Chapter 49 Mysterious Man in the Dark

With a flick of her purple whip, the thick vines, as thick as giant trees, were severed in half. Losing her footing, Feng Feng held her breath and flipped to the ground. Her eyes were fixed on Jiang Xiaqing, who was three steps away. In the blink of an eye, the person who had been standing in front of her had vanished, leaving only a blurry image left behind due to her excessive speed.

The descendants of Emperor Jun belonged to the Jiang family of the Wei River, which further branched into four smaller families: the Leopard, Tiger, Bear, and Brown Bear families.

Jiang Xiaqing is the Bear of the Xiangli (相力为电) tribe, and a candidate for the next head of the family.

The members of the Bear Clan not only possess the ability to summon lightning for their own use, but also have lightning-fast speed. Jiang Xiaqing is among the best in terms of both strength and speed.

Feng Feng's ears twitched slightly. The plants on the field, ostensibly there to harass her opponent, were actually her eyes, every single flower and leaf. Even the fastest speed would stir the air, and the rustling of grass and the whispering of leaves reached Feng Feng's mind not through time, but through her very blood and the ancient genes within her body.

Therefore, in a sense, Feng Feng, being in the natural world, receives information faster than lightning. What she needs to do is transform every battlefield into a vibrant and thriving place.

Before she could turn around, a vine barrier was already erected behind her, barely blocking Jiang Xiaqing's attack.

"So fast." Even Jiang Xiaqing couldn't help but exclaim.

"That's called telepathy!" The earth trembled, and giant vines undulated beneath her like tidal waves. Above these waves, Feng Feng, using the force of the waves, reached out to Jiang Xiaqing. Continuous, resilient vines emerged from her palm, and her purple lightning whip continuously shattered the vines that approached her. However, they were relentless and resilient. When the two forces collided, Jiang Xiaqing was pushed back step by step.

Jiang Yuran, who had been observing coldly, decided not to wait any longer. She clenched her fists, gathered the flames, and moved nimbly with the wind, rushing to Feng Feng's back in a few steps and throwing a heavy punch at her back.

"What!?" The red-haired girl's figure was obscured by a sword light, and Jiang Yuran's pupils dilated slightly, reflecting Xia Zhu's ever-approaching face.

This was the tactic they discussed before entering the field.

The enemy believed that the unnamed team 1 only had one martial position, Ji Wuchou. They even sent three people to entangle with Ji Wuchou, some of whom were driven by personal grudges. Xia Zhu, as a hidden force, needed to unleash a surprise sword at the crucial moment to change the seemingly predetermined outcome.

"All warfare is based on deception," these are Feng Feng's own words.

At that moment, she caught sight of Xia Zhu's shadow behind her, and proudly curled her lips, revealing a sharp canine tooth.

"I told you tactics would work!" By turning your back to your teammates, you can focus wholeheartedly on facing your opponents head-on.

Jiang Yuran's eyes turned cold as she dodged Xia Zhu's sword strike. Seeing this, Xia Zhu adjusted her stance again, intending to follow up with another attack, since she was far inferior to Jiang Yuran, who had trained since childhood, in terms of movement.

But to her surprise, before the attack could take shape, Jiang Yuran suddenly stood still and even extinguished the fiery fist.

"We concede." Xia Zhu heard her say in Jiang Xiaqing's direction.

The purple whip immediately stopped moving, and Jiang Xiaqing instantly flashed to her friend's side.

Xia Zhu stood there blankly, holding the small sword in her hand, at a loss.

On the other side, the three Ji family teammates didn't understand why Jiang Yuran suddenly surrendered. In their opinion, although the three of them could barely hold back Ji Wuchou, the strength of the two Jiang family members was more than enough to deal with Feng Feng and her three useless teammates.

"Stop, stop fighting, we surrender," Jiang Yuran said again.

But they were clearly unwilling to lose to Ji Wuchou so easily, and their actions did not stop. They continued to launch attacks on Ji Wuchou.

With a single, effortless punch, Jiang Yuran, standing still, neutralized the three-person attack on Ji Wuchou.

I said, stop.

The three members of the Ji family stared in disbelief as their combined power dissolved into a puddle of water at their feet. The Yan Emperor's lineage was so powerful; what was the reason for her sudden surrender...?

Having witnessed the whole thing, Feng Mian frowned. As expected, he could no longer participate in the arena. He glanced at Jiang Yuran, who had already regained her playful smile.

With just one punch, she shattered the icy cold current from a distance. It was effortless for her to raise her hand. Xia Zhu also realized that Jiang Yuran beat them up as easily as playing house. Why did she suddenly admit defeat?

"Alright, alright, we're really exhausted after playing a few rounds. Consider this a loss for us. Shence is yours." She put on her lazy smile again, put her arm around Jiang Xiaqing next to her, and waved to everyone.

They are leaving.

Xia Zhu thought of the three-headed bird and the opportunity Feng Ye had mentioned. She stared in Jiang Xiaqing's direction but didn't know how to start the conversation. The victory in this match was already suspicious, and she couldn't reveal any more.

"What do you want to say?" Jiang Xiaqing had already noticed. Although Xia Zhu seemed offline, she had already seen through Xia Zhu's hesitation. This girl was a bit strange.

Xia Zhu bit the side of her tongue and then relaxed.

"No." She shook her head.

Jiang Yuran left with an ambiguous smile, dragged Jiang Xiaqing towards the vortex, and left them with only her back to them.

Jiang Xiaqing knew that her best friend must have a reason to admit defeat, so she didn't ask any more questions. Even if the three members of the Ji family were unwilling, they couldn't do anything to Jiang Yuran, so they could only follow behind and leave dejectedly.

The remaining people looked at each other, still confused about the situation.

Feng Mian glanced at Xia Zhu.

"I'll go out and take a look first." Ji Wuchou, who had been silent since earlier, suddenly spoke and left through the gate without waiting for their reaction. She knew what Feng Mian was going to say, something that was not something she, a newcomer to the team, should understand.

After Ji Wuchou left, Feng Mian sighed and said, "Azhu's identity is probably not so easy to hide."

Once one side concedes defeat in the arena, the match is over. The passageway opens, and the screens outside the arena temporarily turn off. During this time, the area is absolutely safe.

"We can no longer compete."

Xia Zhu kept her head down and didn't speak. She realized why Jiang Yuran had suddenly surrendered; he must have figured something out.

"Moreover, if Azhu is determined to find out about her origins, hiding it like this will not help the outcome." He walked up to Xia Zhu. "If necessary, perhaps Mom will have to step in and make your special ability known to the public, so that all the major families know of your existence. Perhaps this way we can ensure your personal safety while obtaining more clues."

"In short, we can't continue like this." He paused. "After all, genius isn't just about physical ability, but also about absolute intelligence."

Feng Feng was taken aback. "Huh? Really?"

Feng Mian: "Of course, there are exceptions."

"Alright, alright! Stop looking so down! At least we won the match by luck, right? Let me see how much they bet on Divine Strategy!"

The silver box filled with Divine Strategy will merge into one after the match ends, and the opening will become larger.

Feng Feng reached into the box and rummaged around for a while.

"This is incredible!" She pulled out a handful of small slips of paper that looked like divine strategies. "1, 2, 3... a total of 13! Jiang Yuran is really generous! She dared to bet ten at once!"

Hearing Feng Feng's cheers, Xia Zhu lowered her head even further. Perhaps it wasn't Jiang Yuran's heroic spirit, but rather her absolute confidence that the five martial arts teams would ultimately win this match, just like the previous five.

This further proves that she did indeed see something.

"Alright, Azhu." Feng Mian walked over and gently patted Xia Zhu's shoulder. "She wouldn't have spread this like that without solid evidence. Look at Feng Feng, we won the game, didn't we? Cheer up."

Xia Zhu looked up at the hopping figure and nodded solemnly.

In fact, they all knew that although Xiao Feng's ability was control-based, if it were a real battle in the Dream of Demons and Monsters, the power of "All Things Grow" would be transformed into a powerful killing move.

However, in competitive matches, Feng Feng is essentially fighting with her hands tied, since she can't actually grow vines under her opponent's skin like she did with the mermaid.

So even if she says she won by "luck," in a real battle against Jiang Yuran and others, the outcome is uncertain.

This competition takes place within the Qian Gate. The character Qian, seemingly representing the fixed course of heaven, actually represents the ever-evolving cycle of the four virtues of "Yuan, Heng, Li, Zhen," and until the very end, anything can happen.

The scene outside the door was just as they had imagined. The audience could not glean any more details from the screen, and only felt that the five martial arts masters had lost inexplicably. Amidst the sighs, the word "behind-the-scenes manipulation" could be faintly heard.

Feng Feng remained calm and composed, ignoring what others said, already immersed in the joy of a bumper harvest.

"Oh my, I knew it! I arranged a team that's super easy to win for you guys." Ji Tao jumped out from the crowd, apparently she had been watching the whole thing from there.

Upon seeing her, Feng Feng transformed and pounced on her with bared teeth and claws.

"You still dare to talk! You still dare to talk! Flame Fist and Purple Lightning Whip! Are you even human, Ji Tao?!"

As soon as Xia Zhu stepped out of the gate, she vaguely sensed that something was wrong.

She stopped in her tracks, gripping the small sword tightly in her hand. She looked up at the back of the mahogany beam in the hall, where there were exquisite and detailed dragon carvings. Perhaps the solid framework of the entire building was hidden behind the openwork, or something else. In any case, a flash of golden light disappeared behind the carved beams and painted rafters.

Her intuition was always very accurate. For example, when she was followed by Ying Ya, she knew there must be another pair of eyes hiding behind that flash of light.

Xia Zhu looked away, blinked, and found that the contact lenses on her pupils had become dry. She found Feng Feng's figure in the crowd and followed him.

As Xiao Feng just said, since they didn't get many Natural Fortune Stones this time, they won't wait until the official start of the conference tomorrow for the officials to exchange for Divine Strategies. Instead, they'll go up to Sanjiu Peak now and throw in their Fortune Stones at Wu Jitian Gate while there are fewer people and no need to queue.

In a corner of the main hall, Jiang Yuran was leaning back on a bench with her legs crossed, resting with her eyes closed.

"Have some water." A pair of slender, pale hands handed over a bottle of water. The fingers were delicate, but the inside of the knuckles were covered with calluses from years of wear and tear.

Jiang Yuran opened her eyes and accepted it with a smile.

"Qingqing is still the best to me!"

Jiang Xiaqing sat down beside her, waiting for the other to speak first.

“There is a problem.” Jiang Yuran unscrewed the bottle cap, tilted her head back and took a sip of water. Her voice did not become smoother, but rather turned cold. Her dark, crystal-like pupils contracted slightly, like dots of lacquer.

"There's a problem with that unfamiliar girl."

She noticed the flaw from the moment she initiated the attack on Xia Zhu; she could clearly see the seed that flashed in the girl's palm with her exceptional eyesight.

At first, she thought that the Feng family's power was to make seeds sprout into trees and forests, but then, under Feng Feng's vine offensive, she discovered that these plants did not need roots or seed shells, but could grow anywhere by the will of their owners.

If their previous tactics were aimed at concealing Xia Zhu's true identity, then as long as she ambushed Feng Feng, that girl would definitely make a move.

As expected, Xia Zhu made her move. She held a sword in her hand and awkwardly stood in front of Feng Feng to confront him. Her guess was correct, but the problem was not with the sword. Her fists were not afraid of any weapon.

To her horror, Xia Zhu did not use her true power until the very last second, until everything was already decided.

She still held the short sword, but wore a talisman belonging to the Feng family on her right ear.

This sent a chill down Jiang Yuran's spine. What was she hiding? The three factions, five surnames, and eight schools of thought knew each other's strengths inside and out. Unless, she had no strengths at all.

Unless, her power is not in the known spectrum.