Cohabitation with Sword Spirit-Chapter 288 - 27: King of Provocation
January 15, 2018
In Shen City, having the demeanor of a great general is considered the highest accolade for a person. Shen City values martial prowess; a general who can command thousands of troops is far more respected than a merchant wealthy enough to rival a country or a scholar with unparalleled talent. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞
Still, carrying such a title, Shen Feihong has been seen as the successor to Shen Ruoshi, the City Lord of Shen City, from a very young age.
Unlike the tradition of successive inheritance prevalent among usual cultivation clans, the Shen Family often practices skipping generations in succession.
This is either taken for granted or considered unavoidable.
Although the lifespan of cultivators nowadays is greatly reduced compared to the Primordial Era—three to five hundred years is deemed exceptionally long-lived—it remains far longer than an ordinary person's.
A lifespan of two to three hundred years is equivalent to three to four times that of ordinary people, but the life pace of cultivators is not much slower than that of ordinary people. Early to bed and early to rise, three meals a day, is still the typical lifestyle for most cultivators. Those stories of seclusion for a hundred years are almost exclusively found in legends from the Primordial Era. Generally speaking, even hermit cultivators who remain hidden from the world might only retreat for a few months at most—longer periods can easily lead to social disorders, autism, or manic symptoms, requiring professional medical treatment—thus, in a fast-paced life, the marriage age for cultivators isn't typically too late; thirty to forty is average, fifty to sixty constitutes late marriage, while seventy to eighty raises suspicions of being unseemly or flirtatious in old age.
Consequently, family conflicts naturally emerge when grandparents are still in their prime while the younger generations have already grown up, making family power transitions intriguingly delicate.
This issue has never had a good solution throughout thousands of years of Xiangzhou history. The struggle for power runs through the entire history of the Xiangzhou Continent's immortal cultivation, and if not for a Saint Sect intervening repeatedly to resolve disputes, two thousand years of mainstream peace would be indeed unimaginable.
In Shen City, the principle for power transition follows the simple rule of the patriarch's absolute authority.
As long as the patriarch is still alive, his orders over the choice of successor are indisputable. The Shen Family values martial prowess, and the family implements militarized management, where military orders are as unshakeable as a mountain, leaving no room for negotiation.
Shen Feihong was chosen by Shen Ruoshi at the age of ten and designated as his successor. Over the next ten years, this precociously mature member of the Shen Family endured an unimaginably immense pressure, contending among siblings whose talents far surpassed his own, and fought to seize title after title of champion.
To this day, no one would mock Shen Feihong for his talents; the titles of Outer Courtyard Chief and Shen City Grand Champion sufficiently attest to his strength. Instead, it's those renowned for innate talents who struggle to breathe under Shen Feihong's dominance. Thus, Li Wanqing's provocation now seems downright laughable.
But Li Wanqing herself did not think so.
"Naive? I think the naive one is you. Striving hard to bridge the gap in talent? That kind of soul-soothing nonsense tricking fools is almost putrid, yet you keep gulping it down," Li Wanqing sneered, "You claim to be the Chief of the Outer Courtyard, but among the cultivators there, you're not the one with the highest cultivation."
Shen Feihong was unbothered: "Shen Qing's True Essence progress slightly surpasses mine, yet I have confidence in defeating him in actual combat."
Li Wanqing retorted, "But surely not as confidently as you were a year ago."
Shen Feihong responded indifferently: "A joke."
"Whether you find it laughable is something you know in your heart. Besides, how long can you sustain that confidence? A year, two years? From the Breaking Wind Barrier to thirty years old is the period when a cultivator's cultivation changes the fastest, with those gifted seeing almost annual progress. This year, you may suppress Shen Qing, but can you keep it up next year or the year after? Given your talents, even if you utilize all the Shen Family's resources, striving with all your might in cultivation will only take you to the late Mountain-Overturning Realm. On the other hand, barring any accidents, Shen Qing can attempt to breach the Sea Overturning Realm before turning forty, becoming one of Xiangzhou's top experts."
These words were reasoned and discussed matters internal to the Shen Family, leaving the surrounding people with little resentment, and prompting some to nod silently.
Although Shen Feihong is the Outer Courtyard Chief, everyone knows the one truly capable of handling great responsibilities in the future would be Shen Qing, whose overwhelming talents remain beyond envy. Shen Feihong managed to suppress him for years largely through relentless cultivation unmatched by any other and, partially due to being two years older, which in young people's cultivation means significantly.
As time goes on, Shen Feihong's advantages will only diminish; even now, whether Shen Feihong can indeed suppress Shen Qing remains uncertain.
The only question is, what does all this have to do with you, a Li Family member?
Li Wanqing replied, "It's simple. My talent surpasses Shen Qing's, and my strength is even stronger than his. If you can't contain Shen Qing, how can you hope to stand against me? It's laughable, truly ridiculous."
Once these words were spoken, the Outer Courtyard was in uproar.
The young members of the Shen Family were almost instantly inflamed with anger, eager to attack collectively. However, years of ingrained discipline kept them restrained, focusing all their attention on Shen Feihong, expecting their elder brother, the Chief, to give the Li Family member a serious lesson.
Shen Feihong, however, was neither angry nor flustered; he simply nodded lightly: "Fine, then prove it."
After speaking, he swept his millstone-sized hand out, drawing a three-zhang-wide scarlet arc on the training ground.
After drawing this circle, the Shen Family Outer Courtyard suddenly grew much quieter, with people solemnly watching Shen Feihong and Li Wanqing, anticipating the upcoming spectacle.
Shen Feihong explained in a muffled voice: "Death Fight."
Outer Courtyard Death Fight: a rule-free blood battle in a narrow three-zhang space until one party completely loses combat capability.
Although the strict protection of the Array prevents fatal injuries, the defeated may still end up bedridden for ten days to half a month, and in severe cases, there have been instances of crippling injuries.
With this Death Fight Circle established, the Shen Family knew that Shen Feihong was absolutely serious.
He entered the Outer Courtyard at the age of 6, became the Outer Courtyard Chief at 16, and his 14 years there were not entirely smooth; he had setbacks in various events, and for some time, Shen Qing was hot on his heels.
However, in one aspect alone, Shen Feihong has never lost.
In the Death Fight Circle, Shen Feihong was invincible.
At the age of 10, Shen Feihong was handpicked by Shen Ruoshi as the successor. Soon after, during Outer Courtyard training, a distant cousin, two years his senior and with superior cultivation talent, insulted and mocked him with venomous words. Shen Feihong did not back down; he initiated his first Death Fight Circle and challenged the opponent. Then, with shocking calm and tenacity, he broke the opponent's tendons and bones, leaving him unconscious and defeated in the circle.
However, when Shen Feihong emerged from the circle, he was in much worse condition than his opponent, ten times more so. Naturally muscular since childhood, he seemed to have lost weight; his once-healthy muscles were torn from his frame, exposing pale ribs beneath, and the heart palpitating violently behind them. One eyeball dangled outside its socket, and half his face was stripped away, revealing a shattered skull.
The sight made many people vomit on the spot.
However, Shen Feihong himself insisted on standing, raising his hand to declare his victory.
Since then, almost no one in the Outer Courtyard dared accept Shen Feihong's death match challenge. A few brave exceptions didn't create a miracle in the Death Fight Circle either. Even two years ago, when Shen Qing attempted a death match challenge against Shen Feihong, he ended up being carried out of the circle with his Divine Sense severely injured.
Now, Shen Feihong instigated a Death Fight Circle challenge against Li Wanqing, which appeared to many in the Shen Family as a direct declaration of victory.
The question was whether the Li Family dared to accept the challenge.
Li Wanqing certainly dared, without a hint of hesitation, she turned around, stepping into the blood circle, and taunted with a cold smile, "Come on, the last one in is a dog."
This poised attitude made many in the Shen Family tense up.
Although over the years, their confidence in Shen Feihong had become nearly absolute, these Li Family members, who made a strong impression as soon as they arrived in the Outer Courtyard... who knows how many schemes they have prepared?
Shen Feihong's invincibility in death matches came from being challenged by fellow Shen Family members; despite any conflicts, they fought with honor and dignity. But as for the Li Family, who knows how many mechanical traps they have prepared?
Earlier, Shen Qingming insulted Shen Feihong about age and appearance as soon as they met, perhaps to provoke him into initiating a death match?
For a moment, some even thought it might be better for Shen Feihong to avoid this confrontation.
But Shen Feihong showed no hesitation and completely ignored Li Wanqing's provocation, following her into the Death Fight Circle and then raising his hand to cast a countdown blood magic in mid-air.
3…
2…
1…
As the count hit zero, Shen Feihong's eyes widened, and his Divine Sense erupted like a volcanic eruption, stirring the True Essence within him to explode with a roar! In the confined space, silent howling resonated a million times in an instant!
It seemed as though the myriad shock waves tore the space apart; outside the circle, people only felt a blur before their eyes, their vision severely distorted, unable to discern the situation inside the circle.
Yet many still gasped.
Brother Feihong indeed strikes viciously; his opening move was a True Essence roaring killer blow. Given his current Cloud Flipping Realm cultivation, if not for the restraint of the Death Fight Circle, the mere aftermath could have cleared everything within several hundred zhang! And now, the power is highly concentrated within a three-zhang space, coming so suddenly and explosively, even opponents of the same level would find it hard to withstand...
However, when the roaring subsided, people only saw within the red circle, the pitch-black armor stood as unwavering as a mountain, with Li Wanqing even shrugging with some boredom.
"Named as a great general, but actually a pushover."
