Hearing Chu Feng's words, Su Mei was stunned. She was deeply attracted by Chu Feng, by that kind of presence. A strange feeling arose in her heart, one where she felt that Chu Feng's words were not idle boasts, and that this youth could truly achieve everything he claimed.
"Little Mei, I know you're not like Situ Yu and the others, but the fact is I've offended Gong Luyun right now, so I don't want to drag you into this," Chu Feng suddenly said.
"Chu Feng, what do you mean? This whole thing today started because of me. If it weren't for me... you wouldn't have ended up like this. You've suffered such a huge injustice on my behalf, and if I were to leave you now, would I even be human?"
"True, Gong Luyun does have a lot of influence in the Core Area, but I, Su Mei, am not afraid of him. Not only am I not afraid of him within the Azure Dragon Sect, but even outside the sect, I'm still not afraid of him," Su Mei said firmly.
Looking at the resolute Su Mei, Chu Feng didn't know what to do. Was Su Mei afraid of Gong Luyun? Of course she was. After all, this Core Area was Gong Luyun's domain right now, and even her sister, Su Rou, might not necessarily be his match.
But it was precisely because she was afraid, yet still able to say these words with such conviction, that Chu Feng couldn't bear to persuade her further. He didn't want to betray Su Mei's good intentions.
"Alright, I really can't win against you, girl. In that case, you can accompany me to the Martial Arts Library."
"Sure! I was just thinking about practicing a Fifth-rank Martial Art."
At that moment, Su Mei became the lively, cheerful girl once again, hopping and skipping as she ran off, with Chu Feng following close behind.
The Core Area was vast, but there were only around two thousand disciples. So news spread quickly after things happened. For example, Chu Feng's challenge against Gong Luyun had already spread throughout the entire Core Area in just a short while.
Plus, with Chu Feng's appearance and name now posted on the announcement board, most people had an impression of him. So as Chu Feng and Su Mei headed towards the Martial Arts Library, nearly everyone who saw them pointed and whispered endlessly.
Having anticipated this situation, Chu Feng ignored it, and Su Mei did the same. The two walked into the Martial Arts Library with smiles, chatting as they went, ready to choose the martial arts manuals they desired.
The Core Area's Martial Arts Library was much smaller than the Inner Sect's, only a single story, but it was exquisitely built. The lowest-ranked manuals here were Third-rank Martial Arts, and the highest were Fifth-rank.
Of course, besides martial arts, there were also Mystic Arts, though these were all basic techniques. For two people who had already practiced the Breathing Technique, they weren't very useful, so their main goal was to select a martial arts manual.
"A Fifth-rank Martial Art called the Hundred Transformations Bow. What a strange name."
After looking around, Chu Feng was attracted by a manual named Hundred Transformations Bow and couldn't help but flip through it. The more he read, the more he liked it.
This was a condensation-type martial art, with a very high difficulty of controlling Spiritual Energy. It involved projecting Spiritual Energy outside the body and condensing it into a weapon for combat. Moreover, depending on one's preference, it could be condensed into various forms.
It could be swords, spears, halberds, axes, hooks, tridents, staffs, rods, whips, maces, hammers, and more. Essentially, any weapon form could be condensed, and the manual included attack techniques for each of these weapons.
But the most difficult form to condense was a bow. If this bow could be formed, it could turn Spiritual Energy into arrows and shoot them out to a distance of ten li. Its speed was so great that almost no one could dodge it, making it a formidable technique.
Therefore, this Hundred Transformations Bow was definitely a high-grade martial art among the Fifth-rank Martial Arts. Of course, its difficulty to master was also very high.
"This is the one," Chu Feng decided, then took the manual to register it. After Su Mei also chose a martial art, the two walked out of the Martial Arts Library.
However, outside the library, about twenty-odd Core Disciples had gathered. Each of these Core Disciples had an unfriendly look on their face. They had already surrounded the pair, cutting off their retreat.
"What do you want?" Su Mei's delicate brows furrowed slightly as she looked at the twenty-odd Core Disciples surrounding them and demanded in a loud voice.
She was doing this deliberately, as they were still right at the library's entrance. She wanted to draw out the elder guarding the library inside and ask for his help.
But alas, even though the elder clearly heard Su Mei's shouts, he completely ignored them. Instead, the disciples from within the Martial Arts Library came out to watch the spectacle.
"This junior sister must be the younger sister of Senior Sister Su Rou, Su Mei, right?" one disciple stepped forward and asked.
"Is there something you need?" Su Mei's expression was cold.
"Hehe, I heard that Junior Sister Su Mei has mid-grade talent, which is quite rare in the Core Area. With your talent, Junior Sister, I'm sure your name will definitely appear on the Green Dragon Ranking in the future."
"But Junior Sister Su Mei, with talent like yours, why are you hanging around with a guy like this? Getting too close to him isn't good for you," another man chuckled.
"I'll spend time with whomever I like. That's my business, not yours," Su Mei said coldly.
"Heh, Junior Sister Su Mei, I was just kindly advising you. I didn't expect you to be so ungrateful. In that case, I'll tell you straight: this Chu Feng has offended Senior Brother Gong, and he can no longer stay in the Core Area."
"We're here today to teach this arrogant little punk a lesson on Senior Brother Gong's behalf. I hope you'll stay away from him, otherwise, if you get hurt, don't blame us." The man's face also turned gloomy.
"Is it to punish me for Gong Luyun, or to use punishing me as a way to curry favor with Gong Luyun and get on his good side?"
"As expected of a waste. Only people like you would think of using this kind of method to suck up to Gong Luyun. But I'm afraid your attempt to suck up won't work out," Chu Feng suddenly sneered at this moment, looking at the crowd with eyes full of disdain and contempt.
The strength of these people was not weak, but it wasn't particularly strong either. They were mostly at the Spirit Martial 8th and 9th Stages. Within the Inner Sect, they would be considered top-tier, but here in the Core Area, they were genuine bottom-feeders.
So Chu Feng could figure out the reason they were looking for trouble with him. It was simply to attract Gong Luyun's attention in hopes of gaining some benefits. But with their level of strength, Chu Feng truly didn't take them seriously.