Chapter 1050: Challenge
“Boom…” Following a thunderous sound, the flying boat landed on a huge white stone square.
If one were to take a closer look, they would be able to see that the square, which was hundreds of thousands of meters long, was made of spirit ores of the same size and was emitting a faint mist. At first glance, one would only think about one word—trench.
Behind the square, there was a cluster of pavilions.
It was truly a cluster of pavilions that stretched as far as the eye could see. Most of them were 2 or 3 stories tall, but there were also 6 or 7 stories tall buildings.
Although they were abnormally beautiful and filled with jewelry, they did not lack the charm of ancient paths and autumn wind, as well as small bridges and flowing water.
The foundation of the mighty race was undoubtedly revealed.
Nonetheless, the most shocking thing was that in the sky, there was a phoenix figure that seemed to be illusory and real at the same time. It was oppressive, causing the entire void to tremble.
After the group of people landed, Feng Xiang gently waved his wrist, causing the flying boat to rapidly shrink. It turned into a light-colored stream of light and was kept into his long sleeves.
Big Yellow, Multi-armed King Kong, and goshawk looked around, their eyes filled with curiosity.
The imposing and domineering aura of the Phoenixes had been imprinted in their minds, and it was difficult to erase them.
After gasping to itself many times, Big Yellow stuck out his tongue, revealing a mouthful of sharp white teeth. It thought to itself, ‘Lil’ Ming is right. After becoming a Venerable One, I’ve become a lot more arrogant.’
At this moment, the arrogance in its heart was gone, leaving only its pride.
The goshawk was also shocked. It secretly glanced at Ou Yangming, its eyes full of respect.
If one were to go into details, among the 3 beasts, the one with the highest state of mind was still the king kong. It was not arrogant in victory nor was it discouraged in defeat, and its heart was always calm and unruffled. It was neither servile nor overbearing, never said a word, and never snatched anything. This state of mind was very similar to Ou Yangming’s.
Multi-armed King Kong also cast a sidelong glance at its master.
‘His face is like a crown of jade. How can he be so handsome?’ It wondered. Its master was really getting stronger. Judging from his temperament to his strength, he had improved in all aspects.
The goshawk’s thoughts were not baseless. It clearly remembered the first time it saw Ou Yangming standing in front of the city. It only felt that he was pretending to be mature and calm. Now? The young fellow’s smile was gentle, but there was no doubt about it. His expression was awe-inspiring, and he did everything well without leaving any flaws behind. It seemed that as long as he was standing in front, any difficulties could be overcome by him.
Apart from respect, there was only admiration left in the goshawk’s heart.
To suit the situation, one could say that King Kong had become a die-hard fan of Ou Yangming.
Ou Yangming did not know that the 3 beasts had mixed thoughts in their hearts. Even if he knew, he would not have any thoughts in his heart. He looked around and sighed from the bottom of his heart. “As expected of one of the strongest forces in the Great Wide World.” This was not a high compliment, but it made Feng Xiang feel elated.
It was also at this moment that a powerful aura swept over from afar, stirring up the void. It was incomparably powerful.
Immediately after, 3 long arcs rapidly closed in, traversing through space and transforming into 3 old men. They landed in front of Feng Xiang and said with a solemn expression, “Elder Feng Xiang, you’re finally back!”
“Elder?” Ou Yangming’s heart clenched, and his face was filled with disbelief. Furthermore, judging from what they said, Feng Xiang was the core? The young fellow did not know that Feng Xiang was the one who presided over the Peacemaking Sect. Feng Xiang had only lived for a few thousand years, but his cultivation base was already close to the peak of the Great Wide World. Even so, he was only close. For Rules, a small discrepancy could lead to a great error. It could not be understood with common sense.
“How’s the situation?” Feng Xiang’s expression changed as he asked with a grave expression.
“Very bad.” A white-haired powerhouse replied.
“How is it bad?” Feng Xiang’s expression was solemn, and his words contained terrifying killing intent.
“The Neutral Sect has already started to side with the Main Combat Sect, and it’s happening in many places.” The phoenix powerhouse paused for a moment before lifting his chin and sizing Feng Xiang up. After seeing that Feng Xiang’s expression did not change much, he continued “It’d be fine if that was all but the key is that the Main Combat Sect has come to challenge us. Elder Feng Xiang, what do you think we should do?”
Feng Xiang was silent for 3 to 4 breaths. He walked a few steps on the spirit stone square before he asked, “Challenge what?”
“Refining pills, smithing pieces of equipment, refining flying boats, setting up formations, and breaking restrictions,” the phoenix powerhouse quickly answered.
This time, Feng Xiang was silent for 10 breaths. Finally, he sighed and said, “If we can’t escape, let’s fight!”
Before he finished, a calm voice was heard. “Fight? With what? The Peacemaking Sect has declined. As long as we win over the Neutral Sect, with the Phoenixes’ power, we can surely shake the world. The origin power is going to be ours. You guys are too cowardly. Cultivation itself is already a heaven-defying act. If we don’t fight for anything, how can we seek the great path and achieve eternity?” The voice was powerful. It was filled with a wild ambition that could never be satisfied.
Ou Yangming looked toward the source of the voice and saw a middle-aged man, who looked to be in his early thirties, slowly walking over while being surrounded by a group of phoenix powerhouses.
He was handsome, and his eyes were hollow. Despite that, if one were to look carefully, one would be able to detect a hint of scarlet in the depths of his eyes.
Feng Xiang’s eyes narrowed slightly as he said, “The numbers of the great path makes 50, of which only 49 are used in divination as 1 is a variable. Even the Heavenly Path leaves a chance for survival—your words are so resolute. Do you really think that you’re the heavens and the path and that you’ve not missed anything?” He took a step forward, then an imposing aura pressed down on Feng Xinxiao. The space shook violently and rumbled. It was as if countless Heavenly Thunderbolts were rolling and shaking the entire area.
Having said that, Feng Xinxiao was not afraid at all. Instead, he snorted coldly. “Your momentum is gone. Don’t you understand?”
His left hand and right hand overlapped, and the aura on his body became dense. Like a majestic mountain, he blasted forward, and the powerful aura instantly dispersed.
After doing all this, his face was calm, and his sleeves fluttered.
A letter of challenge had slid out. This letter of challenge was blood-red, and there was only one big word on it—fight! Feng Xinxiao closed his fingers and pushed it outward. The letter was like a sharp blade, spinning rapidly toward Feng Xiang. Feng Xiang’s right hand grabbed at the air, and he grasped the letter in his hand.
Feng Xinxiao glanced at King Kong and sneered, “Hmph, such a spirit beast with ordinary talent and cultivation actually dares to enter the Phoenixes’ ancestral land. You’re courting death!”
As he spoke, without any movement from him, a majestic giant claw condensed out of thin air. This giant claw was lifelike. Every fine line could be seen clearly, and it was emitting a magnanimous fluctuation. In particular, the fingernails that were as sharp as knives were 6 to 10 meters long and were very cold. They seemed to be able to tear open the void as they clawed at the king kong and the other spirit beasts.
Feng Xinxiao said this just to find a random reason to attack. His main purpose was to test Feng Xiang’s bottom line. They were all monsters that had lived for 1,000 years. Who was not as intelligent as a demon and as deep as a cold pond?
At this moment, the 3 spirit beasts seemed to have fallen into the depths of hell.
Their heads sank, and they were muddle-headed. They did not even have the slightest thought of resisting. After all, the gap between them and Feng Xinxiao was too big.
This gap was even greater than that between an Advanced Spiritualist and a Venerable One.
“You’re courting death!” Ou Yangming roared and raised his foot.
However, Feng Xiang had darted out. Like a bolt of red lightning, he spread his large hands apart and struck the center. Before the movement was finished, 2 large golden hands appeared out of thin air and surrounded the huge claws from the north and south. Wherever they passed, spiritual Qi surged, and the spirit stones on the square shattered with a loud bang, emitting a seven-colored glow.
“Boom!” The claw and palms collided.
There was no earth-shattering sound. Instead, it sounded as though a spring rain had moistened things silently.
Feng Xinxiao slowly turned around, and an unhurried voice came out of his mouth. “You—can you still fight?”
As soon as he finished, he laughed out loud and slowly walked out. His back was elegant, and there was no sense of guilt at all.
“Are you planning to leave just like that?” This voice was like ice shards as it came out of Ou Yangming’s mouth.
“The spirit beast is mine. You attacked it and scolded it, and yet you didn’t even say a word of apology. Aren’t you being too much of a bully?” Ou Yangming took a step forward, and the domineering look in his eyes disappeared. The Solitary Thought Skill that used the aura of a king to nourish one’s domineering aura had begun to show its brilliance.
“Besides, they’re my brothers. There’s no reason for someone to not apologize after beating someone.” The aura on his body became stronger, and so did his domineering look.
Ou Yangming knew he had just arrived at the Phoenixes’ headquarters and should be careful with everything he did.
That said, he did not want to swallow his anger and settle the matter peacefully. This was because King Kong was not only his spirit beast but also his brother and family.
If he retreated this time, would he retreat if something similar happened to Old Craftsman or the 3 ladies? Once he had the intention to retreat, it would be difficult to smoothen his heart for the path.
Ou Yangming continued, “Logically speaking, this is your family matter. I can’t interfere and shouldn’t interfere, but you just had to provoke me. You have your own matters, and I have mine. We’re both quite busy, so why did you provoke me? Since that’s the case, we can only fight.” Every time he spoke, his aura became stronger, shaking the void.
When Feng Xiang saw this, his eyes lit up with a golden light. He thought to himself, ‘No wonder he was able to reach this step.’
A phoenix powerhouse standing next to Feng Xiang gently took half a step forward with his right foot. He took a deep breath and was about to open his mouth to mediate the dispute, but Feng Xiang glared at him, causing him to immediately swallow his words. The powerhouse smiled timidly and withdrew his right foot without any expression on his face. There was not the slightest embarrassment on his face.
When Feng Xinxiao heard this, he slowly turned around and asked with a calm expression, “A Venerable One?”
“You don’t dare to?” Ou Yangming had a mocking look on his face.
“I’m just afraid that I’ll slap you to death in one move.” Feng Xinxiao shook his head, and his expression turned cold.
“You can come and try.” Ou Yangming’s eyes flashed as he suddenly took a step forward. His indomitable and tyrannical aura pressed forward, stirring up the clouds.
“This… Taking the initiative to attack? He’s simply courting death! A casual attack from Young Master Xinxiao will surely shatter his soul.” A phoenix powerhouse next to Feng Xinxiao had a flattering look on his face as he spoke coldly.
“One attack? Aren’t you overestimating that human? A single look from Young Master will be enough to shatter his soul and cause him to sink into a state of eternal damnation,” another phoenix powerhouse noted.
From the perspective of those phoenix powerhouses, how could a puny human be mentioned on equal terms with them?