We Agreed You’d Just Play the Divine Son, So How Did You Become the Forbidden Zone Emperor?

Chapter 23. Changes Among the Prodigies, and Rivalry Outside!

However, something astonishing happened almost immediately.

The Blood Prison Demonic Wolf—already reduced to chunks of flesh and bloody fragments—was still slowly wriggling!

Such a bizarre sight—

Chu Feng had never seen or even heard of it.

His eyes narrowed slightly. From what he remembered, the ferocious beasts of this world were not supposed to be this strange.

What was going on?

With a thought, Chu Feng activated the Supreme Immortal Bone.

A punch carrying biting immortal aura, as though it had descended from the heavens themselves, slammed down upon the wriggling flesh.

BOOM!

After he activated the Supreme Immortal Bone, that single punch made the squirming flesh stop completely, without the slightest movement remaining.

“Even ordinary methods have such trouble killing it?”

A glimmer flickered in Chu Feng’s eyes. Everything about this felt wrong.

Could this be the true trial of the Royal Hunting Grounds?

Were the Heavenly Hunt Ceremonies of the past also like this?

“It does not matter.”

Chu Feng shook his head slightly, unconcerned.

After all, once he activated the Supreme Immortal Bone, he could still resolve it with a single punch, effortlessly.

Buzz…

Chu Feng opened his Chaos Dual Pupils and surveyed this world.

This realm was vast beyond measure, seemingly boundless, as though it had no end.

Under the sweep of his Chaos Dual Pupils, scene after scene of darkness, decay, and ruin appeared before him.

It was as if some special substance had tainted this place, turning it ominous and ill-starred.

Chu Feng frowned slightly. Why would the Royal Hunting Grounds look like this?

After a brief moment of thought, he continued forward.

The urgent matter was to slaughter these demonic beasts properly.

His primary purpose for entering this time was to seize the championship of the Heavenly Hunt Ceremony.

Not to investigate this and that.

Once he had clarified priorities, Chu Feng activated his Chaos Dual Pupils and continued to probe ahead.

His gaze seemed capable of piercing the void and seeing scenes a thousand miles away.

Chu Feng was searching for powerful demonic beasts.

The Royal Hunting Grounds were enormous. Killing only weak demonic beasts would be meaningless.

He needed to find the strongest group. That way, slaying one could be worth dozens—perhaps even a hundred—of weaker beasts.

…

Outside.

Many great figures of the imperial clan sat steadily upon the jade platform, their eyes fixed on the several hundred tokens.

Those tokens were now clearly different from how they had been before the prodigies entered.

More than half of them already had pillars of blood rising from their surfaces.

Those blood pillars looked like living flesh, writhing as they climbed higher. A thick stench of blood spread through the air—evidence of ferocious beasts being slain.

The heights varied, some high, some low.

Yet this was only the beginning.

At the very center of the ceremony, upon the dragon throne, the Chu Emperor still looked extremely weak. His eyes were closed, as though he lacked even the strength to open them.

Beside him, the hunched old man stood quietly, his eyes calm as an ancient well, as though he were completely ignoring everything in the hall.

Everyone else swept their gazes around, all watching how their descendants were performing.

This time, many collateral branch Commandery Princes of the imperial clan had also come, and their numbers were considerable.

However, compared with the four great Princes, their status still fell short.

“The Fourth Prince’s blood pillar is already ten zhang high!”

At this moment, someone with sharp eyes pointed to the tallest blood pillar among the several hundred tokens.

Not long after entry, it had already reached ten zhang—an impressive result.

Many of those present were elders who had watched the previous Heavenly Hunt Ceremony.

Generally speaking, to reach the top ten, a blood pillar had to be around twenty zhang.

To reach the top five, it needed to exceed fifty zhang.

As for the top three, it was usually above one hundred zhang.

They had only just entered, yet the Fourth Prince’s blood pillar had already reached ten zhang, leaving many astonished.

Truly a popular contender for the championship. Quite a few secretly speculated that the Fourth Prince might indeed claim the title.

“Hiss—the Fifth Prince’s is rising even faster! It is even higher than the Fourth Prince’s… fifteen zhang?!”

Everyone’s attention shifted at once to the token of the Fifth Prince, Chu Xinghe. Sure enough, the blood pillar upon it surged upward, clearly higher than the Fourth Prince’s.

The Fifth Prince possessed a domineering royal physique with limitless potential. Many believed he was not inferior to the First Prince and Second Prince, those peerless prodigies.

He was also a powerful competitor for the championship of this Heavenly Hunt Ceremony.

With a quick glance, many imperial prodigies had blood pillars surging from their tokens as well. It seemed they had all begun slaughtering ferocious beasts.

Besides the Fourth Prince and Fifth Prince, several others were similarly dazzling.

Among them were the Ninth Princess, as well as three or four individuals who had previously been unknown, yet now rose like dark horses.

Those dark horses were clearly not core members of the imperial line. They were the offspring of other Princes and Commandery Princes.

Many prodigies were already shining brilliantly—

Yet one token stood out with conspicuous clarity, because it had no movement at all.

It was the token of the Third Prince, Chu Feng!

“So much time has passed. It looks like the Third Prince still has not slain any demonic beast,” someone muttered quietly.

“Slaying demonic beasts would be asking too much of the Third Prince. With his level of strength, it would already be good enough if he can come out alive,” another said with a faint smile.

Everyone looked over and realized the speaker was one of the four great Princes—Prince Canghai.

Prince Canghai’s wife belonged to the same maternal line as the Fifth Prince, and their relationship was close.

Earlier, the Fifth Prince and Chu Feng had clashed over followers. Now Prince Canghai spoke mockingly, perhaps to vent anger on the Fifth Prince’s behalf. Still, for a dignified Prince to speak this way seemed somewhat beneath his station.

But when everyone recalled that Prince Canghai had always been frivolous and unrestrained, it seemed plausible enough.

Among the seats, upon hearing Prince Canghai’s words, Consort Yu’s expression remained calm, yet a faint displeasure stirred within her.

Because whenever Chu Feng was mentioned, countless gazes in the hall turned toward her like needles.

She looked quietly at Chu Feng’s token.

There was no movement on it at all.

“I bestowed the Dragon-Sealing Needle upon him. By rights, he should have slain one or two demonic beasts by now…” Consort Yu thought to herself.

And just as that thought passed—

BOOM!

A blood pillar rose from Chu Feng’s token. Looking closely, it was ten zhang high!

“Mm?”

Seeing this, Consort Yu was slightly surprised.

It was actually at the same level as the Fourth Prince’s?

Moreover, it had surged straight to ten zhang in an instant—

Meaning that within a short time, Chu Feng had slain an extremely powerful demonic beast.

The strength of such a beast was likely at the late stage of the Life Palace Realm, perhaps even stronger!

“Not bad.”

Consort Yu finally relaxed. At least there was some movement. Otherwise, if it remained completely still, as the Third Prince’s mother, she would have been thoroughly embarrassed.

Many in the hall also noticed the change in Chu Feng’s token.

“Hmm? Ten zhang all at once? The same as the Fourth Prince!”

“How did the Third Prince suddenly become so strong? With his strength, can he really do that?”

Some whispered curiously.

At the other end, Prince Canghai wore an amused expression. He let out a snort of laughter, then looked toward Consort Yu.

“Consort Yu, with the Third Prince’s strength, he absolutely could not accomplish this. It seems your assistance was indispensable.”

Prince Canghai deliberately emphasized the word “assistance.”