10: The life-and-death battle between Chu Feng and Xie Wuwang!

The setting sun, red as blood, cast a dim, yellowish glow over Ten Saints Plaza.

The second assessment was drawing to a close, and Utility Disciples were continuously emerging from the Spirit Medicine Secret Realm.

Many of them had empty hands, not even a bag to hold spirit medicines.

This was not surprising, as all the spirit medicines they had gathered had been stolen, leaving them with nothing, not even their bags.

Xie Wuwang, dressed in a black robe, stood alone on the high platform, his gaze fixed on the entrance to the Secret Realm.

The sun sank inch by inch into the distant mountains, and the halo at the Secret Realm entrance began to flicker unsteadily, with increasingly obvious signs of shrinking, indicating that the Secret Realm was about to close.

Even at this moment, he had not seen the figure he least wanted to see—Chu Feng.

Xie Wuwang’s lips curved slightly upward, suppressing the unease that had risen in his heart due to Wang Fugui’s failure to appear as well.

He stood with his hands behind his back, a cold sneer in his heart.

“Chu Feng, don’t worry, I will take good care of Qingqiu for you.”

Seeing that dozens of disciples had already gathered in the plaza, Xie Wuwang cleared his throat, and his clear voice echoed across the plaza.

“The Secret Realm is about to close, and the second assessment ends here.”

“Given that Elder Wang Fugui has not yet returned, I will preside over the subsequent assessment matters.”

His gaze swept over the crowd, and his brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.

Most of the disciples who had emerged had cultivation levels hovering around Qi Refining Stage One or Two; there wasn't a single one at Qi Refining Stage Three or above.

Where were Li Ergou and his group?

They all had cultivation levels of Qi Refining Stage Three or Four and were the cream of the crop in the Servant Yard; they should have come out long ago, so why were they nowhere to be seen?

Xie Wuwang suppressed a hint of gloom that flashed through his mind; as long as Chu Feng hadn't come out, that was all that mattered.

“Now, all disciples, please come forward one by one and present the spirit medicines you obtained in the Spirit Medicine Secret Realm. The Deacon Disciples will count and appraise them, and rankings will be determined by total value!”

Upon hearing this, the disciples immediately formed a long queue.

The Deacon Disciples busily recorded and evaluated, and the scene was bustling.

After the time it takes for one stick of incense to burn, a preliminary ranking list was respectfully handed to Xie Wuwang.

He glanced at the list; Chu Feng’s name was still not on it.

Looking again, the Secret Realm entrance was already dim, on the verge of completely dissipating.

The overall situation was settled!

Xie Wuwang’s heart settled, and he announced the results.

“For the second assessment, the person ranked first is—”

“Wait a moment!”

Just then, a slightly breathless voice exploded from the nearly closed Secret Realm light gate.

Immediately afterward, Lin Wan rushed out of the Secret Realm, then looked up and shouted hoarsely towards the high platform.

“Deacon Wang Fugui harmed Senior Brother Chu Feng in the Secret Realm; please, Elders of the Academy, quickly go to his rescue!”

As soon as these words came out, it was as if thunder had struck on a clear day.

Everyone looked incredulously at Lin Wan, who had collapsed on the ground, and then their eyes subtly shifted towards Xie Wuwang.

Most of them knew that the Saint Child would definitely make a move against Chu Feng, but they hadn't expected him to send Wang Fugui to act directly within the Secret Realm.

“The Saint Child is disregarding the rules now.”

“Having his beloved woman snatched by a Utility Disciple, and then being publicly ridiculed—if it were me, I wouldn’t let Chu Feng live past today either.”

“Chu Feng is only at Level 5 Qi Refining; his body is probably already cold by now.”

Hearing Lin Wan’s report, Xie Wuwang felt even more at ease.

Like most people, he thought that with Wang Fugui making a move, Chu Feng was surely dead, and even sending people in now would only find Chu Feng’s corpse.

Chu Feng was doomed to die!

However, he still coldly reprimanded.

“How dare you slander an Academy Deacon! Guards, immediately expel this person from the Academy!”

Lin Wan’s eyes widened instantly; not only did Xie Wuwang not send anyone to save Chu Feng, he even wanted to publicly twist right and wrong!

“Every word this disciple says is true! Senior Brother Chu Feng is in mortal danger; I beg all Elders to quickly go and save him!”

The Elders in the Academy looked at each other, but not a single one moved.

Even if Lin Wan’s words were true, Chu Feng was merely a Utility Disciple in the Qi Refining Stage; they had no need to offend the Academy’s Saint Child for such a person.

Xie Wuwang sneered, his voice overriding Lin Wan’s gradually fading cries.

“I announce that for the second assessment, the person ranked first is Zhao Wu, and the reward is an earth vein spirit mushroom!”

Zhao Wu walked onto the high platform, overjoyed, his smile uncontrollable.

He never imagined that he, a Qi Refining Stage Two cultivator, could win first place in the second assessment.

“An earth vein spirit mushroom is a seventh-grade spirit medicine! If I can refine it, I’ll be able to reach Qi Refining Stage Three.”

After Xie Wuwang handed the earth vein spirit mushroom to Zhao Wu, he immediately announced the rules for the third assessment.

“All of you may meditate and comprehend the Ten Saints statues in the plaza. If you can cause a statue to resonate and gain the recognition of a Sage, you will receive the power of that Sage and become the champion.”

As soon as his voice fell, Ten Saints Plaza glowed with brilliant light, and then a grand formation covering the entire plaza condensed.

At the same time, the Ten Saints statues seemed to gain a touch of spiritual charm, and everyone immediately felt a powerful majesty emanating from the statues.

The next moment, a golden character condensed above Zhao Wu’s head.

As long as one’s scholarship could gain the recognition of a Confucian Sage, one could condense one’s own literary energy above their head.

Many scholars wished to join the Academy precisely to prove their scholarship through this method and gain an opportunity to enter officialdom.

One should know that, in the past, anyone who could condense literary energy either became an official in the court, a capable minister governing the world, or remained in the Academy, teaching students far and wide.

At the very least, they would be recruited as strategists by the powerful figures in the imperial court, living a life of comfort and abundance.

Seeing this, everyone was immediately startled.

“Zhao Wu actually condensed literary energy and gained the recognition of the Confucian Sage!”

“To gain the recognition of the Confucian Sage has nothing to do with one’s cultivation or innate talent; one must possess sufficient scholarship.”

“I didn’t expect Zhao Wu, who looks like a brute, to be subtle beneath the rough exterior, with knowledge in his belly.”

The Confucian Sage statue vibrated slightly, and a wisp of faint golden Sage power surged into Zhao Wu’s body.

Zhao Wu’s entire body trembled, feeling a surge of immense power gathering in his Dantian.

The next moment, his cultivation actually broke through directly to Qi Refining Stage Three.

“I’ve broken through! I’ve broken through!”

Seeing this, Xie Wuwang loudly proclaimed.

“The third assessment begins—”

Thump!

He was only halfway through his sentence when a human head flew out of the Secret Realm, landing right at his feet.

Xie Wuwang stared at the head at his feet, as if struck by lightning.

Those terrified eyes seemed to be telling him how terrifying Chu Feng was.

He couldn't understand how a Golden Core Stage cultivator could die at the hands of a Qi Refining Stage cultivator.

Boom!

Upon seeing the head, everyone was in an uproar.

“The head that just flew past... it looked like Deacon Wang’s.”

“Deacon Wang is dead? Who could have killed him?”

“Look, that’s Chu Feng!”

The Secret Realm entrance had shrunk to a mere crack just wide enough for one person. The moment Chu Feng rushed out, a spatial ripple appeared behind him, and the entrance completely closed.

The instant he landed, Chu Feng abruptly looked up at the high platform.

“Xie Wuwang, do you dare to fight me to the death?!”

As soon as these words came out, everyone was instantly in an uproar!

“Chu Feng actually dares to challenge the Saint Child!”

“The Saint Child is in the Golden Core Stage; is Chu Feng crazy?”

“Could it be that he obtained some heaven-defying opportunity in the Secret Realm?”

When Lin Wan saw that figure from afar, she was completely stunned.

Not only was Chu Feng still alive, but he had even killed Wang Fugui?!

The moment this thought popped into her head, she herself found it absurd.

“Senior Brother Chu, how many secrets do you still hide?”

Hearing Chu Feng’s challenge to a life-and-death battle, Xie Wuwang quickly recovered his composure.

Although Chu Feng hadn’t died in the Secret Realm, if the other party was seeking death, then he couldn’t be blamed.

“Chu Feng, how dare you murder an Academy Deacon!”

With that, spiritual energy surged around him, and the pressure of Golden Core Stage One instantly enveloped the entire plaza.

“Today, I shall cleanse the Academy of its impurities. This battle will not only determine superiority but also life and death!”

As soon as his voice fell, a sudden change occurred!

A golden character materialized from emptiness, as if a Sage wielded a brush, engraving it in the void, and brilliant light condensed above Chu Feng’s head.

Immediately afterward, golden lights, one after another, condensed above his head.

That was his literary energy; five millennia of brilliant cultural essence suddenly bloomed at this moment.

“The human heart is perilous, the Dao heart is subtle; be pure and undivided, uphold the mean.”

“Mind is principle, extend innate knowledge, unity of knowledge and action.”

“To establish a mind for Heaven and Earth, to establish a destiny for the living, to carry on the lost teachings of past Sages, and to create peace for all generations!”

...Buzz—

The Confucian Sage statue violently vibrated, a golden pillar of light shot into the sky, and the power of the Sage surged endlessly into Chu Feng’s body like a mighty river!