Truthfully, the Heavenly Secret Venerable was not a petty man, and he did not even dislike Chu Feng.
Otherwise, when he had divined the Battle of Prophecy, he would not have deliberately concealed it.
In fact, the reason he had deliberately leaked the outcome of this prophecy now was in the hope that Chu Feng would retreat in the face of impossibility.
At the end of the day, the Heavenly Secret Venerable was still a good person — at least, he was not a bad one.
However, there was one thing the Heavenly Secret Venerable could not tolerate above all else: his prophecies being questioned.
To him, prophecy was faith — sacred and inviolable, beyond all doubt.
And Chu Feng seemed to understand the Heavenly Secret Venerable's feelings, for he was not provoking the Heavenly Secret Venerable himself — he was merely defying the so-called prophecy.
Chu Feng did not believe in prophecy, because he refused to accept fate.
But in truth, Chu Feng still held respect for the Heavenly Secret Venerable.
"Chu Feng, you really won't give up until you see the coffin, will you?" Linghu Hongfei said to Chu Feng.
"If it were someone else's prophecy, I, Chu Feng, might believe it. But when it concerns my own fate, I will not."
"Because my destiny is mine to command."
"If I were the type to accept fate, I would not be standing here today."
"Instead, I would be serving as an unremarkable Outer Disciple in some second-rate sect in the Lower Realm of Ancestral Martial."
Chu Feng said with a faint smile.
Upon hearing these words, not only did the hearts of everyone present tremble, as vague thoughts began to surface — the same was true for the members of the Chu Heavenly Clan. A wave of guilt welled up within them.
On the face of the Chu Heavenly Clan's Clan Chief in particular, deep shame had appeared.
Chu Feng had come from the Lower Realm. His journey here had naturally been fraught with countless hardships.
After all, he had not grown up under anyone's protection — he had fought his way back, step by step, all on his own.
Had he accepted his fate, he truly would never have made it this far.
"Defying fate, how admirable. Since that is the case, then today… I shall take your life."
As Linghu Hongfei spoke, he took a single step forward and launched his attack.
He and Chu Feng were already standing extremely close, so the assault arrived in the blink of an eye.
He did not employ any special technique — only raw fist and foot combat.
Yet his fists were like iron hammers capable of splitting mountains and cleaving the earth, and his legs were like iron whips that swept through the void.
Every part of his body was a weapon of devastating power. A single clean hit would leave one crippled, if not dead.
But Chu Feng was no ordinary opponent.
Facing Linghu Hongfei's ferocious assault, Chu Feng did not dodge or evade. Instead, he stepped forward continuously, meeting the attack head-on.
Clang, clang, clang—
Though both combatants possessed physical bodies of flesh and blood, every point of contact between them rang out like steel colliding with steel.
Chu Feng and Linghu Hongfei both possessed peak-level combat strength. Whether in speed or power, there was virtually no difference between them.
The two traded blow for blow, neither able to gain the upper hand.
"Remarkable. As expected — these two are truly the most outstanding geniuses in the entire Ancestral Martial Starfield."
Watching Chu Feng and Linghu Hongfei's exchange, people could not help but recall the earlier battle between Chu Lingxi and Linghu Hongfei.
Before, both had been at the Fourth Rank Venerable cultivation level, yet Linghu Hongfei had effortlessly dodged every one of Chu Lingxi's attacks.
Although Linghu Hongfei was not being injured by Chu Feng either, at the very least the two of them were trading strikes evenly.
Chu Feng could not wound Linghu Hongfei, but likewise, Linghu Hongfei could not wound Chu Feng.
That was nothing like the fight against Chu Lingxi, where a single wave of pressure from Linghu Hongfei had been enough to defeat her outright.
"Chu Feng's combat strength seems to have grown even stronger."