Chu Feng was dead — that was what nearly every junior present believed.
But some were not entirely certain, because his aura still lingered here.
However, the only thing that still bore traces of Chu Feng's presence was his half-finished immortal artifact, the Divine Dragon Blood Ruler.
At this moment, the Divine Dragon Blood Ruler lay on the ground, more than ten thousand meters away from the spot where Chu Feng had been seated cross-legged.
When the immortal art had struck Chu Feng, the resulting shockwave had sent the Divine Dragon Blood Ruler flying a full ten thousand meters away.
Now it lay there all by itself, as though it had been abandoned — a sight that was rather pitiable.
But for Li Xiang and the others, the emotions at this moment went far beyond mere pity.
"Han Yu, you bastard!"
"It was only a sparring match, yet you went and killed my Brother Chu Feng — I won't let this go!!!"
In his fury, Li Xiang couldn't help but point at Han Yu and curse loudly.
Pfft— Meanwhile, Han Yu was spurting mouthful after mouthful of blood from his lips. Then, swaying left and right, his legs buckled and he collapsed to his knees with a thud.
He had nearly collapsed face-first onto the ground. At this moment, he was utterly exhausted — he didn't even have the strength to hold himself upright, let alone stand.
"Hahaha."
Yet despite being in such a wretched state, Han Yu suddenly burst into laughter.
Though his laughter was feeble, it was filled with smugness — even a touch of madness.
Everyone knew why he was laughing. He was laughing because he had defeated Chu Feng, because he had killed Chu Feng.
At this moment, he made no effort to conceal the joy of having slain Chu Feng, as though the hatred he harbored for Chu Feng had finally been released.
Ssssss— But right at that moment, something stirred above Han Yu's head. In the blink of an eye, radiance composed of wind, lightning, water, and fire materialized out of thin air, appearing directly above him.
The lights intertwined with one another, then came crashing down like a bolt of thunder. With a deafening boom, they struck Han Yu squarely on the head.
"Uwaaah—!"
Han Yu, already in the most pathetic state imaginable, could nowhere near withstand such an attack. He let out a miserable scream before collapsing face-down on the ground like a dead dog.
Perhaps because the pain was too great, his body was still twitching involuntarily.
The sight was almost comical — after all, Han Yu was no ordinary person. He was one of the most powerful juniors in the entire Great Thousand Upper Realm.
However, no one had the mind to take in Han Yu's sorry state, because every gaze in the crowd was drawn to the luminous figure that had just appeared.
Before the eyes of the crowd, the figure of light began to transform.
"Heavens, that's—!"
At this moment, many present were stunned, and some even cried out in shock.
In an instant, the reactions varied — some were astonished, some overjoyed, some terrified. It was safe to say that the vast majority of those present had gone pale.
Only the Eight Immortals of Starfall and the clan master of the Ancient Snake Clan — those supreme experts — showed no great ripple of emotion on their faces. Instead, a faint, barely perceptible smile tugged at the corners of their lips.
The reason the crowd had reacted so dramatically was that the luminous figure of wind, lightning, water, and fire had already fused into the form of a person.
And that person was none other than Chu Feng.
Chu Feng had not died at all.
Not only was Chu Feng alive and well, but at this very moment he was standing right beside Han Yu — with one foot planted firmly on Han Yu's body.
"You... you're not dead?!"
Han Yu turned his head and caught sight of Chu Feng. His jaw dropped, utterly unable to believe his own eyes.
"No wonder Young Friend Chu Feng's aura never fully dissipated. I had assumed the half-finished immortal artifact was simply still carrying traces of his presence, but it turns out this was yet another feint."
"Young Friend Chu Feng is truly formidable."
At this moment, elders such as Ma Changchun of the Holy Pill Manor wore expressions of genuine admiration.
Only now, with the benefit of hindsight, did they understand what had happened. Chu Feng had indeed been struck by Han Yu's second-stage immortal art — there was no mistake about that, they had witnessed it with their own eyes.
But Chu Feng had not died. Though his physical body had been blasted apart, he had survived in a very special form.
And that special form was the radiance of wind, lightning, water, and fire.
In other words, the very instant his body was obliterated, Chu Feng had transformed into that figure of light.
But Chu Feng had been incredibly fast. Nearly at the exact moment his body was destroyed, he had deployed a concealment barrier to hide the luminous figure — fabricating the appearance that he had been utterly erased.
Chu Feng had planned everything out in advance, so when he executed the maneuver, it flowed as smoothly as drifting clouds and running water — seamless, not a single flaw.
So much so that even experts like Ma Changchun, who were genuinely concerned about Chu Feng's fate, had failed to notice any of it until this very moment.
Still, they were overjoyed. Though Chu Feng's condition at this moment was far from ideal, it was still leagues better than Han Yu's.
"You... you faked your death?!"
Only now did Han Yu finally realize that he had been deceived by Chu Feng — again.
In that instant, he was so furious his teeth ground together, his face cycling between green and purple. Having been played not once but twice, he was thoroughly livid.
Seeing Han Yu like this, a faint smile curled at the corner of Chu Feng's lips.
"Han Yu, oh Han Yu — you really are stupid."