Zhang Fei - The Abandoned Son

Chapter 554: Battle Challange

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[Ding]

[Daily Quest: Absorb 100,000 Qi.]

[Reward: 1,000 bronze coins.]

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[Daily Quest: Killing 500 beasts or demon beasts at the earth realm or above.]

[Reward: Daily gift pack x1.]

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Ignoring the two notifications, Zhang Fei turned his attention to his surroundings, particularly since the portal had transported him into a forest. He grinned slightly after he successfully opened the system map so he could easily monitor the movements of his potential enemy.

On the map, Zhang Fei found that the forest was not very large, but he saw many red dots gathered in its heart. He also discovered numerous lines that had never appeared on his map before, all of which were trap locations created by the tower to intensify the battle challengeʼs difficulty.

Not long after, another dot appeared at the other end of the forest. Zhang Fei smiled broadly after learning that his opponent was Zhou Fang, the third prince of the Zhou Kingdom. ʼHeh! As Xian Feng guessed, the people of that kingdom did have a connection with those demons, and they gave them demon bloodlines. Moreover, this guy can increase his demon rank, so Iʼm sure the demon energy should exist in those demon kingdoms, but it canʼt be sensed from the outside because of the barrier on their island.ʼ

Seeing Zhou Fang flying towards him, Zhang Fei immediately used his invisibility and summoned the demon extermination sword. He then rubbed his sword and spoke to the souls of the two girls inside. ʼHonestly, I want to give him to you two, but I still need him. I hope you donʼt kill him, and you can kill him after my plan succeeds.ʼ

*Zing...Zing...Zing...*

Zhang Fei smiled as soon as the demon extermination sword responded to him with a strong vibration, and he flew high into the sky to monitor Zhou Fang directly. His opponent appeared to have trouble avoiding the obstacles, and the beasts that had gathered in the center had spread out, some toward him.

ʼHahaha! It will be difficult if I have to fight him directly, so Iʼll use these beasts to trouble him first.ʼ Zhang Fei immediately released his heavenly fox aura to scare away the beasts, forcing them to move toward Zhou Fang instead.

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.

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*Slash... Slash... Slash...*

While evading the traps, Zhou Fang wielded the two green swords in his hands and slashed them at the beasts that were rushing toward him. He could see that they were frightened by something, but he could not detect the presence of any powerful beasts in the forest.

”What the hell happened to them? What caused them to be so scared like this?” Zhou Fang didnʼt want to bother with that and used some of his techniques to slaughter every beast that came his way.

*Slash... Slash... Slash...*

Zhou Fang sensed a sudden attack coming straight at him from the sky, so he immediately looked there and simultaneously swung his two swords. A dark and green Qi quickly shot into the sky, forming a cross, and the two immediately collided with a crescent-shaped white Qi.

*Boom*

Zhou Fang immediately jumped to the highest tree and spread his senses to search for his opponent, but it was impossible for him to detect Zhang Fei, who was in an invisible state. Instead, two huge flying beasts flew towards him to attack him, but he immediately disappeared from his spot, and the two beasts suddenly split into two.

Zhang Fei was quite surprised by Zhou Fangʼs movement speed, and he was sure that he would not be able to follow his movements if he had not practiced using the level-four gravity feature.

Wasting no time, Zhang Fei teleported behind Zhou Fang, who was looking for him in a confused manner. He channeled his light element into the demon extermination sword and slashed it against his back, but a transparent shield suddenly appeared and blocked his attack.

*Clang*

”Damn it!” Zhou Fan immediately spun around as he slashed his sword horizontally, but his attack only hit empty air, which confused him. He immediately activated his wind and darkness elements at the same time, creating a wind vortex around him. ”Who exactly is my enemy? How can that person hide his or her presence from my senses? Could it be one of those demons who attacked me? My father has sworn allegiance to them, so thereʼs no way they will attack me.”

Zhou Fang suddenly sensed his demon bloodline tremble because of something, but he didnʼt realize that Zhang Fei was using his demonic force manipulation to weaken him. An ethereal giant claw that suddenly manifested above him shocked him, and he thought that one of the demons was trying to kill him.

”Damn it! Whoever you are, I will fight you back with all my strength.” Zhou Fang immediately unleashed his full power, making the dark green vortex around him strengthen.

Zhou Fang then assumed an attacking stance, positioning both of his swords on his right side. He channeled his two elements into them, causing dark green auras to envelop them. He then swung them toward the ethereal giant claw, and two dark green swords Qi shot out from his two swords before clashing with the claw.

*Boom*

Their collision generated a huge shockwave that pushed Zhou Fang backward while the beasts below scattered around to avoid the impact. He immediately stabilized himself and monitored the surrounding area, but his expression was filled with rage due to his inability to sense Zhang Feiʼs presence.

Zhang Fei, hiding in the distance, was also annoyed by Zhou Fangʼs ability to easily break all his attacks. ʼTch! A cultivator in the seven divine realms like him is indeed extraordinary! I have weakened his demon bloodline, but his abilities are still far above mine. Moreover, his swords are not ordinary swords but sword artifacts, and both of them enhance the power of his wind attacks.ʼ

Zhang Fei then glanced at the beast corpse that Zhou Fang had previously killed, and he immediately landed in the crowd of corpses. He then released his darkness element and used his necromancy, creating a dark circle to summon their souls.

Sensing this, Zhou Fang immediately turned towards it and saw the black circle, filled with the souls of the beasts he had previously killed. ”Who exactly is this demon? How can he or she summon the souls of dead beasts?”

Zhang Fei smiled at Zhou Fangʼs expression, and he ordered the beastsʼ souls to attack him directly. Additionally, he released his demon aura and used one of the techniques in the Nine Demon Secret Scripture, causing the sky above them to turn dark.

Zhao Fangʼs expression became more serious as he observed numerous black lightning flashes above him, but he had no time to ponder as the souls of the beasts rushed toward him. He immediately grabbed the necklace around his neck, channeled his qi into it, and flew to attack those beast souls afterward. (A/N: It was a demon technique, not an elemental technique.)

*Slash... Slash... Slash...*

Zhao Fangʼs attack instantly split the beastsʼ souls apart, but their souls quickly reconnected and attacked him again.

*Slash... Slash... Slash...*

No matter how many times Zhao Fang split them, their souls kept reconnecting, and he could feel their strength increasing every time he split them. He was really furious about it, especially since the black lightning above him kept rumbling as if it were brewing their maximum attack. ʼShit! The black lightning seems powerful! I donʼt know if my protective artifact is enough to ward them off, so I will immediately give up on this challenge if it canʼt stop them.ʼ

ʼThis attack is much stronger than I expected, but I wonder if it will be enough to destroy his protective artifact.ʼ Zhang Fei, who was hiding among the corpses of the beasts, muttered inwardly as he looked up at the sky. ʼAbyssal Lightning Tribulation! Descend!ʼ

*Zap... Zap... Zap...*

In that instant, countless black lightnings rained down on Zhou Fang. He immediately ignored these beast souls and used his strongest area attack to target the black lightning. However, the beast souls immediately attacked him, but their attacks could not penetrate his protection. He swiftly directed his dark green vortex toward them, propelling them into the sky. ”Damn! Break for me!”

Zhang Fei naturally would not allow Zhou Fang to break his attack, so he immediately threw the demon extermination sword at him. Additionally, he pulled out the hongxi dagger and hellfire chains, throwing them both at his enemy simultaneously.

*Swoosh... Swoosh... Swoosh...*

Zhou Fang, who was trying to break Zhang Feiʼs abyssal lightning tribulation, was shocked when his three weapons collided with his protection. The demon extermination sword and the hongxi dagger tried to penetrate his protection, and the hellfire chains encircled his protection without being affected by his dark green vortex.

However, Zhou Fang felt a sense of relief upon recognizing their respective grades, which led him to concentrate his efforts on countering Zhang Feiʼs lightning attack. Although the demon extermination sword is a soul weapon, its grade is only a spirit grade. The hellfire chains grade is only an earth grade, and the hongxi dagger is a heaven grade. ”Heh! Such weak artifacts wonʼt be able to destroy my protection artifact!”

Zhou Fang finally managed to break the lightning attack. He immediately tried to destroy Zhang Feiʼs three weapons, but he pulled them back, causing him to frown. ”Hey, Coward! Come out now!”

Seeing that his attack and three weapons were useless against Zhou Fang, Zhang Fei immediately racked his brains to find another way to defeat him. He suddenly remembered one of his demon artifacts, the abyssal mirror.

Zhang Fei realized that Zhou Fang was not a soul cultivator but rather a sword cultivator, leading him to believe that his soul power was inferior to his own. He immediately took the abyssal mirror out, teleported a little way ahead of his enemy, and showed it to him.

The abyssal mirror is only an earth grade, but it is not an attack artifact; it is a trap artifact instead. Zhao Fangʼs body trembled in fear as soon as he stared at the mirror, and his pupils shrank from the effect, trapping his soul within the mirrorʼs depth.

Despite this, Zhang Fei refrained from hastily approaching Zhou Fang due to the strength of his dark green vortex and his inability to destroy his protection artifact. ʼThis guy! His soul is trapped in my mirror, but his two protections still havenʼt disappeared. Hey, Mei! Do you have any ideas for destroying both of them?ʼ

[Master, Zhao Fangʼs protection artifact is of a celestial grade, and your current strength is insufficient to destroy it. If you use your enhanced ability and the blood essence pill to boost your strength, you might be able to destroy it. Additionally, you can use Soul Connect II to borrow the power of the beasts in the Beast Space. However, I donʼt know if you will be considered cheating if you use all three, and you will fail if you are considered cheating.]

Zhang Fei was in a dilemma after hearing that, especially since he was eager to complete all the challenges. Moreover, he still had one pending quest, which he could only complete by passing through the first floor of the Star Tower.

ʼShould I use the Bloodmoon Devouring Array? I can kill him if I use it, but I can only use it once, and it will disappear after that, so I will be at a loss if I use it on him now.ʼ After carefully considering it, Zhang Fei decided to take out the demon extermination sword once again. He then used his enhanced condition ability to increase his raw strength, and he also activated Soul Connect II to borrow the power of all the beasts within the Beast Space. When he combined these abilities with his two body cultivation techniques, his strength increased severalfold.

Zhang Fei refrained from attacking Zhao Fang immediately and instead waited for some time, feeling relieved that the tower had not expelled him from the challenge. ʼPhew! I thought it would fail!ʼ

[You are lucky that the tower considers both of them to be your abilities, Master. However, I am sure you will fail if you use the blood essence pill to boost your strength.]

ʼYeah.ʼ Zhang Fei then held the hilt of the demon extermination sword with both hands and pointed its blade upwards. He then closed his eyes and focused all his power on his sword while channeling his light element into it. ʼI donʼt know if this will work, but I have to try it.ʼ

The blade of the demon extermination seemed to lengthen as Zhang Feiʼs light element formed a new blade. He then opened his eyes and swung his sword toward Zhou Fang, but he did not aim at his body directly. He swung his sword slightly to the side, primarily because he needed to keep him alive.

*Slash*

Zhang Feiʼs light sword Qi directly collided with Zhou Fangʼs protective barrier, yet he persisted in pressing his sword down due to its strength.

*Crack... Crack...*

Zhang Feiʼs eyes lit up when he saw the cracks in Zhou Fangʼs protective barrier; he channeled more of his strength into his sword and pressed it down even harder, causing the cracks to spread rapidly.

Sometimes later, Zhao Fangʼs protective barrier shattered into pieces, and his dark green vortex also disappeared at the same time, making Zhang Fei feel relieved.

”Phew! The cultivators in the seven divine realms are indeed terrifying, and I will never win against them with my current strength.” Zhang Fei immediately canceled his enhanced body condition and the Soul Link II, then approached Zhou Fang and used his demon abilities, including his demon slave mark, memory manipulation, and several others.

After he had done all that, Zhang Fei immediately pulled the abyssal mirror back into his hand and released Zhou Fangʼs soul from within.

Zhou Fang looked dizzy for a few moments after that, but then he kneeled on one knee in front of Zhang Fei. ”What can I do for you, Master?”

Even though Zhou Fang had become his slave, Zhang Fei still did not want to deal directly with Zhou Xiaochuan and his Zhou Kingdom, especially since they were too strong. Instead, he gave him some other instructions for his new slave, especially regarding the demons affiliated with his family. ”Can you do that?”

”No.” Zhou Fang answered with a shake of his head. ”The demons have never met me and the others, and they only communicate with my father, so I canʼt do anything about them. However, I have information about Ximen Hongwu. He plans to capture you and turn you into a puppet for his sister, Ximen Yueliang.”

Zhang Fei had already guessed that there was something wrong with the two men, so he was not surprised to hear that they wanted to do such a thing to him. Although he was worried that they would gang up on him in the maze or survival challenge, he did not think much of either of them, especially since he was not alone when challenging both challenges.

Zhang Fei then gave Zhou Fang some other orders, which he immediately agreed to. ”All right, you can forfeit this challenge and return to your kingdom immediately, but you must inform me immediately after you have successfully carried out my orders.”

Zhou Fang nodded and raised his hands. ”I give up this challenge.”

As soon as he said that, both of them immediately disappeared from the battle scene. The two of them were immediately sent back to the first floor, but Zhou Fang was sent out of the tower afterward.

However, an old man with long white hair suddenly appeared at that place, and he was accompanied by the little girl Zhang Fei had met during the demon heart challenge. ”Master, that hateful guy is really annoying! If you let me, I will definitely beat him up!”

”Are you proud of being able to beat up a cultivator who is much weaker than you, Hua Meiʼer?” The little girl immediately covered her mouth without daring to argue with the old man. ”Our sect sent several towers to the middle realms to look for the best talents, but none of them could reach the tenth floor for the past thousands of years. However, our wait appears to be coming to an end soon, as that kid possesses the ability to reach the tenth floor.”

”Huh?” Hua Meiʼer looked at the old man with repeated blinks. ”Are you sure he has that qualification, Master?”

”Yes.” The old man gave a brief response before escorting Hua Meiʼer leave the place.

- To Be Continued -