[At long last!]
All people, without fail, turned toward the entrance, the great Han brothers and Yan Mo were no exception.
The fiends’ eyes sparkled, thanking their ancestors, the gods above and below. [They came at long friggin’ last. Any later, and we’d have been forfeiting.]
Tap~
Casual footsteps grew louder as they approached.
Passing through the shadow of the entrance was Zhuo Fan’s sinister grin out in all its glory.
While Qi Changlong and the rest behind him looked mighty dark, their eyes chilling. They were wild animals on the prowl.
The shocker was the energy they were oozing out, one stronger than the next.
Yan Mo and the Han brothers widened their eyes, “How is this possible?”
Beside Zhuo Fan in the 3rd layer Radiant Stage, the others looked practically remade, their power surging with youth and boldness.
Qi Changlong, Lu Xie, and Bai Lian, the top elites were in the Ethereal Stage, at the 3rd layer.
Gui Hu was in the 2nd layer, Kui Lang and Yue Ling in the 1st layer.
Tie Ying, Kui Gang, and Yue’er had taken the Heaven Reaching Pill before, and their results were subdued this time. That, however, did not stop them from reaching the 6th layer Radiant Stage from the 2nd layer.
Of Demon Scheming Sect’s ten disciples, six were in the Ethereal Stage, three in the 6th layer of Radiant Stage, and only one in the 3rd layer, Zhuo Fan. He kept his nose down, letting every Ethereal Stage expert underestimate the freak buried deep within.
Such a lineup was hardly present in the middle three sects and more seen among the superior three sects.
Yan Mo eyed the team with a sweaty brow. [It’s no longer one man that is the problem, but the whole team.]
Han Yunfeng was still reeling from the shock, glaring at his brothers, “W-what the hell is this? Half of the Demon Scheming Sect’s disciples are in the Ethereal Stage. What kind of testing did you even do back then? You couldn’t even pick up this critical intelligence?”
“I… I….”
The two were just as floored, stammering to come up with a proper answer, “We don’t know. Where the hell did they come from?”
Second Young Master Han then noticed Qi Changlong and the rest they wiped the floor with.
Second Young Master Han cried like he’d seen a ghost, “Brother, just months ago three of them were only in the 8th and 9th layer Radiant Stage. How the hell did they reach the 3rd layer of the Ethereal Stage then? This is impossible!”
“You’re telling me they weren’t in the Ethereal Stage?”
Han Yunfeng stared at the trio, then at Second Young Master Han, finding it hard to believe, even for him, “No way. Even you, brother, just now entered the Ethereal Stage with all our sect’s resources. How could a low sect get so much on their hands in such a short time?”
Second Young Master Han was mind blown, “Brother, how should I know? You can ask third brother, he’ll tell you the same thing.”
“It’s them alright. But to see them advance so fast gives me the chills.” Third Young Master Han cried out as well.
A black cloud loomed over their faces at the dark times ahead.
Han Yunfeng squinted, “We can’t look down on the Demon Scheming Sect any longer. They aren’t just a threat to our position but are fully capable of replacing us. Change of plans. We have to do all we can to not get last place in the middle three sects fights, and we can escape the Demon Scheming Sect’s threat.”
The other two gave a heavy nod.
“Where’s the one you guys mentioned? Is it among the six Ethereal Stage experts?” Han Yunfeng asked.
The two frowned and shook their heads. Third Young Master Han pointed at Zhuo Fan with fear in his eyes, “Brother, it’s that punk. Don’t let his low cultivation fool you, he’s a monster.”
“I know.”
Han Yunfeng sized the team up, “The Ethereal Stage experts are walking behind him, so his strength must be more than it seems. Anyone that takes his cultivation at face value will suffer for it.”
Han Yunfeng pondered, “Six Ethereal Stage experts and one monster. The Demon Scheming Sect is becoming more and more of a mystery. We have to change our target, that’s our best bet. Though I can’t help but feel curious, just what kind of godlike being could raise their cultivation so much and so fast? It’s like a miracle.”
His brothers sighed and nodded.
Meanwhile, the fiends saw Zhuo Fan saunter in with a heroic swag in his step. They stood stunned as well, but happier than anything else.
“Zhuo Fan, took you long enough, brat. You gave me such an astonishing surprise I could kiss you, ha-ha-ha…” Fiend Yang gesticulated while taking Zhuo Fan into a bear hug. Zhuo Fan flounced around in his grip, wanting nothing to do with this crazy ball of flubber.
Glaring at him, Zhuo Fan spat, “Shove it, I hate that kind of talk!”
“He-he-he, neither do I. I just let emotion take me.” His glare didn’t put Fiend Yang’s joy off in the slightest, still grinning like a fool. Then he took in the disciples behind Zhuo Fan, but the more he looked, the giddier he became.
[He’s the friggin’ bomb, this kid!] In just six months, the lowest form of improvement was advancing four layers while also getting many of them in the Ethereal Stage.
[Zhuo Fan is a damn miracle worker if I ever saw one. Wuyue made the best decision of his life getting him into the sect.]
The other fiends bobbed their heads with beaming smiles.
Happy as their reunion was, there were two sects not in the least bit happy, their hearts thumping in fright inside their chests.
Elder Yun had seen what a brutal monster Zhuo Fan was and kept his guard up. But back then, he only had one to deal with while now he had a whole team.
This freak had turned the other Demon Scheming Sect’s disciples into carbon copies of him, in nature at least, just as freaky.
The girls gasped, lost for words. [Weren’t they the stiffies trudging along the way here?]
[How are they so strong?]
Chu Qingcheng smiled, “Told you so. Such a trifling matter has no hold on him. We have to see them as adversaries from the start.”
“Qingcheng, how are you so calm? Most are in the Ethereal Stage expert!” Shui Ruohua looked crestfallen, having lost all hope in this tournament. With Demon Scheming Sect’s strength, one forfeited round hardly affected them.
Then she raised her eyebrows, “Wait, did you just say they are all changed because of sir Zhuo? How did he pull it off?”
“Ha-ha-ha, I’m no seer. But what I do know is that he is a miracle worker.” Chu Qingcheng’s gaze on him was filled with tenderness.
The girls were even more astonished. [Sir Zhuo isn’t just strong, but capable of incredible things. The very definition of a monster.]
All the girls watched Zhuo Fan as a cow looked at a new gate, and Xuan Shaoyu hated him for it with a burning passion…
The judge was shuffling through the roster in anxiety.
[What’s Demon Scheming Sect playing at? They were all in the Radiant Stage when they came so how come six of them skipped a stage? How the hell is it they got so strong in just three days? This increase is suspicious. Did they get outside help?]
Wracking his brains all he could, the judge’s withered hands stopped. Then he recalled the elders at the guards saying something.
That the Demon Scheming Sect got filthy rich, using Zombie Pills on their disciples.
All the pieces fit together, and the judge muttered to himself, [There’s a real expert here that knows this rare training method to raise the disciples’ strength so fast.]
Even the Double Dragon Manor only heard of it but never put it into practice. Yet for this guy to pull it off like nothing showed how brilliant he was.
The judge sighed, [The Double Dragon Gathering is going to flip again. Demon Scheming Sect is going places, ha-ha-ha…]
“Demon Scheming Sect and Beast Taming Sect, begin the fight. Please present your disciples for this round.” The judge’s voice boomed.
When he looked at Hui Xiong, he saw the muscle-bound guy shaking from every fiber and whiter than milk, if possible…
