Lang Feng

I was surprised to discover that Lang Feng was no ordinary person. I could clearly feel the sensation of being watched by a wild beast. It seemed this Lang Feng was a gifted talent. I could not help wanting to win him over. Before long, I had already thought of a brilliant idea. It was actually very simple: defeat Lang Feng and threaten that Ouyang Liang. Haha...

At that moment, Lang Feng was astonished to find that the Third Young Master before him seemed completely unaffected by his aura. Unease rose in his heart. Could I lose this time? No, I can't. For Mother's sake, I must defeat this Third Young Master. Mother... Mother... I won't lose. I definitely won't lose. Suddenly, Lang Feng discovered that the flow of energy within his body showed signs of liquefying. His mind jolted, and an inexplicable pressure burst from his body, overflowing across the entire grounds.

Several of the surrounding children were so frightened that they collapsed to the ground. Shangguan Xiangyu—Little Sister Xiangyu—and Murong Xing—that A Xing—were astonished to see some children sprawled on the ground, while those still standing had gone pale. Yet neither of them felt anything. Naturally, I had shielded the two little brats from that aura. Lang Feng truly was a talent. At such a young age, he had relied on talent alone to reach the realm of a Sixth Rank expert and release pressure. That was an ability only Innate Masters possessed. Relying on his talent, Lang Feng had already neared the Innate Realm, and with his inborn savagery, he had forcibly unleashed such pressure. The more I looked at this kid, the more I liked him.

Ouyang Liang's face was deathly pale. Although the pressure was something Lang Feng had only just comprehended and could not truly harm the human body, it was highly effective against a pampered child like Ouyang Liang. Ouyang Liang desperately wanted to order Lang Feng to withdraw that terrifying pressure, but he could not utter a word in such a predicament. When they had just said they were going to fight, most of the other children had moved far away. Thus, they had merely turned pale and felt a little uncomfortable. A few who stood closer had also suffered misfortune, but Ouyang Liang had wanted to watch Zhang Xingfeng get defeated, which was why he had stood so close. That was how he had ended up in this state. He had truly brought it upon himself.

Lang Feng was brimming with strength. Indeed, he had never been stronger in all his life, nor had he ever felt so confident. Light gleamed in his tiger-like eyes as he stared at the opponent before him, but...

I looked at him and smiled. I would let him know what true power was. My body suddenly straightened, and a towering aura pressed down upon Lang Feng.

The other children suddenly could no longer feel even a trace of the terror from before and immediately ran away. Only Ouyang Liang received a little special attention; just like before, his face was pale.

Naturally, my realm allowed me to control the aura within a fixed area with ease. Watching Lang Feng gasp for breath as he held on, I found that this kid was truly stubborn enough. I knew that the longer he endured, the more it would benefit his spiritual strength.

Lang Feng looked at the child before him. He was too terrifying. That aura pressed him so hard that he could not move in the slightest. His spiritual strength grew weaker and weaker. In the end, only his faith in his mother supported him. Gradually, his mind became hazy. He knew that he was about to fail. Mother... Pain clenched his heart tight, and two clear streams of tears flowed from his eyes. His vision went black, and he knew nothing more as he collapsed limply to the ground.

I looked at the big boy who had persisted for so long. Seeing those two trails of tears, I was inexplicably shaken. It seemed there was some hidden story behind this. I slowly walked before him and gently pressed my right hand against the crown of his head, steadily sending a stream of pure Innate True Qi into him. Ah, what abundant Life Primordial Energy! My Spiritual Sense could feel that his Life Primordial Energy was about three times that of an ordinary person's. No wonder he had reached such a realm through talent alone. Let me give you a helping hand. I increased my output of True Qi, guided his internal energy according to the circulation route of the Taiji Yin Yang Art, and merged my Innate True Qi into it, causing it to rapidly grow...

I raised my head to look at Ouyang Liang, and a faint aura pressed toward him. Seeing his state, I smiled. This little child had actually kept Lang Feng so thoroughly under his thumb.

Ouyang Liang raised his head to look at the Third Young Master, and his face could not help turning pale again. Remembering what he had done just now, he looked toward Lang Feng, who was already unconscious. His whole body trembled, and he immediately crawled to Zhang Xingfeng's feet, repeatedly knocking his head against the ground. "Third Young Master, please be magnanimous and spare me. I won't dare do it again. I won't dare do it again..."

I smiled and said gently, "Young Master Ouyang, there's no need to be nervous. How could I blame you? Get up, get up. Ah, don't be like this." As I spoke, I went to help him up. Ouyang Liang rose shakily, not daring to lift his head.

Little Sister Xiangyu stepped forward. "You stinking Ouyang, watch yourself from now on. If you do this again, even if Brother Feng doesn't settle the score with you, I'll beat you up too. Hmph."

A Xing also stepped forward and said viciously, "And me. You'd better watch yourself."

"Yes, yes, yes..." Ouyang Liang nodded without stop, like a chick pecking at grain. He had already been frightened senseless by my aura. He only hoped that I would let him go.

I saw through his thoughts completely. "Ouyang Liang, how is Lang Feng's mother now?"

"His mother is currently at my household, receiving treatment," Ouyang Liang immediately replied. Sweat streamed down his face, and he feared that if he answered too slowly, I would punish him.

"Oh, is that so? Then send Lang Feng's mother to Star Peak Pavilion at my household, understand?" I said calmly.

"Yes. Once I return to my household, I'll send her over immediately. Please rest assured, Third Young Master." Ouyang Liang was extremely happy that he could do something for the Third Young Master. It seemed he would not be beaten after all, and his mood suddenly relaxed a little.

"That will do. You may go back." I looked at him and spoke calmly.

Ouyang Liang was overjoyed, almost unable to believe it. After what he had done to the Third Young Master, the Third Young Master was actually letting him go so easily. Still, he immediately replied, "Thank you, Third Young Master, thank you, Third Young Master. I will immediately send Lang Feng's mother to your household. I'll take my leave first." Ouyang Liang left at once, fearing that any delay might bring another change.

I calmly watched Ouyang Liang's departing figure and smiled. Then I turned and walked toward Lang Feng, who lay on the ground, gently picked him up, and headed home. Naturally, I brought Xiangyu and A Xing home with me as well. The reason I carried Lang Feng home was that he was currently cultivating the sixth level of the Taiji Yin Yang Art, the most crucial moment. I feared that apart from me, Zhang Xingfeng, no one else in this world could confidently bring Lang Feng back without disturbing him. After all, the Taiji Yin Yang Art was Tianxin Sect's most basic cultivation method.

The six great nations of the entire Azure Dragon Continent placed enormous importance on martial arts. They had even formed an alliance and established an alliance agreement. Its first provision was this: all martial artists had to go to the National Martial Department in each city to have their strength assessed. Martial artists were divided into Ninth Rank, Eighth Rank, Seventh Rank, Sixth Rank, Fifth Rank, Fourth Rank, Third Rank, Second Rank, and First Rank. These ranks corresponded to official ranks of the same grade. From Ninth Rank through Sixth Rank, they were all Houtian Masters. Fifth Rank and Fourth Rank were roughly equivalent to the Opening Light stage. Third Rank and Second Rank were roughly equivalent to the Fusion Stage, while First Rank martial artists had reached the Grain Abstinence stage. All martial artists across the continent had to submit to national control. Whoever violated this would be hunted by the entire continent. The reason the continent did this was that several nations had experienced martial artist rebellions. Most importantly, both the Jin Kingdom and the Ming Dynasty had relied upon the martial world to overthrow their original regimes and establish their present governments. The agreement's second provision prohibited the establishment of organizations like martial arts alliances, and even more strictly forbade spontaneous heroes' assemblies or martial arts conventions. Most importantly, no figure akin to a convention's alliance leader could emerge. Otherwise, there would be no pardon for the killing.

There were ten great experts on the continent, nine of whom were First Rank martial artists. The ten great experts were Fist Emperor Lie Ba, Dao Sage Yi Yuanzi, Demon Lord Shi Yi, and Chan Master Jing Yuan of the Ming Dynasty; Spear King Murong Sheng and Blade Emperor Tuoba Yuan of the Liao Kingdom; Golden Wheel Dharma King of Yuan Mongolia; War God Wanyan Lie of the Jin Kingdom; Park Soo-sun, founder of Goryeo's Swordsmanship; and Swordsaint Matsushita Hamaichi of Huangyu. Among them, Spear King Murong Sheng was the sole Second Rank martial artist. From this, one could see that Zhang Xingfeng had now reached the strength of the ten great experts. Of course, only Zhang Xingfeng himself knew this. If others learned that a six-year-old child had reached the First-grade realm, would they be so ashamed that they would find a block of tofu and smash themselves to death, or would they mobilize the entire martial world to seize Zhang Xingfeng and force him to reveal his cultivation secret? Zhang Xingfeng believed that not only the entire martial world would come for him—even the various nations would come demanding the secret.

In his previous life, Tianxin Sect had been a fairly major sect in the Cultivation World. Ordinary people generally began by learning the Taiji Yin Yang Art, the Mysterious Yin Art, or the Mysterious Yang Art. Combining the Mysterious Yin Art and Mysterious Yang Art produced the Taiji Yin Yang Art. Of course, if someone possessed Fire Attribute and Metal Attribute, cultivating the Mysterious Fire Art would be far more effective. Those with Water Attribute could cultivate the Mysterious Yin Art, while those with Earth Attribute and Wood Attribute would find the Taiji Yin Yang Art more effective. Each of these three arts had nine levels, respectively corresponding to the nine martial arts ranks. Upon reaching the late Grain Abstinence stage, one could cultivate Tianxin Sect's sect-defending treasure, the Heart Sutra. However, only the sect master, the next sect master, and several senior elders with extremely long standing were qualified to read the Heart Sutra. Ordinary disciples who reached the Grain Abstinence stage could only cultivate the Heavenly Spirit Art. Of course, the Heavenly Spirit Art was also an exceptionally supreme cultivation art. Otherwise, how could it have become Tianxin Sect's most important and widespread cultivation method?

The martial world's sacred lands were the National Martial Academies of the various nations. The secret manuals they housed far outnumbered even those in Shaolin's Scripture Repository. Among them, the Ming Dynasty's National Martial Academy possessed the most secret manuals. Yet its tuition was fifty thousand taels of silver per year. This was not something an ordinary wealthy household could afford. However, great tycoons and their sons still fought to attend. In this era, the stronger one's martial arts, the more secure one's life. Would it not be pitiful to earn money in the future but have no life left to spend it? Of course, they could hire bodyguards, but was it better to entrust one's life to someone else, or to oneself while also hiring a few bodyguards?