Overawing the Crowd

At the sound of that voice, Du Yuan involuntarily shuddered and gave Ye Fei an awkward smile.

"Senior Brother Jiang Feng, I really am no match for you. Please let me off."

Du Yuan reluctantly turned around and spoke sheepishly to the young man named Jiang Feng.

"Junior Brother Du Yuan, what do you mean by that?"

"I only want to spar with you. Surely there's nothing wrong with a simple spar between fellow disciples?"

Jiang Feng put on a serious expression as he spoke.

"Senior Brother Jiang, we've sparred more than a dozen times, and every time I end up bedridden for half a month. The secret realm is about to open. Please spare me this once."

Du Yuan spoke with a mournful face.

"Don't worry, Junior Brother Du. I won't use that much force this time. I guarantee you won't get hurt."

The corner of Jiang Feng's mouth lifted into a mocking half-smile.

"Senior Brother Jiang, we're all from the same sect. Why must you do this?"

"What does your inability to beat Senior Brother Fang Pu have to do with me?"

"There's no grudge between us, is there?"

"Every time you lose to Senior Brother Fang, you come after me. Can't you pick someone else?"

Du Yuan sighed helplessly, his face filled with grief and indignation.

"What?"

"You don't want to?"

At the mention of Fang Pu, a cold glint flashed through Jiang Feng's eyes. He fixed his gaze on Du Yuan, his voice turning icy.

"That's right. This time, I'd rather die than be humiliated again."

Du Yuan steeled himself and met Jiang Feng's gaze head-on, without a trace of fear.

He had endured this too many times and could bear it no longer. If Jiang Feng injured him again, his chances of surviving the Divine Feather Secret Realm would be much slimmer.

Rather than die in the Divine Feather Secret Realm, he might as well risk it all this once and live with a little dignity.

"Die?"

"We're fellow disciples. How could I let you die?"

"We're only having an ordinary spar. Even if I slip up, the worst that could happen is an injury or a disability. Your life won't be in danger."

Jiang Feng gave a sinister smile, with no intention of letting Du Yuan off.

"Martial Nephew Du Yuan, how about sparring with me?"

Just then, Ye Fei, who had been watching from the sidelines, spoke up.

"Senior Brother Ye Fei, what did you call me?"

Du Yuan asked in bewilderment.

"Martial nephew!"

"I forgot to tell you. I'm Grand Supreme Elder Luo Ying's nominal disciple."

Ye Fei spoke calmly.

"Du Yuan greets Martial Uncle Ye Fei."

Upon hearing that Ye Fei was the Grand Supreme Elder's disciple, Du Yuan hurriedly bowed to him.

Even a fool would have understood what Ye Fei meant.

Ye Fei was helping him out of his predicament. How could he fail to appreciate the favor?

"Well?"

"Shall we spar?"

Ye Fei smiled mildly and asked again.

"Of course. I'll exchange a few moves with Martial Uncle Ye."

Du Yuan readily agreed.

"No!"

"Du Yuan has to spar with me first!"

Seeing Ye Fei and Du Yuan leave him standing on the sidelines, Jiang Feng's face immediately darkened, and he hastily spoke up to stop them.

"Martial Nephew Jiang, what do you mean by that?"

Ye Fei raised an eyebrow, his voice cooling as well.

"I asked Du Yuan to spar first, so he has to fight me first."

Jiang Feng spoke overbearingly.

"Martial Nephew Du, do you agree?"

Ye Fei turned to Du Yuan and asked with a smile.

"Martial Uncle Ye, I don't agree. I only want to spar with you."

Du Yuan grinned.

"You heard him, Martial Nephew Jiang."

Ye Fei shrugged.

"Then I want to spar with you."

Jiang Feng changed tack and turned his spearhead toward Ye Fei.

"Spar with me?"

"As a junior challenging your elder, shouldn't you offer something to justify it?"

Ye Fei looked at Jiang Feng with a faint, mocking smile.

"You're only a nominal disciple. Whether you'll be formally accepted is still up in the air. Isn't it a little early to call yourself my martial uncle?"

Jiang Feng curled his lip, his words dripping with provocation.

After all, he had already been chosen as a future True Disciple by True Person Qinghuai, the sect master of the Free and Easy Gate.

Once he successfully reached Foundation Establishment, he would formally become True Person Qinghuai's disciple and gain the rank of True Disciple.

By then, his identity and standing would be entirely different.

That was why he refused to acknowledge Ye Fei, a mere nominal disciple.

"What?"

"You won't accept it?"

An amused smile appeared on Ye Fei's face.

"That's right. What are you going to do about it?"

"If you want me to call you martial uncle, that's fine-but you have to beat me first!"

Jiang Feng's attitude was utterly arrogant.

"I don't need you to call me martial uncle. If you lose, just apologize to Du Yuan."

"If I lose, how about I call you martial uncle?"

Ye Fei spoke casually.

"Fine! You said it yourself. Don't go back on your word when you lose!"

A gleam flashed in Jiang Feng's eyes, and excitement crept into his voice.

"A man's word, once spoken, cannot be overtaken even by a team of four horses. Besides, I'm your martial uncle. Why would I deceive a junior like you?"

Ye Fei spoke solemnly.

"Everyone, come over here! I'm going to spar with this fellow. If I lose, I'll apologize to Du Yuan. If he loses, he has to call me martial uncle."

"Please bear witness for us."

Jiang Feng lifted the corner of his mouth and began shouting without consulting Ye Fei at all.

He even called everyone in the square over.

He kept referring to Ye Fei as "this fellow," showing him no respect whatsoever.

"Who is this guy? He actually dares to provoke Jiang Feng? Jiang Feng ranks second among our Free and Easy Gate's inner disciples!"

"Exactly. I've never seen this guy before. He probably thinks he can look down on everyone just because he's also at the qi refining ninth layer. But can all ninth-layer cultivators be treated alike? He's going to suffer this time."

Before long, everyone was talking over one another.

"Shall we begin, then?"

Hearing the crowd's discussion, Jiang Feng felt immensely pleased with himself and challenged Ye Fei.

With that, he summoned a magic-artifact longsword.

"You're my junior. I'll give you the first move."

Ye Fei gave Jiang Feng a scornful smile.

"Arrogant!"

"Take this!"

Seeing that Ye Fei thought nothing of him, Jiang Feng grew angry. With a flick of his wrist, he thrust his longsword straight at Ye Fei.

The blade went directly for Ye Fei's heart.

His very first move was vicious.

"I'd say you're the arrogant one."

Seeing Jiang Feng open with such a vicious move, Ye Fei narrowed his eyes. He did not even dodge. As the longsword closed in, he simply raised his arm to block it.

Ye Fei's action startled everyone present. They thought he had lost his mind.

Just when everyone thought Ye Fei was about to lose his arm, his arm actually stopped Jiang Feng's longsword.

Not only did the sword fail to pierce Ye Fei's arm, it struck with a clang.

The force of the rebound even sent Jiang Feng stumbling several steps backward before he regained his footing.

"How is that possible?"

Staring at Ye Fei's completely uninjured arm, Jiang Feng's face filled with disbelief.

"Well? Do you still want to continue?"

Ye Fei asked Jiang Feng with a smile.

"Hmph! Again!"

Jiang Feng snorted coldly and raised his longsword high. The true qi throughout his body surged wildly, all gathering in his right hand.

"Thousand-Blade Slash!"

Then, with a shout, he brought his longsword crashing down toward Ye Fei.

The instant the sword descended, dozens of phantom longswords materialized and slashed toward Ye Fei together.

At the sight of the countless sword shadows, Ye Fei merely smiled calmly. With a stir of his spiritual sense, he took out his Magic Treasure longsword.

"Golden Goose Across the Sky."

Ye Fei called softly and slashed his longsword diagonally forward.

As his sword swept out, a golden ripple of Sword Qi instantly spread ahead.

The moment the dozens of sword shadows touched that ripple, they were shattered by it.

Dozens of cracks rang out.

After destroying the phantom longswords, the ripple of Sword Qi did not stop. It continued shooting toward Jiang Feng.

Jiang Feng swung his sword several times to block it, but failed to stop the Sword Qi.

"Disperse!"

Just as the Sword Qi was about to strike Jiang Feng, whose face had filled with horror, Ye Fei swept his sleeve and uttered that single word. The ripple of Sword Qi immediately vanished without a trace.

"Well?"

"Do you still want to continue?"

Ye Fei calmly asked Jiang Feng, who stood rooted to the spot in a daze.

As his words fell, the entire square went utterly silent. Everyone had been stunned by Ye Fei's overwhelming display of power.