Top-tier Unruly Master

"How... How is this possible?!" Upon seeing the dark-faced man appearing before his eyes, he was so astonished that he retreated several steps.

Earlier, when Fanjing and Ding Fan were competing in speed, it was understandable that Fanjing was not as fast as Ding Fan, as indeed some martial artists possess innate talents, such as exceptional speed or strength.

But then they competed in Inner Strength. Fanjing had used one hundred percent of his Inner Strength; his Inner Strength just now could truly be described as earth-shattering and devastating without exaggeration.

Yet, in the face of such formidable Inner Strength, Ding Fan had once again defeated Fanjing in their competition of Inner Strength...

Ding Fan was impressive in speed, and he had also won in the realm of Inner Strength...

Thinking of this, the dark-faced man's eyes were filled with terror. Could it be that this young man, barely in his early twenties, actually possessed a cultivation at or above the third grade of the Earth Level...

Thinking of this, the dark-faced man was covered in goosebumps.

It should be noted that Fanjing was considered a strikingly talented Core Disciple in the Upper Xuan Sect, and even someone like him had cultivated for over thirty years with the full support of the Sect's resources to achieve such cultivation.

If one were to calculate based on this rate, wouldn't it mean that Ding Fan had to have started cultivating from the moment he was born...

"You... What have you done to Elder Brother Fanjing?" The dark-faced man hastily composed himself. He was the senior-most disciple among those from the Upper Xuan Sect present, and he couldn't afford to lose his composure.

"Killed him." Ding Fan simply stated without beating around the bush.

"You... You dare to kill a disciple of my Upper Xuan Sect..." The dark-faced man's brow furrowed deeply.

Ding Fan snorted coldly. "What? Only you can kill me, and I'm only meant to be killed? I can't kill those from your side?"

The dark-faced man found himself at a loss for words in response to Ding Fan's argument.

In the Ancient Martial World, might makes right, and at this moment, the dark-faced man and his companions were far from being as tough as Ding Fan, so they dared not be as arrogantly condescending as before.

"Fine... as for today's events, we admit defeat... Please return the Seven Star Sword of Elder Brother Fanjing," The dark-faced man pondered for a moment and then addressed Ding Fan.

Ding Fan, as though he was hearing the funniest joke in the world, replied, "Since I killed the man, naturally, the Seven Star Sword is mine now."

"The Seven Star Sword is a true treasure of my Upper Xuan Sect. By seizing it forcibly, the Upper Xuan Sect will certainly not let you off in the future. I suggest you return the Seven Star Sword," said the dark-faced man.

Ding Fan, full of disdain, retorted, "According to what you're saying, does that mean if I return the Seven Star Sword now, you'll let me off in the future? Given your way of doing things, whether I return it or not, you won't let me go, so why should I return it to you?"

The dark-faced man glanced at Ding Fan.

Ding Fan did indeed have a point; after all, Fanjing was a Core Disciple of the Upper Xuan Sect. Such disciples were cultivated with all the resources of a Sect, often going on to become pillars of their community.

And Ding Fan had slain Fanjing with a single blow. Not just the Upper Xuan Sect, but no Sect could let such a deed go unpunished.

"Alright... We will remember today's events, and naturally, we will find time to settle this account in the future," the dark-faced man declared, leading his men away in disarray.

Ding Fan didn't bother to stop the few ants as they left.

"Elder Brother Ye, so cool!" After the Upper Xuan Sect people left, Qin Min ran up to Ding Fan and exclaimed.

Ding Fan smiled in response. "Take a look, how could I not be cool?"

Qin Min, who by now was used to Ding Fan's self-praise, didn't find it repulsive. On the contrary, she found it quite adorable.

"Thank you, Elder Brother Ye, for intervening just now..." At this moment, Qu Waner walked up and thanked Ding Fan.

Qin Ming was taken aback. "But Elder Brother Ye didn't save us when he was fighting that bastard."

Qu Waner smiled and then explained to Qin Min. "When Fanjing struck down with his Inner Strength just now, Ding Fan refrained from clashing directly with him in order to protect the two of us. That's why he picked us up..."

As Qu Waner spoke, Qin Min nodded in understanding. "Oh, I see. I thought Elder Brother Ye was losing and wanted to run away with us."

Seeing Qin Min's reaction, Ding Fan just smiled; Qin Min was quite straightforward, yet such a girl seemed very honest.

Qu Waner also laughed. "Elder Brother Ye wasn't planning to run away because he couldn't beat Fanjing. He was worried that in their Inner Strength collision, we both would be involved."

After she spoke, Qu Waner gestured towards the Arena nearby.

By now the dust in the Arena had settled, and Qin Min looked over to see a huge crater about two meters in diameter...

Seeing this, Qin Min felt a chill down her spine. Had she been standing behind Ding Fan at the time, she likely would have been gravely injured if not dead.

"Thank you, Elder Brother Ye!" Qin Min thanked Ding Fan with the traditional martial artist's salute.

Ding Fan merely smiled indifferently. "Aren't we teammates? Why mention it now? Come on, let's see what treasures lie within."

As soon as hunting for treasures was mentioned, Qin Min immediately perked up. "Let's go, treasure hunting!"

With that, the three of them happily made their way toward the direction of the grand hall.

Meanwhile, the onlookers, who had been keenly watching the drama unfold, didn't dare to take a step forward.

The people from the Upper Xuan Sect had sealed off the location, and Ding Fan had forcibly entered with brute force. They wouldn't dare to share in the spoils he had hard-won access to.

The bystanders were simply hoping that Ding Fan would leave behind some treasures or overlook something so that they could pick up any leftovers once he entered.

Ding Fan, along with Qu Waner and Qin Min, entered the grand hall.

The grand doors of the hall were tightly shut.

However, the door of the great hall was covered with numerous scratch marks, showing signs that it had been blasted before.

Seeing this, Ding Fan was taken aback. It seemed that the people from Upper Xuan Sect who had come before hadn't even entered the great hall.

Qin Min tried to strike the door with her Inner Strength.

But as her Inner Strength struck, the door remained completely unaffected.

Without his Divine Sense, Ding Fan had no way to detect the exact condition of the door but, from the feel of the door, he believed it was most likely made of Mysterious Iron and combined with a Formation.

Ding Fan pondered for a moment. Looking at the marks, it was clear that the people from Upper Xuan Sect had used quite a few methods to force the iron door open, which seemed to be very difficult.

Ding Fan thought, there must definitely be a way to open the door.

"Everybody look around and see if there's anything unusual about this iron door," Ding Fan said to Qu Waner and Qin Min.

The two women agreed and then began to carefully search around the door.

The Mysterious Iron gate was about two meters tall and around five to six meters wide. On the Mysterious Iron gate, there were some golden beads embedded.

Qu Waner was curious about these golden beads and touched one of them.

"Hmm?" After Qu Waner touched it, she was surprised to find that the bead became warm to the touch.

Curious, she slowly tried to take the golden bead.

To Qu Waner's surprise, she was actually able to pick the golden bead off.

"Elder Brother Ye, these beads can be taken off," Qu Waner said to Ding Fan.

Ding Fan was startled. He hurried over and took the bead from Qu Waner's hand.

After examining the bead closely, Ding Fan then scrutinized the Mysterious Iron gate and discovered bead holes at the very top corners of the gate. He looked again and realized that not only the upper left and right corners had bead holes, but the lower corners did as well.

And these beads were embedded right in the center of the door.

Ding Fan pondered for a moment, then his eyes lit up. The secret of the Mysterious Iron gate lay within these beads.

The door was arranged according to the principle of the Eight Trigrams and the Five Elements; by properly arranging all the beads, the Mysterious Iron gate would automatically open.

Having realized this, Ding Fan urgently said to Qu Waner and Qin Min, "Both of you, quickly collect all the beads."

Neither Qu Waner nor Qin Min dared to delay, and they busily picked off all the beads from the Mysterious Iron gate.

While they were picking the beads, Ding Fan stood with his hands behind his back under the Mysterious Iron gate, studying the changes of the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams on the gate in detail.

"Elder Brother Ye, all the beads you asked for are right here," Qu Waner and Qin Min said as they handed over all the beads to Ding Fan.

Ding Fan mused for a moment, then took a golden bead directly from Qu Waner's hand. With a flick of his right hand, the golden bead, as if it had eyes, embedded itself perfectly into a bead hole in the upper left corner.

Once the bead was embedded in the hole, its color abruptly changed; the originally golden bead turned blood red in an instant.

A drop-dead gorgeous blood red.

Upon seeing this, Qu Waner and Qin Min couldn't help but be amazed.

Seeing the golden bead change color, Ding Fan knew more than ever that his thoughts were absolutely correct.

He then took another bead from Qin Min's hand, and after throwing it, it embedded into the bead hole in the upper right corner, turning blood red upon contact.

Without any hesitation, Ding Fan quickly threw the beads with both hands, and as each bead embedded into its hole, it turned blood red.

It took about five minutes for Ding Fan to finally embed the last golden bead into the central bead hole.

Boom... Rumble...

As soon as the bead was embedded, the ground began to shake violently.

Squeak squeak... And the Mysterious Iron gate slowly began to open...

"Wow... it actually opened..." Qin Min said, looking at Ding Fan with disbelief.

The palace door, which Upper Xuan Sect had tried so long to open and couldn't, was effortlessly unlocked by Ding Fan just tossing beads at it.

Qin Min was now in absolute awe of Ding Fan.

"Only I could have opened this door!" bragged Ding Fan, standing hands on hips, chuckling triumphantly.

Seeing Ding Fan like this, Qin Min couldn't help but think he was incredibly handsome right then!

But just as Ding Fan's smile hadn't faded, a sudden chill came out of nowhere. He quickly mobilized his True Qi to protect his vital points.

Whoosh whoosh... At that moment, two dark shadows charged at him.

As the shadows made their move, they aimed a killing blow, a gust of wind slashing straight at several vital points on Ding Fan's chest.

Ding Fan dared not be careless.

From the angle of the attack, the assailant definitely had impressive skills; the simultaneous attack aimed at his chest's vital points was ingeniously coordinated, making it no easy task to dodge...