Core disciples go into battle

For the second match, Luo Bing personally selected an Outer Sect Disciple. This Disciple was burly and fierce-looking, clearly a tough opponent.

However, Long Chen still did not assign anyone to go up. Seeing that Long Chen had no instructions, an Outer Sect Disciple from the Heaven and Earth Alliance jumped onto the stage.

Long Chen recognized this Disciple. Back during the branch assessment, when crossing the strange river with the tiger-mouth fish, Long Chen had saved his life.

He was originally one of Qi Xin's subordinates, but out of gratitude for Long Chen's kindness, he had revealed Qi Xin's plot to frame Xiao Xue, and Long Chen had accepted him into the Heaven and Earth Alliance.

This young man was named Zhu Feng. He had decent talent and could be considered a standout among the Outer Sect Disciples. Seeing him go up, Long Chen nodded; another 80,000 merit points were slowly making their way over.

The burly man opposite him was also at the Middle Stage of the Yijin realm. Glancing at Zhu Feng, who was only at the Early Stage, he said disdainfully, "You are not my opponent. Get lost while you can, or you'll lose your life."

"Let's fight." Zhu Feng shook his head and gently drew his longsword.

"Fine. Since you want to die, I will grant your wish."

The burly man snorted coldly, a heavy broadsword appearing in his hand. It looked quite weighty, suggesting he specialized in strength.

"Hum."

With a swing of his longsword, he rushed toward Zhu Feng, moving like a phantom with an overwhelming Aura.

The Disciples from the 36th Branch cheered. Among the Outer Sect Disciples, that burly man was the strongest.

Not only was his cultivation powerful, but his strength was his greatest asset, giving him a huge advantage in combat.

Seeing the burly man slash down with his broadsword, Zhu Feng acted as if he didn't see the weapon at all, thrusting his longsword straight toward the opponent's heart with swift, aggressive momentum.

The burly man was startled. That strike was clearly a Move of mutual destruction. Even if one were to resort to mutual destruction, one would only do so when backed into a corner, not right from the start!

What he didn't know was that this was the combat style Long Chen had instilled in them:

Fighting with one's life on the line was one of the most effective ways to kill, though it wasn't effective against everyone, so one had to choose their targets carefully.

When fighting for your life, target those with normal thinking who fear death. As soon as you go all-out, they immediately crumble.

Because they will be afraid, they will be terrified, and they will absolutely not dare to gamble their lives against yours, so you have already won half the battle.

However, this method wasn't effective against everyone. Apart from madmen and fools, only true warriors were not afraid of death and dared to engage in mutual destruction.

But true warriors had long since looked past life and death, fearless and undaunted; they wouldn't be as vain and arrogant as this group.

Thus, Zhu Feng didn't even think about it; he opened with a Move that would injure both parties. In the minds of these branch Disciples, their lives were things they had salvaged, snatched back from the jaws of death by Long Chen.

They felt they had already profited, so they didn't care even if they lost their lives. That was why they all dared to fight with their lives on the line, allowing an indomitable Aura to emanate from their very bones.

Seeing that Zhu Feng made no Move to block his broadsword, the burly man's expression changed. Naturally, he didn't want to suffer mutual injuries, so he hurriedly retracted his broadsword to block.

As the two swords clashed, the burly man's superior strength and cultivation advantage kicked in, and Zhu Feng was shaken back several steps.

The burly man snorted coldly, "Nothing special."

He slashed his broadsword at Zhu Feng again, this time with even greater force; it was clear the previous strike had merely been a probe.

The second strike was even faster. Just as it was about to land on Zhu Feng, Zhu Feng thrusted his longsword straight at the opponent's lower abdomen.

However, Zhu Feng was not as fast as his opponent. At this rate, the opponent's longsword would strike his shoulder a fraction of a second sooner.

But Zhu Feng's strike didn't waver in the slightest. 'If you can cleave me in two with one sword, I can pierce your Dantian with mine. If I die, you'll be crippled too.'

Seeing that Zhu Feng's expression remained calm, without even a hint of gritting his teeth, the burly man had initially thought he was just bluffing.

But he realized he was wrong. This bastard was simply not afraid of death, clearly intending to drag someone down with him before he died.

The burly man had been considered a ruthless person among those Outer Sect Disciples, attacking without mercy and injuring many.

But in this day and age, the soft fear the hard, the hard fear the reckless, and the reckless fear those who don't care about their lives. In this world, very few people were not afraid of someone who didn't fear death.

Having seen the tall, thin man lose earlier, he had been full of disdain, but now, facing Zhu Feng, he finally understood the tall man's plight.

His longsword was only an inch away from hitting the opponent, but the burly man was forced to pull it back to block the strike at his abdomen.

"Ssh."

Because it was a change of Move, his speed was slower than Zhu Feng's. Although he managed to block Zhu Feng's strike at the last moment, the tip of the sword still grazed his abdomen, tearing a long gash in his clothes.

The burly man could even feel a chill on his abdomen. It was fortunate that he had forced himself to retract his attack, or he would have been dead or crippled.

This strike broke the burly man into a cold sweat. Seeing Zhu Feng's calm expression, he realized how ruthless he was; he truly didn't care about his own life.

Hum! While the burly man was terrified, Zhu Feng had already attacked with his sword. His Moves were extremely sharp, not seeking power, but only to kill.

This was also why Long Chen didn't let them spar in their free time; sparring would affect their combat habits. The purpose of battle was to kill the opponent, not to play games.

The scene before them was the best proof. The burly man's cultivation and combat strength were both far higher than Zhu Feng's.

But under Zhu Feng's reckless, life-risking attacks, he became timid and hesitant, unable to utilize his full abilities.

This was also what Long Chen had told them: in a battle between two people, the one who fears death the most is often the one most likely to die.

Only by transcending the shackles of death and shaking off the fear of dying could one remain absolutely calm, better perceive changes in the surrounding environment, capture every flaw in the enemy, and unleash the most powerful force.

Winning against a stronger opponent wasn't really about being weaker; it was about unleashing 100% of one's strongest points to attack the opponent's weakest points.

In terms of Cultivation Technique, combat skills, cultivation, strength, intelligence, and willpower, Zhu Feng was far weaker than his opponent on average.

But Zhu Feng relied solely on the toughness of his willpower to completely destroy the opponent's confidence, causing their combat power to plummet. This was a classic example of breaking a defense by targeting a single point.

The burly man, apart from having the upper hand in the first Move, followed the same path as the first Disciple after the second Move.

Because Zhu Feng's Moves were ruthless, trading life for life, and especially because Zhu Feng remained calm, it was even more terrifying than if he had been ferocious.

Tang Waner couldn't help but shake her head, looking at Long Chen. The previous Disciple had learned seven or eight parts of his style.

But this Zhu Feng had actually picked up nine parts of Long Chen's expression; that soul-shaking calmness was simply too similar.

Tang Waner found it amusing when she thought about it. Among the branch Disciples, almost everyone viewed Long Chen as an idol. In reality, no one knew that Long Chen wasn't even seventeen yet, a year younger than her.

It was just that Long Chen carried a composure and calmness that didn't match his age, along with wisdom far beyond his peers, so everyone assumed he was in his early twenties.

Watching Long Chen leaning comfortably in his chair, a warmth spread through Tang Waner's heart. It felt so good to have Long Chen by her side.

She found that she was relying on Long Chen more and more, as if as long as Long Chen was there, his shoulders could bear it even if the sky fell.

"Boom."

A loud explosion on the arena interrupted Tang Waner's train of thought. She hurriedly looked at the stage and saw Zhu Feng's left arm hanging limp, broken into several pieces.

And the burly man opposite him was clutching his throat with one hand, blood flowing from between his fingers, his face full of terror.

"You lost."

Although Zhu Feng had an arm broken into several pieces, his face was expressionless as he pointed his longsword at the opponent and said coldly.

The whole arena was silent. Everyone had clearly seen that last Move; Zhu Feng had used his arm to forcefully block the broadsword while his longsword slashed across the opponent's throat.

If Zhu Feng's longsword had probed just a little further, it wouldn't have been a slashed throat, but a severed head.

The man's throat was cut, and he couldn't speak, his eyes filled with terror as he hurriedly jumped off the arena.

As soon as he jumped off the arena, someone immediately stepped forward to rescue him, a Wood Cultivator stepping up to stop the bleeding and treat his wounds.

If a Mortal had their throat cut, they would basically die without a doubt, but for a Cultivator, they could suppress the blood flow, so it wasn't a big deal.

It was just that the wound on his neck had panicked him, and combined with his narrow escape from death, how could he dare to stay on the arena?

With this person's defeat, the hearts of the Disciples from the 36th Branch sank. These guys were too ruthless.

"Bastards, you are so ruthless!"

Luo Bing was so angry her face turned green. They were simply not good at this kind of fighting style.

"Ruthless?" Long Chen smiled disdainfully. "If this is called ruthless, it only shows how naive and ignorant you are."

"You can ask every brother by my side; which one of them hasn't crawled out of a pile of dead bodies? Which one of them hasn't killed hundreds of enemies of the same rank?"

"Battles against higher-ranked opponents are just everyday occurrences for us. We have all walked here stepping over the bones and flesh of Evil Path Disciples."

"When we were facing the trials of blood and fire, you were all lying in honey pots, acting spoiled. Do you have the right to compare yourselves to us? And you dare to look down on us? It's laughable!"

Following Long Chen's words, all the branch Disciples felt a surge of pride from the bottom of their hearts. They felt their blood heating up again, as if they had returned to the battlefield fighting alongside Long Chen.

"Enough nonsense. You lost the second match again, pay up quickly." Long Chen cursed himself inwardly for wasting breath on her. 'If you want to come over and slap our faces, then come on.'

"Rest assured, I, Luo Bing, would never welsh on a debt to a bunch of beggars." Luo Bing snorted coldly and flicked her Nameplate over for Elder Tu Fang to collect the points himself.

For one, she trusted that Tu Fang wouldn't dare to take more merit points from her than owed. For another, if she did it herself, the feeling of 'cutting her own flesh' would be unbearable.

When the Nameplate returned to Luo Bing's hand, it had 80,000 fewer merit points.

Although Luo Bing tried her best to act indifferent, the slight twitch at the corner of her mouth indicated that she was not in a good mood.

"Hmph, for the next round, we will change the level. Core Disciple enters the fray."