As the crowd eagerly placed their bets on his defeat, Chu Xiu maintained a calm exterior, though inside he was laughing heartily. Those who often consider others fools are the true fools themselves.
Wait... Chu Xiu paused, realizing he might have also considered them fools. But he quickly reassured himself that he was no fool.
Upon reflection, he understood that there were no fools here, only a group of ordinary cultivators bound by the fixed cultivation mindset of their predecessors.
In the eyes of ordinary cultivators, someone in the Foundation Establishment Realm couldn't possibly defeat someone in the Wheel Sea Realm, and someone in the Wheel Sea Realm couldn't stand against someone in the Divine Bridge Realm. Especially since "Chu Xiu" bore the title of a useless senior brother. Even though he had previously struggled to defeat Zhang Meng, the gamblers would attribute it to "Chu Xiu" having good luck and Zhang Meng being careless.
The disciples from various peaks, having placed their bets, exchanged glances, their eyes clearly conveying the same thought — this bet was a sure win.
Chu Xiu even noticed a Divine Bridge Realm disciple gritting his teeth as he bet his only weapon, a Profound Blade. A late-stage Wheel Sea Realm disciple tearfully bet a pair of Profound-Grade Boots, enduring the pain for a share of the spoils.
The biggest bettor this time was still Jian Lingyun. He sneered as he threw in his last 400,000 high-grade Essence Stones, along with a set of Profound-Grade Armor and several fourth-tier talismans. He didn't believe Chu Xiu could stir up any trouble this time.
"Do you have confidence, Senior Brother?" Taoyao asked through a secret voice transmission. Chu Xiu nodded.
"Then I'm relieved."
"Junior Sister, aren't you placing a bet?"
Taoyao stuck out her tongue and smiled sweetly, "I'll leave the winnings to you, Senior Brother."
Chu Xiu understood that she didn't care for these things, including the Seventh-Grade Celestial Profound Pill.
"The bets are tallied.
According to the wager, Cloudmist Peak's chief true disciple, Chu Xiu, must produce a bottle of seventh-tier supreme Celestial Profound Pills, totaling six pills.
The total value of all the disciples' bets, treasures, and Heavenly and Earthly Treasures present reaches 10 million high-grade Essence Stones.
I declare the wager established, with Heaven's Punishment Peak overseeing the fairness of this duel."
As the elder from Heaven's Punishment Peak finished speaking, the scene fell silent. All eyes turned to Chu Xiu, their expressions varied — greed, mockery, anticipation, ridicule, and cold detachment.
This waste must die. He's doomed. If I can win a Celestial Profound Pill, my fire-based Divine Ability will be near perfection.
"Cloudmist Peak's Chu Xiu, Heavenly Sword Peak's Chen Linfei, step onto the Life-and-Death Platform," a late-stage Divine Ability elder from Heaven's Punishment Peak announced loudly.
With a hum, the longsword on Chen Linfei's back unsheathed itself, flying horizontally beneath his feet. He stepped onto the sword and flew to the Life-and-Death Arena, his white robes fluttering gracefully, like a sword immortal.
"Go, Senior Brother!" Taoyao shouted.
Xu Tianzhen's clear eyes also focused on Chu Xiu.
Chu Xiu nodded, flicked his black robe, and leaped down.
A black meteor crashed onto the platform with a thunderous roar, his body straight as a javelin, his black robe embroidered with golden clouds billowing, his thick black hair whipped back by the fierce wind, the stone slabs within a ten-meter radius beneath his feet shattering inch by inch.
"What a powerful physique," a young man in a Pill Peak true disciple robe muttered to himself, witnessing the scene.
The ground trembled.
The arena formation activated, a white light barrier descending.
Chu Xiu and Chen Linfei faced each other from a thousand meters apart.
"Brother Chen, kill him."
"Junior Brother Chen, Chu Xiu is Cloudmist Peak's chief true disciple. If you kill him, the master will surely reward you handsomely."
"Kill, kill, kill~"
The surrounding cheers and encouragement did not cause Chen Linfei's expression to waver in the slightest.
His eyes, sharp as swords, fixed on Chu Xiu, "Senior Brother Chu Xiu, admit defeat! I don't want to kill you."
Chu Xiu remained expressionless, his right hand resting on the hilt of the Azure Blood Sword.
"Initially, I had no intention of stepping onto the platform. Do you know why I did?"
Chen Linfei didn't rush to attack.
"Why?" Chu Xiu seemed interested, taking steps toward him.
Chen Linfei was indifferent, seeing no threat in Chu Xiu, who was at the fourth layer of the Wheel Sea Realm. He could kill him at any moment if he wished.
He was speaking so much because he feared that if he killed Chu Xiu, Cloudmist Peak's Lord Qi Mengdie would retaliate.
If Chu Xiu sensibly admitted defeat, everyone would be happy.
If Chu Xiu was foolish and got killed, Qi Mengdie would have no excuse to trouble him.
"My junior sister was severely injured on a mission.
She needs a very precious Heavenly and Earthly Treasure to save her life, and Brother Lingyun has it.
So, for my junior sister's sake, I had no choice but to fight for Lingyun.
I can only apologize. Blades and swords have no eyes. If you die, don't blame me," Chen Linfei said calmly, as if stating a fact, exuding an air of arrogance.
"A touching story."
With a hum and a clang, Chu Xiu, a hundred meters away from Chen Linfei, suddenly drew his sword and charged.
The Profound-Grade Movement Technique — Shadow Step circulated around him, gathering in his legs, creating seven afterimages. In an instant, a breathtakingly beautiful blood-colored sword shadow, like the setting sun, aimed straight for Chen Linfei's neck.
It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from "pawread dot com".
Such speed...
Such a fast sword!!
The disciples in the audience gasped.
"The Profound-Grade Movement Technique — Shadow Step, cultivated to seven afterimages, is at Great Perfection."
"His Profound-Grade Three Azure Edge Forms are also perfected."
Chen Linfei's neck hairs stood on end, his face twitching, cursing Chu Xiu for being shameless and attacking while he was speaking.
No time to think, he had to block this sword, or he would surely die. At this moment, he dared not underestimate Chu Xiu in the slightest!!
With a clang, at the last moment, Chen Linfei's azure-blue Profound-Grade Longsword barely blocked Chu Xiu's lethal strike, brushing against his neck.
As he exhaled in relief, a drop of cold sweat fell from his cheek onto the tip of the blood-colored longsword, splashing into a crystal-clear water flower.
Just as he relaxed, Chu Xiu's narrow eyes reflected a hint of blood, his sword shifting from a horizontal slash to a direct thrust, aiming at Chen Linfei's heart from an extremely tricky angle.
The speed of the sword move change was astonishing.
Even though Chen Linfei twisted his body as much as possible, his chest was still pierced with a bloody hole.
Blood spurted, but fortunately, it didn't hit his heart, narrowly avoiding death.
Did Chen Linfei still want to pull back and counterattack?
That was wishful thinking.
In a fight with Chu Xiu, one slow step meant every step was slow.
Having spent seventy of his hundred years on the Firmament Continent in battles, fighting in countless wars, his almost perverse combat instincts were ingrained in his bones and soul.
Just as Chen Linfei attempted to use his movement technique to distance himself, Chu Xiu closed in, his legs exerting force, sinking three inches into the ground. His left arm bent into a human-shaped bow, his body leaning back to the extreme, his fist like Hou Yi shooting the sun, creating shockwave ripples, the air wailing, as he punched Chen Linfei's chest.
With a bang, crack, crack, crack, the sound of bones shattering made the watching disciples wince, their teeth aching.
Chen Linfei spat out blood mixed with fragments of his organs.
His back bones protruded, his once handsome white robe shredded into fluttering butterflies.
He flew like a ragdoll, crashing into the arena formation's light barrier with a thunderous boom, falling to the ground and rolling a few times.
Chu Xiu, possessing the Archaic Sacred Body, had terrifying physical strength.
Taking such a fearsome punch head-on, Chen Linfei's chest cavity and all his organs were turned to mush.
Lying on the ground, his face covered in blood, Chen Linfei struggled to rise, but his eyes gradually dimmed, life leaving him completely.
"Remember, the villain dies from talking too much," Chu Xiu sheathed his sword, glancing at the twisted corpse in the distance, a chilling smile curling his lips.
"That's why I generally don't like to waste words."
From the moment they stepped onto the platform to the start of the fight, only twenty breaths had passed.
From Chu Xiu drawing his sword to Chen Linfei's death, it was less than ten breaths.
Everyone had expected Chu Xiu to be crushed.
Who would have thought that the one crushed would be Chen Linfei, who was nearly a whole realm higher?
Silence~
Around the Life-and-Death Arena, all the watching disciples were speechless.
Proofreader & Editor: Peter Pan