Chapter 44: Encounter

Outside the hunting grounds, as a figure was teleported out, the numerous geniuses who had already been eliminated cast their gazes over.

"It's Tang Xuan!"

"According to intelligence, Tang Xuan is qualified to contend for the top ten of the hunt?"

"How could he possibly be eliminated?"

"Could it be that he ran into Xiamang?"

Most of these geniuses wore expressions of utter disbelief.

Top-tier geniuses like Tang Xuan, who had the qualifications to vie for the top ten of the hunt, were supposed to be able to walk sideways even when alone in the hunting grounds.

To eliminate him?

In the eyes of these geniuses, only Xiamang, who was universally acknowledged to be guaranteed a spot in the top three, had the qualifications to achieve such a feat.

After being eliminated, Tang Xuan did not linger on the plains and instead returned directly to the imperial capital.

The Tang family was also a top-tier influential clan in the Tianyan Dynasty, and in terms of heritage and strength, they were not the slightest bit weaker than the Situ family.

"Young Master!"

"Young Master!"

As Tang Xuan returned to the Tang estate, everyone he passed bowed respectfully.

"What is going on? Shouldn't the Young Master be in the hunt? I heard it's still two days away from the end of the first stage of the hunt. Why is the Young Master back so soon? Could it be... has the Young Master been eliminated?"

"How is that possible? With the Young Master's strength, it's only the first stage of the hunt; who could possibly have the ability to eliminate him?"

Inside the Tang estate, voices buzzed with discussion.

"Scram!"

"Get out of my sight, all of you!"

Tang Xuan rebuked the maidservants and attendants who came forward to serve him, and then locked himself alone in his room.

He sat cross-legged with his eyes closed for a long time before finally opening them again.

"Hah!"

Exhaling lightly, Tang Xuan's mood calmed down slightly.

"I knew very well that the Tianyan Dynasty, with its thirty-six provinces and hundreds of millions of subjects, would naturally have countless geniuses. With my strength, trying to truly break into the top ten of the hunt would be extremely difficult. Still, I never expected that right at the very beginning, in just the first stage of the hunt, I would be eliminated!"

"Duan Yunfeng, and that sword-wielding powerhouse at the great completion of the Sea-Realm..."

Tang Xuan clenched his fists tightly, feeling deeply resentful and unwilling, yet entirely helpless.

Regardless of whether it was Duan Yunfeng or Su Xin, their strength was indeed much greater than his.

Let alone the two of them joining forces.

"This hunt ends here for me."

"Now, I have two choices. First, directly break through to the Void-Realm, rely on my family's resources to find ways to enhance my strength, and then go out for experiential training."

"Second, wait another five years until the next hunt is held. My strength will be even greater by then, and my certainty of securing a top-ten finish will be very high."

Tang Xuan weighed his options.

He was only thirty-four years old this year, and in five years he would only be thirty-nine, still eligible to participate in the imperial capital hunt.

As for the Void-Realm... geniuses like him had long since met the conditions for a breakthrough and could easily advance with just a little time.

Yet, to breakthrough like this was something he was truly unwilling to accept.

After all, although the Tang family was a top clan with certain resources, they were simply incomparable to the Tianyan Palace.

That was the true sacred martial training ground of the entire Tianyan Dynasty. Disciples who entered the Tianyan Palace to cultivate, as long as they did not perish midway, were destined to become peak powerhouses within the Void-Realm in the future. Every single one of them possessed immense strength, and they even had a very high probability of challenging the Nirvana-Realm.

Relying solely on the Tang family's resources and his own efforts, the probability of him breaking through to the Nirvana-Realm was virtually negligible.

"In that case, I will wait!"

"I'll wait another five years!"

Tang Xuan made up his mind.

"Duan Yunfeng, and that sword-wielding Sea-Realm great completion cultivator—the strength of those two will definitely allow them to enter the top ten of this hunt and subsequently cultivate within the Tianyan Palace. They may have a head start compared to me, but the path of cultivation is fraught with immense dangers and hardships; anything can happen."

"The two of you are stronger than me now, but my future achievements might not necessarily fall short of yours."

...

Inside the hunting grounds, Su Xin and Duan Yunfeng were in high spirits.

"Su Xin, with you and me joining forces as brothers, we are simply invincible in these hunting grounds. Although this Tang Xuan's strength couldn't compare to ours, encountering him in later stages of the hunt would still have been quite troublesome. Yet now, he has been eliminated by us in advance." Duan Yunfeng wore a smile, having already started addressing Su Xin as a brother.

Su Xin was more than happy to oblige.

Although Duan Yunfeng had a somewhat eccentric temper and acted as he pleased, his character was straightforward and free of underhanded schemes, making him exceptionally well-suited to be a friend and brother.

"Right now, I'm actually really looking forward to running into that Xiamang in these hunting grounds. When that happens, with you and me joining forces as brothers, we must eliminate him as well," Duan Yunfeng said.

With the strength the two of them possessed, there were very few geniuses in this hunt who could truly pose a threat to them, but Xiamang was undoubtedly the strongest among them.

"These hunting grounds are too vast. With only two days left, it's simply too difficult for us to run into him," Su Xin said.

Inside the hunting grounds, as a figure was sent out...

"Let's try our luck," Duan Yunfeng chuckled.

The two of them continued to search for prey in the surrounding area.

Meanwhile, just as they eliminated Tang Xuan, a barefooted, big-bellied monk with gigantic Buddhist prayer beads hanging around his neck had already arrived in this region.

"It's been almost three days, and I've searched most of these hunting grounds, yet I still haven't been able to run into that Situ Yu. My luck as a poor monk is truly abysmal."

"Sigh, this errand is simply too bitter."

The monk grumbled while wandering around the area.

Not long after, the monk sensed the presence of two people through his token.

"Two more benefactors have arrived. Hopefully, these two benefactors know the whereabouts of that Situ Yu."

The monk immediately strode forward to meet them.

...

"Su Xin, someone is coming."

"Just one person?"

Su Xin and Duan Yunfeng also sensed the other's presence and immediately moved to meet them.

Soon, the two parties crossed paths.

"Oh, a big monk?" Duan Yunfeng smiled.

"This big monk didn't immediately turn tail and flee upon seeing you?" Su Xin, however, frowned slightly.

Earlier, they had only sensed each other without a direct encounter, so it was normal for the other party to step forward. But now that they had actually met face-to-face, the monk surely must have recognized Duan Yunfeng, yet he showed not the slightest intention of fleeing. Su Xin couldn't even detect a hint of nervousness on the monk's face.

Furthermore, as the distance closed, Su Xin instinctively felt a formidable pressure emanating from the big monk.

"Duan Yunfeng, be careful. This big monk's strength is likely not weak," Su Xin warned.

"Care whether he's strong or weak? I'll just kill him first and figure it out later." Duan Yunfeng remained entirely unconcerned.

With his strength, the geniuses in this hunt who could make him wary could be counted on one hand, including Xiamang. Now that he had joined forces with Su Xin, he truly feared no one.

Swish!

Duan Yunfeng leaped forward, taking the initiative to charge ahead. The long saber in his hand traced a dazzling trajectory through the void.

The blade light was brilliant, carrying astonishing momentum and intent as it slashed directly toward the big monk's head.

An intensely warm and gentle smile hung on the monk's face. Seeing the incoming blade light, his expression did not change in the slightest, and the stone staff in his hand lashed out like lightning.

No fancy techniques whatsoever!

It was just such a casual, ordinary smash with his staff.

It felt as though he were simply swatting at a fly.

Yet the next moment... Rumble!!

Terrifying might erupted, and the blade light unleashed by Duan Yunfeng instantly shattered. Along with it, his entire body transformed into a shooting star, crashing directly into the forest behind him.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

A succession of impact sounds rang out, each collision accompanied by a tree bursting apart from the center and kicking up massive clouds of dust. Duan Yunfeng was completely swallowed by that haze of dust.

"How is that possible?" Su Xin was dumbfounded.

That was Duan Yunfeng they were talking about! A genuine fiend who undoubtedly possessed top-ten combat power in this hunt.

Yet he had been casually swatted away by a single strike of a staff, just like driving away a fly.

Whoosh!

Like a teleportation without making the slightest sound, the robustly built big monk suddenly appeared right in front of Su Xin.

Using the same stone staff and devoid of any fancy techniques, he delivered another casual smash straight at Su Xin.

Su Xin reacted instantly, launching his counterattack.

"Momentum like thunder and fire!"

A savage sword strike, laden with dense sword intent and overwhelming momentum, collided head-on with the incoming stone staff.

Clang!

For just a split second, Su Xin felt a wave of numbness run through his arm. A terrifying, massive force traveled along his long sword into his body, sending him flying backward through the air.

Bang!

Su Xin likewise slammed into a tree trunk. Although the trunk immediately fractured, it did not instantly shatter and collapse.

Feeling the pain in his back from the impact, Su Xin's heart was already churning with towering waves.

"Too strong!"

"This physical strength not only completely transcends the scope of the Sea-Realm, but even many early Void-Realm powerhouses fall far short of him in terms of sheer strength."

"Mid Void-Realm! Yes, purely in terms of physical strength, it is definitely comparable to a mid Void-Realm powerhouse!"

Su Xin stared fixedly at the big monk standing before him, who still wore his cordial smile.

He had previously crossed swords with the mid Void-Realm powerhouse Zhao Tian雷 (Zhao Tianlei), so he was well aware of the power possessed by a mid Void-Realm expert.

Whether it was him or Duan Yunfeng, when erupting with full force, their strength at best only barely reached the threshold of the Void-Realm. Compared to this big monk, the gap was glaringly obvious.

"Duan Yunfeng, are you alright?" Su Xin glanced sideways.

Duan Yunfeng struggled to pull himself back up to his feet.

Hearing Su Xin's question, he turned his head and gave Su Xin a look of utter bewilderment.

Clearly, that single staff strike just moments ago had rattled his wits somewhat.

"Brother, who on earth have we run into? Is it Xiamang?" Duan Yunfeng asked.

"It's not Xiamang, but perhaps... someone even stronger than Xiamang!" Su Xin stared at the big monk ahead, his expression turning grave with an unprecedented intensity.

"You two benefactors have rather decent strength," the big monk said with a smile.

He wasn't mocking them.

Over the past three days, he had encountered countless geniuses within these hunting grounds, yet not a single person had been able to take a single blow from his staff without being eliminated.

Yet both Su Xin and Duan Yunfeng had taken it and stayed in the hunt.

"Duan Yunfeng, we'll need to go all out for this fight," Su Xin said solemnly.

"Mn." Duan Yunfeng nodded heavily, having clearly regained his composure.

"I'll engage him in head-on combat while you provide support from the side and look for an opportunity to strike his vital points," Su Xin instructed.

"You're going head-on with him? Are you sure?" Duan Yunfeng gave Su Xin a strange look.

Judging by the sheer power the big monk had just unleashed, Duan Yunfeng wouldn't dare go toe-to-toe with him in a frontal clash for all the tea in China.

"There shouldn't be any problem," Su Xin replied.

"Alright then." Duan Yunfeng nodded.

Rumble!

Su Xin made his move.

The instant he struck, the bloodline power within his body—which he had kept suppressed to at most fifty percent from the start of the hunt until now—was instantly unleashed to seventy percent!

With his cultivation base combined with the peculiar nature of his bloodline inheritance arts, fifty percent of his bloodline power was already enough to let his explosive strength rival a peak Sea-Realm cultivator. Once seventy percent of his bloodline power was unleashed, his explosive strength instantly crossed completely into the threshold of the Void-Realm.

In terms of swordsmanship, Su Xin also pushed his might and intent to their absolute limits.

His thunder-and-fire-like swordsmanship, feral and extreme to the highest degree, slashed straight toward the big monk head-on.

Duan Yunfeng moved like a phantom, a layer of crimson light suddenly washing over his body as he too employed certain techniques to violently spike his strength.

Short of pushing their bloodline powers to their absolute maximums, Su Xin and Duan Yunfeng had both exhausted every ounce of their capabilities.

Meanwhile, the big monk remained smiling amiably, his stone staff once again sweeping out without any superfluous techniques.

Bang!

The big monk's staff collided with Su Xin's long sword once more, but this time, Su Xin's body merely shuddered slightly before he immediately pressed the attack again.

"The first level of Sword Intent?"

A trace of surprise flashed in the big monk's eyes.

comprehension of intent was divided into three levels from shallow to deep, and achieving even just the first level was something only the absolute peak tier of experts within the Void-Realm could accomplish.

Out of the nearly one hundred thousand geniuses in this hunt, Xiamang was the only known individual whose comprehension of intent had reached the first level.

Yet at this moment, the intent contained within the swordsmanship Su Xin had just displayed clearly surpassed into the first level.

"Haha!!"

The big monk laughed aloud, the speed of his stone staff accelerating frantically as he clashed and exchanged blows with Su Xin again and again in a frenzy, while Su Xin refused to yield an inch.

Right at that moment, Duan Yunfeng erupted.

Wielding his long saber, his blade light was bizarre, tricky, and immensely formidable. At first, the big monk was able to parry it, but Duan Yunfeng's blade techniques grew faster and more erratic by the second.

Gradually, even the big monk found it difficult to fend off.

Finally, Duan Yunfeng found an opening.

"Big monk, let me send you on your way!"

Duan Yunfeng smiled coldly, a dazzling blade light slashing directly toward the big monk's head. In order to cope with Su Xin's relentless swordsmanship, the big monk was unable to swing his staff to block this incoming blade light.

However, at that very instant, a hazy layer of golden light abruptly materialized across the surface of the big monk's skin.

Clang!

Duan Yunfeng's long saber cleaved into that layer of golden light, producing a crisp metallic clashing sound. The big monk even turned his head, playfully blinking at Duan Yunfeng.

"What the hell..."

Duan Yunfeng's eyes widened in sheer astonishment.

...