Whoosh—
Zhang Ming's gaze swept across the crowd. Everyone it fell upon shuddered in fear. Eager to distance themselves from any association, they scrambled away in every direction. In an instant, only a single person remained.
When everyone else chose to flee, only this one man did not.
The man wore a bamboo hat. Under the collective stare of the onlookers, he slowly removed the hat and revealed his true face — and that man was none other than Zhang Tianyi.
It turned out that the mysterious man in the bamboo hat who had been so certain Chu Feng would come — long before Chu Feng actually arrived — had been Zhang Tianyi all along.
Moreover, Zhang Tianyi's cultivation was now worlds apart from what it had been before. At present, he had become a second-stage Martial Emperor. His progress since the days of the Bow Hegemon Plains had been nothing short of extraordinary — even faster than Chu Feng's.
Of course, such advancement could only be attributed to the Bow Emperor's inheritance. And that, too, was thanks in part to Chu Feng.
"The Bow Emperor's successor! That's the Bow Emperor's successor — Zhang Tianyi, who seized the title of the Martial Continent's strongest junior at the Bow Hegemon Plains' grand tournament!"
Zhang Tianyi's reputation had long since spread far and wide. The moment he appeared, cries of astonishment erupted from the crowd. After all, he was the holder of the title of the strongest junior.
Whoosh—
Zhang Tianyi paid no heed to the clamor around him. He leaped into the air and landed beside Chu Feng and Jiang Wushang.
"Well, well — little brother Wushang, you're here too! You've made impressive progress," Zhang Tianyi said with a grin to Jiang Wushang.
"Not nearly as impressive as yours — a second-stage Martial Emperor already," Jiang Wushang replied, glancing at Zhang Tianyi and then at Chu Feng. "Standing between you two, I'm so ashamed I could die."
"I owe my current cultivation entirely to Junior Brother Chu Feng," Zhang Tianyi said, looking at Chu Feng.
"So… Big Brother Chu Feng helped you too?" Jiang Wushang asked in surprise.
"'Too'? You mean you've gotten this far thanks to Junior Brother Chu Feng as well?" Zhang Tianyi was equally taken aback.
"That's right." Jiang Wushang nodded with a smile, then leaned close to Zhang Tianyi's ear and whispered, "Brother Zhang, let me tell you a secret — I've become Lord Duan Jidao's disciple. I'll be receiving the Emperor's inheritance. And it's all thanks to Big Brother Chu Feng."
"Really?" Zhang Tianyi was overjoyed. He turned to Chu Feng and said, "Junior Brother Chu Feng, you truly are our great benefactor."
"Senior Brother Zhang, no need for formalities now. I have to say, I didn't expect you'd actually manage to convince your father to come," Chu Feng said. He knew full well that Zhang Ming had no desire to provoke the four great Emperor Clans. His reluctance was primarily about not wanting to help Chu Feng — not wanting to invite unnecessary trouble. Because once he helped even once, it would mean he had sided with Chu Feng. From then on, whether he wanted to or not, he would be entangled in this affair. So the fact that Zhang Ming had come at all — Chu Feng knew that must have been Zhang Tianyi's doing.
"I didn't convince him of anything. I just snuck out when he wasn't looking, and I didn't expect him to follow me here," Zhang Tianyi said. He gazed at his father, who was locked in fierce combat with Ximen Baiyuan, and his eyes brimmed with joy. Regardless of everything else, his father had come for his sake. He was happy — and deeply proud. Proud to have such a father.
"Whatever the case, Senior Brother Zhang Ming coming to lend us his strength is your achievement."
"But brothers, a great battle is about to begin — we can catch up later. Since we're here, we're not going to stand idle. Let's fight!" As he spoke, Chu Feng drew his Celestial Immortal Sword.
"Wouldn't have it any other way! Since I'm here today, I'm going to fight to my heart's content!" Zhang Tianyi declared. Even as the words left his mouth, he had already soared into the air. Right on his heels, Chu Feng shot forward as well.
Seeing that Chu Feng and Zhang Tianyi had already plunged into the raging battlefield, Jiang Wushang charged in without a moment's hesitation. Though his cultivation was only that of a Half-Emperor, nothing could diminish his resolve to fight to the very end.