"I say, Chu Feng, you're not so great after all — a full day and you've come up with absolutely nothing." Seeing Chu Feng's shrivelled bundle, Chu Xue sneered mockingly.
"Is that so? All ten of you combined — your haul doesn't look much better than mine, does it?" Chu Feng glanced over and noticed that Chu Xue and her group had equally shrivelled bundles. He grinned. "I just can't figure out what Chu Wei was thinking, lumping you ten cowards together. And the ten of you wander all the way into the middle zone — are you on some kind of picnic? Running low on rations yet?"
"Bullshit!" At Chu Feng's words, Chu Xue flew into a rage, and the nine servants at her side all wore scowling faces.
Chu Gao in particular jabbed a finger at Chu Feng and roared, "Say one more disrespectful word about my young lady, and I'll cripple you for good!"
"If you think you're up to it, feel free to come and try," Chu Feng shot back with a contemptuous glance at Chu Gao before lowering his head to continue eating his rations.
"You think I wouldn't dare?" Chu Gao snarled. With a menacing aura radiating off him, he strode toward Chu Feng. Whirlwinds of air spiralled up from beneath his feet, sending wide swaths of leaves scattering in every direction — the full force of his Spirit Martial Fourth Level cultivation laid bare.
But the moment Chu Gao drew close, Chu Feng snapped his head up. Two cold glares shot from his eyes, piercing into Chu Gao's gaze like blades.
*Tap.* Chu Gao immediately halted in his tracks and stumbled back two steps. The instant he locked eyes with Chu Feng, he felt something — an intimidating aura.
That intimidating aura sent a chill racing down his spine and a flutter of panic through his chest, because he had felt this kind of presence before, and he knew all too well how terrifying a person capable of projecting it could be.
Even though he could hardly believe it — after all, Chu Feng was only at the Cultivation Martial Fourth Level and had only just entered the Inner Sect — that intimidating aura told him plainly: do not fight this man.
*Gulp.* He swallowed hard, then turned on his heel and slunk away.
Chu Xue and the others were left standing there, bewildered. How could he retreat before even throwing a punch? That was humiliating!
If they had known that Chu Gao had been driven back by a single glance from Chu Feng, they would have found it even more embarrassing.
"Chu Gao, what's the matter with you?" Chu Xue snapped furiously.
"Young lady, I..." Chu Gao didn't know how to answer.
"Useless trash."
Seeing his cowardly expression, Chu Xue gritted her teeth in frustration but didn't know what to do. In the end she could only spit viciously at Chu Feng: "Chu Feng, you've really grown some backbone, haven't you? Forgot how Brother Hongfei used to beat you until you wet yourself in fear when you were a child?"
"I'm telling you, you'd better never set foot in the Chu Family again — or I'll have Brother Hongfei make you suffer even worse."
At these words from Chu Xue, Chu Feng's hands clenched tight. The rations in his grip crumbled to dust as a fierce gust erupted outward from him, forcing Chu Xue and her group stumbling backward. Even Chu Gao could barely hold his ground.
Chu Hongfei — the person who had once delivered Chu Feng a crushing humiliation he would never forget. That year, only eight years old, Chu Feng had been beaten so badly by ten-year-old Chu Hongfei that he couldn't stand up. He had lain in bed for a full half month.
Worst of all, when Chu Guyu went to confront Chu Hongfei afterward, she too had been beaten black and blue. That incident had become a thorn in Chu Feng's heart — a thorn that, if left unpulled, would stab with pain every time it was remembered.
Chu Feng slowly raised his head. His eyes radiated a dense, bone-chilling cold as he spoke to Chu Xue in a voice as frigid as ice: "Chu Xue, you tell Brother Hongfei that I, Chu Feng, will return for this year's Clan Competition. Tell him to get ready to kneel and beg for mercy."
"And right now, you'd better disappear from my sight immediately — or you'll regret it forever."
Under normal circumstances, Chu Xue would have fired back at Chu Feng without hesitation. But right now, she no longer had the nerve. The aura Chu Feng was radiating made her legs go weak and her body tremble. She knew this feeling was called fear.