Chapter 4735: Cannot Be Bullied
Faced with the shocked Tu Yuanyuan and skeptical crowd, Chu Feng didn’t give his answer right away. Instead, he made his way over to the elevated platform.
The Duanmu Brothers were still on the elevated platform, yet to make their way down. When they saw Chu Feng walking toward them, their gazes changed a little.
However, Chu Feng didn’t pay any attention to them. He walked straight up the elevated platform, answering everyone’s question with his action.
He was intending to participate in the selection for Zi Ling’s husband.
“Wait a moment.”
Just as Chu Feng was about to pick up the brush and write his name on the wooden board, Duanmu Xiang suddenly spoke up to stop him. His voice carried a hint of hostility.
This changed Chu Feng’s impression of the Duanmu Brothers.
He thought that the Duanmu Brothers were reasonable people, but it seemed like he had evaluated them too highly. So, he ignored them and swiftly wrote his name down at the frontmost area of the board, in front of Duanmu Xiang, Duanmu Yang, Zuoqiu Youyu, and Zuoqiu Yanliang.
Chu Feng knew that such an action would offend them, but he wanted to express his own stance.
Zi Ling was his lover, and he wouldn’t yield her to anyone else! Those who wanted to vie for her would have to queue up behind him!
He could take a step back for everything else, but not for a matter concerning Zi Ling!
“I’m talking to you! Do you not hear me?” Duanmu Yang asked with an even more hostile voice.
“Oh, my apologies. Were you calling me earlier on?”
Chu Feng turned around to face Duanmu Xiang.
“Aren’t you asking the obvious? We’re the only ones on this platform. Who else would my brother be calling out to if not you?” Duanmu Yang spoke up with an even more awful attitude than Duanmu Xiang.
It could be seen that they were filled with enmity toward Chu Feng.
“Aren’t you a human too? I don’t see any reason why he would have to be speaking to me and not you,” Chu Feng replied with innocent eyes.
However, anyone with a bit of wit could tell that Chu Feng was mocking Duanmu Yang.
“You’re insulting me?” Duanmu Yang bellowed angrily.
“Insulting you? I’m saying that you’re a human, but you’re saying that I’m insulting you? Do I have to say that you’re not a human in order to not be insulting you?”
Chu Feng shrugged helplessly.
“What an insolent man. Do you think I dare not teach you a lesson?”
As Duanmu Yang spoke, he released his oppressive might as a rank nine Utmost Exalted level cultivator. They were indubitably one of the strongest disciples within the sect, or else they wouldn’t be ranked as one of the Hidden Dragon Disciples.
However, one must know that the square was filled with all sorts of powerful experts. Putting aside the elders, there were also quite a few sect members who were of an older generation than the juniors and were stronger than the Duanmu Brothers.
Yet, no one stepped forward to stop Duanmu Yang when he openly displayed aggression toward Chu Feng.
The sect members of the Hidden Dragon Martial Sect seemed to fancy a good drama.
“Are you intending to use your strength to strong-arm me?”
Chu Feng’s smile deepened despite Duanmu Yang’s explicit threat, just that his smile was no longer polite but mocking.
It was then that Duanmu Xiang patted Duanmu Yang’s back, indicating for the latter to rein in his oppressive might. Then, he turned to Chu Feng and said, “Chu Feng. You’re the one who broke Lord Dugu Lingtian’s record at the Snowy Heavenly Peak, right?”
“Yes, that’s right,” Chu Feng replied.
“You have made a significant achievement shortly after joining our sect, so I understand that you’ll be a little complacent. However, as your senior, I should offer you some pointers lest you stray down a wrong path. Do you know the significance of writing your name down on this board?” Duanmu Xiang pointed a finger at Chu Feng as he asked.
“You don’t need to explain to me. I know what I’m doing,” Chu Feng replied.
“You still dare to put your name on the board despite knowing. Do you think that you’re qualified?” Duanmu Xiang asked with an increasingly forceful tone.
“Is there anything wrong? I don’t think that there are any rules why I can’t put my name on the board.”
Chu Feng reined in his smile, and he looked at Duanmu Xiang with a solemn look.
“Chu Feng, it’s fine to be young and hot-blooded, but you should at least have some self-awareness of where you stand. Junior Zi Ling is the sectmaster’s closed-door disciple. Only the most outstanding person in our sect is worthy of someone of her caliber. Yet… you think that you’re qualified?” Duanmu Xiang asked.
“Didn’t the two of you put your names up on the board too? Are you trying to say that you are the most outstanding people in the sect, and no one else is worthy of Zi Ling other than the two of you?” Chu Feng asked.
“Stop twisting my words. You know very well what I mean. I’m saying that you aren’t qualified. Don’t think that you’re a bigshot just because you’ve broken Lord Dugu Lingtian’s record. Talent doesn’t mean everything. There are countless people who are stronger than you here,” Duanmu Xiang said.
“I, Chu Feng, have never looked down on the Hidden Dragon Martial Sect, but I don’t deny that I do look down on the two of you,” Chu Feng replied.
“What? That fellow sure dares to run his mouth!”
Putting aside the Duanmu Brothers, even the surrounding crowd was shaken to hear what Chu Feng had said. Everyone could tell that the Duanmu Brothers were messing around with Chu Feng, but given the situation, as long as Chu Feng humbled himself a little, there was not much the two of them could do.
Yet, Chu Feng chose to escalate the conflict instead, digging a hole for himself here.
He might have managed to one-up the Duanmu Brothers in the quip, but in exchange, he gave the Duanmu Brothers a reason to deal with him.
“You look down on the two of us? Who do you think you are to dare look down on us? Do you know who we are? We’re Hidden Dragon Disciples! This is a title bestowed by the sectmaster. Are you questioning the sectmaster’s judgment here?”
Duanmu Xiang managed to launch a counterattack by accusing Chu Feng of questioning the sectmaster’s judgment.
To that, Chu Feng calmly responded with a cold smile, “Do you not understand human speech? I said that I look down on the two of you. I’ve never said anything about questioning the sectmaster.”
“Chu Feng, what grounds do you have to look down on us? Since you look down on us so much, we’ll let you have a taste of the prowess of a Hidden Dragon Disciple!” Duanmu Yang said as he released his oppressive might once more.
“Hah! Are you intending on oppressing your juniors here? Who could have thought that a Hidden Dragon Disciple would pick on a newcomer like me openly like this!” Chu Feng replied.
“Didn’t you say that you look down on us?” Duanmu Yang asked.
“Yes, I do look down on the two of you. Well, if you want a fight, so be it. Let’s compete on the grounds of our talent then.”
As Chu Feng spoke, he took out an evaluation rock and tossed it on the ground.
“Don’t say that I didn’t give you a chance to prove yourself. If you find it unfair, you can take out your own evaluation rocks or borrow one from the elders present. We’ll pit our talents against one another here. The one with lower talent shall erase their names from the board. What do you say about that?” Chu Feng said.
“Chu Feng, we’re cultivators. Naturally, we should compete on our martial power,” Duanmu Xiang replied.
“But I want to compete on our talents. Are the two of you turning down my challenge?” Chu Feng asked.
“Chu Feng, you know that your martial power is beneath us, that’s why you proposed such a ridiculous duel!” Duanmu Yang bellowed.
“Well, I do think that my talent is above the two of you, that’s why I challenged you to a duel of talents. Are the two of you afraid to accept my challenge?” Chu Feng sneered.
“You!!!”
The Duanmu Brothers were infuriated, but they were also put in a spot here. They had already heard about how Chu Feng had triggered the god aptitude phenomenon. While they doubted the veracity of the matter, they weren’t willing to gamble here.
Seeing the conflicted looks on the Duanmu Brothers, the crowd beneath the elevated platform renewed their impression of Chu Feng. From the moment Duanmu Xiang shouted at Chu Feng, they knew that the two brothers were intending to pick on the latter.
After all, it was indeed arrogant for a newcomer to dare to step onto the elevated platform and write his name in front of Zuoqiu Youyu and Zuoqiu Yanliang. Even if the Duanmu Brothers were being unreasonable here, they were willing to sit back and watch the show.
Yet, who could have thought that things would develop in this direction? Even though it was the Duanmu Brothers who started the fight, they ended up being cornered.
This made everyone realize that even though Chu Feng was a newcomer, he was definitely not a person who could be bullied.