"That's Chu Feng? He looks awfully young!"
As soon as Chu Feng stepped out, he became the focal point of the entire arena. Everyone had been waiting for his appearance, but his youthful features still caught people by surprise.
Although this Freshman Tournament was limited to those under the age of eighteen, cities usually selected representatives who had just turned eighteen to compete. After all, among fellow geniuses, the longer one cultivated, the stronger they naturally became.
But Chu Feng’s age was clearly far short of eighteen; he was just a tender youth. While reaching such a level of cultivation at his age was genuinely impressive, compared to the core disciples of first-rate sects, Chu Feng still seemed a bit lacking.
The puzzling part for everyone was why Purple Gold City would choose such a young, tender teenager as their representative. Even if he had potential, his current cultivation was too weak. At the very least, he couldn't compare to the other new talents present.
"Where did you go? Why were you so slow?" Su Mei ran over, pouting angrily, worry still visible on her face.
"Heh, yesterday was a bit tiring. I took a nap." Chu Feng scratched his head, giving an awkward smile.
"You! While everyone else is desperately hunting Ghost-Horned Beasts, you actually had the leisure to sleep!"
"Were you even paying attention to hunting Ghost-Horned Beasts? Don't tell me you won't even make it into the top ten? You're taking this way too lightly!" Seeing Chu Feng like this, Su Mei’s pout deepened, a mix of exasperation and amusement crossing her face.
"I might not have been focused solely on hunting Ghost-Horned Beasts, but making the top ten shouldn't be a problem," Chu Feng said with considerable confidence.
Seeing this, the surrounding crowd finally understood. It was obvious to anyone with eyes that Su Mei, the third miss of the Su family, had a rather special relationship with Chu Feng. Presumably, Chu Feng's chance to attend this Freshman Tournament was largely thanks to her.
"So that's it, he's got a connection with the third miss of the Su family! No wonder he got the Purple Gold Token from the City Lord!"
"Hmph, connections are useless here. The Freshman Tournament is about strength. The top ten have already been decided. With his level of cultivation, does he really think he can knock one of them out?"
The other new talents from Purple Gold City had always harbored resentment towards Chu Feng. They felt his strength wasn't up to par for the tournament; he wasn't only embarrassing Purple Gold City but also dragging them down.
After his brief exchange with Su Mei, Chu Feng walked up to the guard tallying the results. Before everyone's eyes, he dumped the pile of purple horns—over two hundred of them—onto the ground in front of the guard.
"Heavens! Did he actually hunt that many Ghost-Horned Beasts?"
"How is that possible? With his cultivation, how could he hunt so many? That pile... there must be at least two hundred!"
Staring at the sprawling heap of purple horns, the arena erupted in uproar. No matter how they looked at it, no one could comprehend how someone at Chu Feng's level could have hunted such a vast number of Ghost-Horned Beasts. That quantity was practically on par with Chen Wanxi's results.
"Impossible! This is absolutely impossible! He must have cheated! He cheated!"
Compared to others, Wan Wenpeng was especially disheartened. He currently held the tenth spot in the rankings, and with Chu Feng's results far surpassing his own, he was guaranteed to be kicked out of the top ten.
If someone significantly stronger than him had knocked him out, he could have accepted it. But being replaced by Chu Feng—a brat he deeply despised—was something he simply could not stomach.
In fact, it wasn't just Wan Wenpeng thinking this way. Many people present did too. Considering Chu Feng's relationship with Su Mei, they all assumed he had obtained so many Ghost-Horned Beast horns through improper means, rather than hunting them himself.
Still, no matter what they speculated privately, no one dared voice it aloud. After all, nobody wanted to offend the Su family's third miss over such a matter.
And so, thanks to his outstanding results, Chu Feng secured a spot to compete for the championship. Meanwhile, Wan Wenpeng was squeezed out of the top ten and eliminated ahead of time.
"Hmph!" Watching Chu Feng take his place on the Combat Platform, Wan Wenpeng seethed with anger, his expression turning grim.