Chapter 45

"Where did Nie Tian offend you?" An Ying was very puzzled. "I don’t remember him having any conflict with you in the Qing Huan Realm. What do you want with him?"

"I don’t need to explain myself to you." Yuan Feng’s attitude was very strong. "Just give me the person, and we will leave immediately to hunt the Ice Serpent."

After a pause, he coldly snorted and threatened, "Otherwise, don’t blame us for taking advantage of your weakened state and attacking you before you recover!"

"What? You want to start a fight now?" An Ying’s expression also turned sour.

"Exactly!" Yuan Feng said coldly.

An Ying frowned.

After Qin Shun and Zu Fang died, they still had thirteen people, and they had just gone through a brutal battle, barely escaping death.

Even An Ying herself, after some recovery, had only restored about seventy percent of her peak spiritual energy. In this state, she had no confidence in defeating Yuan Feng.

The others were probably in even worse condition. If they were to fight the Gray Valley now, they would most likely be the losing side.

She was weighing the pros and cons in her mind.

As she hesitated, she looked far away at Nie Tian, considering whether he was worth the risk.

"An Ying, Nie Tian isn’t one of us from the Spirit Treasure Pavilion. We don’t need to risk our lives for him, do we?" Zheng Rui, who had just closed his mouth, spoke again in a low voice beside An Ying. "In the Qing Huan Realm, lethal moves are not allowed. Even if Yuan Feng captures Nie Tian, he wouldn’t dare kill him. What do you think?"

The other Spirit Treasure Pavilion trial participants exchanged glances but remained silent.

When Zheng Rui said this, they all showed expressions of agreement.

Clearly, they also believed it wasn’t worth fighting the Gray Valley for an outsider, especially after they had just gone through a bloody battle and hadn’t recovered yet.

If they were to fight the Gray Valley now, they would definitely be the ones to suffer.

Among the group, only Jiang Miao, who had been saved by Nie Tian, looked anxious, gazing pitifully at An Ying and shaking her head.

In addition, Pan Tao’s face was dark, clearly suppressing his anger.

"Do you have a grudge against Yuan Feng?" he asked Nie Tian in a low voice.

Nie Tian’s expression was calm. "I offended a woman from the Yun family in Black Cloud City. Her name is Yuan Qiuying, and she is Yuan Feng’s aunt."

"I see." Pan Tao nodded and suddenly stood up, ready to support him.

At the same time, Nie Tian also stood up abruptly, staring fiercely at Yuan Feng. "What do you want?"

"Nothing much, just to cripple you." Yuan Feng said coldly.

"Come on, then!" Nie Tian took a deep breath, his eyes showing a fierce look.

He made up his mind that if Yuan Feng dared to come over, he would use the angry fist technique he had learned in the other world and strike Yuan Feng immediately.

After a short rest, his spirit had recovered somewhat, and he was confident he could use that technique.

He knew that after one strike, he would have no more strength to fight back, but he also believed that one punch could kill Yuan Feng!

He was never lacking in courage, especially when others were being aggressive; he would never back down.

"What are you? Do you even have the qualifications to fight me one-on-one?" Yuan Feng glanced at him arrogantly. "When you reach the ninth level of Qi Cultivation, you might be worth my attention, and I might lower myself to kill you."

"Are you afraid?" Nie Tian deliberately provoked him.

Yuan Feng didn’t care. He just looked at An Ying and said impatiently, "You are their leader. You wouldn’t risk everyone’s safety for an outsider, would you?"

"Yuan Feng! If you want to touch Nie Tian, you have to go through me first!" Pan Tao said angrily.

"You?" Yuan Feng was taken aback.

Nie Tian turned his head and looked deeply at Pan Tao beside him but didn’t speak.

However, Pan Tao’s attitude clearly influenced An Ying.

An Ying, who had been hesitant, bit her lip and quickly came over.

She stood beside Nie Tian and Pan Tao, holding her long sword and pointing it at Yuan Feng, saying firmly, "If you want to fight, we’ll fight! Who’s afraid of who? If you want to start a fight, we’ll join in!"

"Why is it like this?" Zheng Rui was puzzled, but after An Ying and Pan Tao spoke, he could only passively support them, slowly coming over.

The other trial participants, though unwilling, also understood. Seeing An Ying and Pan Tao’s decision, they all came over.

"An Ying, are you sure you’ve thought this through?" Yuan Feng’s face was cold.

"Sure." An Ying said firmly.

"Are you willing to risk everyone’s safety for an outsider? Do you think it’s worth it?" Yuan Feng asked again.

"Regardless of which side he belongs to outside the Qing Huan Realm, in the Qing Huan Realm, since he is with us, he is one of us!" An Ying waved her long sword and glanced at the others. "If any of you were bullied like this, I would have the same attitude!"

"Fight to the death!"

An Ying shouted.

"Fight!"

"Fight to the death!"

"Fight them to the death!"

The other trial participants, inspired by her words, responded with even louder shouts.

Yuan Feng’s expression changed slightly. He looked deeply at An Ying, Pan Tao, and the other Spirit Treasure Pavilion trial participants, seeing no hesitation or fear in their eyes.

He didn’t know that these people, who had just gone through a bloody battle, were still in the heat of the moment.

They were willing to fight not because of Nie Tian, but because they felt An Ying was being bullied by Yuan Feng and wanted to stand up for her.

"Cousin..." Yun Song whispered a reminder.

The fierce determination of the Spirit Treasure Pavilion group made him uneasy, and he was the first to back down.

Yuan Feng’s expression changed for a moment as he weighed the pros and cons, then suddenly nodded, looking at Nie Tian. "You have a good leader. This time, you’re lucky."

With that, he waved his hand and pointed to the depths of the ice field. "Let’s go!"

He led the way.

The other Gray Valley trial participants also breathed a sigh of relief and followed him.

Soon, the ten Gray Valley trial participants passed by them and disappeared into the ice field.

At this point, the tension in the group finally eased.

"That’s all? He was shouting so fiercely, but he didn’t dare to start a fight?"

"Yuan Feng is just good at talking. Did he think we were afraid of him?"

"Damn, if we hadn’t just fought the Ice Serpent and the Earth Lizard, I would have gone straight for him!"

"Next time we see them, we’ll show them what we’re made of. They really think they’re something."

The group, now relaxed, started to boast, all criticizing Yuan Feng for just putting on a show and not daring to start a real fight.

An Ying, however, took a deep breath and said, somewhat tiredly, "It was actually very dangerous just now. You don’t know Yuan Feng. He’s a madman, capable of anything. Even I had no confidence. I was really afraid he would attack without hesitation."

Pan Tao and Zheng Rui also agreed.

Unlike the other trial participants, they had heard about Yuan Feng after he joined the Gray Valley.

They knew that Yuan Feng was a ruthless person. The reason he didn’t attack this time was probably to avoid exhausting his strength too early, so as not to be at a disadvantage when the Ling Yun Sect and the Misty Palace took advantage of the situation.

"Thanks."

Nie Tian, the main character in this incident, thanked Pan Tao and An Ying and then sat down.

After sitting down, he immediately closed his eyes and forced himself to fall asleep.

He knew that as long as they were in the Qing Huan Realm, no one knew what they would face next.

The only thing he could do was to recover his strength as quickly as possible to deal with any potential conflicts.

"We saved you, and this is your attitude?" Tong Hao said discontentedly.

Nie Tian didn’t even move an eyelid.

"Shouldn’t you thank everyone and then rest? We almost fought the Gray Valley for you!" Tong Hao said angrily.

The other young people, looking at the closed-eyed Nie Tian, also felt dissatisfied.

Zheng Rui’s expression was especially cold and unfriendly.

"Tong Hao, can you shut your mouth?!" Pan Tao said angrily.

Only he knew that the reason Tong Hao was still alive was because of Nie Tian.

Tong Hao’s constant mocking of Nie Tian made him very annoyed, and he wished he could punch Tong Hao’s teeth out.

"Oh, I’ll listen to you, Brother Tao." Tong Hao looked aggrieved.

"Everyone, hurry up and recover. Don’t waste any more time." An Ying scolded.

The group finally quieted down again.

...