, lest it make Xuanchen Zhenjun look bad.

The Fourth Elder, Qingfeng Zhenren, held an ambiguous attitude and remained noncommittal; in his view, Xu Chen would inevitably lose anyway, it was just a matter of how to ensure he didn't lose too miserably, so as to avoid further friction between the two sects, which would make the disciples act like fire and water when they met, which was not conducive to the unity of the Immortal Sect.

Especially now that all the Immortal Sects were stationed at the Taiyuan Sect to exterminate Soul Beasts and obtain Soul Beads, offending the Taiyuan Sect was extremely unwise; if the Yuqing Hall cultivators stationed at Black Wind Ridge and Spirit Fox Valley were given the cold shoulder by Xuanchen Zhenjun, they would have to swallow their own bitterness.

However, the attitudes of Yulong Zhenren and the Five Elders, Yuxuan Zhenren, were relatively much tougher.

The two were originally fellow disciples and both belonged to the faction of Yuyang Zhenjun, and Qin Feng was Yulong Zhenren's Personal Disciple; if he had not died, he would have had a chance to form a Golden Core in the future, so both emotionally and logically, neither was willing to let Xu Chen take the Seven-Star Golden Toads away smoothly.

Even if they were to give them, they had to make him suffer a little first, to vent some frustration for Yulong Zhenren and Qin Feng.

But unfortunately, the current situation looked very ominous.

Yi Zhen, the strongest among the fourth-generation disciples, actually had no way to deal with Xu Chen; this confrontation was grand in scale, with dozens of Core and Personal Disciples watching, and if it ended in nothing or even a loss, not only would they fail to save face, but it would be as if they had voluntarily stuck their faces out to be slapped, the sound of which would be heartbreaking.

Right now, on the square of the mountain gate hall, the confrontation between the Yuan Qi and Divine Sense of Xu Chen and Yi Zhen had reached a white-hot stage.

Yi Zhen had used at least ninety percent of his strength, and Xu Chen was also holding almost nothing back.

Both of their faces were somewhat pale, and their robes were soaked through with rolling sweat.

The surging Yuan Qi swept across a radius of several hundred feet, and the churning clouds and mist emitted sounds like the roar of tigers and the howling of dragons.

Under such terrifying Yuan Qi impact, all the disciples had long since retreated over a hundred feet away, each of them filled with terror.

This kind of confrontation had reached an extreme state; neither of the two fighting dared to withdraw their hands in the slightest, as any slackening of Yuan Qi or Divine Sense by either party could result in their meridians and dantian being shattered by this terrifying Yuan Qi impact.

Therefore, the two had no other choice but to grit their teeth and persist.

Xu Chen was fine; he had the Blue Light Treasure Bottle protecting his soul, and his Divine Sense was almost completely undiminished; even if he persisted like this for three or five days, he would not feel his soul growing weary.

Furthermore, his body had long been continuously tempered in all directions by the white energy, and his meridians, dantian, bones, and flesh were like gold and jade, completely equal to the strength of a first-grade Magic Treasure; even a first-grade Flying Sword would find it hard to damage him now, let alone ordinary Yuan Qi impact damage, so he was not afraid of this pure pressure of force at all.

But Yi Zhen was completely different; he was now in a position where he could neither advance nor retreat.

Although he felt that his Yuan Qi was much more robust than Xu Chen's and his Divine Sense was stronger, if he were to release his pressure with all his might regardless of the consequences, he would definitely be able to defeat Xu Chen.

But he dared not do so, because several Elders had said that Xu Chen could be defeated, but he absolutely could not die, nor could he even be seriously injured; if Xu Chen could not withstand the impact and his meridians and dantian were destroyed, before Xuanchen Zhenjun could come for revenge, a group of Elders would beat him until he shat himself, and then personally escort him to the Taiyuan Sect to apologize.

Because the two Supreme Elders had long since issued a decree that Xu Chen must be treated with courtesy.

However, just as he was hesitating and preparing to slowly reduce the pressure and make peace with Xu Chen, Xu Chen suddenly smiled and said:

"Second Senior Brother, are you looking down on me? I came here full of expectations for my fellow Daoist peers of Yuqing Hall."

As soon as Xu Chen said this, the group of Yuqing Hall cultivators watching all broke into an uproar.

The male disciples were all ashamed and angry, but because they could not intervene and dared not attack, they shouted for the Second Senior Brother to use more force.

As for some of the young female disciples, their emotions were different; while their faces were full of surprise, some even had eyes that flashed, and they looked at Xu Chen with a distinctly different gaze.

Yuqing Hall had a large foundation; there were over three hundred inner sect disciples alone, and Personal Disciples and Core Disciples made up more than thirty percent; except for a portion who were guarding the Five Elements array and exterminating Soul Beasts near the Taiyuan Sect, almost all the rest had arrived.

These disciples were not of one mind; rather, they were divided into factions, not to mention that the three Supreme Elders each had their own independent faction, and the disciples of the seven Danyuan Realm Elders were also mutually defiant and engaged in infighting.

Although they were relatively united when facing outsiders, their stances were not the same on matters that did not concern them, and many people had even come today just to watch the excitement.

Yulong Zhenren's faction had suffered repeated setbacks at the hands of the Taiyuan Sect, and now even Yulong Zhenren's Personal Disciple, Lan You, a newly rising Core Disciple of Yuqing Hall, had changed her past attitude of wanting to fight the Taiyuan Sect to the death and had completely defected to protect Xu Chen; this was what surprised everyone the most.

Because of this, some questioned whether Lan You had fallen for Xu Chen; although no one believed this would be the case, the reality before them was indeed somewhat similar.

Because Lan You had been standing behind Xu Chen the whole time and had never left, her expression was tense and cold, and she glared at the Second Senior Brother, Yi Zhen, with obvious and significant hostility.

Lan You was the candidate for a Daolu that many young Core Disciples of Yuqing Hall pursued together.

How could they hope for her to be snatched away by a disciple from another sect like Xu Chen, who had low cultivation, an ordinary appearance, and was still wet behind the ears?

If this matter were to spread, the young talents of Yuqing Hall would have even less face to show.

Yi Zhen felt the same, and even found it harder to bear.

He was naturally arrogant and proud, and in the eyes of many Elders and fellow disciples, he was someone who would inevitably have the chance to achieve Spirit Transformation and become a Great Cultivator among the fourth-generation disciples of Yuqing Hall in the future.

And Lan You had been explicitly designated by the three Supreme Elders as a candidate whom Yuqing Hall must exhaust its capabilities to assist in Spirit Transformation.

Therefore, although Yi Zhen had not looked up to this cold-natured Junior Sister before, now he almost regarded Lan You as his inevitable Daolu after he formed his Golden Core in the future.

Thus, with the addition of old grievances and new hatred, he had ignored his cultivation and status today to forcibly step forward, wanting to suppress Xu Chen to save face for Yuqing Hall and also to gain points for himself.

But he did not expect that he would hit a steel plate.

And this seemingly joking remark from Xu Chen also caused him to lose his sanity instantly, and a cold murderous intent leaked from his eyes as he said: "Since Daoist Friend Xu wants to see the strength of Yuqing Hall, then as you wish!"

"Boom—"

Yi Zhen released all of his Yuan Qi, and the terrifying Yuan Qi, guided by his Divine Sense, condensed into dense, sharp blades and slammed toward Xu Chen.

"Oh no!"

Inside the hall on the mountain peak, the five Danyuan Realm Elders changed their expressions almost simultaneously.

But it was already too late to intervene now; the Danyuan Realm was not the Spirit Transformation Great Cultivator, whose soul could be powerful enough to control the situation from dozens or hundreds of miles away.

At the moment, Xu Chen and Yi Zhen were separated by no more than a few zhang; unless a Spirit Transformation Great Cultivator had prepared in advance, it would be difficult to intervene instantly at this distance.

"Xu Chen is finished!" The crowd of male and female Disciples watching also exclaimed in alarm, their expressions changing as they retreated once more.

"Boom~"

Yi Zhen's terrifying blade of primordial energy pierced through Xu Chen's primordial energy defense like a tidal wave, and the whistling, roiling clouds and mist transformed into streams of light like dragons and snakes, lunging toward Xu Chen and Lan You.

"Oh no!"

Under the force of her furious strike, feeling Xu Chen's primordial energy resistance being torn apart like paper, Yi Zhen suddenly realized what she had done and her expression changed drastically.

Because Lan You was also caught within the omnidirectional attack.

She did not care what state Xu Chen was beaten into, as long as she could vent this pent-up anger, but if Lan You were injured or killed by her, she feared her cultivation career in Yuqing Hall would be over, and the three Supreme Elders would execute her on the spot today.

However, it was already too late for her to withdraw her hand.

Divine Sense is easy to control, but primordial energy is difficult to retract.

Once any Magic Spell is released, it is basically a one-shot deal; unlike a Magic Treasure, it cannot be precisely controlled at all.

No sooner said than done, under the watchful eyes and Divine Sense of countless people present at Yuqing Hall, Xu Chen and Lan You were on the verge of being shredded by Yi Zhen's overwhelming primordial energy storm, and Lan You's face instantly turned pale.

"Daoist Friend Xu, watch out!"

As Lan You exclaimed in alarm, she only felt her waist tighten as it was firmly gripped by a hand, and then her entire person seemed to be enveloped by flowing clouds and moving water; as her body followed the rotation and drift, streams of light flashed before her eyes, and a large number of primordial energy blades whistled past her body and cheeks, yet they did not touch her in the slightest.

(End of this chapter)