NOVEL WEB Ch. 117
Chapter 117: Provocation
The next day.
Early in the morning, the entire Brahma God Sect was noticeably more lively than usual.
On this day, the formation array of the Ten Peaks, usually closed to ordinary disciples, was unexpectedly wide open.
All the ordinary disciples, whether they were inner sect core disciples or outer sect disciples, surged toward the domain of the Ten Peaks.
Among them, the crowd was densest at Holy Son Peak. The entire platform at the mountain summit was nearly packed.
Gu Fan remained in the contestants’ area, looking at the stream of disciples coming and going below, and couldn't help but sigh.
These people from Holy Son Peak were truly foolish. With such a huge flow of people, they still hadn’t thought to set up a few more stalls.
Selling anything casually would rake in profits.
This was essentially the cultivation world's version of a marketplace.
While he was muttering to himself, a disciple from Holy Son Peak at the front began to call out:
“Contestants of the first team, get ready to head to Arena One. Team Two, proceed to Arena Two.”
Gu Fan had come alone, unlike disciples from other peaks who had companions, so he leisurely strolled by himself to Arena Two.
By the time he arrived, several people were already there, seemingly all assigned to Team Two.
Among them, the aura of one youth instantly caught his attention.
This person had restrained blood and qi, deep like an abyss. His presence was terrifying, as if a flood dragon was hidden within him.
Although his cultivation was only at the late stage of the Primordial Yang Realm, he was more frightening than the average mid-stage True Yang Realm cultivator!
There was no doubt—such a person could easily battle across realms.
Gu Fan immediately understood without needing to ask. This person was undoubtedly the strongest third-generation disciple of Holy Son Peak—Jiang Tianxin.
While Gu Fan was observing, Jiang Tianxin also instantly looked at Gu Fan.
In his eyes, Gu Fan was nothing less than a humanoid violent dragon.
“You’re Gu Fan?”
Suddenly, Jiang Tianxin stepped forward, his gaze blazing, blood and qi boiling, and his terrifying aura instantly shook the other contestants of Team Two around him!
The commotion immediately drew the attention of many disciples from other peaks.
“I’ve long heard you possess the Nine Rings Talent and even managed to fight that True Yang waste from Sumeru Peak without falling behind!”
Gu Fan’s eyes also shone with a piercing brilliance. This guy was the strongest peer he had encountered so far!
At that moment, his well-hidden battle instincts since arriving in the Upper Realm were instantly awakened.
Gu Fan felt the pressure from the opposing aura slowly boil his blood, and his body continuously awakened!
“Overlord Peak, Gu Fan!”
“Hahaha, good! They want me to kill you, but now I feel I might only be able to cripple you. You do have the strength to survive under my hands!”
The ever-present smile on Gu Fan’s face had long disappeared, replaced by a cold, indifferent expression.
“Let’s hope your strength is as strong as your mouth and not just empty words.”
Jiang Tianxin didn’t reply, instead sighing with slight regret:
“What a pity, you’re three realms below me. Otherwise, you’d be even stronger.”
“Heh, forget it. If we were in the same realm, I might accidentally kill you!”
After saying that, Gu Fan directly walked to the side and sat down. Since the duel hadn’t started yet, fighting under the stage would be stopped. It would be better to wait until the match officially began and teach him a lesson on the arena.
Jiang Tianxin chuckled after hearing this, and retracted his aura.
“Interesting, heh.”
With that, he also sat back down.
However, their conversation had already greatly angered Huang Lin, who stood not far away.
Good grief, you two throwing threats and dragging me into it?
“True Yang waste… what a nice pair, Jiang Tianxin and Gu Fan!”
Huang Lin silently clenched his fists and turned to return to his place.
Very soon, after everyone had finished grouping, the battle officially began!
“Disciples of the Ten Peaks, the match officially begins!”
“As in past years, those confident may go directly on stage. Others may challenge the platform. The defeated shall step down, the victor may choose to continue or rest and wait for the next round, until only one remains in each team!”
After speaking, the person withdrew from the arena.
For a time, none of the five arenas had anyone daring to be the first to step up.
It was the same on Team Two’s side—none of the disciples wanted to go first.
What if they got targeted by Jiang Tianxin or Gu Fan the moment they went up? Wouldn’t that be a one-round knockout?
Not to mention the embarrassment, they wouldn’t even get a consolation prize—what a loss that would be.
Gu Fan had only just learned upon registering that as long as one held out until the final twenty, they would receive a reward.
It had to be said—Holy Son Peak’s background was indeed substantial. They were truly wealthy and imposing.
At this thought, Gu Fan remembered Lin Yi. If they were still in the Lower Realm, the two of them would probably be scheming how to kill and rob people by now.
Just as Gu Fan was musing, someone finally stepped onto the stage.
“Hmph, no one else is going up? I’ll go! Who dares to battle me?”
His manner of speaking was quite bold.
However, when Gu Fan took a single step forward, the man was startled and nearly raised his hand to surrender on the spot.
Fortunately, he saw that Gu Fan didn’t continue moving, and only then did he let out a sigh of relief.
Next, everyone saw Gu Fan patting the dust off his robe and pulling his leg back.
Then he looked innocently at everyone and said:
“What? I was just dusting off.”
The man on the stage twitched the corner of his mouth and chose to ignore his own embarrassing moment.
At this moment, someone else leaped up, landing inside the arena.
“Sumeru Peak disciple Xue Qi!”
“Tiancai Peak disciple Yu Baixin, please give me your guidance!”
As soon as they clasped fists, they moved instantly, their figures vanishing from the spot.
Immediately after, the sound of battle erupted in the center of the arena with a loud bang.
Waves of air surged and blasted outward in all directions.
With the second arena initiating combat, the other arenas soon followed as disciples began stepping up.
Though no one said it out loud, everyone seemed to tacitly agree to seek opponents of roughly equal cultivation.
Gu Fan squinted as he watched the battle on the arena, feeling somewhat reflective.
Any one of these people, taken to the Lower Realm, would probably be able to thrash those so-called geniuses of the sects.
Even the strongest disciples of the Five Major Righteous Sects couldn’t compare here.
There was a reason these disciples had been accepted into the Ten Peaks.
To say the least, the two on stage right now could defeat or even kill late-stage Primordial Yang Realm cultivators despite only being at mid-stage in the Lower Realm!
But here, if you could battle across realms, so could everyone else—so it was as if no one could. That was why things seemed relatively mediocre.
Unless someone’s combat strength reached Gu Fan’s level, they were all more or less the same.
Boom!!
At that moment, a thunderous explosion echoed from the arena, followed by a billowing cloud of dust.
Then, all movement from the center ceased.
Gu Fan raised his eyes to look over, knowing that the first result had just come in.
After a moment, the dust settled.
The Sumeru Peak disciple on stage was seen half-kneeling on the ground.
On the other side, the Tiancai Peak disciple was panting slightly, clearly exhausted.
“You win!”
Yu Baixin of Tiancai Peak clasped his fists.
“Thank you for going easy.”
With that, Xue Qi from Sumeru Peak was helped down by his fellow junior disciples.
A disciple from Holy Son Peak, in charge of overseeing the matches, stepped forward and asked:
“Yu Baixin, would you like to continue to the next round or rest?”
Yu Baixin smiled wryly and shook his head.
He chose to rest for one match and was helped down by members of his own peak.
This time, however, there wasn’t much delay in the arena.
Very soon, another disciple leaped up.
“Holy Son Peak’s Jiang Jian, requesting a duel with Gu Fan of Overlord Peak—do you dare to come up and fight?”