Challenge

Seeing this, Mo Can secretly tugged at Luo Zheng's sleeve and said, "Let's go somewhere else."

We can't afford to provoke these people, but surely we can avoid them, right?

Luo Zheng simply continued eating, without raising his head or paying them any attention.

"I told you to get lost. Didn't you hear me?" Seeing that Luo Zheng remained motionless, the young man slammed his palm onto the dining table. The table was made of rockwood and was extraordinarily sturdy, yet a palm print appeared where he struck it. The sheer force in his palm was plain to see.

Luo Zheng continued eating with his head lowered, chewing slowly and savoring every bite, as though no matter how great the commotion around him became, it had nothing to do with him.

"Bah!"

Seeing that Luo Zheng still showed no reaction, the young man spat into Luo Zheng's dish and sneered, "Let's see how you're going to eat now!"

Luo Zheng abruptly rose to his feet. One hand shot out like lightning and seized the young man by the collar, while his other hand clenched into a fist, poised to smash down on the young man's head.

But at that moment, Mo Can grabbed Luo Zheng and said anxiously, "Brother Luo Zheng, you can't fight here! According to the Azure Cloud Sect Rules, disciples who fight each other will have points deducted. If you don't have enough points, at best you'll be driven out of the Azure Cloud Sect, and at worst you'll be thrown into Purgatory Mountain!"

Hearing Mo Can's words, Luo Zheng calmed down as well. After joining Little Rain Peak, he had come to understand these rules.

Before Luo Zheng had grown strong enough, these rules were like a lightning pool—he could not cross the line even by a single step. Zhou Xian had told him as much, and Instructor Su Lingyun had also mentioned it to them.

This young man had clearly come prepared. His purpose was to provoke Luo Zheng into attacking first, force him to violate the Sect Rules, and drive him out of the Azure Cloud Sect.

At this thought, a faint smile suddenly surfaced on Luo Zheng's face. He released his grip, then leisurely stared at the young man and said, "I don't know who sent you here to make trouble for me, but to be honest, I'm worried about your intelligence. All you could come up with was this low-down method of provoking me! Since you're so eager to die, I'll give you a chance. Challenge me. How about it?"

Luo Zheng's words struck exactly where the young man wanted. He threw back his head and laughed. "Hahaha! I was afraid you'd be a coward who hid your head in the sand and didn't dare accept the challenge. Since you've agreed, I'll see you on the arena. Whoever doesn't show up is a turtle's grandson!"

The Azure Cloud Sect stipulated that disciples were strictly forbidden from fighting privately, and anyone caught would be punished severely without exception.

However, the Azure Cloud Sect had originally been a sacred land of martial arts. Martial artists were hot-blooded by nature, and with hundreds of thousands, even millions, of disciples, it was impossible for there to be no friction or conflicts.

The solution was to fight on the arena.

There were such arenas on every mountain peak, and Little Rain Peak was naturally no exception.

"Wait, wait! Everyone, let's talk this out. There's no need to settle everything on the arena!" The speaker was Zhou Xian. He had just entered the dining hall when he saw this tense scene and hurried over to mediate.

"Zhou Xian, what are you supposed to be? Who asked you to stick your nose into this?" The young man sneered. "This kid has already agreed to face me on the arena. It's too late for him to regret it now. I can give him three days. After three days, just wait to help collect his corpse." After saying this, the young man turned and left with his companions.

"I say, Luo Zheng, of all people, why did you have to provoke him?" Zhou Xian asked anxiously, his face full of worry.

Mo Can stepped forward and explained, "Brother Zhou Xian, this isn't Brother Luo Zheng's fault. They were the ones who came looking for trouble."

"Even so, you should have avoided him. That fellow isn't easy to provoke. His name is Xu Lie, and among the tens of thousands of Outer Sect Disciples on Little Rain Peak, he ranks thirtieth! Although he hasn't entered the Innate Secret Realm yet, he's still an expert at the Half-Step to the Innate Realm!" No wonder Zhou Xian was so anxious. Luo Zheng was only at the peak of the Viscera Refining Realm, yet he had agreed to face an expert at the Half-Step to the Innate Realm on the arena. In Zhou Xian's eyes, this was no different from suicide.

"Half-Step to the Innate Realm! Ranked thirtieth! What are we going to do?" Mo Can had witnessed Luo Zheng's strength, but he was still startled upon hearing those four words. Although Mo Can understood that Luo Zheng's strength was extraordinary and could not be compared to that of an ordinary Viscera Refining Realm cultivator, there was still an entire Marrow Refining Realm between him and the Half-Step to the Innate Realm. The gap was simply too great.

Half-Step to the Innate Realm? Luo Zheng frowned after hearing this as well. During the Bloodcolor Trials, he had indeed relied on his own strength to kill a fifth-grade illusion beast. That Devil Race member's strength had been comparable to that of a human in the Innate Secret Realm. However, killing that Devil Race member had involved a certain amount of coincidence and luck.

That Devil Race member had possessed only the strength and defensive power of the Innate Secret Realm. After all, it lacked intelligence and could not control true essence.

Moreover, Luo Zheng had acted on a flash of inspiration and thrown out the Broken Flying Knife. If the Broken Flying Knife had not displayed its power at the critical moment, he would probably have been eliminated long ago.

"I think we should report this to Instructor Su and not go to the arena, shouldn't we?" At this crucial moment, Zhou Xian thought of the instructor on Little Rain Peak.

Strictly speaking, instructors like those on Little Rain Peak could not be considered the masters of the many disciples. Take Instructor Su, for example. Under ordinary circumstances, she would not interfere with the disciples' cultivation. Every day, they issued missions, organized various sect activities, maintained order on each mountain peak, and distributed all kinds of rewards.

But they did not directly teach the disciples how to cultivate.

Compared with masters, they were more like the administrators of Little Rain Peak.

Zhou Xian was right. It would be better to have Su Lingyun step in and handle this matter.

After remaining silent for a long while, Luo Zheng finally shook his head. "This man came for me specifically. There's no way to hide from him. Besides, I, Luo Zheng, have already agreed to fight on the arena. Once a word leaves the mouth, four horses cannot overtake it. If I retreat because of this minor trouble, my Martial Heart will probably suffer a grievous loss!"

To walk the path of a martial artist, one relied on a single-minded obsession.

Those who achieved great accomplishments all possessed an obsession so powerful it was maddening, one they would never abandon even unto death.

If Luo Zheng retreated whenever he encountered trouble today, then tomorrow he could find another excuse to retreat again. The obsession in his heart would gradually waver. Without that obsession, his path as a martial artist would end here.

Besides, Xu Lie had inexplicably come looking for trouble with him. Someone had clearly instructed him, though Luo Zheng could not determine who.

Was it Wang Hengzhi and the others? The Fang family? Or that kid surnamed Zhuge? Luo Zheng no longer wanted to guess. Whoever wanted to play with him, he would see it through to the end.

"Luo Zheng, you... sigh!" Zhou Xian was warm-hearted and had been considering everything from Luo Zheng's perspective, yet he was even more anxious than Luo Zheng himself.

In the dining hall, many Outer Sect Disciples looked at Luo Zheng with pity.

A new Outer Sect Disciple who had only just arrived at Little Rain Peak had actually accepted Xu Lie's challenge and even dared to step onto the arena. Wasn't he courting death? On the arena, fists and feet had no eyes. Even if someone was beaten to death, no one had to bear any responsibility!

Under normal circumstances, unless there was a deep feud, no one would willingly step onto the arena. This kid probably wouldn't live past tomorrow.

Luo Zheng, however, did not care in the slightest. Instead, he turned around and comforted Zhou Xian. "It's fine. Remember to come to the arena tomorrow and cheer me on!"

Half-Step to the Innate Realm...

It was indeed rather troublesome for Luo Zheng. When he had fought Xie Lang, Luo Zheng had only just entered the Viscera Refining Realm, and he had won with great difficulty. Moreover, Xie Lang had already been at the end of his strength then.

Now, Luo Zheng had not only reached the peak of the Viscera Refining Realm, but two Dragon Scales had also awakened atop the enormous furnace in his mind. In terms of pure strength, he absolutely did not lose to a Marrow Refining Realm expert. He was even considerably stronger than one.

Accepting a challenge from a cultivator at the Half-Step to the Innate Realm was indeed somewhat risky, but Luo Zheng might not be without the power to fight!

Zhou Xian remained deeply worried about tomorrow's arena match.

Luo Zheng was merely in the Viscera Refining Realm and had joined Little Rain Peak only about half a month ago. He was a newcomer among newcomers, yet he had actually dared to accept Xu Lie's challenge. Was Luo Zheng a fool? Or was he an idiot?

After Luo Zheng and Mo Can left the dining hall, Zhou Xian thought it over for a long time before deciding to report the news to Instructor Su.

A few days ago, Instructor Su had privately instructed him that if Luo Zheng made any moves or showed any notable performance, he was to report to her without delay.

What Zhou Xian had not expected was that after Instructor Su learned of this, her face showed no reaction at all. She was not even the slightest bit worried, merely saying that she would make time to watch tomorrow's arena match.

If he had not been concerned about their respective statuses, Zhou Xian would truly have asked why she did not step in to stop it.

Su Lingyun naturally would not stop it. Her grand goal was to cultivate a super disciple on Little Rain Peak who could suppress the other thirty-two peaks!

In truth, Luo Zheng was only one of Su Lingyun's candidates. Little Rain Peak also had quite a few Inner Sect Disciples who had already made a name for themselves. In terms of strength, those Inner Sect Disciples naturally far surpassed Luo Zheng at present. Yet Su Lingyun faintly sensed that this youth would sooner or later grow to a height where she could only look up to him.

For a disciple like this, Su Lingyun would not interfere too much. Only by giving him sufficient tempering, making him repeatedly circle the boundary between life and death, could his true potential be drawn out.

So even if Xu Lie had not acted, Su Lingyun herself would have chosen several disciples to go and cause Luo Zheng "trouble."