Boom!

With the exception of Chen Feng and Chi Lianfeng, the others had all overcome Lightning Tribulations before. Thus, their actions of releasing their auras immediately caused a clash between their auras and the pavilion that they were resting in exploded into smithereens.

“Despicable! Attack! Finish up these fellows!” Zhou You was the first to attack. His Asura Blade, accompanied by his roar, arrived before He Sanbo.

“Who will finish who is not set just yet.” After saying that, He Sanbo’s figure disappeared.

Although his attack failed to make contact, Zhou You did not become dispirited. It was as though he had expected such a result. Thus, his figure spun and the Asura Blade hacked towards another fellow.

After dodging Zhou You’s attack, He Sanbo had yet to steady himself when Shui Yan and Luo Kong’s attacks arrived.

Zhou You’s team of three had undergone countless battles together. Thus, they possessed a high level of cooperation. There was no need for them to discuss their actions beforehand.

On the other side, Chen Feng and Luo Mingdao were besieging Chi Lianfeng.

Chi Lianfeng’s side originally had five people. However, Chen Feng had already wounded Zhao Hai earlier. While Chi Lianfeng and He Sanbo were besieged, the other two had to deal with Li Lang’s group of four. It was a chaotic battle.

The two sides were not too different in terms of cultivation bases. However, Chi Lianfeng’s side had less people. Not long after their battle began, Chi Lianfeng’s side ended up getting wounded. 

“Heh! This is a good opportunity. Beat them to a half-dead state. This way, they will be unable to participate in the Grand Competition. This is a way to get rid of some competitors!” Luo Kong said with an overbearing tone as he displayed his Great Splitter Sword Technique. It seemed as though he wanted to hack He Sanbo into eight pieces.

Puchi!

Blood spurted out from He Sanbo’s chest and streams of wild sword energy kept invading his body.

“These fellows have gone crazy! Don’t fight them anymore!” After getting wounded, He Sanbo lost all interest in fighting them. Instead, he began considering how to run away.

Bang!

Chi Lianfeng was struck. Before he could even unleash the might of the Wind Mustering Banner in his hand, Chen Feng and Luo Mingdao’s attacks had made contact, causing him to cough out a mouthful of blood as his figure was thrown backwards.

However, that also gave Chi Lianfeng an opportunity. The Wind Mustering Banner in Chi Lianfeng’s hand waved a few times and a fierce hurricane roared towards Chen Feng and Luo Mingdao.

Chi Lianfeng then used the opening to fly far away, covering a distance of over 1,000 metres in the blink of an eye.

“I’ll remember you fellows!” Chi Lianfeng said, stepping on a clump of clouds before disappearing from sight.

Boom!

He Sanbo was pummelled backwards and he smashed into the ground, creating a deep crater as a result.

“All right! This fellow will not recover anytime soon. Let’s go deal with the other two,” Shui Yan said.

The three of them had swiftly dealt with He Sanbo. Next, they unleashed their killer moves at the other two.

“You fellows are using numbers to bully us!” one of them had only just managed to utter those words when Li Lang’s sword strike sent him flying. Next, Zhou You arrived with a flying kick to send him into dreamland.

Savage!

 Chen Feng was inwardly shocked. He did not expect these core disciples to put so much force behind their attacks. Not to mention, every one of their attacks were cleanly executed. It was as though this kind of battle was an everyday occurrence within the sect.

The final disciple realized that things were not looking good. Thus, he immediately surrendered. Even so, the others had still beaten him up until he coughed out blood.

“Hey! We’ve taken care of a few competitors before the competition begins. The other competitors should be thanking us,” Shui Yan said with a grin.

“Fellow senior brothers, are our actions appropriate?” Chen Feng asked, feeling somewhat concerned.

“Ha ha, don’t worry! Fights between disciples of the same sect is common. In order to stimulate competition between the disciples, the sect actually encourages these kinds of situations,” Shui Yan said smilingly.

“It all boils down to might. The sect will not punish the victorious disciple for the sake of the disciples who lost because the victorious disciples are more valuable to the sect. They are also more promising,” Li Lang said with a smile of his own.

“However, these fellows all have some backings. In the future, we will have to be careful so as to not fall for their schemes,” Shui Yan said.

“Let’s go someplace else. Our fight has ruined this place,” Chen Feng said.

When they were fighting, the other surrounding disciples had moved over to watch them. However, after the fight was over, the disciples dispersed. At any rate, it had nothing to do with them. No one was willing to intervene. Not to mention, the other core disciples wanted nothing more than for their fight to escalate further. That way, they will have fewer opponents in the Grand Competition.

“Fight! Fight with all you got! It will be better if I am the only one left. That way, I won’t have to go up the stage at all,” one of them blurted out.

“Heh! You sure know how to dream big! Am I not here?” the one beside him then spoke up.

During the next three days, the heir disciples and elite disciples began their respective brackets. Chen Feng and the others went to watch a few matches. However, their level of strength was too high and battles of that level were of no interest to them. Thus, they once again found a place to chat.

“Chen Feng!” It was then that Lu Ta and Luo Bo came running. They looked happy to see Chen Feng.

“How is it? How did you fellows do in the preliminary round?” Chen Feng asked smilingly.

“Ha ha! There is no need to ask. Just look at their expressions; they must have passed,” Luo Mingdao, who was beside him, said with a hearty laugh.

“I easily beat my opponent in the first match,” Lu Ta said with a smile.

This was within Chen Feng’s expectations. He knew how strong Lu Ta was, after all. Short of encountering a true expert, most of the inner disciples would not be a match for Lu Ta.

“I was almost defeated. I got an expert right from the start and had to use up quite a lot of effort to make it through,” Luo Bo said.

“The competition between elite disciples is quite fierce as well. Additionally, there are also some experts amongst the elite disciples. Not to mention, there are some whose strengths are comparable to Sky Human stage cultivators, but have yet to get promoted,” said the nearby Shui Yan.

“Don’t worry,” said Chen Feng, who waved his hand to bring out a sword.

“This sword’s name is Lightstream Sword, a grade 2 Prized artefact. I believe it can help you somewhat,” Chen Feng said with a smile.

“Won’t this practically make me invincible?” Luo Bo hesitated for a bit.

“Heh! Even with this Prized artefact, you might not be able to get any rewards. From what I have heard, some elite disciples have recently visited the core disciples’ zone to borrow magic treasures. He he! For the sake of the rewards, these disciples are resorting to any means possible,” Shui Yan said with a grin.

Chen Feng nodded. That was true. Some disciples with certain backgrounds and backers will naturally be resorting to certain means in order to obtain the rewards.

“Alright, then.” Luo Bo nodded and accepted the sword from Chen Feng.

Weng! Weng! Weng!

Suddenly, Chen Feng and Shui Yan revealed looks of surprise. Next, they quickly pulled out their identification tokens.

“The selection has begun. I will be fighting tomorrow, the second match,” Shui Yan said.

“Mine is on the day after tomorrow, the first match,” Luo Kong said smilingly.

“Mine is today, third match,” Zhou You said.

“Brother Chen, what about you?” Shui Yan asked.

“The very first match,” Chen Feng said with a wry smile.

“The very first match? So coincidental?” Everyone was surprised.

“Come, let’s go cheer Brother Chen.” They then laughed out.

When they arrived at the competition grounds for the core disciples’ bracket, they saw a fluorescent jade stone hovering in the sky. On the surface of the jade stone were the names of disciples and the date and place for their matches.

“My opponent’s name is Mo Fei. Do you know him?” Chen Feng saw his name and Mo Fei’s name on the fluorescent jade stone.

“Ha ha! Brother Chen is very lucky. This Mo Fei is just an ordinary disciple. It hasn’t been too long since he was promoted to the rank of core disciple. He should only have 1 Lightning Tribulation under his belt.” Luo Kong laughed.

“Just 1 Lightning Tribulation?” Chen Feng became somewhat disappointed.

The competition arena for Chen Feng’s match was a flattened mountain. By the time Chen Feng arrived at the arena, his opponent was already waiting for him.

Clad in ink-black armour, his body was as steady as a mountain. A black, shineless sword was slung across his back. He had quite the extraordinary appearance.

“Chen Feng, Mo Fei.” A middle-aged cultivator stood in the centre of the arena. He was a supervising elder sent out by the Department of Elders.

“Yes!” Chen Feng and Mo Fei spoke up at the same time.

“All right. The match begins.” After saying that, the supervising elder quickly moved into the stands.

Weng!

At the same time, a spherical barrier swiftly rose up to envelop both Chen Feng and Mo Fei. As core disciples possessed the ability to cleave mountains and split rivers, a restrictive barrier was required to avoid the arena’s destruction.

“Concealed stage cultivator? Is there a mistake?” said Mo Fei, who frowned at Chen Feng.

“There is no mistake. I was just promoted,” Chen Feng said smilingly.

“Just promoted?” Mo Fei was still feeling puzzled. Clearly, he was out of the loop. He did not know that there was another Concealed stage cultivator amongst the core disciples. 

“Yes. Chen Feng was only recently promoted to the rank of core disciple. Enough! The match has begun. Stop wasting time.” The supervising elder’s voice flowed into the arena.

“I see. Fine. You, surrender,” Mo Fei simply said.

“Surrender?” Chen Feng was a little surprised.

“Yes, surrender. Your cultivation base is too low. I don’t want to bully others,” Mo Fei said coolly.

“Bully others.” A smile instantly appeared on Chen Feng’s face. Truth be told, Chen Feng had wanted to say those words.

“Since you are unwilling to attack, don’t blame me for being rude.” After saying that, Chen Feng gently stamped the ground while activating his Magnetic acupoints. A faint-fellow light shone and Chen Feng instantly appeared before Mo Fei.

Next, a simplistic punch shot forward. A faint-yellow glossy shine covered the surface of the fist.

“Power of earth!” Mo Fei cried out in shock. However, in the face of Chen Feng’s attack, he did not back away. Instead, he beckoned and the black sword slung behind him sliced the air to hack down on Chen Feng.

Bang!

Mo Fei’s sword cut the power of earth on Chen Feng’s fist and the faint-yellow glossy shine was immediately dispersed.

The black sword continued plunging straight down to cut Chen Feng’s fist. In the end, however, it failed to leave even a scratch on Chen Feng’s skin.

“Eh?” Mo Fei could not stop himself from crying on in shock. His opponent could block off his sword attack? That sword was a Prized artefact.

Sou! Sou! Sou! Sou!

Chen Feng’s body flashed about. Every time he flashed forward, he would unleash a punch. As his speed was too fast, the onlookers could only see yellow-coloured fists bombarding Mo Fei from every direction.

“Burst!”

Without budging, Mo Fei shouted loudly and the black sword in his hand rapidly unleashed black-coloured sword beams. Every time a sword beam flashed out, one of the yellow-coloured fists would disappear.