At that moment, Chen Feng was also rushing forward. He unleashed a tempestuous wave of attacks. Simplistic and fast, the punches and kicks bombarded Yuan Shan from every direction.

Weng!

Next, Chen Feng’s domain suddenly expanded to envelop Yuan Shan. Two Palms of Wind and Lightning swung towards Yuan Shan.

“You think to subdue me with a minor domain? Kid? Have you lost your mind?” Lightning bolts flashed out from every part of Yuan Shan’s body as bolts of Sky Lightning furiously shot out to slice Chen Feng’s domain apart.

After overcoming his or her Lightning Tribulation, a cultivator would be capable of condensing Sky Lightning. It was the most wondrous and powerful type of lightning in the world. Thus, most cultivators would condense them as a means to fight their enemies or as a means to protect themselves.

Having overcome 3 Lightning Tribulations, it was only natural for Yuan Shan to perform this feat. It was very easy for Sky Lightning to tear apart the domain formed by a Concealed stage cultivator.

Zi! Zi! Zi!

Bolts of Sky Lightning rapidly wrapped around Chen Feng and it did not take long for the lighting bolts to flash all around him.

“Ha ha ha! Kid, you have not overcome even 1 Lightning Tribulation! I would like to see how you plan on defending against this power of Heaven!” Yuan Shan laughed loudly.

“Is that so?” Chen Feng, who was wrapped up by the Sky Lightning, did not even get the chance to take action when he felt the body armour within his skin exerting a suction force. Instantly, it absorbed every one of the bolts of Sky Lightning wrapping him up. It was several times faster than the absorption rate of Chen Feng’s Heavengulping Absorption Technique.

The body armour has this ability? Chen Feng was surprised.

“He he. The old fellow who forged this magic treasure for you poured in quite some effort into the forging process. Besides, this is a grade 9 Prized artefact we are talking about. It is only natural that it would have other functions. Did you think it is simply a means of defence? Your cultivation base is just insufficient. Thus, you are incapable of fully controlling it,” Tower said.

“What?!” Seeing his Sky Lightning – which had taken him considerable effort to condense – disappear, Yuan Shan immediately grew fearful.

Sou!

Chen Feng swiftly arrived before Yuan Shan. Next, he attacked using the Icefire Swords of Yin and Yang and Palm of Mountains and Lakes techniques. Yuan Shan waved his hand to quickly bring up a thick layer of Sky Lightning, which easily blocked Chen Feng’s attack.

However, when Yuan Shan used the Sky Lightning to attack Chen Feng again, the incident which brought fear into Yuan Shan’s heart happened again. His Sky Lightning was absorbed by Chen Feng again, all of it.

And so, Yuan Shan dared not utilize Sky Lightning attacks against Chen Feng again. As for his magic treasure, he had long since kept his Floating Mountain back.

Light flashed out from Yuan Shan’s hand as a sword appeared in his grasp. After that, he began displaying a wide-swinging sword skill to fight against Chen Feng.

“It is strange. Chen Feng doesn’t seem to possess any outstandingly impressive techniques,” Fu Yue could not stop herself from saying.

“He he! However, he can fight his way to the fourth round. Not to mention, he will win this match. This is what makes him outstanding,” Mu Lingfeng said smilingly.

“Yes. It seems Chen Feng did not practice any of our sect’s techniques. He is merely relying on the might of his fleshly body. Additionally, he also possesses a very powerful Sacred artefact. I wonder if Sage Enigma Flame was the one who gave it to him?” Fu Yue said.

“I have heard that this Chen Feng had entered the Demon Trial Grounds and Driftcloud Immortal Mountain before. Recently, for the sake of getting promoted to the rank of core disciple, he had even ventured into the Seven Kills Direlands to acquire the Dire Meridian Grass. He he, our Five Elemental Hall doesn’t have too many characters with this calibre,” Mu Lingfeng said with a chuckle.

“And don’t tell me he is just relying on his Sacred artefact. Do not forget, luck also makes up part of a person’s strength. This is especially true in our world of cultivation. Hard work is of course important. However, without luck, a cultivator’s path of cultivation can only reach a dead end,” Mu Lingfeng continued.

The battle between Yuan Shan and Chen Feng became increasingly violent. Although Yuan Shan had overcome 3 Lightning Tribulations before, Chen Feng felt that he was far inferior compared to Chi Lianfeng.

In the course of their battle, Chen Feng had brought out Bloody Soul, the demonic artefact. It did not take Chen Feng long to gain the upper hand. Several times, the bloodthirsty lance had nearly pierced Yuan Shan.

Humph! Kid, your fleshly body is stronger than mine. However, you have never overcome Lightning Tribulation before. Your soul power is surely not high! After reaching that line of thought, Yuan Shan immediately utilized his soul power.

A potent stream of soul power swiftly converged into the shape of a drill before rapidly spinning into Chen Feng’s sea of wisdom.

Soul power was an invisible existence and extremely fast. It was not something that can be easily defended against. Thus, many would be struck by soul attacks before they could react properly. Naturally, it was very rare for cultivators to wage battles using their soul powers because such a battle was terribly dangerous. One mistake would lead to the destruction of a cultivator’s soul. Even a light injury would translate to a severe damage to the soul.

In the case of a damaged fleshly body, even in the case of lost limbs, a cultivator with a high cultivation base can quickly recover from such wounds. If a cultivator’s soul essence were damaged, on the other hand, that person – even an Immortal Human – would require a long time to recover.

Pa!

Yuan Shan’s soul power smashed heavily against Chen Feng’s sea of wisdom. However, Chen Feng’s sea of wisdom suddenly become as stable and durable as a rock. Its durability caused the drill – formed using Yuan Shan’s soul power – to shatter apart. Even the resulting strands of soul power were shattered.

What happened? Yuan Shan was highly shocked. He did not understand how this could have happened. All he knew was that things were not looking good for him.

Sou!

A suction force came from Chen Feng’s sea of wisdom to pull Yuan Shan’s stream of soul power in. Yuan Shan had wanted to struggled against the suction force only to find that Chen Feng’s soul was abnormally powerful. At the same time, numerous blades spun out to instantly slice Yuan Shan’s soul power into pieces.

Next, Chen Feng’s Soulflame began burning to quickly refine Yuan Shan’s soul power.

“Pu!”

Outside, Yuan Shan had first fallen into a state of shock. Next, he abruptly opened his mouth to cough out a mouthful of blood and his face turned pale to the extreme. He looked at Chen Feng the same way one would look at a ghost.

Sou!

Chen Feng rapidly shot forward and his palm struck Yuan Shan’s chest fiercely. Next, the Palm of Five Elements rushed forward, slapping Yuan Shan and sending him flipping through the air.

Chen Feng did not hold back and the attack broke the bones in every part of Yuan Shan’s body. Even his internal organs were severely damaged. More importantly, the power Chen Feng unleashed with his palm had invaded Yuan Shan’s meridians. Yuan Shan had only just received a wound to his soul. And now, his fleshly body was grievously wounded as well. Without medicinal pills, it would be hard for him to recover.

“Is this slightly unexpected?” Mu Lingfeng smiled.

“A little. Logically speaking, Chen Feng, who has yet to overcome Lightning Tribulation, should have a weak soul power. Judging from this match, however, his soul power is not his weakness. Rather, it is very strong. No matter how you cut it, Yuan Shan is someone who has overcome 3 Lightning Tribulations. His soul power is already quite high. And yet, his soul attack was dealt with so quickly. He will have to spend quite some time on his recuperation,” Fu Yue said.

“Eh? That is strange.” A puzzled look flashed across Hua Zhuliu’s face.

“What did you notice?” Lei Batian asked.

“Yuan Shan utilized a soul attack, but his soul power never left Chen Feng’s mind after entering it,” Hua Zhuliu said, frowning.

“There is only one reason for such a situation. The soul power that Yuan Shan sent in was utterly devoured. However, how is that possible?” Hua Zhuliu continued.

“It is not possible. Even for us, that is very hard. To casually devour other people’s soul? What? Is he actually a demonic beast?” Lei Batian said.

“Or did Chen Feng’s Soulflame burn Yuan Shan’s soul power away?” Hua Zhuliu said after a moment’s consideration.

“That is possible, provided that Chen Feng’s soul power is at the same level as one who has overcome 4 Lightning Tribulations,” Lei Batian said with a chuckle.

“This Chen Feng is not to be underestimated. Sage Enigma Flame should be incapable of producing such an apprentice. This kid must have secrets of his own,” Hua Zhuliu said.

“Even now, he has not utilized any of Sage Enigma Flame’s fire techniques. Hey, hey. Is he planning on leaving it as his final trump card?” Lei Batian chortled.

After winning his fourth match, Chen Feng finally caught the attention of all the spectators. In his first three matches, his victories had been mostly lukewarm in nature. Some had appeared as narrow victories that could only give the spectators a minor surprise. This match, however, had given them a true feeling of surprise. By making his way past the fourth round, Chen Feng had made it to the top 100 amongst the core disciples’ bracket.

The ability to rise up to the top 100 despite his Concealed stage cultivation base meant that he possessed an immeasurably promising future. Some of the other budding disciples secretly viewed Chen Feng as a potential rival. Many more, however, felt envious.

“Brother Chen, Yuan Shan is going to need to spend quite some time recuperating from this,” Luo Kong could not stop himself from blurting out when Chen Feng exited the arena.

“I was observing the rules of the competition, otherwise I would have taken away his Floating Mountain. I happen to be lacking good magic treasures,” Chen Feng said smilingly.

Savage! Hearing Chen Feng’s words, Luo Kong and the others were stunned. The nearby groups of disciples too, secretly mumbled in dissent.

“Next up, we’ll be competing for the top 100 rankings. The ability to reach the top 100 alone ensures that you will get a reward. Unfortunately, there is no longer any hope for us. Brother Chen, we will be cheering you on,” Zhou You said smilingly.

“Yes. The upcoming matches will be even fiercer. Brother Chen, you must be careful. If you cannot hold on, be sure to surrender immediately. Now that we are nearing the end, some of those participants will act brutally,” Luo Kong said.

“Don’t worry. I know my limits.” Chen Feng nodded.

After the fourth round was over, the number of cultivators surrounding the arena grew. Chen Feng looked around and saw that a portion of the cultivators there were members of Extreme Celestial Sect. However, there was a considerable number of outsiders as well.

“They are all disciples from the other great sects and some loose cultivators with good relationships with our sect,” Luo Kong explained.

“The Ten Great Immortal Dao Sects of the Northern Plains. The competition between them is very fierce, both surface wise and in secrecy. Since we are holding a Grand Competition, it is only natural for the other sects to send some people to assess the situation,” Shui Yan said.

“The other nine great sects will also send some people over?” Chen Feng asked.

“Most likely.” Shui Yan nodded.

Heh! I wonder if Liu Mu managed to make it back to Nine Firmaments Palace. If he did, the sect will probably do something, right? Chen Feng thought.

Inner, heir, elite. The competition for the three brackets were still ongoing. However, the one to receive the most attention was the core disciples’ bracket.

“Senior Brother Chen.” Suddenly, Luo Bo, Sun Xuan and Lu Ta came over. However, their clothes were in tatters and stained with blood. That was especially true of Lu Ta, who needed Luo Bo and Sun Xuan’s support. Clearly, something had happened to the three of them.