Feng Zhuo Wins!

What did he mean, one sword strike?!

That was clearly three!

The looks the disciples present gave Chu Yunfei grew increasingly complicated, but history was written by the victors.

If Feng Zhuo died under Chu Yunfei's sword today...

Yushang tightened her grip on her jade talisman. Even if only for Shuanghua's sake, she would save Junior Brother Feng!

More of the Supreme One Divine Sect's disciples, however, pretended not to see.

Most of them were merely ordinary inner and outer sect disciples, and the few exceptions were only personal disciples from subsidiary peaks. How could they dare gamble away their future Dao Paths by offending the Supreme One Divine Sect's next sect master?

Even if they dared, why would they be willing to stand up for a stranger?

A deeper chill gathered in Chu Yunfei's eyes.

His talent was indeed impressive, but unfortunately, he was not an ally!

The longsword in Chu Yunfei's hand trembled, and countless bolts of lightning gathered overhead, forming a gigantic purple lightning sword that blotted out the sky and sun!

"Junior Brother Feng, let's see how you take this second strike!"

"Arrogant!"

Feng Zhuo formed hand seals with both hands, and the spirit flames around him surged.

The Green Vine Heart Flame became a sky-swallowing python, the Glazed Purifying Fire condensed into a nine-tailed snow fox, and scarlet-gold flames spread their wings as a phoenix behind him!

"Three... three strands of divergent flame?!"

Chu Hongxiao cried out involuntarily, and a flash of greed crossed her eyes.

The Green Vine Heart Flame, the Glazed Purifying Fire, and an unknown strand of divergent flame capable of manifesting as a phoenix...

If Chu Yunfei succeeded today, could those rare divergent flames...?

The lightning sword tore through the air and pierced the green python's belly, only to be tightly bound by the snow fox's nine long tails.

The Green Vine Heart Flame became countless threads of fire, flowing like silk between Feng Zhuo's ten fingers.

One strike, another strike, and yet another.

Chu Yunfei's attacks grew ever fiercer, every strike carrying the force to topple mountains and sever peaks, yet he could not break through Feng Zhuo's defenses.

A duel that should have had an obvious outcome had turned into a tug-of-war!

"Th-this... how is this possible?"

An outer sect disciple's eyes widened. "Senior Brother Feng has actually held out this long..."

"He's only relying on the advantage of his divergent flames."

Someone beside him immediately retorted, "Didn't you see that Senior Brother Chu hasn't even used his Sword Intent?"

"Exactly!"

Another chimed in, "A Golden Core cultivator has more than ten times the spiritual power reserves of someone in the Foundation Establishment Realm. If this drags on, Feng Zhuo is bound to lose!"

Hearing that, several disciples who had begun to harbor some hope for Feng Zhuo could not help wavering.

Indeed, Chu Yunfei had yet to reveal his true strength, and a battle of spiritual power consumption was extremely unfavorable to a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

"But..."

A young disciple said timidly, "Senior Brother Feng has already done amazingly well to last this long..."

Someone immediately sneered. "Naive! Do you think this is a spar? Senior Brother Chu clearly intends to kill him!"

"Once Senior Brother Chu gets serious, I'm afraid Senior Brother Feng... won't even leave an intact corpse!"

History was written by the victors.

If Feng Zhuo died, there would truly be no one left to testify!

On the battlefield, Chu Yunfei's expression grew increasingly ugly.

He had put everything he had into each strike, his spiritual power pouring out like a flood. Now he had only thirty percent left, yet he still could not break through that seemingly fragile line of defense.

What alarmed him even more was that Feng Zhuo's spiritual power seemed... to show no sign of running dry?

"Junior Brother Feng, I underestimated you."

Chu Yunfei finally stopped attacking, his sword tip angled toward the ground. "However..."

"This ends here."

"Hidden Dormant Thunder!"

Chu Yunfei's low shout seemed to rouse the slumbering dormant thunder.

Unlike his earlier, overwhelmingly grand sword moves, this strike was terrifyingly quiet-like the suffocating stillness before spring thunder awakened the insects.

Danger!

Feng Zhuo's pupils contracted sharply, and three strands of flame spun wildly in his palms.

The vitality of the Green Vine Heart Flame, the biting chill of the Glazed Purifying Fire, and the blazing heavenly might of his life-bound spirit fire blended perfectly together at that moment!

"Scree-!"

A clear phoenix cry rang through the clouds.

The fused spirit fire became the phantom of an extraordinarily majestic phoenix, ice crystals forming on its tail feathers and spring vines winding around its crest. As it spread its wings, it scattered sparks like stars.

"Boom!!!"

The entire forest shook at the instant the Sword Intent collided with the fire phoenix.

The blinding light forced everyone to close their eyes, and the violent, turbulent spiritual power snapped every tree within a hundred zhang in half!

When the light faded, everyone discovered to their horror-

The magnificent fire phoenix had already dispersed, but the Sword Intent that should have destroyed heaven and earth had also been weakened by seventy percent!

"A spell cultivator at the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage actually managed this!"

Chu Hongxiao shrieked, "That strike contained Annihilation Sword Intent!"

The remaining thirty percent of the Sword Intent continued unabated, still howling toward Feng Zhuo.

Though its power had diminished greatly, it was still a deadly threat to a Foundation Establishment cultivator whose spiritual power was nearly exhausted!

"Junior Brother Feng!"

The life-saving jade talisman in Yushang's hand was already shining at its brightest.

The watching disciples held their breath. Some wore looks of pity, some secretly rejoiced, and others were shocked by this battle against a higher-realm opponent, which had far exceeded their expectations.

At this critical moment between life and death-

Feng Zhuo suddenly smiled.

"Yanba!"

With that clear shout, a streak of scarlet fire shot out of his spirit beast pouch!

The Heart-Scorching Flame became an inescapable net, and nine chains of fire clanged as they forcibly stopped the remaining thirty percent of the Sword Intent in midair!

"Hiss-"

The onlookers drew in sharp breaths.

No one had expected Feng Zhuo to be hiding such a trump card!

The Demon Beast called Yanba stood upon the flames, its seventh-tier pressure on full display.

Moreover, judging by how easily it had blocked the remnant Sword Intent from Chu Yunfei's strike, its bloodline was probably no ordinary one!

At that moment, everyone was speechless.

Three strands of divergent flame were astonishing enough, and now a seventh-tier Demon Beast that seemed to possess an extraordinary bloodline had appeared...

Just how favored by the Heavenly Dao was this Senior Brother Feng of Carefree Peak?

Feng Zhuo calmly recalled his slightly dimmed life-bound spirit fire.

To make up for the depletion, he only needed to feed it some ordinary fire seeds, and it would recover after seven days of nourishment from the Nirvana Heaven-Burning Instruction.

Chu Yunfei, on the other hand-

Although he himself had not been severely injured, his splendid magic robe had long since been riddled with holes by the spirit fire. How did he still look anything like the Supreme One Divine Sect's senior brother?

"Your strength is indeed impressive, Junior Brother Feng."

Chu Yunfei forced himself to remain calm, but had already secretly swallowed a pill to restore his spiritual power.

Feng Zhuo gave a derisive laugh and actually took out an entire bottle of second-tier supreme-grade Spirit-Restoring Pills in front of everyone. "Your strength, on the other hand, is nothing special, Senior Brother Chu."

He swallowed twelve pills in succession, and the Everlasting Spring Scripture's special effect allowed him to absorb their medicinal power at an astonishing speed.

In just a quarter of an hour, his depleted spiritual power had actually been restored to its original state!

"Th-this... what kind of recovery speed is that?!"

"What cultivation art does Senior Brother Feng practice?!"

Meanwhile, under Yanba's constant harassment, Chu Yunfei had not even managed to fully absorb the medicinal power of two third-tier high-grade pills.

"Senior Brother Chu, it's my turn."

A cold light flashed in Feng Zhuo's eyes, and he and Yanba attacked at the same time!

Emerald-green vines shot out like spirit snakes, whipping at Chu Yunfei whenever he tried to regulate his breathing.

Though they were not lethal, they kept him from ever calming his mind to recover.

Chu Hongxiao stamped her feet in anxiety and was just about to step forward to help when Yushang flashed in front of her, blocking her way.

The jade talisman at Yushang's fingertips flickered. "Senior Sister Chu, it would be best for pill cultivators not to meddle in the affairs of spell and sword cultivators."

With no other choice, Chu Hongxiao could only watch helplessly as Chu Yunfei was beaten.

After all, they pill cultivators really were not good at fighting.

In the end, the course of this duel, which should have been completely one-sided, was utterly reversed before everyone's disbelieving eyes!