Chapter 269: Rhino-Dragon, Returning to One

Li Fei slashed Chu Yu off the arena with a single strike, and after landing, Chu Yu spat out a mouthful of blood.

Only then did the ordinary people watching the scene react, letting out exclamations of surprise.

In truth, given the speed at which Li Fei and Chu Yu were exchanging blows, to the eyes of ordinary people, they were just a series of afterimages; nothing could be seen clearly at all.

But this did not prevent these people from watching with great interest; after all, such "visual effects" were a rare sight, and the massive sounds of weapons clashing and the air being torn apart sounded so thrilling!

"Whoa, the one from the Martial University won!"

"I heard he only broke through his realm a few days ago, yet he was actually able to defeat an opponent of a higher realm, and won so easily."

"He is truly a peerless prodigy!"

"."

In fact, the vast majority of ordinary people did not understand martial cultivation realms at all, but because the Wuyi District frequently held boxing matches, in order to attract more people to place bets, they naturally had to "popularize" some martial knowledge, so the spectators present today were all knowledgeable, at least knowing that Li Fei had won against a stronger opponent and fought across realms.

"Is he already this powerful?"

In the crowd, Zhao Yi, sitting cross-legged on the ground, looked at Li Fei on the Dragon-Tiger Arena with a solemn expression.

Ever since the Dream-Like Order was taken away by Li Fei, she had been thinking about how to take it back.

Therefore, over the past two months or so, she had been practicing very diligently.

Her talent was already very high, and she had been only one step away from breaking through; now, she had finally succeeded in advancing from the Body-Breaking Realm to the Spirit-Transformation Realm, becoming a mage!

Because she had only just broken through and Li Fei had been very busy lately, the two had not met yet, and Li Fei did not know about this matter either.

This made Zhao Yi feel restless.

If she used a premeditated strike and launched a sneak attack with sorcery, would she have a chance to take him down?

Zhao Yi had been secretly planning for a long time, and when she learned that Li Fei was going to have a public duel here today, she immediately rushed over.

She wanted to see what stage Li Fei's strength had reached.

And then she saw Li Fei easily defeat a Qi-Transformation late-stage martial artist.

"The poison in my body hasn't been cured yet, so I can't go for the kill when attacking him. If I have to keep him alive, even if I exhaust all my means, I'm afraid..."

Zhao Yi gritted her teeth, feeling a sense of powerlessness.

When Zhao Renjie taught her cultivation, he had praised her talent more than once, saying she was a rare genius.

But now, looking at Li Fei on the Dragon-Tiger Arena, Zhao Yi had the thought of giving up for the first time:

"Old man, this is the true genius."

On the fourth floor of the restaurant, Chu Bo did not intend to give up yet.

"According to the pre-arranged order, have people continue to go up and exhaust him as much as possible."

Chu Bo issued the order.

The Chu family only began to rise in his generation, so their foundation was insufficient. Counting Chu Yu who had already lost, there were only three martial artists, and there were eleven martial artists at the Qi-Transformation early stage remaining. As for the Body-Breaking Realm martial artists, Chu Bo did not consider sending them up; that would be too unsightly, and it would be better to just admit defeat.

Therefore, for this gauntlet match today, there were only fourteen candidates Chu Bo could send to duel with Li Fei.

After Chu Yu lost, he did not continue to send martial artists up, but instead sent a Qi-Transformation early-stage martial artist.

The combat power of a martial artist and a martial artist is at least two or three times different, and the Chu family's martial artists were not the kind of fierce people who could fight across realms, so there was no suspense in the outcome.

"Although the Diamond Force is powerful, it consumes a lot of energy. I want to see how long you can hold out?"

Chu Bo stared fixedly at the scene below.

Soon, the second person from the Chu family took the stage.

After this martial artist got on the stage, he quickly ran to the center of the arena while adopting a defensive posture.

He also knew his task very well: as long as he could make Li Fei swing his blade a few more times and use his force a few more times, he would have succeeded!

Li Fei remained in the "Tyrant Body" state, calmly walking toward this person, and then slashed out from the upper right to the lower left.

Brilliant golden light bloomed on the Ghost-Slaying Blade, making the ghost pattern on the hilt shine brightly.

Clang—

Snap!

With one strike, the long blade in the Chu family martial artist's hand was severed, and he was also sent flying.

Back when Li Fei was still a martial artist, he could use Geng-Metal True Qi combined with the Ghost-Slaying Blade to sever others' exotic weapons; now, using the Diamond Force, it was naturally even sharper and more domineering!

The weapon held by this Chu family martial artist was also a first-grade exotic weapon, so it could not block Li Fei's strike.

A blade mark was carved into his chest, and the Diamond Force remaining in his body made him feel as if he had been split in two!

This caused his movement to rise to be a beat slow, and he was kicked heavily in the waist by Li Fei, who had rushed up, sending him flying off the arena.

Li Fei won another match!

"Change blades. Everyone else is to use that blade of Yu'er's!"

In the restaurant, Chu Bo said with a livid expression.

The blade Chu Yu used was a fourth-grade exotic weapon, sturdy enough to withstand Li Fei's strikes.

And so, soon, the third martial artist took the stage with Chu Yu's personal blade.

He wanted to adopt a hit-and-run tactic, but this move was useless against Li Fei, who possessed "Danger Perception." No matter which direction he ran, Li Fei could intercept him in advance and then force him back with a single strike.

The area of the Dragon-Tiger Arena was, after all, too small, with not much room for maneuvering.

This was inherently an arena suitable for head-on collisions.

Soon, the third martial artist was also slashed off the arena by Li Fei.

"Good!"

"Well fought—"

"Amazing!"

"."

The surrounding spectators cheered for Li Fei one after another.

Li Fei stood on the stage and waited for a while, but did not wait for a fourth person to take the stage.

"Is this giving up?"

There was a commotion at the scene.

Li Fei looked up at the fourth floor of the restaurant; he had long since sensed Chu Bo's gaze and deep murderous intent, knowing that the other party was watching the battle there.

The two locked eyes.

"What, is the Chu family going to admit defeat?"

Li Fei said in a loud voice.

"."

The scene was silent.

As the helmsman of the Zhitge General Headquarters, who once killed a super-strong expert of the Dao-Foundation Realm with a single blade, Chu Bo had received more humiliation today than in the past few decades combined!

He stared fixedly at Li Fei, saying word by word:

"Don't be in a hurry, it has only just begun!"

So, the Chu family still had a trump card.

After Li Fei waited quietly on the Dragon-Tiger Arena for another few minutes, he finally waited for the fourth person from the Chu family.

This person held a dark yellow circular shield in his hand, and an exotic beast that looked very much like a rhinoceros was carved on the shield.

Clearly, during the time they were waiting just now, Chu Bo had someone go and get this shield.

This shield was named "Rhino-Dragon," and it was refined using the body of a fifth-grade exotic beast as the main material, so it was a fifth-grade exotic weapon!

This exotic weapon was a treasure in the Zhitge General Headquarters' warehouse, which Chu Bo had used his authority to use for personal gain and borrowed temporarily.

The Rhino-Dragon Shield not only had superb defensive power but also came with a counter-shock property. In the hands of a martial artist who had mastered metal-attribute or earth-attribute Innate Qi, it could exert its greatest power and could completely block the attacks of a martial artist.

Chu Bo borrowed this shield to carry out the war of attrition to the end.

The Chu family martial artist walked onto the stage holding the shield and injected Innate Qi into the Rhino-Dragon Shield in his hand; the surface of the shield was shrouded in a layer of pale yellow aura.

Li Fei took a step and charged straight ahead, then slashed down with his blade.

Bang—

A dull sound of impact rang out on the arena, and the Chu family martial artist holding the shield took two steps back and stood his ground!

Li Fei looked at the shield with some surprise.

When he broke into the mountain gate of the Iron Peak Gate, the other party also adopted a war of attrition, sending people wearing heavy armor and heavy shields to fight him, but the defensive power of those heavy armors and shields combined was not even half of the shield in front of him!

If Li Fei used "Blood Rage," relying on the powerful strength boost, he could indeed forcibly shake the opponent, but that would easily expose his strength.

If he didn't use "Blood Rage," he would have to consume more force to defeat the opponent. If he kept fighting match after match like this, until his force was exhausted, he would probably still have to expose his true strength.

So Li Fei simply stood on the arena.

And stopped moving.

"This?"

The Chu family martial artist holding the shield was dumbfounded.

The bet between Li Fei and Chu Bo stated that "within today, as long as someone from the Chu family can knock me down, they win."

So, in fact, this duel did not require Li Fei to fight all the experts of the Chu family; he only needed to ensure that he never lost.

It was just that in the previous few matches, the momentum Li Fei displayed was too strong, and he fought too domineeringly, making people subconsciously ignore this point.

The Chu family's martial artists subconsciously placed themselves in the position of defenders.

Now that Li Fei stopped attacking, it was the Chu family martial artist on the arena who felt awkward.

They couldn't just keep dragging it out until the time ran out, could they?

He glanced back at Chu Bo on the fourth floor, then gritted his teeth and charged toward Li Fei.

Holding the Rhino-Dragon Shield in front of him, he charged with the shield, intending to use it to forcibly knock Li Fei off the arena!

Li Fei leaped to the left, and he quickly changed direction, but Li Fei suddenly doubled back, exerted force, and left a trail of afterimages.

Whoosh—

Li Fei rushed behind his opponent, scaring the other man into turning around in a panic.

But Li Fei did not attack; he just stood in place, watching the other man calmly.

This Chu family martial artist gritted his teeth and continued to charge, but he was still easily evaded by Li Fei, and the two swapped positions on the ring once again.

"."

The Chu family martial artist looked at the calm Li Fei with some helplessness and could only continue to charge.

Whoosh—

Whoosh—

Whoosh—

Thus, the audience under the stage enjoyed a high-level game of "hide-and-seek."

Right on this not-too-large circular stage, one chased and one dodged; both were very fast, the sound of breaking air was constant, and they left behind streaks of afterimages.

Li Fei's speed was already much faster than his opponent's, and with his "Danger Perception" ability, he could predict the opponent's moves in advance, allowing him to dodge the opponent's lunges time and time again; the opponent had been chasing for a long time and hadn't even managed to touch the corner of his clothes.

Chu family martial artist: "."

Chu Bo: "."

He had originally thought that a peerless prodigy like Li Fei would inevitably be young and frivolous; otherwise, it would have been impossible for him to make such a bet with him.

Judging from the previous three matches, Li Fei's fighting style was indeed very wild.

That was why Chu Bo had gone to borrow the Rhinoceros Dragon Shield.

Young and frivolous, and with so many people cheering and supporting him in front of such a crowd, he felt that Li Fei would definitely continue his previous style and keep fighting head-on.

As it turned out, Li Fei suddenly changed his style, transforming from a domineering and arrogant berserker into a seasoned and cunning hunter.

He suddenly started playing it safe!

This change in style made Chu Bo feel extremely uncomfortable.

"Is he really only 18 years old?"

Chu Bo asked himself if it were him at 18, with Li Fei's talent and reputation, he would definitely be much more arrogant than the other party!

To describe it in one sentence, it would probably be that if a dog on the side of the road dared to bark at him a few times, it would have to be slapped twice.

But Li Fei was too calm!

"Liu Zheng."

Chu Bo suddenly spoke and called out a name.

"Family Head."

A man with a composed temperament stepped forward.

This person was a guest elder of the Chu family, with a cultivation base at the peak of the Qi Transformation Realm, and was the strongest person in the Chu family besides Chu Bo.

For today's match, Chu Bo had initially hoped that Chu Yu could take down Li Fei directly.

If that didn't work, his greatest hope was placed on Liu Zheng.

The original plan was to let the people in front wear Li Fei down until he was nearly exhausted, and then let Liu Zheng go up to deliver the final blow.

But now it seemed that was impossible.

If the Chu family martial artist on the stage didn't concede, Li Fei could keep the other party occupied until dark!

"The Chu family cannot lose today's match."

Chu Bo looked at Liu Zheng and said in a deep voice.

"Yes, Family Head, I will definitely do my utmost!"

Liu Zheng said with a firm expression.

Chu Bo shook his head: "That is not enough."

Liu Zheng was startled: "What does the Family Head mean?"

Chu Bo took a small medicine bottle from his bosom and placed it gently on the table: "This is a Limit-Breaking Pill; take it before you go on stage."

"Family Head?"

Liu Zheng looked at Chu Bo in astonishment.

A few seconds later, he gave a miserable smile.

The Limit-Breaking Pill was a pill with extremely domineering medicinal properties; after taking it, it could greatly stimulate the potential of the implant, allowing the implant to erupt with power that exceeded its limits.

But this would also cause serious damage to the implant, and this damage was irreversible!

Therefore, this kind of pill was usually only taken at a life-or-death moment, because if one didn't use it, one would die.

But once used, it meant that the path of martial arts was severed from that point on!

Liu Zheng was 42 years old this year, 8 years away from 50.

He had only received his first implant at the age of 17 and embarked on the path of martial arts, so in reality, when he was around 47, the implant in his body would enter a period of senescence.

The reason for the "50 years old" saying was that in the first few years after entering the senescence period, the decline in strength was not significant, and there was still a very slim chance to break through; historically, there were indeed people who broke through to the Dao Foundation Realm at 49 or 50.

However, Liu Zheng knew his own situation; he certainly did not have the talent or luck to break through after his implant entered the senescence period.

So, in reality, he only had about five years left to break through to the Dao Foundation Realm.

The chance was quite slim.

From the Qi Transformation Realm to the Dao Foundation Realm, the most critical point was incorporating a new implant, and with an implant already in the body, there was actually no longer enough "space" to incorporate a second type of implant.

Regardless of the type of implant, from the Embryo Nourishing Realm to the Qi Transformation Realm, the implant would grow continuously, eventually spreading throughout the martial artist's entire body.

Li Fei's 【Steel Armor】 implant was initially only distributed under the skin of his whole body, but by now, the "roots" of the 【Steel Armor】 had penetrated deep into his bone marrow and internal organs.

This was the fundamental reason why his body was strengthened every time he broke through a realm.

If one wanted to incorporate a second implant, the martial artist had to first gather the implant that had already spread throughout the body back into a single mass; this process was called—Returning to One.

The process of gathering the implant was extremely difficult; it could neither damage the implant nor affect the exertion of one's own strength, so "Returning to One" involved a whole set of extremely tedious and complex techniques.

Many people could not master these techniques in their entire lives!

This was the greatest threshold standing between the Qi Transformation Realm and the Dao Foundation Realm.

Liu Zheng had broken through to the peak of the Qi Transformation Realm at the age of 30; at that time, he was high-spirited and felt that he had a great chance of becoming a Dao Foundation Realm powerhouse, and he would even occasionally fantasize about the scene of himself becoming a martial arts master in the future.

But it had taken him the next twelve years to barely gather half of the implant that was spread throughout his body.

In other words, his progress in "Returning to One" was less than 50%, and this had already consumed twelve years of his life.

He still had five years left to complete the remaining 50%.

So, in truth, whether he took the Limit-Breaking Pill or not, his martial arts future was basically severed.

It was just that...

Liu Zheng looked at the bottle of Limit-Breaking Pill on the table with a face full of unwillingness.

Chu Bo watched him with a calm gaze.

After a moment, Liu Zheng extended his right hand and picked up the medicine bottle on the table with a slight tremor.

Chu Bo's expression softened, and he said in a gentle tone:

"Rest assured, as long as you can win this battle, I will take your son as my personal disciple in the future, and I will carefully teach and cultivate him."

He was a person with the opportunity to become a martial arts master, and at the same time, he was the helmsman of the Zhige General Academy, so his personal disciples were naturally very valuable.

Liu Zheng cupped his hands and bowed to Chu Bo:

"Many thanks, Family Head!"

After saying this, he opened the medicine bottle and swallowed the pill inside in one gulp.

PS: I have social engagements tonight, so there is a high probability there will be no second update; everyone doesn't need to wait.

(End of this chapter)