Chapter 36: Shocked, Soft Egg

  "Congratulations, big brother!"

  "Congratulations to the host!"

  After Chen Hao and others entered the Yuanshen Cave, Xiao Gang's face shone with a hint of excitement and joy, and he congratulated them in a respectful tone. The other guests and elders also congratulated them one after another. Xiao Yuan, Xiao Bo, and Sima Yun did not dare to be slow either. However, the expressions on the three men's faces were not quite natural. Apparently, it was because of Xiao Jihan's affairs that they had somewhat gone against Xiao Ding's will. Xiao Ding had always been indifferent to the cliques among the major guests and elders within the family, treating everyone equally. But that was when his strength was not much higher than others; what about after he became the Martial Emperor?

  "It's just that I happened to understand it a step earlier than you...it doesn't count as anything. Alright, those who have something to do can leave first and come back in two days, while those who don't can just stay here..." said Xiao Ding.

  "I'm fine!"

  "I'm fine too. Such an important matter, I don't want to leave..."

  As expected, not a single person left. Although these guys have split into three factions and are constantly vying for power in the dark, they never dare to be careless when it comes to major events concerning the future of the Xiao family. Otherwise, he would not have been unaware of the situation over the past few years.

  It was obvious that everyone present wanted to see how the ten disciples had fared in the Yuán Líng Cave, and the most anticipated ones were undoubtedly Xiao Jì Hán and Chen Huáng. Next were Xiao Jì Shān and Xiao Jì Fēi, two equally outstanding disciples who were somewhat overshadowed by the brilliance of Chen Huáng and Xiao Jì Hán.

  "You want to qualify, then work hard! At least two days later will have results, now there's nothing to see! All go back!" Xiao Guan and some instructors shouted at the dense crowd.

  ……

  "A very thick aura..."

  As they descended deeper into the narrow passage, the icy air grew thicker and the heavenly energy in the air became unusually dense. Chen Huan was slightly surprised, thinking to himself: "No wonder the Yuanshen Cave would become the sacred training ground for the Xiao family - just at the entrance, it's already more than twice as dense as the outside world; I wonder how dense it will be at the core of the cave?"

  After walking downwards for a hundred feet in the narrow passage, it suddenly became spacious and finally arrived at a huge natural cave.

  "It's really cold..." Xiaojishan, walking behind Chenhao, felt the biting chill and muttered a curse under his breath. He turned to look at Xiaojifei behind him, furrowing his brow slightly: "Xiaofei, you can't force yourself this time, it'll be fatal..."

  "Hmm." Xiao Jifei responded softly.

  The scorching and firm gaze in his eyes hadn't changed a bit, but Chen Huan's sharp intuition could sense the unspoken determination within Xiao Jifei, who was usually taciturn, and how resolute his conviction to become stronger had grown.

  "Is being stubborn useful? I really didn't expect that you, a young whippersnapper, would know how to endure. A first-rate martial artist, not simple at all... unfortunately... as long as I'm around, you'll only be able to tuck your tail and behave... no, it should be said, the two of you, hahaha..."

  What Chen Hao didn't expect was that at this moment, the person walking in front of him, Xiao Jihuan, suddenly turned around and said with disdain: "Xiao Jifei is not even worth mentioning, but he actually brought you along too. How arrogant can one be?!"

  Barefaced provocation!

  Xiao Jifei's face suddenly became extremely difficult to look at, his fists clenched tightly, and even his body began to tremble slightly. His eyes flashed with boundless hatred and suffocation, but he had to endure...

  Strength is everything!

  He is absolutely no match for Xiao Jihan!

  "Xiao Jihan, you're just a fifth-grade warrior, what are you boasting about? If it weren't for your despicable and shameless actions against Xiao Fei back then, would you have even had the chance to stand here today? And another thing, I'm only 15 years old this year, next year at this time, I won't be any worse than you... Even if the two of us aren't as good as you, there's still Xiang Huang, are you worthy of being compared to him?"

  Xiao Jishan countered fearlessly, "Don't play your little tricks in front of me, are you scared? Want to provoke them and take advantage of the situation to get rid of me? You have the guts, then go ahead and get rid of me too!"

  "So it was..."

  Chen Hao heard Xiao Jishan's words and suddenly understood what was going on with Xiao Jifei. He slightly furrowed his brow, and two sharp glints flashed in his eyes as he said, "Elder Brother Jishan, Elder Brother Jifei, why are you arguing with a dying piece of trash?"

  "Hmm..." Chen Hao's extremely arrogant words made Xiao Jishan furrow his brow.

  Xiao Jishan seems rough, but he is actually meticulous in his thinking. He deliberately spoke out just now because he was afraid that Chen Huan would lose his temper and explode. As for Xiao Jifei, he wasn't worried about him at all. After all, if Xiao Jifei didn't know how to endure and hide his true feelings, he would have been a useless person two years ago.

  If they really fought here, with Xiao Jihan's five-product martial arts cultivation, it would not be enough for the three of them to join forces. Although Xiao Jihan did not dare to do anything to himself, Chen Huan and Xiao Jifei were different.

  "You scold me as trash and say I'm a dying man? Haha..."

  "Boom..."

  As expected, Xiao Jishan suddenly stopped in his tracks and turned around. The faint white light emitted by the night crystal stones on the wall made Xiao Jishan's face extremely gloomy and terrifying. At the same time, the majestic yuan force around him also surged forth.

  "What? You don't believe me? Then I don't mind sending you to the afterlife right now!"

  Chen Hao suddenly turned his head, his voice squeezed out from between his teeth. At the same time, a cold and fierce aura burst forth from Chen Hao's body in an instant. His dark eyes gleamed like two unsheathed precious swords, shining with two dazzling rays of light in this slightly dim cave!

  Momentum!

  An unstoppable momentum!

  Confidence, arrogance, and disdain for the world!

  Xiao Jishan, who had originally intended to hold back Chen Huan, was also involuntarily stopped in his tracks by Chen Huan's aura. His expression was slightly stunned, and he had already witnessed Chen Huan bursting out with this kind of aura twice before, but the previous two times were completely incomparable to this time!

  Even at this moment, whether it was Xiao Jishan or Xiao Jifei and other disciples, they completely forgot the gap between Chen Huan and Xiao Jihan. They thought Chen Huan would definitely win!

  This is completely unreasonable, but I just believe Chen Hao can defeat Xiao Jihan!

  In the standoff between the two, several other famous disciples, one by one, backed away in extreme shock.

  No one expected the two of them to erupt into conflict again at this time...

  "You..."

  Xiao Jihan, who was originally ready to make a move, was also intimidated by Chen Huan's aura, and his face turned gloomy. He stared blankly for several seconds before taking a deep breath and saying, "You want to die? It won't be that easy! I'll crush you in front of everyone! You just wait...Hmph!"

  Xiao Jihans voice was cold and detached as he spoke, and after finishing, his figure flashed once before disappearing from view, quickly heading towards the core area of the Yuanshen Cave.

  Chen Huan's cold and stern aura also gradually subsided, forcibly suppressing the almost uncontrollable desire to fight...

  Looking at the gaze of Xiao Jishan and others, Chen Huan also felt quite helpless in his heart. His rationality told him that he was not yet a match for Xiao Jihans' opponent at this moment. When Xiao Jihan deliberately used words to provoke him, he remained calm, but still chose to counterattack, because he knew that since Xiao Jihan had such an idea, then this time in the Yu Ling Cave cultivation, he would definitely find all sorts of excuses to make a move.

  What's the point of tolerating and yielding then?

  Why don't we have a decisive battle!

  But Chen Hao didn't expect that Xiao Jihans would be so timid and actually get scared away by him...

  ……

  Chen Hao himself had no idea how intimidating his aura was just now. Xiao Jihan, although frightened and retreated in a cowardly manner, but Xiao Jishan and the others did not show any disdain...

  If I were in their shoes, I'm afraid I would also choose to retreat.

  ……

  "Senior brother, let's hurry up and cultivate too." Chen Hao returned to his usual calm demeanor, as if nothing had happened, and said to Xiao Jishan and Xiao Jifei.

  "Alright... Xiang Huang, I believe in you, you will definitely defeat that trash!"

  "I also want to kill him with my own hands... Unfortunately, I'm afraid you'll get ahead of me..." The taciturn Xiao Jifei gazed at Chen Huan, his eyes filled with complex emotions, and said in a low voice: "If you succeed, I owe you one; if you fail, one day, I will avenge you..."

  "Hehe, I'll include your share as well, and let him pay it back together..." Chen Hao smiled lightly, his eyes shining with a hint of determination: "Let's get started quickly too..."

  ……

  Chen Hao relied on his keen perception to sense the thick yuan force and icy aura around him, and together with Xiao Jishan and Xiao Jifei, quickly headed deep into the Yuanling Cave.

  As they went deeper, the elemental force in the air grew denser and the icy chill became more biting...

  Unfortunately, what made Chen Huan disappointed was that he didn't sense anything unusual.

  "In this primordial spirit cave, the primordial energy of heaven and earth is so dense, yet I can't sense any spiritual medicine... It should be that the icy cold aura is too strong, erasing all signs of life..." Chen Hao said with a hint of regret in his heart.

  Four months of training in the Mystic Cloud Mountain Range, Chen Huan's current ability to enter the first-rate warrior realm is naturally inseparable from his crazy cultivation that surpasses ordinary people by tenfold or a hundredfold, as well as his innate talent and wisdom.

  But merely doing so would not be enough to achieve such an astonishing improvement.

  Four months' time, from a 9th-grade martial artist to a 1st-grade martial master, that's a promotion of three levels and nineteen grades... What concept is this?

  In four months, Chen Huan not only hunted countless demonic beasts but also obtained a considerable amount of first and second-grade spiritual herbs. The last encounter with the Zhuo Elephant even yielded a fourth-grade spiritual herb. For ordinary people, this was simply unimaginable. After all, as long as it could be called a spiritual herb, even the lowest grade of first-grade spiritual herb was scarce. However, the number of spiritual herbs Chen Huan obtained in four months far exceeded that of a professional hundred-man herbalism team...

  Chen Hao himself was unclear why he had such a keen sense of perception for spiritual medicine. Wherever he went, within a radius of hundreds of feet, as long as there was spiritual medicine present, he could feel it...

  "We're here! This is it!"

  When the three saw Xiao Jihan and several other disciples, each occupying a position, sitting cross-legged in front, with a faint "waterfall" appearing above each of their heads, Xiao Jishan stopped in his tracks and said.

  Update 2: Dear friends, Wu Shan Guang's new work is out! Please click, recommend, collect, reward, comment, and praise... all forms of support are needed. Our little Ao Tian, who is waiting to be fed, really needs milk...