It was one of Chen Feng’s most powerless moments. He could sense an overpowering soul power flitting through his sea of wisdom. Chen Feng knew that He Minghui was currently utilizing a soul-searching technique on him. Once He Minghui was done circling his sea of wisdom, everything would be revealed.

Fight!

 Chen Feng tried fighting back, but found that his soul power was utterly incapable of moving. He was just like a wooden puppet, an immobile wooden puppet who was aware of what was going on. 

“Ha ha ha ha! Kid, I did not think you could destroy my arm! Humph! That was simply carelessness on my part. Now, let’s see how you struggle against me. Even if you did not kill He Tian and Ma Jun, the fact that you dared resist is a death crime!” He Minghui sneered. At the same time, he mobilized his soul power to continue searching Chen Feng’s sea of wisdom.

As Chen Feng was preparing to go all out, a small maelstrom suddenly appeared within his sea of wisdom. Applying a gentle suction force, it sucked in the soul power that He Minghui had sent into Chen Feng’s sea of wisdom, leaving not a single scrap of it behind.

“You!” He Minghui’s face abruptly sank and he furiously backed away. He stared at Chen Feng, a look of dread appearing on his face.

He had suddenly lost contact with the stream of soul power he sent out. It was as though something had devoured it. Or perhaps, it had slipped into a separate dimension. At any rate, He Minghui knew that portion of his soul power was not coming back.

Blood rose to He Minghui’s mouth, but he forced it down instead. That stream of soul power had contained one quarter of He Minghui’s soul. Its sudden disappearance impacted his essence power, causing his power to plummet drastically. There was no telling how long it would take him to recover his power.

At that very moment, He Minghui wanted nothing more than to rush out and slap Chen Feng senseless. However, he did not have the courage to do so. That earlier incident was too terrifying. His soul had disappeared within Chen Feng’s mind all of a sudden. It was something he had never expected.

Is this kid actually playing the pig to bait the tiger? That cannot be right. He is clearly a Concealed stage cultivator! What is going on here?

 He Minghui was terribly vexed and confused.

“He Minghui, what are you spacing out for? Why aren’t you attacking?” Suddenly, Zhao Chongyun’s voice entered He Minghui’s ear.

None of the elders – including Third Elder – realized what had happened within Chen Feng’s mind. They were all puzzled as to why He Minghui would suddenly stop his actions.

No! He Minghui’s soul power has suddenly grown weak. What happened?

 Third Elder’s eyes suddenly lit up.

Did someone secretly make a move? But I did not sense anything! How peculiar.

Chen Feng too, secretly asked Tower, “Tower, was that you earlier?”

“Not me.” Tower merely responded with the two words before turning silent.

“Not Tower? Then who?” Chen Feng was surprised.

Earlier, his soul power definitely disappeared when it was within my sea of wisdom. Could it be?

 After reaching that thought, Chen Feng’s mind fell into a momentary state of turmoil. However, he recollected himself and focused on what was happening in the room.

“What is it, Elder He? Why aren’t you attacking anymore?” Chen Feng said with a grin.

“Hmm?”

“Something is not right!”

By then, all the elders present could sense something amiss. They had all witnessed He Minghui send his soul power into Chen Feng’s mind. However, it would appear that Chen Feng was completely unaffected.

Thus, everyone grew shocked. He Minghui had overcome 7 Lightning Tribulations. Forget a Concealed stage cultivator, any one of them would have found it hard to unravel He Minghui’s soul attack.

“You, what is going on here!” He Minghui snapped in a hushed tone, not daring to attack.

“Humph! You dare use soul attacks on me? I want to use this sword to chop off your other arm!” Chen Feng sneered and made to step forward.

“Who dares bully my apprentice!” Suddenly, a voice came from outside the Hall of Elders. The reverberations from the voice was such that the hundred plus elders there felt their ears buzzing.

Next, they saw something flash before their eyes. A ruddy-faced, chubby old man with dishevelled hair had suddenly appeared in the great hall.

It was none other than the chubby old man that Chen Feng addressed as ‘cheap master’.

“Sage Enigma Flame.” Third Elder spontaneously got up.

However, the chubby old man ignored Third Elder. Instead, he stared intently at Chen Feng, regarding him from head to toe. There was a hint of elation in his eyes.

“Good, good! As expected of my dear apprentice! It has only been a while, but you have improved greatly!” The chubby old man laughed.

“Cheap master, it really is you,” Chen Feng said happily.

“Right! Someone bullied you earlier, no? Have no fear, your maser is here! No one will dare bully you anymore. He he. If there are any issues, master will protect you.” The old man laughed out again.

“Kid, was it you? Did you bully my dear apprentice?” the chubby old man shouted, turning towards He Minghui.

“Elder Enigma Flame, I, I-” By then, He Minghui was so terrified, he could not find the words to say anything. At the same time, he cursed silently.

If only I had known, I wouldn’t have listened to Zhao Chongyun. This old guy came out for real, what should I do?

“You, you, you what? Did you bully my disciple?!” Sage Enigma Flame glared at him.

“I, junior, senior…” By then, He Minghui could no longer form coherent sentences.

Chen Feng was also surprised. He did not expect this cheap master, the one who had insisted on accepting him as an apprentice back then, was so domineering. He had underestimated him.

Since his backer had appeared, Chen Feng reflexively shouted, “Master, why are you spouting so much nonsense? It’s him. Earlier, he nearly beat me up into a blithering idiot. There are already cracks in my sea of wisdom now. I think I might not be able to continue cultivating in the future.”

“What? There was such a matter? Kid, you’ve got a death wish!” Hearing that, Sage Enigma Flame grew infuriated. He flicked a finger to send a gold-coloured spark out. The spark then landed on He Minghui’s body.

Immediately, the spark erupted, transforming into streams of golden flames. He Minghui’s entire body instantly caught on fire.

“Argh!”

He Minghui howled miserably while slapping the flames licking his body. However, the flames only became increasingly violent. In the end, He Minghui had to roll on the ground. 

It was a most miserable sight. Seeing that, the surrounding elders backed away, fearful of making contact with the flames.

Despite He Minghui’s wretched situation, no one dared to speak up, even the cultivators siding with the Zhao Family. They frowned, turning to look at Zhao Chongyun.

The corners of Zhao Chongyun’s mouth twitched and he slowly shook his head. Seeing that, the others immediately lowered their heads and grew still.

Clearly, everyone there knew how formidable Sage Enigma Flame was. Since they could not offend him, they could only stay silent.

It was then that Third Elder stepped forward. He uttered a dry laugh and said, “Sage Enigma Flame. He he, it has been a while. You still have that same way of conduct, eh?”

“Conduct my ass! Just because I have not come out for a while, everyone is looking down on me, huh?” It seemed Sage Enigma Flame possessed quite the temper.

“He he, how can that be? Sage Enigma Flame, you jest.” Third Elder laughed.

“Humph! You even dare bully my disciple. Does it look like I am joking? If you don’t give me a satisfactory explanation, I will burn down this shabby building!” Sage Enigma Flame sneered.

“A misunderstanding. This is a misunderstanding. I will explain it to you. But now, hurry up and put out the fire, or He Minghui will actually die from it,” Third Elder said with a bitter smile.

“He deserves it!” Sage Enigma Flame would not budge. By then, He Minghui’s cries of misery was gradually growing faint. He appeared to be on the verge of dying. Even so, no one dared to step forward to save him.

“He he, cheap master, just near-dead is enough. This place is pretty boring. Let’s leave,” Chen Feng then said.

“Fine. Since my dear apprentice has spoken up, I will spare him,” Sage Enigma Flame said. Without any overt movements from Sage Enigma Flame, the flames on He Minghui’s body immediately converged and shrank. In the end, it transformed back into a gold-coloured spark and entered Sage Enigma Flame’s body.

He Minghui’s whole body was charred and he himself was on the verge of dying. If it were not for the occasional movements from his body, everyone there would have thought of his body as just a piece of charcoal.

“So miserable!”

Seeing that sent a shiver down everyone’s spine. However, they also understood that Sage Enigma Flame had not intended to kill He Minghui, otherwise He Minghui would have been reduced to ash.

It is said that Sage Enigma Flame is a monster. I did not believe it, but now, I have finally borne witness to it. It seems we must not offend Chen Feng in the future. Unexpectedly, Chen Feng is Sage Enigma Flame’s apprentice. This is big news!

 Many of the elders present thought.

“Humph! Count yourself lucky this time. If my disciple did not ask me to show mercy, I would have turned you into charcoal!” Sage Enigma Flame barked at He Minghui, whose body had been burned to the point of distortion.

However, He Minghui was too severely wounded and he could not answer.

“Right! My dear apprentice, did anyone else bully you? Just tell me their names right now. I will burn them all up and save us the trouble,” Sage Enigma Flame said, a grin on his face.

Hearing those words, Zhao Long immediately felt his scalp go numb. He was so terrified, his heart practically stopped beating. If even someone like He Minghui could end up like this, he would certainly die instantly.

Again? Sage Enigma Flame is being too overprotective here. This is the Hall of Elders!

 Everyone secretly criticized. However, none dared to speak up.

Look there, even someone like Third Elder could only put on a smile.

“Let’s leave. If there is a grudge, I will handle it on my own,” Chen Feng said smilingly.

“Good kid, you have guts! You have your master’s bearing! Come, after returning, I must nurture you properly and have you rise up to the Sky Human stage as soon as possible!” Sage Enigma Flame laughed.

“Sage Enigma Flame.” Third Elder spoke up.

“Next time. You dragged my disciple to your Hall of Elders today. I am not done settling this account with you fellows.” Sage Enigma Flame waved Third Elder off. Then, pulling Chen Feng with him, he left the Hall of Elders.

Even after Chen Feng and Sage Enigma Flame had disappeared from sight, the Hall of Elders remained silent. After a lengthy period, however, the great hall broke into an uproar.