Pursuit of the Truth 120 He Feng

As that person stood at the top of the mountain, wind blew past his body, making his hair dance in the air. The beast skins he wore gave him a wild and rugged appearance.
That person was the man Su Ming had seen the previous night.
Blood veins manifested on the man’s body, forming an incredibly powerful presence of Qi that seemed to cause the air to tremble. The pressure brought forth by that presence was just a step away from Awakening.
He had not Awakened, but the dense blood veins on his body showed that he had surpassed the limit of 781 blood veins for a regular Berserker. From the looks of it, he had more than 800 blood veins.
At that moment, his expression looked grave and serious. There was resolution and determination on his face. There was also a fierce look and a resolve to place everything on the line in his demeanor.
"It’s He Feng!"
"Him? I heard about this person before. He is already at the eleventh level of the Blood Solidification Realm, but he has failed three times to attain Awakening. Even so, this person’s abilities are so great he can be counted as the most powerful person besides the five Berserkers in the Awakening Realm and as long as we don’t take into account the other people in the three tribes!"
"He’s one of the few people in Han Mountain City who came from a small tribe. For some unknown reason, he also likes wearing the beast skin clothes he brought from the small tribe. I think he’s just doing it for attention though. Besides, how could he be so stupid as to challenge the Chains of Han Mountain?
"Besides Cang Lan, who managed to walk up to the sixth section of the chain from Tranquil East Tribe ten years ago and was received as a disciple in Freezing Sky Clan, no one has been successful in challenging the Chains of Han Mountain!"
Su Ming looked at the man standing at the top of the mountain with a placid face, but his eyes were glinting. He did not hear from Fang Mu about the Chains of Han Mountain. This was his first time hearing mention of them, and he collected all the information in his heart.
"For the past hundreds of years in Han Mountain City, 65 people have challenged the Chains of Han Mountain. He Feng is the 66th person. But from among those 65 people, only five succeeded," an old voice said from among the crowd gathered in the third layer. The person who spoke was the old man from the shop Su Ming was just about to walk into a moment ago.
The old man walked out slowly and looked at He Feng, who stood above them, before he spoke languidly.
"Most of those who fail usually die, but not all," the old man mumbled with a calm face.
At that moment, Han Mountain City was not the only one caught in a commotion where everyone focused their attention towards the top of the mountain. As the bell tolled, there were also the silhouettes of people moving in the three mountains surrounding Han Mountain City, which were located in three different directions and were connected by chains. It was clear that He Feng’s actions had caught their attention.
Almost everyone was guessing which tribe’s chain He Feng would choose to challenge.
At the intersection of the three chains at the top of the mountain, a brilliant flash went past He Feng’s eyes. He cast a glance at the chain connecting to Puqiang Tribe, and a cold look appeared in his eyes. That was not his choice. He looked the mountain where Lake of Colors Tribe was located. In his eyes, a thick red mist surrounded the mountain belonging to Lake of Colors Tribe. There was the faint outline of a woman’s face within that mist.
He took a deep breath, and this wild-looking man lifted his feet before he moved towards the chain connecting to Lake of Colors Tribe.
The moment he moved, all the people in Han Mountain City who had their gazes trained towards the top of the mountain immediately went into an uproar. Underneath the countless pairs of eyes, He Feng gradually walked towards the chain connecting to the mountain of Lake of Colors Tribe.
Just as he was about to place his feet on the chain, a mighty pressure that could oppress all the Berserkers at the Blood Solidification Realm in Han Mountain City suddenly erupted forth from the second layer of the mountain city. At the same time, a person in purple charged into the air, looking as if he intended to go to He Feng, who wanted to challenge the Chains of Han Mountain.
"He Feng!" The person in purple flew out and let out a low growl.
His voice was like thunder. It rumbled in the air, making all those who heard it feel their ears buzz, as if they were about to go deaf. He Feng, who stood at the top of the mountain, trembled. He looked in that direction, and a complicated look of hate and panic appeared on his face.
‘Awakening Realm…’
Su Ming stared at the person in purple and took a deep breath. He no longer felt the sort of awe he had when he first met a Berserker in the Awakening Realm.
"Sir Xuan Lun!"
"Sir Xuan Lun, one of the five in the Awakening Realm, not counting those within the three tribes of Han Mountain City!"
Cries of surprise echoed in the air. It was clear that most of the people here did not expect something like this to happen when someone was just about to challenge the Chains of Han Mountain.
The person in purple moved through the air. Just as he was about to reach the top of the mountain, a cold harrumph came from the end of the chain connecting to the mountain where Lake of Colors Tribe was hidden under the red mist, the place He Feng wanted to go to.
The cold harrumph seemed to have traveled from a long distance, but the moment it fell on the person in purple’s ears, his body jolted. Yet he did not stop. Continuing to charge forward, he closed in on He Feng, who was at the top of the mountain. He raised his right hand and formed a claw with his fingers, swiping with it at He Feng.
He Feng’s face was pale, but he did not dodge. He stared at the person in purple approaching him instead. The panicked look in his eyes was gone, and it had turned entirely into hatred that seemed to be able to burn the sky.
At the very instant the person in purple’s claw touched He Feng, a gust of red mist suddenly appeared out of nowhere from He Feng’s body, surrounding him to form a screen made of mist.
The person in purple’s right hand and the screen of mist collided with a huge crash. The Berserker in the Awakening Realm shuddered and tumbled hundreds of feet backwards. His face was revealed at that moment, showing that he was a middle aged man wearing a purple robe. His face was resentful, and there was also a murderous look on his face.
"Yan Luan, what’s the meaning of this!"
"I do not care what sort of grudge you have with He Feng, but since he chose to challenge the chain connecting to my tribe, then you are not allowed to harm him. This is the agreement formed by the three tribes. I believe Puqiang Tribe will not break the rules either."
A cold voice belonging to a woman came unhurriedly from the distant mountain were Lake of Colors Tribe was located.
The entire Han Mountain City fell silent. Su Ming took in everything as he stood there. In his head, he recalled the scene of this person called He Feng waiting anxiously for a woman in white wearing a veil over her face the previous night.
‘It’s not the same voice. Perhaps it’s two different people… The woman last night did mention that she would try to fight for a day’s time for him so that he could prove his worth. Looks like He Feng is going to prove his worth by challenging the Chains of Han Mountain.
‘But what worth is he trying to prove..? I don’t think it’s so complicated trying to join Lake of Colors Tribe. After all, a lot of people died when they challenged this chain.’
Su Ming looked at He Feng and the person in purple robes called Xuan Lun standing at the top of the mountain. He did not even need to guess. From their conversation alone, he could tell that the hatred between these two ran pretty deep.
‘This Xuan Lun should know more about this, and he’s most likely worried about it. That’s why he’s acting now despite the law that forbids fights set by the three tribes in Han Mountain City.’
There was a pensive look in Su Ming’s eyes, but since this had nothing to do with him, he only chose to think about it for a while before deciding to ignore it.
Xuan Lun’s face became even more resentful, but it was also clear that he was wary of the woman who spoke. Nonetheless, if he had to give up then, he would also feel discontented. It was just as Su Ming thought. He did indeed have to act at that very moment, or else once He Feng died, it would cause a setback for him to obtain the item he wanted.
In his eyes, there was no way He Feng would succeed.
At that moment, from the other mountain, the one surrounded by black mist where Puqiang Tribe was located, a dreary voice reverberated, coming from the skeleton that was sitting cross-legged in the mist.
"Xuan Lun, fights are forbidden within Han Mountain City!"
"Fine. But this person killed my follower. You’d best get me his corpse once he’s dead!"
The man in purple robes fell momentarily silent before he let out a cold laugh and landed at the top of the mountain with a swing of his sleeves. He did not take any further actions, but chose to sit down cross-legged and look at the man called He Feng. As he did so, his smile turned colder.
"You are the chief guest of Puqiang Tribe, we will do as much," the eerie voice said once again from within the mountain surrounded by black mist.
As Su Ming watched this sight, his eyes fell upon the man called He Feng. While he looked at this man attentively, He Feng took a step towards the chain.
When he moved, the people around Su Ming immediately forgot what had just happened. They trained their gazes at the challenger instead. After all, this sort of thing was uncommon in Han Mountain City. There were only 60 something people who had attempted this in the past hundreds of years.
Even Xuan Lun looked at him coldly. There was a fierce and ruthless look in his eyes as he stared at He Feng. He watched as the man walked on the chain, as the chain swayed, and the man looked about to fall off.
The very moment He Feng walked onto the chain, the land trembled. From the endless canyon underneath the chains connecting to the red misted mountain belonging to Lake of Colors, eight gigantic stone pillars hundreds of feet in breadth shot up from the depths of the canyon and supported the chain. They also separated it into nine sections!
Time trickled by slowly. Su Ming could not tell what was the trick behind the chain, but he could see that He Feng’s face was incredibly serious and grave. He seemed to be using all his strength with every step he took. His body trembled, the veins on his face popped up, and he was panting heavily.
Very soon, two hours passed by. The entire Han Mountain City was silent during these two hours. Almost everyone was looking at He Feng. At that moment, He Feng had already walked up to a third of the first section of the chain.
The man in purple robes who was sitting at the top of the mountain was frowning as his thoughts raced in his mind.
Time continued passing by. Two hours... four hours… When the entire afternoon went by and evening arrived, the light from the setting sun falling upon them, it caused He Feng’s body to turn into a silhouette; he had managed to walk halfway up the first section of the chain.
At that moment, the man called He Feng used some unknown method and a powerful presence of Qi burst out from his body. That presence instantly reached a level that was astonishingly powerful, and the faint presence of Awakening also arose abruptly.
"As expected of the man who has tried to reach the Awakening Realm multiple times. He might not have succeeded, but there’s already a hint of Awakening within his body. What’s more… he’s thinking of attempting to reach the Awakening Realm once again here!"
"If he had the courage to challenge the Chains of Han Mountain, then he must have made preparations. Even if he failed in his attempt to reach the Awakening Realm at this moment, that increase of power in that instant can allow him to walk quite a distance."
"I’m just a bit curious, even if he can get an instant burst of power by attempting to reach the Awakening Realm and walk past the first section, there are nine sections on the chain. How is he going to make it through the rest of them?"
Low sounds of discussion rose up around Su Ming, and a glint appeared in his eyes. He felt as if he had caught onto something important. His face remained blank, but apprehension appeared in his eyes.
‘He’s not attempting to challenge the entire Chain of Han Mountain. He’s just going to finish the first section to prove his worth… but what is this worth he’s trying to prove?’