Translator: AnubisTL
The scene rewinds to two breaths earlier.
Hua Wenyue, enraged by Gu Feng's rogue tactics, found her composure shattered at the breaking point, her defenses significantly weakened. Gu Feng's Dragon Claw Technique managed to snatch away her undergarment.
The moment he grabbed it, Gu Feng paused, almost as if compelled by some unseen force, and brought it to his nose, taking a few light sniffs while muttering things like "How fragrant."
Later, he justified this shameless act by claiming that, at that moment, he was playing the role of a lecherous monk, and all his actions had to align with that persona—a basic requirement for any actor.
However, this act directly triggered Hua Wenyue's meridians. Her expression turned wild, and based on the position of the undergarment, she pinpointed Gu Feng's exact location and delivered a precise slap, hitting its mark.
Gu Feng hastily tossed the undergarment aside and re-engaged in combat.
Ten female cultivators rushed into the lake, only to be utterly stunned by the scene before them.
There was Senior Sister Hua, who had never even held a man's hand in her life, now engaged in a fierce physical brawl with the bald monk. It was a true melee, their bodies tightly entangled, attacking and tearing at each other.
To make matters worse, Hua Wenyue's upper body was completely exposed, her modesty laid bare. As the fight continued, even her lower garments were torn away.
Heavens, this—this—this—
The ten female cultivators were left in a daze, their minds reeling, momentarily forgetting to attack.
"What are you all standing around for? I forfeit this exam! Kill this bald monk!!!" Hua Wenyue screamed, her expression deranged, completely consumed by madness. She no longer cared about the exam; all she wanted was to kill the man before her.
She clung tightly to Gu Feng, refusing to let go no matter how much he tried to act the rogue. This exposed Gu Feng's figure to the ten female cultivators. Though they couldn't see his true face, it was enough for them to attack.
The ten female cultivators, realizing the gravity of the situation, exchanged glances and charged toward the shadow held by Hua Wenyue, unleashing a barrage of attacks.
This monk had to die; otherwise, how could Senior Sister Hua face others? The Flower Sect's dignity would be utterly destroyed.
Kill—
They unleashed the most powerful attacks of their lives, their radiant brilliance illuminating the night lake, even dimming the moon in the sky.
At this moment, Gu Feng had only two choices: One, continue to conceal his identity, maintaining the strength of the peak third level of Nurtured Spirit; or two, reveal his true cultivation level, break free from Hua Wenyue's grasp, seize the points, and flee.
After much deliberation, Gu Feng decided to keep his identity hidden, continuing to play the role of the bald monk.
The Flower Sect was the third most powerful sect in the Great Chu Dynasty. If they came after him later, it would be no laughing matter.
But Hua Wenyue seemed to have gone mad. No matter how much Gu Feng acted the rogue, she refused to let go. It seemed she wouldn't release him unless she died.
Left with no choice, Gu Feng resorted to rolling around to evade the overwhelming attacks from the ten female cultivators.
However, this was not a sustainable solution.
"Lady benefactor, if you continue to cling to this humble monk, I will have to resort to my ultimate move!" Gu Feng mimicked the tone of the bald monk, threatening her.
"Today, you must die, or you must kill all of us!" Hua Wenyue roared, her molars nearly grinding to dust.
"Why must it be this way? The Buddha said, 'Hatred begets hatred, when will it end...'"
"Didn't you eat? Don't be afraid to hurt me, unleash your strongest killing moves and take down this bald monk!"
"Kill—"
A wave of even more powerful attacks evaporated the entire lake surface, converging and blasting towards Gu Feng's back.
In reality, Gu Feng could easily use Hua Wenyue as a shield in this situation without much difficulty.
But considering her defenses were already broken, and a direct hit could either kill or severely injure her, he sighed softly and decided to take the blow head-on.
The attack was so fierce that even with his Nurtured Spirit sixth layer defense, Gu Feng felt a burning pain in his internal organs.
"Continue—"
Seeing that Hua Wenyue was determined to kill, Gu Feng also stopped holding back.
He tightly wrapped his arms around her, leaned in, and started biting her face, mouth, neck, and even her chest.
Hua Wenyue had never seen such a tactic and was immediately flustered. In just a few breaths, her defenses were breached.
Her killing intent dissipated, and she gradually grew weaker.
Seizing the opportunity, Gu Feng pulled out one hand, took out a demon-subduing staff, and smashed it hard several times on Hua Wenyue's forehead.
Her eyelids drooped, her gaze became unfocused, "Kill... kill him, under... no circumstances let him escape... escape!"
Before completely passing out, she issued her final command to the ten female cultivators.
"Ladies, I advise you not to move. If I get startled and hurt this lady, it won't be good!" After subduing Hua Wenyue, Gu Feng held her hostage to threaten the ten female cultivators.
"Don't hurt Senior Sister Hua!" The ten female cultivators, fearing for her safety, dared not act.
"Of course, this lady is the Heaven's Chosen of the third great sect of the Great Chu Dynasty, the daughter of the Flower Sect's Sect Master. Even with a hundred guts, I wouldn't dare harm her." Gu Feng, while looting Hua Wenyue's points, continued to threaten them.
"You've taken the points, now release Senior Sister Hua!" Seeing that he indeed had no intention of harming Hua Wenyue, the ten female cultivators relaxed a bit.
"Of course, but you'll have to exchange something for her!"
"What do you want?"
"All the Spirit Stones and Thunder Attribute Natural Treasures from your Flower Sect candidates! Don't try to deceive me. If I find out later that you didn't hand over everything, I'll make sure today's events are known far and wide!" Gu Feng threatened again.
"Can you guarantee that you'll keep today's events secret if we give you what you want?"
"I swear by the heavens!"
"Fine—"
...
An hour later, after obtaining the Spirit Stones and Thunder Attribute Natural Treasures, Gu Feng tossed the naked Hua Wenyue aside.
"Cackle cackle—"
He laughed a few times and completely vanished into the night.
"Hahaha, exhilarating! In just one night, I successfully robbed the entire Flower Sect candidate team. No one can match this efficiency!
What a pity, among the five great sects, the Flower Sect is the only one led by female cultivators!"
Gu Feng felt a bit regretful. If there were a second sect led by female cultivators, he wouldn't mind repeating the feat, as the efficiency was indeed too high.
Two more hours later, still by the small lake, Hua Wenyue, guarded by the ten female cultivators, slowly woke up.
As soon as she woke up, she asked, "Did you kill that bald monk?"
Seeing everyone shake their heads in silence, Hua Wenyue's anger flared up again, "Summon all Flower Sect disciples back. For the next few days, forget about accumulating points!
Find that bald monk and kill him directly!!"
As she spoke, her killing intent surged, her face twisted like a female ghost escaped from hell, exuding an eerie aura.
"Yes—" The other ten female cultivators also radiated a murderous aura.
"Follow me!"
"Senior Sister Hua, there are several ancient Buddhist characters on your forehead. Do you want to wear a hood?"
"I, Hua Wenyue, have lived a life of integrity. Why should I hide anything!
Where is the hood? Bring it to me and put it on!"
At dawn, two thousand disciples of the Flower Sect, led by Hua Wenyue, abandoned their base and charged into the examination grounds with a murderous intent.
They weren't after points; they only sought the whereabouts of the bald monk.
Upon hearing the news, Gu Feng couldn't help but tremble at the thought of his excessive actions the previous night, a chill running through his heart.
Fortunately, he had made a wise choice at the time and hadn't exposed his identity.
"After all, it's the bald monk's misdeeds. What does it have to do with me!"
Gu Feng quickly adjusted his mindset, donned his monk's robe, and set out again.
Over the next day, while harvesting the stragglers, Gu Feng also considered how to deal with the other four major sects.
The Sword Gate cultivators, numbering less than a thousand in the Spirit Nurturing Realm at the examination grounds, were perhaps overly confident in their strength, as they all acted as lone wolves.
Gu Feng took only half a day to deal with the entire Sword Gate.
When facing the Sword Gate's top expert—Wu Sheng—he learned from his previous encounter with Hua Wenyue.
He made detailed preparations specifically targeting Wu Sheng.
This peerless prodigy of the Sword Gate, arrogant and with divine swordsmanship, no less formidable than Hua Wenyue, never expected.
Gu Feng not only ambushed him but also cleverly used a diversion to shift his attention, then ruthlessly kicked him in the groin.
The blow was so vicious and intense that after it, Wu Sheng curled up like a shrimp, trembling uncontrollably on the ground, unable to even hold his sword!
Gu Feng couldn't help but feel a chill in his own nether regions, a lingering fear. Even a Spirit Nurturing Realm cultivator has vulnerable spots.
Before Wu Sheng could recover, Gu Feng immediately followed up with a set of subduing strikes, rendering this prodigy unconscious.
Gu Feng thought this was also a way to alleviate his pain. As a reward, of course, he took all his points, Spirit Stones, and three Thunder Attribute Natural Treasures.
It must be said, the Sword Gate disciples were forthright. After being ambushed by Gu Feng, they walked around the examination grounds with ancient Buddhist characters on their foreheads.
This behavior directly shocked the entire Spirit Nurturing examination grounds.
"Hahaha—I'm not alone in this. If the Sword Gate has fallen, it's only reasonable that we suffer too!" A resentful cultivator laughed in relief.
"Rumor has it that the Flower Sect has also fallen. Hua Wenyue has been wearing a hood all day, leading the entire Flower Sect examination team, searching everywhere for the bald monk!"
"It's not just a rumor; it's basically confirmed. The Flower Sect was indeed robbed by the bald monk!"
"Isn't this too exaggerated? Two of the five major sects have fallen. The bald monk has already secured this year's top spot, breaking the monopoly of the five major sects and setting a record for the highest score."
"Exaggerated indeed, but he's in for a rough time. Just robbing points would have been one thing, but he also took Spirit Stones and Natural Treasures, and even carved characters on people's foreheads. Will the Flower Sect and the Sword Gate let him off?"
"Such lawlessness! Doesn't he know that robbery is a violation of the rules? He'll be stripped of his scores and won't even be able to enter the Grand Harmony Academy. If we hear news of his demise within a month, don't be surprised."
"Latest news: The Tyrant Body Sect was ransacked last night. The Peerless Prodigy Duan Yansheng had ancient Buddhist characters carved on his forehead, the back of his head, and even his chest. Preliminary estimates suggest there are at least a dozen characters!"
"Duan Yansheng has gone mad. He's leading all the candidates from the Tyrant Body Sect to sweep through the entire examination grounds. Anyone without ancient Buddhist characters on them is considered an accomplice of that bald monk and gets beaten up mercilessly! The brutality is simply unbearable to witness!"
"Putting it that way, being robbed by that bald monk isn't so bad after all. At least he only robs, and with a single strike of his demon-subduing staff, it actually feels quite comfortable."
"Hahaha, that's true!"
"I heard the five major sects have joined forces to sweep the entire examination grounds, determined to root out that bald monk."
"Rumor has it that any cultivator who provides information on the bald monk's whereabouts or has a way to track him will be heavily rewarded!"
"This is outrageous! The five major sects are hunting down a bald monk? This is unprecedented in the history of the grand examination!"
"..."
The demon beasts in the examination grounds had long been wiped out. Some candidates, who believed they weren't strong enough to snatch points from others, simply gave up and slacked off.
Gu Feng was also troubled by the actions of the Tyrant Body Sect.
To prevent Chu Youhuan and the others from becoming targets and to better conceal his own identity, he decided to strike first and mark them with ancient Buddhist characters.
Gu Feng had studied these ancient characters; they would fade in at most a month, and with the use of Spiritual Power, they could be removed in half that time.
In a valley, Gu Feng found twenty-seven Nurtured Spirit cultivators from the Sunset Glow Sect. Without a word, he knocked them all out.
To avoid suspicion, he followed his usual routine, sweeping away Spirit Stones, points, and Thunder Attribute Natural Treasures.
"I need to find Chu Youhuan and Yan Yexue as soon as possible."
Gu Feng moved through the darkness. Three hours later, he finally spotted the two women under a grove of trees.
It turned out the two were chasing a peak third-level Nurtured Spirit demon beast. Based on Gu Feng's judgment, this was likely the last demon beast in the entire examination grounds.
"Not bad. Together, we've earned fifty-six points. There's no way we'll fail," Chu Youhuan said with a smile.
"Yes, there should be no more demon beasts in the examination grounds. Let's head back to the base camp and see how many points everyone has earned. We'll try to distribute them so more people can enter the Grand Harmony Academy!" Yan Yexue said calmly, as always.
The two women walked out together, with Gu Feng quietly following behind. When he heard them discussing how ruthless and shameless the bald monk was, he couldn't help but chuckle.
"Let's mess with them a bit!"
Gu Feng quickened his pace and caught up to them.
"That bald monk's cultivation level is similar to ours, and his combat power is at most slightly higher. If we encounter him, we might still have a chance!" Chu Youhuan whispered.
"Yes, as long as we can break through his mysterious kasaya, his demon-subduing staff won't be a threat!" Yan Yexue nodded in agreement.
Gu Feng, with a smile on his face, reached out his hands, intending to touch their shoulders.
Suddenly, Rosy Clouds surged, and two unparalleled attacks flashed before his eyes!
"Holy crap, how did they notice me?!"
Gu Feng was utterly shocked!
Hua Wenyue and the others had failed to see through the hidden nature of the kasaya, so how could Chu Youhuan and Yan Yexue, who were relatively weaker in strength, manage to do so?
"Giggle, giggle, you bald monk, I've finally caught you!!" Chu Youhuan's arrogant laughter rang out.
Gu Feng, facing the imminent attack, unleashed the ferocious aura of the sixth level of Nurtured Spirit, crushing the two attacks with a single grasp.
Chu Youhuan and Yan Yexue reacted swiftly, their pupils contracting as they realized they were no match. They immediately turned and fled.
Gu Feng, stepping on the techniques of "Immortal by the River," instantly caught up to the two, pinning them to the ground while covering their mouths with his hands.
"Don't make a sound, it's me!"
The familiar voice came through, and their wide eyes darted around, filled with shock and disbelief.
(End of the Chapter)
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