Chapter 1731: Chapter 1731: Second Core Formation

Headmaster Wei Wu directly stood up. Some of the other Elders were stunned, some immediately rose as well, but very soon they all followed Wei Wu toward the great hall doors.

After all, this was a living God of War. Even the Second Elder Xia Changhe, who usually held the real power over Nine Layers Mountain, did not dare show the slightest impropriety.

Outside the great hall doors.

Under the crushing Gravity Pressure, Li Feng kept stepping forward, one step after another, one stair after another. He moved very slowly, yet his body was steady as a mountain. Only the occasional cracking of his bones made it clear that Li Feng’s advance was anything but easy.

Behind Li Feng, Murong Ye stared through gritted teeth at Li Feng, who insisted on going his own way, and couldn’t help clenching his fists. Ever since he had been taken in as the Second Elder’s Direct Disciple, Murong Ye had always walked with his head held high in Nine Layers Mountain, the center of everyone’s attention.

Because of his talent as a Five-Chime peerless Military prodigy.

Yet today, he had been overshadowed by someone else. And that wasn’t all—the other party had even turned his own move back on him, leaving him in an impossible dilemma. A suffocating sense of frustration surged up within him, but he had no way to vent it.

He hated that he couldn’t smash Li Feng to death with a single punch—but he couldn’t.

Right in front of them was the main hall of Nine Layers Mountain; the Headmaster and all the Elders were present. And Li Feng was someone the Headmaster had personally named to see. No matter how irrational he became, he couldn’t possibly make a move here.

Otherwise he would be seeking his own death.

Li Feng was impervious to both soft and hard tactics, leaving Murong Ye riding a tiger and unable to dismount. As his expression kept shifting, suddenly the main doors of the great hall emitted a creaking sound.

One had to know, the great hall of Nine Layers Mountain used the mountain itself as its body, hollowed out from within, and the hall doors were likewise forged from the mountain stone of Nine Layers Mountain. Just the weight of those two doors alone reached over a thousand tons.

So these doors were almost always shut. In the entirety of Nine Layers Mountain, fewer than ten people were capable of pushing them open.

The heavy Nine Layers doors were slowly pushed ajar, and then the Headmaster and the Elders walked out.

Seeing this, Murong Ye’s clenched fists instantly relaxed, and his heart trembled in shock. The Headmaster and all the Elders had actually opened the doors to welcome someone. What kind of treatment was this?

Murong Ye’s eyes turned red with jealousy in an instant. What virtue or ability did this Li Feng have to deserve such treatment? While he was steeped in envy and resentment, his toes pushed off the ground and he swiftly leaped up the steps.

"Headmaster, Master, Elders."

Murong Ye stepped forward and cupped his fists in salute.

"Do you know your mistake?"

Second Elder Xia Changhe looked at his Direct Disciple, who was bowing with fists cupped, and directly spoke first.

"Disciple knows his mistake. It was because there was dissatisfaction in my heart that I wanted to test Senior Brother Li Feng a little and thereby caused a grave error. I beg the Headmaster and Master to punish me."

Murong Ye was no fool. To be evaluated as a Five-Chime peerless Military talent, there was no way his head was full of nothing but muscle. The Martial Strategy Hall’s assessments were very fair and objective; if you had only muscles, your fate could only be to serve as cannon fodder.

Though he did not truly acknowledge he was in the wrong, at this moment he admitted it without the slightest hesitation.

Xia Changhe glanced at Murong Ye, who was requesting punishment, and secretly nodded. At least he wasn’t completely stupid. "Stand to the side for now. You will certainly not be lightly forgiven afterward."

"Yes, Master."

Hearing Xia Changhe’s words, Murong Ye knew he had weathered this round. His Master was still partial to him. He immediately hurried off to the side so as not to be an eyesore.

Hmph.

Fourth Elder Shi Huanshan gave a cold snort, clearly displeased with Second Elder Xia Changhe’s favoritism, but he didn’t openly contradict him, since the Headmaster had yet to speak.

Everyone’s gaze fell entirely on Li Feng, who was climbing one step at a time. However, none of them went forward; they simply stood before the great hall doors and watched Li Feng walk up.

Li Feng naturally also saw the wide-open hall doors and the people who had come out from inside. The small, somewhat wizened old man standing in the center was probably the Headmaster.

The little old man looked tiny standing amid the brawny Elders on either side, yet the aura emanating from him was anything but small.

As for the other Elders, Li Feng only gave them a single startled glance—he didn’t recognize any of them anyway. He immediately gathered his mind; right now he was at a critical moment.

His earlier battle with Shi Lei hadn’t lasted long, so the pressure it put on Li Feng hadn’t been that intense. But this Gravity Domain of Nine Layers Mountain was different—this was practically a natural training ground.

The higher you climbed, the stronger the Pressure you endured, and the more it forced out the human limit.

In the outside world, Special Forces training relied precisely on bearing extreme pressure to break through human limits. As long as you could push through, your upper limit would be raised.

The same principle applied to cultivation.

If you only cultivated in a pure, unpressured environment, you might progress very quickly, but your foundation would be extremely shallow and hollow. Once you reached the limit of your talent, further advancement would become incredibly difficult. This was also why many people could not raise their realm any further.

Thus external oppressive force was indispensable. Li Feng had previously broken through the limit of his Bloodline precisely at the brink of life and death. Only when thrust into such a life-and-death crisis was it easier to shatter one’s limits.

Exhale.

Li Feng breathed out. The Bloodline Power he’d awakened earlier was being squeezed by the Gravity Pressure, forcing out impurities. The flowing blood had almost merged into one with the Domineering Purple Flame, and the changes in his Dantian were even more drastic.

The previously pure-flame-form Domineering Purple Flame had condensed into a Pill, wrapping around the Thunder Pill. It was like a chicken egg—the Thunder Pill was the yolk, the Domineering Purple Flame was the white, and outside that was a thin layer of black substance.

This was exactly the Power of Destruction left within his body after opening the Death Gate, mingling with the Domineering Purple Flame. There wasn’t much of this Power of Destruction, but it was linked to the Death Gate, placing a check on the Domineering Purple Flame that could otherwise devour without limit, preventing it from backlashing against Li Feng.

Still a bit short.

Right now, that egg was like it was still raw; the yolk and white inside hadn’t yet solidified, while his physical body was nearly at its limit.

Only the last few steps remained.

The final critical moment.

Li Feng suddenly let out a low roar as the Burning Technique erupted once more. The Vermilion Bird Blood within his body began to burn, and a tongue of Flame burst out from his skin, turning Li Feng into a man of Fire. With the Burning Technique’s eruption, his shoulders—which had nearly been crushed—straightened once again.

The next second, Li Feng darted forward three steps in a row and directly stepped onto the open space before the great hall.

However, the sharply increased Gravity Pressure there instantly crushed the momentum he’d just built up. His knee buckled, and he dropped directly to one knee.

Murong Ye watched Li Feng "putting on a brave face" and sneered inwardly.

That Li Feng managing to make it this far had already far exceeded his expectations. The Gravity Pressure before the hall was a full thirtyfold, and it was mixed with the Domineering aura of Nine Layers Mountain’s Fierce Beasts. Even someone at Golden Core Late Stage would feel an immense sense of Alexander standing here.

And what was Li Feng’s cultivation—Golden Core Early Stage, or Golden Core Middle Stage?

That he’d lasted until now was already astonishing. Collapsing at this point was only to be expected.

"Kid, stand up. If you’re a man, you don’t get to cower."