After those five fled, the entire plaza fell dead silent. Everyone stared at Chu Feng with their jaws on the ground.
What had just happened? Who was this kid, and where had he come from? The five he had just thrashed weren't merely members of the Dragon Tiger Division — they were five Second-rank Martial Kings.
And this fresh-faced kid, who had only just set foot on Mount Green Wood and still wore the look of youth, had used nothing more than First-rank Martial King cultivation to beat five Second-rank Martial Kings into the dirt in the blink of an eye — so badly they'd been crawling away like dogs with their tails between their legs. What kind of terrifying power was that?
Especially considering the horrifying aura Chu Feng had released when he first moved, a chill still lingered in everyone's hearts. They realized now that this boy from the Southern Forest was nothing like the other disciples — he was no harmless lamb.
"Gentlemen, did you enjoy the show from my Southern Forest?" Suddenly, Chu Feng swept his gaze across the crowd, cold and sharp as a blade, pinning everyone in place.
"Uh…" Under that stare, the onlookers hurriedly lowered their heads, not daring to meet his eyes. After what they had just witnessed, they regarded Chu Feng with deep wariness.
"I'll count to three. All of you — scram. If anyone's still here after three, I'll make sure they crawl back." Chu Feng's face darkened with anger, and his voice cut through the air like ice.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh…
The moment those words left his lips, no one dared linger. Fearing Chu Feng might actually turn on them, they leaped into the air one after another and fled the plaza. In the blink of an eye, only Chu Feng and the other Southern Forest people remained.
As for those six disgraceful senior brothers, their faces were taut with panic, their eyes brimming with terror. They were no fools — by now they had realized that this junior brother from the Southern Forest was no talentless hack like themselves, nor some ordinary disciple. He was an out-and-out prodigy.
Prodigies, as long as they developed properly, would inevitably carve out a place for themselves on Mount Green Wood sooner or later. Such people were absolutely not to be crossed.
But the damage was done — willing or not, they had already provoked Chu Feng. The situation had become a tiger they couldn't dismount, and they had no idea what to do.
When they saw Chu Feng striding toward them, they exchanged terrified glances, trembling from head to toe and stumbling backward. In the end, one by one they dropped to their knees, kowtowing and begging for mercy:
"Junior Brother Chu Feng, it's our fault — all of our fault, we were wrong. We shouldn't have tried to coerce you into joining us. Please, Junior Brother Chu Feng, show us mercy. A great man doesn't stoop to petty grudges — just let us go."
Wang Wei and the others watched this scene without a flicker of surprise. After all, when they had first seen Chu Feng display his strength, they had felt the exact same fear.
Chu Feng, however, looked at these six Southern Forest seniors with a slight furrow of his brow, a complex knot of emotion stirring inside him. In the end, he did not strike them again. He merely glanced at them and said:
"Mount Green Wood draws people from all factions. And yet we of the Southern Forest — an official, legitimate subsidiary force of Mount Green Wood — are despised and scorned. Why is that?" Chu Feng asked.
"…" The six disgraced brothers stopped kowtowing but kept their heads down in silence, unsure how to answer.
"Because the Southern Forest is weak. Weaker with each generation. Even after thousands of years, Southern Forest disciples have been joining Mount Green Wood year after year. In total, tens of thousands of our people have entered the mountain over the centuries, yet not a single one has risen to prominence. Not one has ever reached the peak of Mount Green Wood. We've been stuck at the very bottom of the Core Disciples' ranks the entire time."
"And when you compare that to how well the other three forests have been doing, our Southern Forest comes across as absolutely worthless — so weak it's pathetic. We've utterly failed to live up to the name of an official subsidiary force."
"If people look down on us, who can we blame? We can only blame ourselves. Sitting on a prestigious title without the strength to back it up — if people despise us, we have it coming." Every word was heavy with reprimand, laced with the frustration of watching one's own people fall short.
After hearing Chu Feng's words, not only did the six disgraced brothers hang their heads in silence, but even Wang Wei and the others bowed their heads, clenching their fists, feeling a stifling weight press down on their chests.
Because they knew Chu Feng was absolutely right. If the Southern Forest had been just an ordinary second-tier subsidiary force, then even a bit of mediocrity wouldn't have left its disciples in such a wretched state.
But the Southern Forest bore the title of an official subsidiary force — the real deal — and yet lacked the strength that title demanded. That was why people looked down on them. That was why they were scorned.
"Every one of us carries the Southern Forest's name. We all wear its label. That label alone is enough to earn us contempt — so you thought you'd make it worse by fighting among yourselves? Did you think we weren't humiliated enough?" Chu Feng looked at the six seniors and asked once more.
"We…" The six brothers remained silent, still unable to form a response.
"The Southern Forest's label is stamped on all of us. None of us can change that fact, because we are, indeed, disciples of the Southern Forest — that is something we carry for life."
"The fact that the Southern Forest is looked down upon is real too. But does that mean we simply accept it? No. We can absolutely change that reality."
"But the way to change it is never by turning our fists inward, and it's never by letting others trample us without looking up." With those final words, Chu Feng launched himself into the sky, preparing to leave.
Wang Wei, Zhao Genshuo, and the others followed suit, stepping into the air to depart alongside him.
"Junior Brother Chu Feng — can you tell us, what exactly is the way to change that reality?" Just as Chu Feng and his group were about to take off, the six disgraced brothers raised their heads and called out.
"The method is simple. Make your fists harder, and then beat every last person who looks down on us into silence." Chu Feng left them with that solemn declaration.
Those words struck the six men like lightning. An indescribable feeling surged through them, flooding every fiber of their being.
It was a feeling they hadn't experienced in a long time — a feeling they had known back in the Southern Forest, when they were still hailed as geniuses. A feeling that had been crushed and ground away since arriving on Mount Green Wood, buried under the weight of thousands of true prodigies pressing down on them. If they had to name it, it was simple: the feeling was their blood running hot.
Yes — blood running hot. That rush of fighting spirit, dormant for years, had been rekindled in this very moment. And none of them could have imagined that the one to light that fire would be a junior brother twenty years their junior, who had done it with nothing more than a single sentence.
Admiration — a deep, genuine admiration that came from the bottom of their hearts.
Hope — it was as though they could see the possibility of a real future again.
Both that admiration and that hope now resided in a single person: Chu Feng.
PS: Moving forward, there are two paths — one is to establish our own branch as an independent faction, and the other is to join an existing branch. This time I'm giving you all a choice. Feel free to leave your votes in the comments. I'll check the numbers before 1 PM this afternoon, and whichever option has more support is the path I'll take.