Chapter 5: Summer Junior Brother’s Deep Schemes
“This is… Tier 1 Spirit Pressure?”
Uncle Wei was the first to react. He tapped the ground with his dragon-head staff, and his suited figure left behind an ink-black afterimage as he instantly appeared before Xia Feng.
He reached out and touched the moon-white spirit flow released by Xia Feng. His stern, indifferent expression couldn’t quite hold, and his eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at Xia Feng.
“Boy, did you worship some evil god? Did you get some kind of cheat item?”
“What kind of talk is that? I’ve been diligently cultivating for over half a year, and you’re accusing me of cheating?!” Xia Feng said righteously, “Am I that kind of person?”
The Calamity Demon Heart was now his organ, a part of his body. How could it be called a cheat? It was an internal cheat at the very least.
Zhao Jie also came closer, his grayish-white eyes narrowed. “This kind of pure and clean spirit pressure, without the slightest trace of an evil god’s aura, doesn’t seem like power obtained through an evil god. It seems, Old Wei, you’ve truly raised a good son!”
“A First-stage Spirit Master at eighteen years old, there aren’t many like that in the entire Empire. Good, very good!” Uncle Wei patted Xia Feng’s right shoulder, his cold demeanor replaced by a rare smile.
Qi Xiao was still frozen in place, staring at Xia Feng in the distance with a bewildered expression. He parted his lips slightly, his voice a low murmur. “Impossible. I just measured his spirit pressure a few days ago, and this kid was clearly only at the Apprentice Spirit Master level! How could he suddenly—”
“Shut up,” Zhao Jie glared at him coldly with his grayish-white eyes. “Brainless fool!”
Qi Xiao choked, his expression turning ugly. He opened his mouth, wanting to retort.
However, Zhao Jie interrupted him. “You and your senior brothers are always scheming against each other. Now, think with your pig brain again. Why did Xia Feng only become a First-stage Spirit Master today?”
Qi Xiao was stunned by his master’s reminder. In a moment, a realization dawned on him: Although Xia Feng was a First-stage Spirit Master, he had only recently advanced. He knew too few Spirit Robes, so he would still lose to his senior brothers in a fight. That’s why he had been pretending to be a useless Apprentice Spirit Master all along! He let his senior brothers underestimate him, not taking him seriously at all. Then, only today did he have to reveal himself, and this guy, without any effort, was left till the end! To be honest, his good junior brother was truly deep in his scheming. He had deceived everyone all these years! Qi Xiao’s gaze turned cold, and he looked at Xia Feng, who maintained a faint smile, with unwillingness in his heart.
“A First-stage Spirit Master at eighteen years old. Reaching Third-stage before twenty-five is basically a done deal. It’s even possible for him to become an Absolute-stage Spirit Master.” Uncle Wei tapped his dragon-head staff and turned to Zhao Jie. “President Zhao, isn’t it too much of a waste for such a genius to leave the Six-Tails Sect and marry into the Mu Clan?”
Zhao Jie was silent for a moment, then nodded. “.Fine. I will discuss it with the Mu Clan. With this talent as a bargaining chip and by conceding some benefits, it should be possible to change the arranged marriage into a normal one.” He then glanced at his disciple, whose expression was uncertain, and said coldly, “Furthermore, since Xia Feng will not be marrying into the Mu Clan, he is still qualified to compete for the Six Tails, and the time limit remains unchanged, set for one year from now.”
“According to the customs of our Six-Tails Sect, you will be arranged to enter the Evil Dragon Forest at that time. You can use all means to fight each other in a real battle. So, prepare well for this year, especially the Evil Removal Spirit Robe. You can practice it. The Calamity Force in the Evil Dragon Forest is dense.”
Evil… Evil Dragon Forest? Xia Feng was stunned. He had never paid attention to the competition for the Six Tails before. He never expected that one could enter the Evil Dragon Forest for this matter? Wouldn’t this… just be a coincidence! But entering the forest a year later would be too late; his heart’s activity had less than three days left.
“Uncle Zhao.”
Xia Feng’s sudden words made Zhao Jie frown. “If you want to extend the time limit, then there’s no need to say—”
“The day after tomorrow is this year’s Open Day, right? I want to enter the Evil Dragon Forest the day after tomorrow!”
“Ah?” Zhao Jie almost choked. His grayish-white pupils narrowed. “What did you say?”
Uncle Wei’s expression also tensed. “Boy, do you know what you’re saying? Qi Xiao has been a First-stage Spirit Master for many years and knows far more Spirit Robes than you imagine. You still want to duel him in advance?”
“Precisely.” Xia Feng cupped his fists respectfully. “I hope the two elders will grant my request.”
Qi Xiao didn’t expect things to turn around like this. He had thought he had completely miscalculated this time, but this Xia fellow was so foolish, jumping right into the trap himself.
“Qi Xiao, what’s your opinion?” Zhao Jie asked calmly. Qi Xiao just wanted to laugh. This Xia Feng, even as a genius, was perhaps too overconfident.
Despite his contempt, he smiled gently on the surface. “Since Junior Brother Xia is so confident and doesn’t want to prepare for another year, I naturally have no objections.”
“Xia Feng, won’t you reconsider?” Uncle Wei frowned and said in a deep voice.
Xia Feng smiled and shook his head. Reconsider? I’m about to die, what is there to reconsider?
“Good!” Zhao Jie said heartily when he saw this. “Very good, you have courage! Old Wei, you’ve truly taken in a good son. Since that’s the case, gather at the entrance of the Evil Dragon Forest at noon the day after tomorrow.”
As he spoke, Zhao Jie threw a golden paper to Xia Feng. “Take this. This is a damaged version of the Six-Tails Spirit Robe, the ‘One-Tail Spirit Robe’. It’s a standard Spirit Robe that all First-stage Spirit Masters in our Six-Tails Sect learn. You’ve fallen too far behind Qi Xiao. Whatever you can learn in these two days depends on your own fortune.”
“Alright, everyone disperse,” Zhao Jie waved his hand, and then left with Qi Xiao. Uncle Wei paused beside Xia Feng, shook his head, and patted his shoulder. “The Calamity Force concentration in the Evil Dragon Forest is high. You can study the ‘Evil Removal Spirit Robe’ during these two days. As for the ‘One-Tail Spirit Robe’, although it’s very strong, even a peerless genius needs at least two months to learn it. You can’t possibly learn it at this stage, so there’s no need to waste time on it.”
**Foreword:** 1. The original description mentioned two golden fingers. The functions of copying, optimizing, and plundering golden fingers appear a bit later due to plot arrangements, specifically in the Evil Dragon Forest. Well, it’s not that late, they appear quite soon. 2. As mentioned in the description, this novel mainly revolves around the two core themes of “Watch closely, this is how it’s used” and “You are strong, but not strong enough.” It’s a serious (deleted) story, indeed! 3. This is not an academy-style novel. The student identity is arranged for plot needs in the first few chapters; the main plot is not set in school. That’s all~ I’ll add more later.
