"Impossible! I, Chu Huanyu, refuse to believe it!!!"
With a sudden roar, Chu Huanyu let out another furious bellow. Then, he actually managed two more steps in quick succession, arriving directly at the sixth level of the Nine Heavens Thunder Stage.
But when he reached the sixth level, not only was his face haggard and drawn, sweat poured down him like rain, and his entire body trembled uncontrollably. He could not take another single step.
"Ahhh!!!"
In that state, Chu Huanyu released yet another roar — one filled with unwillingness, seething and bitter.
He was unwilling. Extraordinarily unwilling.
He could not accept that this Nine Heavens Thunder Stage — a stage that Chu Feng had already ascended to the very top of, reaching the ninth level — had stopped him, someone who considered himself a genius of his generation, someone destined to inherit the position of Clan Master of the Chu Heavenly Clan, at the sixth level. He couldn't even step onto the seventh.
Pfft—
After that roar, a massive mouthful of blood sprayed from Chu Huanyu's lips, and he tumbled from the Nine Heavens Thunder Stage.
"Huanyu."
The moment that happened, an elder of the Chu Heavenly Clan immediately caught him.
The old man who cradled Chu Huanyu looked at the young man with a pained expression, full of heartache.
But then, his gaze shifted toward Chu Feng.
Chu Huanyu had tested the stage with his own body, proving that this Nine Heavens Thunder Stage was no illusion — it was real. It was the very same stage they had all once climbed, the legendary Nine Heavens Thunder Stage that no one was supposed to be able to conquer.
Yet here was Chu Feng, standing at its very summit. And not only that — although Chu Feng's face was also contorted with pain, and his body trembled ever so slightly, there were no signs that he was about to collapse.
"Is this brat truly some kind of monster?"
Seeing this, the elder holding Chu Huanyu couldn't help but murmur in awe.
And his exclamation echoed what everyone else was thinking.
To ascend to the ninth level of the Nine Heavens Thunder Stage and still remain standing — was this truly something a human being could accomplish?
Perhaps even the word "monster" was insufficient to capture how terrifying Chu Feng really was.
"What is Chu Feng thinking about?"
But just then, someone noticed that something was off about Chu Feng.
He stood atop the Nine Heavens Thunder Stage, having already proven his strength. Not only could he return to the Chu Heavenly Clan — he would receive cultivation resources from the clan on a scale never seen before.
After all, this was someone who had reached the ninth level of the Nine Heavens Thunder Stage.
Yet on Chu Feng's face, there was no joy — only a vacant, distant look, as though he were pondering something.
No one could understand. What exactly was Chu Feng thinking about?
Chu Feng was indeed thinking about something — something related to this Nine Heavens Thunder Stage.
Because Chu Feng felt that something about this Nine Heavens Thunder Stage was not quite right.
In truth, ever since he had ascended to the sixth level, a seed of suspicion had taken root. It wasn't until he reached the ninth level that Chu Feng's suspicions were confirmed — they had not been unfounded at all.