Chapter 8

Bang!

In a lavish room, Yuan An slammed his fist heavily on the wooden table in front of him, making a loud noise. Standing beside him was not Guan Song, whom he had helped, but a young man with a strange, unfamiliar face.

"Guan Song, that good-for-nothing, can't even deal with a crippled Shen Fei. It's truly embarrassing."

The words he spoke through gritted teeth revealed his true feelings. If Shen Fei were there, he would have wondered why this intense enmity came from their first meeting.

Seeing Yuan An's anger, the young man standing beside him suddenly spoke: "Second Master, the information from Lieryun Palace seems a bit off."

Yuan An, clearly somewhat dazed with anger, blankly replied: "Xu Liang, what do you mean by 'off'?"

Xu Liang's eyes flashed with a hint of shrewdness as he pondered and said: "According to Senior Brother Tang Ning's message, Shen Fei's Dantian cultivation is almost non-existent, which is seriously inconsistent with his performance today."

Hearing Xu Liang's words, Yuan An fell into deep thought. After a moment, he slammed his fist on the table again and said resentfully: "I don't care what's strange about that kid; we must complete the task assigned by Senior Brother Tang Ning."

Xu Liang's words did not mean he was going to let it go. Hearing Yuan An's words, he immediately responded: "I have a plan."

Yuan An's eyes lit up at this. He knew very well that Xu Liang was cunning and resourceful. In the room, Yuan An's sinister laughter could be heard from time to time, as if he had forgotten the humiliation Shen Fei had given him.

...

At the same time, in the "Changan Hall" of Changning Sect, several people were seated in a row.

Sitting at the head of the table was a lean old man with a long beard, exuding an aura of a sage. This man was the current sect leader of Changning Sect, Lan Qingfeng. On either side of Lan Qingfeng were the First Elder and Second Elder of Changning Sect.

"Li Mu, is that Shen Fei from Lieryun Palace really just a useless cripple?"

The one who spoke first was the First Elder, Yuan Cheng. Yuan An, who had caused trouble for Shen Fei, was Yuan Cheng's grandson. The tone of the grandfather and grandson was quite similar, and they had no good feelings towards Shen Fei, who had been sent down.

Hearing Yuan Cheng's words, Lan Qingfeng and the Second Elder turned their gaze to Li Mu. His expression was a mix of bewilderment and doubt. He hesitated before speaking: "Sect Leader, this matter seems a bit strange."

"Oh? How strange?"

Hearing Li Mu's tone, Lan Qingfeng became interested. He knew very well about Shen Fei's situation. Shen Fei, the top genius of Lieryun Palace, had once overshadowed the young generations of the royal family and the other two major forces, and could be considered the top young talent of the Wu Yue Empire.

However, such a genius fell from grace, losing his left arm and his cultivation declining day by day, eventually ending up at Changning Sect. Shen Fei's story had become a topic of discussion in the Wu Yue Empire.

But for a Shen Fei who was destined to be useless, Lan Qingfeng did not pay much attention, so he did not meet Shen Fei yesterday but had Li Mu arrange things. Now, Li Mu's words suggested that Shen Fei was not as rumored, and the three of them listened intently.

"Today in the morning, in the training ground..."

Li Mu then detailed the events of the morning in the training ground. When he mentioned that Guan Song, under Yuan An's orders, had been defeated so miserably, the First Elder Yuan Cheng's face darkened.

Compared to the First Elder, Sect Leader Lan Qingfeng's eyes shone with a keen light. He had also received information that Shen Fei had lost all his cultivation and had no Dantian energy at all, but the situation described by Li Mu was seriously inconsistent with this.

What surprised Lan Qingfeng the most was that Li Mu said Shen Fei had not reached the first level of Dantian energy yesterday, but had broken through overnight. When had a disabled person with a broken arm and leg been able to cultivate normally?

As a Great Dantian Realm expert and the sect leader of Changning Sect, Lan Qingfeng was undoubtedly very knowledgeable, but even with his broad knowledge, he could not understand how Shen Fei, who had lost his left arm, could cultivate Dantian energy. This was completely against common sense.

Cultivating Dantian energy required guiding external energy into the body through the brain and heart, and then circulating it through the major meridians of the body for a full cycle before it could be stored in the Dantian.

The prerequisite for this full cycle was that the meridians must be intact. If an arm or a leg was missing, the cycle could not be completed, and external energy could not be stored in the Dantian. This was something everyone in the room understood.

But Li Mu confidently affirmed that Shen Fei had not broken through to the first level of Dantian energy yesterday, which meant that Shen Fei had broken through during his cultivation last night. This bizarre and inexplicable situation made the four people in the room fall into deep thought.

After a long while, the First Elder Yuan Cheng finally spoke: "Sect Leader, should we report this to Lieryun Palace?"

Hearing this, Lan Qingfeng's brows furrowed slightly, and he said: "Not yet. It might just be an accident. Let's observe for a while."

Hearing this, a keen light flashed in Yuan Cheng's eyes, but he did not say more. His position in Changning Sect was somewhat special, as he was not a native of Changning Sect.

As a subordinate force of Lieryun Palace, the higher-ups of Lieryun Palace naturally had to send a trusted person to oversee Changning Sect. Yuan Cheng was that person sent by Lieryun Palace to supervise Changning Sect. With such a special identity, Lan Qingfeng's attitude towards him was somewhat subtle.

The Changan Hall suddenly fell into silence.

...

In the following month, nothing significant happened. After the first day's competition in the training ground, although Yuan An and others still occasionally mocked Shen Fei, they did not take any further action against him.

Three days ago, Shen Fei finally broke through to the second level of Dantian energy, a speed that was quite impressive. When he was still a genius in Lieryun Palace, it took him more than two months to break through from the first to the second level of Dantian energy.

Of course, this was also due to his previous experience in breaking through, but what made him happiest was that after breaking through to the second level of Dantian energy, the pendant space showed three more meridians in his right arm.

However, the display of the second level of the Mortal Body Realm in the space made Shen Fei feel that the Heavenly Residual Demon Technique seemed different from the cultivation techniques on the continent.

The second level of Dantian energy might be more appropriately called the second level of the Mortal Body Realm. After reaching this level, Shen Fei felt a significant increase in his physical strength. The Dantian energy cultivated through his flesh and blood also refined his muscles and bones as it entered his body.

After opening three more meridians, Shen Fei felt that his right arm's strength had reached a very formidable level. He estimated that if he encountered someone like Guan Song again, he could probably kill him with a single punch.

"Hum! Ha!"

On this morning, the training ground was filled with the shouts of Changning Sect disciples. At one moment, a voice suddenly rang out: "Everyone, stop for a moment!"

Hearing this familiar voice, Shen Fei knew it was Yuan An. After a few days of calm, he wondered what trouble he was about to cause.

However, as the second master of the sect, Yuan An's status in Changning Sect was quite high. Hearing his shout, hundreds of young disciples stopped their actions and turned their gazes to Yuan An.

Yuan An seemed to enjoy the attention, but after a cold snort from Lan Bing, he quickly came to his senses and said loudly: "Junior brothers with low-level Dantian energy, please move to the east side of the training ground."

Low-level Dantian energy referred to cultivators below the third level. The Dantian energy stage was divided into three levels: low (1-3), medium (4-6), and high (7-9). Shen Fei was now at the second level of the Mortal Body Realm, which was the second level of Dantian energy, so he also moved to the east side of the training ground with the others.

There were nearly three hundred young disciples in the training ground, and about two-thirds of them were at the low-level Dantian energy stage. About two hundred disciples moved to the east side of the training ground, all staring at Yuan An, eager to see what special arrangements he had for today.

Yuan An walked a few steps to the east and said loudly: "After a decision by the sect leader and the elders, a demon-hunting competition for low-level Dantian energy disciples will be held. Tomorrow morning, you will be divided into groups and enter the outer areas of Ningcheng's Demon Ning Mountain to hunt low-level young spirit demons."

"Demons-hunting competition?"

Hearing this term, Shen Fei was somewhat puzzled, but the other young disciples did not seem surprised. From their discussions, Shen Fei understood the format of the demon-hunting competition.

However, the little fatty, Er Hu, had already come over and said: "Senior Brother Shen Fei, the demon-hunting competition is held every few months. It is a competition set up by the sect to train us young disciples, and people die every time."

"Huh? People die?"

Shen Fei was startled and asked: "Don't we have sect experts protecting us when we enter the mountains to hunt spirit demons?"

Er Hu said: "There are, but accidents can always happen. Spirit demons are extremely ferocious. According to the sect leader and the elders, flowers in a greenhouse will never know the harshness of the outside world. Only through such life-and-death training can one become a true expert."

Er Hu's words were probably something he had memorized from an elder, but Shen Fei nodded in agreement with the meaning. These young generations could not grow up forever under the protection of the sect. This continent was always a place of the strong preying on the weak.

"Hunting spirit demons might not be bad."

With Shen Fei's temperament, he would not reject such life-and-death training. Moreover, having broken through to the second level of the Mortal Body Realm, he wanted to know how strong he had become. Daily sparring with his fellow disciples in the sect could not reveal his true strength.

As the discussions among the crowd gradually quieted down, Yuan An at the head of the table spoke loudly again: "Now we will form groups. The first group: Cheng Tai, Lu Yi, ..."

"The eighteenth group: Shi Xin, Guan Song, ..., Er Hu, Shen Fei!"

Hearing the names of the last group called by Yuan An, a keen light flashed in Shen Fei's eyes. When he looked up at Yuan An, he found that the latter was also staring at him. He saw a clear thread of murderous intent in Yuan An's eyes and realized that this grouping was not without its own ulterior motives.