Volume 4: Hidden Battles – Chapter 233: The Frog in the Well

Around the Blood-Qilin, there seemed to be a blazing fire, emitting intense heat that spread in all directions. At its core was Zhan Zifeng, who, just like the lunar energy recently released by Chu Tianyu, was being healed by it.

Zhan Zifeng felt as if he were sitting in fire; his skin took on a strangely vivid red hue, and his muscles bulged as if storing immense energy, ready to unleash explosive power at any moment.

Chu Tianyu was all too familiar with this scene. From the energy fluctuations, it was clear that the Blood-Qilin before him shared the same origin as the dragon energy within him—both stemming from the essence of heaven and earth.

However, what puzzled Chu Tianyu was that, though the Blood-Qilin seemed to embody the essence of heaven and earth, it actually appeared to be attached to Zhan Zifeng through some means. In fact, the term “attached” was somewhat inadequate; rather, it seemed the Blood-Qilin was parasitic within Zhan Zifeng, not truly fused with him.

Otherwise, there would be no need for such a method—first manifesting outwardly before healing from the outside in. It was clearly a two-step process, meaning that despite the similar appearance of healing, there was a fundamental difference.

After all, Chu Tianyu was saving someone; Zhan Zifeng was saving himself. If it were Chu Tianyu who were injured, his dragon energy or lunar energy would certainly not require him to first manifest externally before allowing it to penetrate his body for treatment. A few circulations within his body would suffice to heal his wounds naturally.

“Wahaha! Wahaha! Heaven is truly kind—granting me fortune through misfortune and greatly enhancing my powers. My Qilin bloodline has finally broken through physical limitations and can now manifest! Haha! From now on, I’ll be immortal!” A wild laugh interrupted Chu Tianyu’s thoughts.

By then, Zhan Zifeng had stood up, his eyes gleaming like gold. The Blood-Qilin behind him had vanished, though a thick, slightly purple-red glow still surrounded him, shifting subtly like a dream.

“Is that so? You’ve even reached immortality? Then I must congratulate you!” Just as Zhan Zifeng raised his arms in joy, clenched his fists, watched his bulging muscles, and felt the boundless strength throughout his body, Chu Tianyu’s cold voice suddenly rang in his ears.

“Of course… Huh? It’s you, Chu Tianyu!” Zhan Zifeng, overjoyed, initially replied instinctively. But when he realized who had silently appeared across from him, it was his biggest rival, Chu Tianyu!
He quickly regained his composure, waved his hand, and snarled coldly, “Great. Chu Tianyu, I never expected you to show up uninvited today. How wonderful! It seems that roar was also yours, wasn’t it?”
Without waiting for Chu Tianyu to respond, Zhan Zifeng smirked darkly again. With an expression like a cat playing with a mouse, he continued, “I never thought you were also a cultivator. Truly unexpected—your cover is quite good! Ah, right, I remember. When I was attacked last time, I felt like someone was helping me in secret. At first, I thought it was your seemingly idiotic classmate. Now, the answer is obvious. Thank you, classmate Chu! Well, to be honest, you’re really good at pretending to be weak. With that roar and such formidable power, if it were before—no, even just a while ago—I might not have been your match. But, tsk tsk, Chu Tianyu, you’re really unlucky! Haha…”
At this point, Zhan Zifeng threw his head back and laughed triumphantly. Chu Tianyu, without even raising his eyebrows, retorted, “Oh, is that so?”
“Is that so? Haha, I can’t stop laughing. You still ask ‘is that so?’? Didn’t you see what just happened? Sigh, I feel sorry for you. But your ignorance is understandable—after all, such wonders and realms are beyond someone as limited as you to imagine. To be honest, now you look to me like someone who could crush an ant at any moment! Humans are sometimes truly insignificant…” Zhan Zifeng said arrogantly.
“Yes, some people are indeed insignificant!” Chu Tianyu said, his tone growing colder.

“Chu Tianyu, I truly admire you. I have no idea where you got such charm that you could win over Qin Nianran’s favor, and even Ouyang Ziyi, another beauty from Peking University, has fallen into your arms. As a playboy like you, yet you still have so many admirers. I heard you even hooked up with a campus beauty here—how strange! It seems like all the good things go to you. I really can’t figure it out! But it’s good you came today. I tend to avoid thinking about things I can’t understand, and I certainly don’t want them to haunt me…” Zhan Zifeng gradually dropped his disgusting smile and spoke fiercely.

Facing Zhan Zifeng, Chu Tianyu could easily sense the threat hidden in his words. But Chu Tianyu wasn’t in a hurry to act. On the contrary, Zhan Zhan’s overconfidence made this the perfect moment to resolve his doubts, because when someone thinks they have everything under control and even believes they can dictate life and death, they become talkative, relaxed, and least vigilant.

So Chu Tianyu calmly said, “It seems my chances of survival today are slim. But as you said, I’ve never even imagined such a scene before, let alone thought about it. I wonder if you…”

Chu Tianyu’s drawn-out tone naturally gave the eager-to-show-off Zhan Zifeng an opportunity to boast, allowing him to put aside his plans against Chu Tianyu for now. Perhaps in his eyes, Chu Tianyu was just a tiny ant, completely at his mercy and unable to escape his grasp.

So Zhan Zifeng replied, “Since you realize today is a bad day for you, I’ll be merciful. Before sending you on your way and solving this ‘problem’ of yours, I’ll give you two free pieces of advice…”

“What you saw just now is our family’s secret, unparalleled heritage—the ‘Qilin Bloodline.’ As the name implies, it’s not a specific martial art but an extremely powerful energy of heaven and earth formed by one’s own bloodline—purest and finest energy of heaven and earth! Only the direct descendants of our Zhan family can possess this bloodline, and it requires a special opportunity for it to manifest and enable one to leap straight onto the path to the Way of Heaven! What you just saw was me successfully reaching the stage of Qilin transformation!” Zhan Zifeng explained impatiently.

“Bloodline?” Chu Tianyu asked again.

“Not bad. It’s a noble bloodline unique to our Zhan family. Under specific conditions, it can merge with the energy of heaven and earth to create a blood-colored qilin. With the power of all things in nature, one can reach a state of harmony between man and heaven. This was all thanks to you. You lured me to the alley and set me up, causing me to be wounded. Only through suffering could I awaken the qilin blood within me, greatly enhancing my powers. Haha! Today, by sheer chance, I’ve even broken through my limits and summoned a qilin. Truly, heaven is on my side! Well, Chu Tianyu, I’ve explained enough to you. Sending you off like this, even the King of Hell would praise me for my mercy!” With a sinister tone, Zhan Zifeng gathered all his energy, creating an oppressive aura around him. The red glow in his body flared again, filling the air with red light, accompanied by faint roars of beasts.

Faced with Zhan Zifeng’s oppressive presence, Chu Tianyu remained unfazed. But after hearing his last words, Chu Tianyu finally understood why Zhan Zifeng’s powers had suddenly increased so much, leading to this tragedy. He never expected the Zhan family to possess such a peculiar bloodline.

However, Chu Tianyu had also heard from his second master, Xian Yun, that Zhan Zifeng’s ability wasn’t due to his blood transforming into a qilin, but rather because his blood contained a special substance that, combined with elements nurtured by heaven and earth, could create such a phenomenon. Based on the current situation and what Zhan Zifeng said, it should actually be called a blood sacrifice rather than a transformation through qilin blood!

From this, it could be inferred that the Zhan family possessed some rare treasure imbued with the energy of a auspicious qilin. By using their own blood as an offering, they could harness the power of the treasure, with the purity of the blood determining the amount of power they could wield. His master had said that such a blood sacrifice could grant up to 70% of the treasure’s power, but the person who performed the sacrifice usually wouldn’t live past forty…

Chu Tianyu felt no pity for Zhan Zifeng, who was merely satisfying his own desires. As he himself had said today, problems that caused trouble should be resolved as soon as possible!

“Blood Qilin!” With a ferocious roar, Zhan Zifeng’s figure transformed into a red hurricane, rushing at Chu Tianyu at incredible speed. His massive fist, wrapped in red flames, aimed straight at Chu Tianyu’s face.

Before the fist could hit, a yellow glow suddenly appeared in the air. Instead of retreating, Chu Tianyu stepped forward and met Zhan Zifeng’s fist with his own.

With a “boom…”, a series of roars like those of tigers and dragons immediately filled the air, while the thundering sound of the collision echoed everywhere. A massive gust of wind raised dust and mist high into the sky. One figure shot out abruptly, tracing an extremely irregular parabolic path, before crashing to the ground with a “thud…”
“No, it’s impossible, absolutely impossible. This… this isn’t real, it’s not real!” Zhan Zifeng, who had fallen to the ground, had blood at the corners of his mouth. He stared in confusion, speaking instinctively in disbelief.