Martial Arts Overlord-Chapter 611 - 609: Results from All Sides!

"Do you think that by doing this, you can change my mind?"

The middle-aged man turned to look at Yue Haitang, his brow slightly furrowed.

Yue Haitang applied slight downward pressure with her right hand, and the Red Dragon Purple Gold Sword immediately left a clear, bloody mark on her fair neck. The sword’s light illuminated her eyes, her expression resolute.

"And I won’t change my mind either."

The middle-aged man’s brow twitched, his gaze sharp as he asked in a grave voice, "Is that Luo Feng truly worth all this to you?"

"He was the one who disregarded his own life to save me from Yi Tian. This is a debt I owe him," Yue Haitang said slowly.

"HMPH!"

The middle-aged man snorted coldly, his aura suddenly retracting. He extended three fingers. "The Sword Heart Heaven Jade is linked to your mother, and it’s extremely important to our Yue Family. There can be no mishaps! Three months! I will give him three months. If, after that time, I believe Luo Feng has no chance of defeating Yi Tian, I will personally reclaim the Sword Heart Heaven Jade."

"He will definitely win!" Yue Haitang sheathed her sword, her calm voice leaving no room for doubt.

The middle-aged man’s gaze flickered. "There is one more condition. After the Golden Palace assessment ends, you must return to the Imperial City and stay there until the duel concludes."

Yue Haitang pursed her lips and finally nodded. "Alright."

After saying this, Yue Haitang opened the door of the private room and walked away.

Watching Yue Haitang’s departing figure, the middle-aged man’s eyes flickered slightly. He finally let out a soft sigh and murmured to himself, It’s been seven years, and this is the first time you’ve called me ’Father’.

Luo Feng from Purple Sun School... I’m actually growing quite interested in you.

The middle-aged man walked over to the window, murmuring to himself, then suddenly called out, "Yingkui!"

SWISH!

A shadow in a corner of the room began to distort violently. A figure clad entirely in pitch-black armor appeared. His eyes were devoid of any human emotion, and his entire being radiated a chilling, murderous aura.

If Yue Haitang were still here, she would undoubtedly be stunned speechless. She hadn’t sensed at all that there was a third person in the room.

"Family Head!" A hoarse voice came from beneath the armor. Yingkui knelt on one knee, showing extreme reverence towards the middle-aged man.

"Go and investigate this Luo Feng. I need to know everything about him," the middle-aged man ordered.

"Yes!" Yingkui’s raspy voice sounded again as a distorted black aura emanated from him, and he gradually vanished into the air.

"Wait..." Remembering Yue Haitang’s resolute gaze, the middle-aged man added another instruction, "If his life is in danger, you may intervene and help him. Otherwise, remain hidden and do not reveal yourself."

"Yes."

Yingkui’s figure merged into the air and disappeared without a trace, leaving only faint ripples where he had stood.

Watching the pedestrians coming and going outside the window, the middle-aged man suddenly sighed softly, a hint of an unreadable smile in his eyes. To think she would disregard her own life for someone else. Ying Xue, his temperament is so much like yours. Our child... has really grown up...

When he mentioned the name "Ying Xue," a rare tenderness appeared on the middle-aged man’s stern face.

I hope her judgment doesn’t disappoint me...

His voice still lingered, but the middle-aged man was no longer in the private room, only the window swayed gently.

Luo Feng, Bing Ruolan, and He Qin set off from Sky Frost City.

「A day later, Sky Mountain appeared in their field of vision.」

Even though it wasn’t the first time he had seen it, gazing at the colossal mountain peak suspended in mid-air from afar, Luo Feng’s heart still filled with awe.

"Let’s go down," Luo Feng said.

Bing Ruolan and He Qin nodded. With a flicker of their figures, they soon arrived outside Sky Cloud Valley.

The moment they stepped onto the plaza outside Sky Cloud Valley, the gazes of the nearby young prodigies immediately fell upon them. All sorts of voices flooded Luo Feng’s ears.

"Look, it’s Luo Feng from Purple Sun School! He’s back!"

"I heard that in three months, he’s going to the Imperial City for a life-and-death duel with the Princely Heir of Qingyun Mansion. Is that true?"

"Absolutely true! My cousin was there and saw it with his own eyes. Luo Feng swore an oath to the heavens that in three months, he would personally go to the Imperial City to challenge Yi Tian!"

"Tsk tsk, Yi Tian is ranked forty-sixth on the New Dragon List. For Luo Feng to think he can defeat Yi Tian in just three months, isn’t that too arrogant?"

"Who says it isn’t? It seems getting first place in the first round of the assessment has gone to his head. Defeating Yi Tian in three months? Even Ye Siyi, the foremost young expert, probably wouldn’t dare make such a boast. What makes Luo Feng think he can?"

...

"These people are too much!" Anger flashed in Bing Ruolan’s eyes. Just as she was about to step forward and argue with them, Luo Feng stopped her.

"No need to bother with them. They’ll naturally shut up later." Luo Feng shook his head; these people weren’t worthy of his concern.

He Qin, however, wasn’t so easy-going. Her gaze turned cold, her right hand resting on her sword hilt.

In an instant, a boundless Sword Intent merged with her gaze. Immediately, the airflow within a hundred-zhang radius became erratic, and an inexplicable chill abruptly descended.

"So cold!"

The crowd, which had been chattering moments ago, felt an inexplicable chill in their hearts and fell silent as cicadas in winter, looking at He Qin with a measure of fear.

"Let’s go."

With a wry smile, Luo Feng led the two into Sky Cloud Valley.

For a moment after the three figures disappeared, the entire plaza remained deathly still.

"What was that? I felt like a sword was at my throat," a young swordsman said, rubbing his neck with lingering apprehension.

"It was Sword Intent!" a youth with a solemn expression declared. "That young lady must be He Qin, the top student of Tianlan School, the ’Heavenly Fragrant Woman.’ It seems she was warning us."

"Let’s go. Tomorrow we choose our Golden Palace, and then it’s the contest for the Martial Champion rankings. We must rest well today and conserve our strength."

"Indeed, indeed, I was also preparing to head back."

"Together..."

Chatting amongst themselves, the crowd walked towards Sky Cloud Valley, making no mention of what had just transpired.

The place for submitting assessment materials was set up in Skyridge Plaza. Luo Feng and his two companions headed towards Skyridge Plaza.

On the mountain path, Luo Feng said to He Qin, "He Qin, thank you for earlier."

He Qin, her expression impassive, shook her head coolly. "I didn’t do anything."

Luo Feng smiled faintly and didn’t say more. He knew this was just He Qin’s personality.

The three of them followed the flow of people up Skyridge Mountain. From time to time, people came down the mountain, their faces beaming with enthusiastic smiles, walking with heads held high, full of vigor, clearly having passed the second round of the assessment.

A short while later, the group arrived at Skyridge Plaza.

Inside the plaza, dozens of square, black stone tables were arranged, with several dozen Sky Mountain stewards seated behind them.

Students would place the Underground Demon materials they had obtained on the stone tables. After the stewards counted them, they would announce whether the student had passed.

At this moment, long queues had formed in the plaza.

"So many people." Luo Feng’s eyebrows rose as he surveyed the sea of heads in the plaza.

"Luo Feng, that line over there is the shortest. Let’s queue there," Bing Ruolan said, pointing to a nearby line.

"Alright."

Luo Feng nodded, and the three of them walked over.

While queuing, everyone was somewhat bored and began to chat in low voices.

"Those Underground Demons are truly terrifying. I personally saw several fellow students torn apart alive by a few of them."

"Mm. I hear the Underground Demons are planning to ally with the West Desert Demon Sect to attack the Hundred Kingdoms. When that happens, it will likely be even more brutal than now. We must improve our strength quickly, or we might not survive..."

"Senior Brother Liao, how many Underground Demons did you slay this time?"

"Not many. Only thirteen Bone Scale Demons, and I was fortunate enough to slay one Blood Ash Demon."

"As expected of Senior Brother Liao, to be able to slay a Blood Ash Demon! When I encountered a Blood Ash Demon, I didn’t dare to even try fighting it."

"You flatter me; I was just lucky. Compared to Senior Brother Liu Changfeng, it’s nothing worth mentioning. He slew nineteen Sky Flying Demons, and countless lower-level Underground Demons!"

"Nineteen Sky Flying Demons! As expected of Senior Brother Liu Changfeng! It looks like Senior Brother Liu Changfeng will definitely rank high in this contest for the Martial Champion rankings!"

A student from Chongyue School nearby sneered coldly, "Only nineteen Sky Flying Demons, and already so smug. Aren’t you afraid of becoming a laughingstock!"

"What do you mean by that? Do you dare look down on our Senior Brother Liu Changfeng!" an enraged Jade Sword School student shouted.

The Jade Sword School student named Liao waved his hand, his icy gaze fixed on the Chongyue School student who had spoken. He said in a deep voice, "Then how many Sky Flying Demons did you slay?"

This Chongyue School student, who had a square face and a broad mouth, laughed arrogantly. "I haven’t slain any Sky Flying Demons, but our Senior Brothers from Chongyue School, Yi Wuxue and Xie Xuantong, have each slain over twenty!"

The youth surnamed Liao sneered mockingly, "I thought it was some expert speaking. Turns out it’s just someone riding on others’ coattails."

"What did you say!"

The square-faced youth erupted in anger, his fierce eyes bulging. A sharp aura burst from his body, forming a gale that swirled around him. He roared, "Kid, do you dare to face me on the martial stage? We’ll see who’s really just riding on coattails!"

"Bring it on! You think I’m afraid of you!" Liao shouted coldly and, with a flash of his figure, shot directly down the mountain.

"Got guts! I’ll beat you today until you’re spitting teeth!" The square-faced youth roared angrily, his stomp cracking the ground, and his figure shot off in pursuit.

"The students from Jade Sword School and Chongyue School are at loggerheads again."

"Chongyue School and Jade Sword School have always been the two strongest academies in our Six Southern Domains. They’ve constantly competed, and their feuds are deeply entangled. At this year’s summit, the title of number one young expert was taken by ’Fragrance Without Shadow’ Wu Siyi. Naturally, the people from Chongyue School weren’t convinced, so friction between the two sides is common."

"I’ve also heard a rumor that ’Heavenly Jade Swordsman’ Liu Changfeng and ’Black-faced Killer’ Xie Xuantong both fancy Ye Siyi. I wonder if this has anything to do with it..."

"Such a good show! We can’t miss it! Let’s go!"

The crowd chattered as they left the queues and rushed down the mountain, clearly going to watch the excitement.

Luo Feng watched their retreating figures, a slight smile playing on his lips. He felt somewhat grateful to the two who had just been arguing.

Thanks to those two, the number of students in Skyridge Plaza had decreased by nearly half, reducing their waiting time in line.

After about the time it takes for half an incense stick to burn, it was the turn of Luo Feng’s group.

Bing Ruolan stepped forward first.

"How many Underground Demons did you slay?" the middle-aged steward seated behind the black stone table asked without looking up.