Doubting His Own Life, Chu Feng

Time trickled by. Before they knew it, twenty minutes had passed since Lu Chuan entered the Heavenly Spirit Pool to cultivate.

Over the latter ten minutes, Chu Feng had gradually gone from nervousness to relaxation. By now, he no longer cared and was playing on his phone.

Chu Feng had already concluded that Lu Chuan must have fainted outside the Heavenly Spirit Pool.

Otherwise, after so much time, the Heavenly Spirit Pool's alarm would have gone off long ago.

As for whether he was still cultivating inside the Heavenly Spirit Pool...

Chu Feng had never even considered it.

What kind of joke was that? Back then, Chu Feng had only lasted ten minutes in the Heavenly Spirit Pool.

One had to know that he had been a Fifth-Rank powerhouse at the time!

And Lu Chuan?

He was merely a Third Rank Martial Artist. How could he possibly last longer than Chu Feng?

"What a pity. Once the Heavenly Spirit Pool is closed, it has to be opened from the inside."

"Otherwise, I'd have gone in and dragged you out by now!"

"Seriously, making your senior brother wait for you? That's simply outrageous!" Chu Feng grumbled, glancing at the main hall.

At that moment, inside the main hall.

Lu Chuan's entire face was twisted with pain, his savage expression terrifying to behold.

Bulging veins stood out across his body, displaying just how much agony Lu Chuan was enduring.

"Whew!"

"I've made it this far. I absolutely won't give up!"

"Only five minutes left. Hold on!"

After letting out a low roar, Lu Chuan seemed to forget the pain. His furrowed brows gradually eased as he circulated the Sky Swallowing Art with all his strength.

Five minutes later.

The simplification time was up.

Almost the instant the Simplification System's notification appeared, Lu Chuan took a swift step and sprang fiercely out of the Heavenly Spirit Pool.

At that moment, Lu Chuan's face was filled with relief.

"Fortunately, I didn't have many Simplification Points left. If this had continued any longer, this pain would probably have driven me mad."

There was a clear upper limit to a person's ability to endure pain.

Once that threshold was exceeded, one either became insane or turned into a fool.

Lu Chuan was no exception.

After his relief faded, Lu Chuan eagerly summoned his panel.

Host: Lu Chuan

Cultivation Arts: Evergreen Spirit Art (Profound Mastery), Sky Swallowing Art 1/1000 (Proficient)

Realm: Fifth-Rank Martial Artist (943803/1000000)

Martial Arts: Eight Trigrams Swimming Dragon Palm 1067/(Perfected)

Alchemy: Hidden. Click to view.

Simplification Points: 0

The suffering of those twenty-five minutes had not been for nothing!

Lu Chuan's cultivation had soared in a single leap from the Third Rank to the peak of the Fifth Rank!

He was not far from the Sixth Rank now.

At this moment, in terms of strength, Lu Chuan had already surpassed most specially recruited students and caught up to those who had entered the academy half a year earlier.

After feeling thoroughly satisfied, Lu Chuan pushed open the main hall's doors.

"Lu Chuan, you finally came out."

Seeing the doors open, Chu Feng called out. He then handed Lu Chuan a bottle of water. "So, it wasn't pleasant in there, was it?"

Lu Chuan did not answer. He took the water and gulped it down.

Chu Feng smiled and was just about to say something else when the smile on his face suddenly froze.

"Hm?"

Chu Feng rubbed his eyes. Am I seeing things?

How had Lu Chuan reached the peak of the Fifth Rank?

No, let me look again!

Chu Feng closed his eyes, then abruptly opened them and examined Lu Chuan.

Hiss! Still at the peak of the Fifth Rank!

Let me look again!

Watching Chu Feng repeatedly close and open his eyes, Lu Chuan felt somewhat puzzled.

What's wrong with Brother Feng? Has he gone mad?

After examining him several times in succession, Chu Feng finally accepted this unbelievable result and asked, "How long did you stay inside?"

"Twenty-five minutes." Lu Chuan did not even raise his head.

Chu Feng: ...

Chu Feng said nothing. His entire body went stiff as he began to doubt his own life.

Was there something wrong with the Heavenly Spirit Pool?

Otherwise, how could Lu Chuan, a mere Third Rank Martial Artist, last twenty-five minutes?

One had to know that even Chu Feng himself had only lasted ten minutes.

Or was he a piece of trash?

Chu Feng's heart jolted, and his expression shifted constantly.

Impossible!

He absolutely could not be trash!

If he were trash, then barely anyone in the entire Azure Dragon Academy would not be trash!

Did they really think Chu Feng was so ordinary?

Ahem, he had gone off on a tangent.

Since he was not trash, that meant Lu Chuan was a freak.

Yes, that was it!

After returning to normal, Chu Feng patted Lu Chuan on the shoulder and said with admiration, "Your results are decent. Though you can't compare to your senior brother's thirty minutes, considering that you were only Third Rank when you entered, it's not bad."

"Alright, let's head back."

Suddenly, as if recalling something, Chu Feng said gravely, "Right, don't tell anyone about what happened today—not even Master."

"If anyone asks, say that you hid your cultivation. Say you were already Fourth Rank when you entered the Heavenly Spirit Pool and only stayed inside for ten minutes."

"Remember that?"

"Remembered."

Lu Chuan nodded.

He knew that this senior brother, who had nearly become his master, would not harm him.

"Let's go. I'll take you back," Chu Feng said.

"Yes."

As the two returned to the residential area, within a lofty pavilion somewhere in the academy.

Qian Yuan, Vice Dean of Dragon Guard Academy, said leisurely, "Lin Lei gave the Heavenly Spirit Pool slot to his disciple."

Hearing this, Gu Ling, Vice Dean of Conquest Academy, snorted coldly. "Lin Lei is utterly deserving of condemnation!"

"For the sake of some so-called factional struggle, he would rather give the slot to an ordinary person than to a genius from our faction!"

"The more people like him there are, the faster Azure Dragon Academy will perish!"

"You can't put it that way." Qian Yuan glanced at Gu Ling. "You know that the Combat Department has always produced monsters in droves."

"Perhaps this is another Chu Feng."

At the mention of Chu Feng, a trace of regret surfaced in Qian Yuan's eyes.

What a fine genius. Yet he had entered the Combat Department.

If he had joined Qian Yuan's Dragon Guard Department, he would probably already be a True King by now.

"Another Chu Feng?" Gu Ling's eyes turned cold. "Then we absolutely cannot let him remain. I propose sending a genius to intercept him!"

"Shatter his Dao heart and make sure he can never break through to the Seventh Rank for the rest of his life!"

"Is that really necessary?" Qian Yuan said blandly. "Taking action against a student—aren't you ashamed to let that get out?"

"Besides, even if he is another Chu Feng, so what?"

"You don't think that just two Chu Fengs can help the Combat Department turn the tables, do you?"

"Better to kill a thousand by mistake than let one slip through!" Gu Ling said, his face full of killing intent. "Once the Combat Department rises from the ashes, not only will our two departments have nowhere left to stand, even Azure Dragon Academy may face the danger of destruction!"

"Don't forget, the Heavenly God Race's kill-on-sight order against the Combat Department has yet to be revoked!"

"What, are you afraid of the Heavenly God Race?" A trace of disdain flashed through Qian Yuan's eyes. "If the Heavenly God Race is so formidable, why don't they fight their way in?"

"Building others up while crushing your own spirit."

"You!"

Gu Ling was left red-faced by the retort. He then fiercely flicked his sleeve. "Even without considering outside influences, the rise of the Combat Department brings no benefit to either of us!"

"You should know that the resources the Combat Department consumes to cultivate one Ninth-Rank powerhouse would be enough for you and me to cultivate ten, or even twenty!"