The world had fallen completely silent.
And the expressions of everyone present were nothing short of dumbfounded.
Not only the martial cultivators of the Nine Soul River — even Wang Yuxian, Dao Sea Immortal Maiden, and Jiang Taibai and the others all wore the same stunned look.
Chu Feng's sword strike just now had been too bizarre. It had suddenly become startlingly fast, as though his combat strength had received a massive boost.
And such a boost defied all reason.
As for Chu Feng, he did not continue his offensive. In his eyes, this duel was already over.
At least, this so-called fair fight — where cultivation was suppressed to the Fourth Grade Martial Venerable realm, no martial skills or secret techniques were allowed, and only identical weapons could be used — was over.
"It seems I've won."
Chu Feng resumed his standing posture and looked at Jiang Yuantai with a faint smile.
Jiang Yuantai, however, was frozen in place. Even as blood flowed freely from where his hand had been severed, he made no effort to treat his own injuries.
Because, in that moment, he simply could not accept what had just happened.
He… had actually lost?
Even if he had only taken a single forbidden pill, his combat strength combined with his mastery over his spear should have been more than enough to block Chu Feng's strike.
And yet, that was precisely the strike he had failed to block — leading to his current defeat.
"What kind of trick did you use?"
Jiang Yuantai stared at Chu Feng and demanded through gritted teeth.
From the look in his eyes, Chu Feng could tell just how unwilling Jiang Yuantai was to accept this.
"Brother, he took my forbidden pill."
But before Chu Feng could even open his mouth, Jiang Kongping spoke up first.
"A forbidden pill?"
Hearing those words, Jiang Yuantai immediately turned his head to look at his younger brother.
"The day I was captured by this Chu Feng, my Universe Bag was taken from me as well. Inside that Universe Bag were three forbidden pills from our Dao Alchemy Immortal Sect."
"This Chu Feng must have opened my Universe Bag and discovered those three forbidden pills."
"The reason he was suddenly able to surpass your control in both speed and strength just now — it must be the effect of those forbidden pills."
After finishing his words, Jiang Kongping shifted his gaze to Chu Feng.
"Chu Feng, you may have beaten my brother today, but in truth, your victory was dishonorable."
"You only won because you relied on my Dao Alchemy Immortal Sect's forbidden pills."
Jiang Kongping said to Chu Feng.
"So by that logic, you're admitting that your brother only beat me last time because he took a forbidden pill?"
Chu Feng asked.
"You have no proof that my brother took a forbidden pill."
"So that makes this a false accusation."
Jiang Kongping said.
He knew his brother well and understood how strong his pride was.
He naturally would never publicly admit that his brother had defeated Chu Feng last time because of a forbidden pill.
"A false accusation?"
"Your brother's sudden power increase this time is no different from last time."
"And if your brother did take a forbidden pill, the backlash won't be long in coming."
"So why don't we just wait? We'll wait until the backlash hits your brother, and then the truth will speak for itself. Let's see how you continue to deny it then."
Chu Feng said.
And with those words from Chu Feng, the people of the Dao Alchemy Immortal Sect grew anxious.
They had wanted to argue their case, but if they truly kept waiting, Jiang Yuantai would indeed suffer the backlash.
Even if the backlash from that forbidden pill wasn't particularly severe, it would still manifest eventually.
Then this matter could no longer be concealed.
"So what if he took a forbidden pill? Didn't you take one too?"
At that moment, the others from the Dao Alchemy Immortal Sect could no longer hold back and spoke up.
If they could help it, they naturally would not want to admit to any of this. But since they could no longer conceal the truth, they had no choice but to cling to the fact that Chu Feng had also taken a forbidden pill.
That was the only way to preserve the fairness of this duel.
"Whether or not I took a forbidden pill, I still won."