"If you're ready, then let's begin. However, you may set the rules yourselves," said the Red Butterfly Association's president.
"You speak," Chu Feng said casually to Zhao Ruofan.
"Even if you hadn't yielded, it should still be my turn to speak. After all, purely in terms of how long I have cultivated the art of formation barriers, I am your senior," Zhao Ruofan sneered, showing no graciousness whatsoever.
At that moment, many of the Red Butterfly Association's elders furrowed their brows. Ever since Zhao Ruofan had fallen out with the president the previous day, people had begun to realize that he was growing increasingly shameless.
Though they still found it hard to believe, a vague sense crept in that perhaps this was Zhao Ruofan's true nature all along.
In short order, many among them had grown to despise Zhao Ruofan — this vice president.
"Cut the chatter. Just tell me how we're competing," Chu Feng said.
"Simple. Attack and defense alternate. I set up a defensive formation, and you dismantle it."
"If you succeed in dismantling it, you win," Zhao Ruofan said.
"Then let's begin," Chu Feng said.
"I wasn't finished. The time each of us spends setting up must be identical. Whatever amount of time I use to deploy my defensive formation, you must use that same amount of time to create your formation-breaking array. If you take longer than me, you lose," Zhao Ruofan added.
"That's way too unfair!" The moment those words left Zhao Ruofan's mouth, before Chu Feng could even respond, the Red Butterfly Association's elders burst into heated discussion, feeling the rule was profoundly unjust.
Yet Chu Feng merely smiled indifferently and said, "You may begin."
"You accept?" Zhao Ruofan's face flickered with surprise. Even he hadn't expected Chu Feng to agree so readily.
"Can you not understand plain speech?" Chu Feng said, his tone impatient.
"What arrogance. Very well — I shall show you what a true Dragon-Veined Imperial Robe Spirit World Master is truly capable of." Zhao Ruofan snorted coldly, then began deploying his defensive formation.
When that vast, imposing power of the formation surged forth, many onlookers gasped in astonishment — the Red Butterfly Association's president included.
Zhao Ruofan's technique was nothing short of flawless. His movements flowed like running water, each step seamlessly linked to the next. The exceedingly complex formation array seemed like child's play in his hands, deployed with effortless ease.
In barely a moment — at most the time it took to count from one to ten — a fortress-like defensive formation had materialized, enveloping the space before Zhao Ruofan.
"Chu Feng, my formation is complete. Now it's your turn. Remember — your time cannot exceed mine," Zhao Ruofan said smugly.
"He's finished? In that short amount of time?" The crowd was momentarily stunned, but upon closer inspection, they found that the gleaming golden fortress truly possessed formidable defensive power. An ordinary second-stage Half Ancestor would struggle to break through it, let alone dismantle it with formation techniques alone.
"Zhao Ruofan was holding back before. So this is the true extent of his formation mastery." Even the Red Butterfly Association's president frowned at that.
At this point, she naturally hoped Chu Feng would emerge victorious. But looking at the formation Zhao Ruofan had constructed, even she felt it would be incredibly difficult for Chu Feng to win. Although the defensive formation had been deployed in remarkably short time, its resilience was extraordinary.
By contrast, breaking a formation was far harder than creating a defensive one.
To construct a formation capable of breaching this defensive array within the same time limit was an immense challenge. Even if she herself stepped in, she wouldn't be confident she could pull it off.
If even she couldn't do it, could Chu Feng?
This wasn't just a concern the president harbored alone. Liu Chengkun, Huang Luo, and many of the Red Butterfly Association's senior elders were all deeply worried about the same thing.
"Open those little eyes of yours and watch carefully, old man. The formation I deploy will take less time than yours — never more."
Just then, Chu Feng spoke a line that stunned everyone present.
Arrogant — truly, breathtakingly arrogant. One could say he showed absolutely zero regard for Zhao Ruofan's eyes.