“Hoho, so this is the number one genius of Floating Cloud Sword Sect’s outer sect. Impressive, impressive.” Zhuo Bufan impassively watched the scene portrayed on the primeval mirror. His cold words carried a tone that, beneath apparent praise, harbored subtle derision.
Despite being a Yuanfu realm expert, Wang Fuchen had resorted to using Qin Yao as leverage against Chen Fan. That struck Zhuo Bufan as utterly contemptible.
Leng Feng and the other elders weren’t fools, either. They naturally understood the hidden meaning behind Zhuo Bufan’s words. Leng Feng replied, “The path of martial arts is inherently ruthless. It has no rules. Everything boils down to might is right.”
“For a disciple of the righteous path, especially one versed in the way of the sword, to act in such a disgraceful manner—how is it any different from the demonic path?”
Leng Feng responded, his tone chilly, "Sect Master Zhuo exaggerates. Also, didn’t your sect's disciples help Fuchen capture this girl?"
Zhuo Bufan grunted, opting to remain silent.
He found Wang Fuchen’s methods very despicable and dishonorable, but he was even more discontent with Zhong Li and his gang’s actions.
They could see everything happening in the blessed land thanks to the primeval mirror. So, they had a clear view of Qin Yao's capture orchestrated by Wang Fuchen—all courtesy of Zhong Li's group.
After the Outer Sect Grand Competition ended, he had convened the top ten disciples, urging them to unite against external threats within the blessed land and refrain from harming one another.
Although Zhong Li hadn’t made a move on Chen Fan and Qin Yao, he was using a borrowed knife to kill them. It showcased a level of cruelty that couldn't be ignored.
Wang Fuchen was now a Yuanfu realm expert. If nothing unexpected happened, Floating Cloud Sword Sect seemed poised to secure the top position, leaving Spring Autumn Sect, Mountain River Sect, and Burning Incense Valley to vie for second to fourth place.
The stakes were immense, with a single rank difference translating to millions in cultivation resources.
Rankings would be determined by the number of survivors emerging from the blessed land. Zhong Li's use of a borrowed knife to harm Chen Fan constituted a flagrant violation of a major taboo—endangering a fellow disciple.
“Wang Fuchen, you want to kill me, right? Well, here I am. Let my senior sister go, and I’ll fight you. Don’t make me look down on you!” Chen Fan declared with a cold gaze, fully aware of the likely outcome.
He had come here with a resolute mindset, but he acknowledged that facing Wang Fuchen—Yuanfu realm expert—was akin to courting certain death.
Had he been a Qi Grandmaster with a functional Heaven Seizing Furnace, he would have stood a chance against such a formidable opponent.
It was certain death!
“Good! Don’t worry. You are my only target. Since you’re here now, she serves no further purpose.” Wang Fuchen waved his arm, and a strong wind swept up Qin Yao, throwing her off the platform.
“Are you prepared to face my wrath?”
As Wang Fuchen's words hung in the air, he felt a fierce wind sweeping at him. A thunderous clap echoed, accompanied by a chilling, electrifying light slash targeting him.
Chen Fan had sprung into action the second Qin Yao was free. He had to seize the initiative to even fight someone this overwhelmingly strong.
“You think that’ll work?”
Faced with Chen Fan’s sneak attack, Wang Fuchen merely smiled with disdain.
One arm casually tucked behind his back, he lightly swatted the oncoming slash.
However, Chen Fan felt like a mountain had struck Killing Wind. Chen Fan's strike veered off course, and he stumbled to the side in tandem.
“You are nothing more than an ant trying to shake a tree. I can crush you with just one finger!” Wang Fuchen chuckled, punctuating his words by jabbing at Chen Fan with a single finger.
Primeval qi spewed out from his fingertip, destroying everything.
Chen Fan immediately dodged to the side but couldn’t save his shoulder from the attack. Fresh blood gushed out from the hole in his shoulder.
Unfazed, Chen Fan's eyes burned with cold determination. He used the Undefeated King’s Fist and manifested three heads and six arms behind him, delivering ferocious punches like cannonballs.
Simultaneously, the Thunderclap Sword came into play, lightning streaks crackling as if dragons were ripping the space apart to dominate the world.
“It’s useless. Even Qi Grandmasters are nothing in front of me, let alone someone of your caliber!”
Alas, Chen Fan's relentless assault, formidable enough to shock Qi Grandmasters, didn’t pose the slightest threat to Wang Fuchen.
Gripping the air with his fingers, Wang Fuchen seemed to seize the very fabric of space.
When he clenched his fist, the surrounding space erupted, disintegrating the four arms conjured from Chen Fan's primeval qi and obliterating the thunderous power without a trace. None of the attacks could even touch Wang Fuchen.
“Yuanfu realm cultivators have a primeval vessel in their dantian that endlessly condenses and refines primeval qi into primeval force. The difference between primeval qi and primeval force is like heaven and earth. A mere wisp of primeval force can crush a substantial mass of primeval qi. They are leagues apart—like an adult fighting a child.”
“Chen Fan is at the late stage of the eighth level but has strength comparable to a Qi Grandmaster. So, he isn’t weak, but against someone like Wang Fuchen... The difference is insurmountable.”
The nearby crowd watched as Wang Fuchen broke down Chen Fan’s ferocious attacks like he was toying with a child, their hearts trembling.
This was the prowess of a Yuanfu realm expert!
Wang Fuchen threw out a punch.
The air instantly exploded, and an invisible shockwave surged wildly, resonating with a deafening roar. Everyone who heard the noise got goosebumps.
All of Chen Fan's attacks crumbled in the face of this punch.
The force of the punch reached him through the air. Chen Fan’s chest caved in, and he flew backward, a spray of fresh blood painting the sky as he spiraled through the air.
Chen Fan kept vomiting blood, but his gaze was as fierce as ever. One could even say it had grown more intense.
Aware of the insurmountable odds against him, he chose to meet his fate with unwavering pride.
Chen Fan rasped out a single word and charged at Wang Fuchen once more.
Employing every technique at his disposal—Undefeated King's Fist, Thunderclap Sword, Myriad Elephants Divine Art, and even the latent powers of the Heaven Seizing Furnace's embryo—Chen Fan went all out.
A resolute spirit that refused to yield, even when confronting the gods above, emanated from Chen Fan. A thunderous roar echoed, accompanied by an aura reminiscent of ancient wild elephants trampling across heaven and earth.
The silhouette of a fierce and overbearing fist instantly enveloped the area, seemingly dominating heaven and earth.
Sharp streaks of thunderous sword light formed an inescapable net, sealing the space.
Strands of power from ancient wild elephants continued to grow as if poised to crush mountains and rivers beneath their might.
So what if his opponent was a Yuanfu realm expert? He would fight him all the same.
“Haha, not bad. With your meager cultivation, you actually have the strength to threaten Qi Grandmasters. You’re pretty good!”
“However, your fate is sealed. You snatched my Realm Breaking Pill, although it's of little use to me. Moreover, you've tarnished the honor of our Floating Cloud Sword Sect. That, I cannot forgive. You must perish, and no one can save you!”
Facing Chen Fan’s frantic attack, Wang Fuchen erupted into laughter, his demeanor exuding extreme arrogance.
After all, even if this attack could threaten Qi Grandmaster, it was harmless to him—a Yuanfu realm expert.
Wang Fuchen only made a simple movement. Drawing his sword, he swung it with seamless precision and sheathed it in one fluid motion.
An incredibly swift and fierce streak of sword light, capable of laying waste to everything, sliced through the air. It obliterated every martial art technique Chen Fan employed before striking him.
Chen Fan's resilient flesh yielded, the wound revealing bone as he was hurled through the air by the devastating slash. His appearance was undeniably wretched.