Chapter 698: You Are Strong, So Come and Fight Me! (I)

The viewing platform used by Willow Forest Den was wrapped in a grim atmosphere. Three late-stage Initiates stood there with dark expressions. The surrounding looks of doubt and contempt made their breath catch in their chests. To surrender without fighting at all was pure humiliation.

At last, the one among them with the highest cultivation could not bear it anymore and walked up to the platform.

Their elder, Nalan Feng, had been chatting casually with a female Adept when his expression shifted. "Fellow Daoist, excuse me for a moment!"

The seductive female cultivator smiled indifferently and said, "Don't worry about me. Go ahead and handle your sect's affairs first."

Nalan Feng hummed in acknowledgment and waved his hand. The restriction around the platform dispersed at once, revealing the hesitant expressions of the disciples beneath.

Nalan Feng lowered his gaze and asked, "What is it?"

The disciple gritted his teeth and said, "Elder, why did you forbid us from fighting?"

Nalan Feng did not answer directly but replied with a question. "Do you feel embarrassed?"

The disciple froze, his face flushing red before he eventually nodded. Nalan Feng gave a smile that held no warmth and said, "Being embarrassed now is better than going up there only to be beaten half dead. That would be true humiliation."

The Willow Forest Den disciple refused to accept it. He forced himself to say, "We have not fought yet. The outcome is not certain."

"Oh? And what if you win, then? You're three against one. Would your victory really bring glory to Willow Forest Den?" Nalan Feng asked again.

The disciple stiffened. He could not find the words to refute this.

Seeing this, Nalan Feng curled his lips. "I say, life in the sect has been too comfortable. All of you are so inexperienced that you can't even feel the true strength of an opponent. Do you think Wang Yuan is someone you can deal with so casually? His level in Physique Refinement puts him on par with someone at Perfected Mastery of Foundation Establishment. And much unlike yourselves, his battle experience comes from many actual life-or-death battles. Where exactly did you get the confidence that you could defeat him?"

These words struck like a hammer. The ninth-stage Initiate True Inheritor's face flushed between red and pale. He struggled to believe it.

Physical cultivation on par with a Perfected Mastery Initiate? No wonder Elder Nalan forbade us from fighting.... But what is he doing here? People in that realm usually stay in seclusion because they're busy trying to form their core. With that kind of power, even a three-on-one is nothing but a joke. As the elder said, winning brings us almost nothing, but losing would be even more humiliating and would only hand the other side more reputation.

In this light, it truly was better not to fight. It turned out they had simply been shaken by others' gazes and had failed to steady their hearts.

Nalan Feng looked at him, and the corner of his mouth twitched. These so-called major sects looked imposing on the surface, yet their disciples were poorly raised. But there was nothing to be done in this respect. The environment shaped everything.

Within their original domains, the hierarchy was rigid. Major sects sat uncomfortably in the middle. They could flaunt authority before rogue cultivators, but did not dare offend the true inheritors of the upper sects. Their comfortable lifestyle dulled their ferocity. How could they compare with the cultivators of the Jade Cauldron Domain, who fought beside the wild mountains year-round? Moreover, Wang Yuan was clearly among the elites. If they really went up, it would be nothing but throwing an egg at a rock.

"That is enough. Go now," Nalan Feng said with disinterest as he waved his hand. The disciple had no choice but to leave with a flushed face.

Once the disciple departed, Nalan Feng looked toward the female cultivator across from him. "I have let you witness a joke."

His interlocutor was an enchanting and graceful woman whose every movement was impossibly alluring—none other than the famed Mistress of Fragrance. She blinked her beautiful eyes and replied, "It was hardly a joke. Instead, your willingness to set aside temporary gains and losses makes me admire you greatly."

"

Hehe...

set aside momentary gains?" Nalan Feng let out a helpless laugh. "My disciples simply lack the ability. I do not want to end up like Pearl-Returning Pavilion and lose face under all these watching eyes. That is all. Fellow Daoist, your praise is far too generous."

The Mistress of Fragrance pressed her rosy lips together. "It is not generous. In my eyes, you truly possess great wisdom. With your insight, you surely understand how immense the benefits will be once we conquer the Great Snowy Mountains together."

Nalan Feng pulled at the corner of his mouth, unsure how to respond.

To low-tier cultivators, this Frontier War seemed merely something the Falling Cloud Sect was forced to initiate for the sake of the Howling Moon Mountain Range. However, seasoned Adepts who had long resided in the old domains knew the inside story. With so many sects participating, the Howling Moon Mountain Range alone was far from sufficient. The original plan had been to open three domains at once: Ancient Plain, Howling Moon, and Great Snowy Mountains!

However, Ice Torrent had failed to ascend to the Nascent Soul Realm. This left them short of Sage-level combat power. At that time, the Silktree Sect had made a decision. It was for Cloud Crane's Dao companion, Pure Crane, to withdraw from the sect and take the opportunity to seek a new fourth-tier spirit land. Pure Crane was no ordinary Nascent Soul cultivator but a fourth-tier Demon Emperor, a demonic beast in human form!

Their target was the Great Snowy Mountains. They intended to establish a new sect, and they had already drawn the Hundred Flowers Palace, a branch of the Silktree Sect, under their banner. At present, the three Adepts of the Hundred Flowers Palace served as envoys for Sage Cloud Crane, inviting allies to join their improper and technically unauthorised "Great Snowy Mountains Frontier War."

As for why they sought outside allies instead of relying on the Silktree Sect, the answer lay in the pact between humans and demons. A Frontier War could be initiated, but Ascendants were not permitted to act. Each war had to take the form of one sect against one domain. Furthermore, the top elders of the upper sects could not personally join the battlefield; they could only send cultivators below the Nascent Soul Realm.

Pure Crane was pushing the boundary, attempting to use the Falling Cloud Sect's Frontier War as cover to secretly attack another domain. This was technically a violation of the pact. Yet the other upper sects chose not to stop it. Instead, they turned a blind eye and tacitly allowed her to proceed.

In Nalan Feng's view, those upper sects likely wished to use her to test the waters. The great domains first opened in the Eastern Wilderness had long held more than one or two Sages within a single sect. Even after securing control over an entire domain, those sects still considered their resources insufficient and had already desired a far larger Frontier War. If Pure Crane succeeded this time, then Skysail City, the Five Elements Divine Sect, and even other older sects might one day see Sages depart from their main sects to establish new branches in newly opened domains.

The only obstacle remaining for Pure Crane and her partner was insufficient strength! Their Sage-level combat power was sufficient, but everything beneath that realm remained alarmingly thin. Even with the Hundred Flowers Palace as a foundation, it was nowhere near enough. The reason was simple: Cloud Crane's rise had been far too swift. He had advanced to the Nascent Soul Realm before the age of three hundred, and spent the next century in seclusion with his Dao companion. They had nurtured no direct disciples. Thus, they wished to borrow forces from the sects gathered by the Falling Cloud Sect.

Nalan Feng was hesitant. It was not because the benefits of conquering the Great Snowy Mountains were insufficient, but because he feared that secretly violating the pact between humans and demons might bring disaster. He was only an ordinary elder, not the supreme elder of the Willow Forest Den. Yet the Mistress of Fragrance pressed him with Cloud Crane's reputation and forced him to decide quickly.

As he hesitated, he suddenly heard thunderous cheers rising like waves. He avoided his interlocutor's pressing gaze and asked sharply, "What happened?"

The Willow Forest Den disciples below the platform immediately responded, "Wang Yuan has gone mad. He wants to fight all three at once!"

Nalan Feng's eyes lit up as he said, "Mistress of Fragrance, what you propose concerns matters of great importance. I truly cannot make such a decision without the approval of my sect's supreme elder. For now, it seems better to watch these juniors spar and enjoy a bit of the sentiment from our sect tournaments back in the day."

The Mistress of Fragrance's soft smile vanished. According to rumor, Nalan Feng of Willow Forest Den was lazy by nature and easily persuaded. She had believed today's endeavor would be effortless. Yet even after she carefully explained the benefits and even offered a beautiful female cultivator, he still refused to relent and kept diverting the conversation. He could spend half a day chatting with his disciples, yet showed no desire to exchange more than a few sentences with her. And now he wanted to speak of nostalgia?

She drew a deep breath and then saw that he was already staring intently at the Debate Platform. Thus, she could only say quietly, "Then let's watch for now."

***

On the raised platform, Luo Chen's expression changed the moment he heard the words

"All three of you, come at me together!"

He wasn't the only one to react in surprise. Fu Jiusheng, Diwu Qi, and the others were also caught off guard.

Diwu Qi exclaimed, "Could he not fight them one by one? Wang Yuan is usually steady, so why would he lose composure at such a crucial moment? To think he'd act so arrogantly... If something goes wrong, injury or even death is one thing, but failing to secure shop number eight would be a massive loss!"

"

Hm

?" Luo Chen suddenly turned his head and fixed Diwu Qi with a heavy stare. A stiff expression came over Diwu Qi's face as he realized he had spoken out of turn. Wang Yuan and Luo Chen were as close as brothers, and his words had obviously struck a nerve.

He gave a strained smile and said, "Dan Chenzi, I did not mean it that way. Please forgive me."

"

Hmph

!" Luo Chen snorted coldly, clearly still displeased.

Jiang Yu stepped in to ease the tension. "Fellow Daoist Luo, perhaps you should speak up and have them return to one-on-one combat. Even if it becomes a winner-stays-on, we trust Wang Yuan will still prevail. Going one against three feels overly reckless."

Cen Qiusheng stroked his beard and added, "That is true. Even setting the matter of the shop aside, Wang Yuan's safety should come first."

Under their persuasion, Luo Chen instead fell silent. If this had happened at the beginning, he would have stopped it immediately. Yet after watching the first rounds, he had understood Wang Yuan's intentions.

The Dao of Martial Arts was unlike the slow accumulation of immortality cultivation. That path valued actual combat above all. A day of treading the thin border between life and death surpassed decades of secluded study. Moreover, Wang Yuan had spent decades refining the physique cultivation theory and had reached its peak. He now stood at the bottleneck of Pill Force. With theory unable to push him further, he sought a breakthrough through life-and-death combat, and he was indeed doing exactly that. In such a situation, if he spoke up to stop him...

After a moment of contemplation, Luo Chen slowly shook his head. "Let him be. With the Sword Sect's Adept watching from the side, he will not die. I'll step in if needed"

Fu Jiusheng said anxiously, "If he gets injured, we will lose a major power in the upcoming Frontier War."

Before he knew it, Wang Yuan's strength had already been acknowledged by all Adepts of the Luo Tian Alliance. Even without the title of Jade Cauldron's foremost Initiate, like Luo Chen, he was still one of the greatest powers below the Golden Core Realm. Within the Luo Tian Alliance, he could even be considered the foremost apart from the five Adepts. The thought of such a figure being injured was truly unfortunate.

Luo Chen glanced at them. "You were the ones telling me to calm down earlier, and now you are the ones panicking."

He ignored Diwu Qi and the others' forced smiles and snorted softly. "Don't worry.

If he is injured, then I will bring him back and heal him."

Yet he thought,

Compared to the temptation of breaking through, Wang Yuan naturally would not care about minor injuries. This time, I must not stop him but serve as his guardian.