Could it be that I am the cruel villain?
Chapter 256 - 174: A Match for the Opponent_2

Chapter 256: Chapter 174: A Match for the Opponent_2

Someone’s expression briefly flickered with an undetectable hint of embarrassment; he was too ashamed to even add the word "County" after Qingshui.

Ever since he began venturing out alone three days ago, hunting high-level cultivators, it has always been like this. Although he won every time, every time he declared his background to others, he felt a bit embarrassed.

Others would announce their impressive home regions, either being from the heart of the Central Plains or from a main city of a province. They did so with pride, and even though Jiang Feng had never heard of them, the names alone exuded grandeur.

Their demeanor, clothing, and family crests made it clear at a glance that they came from illustrious families.

The assessment site was a massive dye vat, gathering all sorts of people from all walks of life, and naturally, many disciples from prestigious families were among them.

At their age, if one had decent talent, they might have a chance at successful Foundation Establishment, and with a bit of luck, even reaching the Mid Grade might be possible.

But for someone of humble origins to reach the top-grade Foundation Establishment or even to condense a Silver Core by the age of thirty... that would pretty much be a dream, unless your natural talent, fate, and opportunities reached an astonishing, inescapable level.

Even Jiang Feng himself, if he hadn’t received Body Tempering Pills from Liu Tangxi, if the Little Saintess from the Southern Border hadn’t favored him with a Scarlet Pill, and if he hadn’t had a top-notch cultivation technique like the Purple Cloud Divine Technique, guess what realm Mr. Jiang would be in now?

However, Jiang Feng didn’t really mind dealing with these noble disciples. Although they were somewhat haughty, at least they spoke intelligibly.

"Three days ago, many cultivators already complained that a low-rank Foundation Establishment cultivator has been setting traps and hunting as if in an uninhabited land, even causing those at the peak of Foundation Establishment to fall to his hands."

"However, I also heard that although he robs tokens, he only takes half each time, to ensure that the robbed cultivators could still smoothly enter the Immortal Sect under someone’s tutelage."

"It’s just that Yan Fengchun never thought that I would be targeted. Could it be that you think I’m the easiest to handle among these six Core Formation Stage cultivators?"

His expression carried a bit of confusion, but more so helplessness and annoyance—he also hadn’t expected to be looked down upon like this.

"No, you’ve got it wrong, I’m targeting you because..."

But Jiang Feng just shook his head, taking the iron wire in his left hand and gripping the longsword on his back with his right, slowly drawing it. The surging sword light made Yan Fengchun feel slightly uneasy.

"You are the strongest among these six."

A twitch of the eyelid!

Yan Fengchun was amazed at that terrifying speed; its explosive power was far beyond Jiang Feng’s current realm!

He barely managed to raise his Vajra Umbrella in time to block the strike, the immense force immediately made him look serious. How could this youngster possess such frightening physical strength?

Yan Fengchun kept retreating, while Jiang Feng simultaneously wielded sword and iron wire with both hands, his rapid speed dazzling to the eye. Although his ferocious attacks were relentless, they failed to injure Yan Fengchun in the slightest.

"Turning water into..."

Frost in the air condensed into droplets at that moment, compressing into something almost as cutting as a water blade. Yan Fengchun keenly spotted Jiang Feng retracting his iron wire with his left hand, unmistakably a precursor to using a Daoist Skill.

Unfazed, he was not to be trifled with. Relying on Jiang Feng’s brief offensive, he pinched a Dharma Seal, and Spiritual Energy surged to his fingertips, thrusting at Jiang Feng!

"So fast."

Seeing the terrifying Spiritual Energy converging at his opponent’s fingertips, Jiang Feng immediately raised two fingers, transforming the originally prepared Water Charms on the fly, hastily raising his hand for a palm strike.

"Demolishing Demon Frost Palm!"

"Heavenly Ruined Finger!"

Deep in the foothills, waves of ripples reverberated.

The finger light, with its fearsome penetration, pierced directly through the icy blue palm, and the icy blue palm struck Yan Fengchun, sending him flying dozens of feet, a pity that most of the impact was absorbed by his Vajra Umbrella.

Trees swayed in response, and many cultivators became aware of the dreadful commotion. In theory, sensing a distant battle, they should have seized the opportunity to scavenge for spoils.

But anyone who had made it this far was no fool; just by feeling the intensity of the skirmish, they knew it wasn’t something they could afford to provoke.

"What’s that noise?"

"I don’t know, but those of higher realms should have arrived by now, right?"

"Yeah, they’ve been arriving continuously since yesterday. Shall we go and have a look?"

"Are you crazy? Going there to hand over your token to someone else? Besides, we can’t practice Sword Flight in the mountains, you want to walk over there just to see the excitement?"

The blue light emerging from the distant tree line and the sound of a finger piercing the air attracted a lot of attention. After all, the battlefield was only a couple of miles away from the Mountain Gate in a straight line.

"Is that commotion caused by Jiang Feng?"

Qiao Yuan immediately stepped forward a few steps to have a look.

These past few days, her body had recovered well, especially since she teamed up with Jiang Feng. For the first two days, she was told to rest properly and recover from her injuries. If they needed to hasten their journey, she’d just carry the Star Compass at the front, not needing to take any action, just standing there releasing Spiritual Energy would be sufficient.

Although there might be some pretense of bluster, it indeed bought her two whole days. She only began to ambush their opponents when her Dantian was mostly recovered starting from the third day.

To her surprise, after cooperating with each other, she found that she actually couldn’t fully grasp Jiang Feng’s level.

In Qiao Yuan’s heart, she had a certain expectation of Jiang Feng’s strength - after all, being able to lead Lin Jiangxian all this way showed impressive might. However, she truly never anticipated that it would be to such a formidable extent.

Put it this way, in the following days they encountered roughly twenty Low Grade Foundation Establishment cultivators, and five Mid Grade Foundation Establishment ones, yet not a single one could force Jiang Feng to draw the Longsword on his back. Instead, he subdued his opponents simply with an unremarkable iron wire.

During this period, the only Daoist Skill he displayed was the ice-blue palm.

"Oh? The last day and there is such a fierce battle."

"Junior Brother, Fourth Junior Brother, let’s go take a look."

"It seems that this year’s new disciples have exceptional skills. We have seen a few Core Formation Stage cultivators before, and now there’s something surprising. Let’s hurry, don’t let the other peaks beat us to it."

They flicked their flying swords and departed. Naturally, as disciples of Purple Cloud, they wouldn’t be ambushed by any Arrays. However, even the two people sitting in the pavilion above sipping tea couldn’t help but flash a look of great interest in their eyes.

Swoosh!

Clang!

With his left hand forming a sword seal and his right hand keeping the Longsword sheathed behind him, continuous streams of Sword Qi flew out of from behind him, spiraling in the air with incredible speed, each strike aimed precisely at vital points.

The Vajra Umbrella opened up wide. This Magic Treasure, also an heirloom of the family, was equally efficient in both attack and defense; judging by its quality, it might even be much higher than the Radiant Bell Wu Daoxu held before.

Bearing the brunt of the young man’s relentless attacks and advancing forward, a lunge forced Jiang Feng to retract his Longsword and raise his hand to block. The immense force scraped meters-long grooves into the ground with his feet before he could steady himself.

His head suddenly jerked to the side!

Without any warning, the sharp tip of the Vajra Umbrella shot out.

The bulky umbrella revealed its agility at this moment. Yan Fengchun continually retreated to adjust. As the umbrella tip flew out, Jiang Feng instinctively went to swing his sword to sever the black steel wire, but the moment the Longsword touched the wire...

"Damn!"

His face changed color drastically.

With all his might, he raised his left hand to protect his neck. The next second...

Crack!

Blood splattered.

The launched wire was not made of metal, but of an extremely high-quality Dragon Sinew, full of elasticity. This strike failed to sever it, and the Dragon Sinew naturally wrapped around the Longsword due to inertia.

The barbed tip of the umbrella pierced through the back of his hand, leaving a trail of blood all the way up his forearm. However, Jiang Feng’s expression remained unchanged, as if the injury was not his own. As the barb penetrated his left hand, he clenched the Dharma Seal.

A sky full of ice rain descended, forcing Yan Fengchun to raise the Vajra Umbrella overhead to fend off the onslaught from above...

Crack!

"What’s going on?"

A flicker of confusion crossed his face.

Because the Vajra Umbrella in his hand suddenly became unresponsive, he instinctively looked over to his opponent and saw the kid, disregarding the wound on his left hand, firmly grasping the tip of the umbrella!

"You..."

He didn’t finish his sentence when a hundred Ice Cones plummeted from the sky. He couldn’t afford to abandon his own Magic Treasure to escape, so he gritted his teeth and wielded the umbrella sword as best as he could to deflect his opponent’s incoming attacks.

While his right hand was swinging, his balance naturally couldn’t be steady. The intense pain from his palm didn’t cause any change in Jiang Feng’s expression, while his eyes burned with intense fighting spirit. With a surge of effort, he felt his legs loosen.

What came into view was the Longsword emanating azure-blue light, descending upon him like a heavy hammer.

"Eat my sword!"