Chapter 40: Duel Appointment

  Those were three men.

  The two men on either side were tall and slender, with cold expressions looking at Xia Chen. Each of them was holding one person in their hands, who were Sun Li and Chen Lie.

  Sun Li and Chen Lie looked pale and weak, but they were still conscious. When they saw Xia Chen, their faces suddenly lit up with surprise and delight.

  The man in the middle was tall and majestic, with a rough face. He looked at Xia Chen with an icy gaze, his eyes full of hatred.

  Xia Chen was taken aback. This tall and sturdy man looked surprisingly similar to Chu Zhenhai, only more robust and with a more majestic aura.

  "Xia Chen, he is Chu Zhenhai's brother Chu Zhen Tian, a post-heavenly fivefold cultivator. He just returned from completing a task outside and wants to avenge his younger brother Chu Zhenhai. He specifically came for you, hurry up and leave!" Chen Lie shouted loudly.

  "Shut up, you little mongrel!" The man behind him bellowed. He grabbed Chen Lie with force, and instantly Chen's face contorted in pain.

  "Xia Chen's eyes turned cold: 'Chu Zhen Tian, grievances have a head, debts have an owner. You're targeting me, so let them go!'"

  "Xia Chen, you little bastard!" Chu Zhen Tian said coldly. "My brother Chu Zhen Hai was abolished by Han Dong Yu because of you, and you still dare to hurt my brother? I'm telling you, today not only will you be abolished, but these two little bastards who follow you will also be abolished."

  He suddenly pinched Sun Li's chin: "Of course, this little bitch, I won't let her get away so easily. I'll let the brothers have some fun with her, and after they're done, sell her to a brothel to entertain guests. Let her regret why she followed you, a bastard!"

  Xia Chen's eyes shot out a cold light that was unmatched, and he reached out to lift up the injured Hou Tian Si Zhong disciple: "Chu Zhen Tian, you have guts? Try it! I'll beat your people into meat paste. If you dare move a single hair on Sun Li's head, I'll cut off that thing of yours and feed it to the dogs!"

  The anger in his heart was simply uncontrollable, and Chu Zhen Tian actually used Sun Li and Chen Lie to coerce him, which had truly touched the reverse scales of Xia Chen!

  "You little mongrel, you're quite bold, aren't you? I'm the one who messed with her, what can you do about it? You dare to beat my brother into a pulp, your own brother will be torn apart limb from limb! I've been on a killing spree since I came down from the mountain, and I haven't seen anyone dare to threaten me yet!" Chu Zhen Tian sneered with contempt.

  He reached out with a big hand and grabbed Sun Li's chest, ripping off a large piece of her collar, exposing her snow-white skin on her shoulder.

  Sun Li let out a scream, her beautiful face flushing bright red as she struggled desperately, but there was no way to break free.

  "Let her go!" Xia Chen and Chen Lie shouted in unison, their eyes blazing with fury.

  "Half-breed? You're finally scared? Weren't you being very arrogant? And you even dared to knock my brother unconscious!" Chu Zhen Tian sneered, "Kneel down for me, kowtow a hundred times, then cripple your own cultivation and cut off both your arms. I'll spare this little bitch's life!"

  Xia Chen almost gritted his teeth to pieces, furious as he stared at Chu Zhen Tian. Now that he had thrown caution to the winds, must he really lose his dignity and kneel down, disabling his own cultivation?

  "Xia Chen, don't fall for his trick!" Sun Li said sternly. "Even if you kneel down, he won't let us off, I'm your sister, and I absolutely won't let you suffer the humiliation of these beasts because of us!"

  "Little slut!" Chu Zhen Tian sneered, "It seems you really want to be sold into a brothel, I'll fulfill your wish."

  He stretched out his hand and was about to grab Sun Li again.

  "Beast, I'd rather die by severing my own meridians than suffer your humiliation. Xia Chen, remember this: you must avenge me!"

  Her beautiful face suddenly revealed a resolute and unparalleled expression, the true energy in her body began to circulate, about to sever the meridians!

  "Stop her quickly!" Chu Zhenhai's face changed, his goal was only to abolish Xia Chen, if he really forced Sun Li to commit suicide, the sect would definitely be severely punished.

  "Sun Li, don't! You beasts!" Chen Lie roared.

  "Sun Li, don't cut off your own veins!" Xia Chen suddenly became calm, "I guarantee, I will make these beasts die without a place to bury their bodies!"

  He suddenly stretched out his palm, and in it were four dark green medicinal pills.

  "Exploding Yuanqi Pellet!" Chu Zhen Tian's three faces changed drastically, if the four Exploding Yuanqi Pellets were detonated, they would all be reduced to dust.

  "Let Sun Li go," Xia Chen said softly. "Otherwise, you will die!" His voice was low, but it contained a shocking and stirring determination.

  "You mongrel, dare you detonate?" Chu Zhen Tian said coldly. "Even if we die, you and your brother will be torn to pieces!"

  Xia Chen smiled faintly: "Sun Li, Chen Lie, I may not be able to save you, but you are my brothers and sisters. I can die with you. Are you afraid?"

  "Alright, Xia Chen, a month ago I was ready to live and die with you, now I still want to share life and death with you! We are good brothers!" Chen Lie exclaimed loudly, the craziness in his eyes growing thicker!

  Sun Li suddenly broke free from the man's hands behind her and shouted loudly: "Xia Chen, throw it now, blow these beasts to death! I, Sun Li, was about to cut off my meridians just now. Now that I can be with you and Chen Lie, I will die without regret!"

  Xia Chen gritted his teeth and was about to launch a Bursting Yuan Qi Pill!

  "Halt! Xia Chen, do you really want to die?" Chu Zhen Tian bellowed.

  His facial muscles twitched non-stop, and a deep chill rose in his heart. As the youngest of the five later generations, he had thought that these new disciples were just easy to capture, thinking they could be bullied as they pleased. Unexpectedly, Xia Chen and the others were so crazy, what kind of human beings were they?

  Xia Chen just coldly stared at him, in the depths of his pupils, a fierce flame was burning wildly.

  "Let this kid go first!" Chu Zhen Tian signaled to the man on the left.

  The man hesitated for a moment and let go of Chen Lie.

  "Xia Chen, I let your people go, can you also let my people go? You just said it yourself, grievances have a beginning and debts have an owner. Let's settle our matters between us and not involve others anymore! How about that?" Chu Zhen Tian's tone softened.

  Xia Chen's face turned cold with a sneer: "Chu Zhen Tian, you think you can do whatever you want? Your men injured my brother for no reason and still dare to insult Sun Li. Do you think I will let you off?"

  His hand suddenly tightened, and with a loud crack, the Fourth Junior Brother of the Heavenly Sect immediately broke both legs, letting out a blood-curdling scream as he spurted fresh blood everywhere, collapsing to the ground.

  Bang! Xia Chen kicked the unconscious Fourth Junior Brother of Hou Tian to Chu Zhen Tian's feet: "Chu Zhen Tian, your fate will only be worse than this!"

  "Xia Chen!" Chu Zhen suppressed his anger, "I know you're not afraid of death, but you'd better think about your brothers. I'm not afraid of death either. If you plan to go down together, I'll accompany you to the end! However, I dare to guarantee that the fate of those brothers of yours will be miserable beyond compare. If you agree to a one-on-one fight with me, I promise I won't involve anyone else again. What do you say?"

  Xia Chen still gazed at him with a cold and detached expression, but the anger in her heart was slowly subsiding.

  He can disregard his own life and death, but he cannot disregard the life and death of Sun Li and others. Chu Zhen Tian's suggestion to fight alone is not a bad idea. Today's matter absolutely cannot end like this, Chu Zhen Tian has already insulted Sun Li in front of everyone, which has moved Xia Chen to murderous intentions.

  Xia Chen slowly put away the Exploding Yuan Qi Pill and said expressionlessly: "Alright, now it's just you and me in a one-on-one fight?"

  Chen Lie's face showed a worried expression, and he said in a low voice: "Xia Chen, this Chu Zhen Tian is a post-heavenly fifth-order cultivator, and has already reached the peak. He's only half a step away from entering the post-heavenly sixth order. I'm afraid you're not his match now. Let's think of another way. With the Exploding Yuan Qi Pill, we don't have to be afraid of them."

  "It doesn't matter!" Xia Chen said calmly, "I have my own way."

  His current cultivation is still at the peak of the fourth stage of the acquired realm, but he has extremely strong true energy control, and the Thunder Seal Technique has made some progress. His strength is much stronger than that of an ordinary fourth-stage acquired realm cultivator, and even a fifth-stage acquired realm cultivator would not be able to intimidate him.

  Seeing Xia Chen put away the Exploding Yuan Qi Pill, Chu Zhen Tian and the other two finally breathed a sigh of relief, their faces returning to normal.

  "Now? Wouldn't that be letting you off cheaply? Moreover, the sect's rules strictly forbid disciples from engaging in private fights. And you're a disciple of Han Dongyu, trying to set a trap for me?" Chu Zhen Tian sneered, "Xia Chen, this is an open and aboveboard challenge I'm issuing to you, which will be spread throughout the entire sect. Then, in the dueling arena, I'll defeat you in front of everyone, cripple your cultivation, and kick you out of the mountain gate, avenging my brother's arrow."

  "Of course, if you don't dare to accept the challenge, then be a turtle with its head shrunk in, but who knows when you and the people around you will suddenly evaporate!" Chu Zhen Tian sneered again.

  Although the Seiken sect strictly prohibits private fights among its disciples, public challenges are allowed to encourage competition among them. Often, when conflicts between disciples cannot be resolved, they issue a challenge and engage in a public showdown at the arena.

  Once both sides have agreed to the challenge, even a divine monk of the Zhengyuan Sect would find it difficult to intervene.

  Of course, public challenges also have rules. Generally, disciples with higher cultivation are not allowed to challenge those with lower cultivation. Moreover, sneak attacks, use of hidden weapons or killing moves are also prohibited between challenges. However, these rules will more or less change due to specific circumstances.

  Chu Zhen Tian was a Post-Heaven Fifth Layer, so he couldn't actively challenge a new disciple like that. However, Xia Chen being the Ancient Yuan Sacred Body and having cultivation at the peak of Post-Heaven Fourth Layer, Chu Zhen Tian's challenge wasn't entirely out of line.

  "You want to challenge me? You can't even get the chance." Xia Chen said calmly. Chu Zhen Tian wanted to overthrow him, but he had always wanted to overthrow Chu Zhen Tian too.

  "Alright, see you in the arena ten days later, Xia Chen. I've heard that you're a Saint Body of Guyuan and have broken through to the Fourth Peak of Houtian. I'm really looking forward to learning from you, just how formidable are you?" Chu Zhen Tian said with a cold smile.

  Xia Chen didn't say a word, she just gave a cold glance and then left with Sun Li and Chen Lie.

  Ten days' time, just right in the middle of summer, can be used to refine the elixir within the demon beast and cultivate the first layer of the Mahavairocana body. Even if the cultivation is unsuccessful, at least it will increase a lot of power.

  "Big brother, this little bastard doesn't seem simple. Although he's only a Fourth-Order cultivator of the Post-Heaven Realm, Li Qingping and Zhang Wei couldn't even exchange one move with him. Even I and Yu Hao, who are also Fifth-Order cultivators of the Post-Heaven Realm, don't have such skills." The man on the left spoke up after the three people had left.

  The man on the right, Yu Hao, nodded and said: "Li Ang is right, brother. It seems that this Gu Yuan's physique is very strong. I estimate that this little mixed breed can challenge across levels, otherwise he wouldn't have agreed to your challenge so easily."

  Chu Zhen Tian sneered cruelly: "No matter, he doesn't know my strength. Besides, I've seen people challenge those above their level before. What about Li Chongyang, that genius disciple of the Evil Wind Sect? He was also a Fourth-Order cultivator who challenged a Fifth-Order peak existence, but wasn't he killed by my Blood Palm Strike? This Xia Chen probably can't imagine it, but ten days later will be his death date. At that time, I'll just say it was an accident, and at most, I'll receive a punishment of facing the wall for half a year."

  He slowly raised his palm, subtly manipulated the air, and suddenly the entire palm turned into a strange blood-red color, emitting a terrifying aura.