Chapter Sixteen: The Eighth-Order Skypiercer Swordsman

  "Everyone, Spud is currently ranked 60th on the new book chart. There are still three other big shots ahead of me, so please, after you've finished reading, kindly click on the recommend button. I'll keep updating frequently, even if it means risking being deep-fried. Thank you!"

  A week later, the teams of the four major empires finally arrived at "Adventure Town".

  After another day of preparation, a mighty army set out towards the "Forest of Death".

  Liu Feng is now following the mercenary group where Sophie is located, one of the few internal direct units of the Mercenary Guild.

  Looking at the three-shift guards, almost all of them were above four levels, which made Liu Feng very suspicious of the rumors that the mercenary guild had no team of its own.

  It makes sense when you think about it, an ancient guild that has existed for so many years, how could its power possibly have weakened to the point of collapse? It's probably just a rumor spread by the Mercenary Guild as a smokescreen.

  Following Sophie, Liu Feng saw the leader of this team, an old man wearing a red wide swordsmanship robe.

  Sophie led Liu Feng to the old man, softly saying: "He is one of the elders of our mercenary guild, a good friend of my father's, an eighth-rank Tiankong Sword Master, Huo Ta. He has been very kind to me since I was young, so try not to make him angry later."

  Liu Feng nodded slightly, indicating understanding.

  Horta had long seen Sophie's figure from afar and strode up to her, laughing: "Little Fei, let me take a look at you. You've become even more beautiful after not seeing you for a year."

  Sophie smiled lightly and walked forward, holding onto Hota's arm, saying "Uncle Ho, I've missed you too."

  "Haha" Huo Ta smiled comfortingly and raised his eyes to look at Liu Feng standing beside him, asking somewhat puzzled: "Xiao Fei'er, who is this?"

  "Huo Shu, he is... a friend of mine." Su Fei's face turned slightly red as she introduced him with some hesitation.

  Huo Ta, now a mature and astute person, saw Su Fei's youthful appearance and immediately understood. He looked at Liu Feng carefully, seeing his weak and unremarkable demeanor, and couldn't help but frown.

  Sophie, who had been watching his expression all along, saw this and felt a sense of urgency in her heart. This Mr. Huo was Father's closest friend, after all. If he wasn't satisfied, things probably wouldn't go well for Father either. She hastily leaned over and whispered in Mr. Huo's ear, "Uncle Huo, don't underestimate Liu Feng. I used our family's secret technique '残解' and still couldn't beat him!"

  Huo Ta was shocked upon hearing this and hastily asked: "You used 'Cán Jiě'? Don't you know that technique is the most harmful to oneself?"

  Sophie smiled sweetly: "It's okay, Uncle Ho, I haven't even warmed up yet when Liu Feng stopped me."

  Huo Ta finally let out a breath of relief, but his tone was still severe: "From now on, unless it's a matter of life and death, you're not allowed to use that accursed ' Ling Jie' again, do you understand?"

  Sophie nodded obediently.

  Huo Ta looked at Liu Feng again, this time his eyes seemed to have softened a lot. He stretched out his thick right hand and said to Liu Feng in a heroic tone: "Come on, kid, let me take a look at how strong you are, whether you're worthy of my family's Fei Er."

  Liu Feng's sword-like eyebrows rose, and he fearlessly stretched out his right hand, grasping it tightly. The two palms, one large and one small, one yellow and one white, formed a strange shape.

  Huòtǎ's entire body surged with a fierce aura, his internal qi raging wildly, gathering in his right hand and emitting an intense red glow.

  Feeling the pressure on his hands increasing, Liu Feng's dantian was spinning rapidly, a strong true energy was flowing through his meridians to his palms, resisting the enormous pressure.

  The two sides were deadlocked.

  Huo Ta's aura surged again, his face flushed red, and it was clear that he had gone all out.

  Liu Feng's face was also solemn, with a thin layer of white gas rising from his right hand, the vortex in his dantian was already rotating at an extremely high speed, causing his dantian to ache violently.

  The grass around the two people had been blown away by the violent aura, and Sophie also retreated to a dozen steps away, looking at the two people in the field with unease.

  "Lao Er, what are you doing?" A loud shout came over, interrupting the two people's confrontation.

  The two of them retreated three steps each, dissipating their momentum.

  Sophie hurried over and pulled Liu Feng constantly checking, afraid of getting hurt a bit.

  "Don't worry, little girl, your young lover is fine, I didn't hurt him in the least." Hota said with a smile as he saw Sophie's anxious face.

  Sophie's face turned bright red as she pouted and said: "Uncle Huo, you..."

  Liu Feng behind him reached out and pulled Su Fei over, and with a clenched fist he smiled at Huo Ta: "Uncle Huo, your inner energy is really powerful, I almost couldn't hold on."

  "Haha, not bad, you're still pretty good, Fei's eyes are quite good." Hota laughed loudly, apparently very satisfied with Liu Feng.

  "You old fellow, didn't you see that it's Fei'er who brought this friend? You actually used your full strength, truly useless." An elderly man wearing a red monk's robe walked out of the tent not far away, saying as he walked.

  "This is also a good friend of my father, Huo Bao, an eighth-level great demon master, and also the older brother of Huo Ta Shu. He has been very kind to me since I was young." Su Fei quietly explained to Liu Feng.

  "What did you say? Old thing, if you have the ability, come and try." Hearing Huo Bao's sarcastic voice, Huo Ta became furious.

  "Hey, old man! I'm a magician. How can you compare with me? If you have time, find a venue and let's have a showdown." Huo Bao didn't back down.

  "Alright, alright, Uncle Huo, stop arguing, let's not give my friend something to laugh about." Sophia hastily intervened to prevent the heated atmosphere from escalating.

  "Hello Uncle Huo, this is my friend."

  "I know, your little boyfriend, friend... Hmph, am I really old and blind? If you were just friends, would you be so careful to bring him to meet us? Isn't it because you want us to say a few good words in front of your father? You little rascal." Huo Bo rolled his eyes and directly exposed Su Fei's scheme.

  Sophie's face turned bright red as she walked up to Huo Bao, tugging on his sleeve and coquettishly saying: "Uncle Huo..."

  The best way to deal with elderly people who dote on you is to be coquettish.

  As expected, Su Fei's soft and gentle voice made Huo Bo burst out laughing, and he affectionately pinched Su Fei's small nose, saying: "You little girl, looking at your obedient face, Uncle Huo won't go tell your father bad things about you. And this kid is actually not bad, far better than those four 'Mercenary Four Heroes'."

  "Uncle Huo, you're so great!" Sophie exclaimed with joy.

  Huo Bao looked up and down at Liu Feng, with a seemingly meaningful smile: "How about it, young man? You also want to go to the 'Death Forest' to grab dragon eggs?"

  Liu Feng smiled calmly: "Uncle Huo, I'm not really interested in that dragon egg. That thing is a jinx, whoever gets it will be unlucky. I'm just interested in such a big scene."

  Huò Bào nodded slightly and smiled, "Not bad, I didn't expect you to be so clever, knowing that thing is hot." He then looked around, at the large white tents surrounding them, like a field of white flower petals, and sighed, "You, a young man, can think of it, why can't they?"

  Liu Feng also gazed into the distance and smiled lightly: "It's not that they didn't think of it, but rather the things were too precious, and they couldn't bear to part with them."

  Hu Bo nodded, fell silent for a moment, seemingly feeling that the topic was a bit heavy, and hastily changed the subject: "You go with Feier to take a stroll around, the scenery here is not bad, you have to coax girls more."

  Liu Feng nodded in agreement and turned around to pull Sophie, who was a few steps away, towards the depths of the forest.

  Watching the two people's figures disappear into the distance, Huo Bao suddenly asked in a low voice: "What about this kid?"

  Huo Ta waved his broadsword and smiled: "Not bad, it should not be because of any purpose, but intentionally approaching Fei Er, his eyes do not seem to be fake."

  Hu Bo laughed and a cold light flashed in his turbid eyes: "I hope he's not deceiving Fei'er, otherwise..."

  "Everyone, Spud is currently ranked 60th on the new book chart. There are still three seniors in front of me who are also in the same category. Please, after you've finished reading, lightly tap to recommend it. I'll keep updating frequently even if it means risking being fried in oil. Thank you!"