Chen Chao slowly gripped the hilt of his saber, but before he could make any move, he suddenly turned his head and noticed another figure not far away.
Xi Qiuchen.
Chen Chao knew both of these individuals. Furthermore, they could be considered old friends.
In fact, ever since entering this microcosm, he had been waiting for these two to appear, but they never did.
He was well aware that the longer he waited, the more cautious he had to be because these two would definitely be hiding in the shadows, waiting for him to be at his weakest before jumping out to take his life.
Now was truly a good opportunity.
Chen Chao chuckled self-deprecatingly, "I didn't expect the two of you to actually join forces."
Yes, although Chen Chao had thought that the two of them would appear, he had not expected them to actually team up.
Xi Qiuchen looked at him and said, "Originally, I didn't think you were anything special, but I didn't expect that you could actually stir up so much trouble. After arriving in this microcosm, you could even suppress these foreign cultivators and become the one who kills the most demons. It seems that the Great Liang Dynasty does have some talented individuals. It's not surprising that you were able to kill Yan Ruoshui those people."
Upon hearing the name Yan Ruoshui, Jiang Shuchan's expression turned slightly unpleasant, but she remained silent.
Xi Qiuchen continued, "That mountain spirit was indeed difficult to deal with. Even Song Changxi couldn't kill it. You have some skills, but that's about it. Your injuries are quite severe now, right?"
Chen Chao looked at him and did not answer that question. Instead, he smiled and said, "I've heard that Fellow Daoist Xi is very adept in dual cultivation. Have you had any exchanges with Fellow Daoist Jiang on your journey together?"
Upon hearing this, a smile appeared on Xi Qiuchen's face, while Jiang Shuchan's expression became even uglier.
Xi Qiuchen glanced at Jiang Shuchan and smiled, "Anyone can exterminate scum like you, we don't need anything else."
Chen Chao said earnestly, "I don't believe it."
Jiang Shuchan saw that Xi Qiuchen was about to say something else and said coldly, "Hurry up and kill him!"
Xi Qiuchen furrowed his brows slightly but did not say anything.
Chen Chao took the bamboo token from his waist and said, "It's probably not going to be that easy."
He had already killed many demons by now. Even if he was eliminated at this moment, there was still an 80% chance he would be the champion. With his current injuries, if it came to the point where he had to withdraw, he would not hesitate to crush the bamboo token and leave. Because compared to anything else, losing his life here would be extremely unwise.
Xi Qiuchen said, "You're already at the top of the rankings. Don't you want to keep trying?"
"Compared to my life, there doesn't seem to be anything else worth clinging to."
Chen Chao looked at Xi Qiuchen calmly and said, "Aren't you two afraid of being exposed to the scrutiny of those prominent figures by wanting to kill me?"
Xi Qiuchen said, "It's also not that I can't tell you some things. For example, right now, there won't be any important figures looking over here. Your act of luring the mountain spirit was too major, they won't accept it."
"Moreover, you becoming champion won't be accepted."
Xi Qiuchen smiled faintly, "Right now, many people want you dead, do you know that?"
Chen Chao nodded, "I have a general understanding, but I won't let you succeed."
"I remember you seemed to be quite fond of that girl. Now, that girl has already emerged victorious. If you don't win, will you feel very embarrassed?"
Xi Qiuchen looked at Chen Chao with a smile and said very seriously, "Would a teenager your age not care about this?"
Chen Chao furrowed his brow, "I have already said it before, there's nothing more important than my life."
Winning first place was naturally something he wanted, but compared to that, preserving his life was what he truly needed to take seriously.
Xi Qiuchen said, "If you really think that way, it seems I don't have much recourse against you."
Chen Chao looked at him in silence.
"However, you can't get away."
As this sentence was said, Xi Qiuchen's figure suddenly dissipated in place. When he reappeared, he had already arrived in front of Chen Chao. Dazzling radiance emanated from his fingertips, which he then effortlessly swept across.
Chen Chao glanced at Xi Qiuchen, but in fact, Chen Chao had already moved first before Xi Qiuchen did.
A streak of pitch-black saber light appeared by the lake.
Xi Qiuchen's expression changed slightly and his fingers subconsciously moved to catch the blade's edge. But a moment later, he furrowed his brows.
He took both hands back and did not attempt to try.
Because just now, he had already sensed an extremely terrifying aura.
It was the aura of death, representing a truly great horror.
He had not expected to feel it from that broken saber.
But at the same time, he felt some lingering fear. If his hands really collided with that broken saber, something extremely terrifying would probably happen.
He was somewhat absentminded.
But Chen Chao already rushed over.
His body, which he had repeatedly tempered with countless spirit medicines since entering the Divine Capital, had already become one of the toughest bodies among Divine Trove martial artists, comparable to ordinary magic artifacts.
At this moment, as he charged forward, the feeling he gave off was extremely shocking.
Xi Qiuchen had never fought against a martial artist, how could he have seen such a situation before? He was slightly dazed, but after a moment, he retreated towards the distance, unwilling to engage in close combat with Chen Chao.
However, in an instant, Chen Chao arrived in front of him.
Too fast!
Xi Qiuchen had no idea why Chen Chao was so fast!
He was so fast that Xi Qiuchen could hardly see his figure, yet he already arrived in front of him.
In an instant, a punch was thrown by the young man.
His arm covered in bulging veins contained boundless strength. When he punched, the surrounding air made a faint sound.
Chen Chao's fist had arrived.
Xi Qiuchen frowned and an iron fan already appeared in front of him at the same time!
That fist did not strike his chest, but landed on the opened iron fan!
Clank-
A loud noise sounded out and Chen Chao's figure swayed.
The iron fan's framework had several visible cracks.
Xi Qiuchen's face turned extremely ugly. He was well aware of the origin of that iron fan. The fan ribs were forged from the flesh and blood essence of many powerful demons and matched with top-grade profound iron. It was incredibly tough and should not have been affected by a martial artist who had merely stepped into the Divine Trove Realm.
It would require at least a powerhouse at the Bitter Sea Realm to inflict damage on the iron fan.
However, little did he know that Chen Chao's punch had caused cracks to appear on the fan's ribs.
This was rather surprising for him.
"Fairy Jiang!"
In an instant, Xi Qiuchen realized that he might not be the match for this martial artist opponent who was still so ferocious after getting injured.
But his loud yell received no response from Jiang Shuchan who was on the opposite side. She simply watched coldly from a distance.
At that moment, Xi Qiuchen suddenly realized something and angrily cursed, "You bitch!"
It turned out that from the very beginning, Jiang Shuchan had never intended to promise him anything. Everything was just her manipulating him. Now that she had arrived here, she wanted to see both him and Chen Chao suffer mutual destruction.
Then, no matter who won or lost, she would reap the benefits as a bystander.
Having realized this, Xi Qiuchen's expression became extremely ugly. He looked at Chen Chao, reached out his hand, and grabbed the iron fan. The fan ribs instantly scattered in all directions, flying towards Chen Chao.
Chen Chao was bare-chested and showed no reaction. He simply blew apart the wave of fan ribs with a punch, attempting to close in on Xi Qiuchen once again.
Xi Qiuchen made several attempts to create distance between himself and Chen Chao, but ultimately failed.
Seeing that the injured young martial artist was almost closing in on him, Xi Qiuchen did not hesitate and already took out the bamboo token from his waist. He was ready to crush this bamboo token and leave this place at any time.
In this martial exam, he never had any intention of achieving any results. He chose to stay here only for Jiang Shuchan. If it were not for Jiang Shuchan, he would probably have left long ago.
Now that he had discovered that Jiang Shuchan was making use of him, Xi Qiuchen had nothing more to say. Rather than fighting Chen Chao, he might as well leave immediately. This would be the best choice.
He threw out the last piece of fan rib in his hand. At this moment, the iron fan that had accompanied him for many years fell apart, leaving him no time to dwell on it. He needed to leave now.
At the same time, another dark saber light swept out.
A ray of light seemed to suddenly appear between heaven and earth.
The saber light was clearly black, but it was exceptionally bright at this moment.
Xi Qiuchen was somewhat dazed, but when he snapped back to his senses, there was a face before him.
Then, he subconsciously tried to crush the bamboo token. But when he exerted force, he realized something was different.
Why did his right arm feel a little cold?
He instinctively turned his head to look.
Pain then struck him.
His entire right arm had been directly severed by Chen Chao.
The bamboo token still remained in his hand, but there was no possibility of crushing it anymore.
Chen Chao did not speak.
Xi Qiuchen became terrified, and finally, the fear of death appeared on his face.
Chen Chao spoke, "I am injured, but not as severely as you think."
It was actually very hard for that mountain spirit's final strike to inflict much damage on his body. The reason for doing so was actually to lure out the two people who had been secretly following him all this while. Chen Chao did not know that these two individuals would join forces, but he was well aware that they would eventually show up at some point.
Rather than waiting for them to find trouble with him when he was truly weakened, it was better to expose weakness early and deal with these two individuals.
With a single stroke, Chen Chao decapitated Xi Qiuchen's head and casually tossed it into the nearby lake without even sparing a glance.
Only then, did he turn his head to look at Jiang Shuchan.
This woman never made a move from the start. She observed with cool detachment all this while.
"Your heart is pretty cold."
Chen Chao felt some vicissitudes of emotion.
Jiang Shuchan looked at him and coldly replied, "He's just like you, you're both not a good person. If he's dead, so be it."
Chen Chao shook his head and said, "If I were you, I would have taken action earlier. With two people teaming up, you'll exert less effort. After I die, you could have killed him. That would actually have been the easiest."
Jiang Shuchan said calmly, "As a cultivator, how can I kill my fellow cultivator in the martial exam at will?"
Indeed, she wanted Xi Qiuchen to die, but she could not personally take action.
Because as long as she took action, someone would find out, which would be very troublesome when the time comes.
Only if Chen Chao took action to kill Xi Qiuchen, would the matter have nothing to do with her.
Chen Chao asked, "If you didn't make a move, do you still want to take action now?"
Jiang Shuchan responded, "Of course I still want to kill you."
Chen Chao furrowed his brows and said, "Are you much stronger than him?"
"In terms of cultivation, I may not necessarily surpass him, but I have ways to kill you."
As soon as she uttered those words, Chen Chao's brows furrowed even more because he sensed a change in the surrounding aura. Compared to before, the aura here became more chilling.
It seemed as though he had become trapped in some kind of formation.
Furthermore, it was definitely a killing formation!
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