Volume 1, Chapter 60: Luring the Wolf into the Trap

"Zhao Fenghua, will you ever stop? Who I choose to walk with is my freedom! It has nothing to do with you!"

Seeing Zhao Fenghua appear, Xiao Ziyue's pretty face changed color, and she hurriedly pulled Muyi behind her.

"Indeed, I have no right to question who you choose to walk with."

"However, you likewise have no right to question whom I choose to kill."

Step by step, Zhao Fenghua walked toward Muyi.

"Brat, I spared your life last time purely out of regard for Ziyue."

"Yet I never imagined that you, a humble ant, would still dare to walk by Ziyue's side. It seems my easy departure last time truly fostered your delusions."

In Zhao Fenghua's eyes flickered dominance, arrogance, absolute lawlessness, and the supreme power over life and death.

"Xianyue, are you there? Lend me the War Dragon Sword! I will use the Great Sun Universe Sword Technique to annihilate him!"

How could Muyi's majestic aura, which dominated the world and reigned over the universe, ever suffer such provocation?

His desire to slay Zhao Fenghua even surpassed his hatred for Mo Jinghong!

"Muyi, this Zhao Fenghua is at the peak of the tenth stage of the Golden Core Realm; he indeed possesses the capital for arrogance. Even if I lent you the War Dragon Sword right now, you still could not deal with him using the Great Sun Universe Sword Technique."

Xianyue's voice echoed through his mind: "The gap in cultivation between you and him is simply too vast, like a natural chasm that cannot be bridged."

Xianyue's words dealt Muyi a blow unlike anything he had ever experienced before.

Could it be that he could only stand by and watch Zhao Fenghua flaunt his power right in front of him?

"Zhao Fenghua, do you really dare to make a move against Muyi? You surely cannot be unaware of what happened yesterday in the plaza!"

Xiao Ziyue shielded Muyi behind her, watching as Zhao Fenghua closed in step by step. Her gaze, however, held no panic.

"Even with one of the Eight Supreme Elders, Zhao Qiankun, standing behind you—even if he is your grandfather—once you kill Muyi, the Academy Dean will take your life on the spot!"

"Do not forget, your grandfather Zhao Qiankun has been in closed-door seclusion; he cannot emerge instantly to protect you!"

Xiao Ziyue continued with a chilling threat.

Zhao Fenghua was renowned for his peerless elegance and brilliance!

His strength was indeed the most outstanding among the prodigies of Divine Concealment Academy in over a century!

Yet what truly made him lawlessness incarnate was not merely his personal combat prowess.

It was his formidable backing and lineage!

Zhao Fenghua was the young master of the Zhao Clan, one of the four great noble clans of the Great Gan Empire.

More importantly, his grandfather, Zhao Qiankun, was one of the Eight Supreme Elders of Divine Concealment Academy—an ancient giant of the Universe Origin Realm whom even the veteran figures of the Great Gan Academy held in deep dread.

Precisely because of this, Zhao Fenghua dared to kill people openly within the academy, something even Mo Jinghong, the Master of the Penalty Hall, dared not do.

"Oh? Is that so? I certainly wouldn't mind putting it to the test."

Faced with Xiao Ziyue's threat, Zhao Fenghua did not stop at all.

He was about to reach the space right in front of Xiao Ziyue and Muyi.

It seemed he was truly prepared to cast all caution to the wind and execute Muyi right where he stood.

"Hmph..."

Right at that very moment, a swath of colorful rosy clouds suddenly drifted across the sky.

These vibrant clouds enveloped the airspace directly above Muyi and Xiao Ziyue.

"It is Master's ultimate technique, the Seven-Colored Rosy Light!"

Catching sight of this, Xiao Ziyue instantly let out a sigh of relief, a smile blooming in her lovely eyes.

"Zhao Fenghua, you are far too impudent! Do you truly believe that with your grandfather Zhao Qiankun backing you, I would not dare to kill you?"

From within the seven-colored clouds came Shen Yushu's ice-cold voice.

"Hahaha, so it is Dean Shen. Since you have spoken, naturally I would not dare to continue my attack on Muyi."

In an instant, Zhao Fenghua's towering killing intent vanished completely.

He was exceptionally clever.

The moment Shen Yushu's Seven-Colored Rosy Light appeared here, he had to accept reality; killing Muyi with his own hands right now was an impossibility.

Yet, he still held a backup plan.

"Muyi! The two of us challenge you to a duel of life and death upon the Death Arena! Do you dare to accept?"

Just then, the main gate of Muyi's courtyard was blasted wide open with brutal force.

Two familiar faces, Nangong Ying and Gu Fan, strode into view.

These two were the backup plan Zhao Fenghua had prepared.

This was his second strategic move.

"We have both heard that back in the Dragon Gate Battlefield, with the cultivation of the sixth stage of the Divine Transformation Realm, you slaughtered experts of the first stage of the Meta-府 (Meta-Mansion) Realm as if cutting vegetables. Now that your cultivation has advanced to the eighth stage of the Divine Transformation Realm, you must be even more formidable."

"And the two of us are at the fifth stage of the Meta-Mansion Realm, which should put us on fairly equal footing with your strength. Therefore, our challenging you is completely reasonable, is it not?"

Nangong Ying and Gu Fan were the genuine trump card Zhao Fenghua had prepared to eliminate Muyi.

"You two are truly shameless! Muyi hasn't even stepped into the Meta-Mansion Realm yet, while both of you are already powerful experts at the fifth stage of the Meta-Mansion Realm!"

So furious that she placed her hands on her hips, Xiao Ziyue cursed them out loud: "How on earth do you have the audacity to claim you are on equal footing with Muyi? Your talent for talking utter nonsense with your eyes wide open is truly peerless under heaven!"

"Muyi, pay them no mind! Wait until you reach the Meta-Mansion Realm, and then slaughter them; you won't be losing out!"

Although Xiao Ziyue knew Muyi possessed astonishing combat prowess, she still dared not let him throw caution to the wind and fight these two.

After all, Nangong Ying and Gu Fan were cultivators of the fifth stage of the Meta-Mansion Realm.

Even though Muyi had previously slain a first-stage Meta-Mansion Realm expert while he himself was only at the sixth stage of the Divine Transformation Realm...

The gulf between the first stage and the fifth stage of the Meta-Mansion Realm was simply too immense.

"Senior Sister Xiao, rest assured. Since these two are so persistent in seeking death, how could I not grant them safe passage to the afterlife?"

Muyi gave Xiao Ziyue a reassuring look that told her to set her mind at ease.

"Have you really thought this through? They are at the fifth stage of the Meta-Mansion Realm..."

Xiao Ziyue simply could not fathom where Muyi derived such immense self-confidence.

Once both parties stepped onto the Death Arena, outsiders would no longer be permitted to interfere.

"The fifth stage of the Meta-Mansion Realm?" Muyi sneered coldly. "I slaughter them as easily as butchering pigs and dogs!"

"Nangong Ying, Gu Fan, I shall await both of you upon the Death Arena."

Dropping those words, Muyi flickered and vanished in an instant.

"Hahaha! Splendid brat! You've got guts!"

Nangong Ying and Gu Fan had been terrified that Muyi would refuse the challenge.

Otherwise, under the protection of Dean Shen Yushu, they truly would have had no way to lay a hand on Muyi.

Yet now, Muyi was actively marching toward his own demise—could anything be more wonderful?

Radiating jubilation, the pair immediately chased after him.

"Big news! Huge news! Muyi is going to duel Nangong Ying and Gu Fan on the Death Arena!"

"What? Muyi is merely at the eighth stage of the Divine Transformation Realm, while Nangong Ying and Gu Fan are at the fifth stage of the Meta-Mansion Realm!"

"Is this for real? No matter how strong Muyi is, he can't possibly be a match for Nangong Ying and Gu Fan! Has he lost his mind?"

"True or false, let's hurry over to the Death Arena and see for ourselves!"

...

The shocking news of Muyi's duel with the two holy sons, Nangong Ying and Gu Fan, on the Death Arena spread through the entire Divine Concealment Academy like a raging storm.

Long before Muyi, Nangong Ying, and Gu Fan—the three principals of this affair—had even arrived at the Death Arena...

The surrounding area was already packed with a surging sea of people.

Clearly, everything had been meticulously orchestrated.

This was entirely engineered by Zhao Fenghua.

He wanted to turn today's duel between Muyi, Nangong Ying, and Gu Fan into a sensational spectacle known to everyone in the academy.

Under such circumstances, watched by thousands of spectators, if Muyi were to meet with peril on the Death Arena, even Dean Shen Yushu would find it difficult to intervene and save him.

After all, ever since the founding of Divine Concealment Academy a thousand years ago, an ironclad rule had always governed the Death Arena.

As long as one stepped onto it voluntarily to resolve a life-and-death grievance, outsiders were strictly forbidden from interfering under any and all circumstances.

This trap had been personally laid for Muyi by Zhao Fenghua.

Who could have foreseen that Muyi would take the bait so effortlessly?

"Hmph, what a fine scheme by Zhao Fenghua. On the surface, he acts arrogant, overbearing, and supremely haughty, yet behind closed doors, he is quite adept at playing these sinister games."

What kind of person was Muyi?

Naturally, he saw right through the parlor tricks at a single glance.

"Muyi, it is obvious that Zhao Fenghua has come fully prepared. This battle against Nangong Ying and Gu Fan is fraught with extreme danger. Perhaps we should..."

Seeing the situation unfold this way, Xiao Ziyue grew even more anxious and uneasy.

"Senior Sister Xiao, put your mind at ease. In this world, any and all schemes crumble into dust before absolute strength."

"The grander the stage Zhao Fenghua sets, the greater his own humiliation will be in the end!"

Muyi cut off whatever Xiao Ziyue was about to say next.

Since the opponent had laid out a trap to lure him into the urn...

Then he would treat them to a display of hidden depths and boundless power.