Chapter 40

Chapter 40 Huang Chang’s Challenge

Long Chen raised his head to look and saw a powerful man standing atop the center of the martial arena and cupping his fist in all directions .

He didn’t recognize this young man . But as soon as he had got on the stage, the crowd had cheered . It appeared he was somewhat famous .

At this time, Long Chen noticed that even outside the plaza there were countless people . Back before the lanterns were lit there had been an area reserved only for the nobility, but now it was open to everyone .

There were no restrictions on status for the battle over the number one junior warrior . Looking at where the Empress Dowager was watching the battles, he noticed there were many more people over there as well . Amongst them was Manhuang Hou .

Those people tended to be on the older side, but their bodies were still surging with strength . They were Blood Condensation cultivators and faint killing intent came from their bodies . They were clearly true experts .

Long Chen was sizing those people up when another burst of cheering rang out . A man jumped up tens of meters and lightly landed on the martial arena, his figure appearing extremely at ease and confident .

“So it’s Feng Yang!” Shi Feng was somewhat amazed when he saw that person .

“What, do you know him?” asked Long Chen .

“Yup, he’s the same age as me . He joined the army two years ago . At that time he was just at the third Heavenstage of Qi Condensation, but now he’s at the eighth Heavenstage . ”

To jump five minor realms in just a short two years truly was shocking to people .

“It’s not surprising . After joining the army, he must have gone through several missions and survived many life and death situations . This kind of speed is normal under those circumstances . ” Long Chen nodded .

“This Feng Yang is really not bad . Although his cultivation base isn’t high, that trace of killing intent on his body isn’t something those people who grew up coddled can handle . ”

While Long Chen and Shi Feng were talking, Feng Yang had already took action and it truly was just as Long Chen said it would be .

Although the person who had come up ahead of him looked strong and had a similar cultivation base to Feng Yang, his true combat ability was a far cry from Feng Yang’s, and he was defeated in less than ten exchanges .

“On the martial path, just having a higher cultivation base doesn’t mean you have a higher combat ability . Sometimes just an unstoppable attitude will make the opponent afraid of you and lose confidence . This will lead to their battle strength going down . That’s why the further you walk along the martial path, the more you require a strong martial heart . This will allow you to overcome your obstacles and be undaunted by setbacks . ” Long Chen patted Shi Feng’s shoulder .

“I know . I can die, but I cannot surrender . ” Shi Feng nodded .

Long Chen smiled . Shi Feng’s talent was limited and his cultivation path would be rough . But if he kept a steadfast heart, he really might be able to pull off a miracle one day .

Feng Yang consecutively beat three strong opponents before finally ending up exhausted . In the end he was sent flying by someone and had no choice but to concede .

“I’m going up now . ”

“Oh, this early? Are you going to be able to handle it?” Long Chen was a bit flabbergasted .

“I consider this contest a kind of training for myself . The results aren’t important . Instead I need to firm my martial heart,” smiled Shi Feng .

“Nice brother Shi . We’ll all be rooting for you from here!” Fatty Yu was especially excited and the rest of them all wanted to see Shi Feng win .

“You got this!” Long Chen patted his shoulders .

“Shi Feng has come to ask advice!”

Following Shi Feng’s shout, it was like thunder had clapped through the plaza and the entire crowd emitted a huge cheer . Obviously Shi Feng was pretty famous within the younger generation of the capital .

Fatty Yu and the others’ yells were drowned out by a flood of cheering . It was so loud that they couldn’t even hear their own voices . They looked at each other in dismay and awkwardness .

Shi Feng’s face was dark and reserved . As he stood atop the stage, he gave people a sensation of being a large mountain that no man could shake .

He was fighting a ninth Heavenstage Qi Condensation expert, but when that person saw Shi Feng, he immediately turned into a statue .

“Come at me; I’ll only use the power of the ninth Heavenstage of Qi Condensation . ” Shi Feng smiled slightly .

That person naturally couldn’t help becoming angry at that provocation . Everyone was watching them, which put him on the spot .

“Hmph, who asked for your help!”

That person stamped on the ground and a punch came smashing towards Shi Feng . But Shi Feng didn’t even deign to look at it .

“Isn’t this Shi Feng too arrogant?”

Just as people thought Shi Feng had a huge ego, that person suddenly sent out a second punch towards his lower abdomen; the first one had actually been just a feint .

A large palm met that punch . Shi Feng grabbed onto that person’s fist and started to apply some force .

“Time for you to go . ”

That person let out a startled cry as his body flew a dozen meters through the air . Eventually he fell flat on his face .

After landing, he spit out some dirt and cursed a couple times . He turned to leave, deciding to not even look at the rest of the battles .

“Brother Shi is formidable!”

Fatty Yu and the others took advantage of this time and shouted out this slogan . Following their shout, the crowd loudly cheered .

These cheers contained countless young maidens’ cries as well . Long Chen smiled; no wonder so many people wanted to go up to fight . This was the best way for men to attract women .

Suddenly Long Chen sensed a gaze coming at him from the seats above . Looking up, he saw that Chu Yao was staring at him .

He smiled and winked at her, causing her to immediately turn red and quickly lower her head . But joy filled her eyes .

But neither Long Chen nor Chu Yao noticed that these small movements of theirs had been noticed by another person .

Xia Changfeng’s face was ashen, and he suddenly whispered to a person beside him, “How was your scouting? Did you find his bottom line?”

“Your servant tested him . His cultivation base is extremely strange and his true level could not be found . However in terms of combat ability, he does not surpass early Blood Condensation,” whispered that person .

If Long Chen were there, he would have immediately recognized this person’s voice as being the person who had fake attempted to assassinate him .

“Hmph, that’s good . Huang Chang, you must kill him today . Do your best not to disclose too much hidden strength,” coldly ordered Xia Changfeng .

This Huang Chang was one of his bodyguards, the man with the scar on his face . Huang Chang cruelly smiled, “Don’t worry master; he definitely won’t survive the night . ”

Bang!

It went without saying that Shi Feng who had reached the Blood Condensation realm was unstoppable . He defeated eighteen people in a row, filling the crowd with excitement .

The last two people were also Blood Condensation experts, but in terms of combat strength, they were quite a bit weaker than him .

After all, Shi Feng had received Long Chen’s assistance when breaking through to Blood Condensation, so his foundation was much firmer than the others, giving him a great advantage .

After defeating the last Blood Condensation expert, Shi Feng shouted out three times, but no one further came up .

According to the rules of the battle, the title of the Phoenix Cry’s number one junior warrior had already landed within Shi Feng’s lap .

Under the enthusiastic cries of the entire crowd, Shi Feng walked over to the Empress Dowager and kneeled . The Empress Dowager bestowed upon him a jade medal and gave him a few encouraging words .

When he returned back down to the martial stage, the crowd became even more impassioned, and countless maidens surged over there, throwing flower loops over to Shi Feng’s neck .

Each of those flower loops had been personally made by those maidens . It was a token for men they admired . If that man picked it up, then it meant the man accepted the maiden’s heart .

Each flower loop had the maiden’s name sewn onto it, so the man could easily figure out whose it was . The stronger a man was within the Phoenix Cry Empire, the more wives and concubines he would have . So a great deal of maidens would prefer to marry a man who had many wives rather than be the first wife of a mediocre man .

When Shi Feng returned, his body was covered with flower loops and only his head could be seen . He could barely see where he was going .

“Haha, congratulations Shi Feng!” Long Chen couldn’t help laughing at that comical sight .

“This time you’ve struck rich Shi Feng!” Shou Hou was filled with admiration .

“Hmph, what riches . Shi Feng isn’t some peddler . But brother Shi, make sure to get your affairs in order when you go back . No matter what, you have to pick a couple good wives,” laughed Fatty Yu .

By giving those flower loops to him, those maidens had all expressed their willingness to marry him . As long as he assented and he gave them a betrothal gift, they could immediately proceed to the wedding . It was extremely convenient .

Shi Feng turned red and said, “I was only able to do this because of Long Chen’s assistance . How about we split these flower rings between us?”

Everyone choked when they heard that . Only Shi Feng would think of trying to divvy up such a thing .

Seeing everyone laugh, Shi Feng also realized what he had said . He played dumb, causing people to laugh even harder .

Normally this would signify the end of the lantern festival, but just as people were preparing to leave, Xia Changfeng suddenly laughed:

“That battle just now truly was marvelous . But I still feel as if we haven’t had our fill yet . I have a proposal, but I don’t know whether it’s appropriate . ”

The Empress Dowager frowned slightly . Too many things had occurred today, and she didn’t want new ones . But Xia Changfeng was a guest, so the Empress Dowager could not easily contradict him . “You can say what you want prince Xia . ”

“In order to add more fun, I’ll also send a youngster from my side to exchange blows with your Phoenix Cry’s top talent . Let’s compare and see which is stronger,” laughed Xia Changfeng .

Before the Empress Dowager could say anything, Wei Cang interrupted, “The Grand Xia and the Phoenix Cry Empire are like a family and it’s just a friendly competition . I doubt the Empress Dowager would refuse . ”

The Empress Dowager only sighed in anger . They were clearly using their words to trap her . If she didn’t agree, that would offend Wei Cang .

“Then we’ll listen to grandmaster so we can see the grace of the Grand Xia’s men . But I still don’t know who is going on to the stage?”

“Huang Chang, you go . Remember to go easy and not ruin our friendship . ” Xia Changfeng waved his hand .

“Yes . ”

Huang Chang stepped lightly on the ground and he shot through the air like a huge bird, gently landing on the stage .

“Grand Xia’s Huang Chang inviting any Phoenix Cry geniuses to exchange pointers . ” Huang Chang cupped his hands .

“Is this a mistake? You already look so old, yet you act like a youth? Isn’t your skin a bit too thick?” Long Chen fed some words to Shou Hou who shouted them out .

Huang Chang smiled . “I’m only nineteen this year . I have official documents that confirm this, and everyone from the Grand Xia knows this . ”

The crowd relaxed at his words . Some people simply did age a bit faster .

“Young master Long, I’ve heard rumors of your strength since arriving at the capital . I truly admire you . Do I have the qualifications to swap pointers with young master?” Huang Chang cupped his hands towards Long Chen .

Everyone’s gaze lit up at his words, and the crowd immediately began to cheer .

“Long Chen!”

“Long Chen!”

“Long Chen!”

Their shouts were surging waves that completely impassioned everyone’s blood and countless fervent glances landed on Long Chen .