Volume 1 Chapter 27: Zhao Feng Turns the Tables
With the chief referee’s command, Zhao Feng charged at Lin Hongye like a beast unleashed from its cage, wild and uncontrollable.
The composure that once graced his face was gone, replaced by an insatiable bloodlust and madness.
Seeing Zhao Feng in this state, the crowd grew anxious.
“I’ve never seen Senior Brother like this before. It’s terrifying,” one whispered.
“Yes, he seems several times stronger than before. Can Lin Hongye really withstand this?” another murmured.
“I don’t think so. Lin Hongye’s cultivation was already inferior to Senior Brother’s. Now, with Senior Brother in this frenzied state... Lin Hongye will surely lose within three moves.”
As Zhao Feng barreled forward, Lin Hongye’s eyes narrowed, and her spiritual energy surged violently through her body.
The entire arena trembled under the force of her aura. Suddenly, white immortal flames spread out from her like a blossoming flower, engulfing the stage in fire.
The maddened Zhao Feng felt as if he had been plunged into a boiling cauldron of oil, slowly being cooked alive. A scream of agony escaped his lips.
From his seat on Crimson Sun Peak, Lu Chen watched Lin Hongye’s performance with satisfaction.
“Not bad. Looks like Senior Sister is taking this seriously.”
At the chairman’s platform, Lin Yang showed no surprise.
Before he had taught her the cultivation technique, Lin Hongye had already reached the peak Nascent Soul stage.
Since Lin Yang passed on the “Raging Flame Inferno” technique to her, her power had grown rapidly day by day.
Especially her affinity with the path of fire—primarily the Immortal Flame Dao, supplemented by the Raging Flame Inferno and the Crimson Sun Immortal Sword—making her arguably the strongest fire cultivator below the Enlightenment Realm.
Watching Zhao Feng flail about in the flames below, Lin Yang’s lips curled into a mocking smile.
“The power of immortal flames against demons increases exponentially.”
Indeed, Zhao Feng, having consumed the Yaksha Pill, was tainted by demonic energy.
Coincidentally, the Immortal Flame Dao’s potency against demonic creatures was greatly amplified.
---
On the arena floor, Lin Hongye showed no mercy as Zhao Feng screamed in agony from the burning flames.
With a thought, white immortal flames instantly engulfed the Crimson Sun Immortal Sword.
She then slashed fiercely, releasing a sword energy even more formidable than the one from the previous day.
“Boom!”
This time, no one came to block the sword energy. Zhao Feng resisted with all his might but still lost an arm to the blade.
---
The scene on the arena was pitiful: Zhao Feng half-kneeling at the edge, his left arm shattered into a mist of blood.
The sword slash had cleaved the arena’s floor into rubble, carving a deep trench.
White immortal flames covered the perimeter, and even the disciples in the audience felt the intense waves of heat.
After a long moment, Wang Zide sighed in despair.
He flew onto the arena, stopping a few meters from Zhao Feng.
Looking at Zhao Feng’s battered form, a flicker of pity crossed his eyes, but it soon hardened into indifference.
“Zhao Feng, why did you force yourself to use the secret pill to boost your cultivation?” Wang Zide’s voice was cold but trembling; he was struggling to suppress his emotions.
Zhao Feng looked up, dazed, toward Wang Zide, then suddenly felt a metallic taste in his throat.
“Pfft—”
He spat out a mouthful of blood. Wang Zide instinctively moved to support him but restrained himself.
Still, he pressed on, “Answer me! Why?”
With pitiful eyes, Zhao Feng looked at Wang Zide and shakily said, “Master, I had no choice... I really had no choice.”
Wang Zide’s heart clenched in pain. He pointed at Zhao Feng, questioning sharply:
“No choice?! What do you mean you had no choice?”
“I have told you many times—losing is nothing to be ashamed of. You are still a disciple of the Great Wilderness Immortal Sect. You are still the pride of my Sword Edge!”
“But now, you resort to cheating just to win by forcefully taking secret pills. Do you realize how much damage this will do to your cultivation path?!”
Usually obsessed with reputation, Wang Zide now ignored how Zhao Feng’s use of forbidden pills would ruin his own name.
All he knew was that Zhao Feng’s life was ruined.
“No... it’s not like that...” Zhao Feng murmured, then looked toward the chairman’s seat where Wu Qingshan sat.
Wu Qingshan sensed something was wrong. He had a bad feeling—what Zhao Feng was about to say would be disastrous for him.
To save himself, Wu Qingshan immediately moved to the arena, preparing to end Zhao Feng’s life.
But just as he moved, a large hand grabbed him firmly.
“Chairman Wu, why the rush? Why not stay and listen to what Zhao Feng has to say?”
The one who grabbed Wu Qingshan was none other than Lin Yang.
He had sensed the danger when Zhao Feng was defeated and was cautious enough to intervene.
Wu Qingshan was shocked to be held by a third-stage Qi practitioner like Lin Yang.
At that moment, Zhao Feng, who had been suppressing his emotions for a long time, finally shouted hoarsely:
“I want to expose the truth! I, Zhao Feng, am a pawn of the Bloodthirsty Demon Sect! And the Dan Peak Chairman Wu Qingshan is an elder of the Bloodthirsty Demon Sect!”
The arena fell silent. Everyone was stunned, unable to believe what they had heard.
Wang Zide was equally shocked, staring incredulously at Zhao Feng, who knelt on the ground, his face filled with excitement.
“Feng’er, what are you saying?” Wang Zide asked in disbelief.
Zhao Feng’s chest heaved as pain and relief mingled on his face.
He had buried this secret for over a decade.
Now that it was out, he finally felt a weight lifted.
He continued loudly, “I was an orphan from western Central Plains. More than ten years ago, I was taken in by the Bloodthirsty Demon Sect.”
“They fed me, taught me to write, and to cultivate.”
“When the time was right, they sent me and others from my batch into the Great Wilderness Immortal Sect as infiltrators.”
“But after more than ten years, all others from my batch have been exposed except for me.”
“Also, I learned that the Dan Peak Chairman Wu Qingshan is another mole within the Great Wilderness Immortal Sect!”
“Over the years, he and I have passed countless secrets back to the Bloodthirsty Demon Sect, causing many crises for the Great Wilderness Immortal Sect.”
“This time, he ordered me to kill Lin Hongye on the arena, to sever the future genius of the Great Wilderness Immortal Sect!”
Wu Qingshan’s face drained of color. He had considered many possibilities: that Zhao Feng wouldn’t take the pill or that he simply couldn’t defeat Lin Hongye.
But he never imagined Zhao Feng would betray him so utterly.