Chapter 265: Peerless Genius

The person who arrived was Chu Bo, the helmsman of the Stop-Weapon General Academy.

He had a handsome face; in his youth, he was a famous beauty in Datong Prefecture, dashing and romantic.

But his current temperament was overly sinister, ruining that air of romance.

Ever since his only son died, Chu Bo had never again possessed a carefree state of mind.

Following behind Chu Bo was a young man wearing a saber; judging by his attire, he was a formal martial master of the Stop-Weapon Academy.

To be able to become a formal martial master at such a young age meant the man was also a martial arts genius.

After the two walked into the mourning hall, Zhang Zongyang and the others also quickly walked in.

They had actually wanted to stop Chu Bo and his companion from entering earlier, but unfortunately, they could not stop them.

"You are that little daughter of Zhang Zongyang?"

After Chu Bo finished looking at Zhang Zongyang's funeral portrait, he looked toward Shangguan Xiao and asked.

Shangguan Xiao met Chu Bo's gaze, did not answer the other party's question, and said coldly:

"If you truly want to pay your respects, come up and perform a bow. If you are here to fight, once we step outside this door, I will accompany you!"

Although she came to pay respects to Zhang Zongyang today in a personal capacity, it did not mean she would ignore the Zhang family.

Protecting the Zhang family was the thing her father cared about most while he was alive, and it was also something she had promised him but had not yet been able to do.

Now, in front of Zhang Zongyang's spirit tablet, as long as it involved the Zhang family, she would not retreat even half a step!

Her words caused the atmosphere in the mourning hall to instantly become tense, and the Zhang family members present had varied expressions.

In the current Zhang family, only Shangguan Xiao dared to speak to Chu Bo like this.

"Hahahaha—"

Chu Bo laughed upon hearing this, his laughter sounding like surging floodwaters, spreading throughout the entire Zhang residence!

After laughing, he swept a glance at Zhang Zongyang and the others around him and sneered:

"Your Zhang family truly has no one left, having to let someone surnamed Shangguan stand up for you."

These words made the expressions of Zhang Zongyang and the others look exceptionally ugly.

"Chu—"

Zhang Zedong stepped forward, about to speak.

But Chu Bo threw a glance over, which felt like an invisible heavy hammer, striking heavily upon Zhang Zedong's spirit, making him feel as if he had been struck by lightning, and the words he was about to say were interrupted.

He let out a muffled groan, his face turning pale.

"Hammer of Mind!"

Li Fei narrowed his eyes, and this name surfaced in his mind.

This was a killing move Chu Bo created himself by combining his extraordinary abilities.

He possessed an extraordinary ability that could stimulate a martial artist's mental power to form a spiritual deterrent, like an enhanced version of "using status to pressure others."

By combining this extraordinary ability with his own fist intent, Chu Bo ultimately created this "Hammer of Mind."

This move was similar to a spell, but its effect against martial artists was even stronger than a spell.

Having stopped Zhang Zedong from speaking with a single glance, Chu Bo turned his head and looked at Shangguan Xiao with a contemptuous gaze:

"What you said would be more appropriate if it came from that senior brother of yours. You? Not good enough!"

After speaking, he did not wait for Shangguan Xiao to respond and immediately said again:

"Oh, I forgot. That senior brother of yours was crippled back then; he is likely a useless person now, not even daring to return to Datong Prefecture city. It seems you cannot count on him."

Swish—

Shangguan Xiao stepped forward, and a cold killing intent erupted from her body.

Just as she was preparing to act directly, a figure blocked her path.

It was Li Fei!

Li Fei looked at Chu Bo with calm eyes and said word by word:

"Your Excellency opened your mouth to insult my teacher; forgive me for not being able to tolerate it."

Chu Bo looked at Li Fei with a playful gaze: "You cannot tolerate it, so what?"

Li Fei raised his hand and pointed at the formal martial master who had followed Chu Bo into the mourning hall:

"If I am not mistaken, you should also be from the Chu family, right?"

This formal martial master with the saber met Li Fei's gaze and said:

"Chu family, Chu Yu."

He was Chu Bo's nephew and also the standout of the current young generation of the Chu family.

After his only son died, Chu Bo put his heart and soul into cultivating Chu Yu, hoping the other party could support the Chu family in the future.

Li Fei laughed, and while laughing, he said in a similarly contemptuous tone:

"On an occasion like today, it is one thing for your uncle to come here and be arrogant, but how do you have the guts to follow along?"

Chu Yu narrowed his eyes, and before he could speak, Li Fei suddenly shouted loudly:

"Aside from your uncle, everyone else in the Chu family is trash. How do you have the face to come to the Zhang family and throw your weight around?!"

These words made the smile on Chu Bo's face disappear.

He looked at Li Fei with cold eyes:

"What did you say? Say it again!"

As the words fell, an invisible force instantly smashed onto Li Fei.

The Hammer of Mind was activated again!

This move was invisible and intangible, arriving in an instant, making it impossible to guard against.

For someone of Chu Bo's status to actually take action against a junior like Li Fei was truly lacking in decorum.

But he was here to trample people today, not to talk about decorum, so naturally, he would do whatever felt comfortable and whatever was most overbearing!

However, Zhang Zedong, at the peak of the Qi Transformation realm, had been struck by a "Hammer of Mind" and his spirit had shaken violently, nearly making a fool of himself on the spot.

Li Fei, who had just broken through to the middle stage of Qi Transformation, was struck by this "Hammer of Mind," yet his expression did not change in the slightest.

He even stepped forward, looking directly at Chu Bo:

"So what if I say it again? I said it, and your Chu family will just have to take it!"

Chu Bo looked at Li Fei in surprise, not expecting that Li Fei could actually receive a "Hammer of Mind" from him unscathed.

The reason he chose to take action directly was because he was unable to refute Li Fei's words.

Li Fei was now a recognized peerless genius; let alone the Chu family, even looking across the entire Great Lan Dynasty, there were few in the younger generation who could compare to him!

"Is this the arrogance of a peerless genius?"

Zhang Zedong looked at Li Fei, who was facing Chu Bo head-on, his feelings very complicated.

He was nearly sixty years old this year, had practiced martial arts for fifty years, and was still only a Force-Practicing martial master.

Looking at Li Fei, he had practiced martial arts for less than two years and was already a Force-Practicing martial master.

Comparing them like this, Zhang Zedong definitely counted as one of the "trash" Li Fei spoke of.

Not just Zhang Zedong, but every young person of the Zhang family present was red-faced!

Although they knew Li Fei was not targeting them, they still had a feeling of:

I am not targeting anyone in particular; I mean that everyone here is trash.

However, Li Fei's words were not finished yet.

He did not wait for Chu Bo to speak and continued:

"In five more years, let alone the rest of the Chu family, even you will be trash in front of me!"

"..."

The entire mourning hall went quiet.

Even Shangguan Xiao was shocked by Li Fei's words.

It was one thing to say the rest of the Chu family were trash, but Chu Bo was a long-established, veteran Dao Foundation powerhouse who had a chance to challenge the status of a Martial Arts Master.

Li Fei actually dared to call such a person trash?!

"Good, good, good!!"

Chu Bo laughed out of extreme anger, his gaze toward Li Fei already filled with killing intent.

"Uncle!"

Chu Yu, who had been standing behind Chu Bo, finally could not hold back, stepped forward, and said to Chu Bo:

"This person insulted my Chu family; I cannot tolerate it. Please allow me to fight him!"

He had also been a student at the Martial University, spent six years graduating from the Martial University, entered the Stop-Weapon General Academy, and was now at the late stage of Qi Transformation.

At the Martial University, he had also received the best education.

After graduating, he had always received guidance from Chu Bo.

Although his talent was indeed not comparable to a genius like Li Fei, his current realm was higher than Li Fei's, and he had rich practical combat experience; he believed he would never lose to someone who had just broken through to the middle stage of Qi Transformation a few days ago.

In his view, Li Fei might not even have mastered how to circulate his force yet; what could he use to win against him?

Chu Bo glanced at his nephew who was requesting to fight and did not rush to agree.

He looked at Li Fei:

"For the sake of the Martial University, I can spare your life for insulting this helmsman just now. But if you want to forcefully stand up for the Zhang family today, it will not be that easy!"

He was not a young man like Chu Yu; although he was angry, he was not impulsive.

The purpose of coming today was to trample the Zhang family; if he fought an outsider like Li Fei and even won, what loss would the Zhang family suffer?

Therefore, he would not easily agree to this battle.

"Does Steering Commissioner Chu mean to add a wager?"

Li Fei asked with a smile.

Then, without waiting for Chu Bo to speak, he continued on his own:

"How about this: if anyone from the Chu family, besides you, can take me down today, from this day forward I will join your Chu family and become a retainer of your Chu family!"

Whoosh—

These words caused an uproar at the scene.

"Little sister!"

Zhang Zedong could not help but call out to Shangguan Xiao, wanting her to stop Li Fei immediately.

But Shangguan Xiao remained unmoved; instead, she wore a smile on her face, quietly watching Li Fei perform.

In the entire Chu family, only Chu Bo was in the Dao Foundation realm; among the rest, including the guest retainers, there was not a second person in the Dao Foundation realm.

Given this situation, what did Shangguan Xiao have to worry about?

She even felt a bit of sympathy for Chu Bo now, because the other party had no idea what kind of monster he had provoked!

"From this day forward, you will become a retainer of my Chu family?"

Chu Bo stared fixedly into Li Fei's eyes.

Even with his level of composure, he was moved by these words.

Right now, it was clear that Li Fei intended to help his master's aunt, and it was impossible for Shangguan Xiao to ignore the Zhang family.

In this way, with an unparalleled genius helping out, the Zhang family might truly have a chance to survive for a while longer.

If he could take Li Fei in as a retainer, setting aside the future, at the very least, this could cut off the Zhang family's last glimmer of hope!

"Correct. If I lose, from this day forward I will become a retainer of your Chu family."

Li Fei said loudly, "But for this match today, what if you lose?"

Chu Bo smiled: "What do you want?"

"Then I ask Steering Commissioner Chu to bring all the members of the Chu family to keep vigil here for three days!"

Li Fei pointed to the portrait of the deceased Zhang Zongyang behind him and said.

Shangguan Xiao's body trembled, and every member of the Zhang family present was moved!

What was the Zhang family lacking most right now?

Was it money? Was it resources?

Neither.

What the Zhang family lacked most right now was prestige.

If the entire Chu family, the Zhang family's mortal enemies, came to keep vigil for Zhang Zongyang for three days, once such a thing spread, at least half of the prestige the Zhang family had lost during this period could be recovered!

Those who were anxious to sever ties with the Zhang family, or those eager to kick the Zhang family while they were down, would all have to reconsider.

Chu Bo fell silent.

He was weighing the pros and cons, judging Li Fei's caliber, and thinking about the odds of winning this matter.

"Uncle, let me fight him! I will definitely win!"

Chu Yu could no longer wait.

"."

Chu Bo was silent for a moment, and in the end, he made his decision.

Since things had reached this point today, if he did not dare to accept, the Chu family's prestige would also be greatly diminished.

Furthermore, what Li Fei had just said was that as long as anyone from the Chu family could defeat him today, it would suffice.

This meant that a wheel battle was allowed!

Thus, Chu Bo looked at Li Fei and said in a deep voice:

"Let's change to a different place to fight."

A smile appeared on Li Fei's face:

"Fine!"

(End of chapter)