Zhang Fei - The Abandoned Son

Chapter 594: Soul Challenge

A few minutes after Feng Yao started concocting the pill, several participants returned to the first floor. They were members of Zhang Feiʼs group, and since he had taught them to seal their senses, the test held no significance for them.

They were surprised when they saw Feng Yao doing alchemy, but they immediately sat around her and Zhang Fei. Though they werenʼt interested in alchemy, it was a rare chance to watch an alchemist perform live, and they were curious about her skills.

After three hours of concocting the pill, Feng Yao immediately turned off her fire and took five pills from her furnace, surprising Zhang Fei and the others with their numbers and superior grades. ”Lingxue already told you that the result depends on the quantity of our ingredients, right?”

”Yes.” Zhang Fei nodded to her. ”In addition to the ingredients, we also need high concentration to concoct the pill, or some of the ingredients will be destroyed, and the amount of the result cannot be maximized.”

”Thatʼs true.” Feng Yao then gave the five pills to him. ”This pill is a rank-3 Bone Mending Pill, and we can use it to recover broken bones and some internal injuries. I believe you can sell them in your shop later. I have given Lingxue many alchemy recipes, such as the Qi Essence Pill, the Refined Blood Pill, and several others. However, she canʼt possibly concoct all of them by herself because most of them are rank-3 and above. Therefore, if you want to compete with the alchemy union, you must improve your alchemy skills to assist her.”

”I myself canʼt wait to improve my alchemy skills, so I keep practicing with Lingxue.” Zhang Fei then put the five pills into the system inventory, and Feng Yao immediately stored her furnace and the remaining herbs in her storage ring again.

Bai Tianʼer then asked them. ”Are you really going to open an alchemy shop, Fei? Can I know your alchemist rank, Senior Feng?”

”My alchemist rank is at the ancestor rank.” Feng Yao then pointed at Zhang Fei. ”This kid has only been learning alchemy for three weeks, but he is already a master-rank alchemist.”

Bai Tianʼer and the others immediately looked at Zhang Fei in surprise, but he simply smiled and explained. ”As you all know, I own a restaurant in the capital, but itʼs still not enough to support my family. Therefore, I plan to open another shop to meet our needs. However, my shop wonʼt focus on alchemy stuff because of the alchemy shops owned by the alchemy union, and they will come to trouble me again if I try to compete with them, so I will also sell some other items.”

”Other items?”

Zhang Fei then embraced Xian Xianqin. ”Iʼve already given her one of them, and she enjoyed using it, so Iʼm sure you guys will like it too.”

”What kind of item did he give you, Princess?” Yuan Luo curiously asked.

Xian Xianqin immediately told them. ”The item is a mattress for sleeping, but itʼs completely different from our hard bed because itʼs really soft, so I always comfortably sleep on it. My mother had thought about buying some for the bedrooms in the palace, but she had to wait for Zhang Fei to open his shop first.”

Zhang Feiʼs decision to only give it to Xian Xianqin made Yuan Luo, Yun Xinyue, and the female disciples jealous. Bai Tianʼer then asked him. ”When are you going to open your shop? I will go see your shop as soon as we get back from this tower, and I will buy some mattresses for me and my family.”

”You donʼt have to worry about that since my shop will be open when we get back, and you can visit it later.” Zhang Fei then turned to the people from the other groups who had just arrived. ”They managed to complete their challenges this quickly, huh?”

”Most of them have already passed the willpower challenge a few times, so itʼs no surprise that they managed to pass it again.” Zhang Fei nodded to Xian Xianqin. ”It appears that there wonʼt be a decrease in the number of participants this time, which implies that our opponents will remain numerous if the next challenge is the survival challenge.”

Xian Xianwu suddenly spoke. ”Even though we still have to be careful, Iʼm sure the survival challenge this time will be a bit easier than last time. The Zhou Kingdom only has Zhou Tong left, and the participants from the Huangfu Kingdom have all failed. The groups from the beasts and natural racesʼ kingdoms have never looked for trouble with us, and they obviously have an interest in Zhang Fei, so we donʼt need to worry about them. Li Yao and Xian Qifeng are also on our side, even though we are in different groups.”

”Back then, Bai Chongxi and his two siblings became our opponents by helping the Huangfu Kingdom, but their situation should have changed now so we can exclude them.” Yu Chongming added to the Xian Princeʼs words. ”As for Xian Mu and Xian Yu, I canʼt guess their intentions, but they are always hostile toward Prince and Princess Xian.”

Ximen Chuixue briefly glanced at Ximen Yan, Ximen Hongwu, and Ximen Yueliang, who had just appeared. ”I think our main opponents this time are those demons from the two demon kingdoms, so we have to be wary of them. Moreover, they must be targeting Prince Xian, Princess Xian, and Princess Yun.”

Zhang Fei smiled faintly because Ximen Yan was already in his hands, so he wouldnʼt be a problem for them. This way, he only needed to think of a way to get rid of Ximen Hongwu and Ximen Yueliang, but he was not worried about them either.

After they waited for a few more hours, all the participants returned to the first floor. The result was almost as Xian Xianqin had expected before, especially since only one person was eliminated.

Since they didnʼt need to expend any energy to complete the previous willpower challenge, the tower didnʼt give them any time to rest. Instead, it immediately sucked them in through another portal, sending them to the next challenge location.

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When he arrived at the location of the next challenge, Zhang Fei immediately felt a strong pressure pressing on his soul, making him realize that it was the soul challenge.

[Master, the pressure is powerful, and it is beneficial for strengthening your soul. I think you can bring all your women here, and they can use this pressure to strengthen their souls.]

Zhang Fei naturally wanted all his women to strengthen their souls, but he was not sure about the character of the old man and his disciples, and he was afraid that they would target them.

However, the old man suddenly appeared in front of Zhang Fei, surprising him. ”You can bring all the soul cultivators by your side to this place, and you donʼt have to worry that I will harm them. I usually wonʼt allow others to do such a thing, but I will make an exception for you.”

”Why do you want to help me, senior?” Zhang Fei doubtfully inquired.

The old man immediately answered him. ”Your talent is better than all the participants, including the female phoenix. Although you wonʼt be able to do it in the near future, I believe that you will succeed in reaching the tenth floor one day. Thatʼs why I will allow you to bring them here, and they will help you to become a better cultivator.”

”If itʼs like that, Iʼll be in your debt, senior.”

”No need.” The old man shook his head at Zhang Fei. ”I want to help them simply because of your talent; you owe me nothing. All right, you can bring them here now, and I will increase the pressure gradually so they wonʼt have difficulty adapting to it.”

After the old man disappeared, Zhang Fei used his clones to send all his wives, partners, and those closest to him who had reached the soul realm into the training space. As for Zhang Yue, she was still training together with Feng Jinqiu, so he did not bring her along. He also didnʼt bring some people to the challenge site, such as Hai Dongyin, Hai Dongxin, Lian Xiang, and Cai Wenjie, as they had just begun their training in his training space.

When they arrived at that place, Zhang Fei immediately summoned Boitata and several other beasts out of his beast space. They immediately felt pressure in their souls, prompting Zhang Fei to explain the situation to them. ”We donʼt have much time, so you should start now and make the most of the time we have. Besides, the pressure will also increase gradually, so you must be prepared to face it.”

All of them nodded to Zhang Fei before bringing out their cultivation souls, and they immediately began cultivating them by using the strong pressure that suppressed them.

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From the screen at the top of the tower, the old man and his disciples watched them, looking shocked by their sheer number. Moreover, all of them were soul cultivators, and their soul power was higher than that of soul cultivators at their level.

”How could he have so many soul cultivators by his side, Master?” Hua Meiʼer asked in disbelief.

Sima Yu was equally astounded by the sight of so many soul cultivators in one location. Even in their realms, each clan possessed only a handful of soul cultivators, whereas Zhang Fei had an abundance of them at his disposal. ”Why do I think the number of soul cultivators in the middle realms is unusual, master?”

”You two are mistaken, and the number of soul cultivators in the middle realms is not as high as you think. From the way they cultivate their souls, I can see that most of them are not talented in the soul cultivation path, and they can be ones because of this kid.” The old man then pointed at the screen. ”Look at them; he is dual-soul cultivating with six of them at once, and I have never met a soul cultivator who can do such a thing; even our sect master canʼt do that. Dual soul cultivating with one person is already incredibly difficult, but he has no trouble helping them all at once.”

”Are you planning to inform our sect master and the others about this kidʼs existence, master?”

”No.” The old man replied with a shake of his head. ”Theyʼve always appeared good, but weʼre unaware of their true hearts. You two must always remember that all living beings harbor jealousy and envy within their hearts, and this kid is currently too weak. For the time being, I wonʼt reveal his existence to them, so please keep this information confidential. Unfortunately, if he manages to reach this floor, I will have no choice but to inform them.”

Hua Meiʼer and Sima Yu nodded in understanding to their master as they felt jealous of Zhang Feiʼs actions. ”How long are you going to let them train in there, Master?”

The old man thought carefully before answering them. ”I will stop their training after the last participant succeeds or fails in this challenge, so I think it will be quite long, especially since there are some soul cultivators among them.”

”Master, Iʼm sure all the sects will fight over him once they find out about him, so I think you should think of something to place him so that he will be willing to join our sect.” The old man immediately turned to Sima Yu. ”Even though our sect is quite strong thanks to our sect master, there are still so many sects that are much stronger than our sect, and one of them is the Immortal Soul Palace. Thatʼs why I think we have to move before them to get his approval, or we will lose if he joins another sect.”

”I agree with this old brat, Master.” Sima Yu glared fiercely when Hua Meiʼer called him that, but she ignored him. ”Moreover, this kid has four elements, and he has already mastered the laws of three of them. If the people from the Immortal Lotus Sanctuary find out about him, Iʼm sure that Sect Master Luo or his wife will come immediately to snatch him away.”

Hearing that name, the old man immediately remembered his previous conversation with Zhang Fei. ”Do either of you two know the names of Sect Master Luoʼs children?”

”Yes.” Hua Meiʼer nodded and answered him directly. ”Sect Master Luo has two sons named Luo Zhenyu and Luo Jixuan, but few people know that he has a daughter. In fact, his daughter is his first child, but she has never appeared in public, and he seems to have deliberately kept her existence a secret, including from his sect members.”

The old man raised his eyebrows after hearing that. ”Whatʼs the daughterʼs name?”

”I have never personally met Sect Master Luoʼs daughter, but I have heard about her from my big sister, who is Senior Beiming Youhuangʼs disciple.” Hua Meiʼer then thought as she tapped her chin repeatedly. ”If I remember correctly, her name is Luo Yunxiao.”

The old manʼs expression turned to shock after hearing the name, especially since his guess was correct. He then looked at the screen again and thought deeply. ʼWhatʼs going on? How did this kid get to know Sect Master Luoʼs daughter? Not even the cultivators in the upper realms know about our realms, and he lives in the middle realms now, so thereʼs no way they can know each other, yet he knows her name. If they truly knew each other, the girl would have already marked this kid, and she would undoubtedly seek him out the moment he ascends to our realms in the future.ʼ

”What happened, master? Why are you shocked after hearing that name?” Hua Meiʼer asked in confusion.

”Nothing.” The old man then asked again. ”Do you know why Sect Master Luo concealed his daughterʼs existence?”

Hua Meiʼer shrugged and shook her head. ”My big sister doesnʼt know much about Luo Yunxiao because her existence is too secretive and mysterious, and she always appears and disappears like a ghost.”

”I see.” The old man nodded in understanding. ʼShould I tell this kid about Luo Yunxiao? However, the difference between them is like heaven and earth, and he still doesnʼt have the ability to go to our realms, so I think it would only be detrimental to him if he knew about her now. I must put this matter on hold for the time being, and Iʼll inform him about her once he arrives on this floor.ʼ

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Zhang Fei [4] and the three female demons had already arrived at the southernmost area of the Netherworld Realm, but he did not immediately take them to the Black Moon City. Instead, he took them to hunt demon beasts to complete one of the two daily quests, and he also asked them to hone their fighting skills without using their demon power, especially since they would face other cultivators sooner or later.

In the northern area of the realm, Feltia [2] also took Nauvia and all his subordinates to hunt powerful demon beasts because his partners were with his real body, and he also needed a stronger army to face his enemies later.

Unlike them, Zhang Fei [1] remained in the training space, concentrated on his alchemy, and wanted to concoct the rank-3 Bone Mending Pill. However, he didnʼt rush to concoct it, and he used his alchemy technique to understand more deeply how to concoct it first.

Zhang Fei [5] never left the backyard of Zhang Chenʼs residence on Earth, and he sealed the area with a soundproof formation because he was still trying to forge a spirit-grade weapon so his activities would not disturb the neighbors.

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Meanwhile, Zhang Xiaolong [3] swiftly dressed and left the two sleeping women to explore the shops in the northern city. Even so, he continued to monitor the two of them, and he also monitored Ye Hu and the other demi-humans who kept watch at the entrance for them. ʼHeh! You guys can wait for us as long as you want, but you will never find us.ʼ

- To Be Continued -