Chapter One Hundred Eighteen: A Purple Heaven Powerhouse?

"Chu Xun, what do you think the Zixiao Academy uses to categorize the cultivation of its disciples?" Shen Qingyun asked as he gazed at the rows of palaces.

Feng Chuxun was stroking the patterns on his Chixue Sword. Hearing Shen Qingyun’s question, he looked up and replied, "I don't know."

"I’m asking you because you don’t know. You could at least guess," Shen Qingyun said, looking at him.

Feng Chuxun sighed softly. They had been told to wait, so they had actually waited. Now, was he bored?

"I don't know," Feng Chuxun said in a flat tone. If he didn't know, he didn't know; he couldn't be bothered to guess.

"You really are a boring person. How will you ever find a dao companion?" Shen Qingyun muttered. Then, looking back, he saw a large group of people approaching aggressively, with Yun Qingni among them.

"Whoa, that's a lot of people. Is it too late to leave now?" Shen Qingyun joked with a smile at the sight of the crowd.

Feng Chuxun rolled his eyes at him. Only someone like him would be carefree enough to joke at a time like this. He wondered what was going on in that brain of his.

Yun Qingni’s gaze towards Shen Qingyun and Feng Chuxun was filled with coldness, especially toward Feng Chuxun. They were actually still waiting here—they were truly courting death!

Seeing them surround the area, clearly intending to prevent his escape, Shen Qingyun looked at Yun Qingni with indifference. "So, this is the 'backbone' you relied on when you told us to wait. It turns out, this is all you’ve got."

Yun Qingni was so furious she was speechless. This man who hadn't even lifted a finger was somehow even more detestable than the one who had!

As the group closed in with menacing momentum, Yun Qingni glared at Shen Qingyun. "Regardless of what you say, today, you will surely fall into the hands of our Five Palaces of Zixiao!"

"You have so many people ganging up on the two of us, yet you speak with such righteous indignation," Shen Qingyun feigned weakness.

Beside him, Feng Chuxun rolled his eyes. He had been provoking them just a moment ago, but now that it was time to fight, he started acting. If they weren't on the same side, he would have been tempted to punch Shen Qingyun in the face himself.

"Seniors, please!" Yun Qingni took a deep breath and shouted, then retreated quietly to the back. Shen Qingyun was stunned. You called them here—what do you mean by not fighting yourself?

Violent spiritual energy erupted, carrying various elemental properties as the crowd closed in.

"Chuxun, pick a few," Shen Qingyun said, his smile fading. Most of the people here were stronger than Feng Chuxun, so he clearly couldn't just watch from the sidelines this time.

"Let's do it together," Feng Chuxun replied. He knew this wasn't the time to be stubborn. Yet, this was his first time facing such a scene, and instead of fear, he felt the blood in his veins beginning to boil. A wild aura radiated from him. Just how strong could he really be?

"Together, then. Let’s go!" Shen Qingyun said. As his voice fell, the two of them charged simultaneously toward the crowd.

"Surrender!" someone in the crowd shouted. Every expert in the Spirit Manifestation Realm unleashed their techniques. It was a chaotic, dazzling explosion of colorful spells, the light of which could be seen across the entire academy.

"Are the two of us so easy to bully?" Shen Qingyun smiled and waved his sleeves. A torrent of spiritual energy swept out and spread across the area, the intricate, mysterious patterns weaving together into a formation that enclosed him and everyone else within it.

"What is this? How could he set up a formation in an instant!"

As the light screen of the formation rose, the hearts of the others sank. The most terrifying thing about a formation is not knowing what it does.

"What are you afraid of? They are inside it too; it can't be an area-of-effect damage spell!" another voice shouted. It seemed the teaching methods of Zixiao Academy were truly different from those of the various sects.

Feng Chuxun looked at the light screen, feeling a sense of unreality. Every time he thought he understood Shen Qingyun, the man would display methods he had never heard of.

"I never said this was an attack-type formation," Shen Qingyun said, before disappearing into the light screen.

"Quick, unleash your techniques! Capture one of them first!"

As the command was given, spells began to rain down. Some were aimed at Feng Chuxun's body, while others targeted the space around him.

Vines erupted from the ground like wandering snakes, coiling around Feng Chuxun’s body, arms, and legs. Each vine was thicker than his own arm! Earth-type spells conjured stone spikes in mid-air, raining down as if to bury him alive.

A sharp glint flashed in Feng Chuxun’s eyes. With one stroke of his sword, a torrent of sword light tore through the incoming vines and stone spikes. Suddenly, he felt a chill at his legs. Looking down, he realized he had focused too much on the attacks from above and around him, ignoring the ground.

A water-based ice technique had frozen his feet to restrict his movement. But Feng Chuxun would not let them have their way. He had just heard Shen Qingyun’s voice in his ear: "While they are underestimating us, defeat them before they fully manifest their spirits."

Feng Chuxun lifted his frozen feet with a sudden surge of power, shattering the ice. A faint glow of spiritual energy shimmered around his legs. He continued to charge into the crowd, and within a single breath, he locked onto an expert in the middle stage of the Spirit Manifestation Realm and reached him.

"Spread out!"

Someone in the crowd commanded, and wind-type spells were unleashed to accelerate their movements.

Truly worthy of being the strongest in the Southern Territory—they even possessed mutated spiritual roots!

The middle-stage Spirit Manifestation expert targeted by Feng Chuxun used the wind technique to turn the tables, flashing behind Feng Chuxun and throwing a punch at his back.

Shen Qingyun saw everything clearly. Despite appearing chaotic, this group was well-coordinated; this was much more troublesome than a mindless brawl. Furthermore, he noted that there was more than one person giving orders.

"As expected of a force raised by the strongest power on the continent," Shen Qingyun couldn't help but praise, deciding it was time for him to act.

Just as the punch from the Spirit Manifestation expert was about to strike Feng Chuxun’s back, a sense of crisis arose. Before he could react, a fist appeared out of thin air and slammed into his face.

The punch was fueled with enough spiritual energy to leave even a middle-stage Spirit Manifestation expert dazed and confused.

"You can fight all you want, but don't forget I'm here too," Shen Qingyun said, stepping out from the light screen, a flash of purple in his eyes, as he looked at the stunned crowd.

"Contain him!"

Someone ordered, and several people immediately moved to form a circle around Shen Qingyun.

"Five of you? You really think highly of me," Shen Qingyun chuckled.

The five people surrounding him emitted faint sounds of eagle cries, tiger roars, and elephant trumpets from within their bodies. One person had a golden giant tiger phantom flickering behind him—the spirit manifestation was not yet fully released. Curling his fingers, he lunged at Shen Qingyun like a predatory demon tiger.

A palm print materialized in his palm, his curved fingers as sharp as real claws.

"Form without spirit," Shen Qingyun evaluated coldly. He sidestepped the attack, then delivered a palm strike to the man's abdomen. The spiritual energy in his palm propelled the man, sending him flying.

Shen Qingyun then looked at the other four. The cries of eagles and elephants filled the air, brimming with killing intent, as if they were sworn to tear him to pieces!

Shen Qingyun stood his ground. Behind him, a phantom slowly coalesced. When the four men saw the phantom behind Shen Qingyun, their pupils contracted. What they saw was a black shadow with three eyes, all of which were currently closed.

The Three-Eyed Berserk Ape—that was the phantom they saw!

But this was not Shen Qingyun’s spirit manifestation; he was only at the Foundation Establishment stage; how could he have one? This was a manifestation of spiritual energy, yet its effect was significant.

As spiritual energy converged on Shen Qingyun's body, the phantom of the Three-Eyed Berserk Ape made him appear to possess immense, violent power. Although it was just a phantom, the manifestation created by Shen Qingyun’s spiritual energy felt more oppressive and domineering than an authentic spirit manifestation.

When the four of them lunged at him simultaneously, Shen Qingyun swung his arms. Accompanied by four roars from the phantom, the four figures were sent flying, crashing into the light screen.

Feng Chuxun was even more ruthless. Faced with multiple attackers, he temporarily discarded his sword, grabbed one of them by the throat, and used him as a human shield against their spells.

For a moment, those attacking Feng Chuxun hesitated, and after a brief moment, they shifted their target to Shen Qingyun.

Shen Qingyun looked up, grinned at them, and then vanished back into the light screen.

In the next instant, he appeared beside them and struck, sending one flying. Someone reacted and attacked with a palm, but Shen Qingyun countered and sent that one flying as well.

Without stopping, Shen Qingyun vanished back into the formation.

"What kind of formation is this?"

Someone’s eyes grew sharp. The formation was just sitting there, and even missed spells had no effect on it. It had no offensive capabilities, yet Shen Qingyun could use it to hide his movements.

"Moves without a shadow, acts like the wind—it’s likely the Godspeed Formation," someone guessed. This formation was unique in that only the caster knew how to use it; to everyone else, it was a prison.

"Be careful," someone whispered, not knowing where Shen Qingyun would appear next.

Yun Qingni’s expression was ghastly. She never expected that Shen Qingyun, who hadn't made a move and had only been annoying with his words, would be the hardest to deal with. They had the numerical advantage, yet because of one move from him, they were suddenly down eight men!

"Don't move!"

Shen Qingyun’s voice rang out clearly, carried by spiritual energy into everyone’s ears.

Yun Qingni’s eyes widened. She heard his voice clearly because he was right beside her!

"What... what do you want to do?" Yun Qingni asked, her voice trembling.

Shen Qingyun smiled. "You, too. Don't move. Otherwise, even if you are a woman, I’ll still hit you."

"I won't... I won't move..."

Shen Qingyun didn't know that the smile he considered friendly appeared to Yun Qingni like the grin of a demon, leaving an indelible mark on her mind.

"Let go of Junior Sister Yun!" the crowd shouted, looking at Shen Qingyun through gritted teeth.

"I told you all not to move." Shen Qingyun’s grip on Yun Qingni’s throat tightened.

"What do you want? Let me tell you, if you harm someone from Zixiao Academy, the Academy won't let you off easily! Release her now, and we’ll call it even—we’ll act as if nothing happened."

They really didn't dare to move, fearing what Shen Qingyun might actually do.

"Cut the crap. Call your instructor here," Shen Qingyun commanded.

"Oh? Who is looking for me?"

As soon as Shen Qingyun finished speaking, a hearty laugh rang out, passing through the formation's light screen. Then, the screen began to crack, producing a sound like shattering glass. The formation was broken!

Hope ignited in the eyes of the crowd, and they shouted as if they had grabbed a life-saving straw: "Master Shen! Master Shen, save us! This man trespassed into the academy and captured Junior Sister Yun!"

"Little one, doing this is not very nice!" The voice arrived before the person.

Shen Qingyun narrowed his eyes.

An expert from Zixiao Academy, then?