"Truly shameless — not a single blow has been exchanged, yet you dare act so arrogantly."
Chu Zhiyuan was visibly furious at this moment, and his anger was no pretense. He was genuinely enraged by the contemptuous dismissal shown by the juniors of the Li Heavenly Clan.
After all, he was no longer the same Chu Zhiyuan who once swallowed his pride and endured being bullied by others.
He had already proven himself — defeating every junior from the Great Thousand Upper Realm and even defeating Chu Qing.
His cultivation had reached that of a First Rank Heavenly Immortal, placing him above all juniors, making him the undisputed number one genius of the Great Thousand Upper Realm.
With such glory upon his shoulders, how could he tolerate such a blatant insult?
To swallow this humiliation would not only be his own shame — it would be the shame of the entire Chu Heavenly Clan.
Consumed by his fury, Chu Zhiyuan actually cupped his fist toward Chu Hanpeng and said, "Sir, the juniors of the Li Heavenly Clan are being utterly disrespectful. This is not merely an affront to me personally — it is an affront to our Chu Heavenly Clan as a whole."
"I humbly request permission to spar with them, so they may learn that our Chu Heavenly Clan is not one they can insult at will."
These words drew visible reactions from many present — not just from the bystanders, but even Chu Hanpeng and Chu Zhiyuan's grandfather furrowed their brows tightly.
Anyone with half a brain could see that the juniors of the Li Heavenly Clan were genuinely stronger than those of the Chu Heavenly Clan.
Even with Chu Zhiyuan at the First Rank of Heavenly Immortal, his chances against the Li Heavenly Clan's juniors would be slim at best.
His proposal was, to put it mildly, rather rash.
But given the current situation, if they allowed the other side's provocations to go unanswered, word would inevitably spread, and the Chu Heavenly Clan would become a laughingstock.
So when Chu Zhiyuan spoke those words, Chu Hanpeng offered no response, nor did Chu Zhiyuan's grandfather try to dissuade him — because even they could not tell whether Chu Zhiyuan should accept the challenge or not.
"Very well, I accept your challenge. But a fellow of your caliber isn't worthy of having any man from our Li Heavenly Clan lift a finger. This young lady will spar with you instead."
At that moment, a young woman stepped forward from among the Li Heavenly Clan's juniors.
When she did, the people of the Great Thousand Upper Realm became even more convinced that the Li Heavenly Clan's juniors had truly come looking for trouble.
As for their earlier claim that it was Chu Feng who had sabotaged the main formation and injured their clan members — that was surely nothing but a fabricated excuse.
Their real purpose was to pick a fight.
After all, with the Upper Realm Gate now open, a clash between the Li Heavenly Clan and the Chu Heavenly Clan was inevitable.
And now that the Chu Heavenly Clan's side had destroyed the main formation inside the Upper Realm Gate, slowing down its opening, the Li Heavenly Clan's army could not arrive in the Great Thousand Upper Realm in time.
Naturally, the Li Heavenly Clan harbored deep resentment, which was why they had dispatched these juniors to provoke them at the first opportunity.
They had even come up with the excuse of being attacked and injured by the Chu Heavenly Clan's juniors, and had dragged out the name of Chu Feng — someone who was already dead.
Everything they proposed sounded absurd on the surface, yet it was actually quite clever.
Because Chu Feng was dead, he could never step forward to explain the truth. They could say whatever they wanted.
When the people of the Great Thousand Upper Realm thought it through like this, they were all but certain that they had seen through the Li Heavenly Clan's intentions.
And so they became even more convinced that it was Chu Zhiyuan who had sabotaged the Upper Realm Gate's main formation.