The Almighty Ring

After making sure his parents had settled down alright, Jiang Fei had to leave. Although he wanted to accompany them for a little while longer, he did not have the luxury of time. After all, he had only left his mirror image behind at the Soaring Cloud Sect. If he did not return quickly, the mirror image could be exposed at any time.

Having bid farewell to his parents, Jiang Fei found an isolated place to summon his Gigantic Sword and thereafter sped toward the direction of the Soaring Cloud Sect.

Although Jiang Fei’s parents were unwilling to see him go, and were also worried about his safety, they understood that their son was on a different path in life from theirs. Although they did not want to become humans with special abilities, they did not want to stop their son from progressing on his own path.

With Jiang Fei going at full speed, the Gigantic Sword had nearly reached its limit. After about an hour, he finally arrived at the bottom of the mountain.

Having landed quietly, Jiang Fei sneaked back to the Soaring Cloud Sect, which was not too far from the mountain’s entrance, with the invisibility effect by 0541.

Right then, the martial artists who gathered in front of the Soaring Cloud Sect’s mountainous entrance had not left yet. The mirror image left behind by Jiang Fei still sat cross-legged in the original spot. It seemed as if nobody had noticed anything suspicious about it.

Somewhere far in the sky, streams of light were flashing brightly. People who did not know what was going on might even assume those were soundless streaks of thunder. However, the martial artists present all focused their gazes in hopes of catching a glimpse of the exciting fight between Level 5 Metahumans.

Jiang Fei had been gone for nearly three hours but the battle in the sky still persisted on. Neither Phoenix nor the elder from Soaring Cloud Sect could defeat each other.

Jiang Fei lurked in the dark as he observed the audience’s facial expressions. Most of them were focused on observing the battle between Level 5 Metahumans. However, the Sect Master Ma Xuantong and the First Elder Ye Tianshun looked very displeased. Moreover, they frequently glanced over at Jiang Fei’s mirror image.

“0541, find an opportunity for me to switch places with the mirror image!” Jiang Fei said to 0541.

“Captain! I’ve prepared everything. You may do so anytime!” 0541 answered.

With 0541’s signal, Jiang Fei walked over to the mirror image and sat down next to it with his legs crossed. As 0541 provided Jiang Fei with the invisibility effect, nobody noticed anything odd going on. After Jiang Fei sat down comfortably, 0541 canceled Jiang Fei’s invisibility effect as well as the mirror image projection simultaneously.

After the mirror image disappeared, the person that everyone saw sitting on the ground was the real Jiang Fei.

“Eh?” Ma Xuantong looked dumbfounded. As he had been observing Jiang Fei continuously, he noticed Jiang Fei’s shadow quivered slightly. However, after a longer period of observation, he did not notice anything out of place.

Ma Xuantong and Ye Tianshun were both paying attention to Jiang Fei because of a message they received an hour ago. They found out that Jiang Fei’s parents had been taken away by Zhuge Shanzhen.

In regards to Jiang Fei’s parents being taken away, Ye Tianshun regretted not giving the order to kill them on the spot. However, Ma Xuantong did not care about the lives or deaths of Jiang Fei’s parents. Instead, he was concerned with Zhuge Shanzhen’s attitude.

When Phoenix first appeared, Ma Xuantong already felt troubled. The original plan was based on the assumption that Jiang Fei only had the backing of one Level 5 Metahuman. That was the only reason the Soaring Cloud Sect dared to confront Jiang Fei and even threaten Zhuge Shanzhen so that he would give up some high-tier potions or other resources. All this would have been done on the basis of Jiang Fei having killed their disciples. However, things have gone out of hand. Instead of one, there were now two Level 5 Metahumans supporting Jiang Fei. Although Zhuge Shanzhen did not show up, the thought of him still put Ma Xuantong on high alert.

Now that Zhuge Shanzhen had shown himself a few hundred kilometers away by escorting Jiang Fei’s parents, Ma Xuantong still felt pressured despite him not coming to the Soaring Cloud Sect with Phoenix.

From Jiang Fei’s conversation with Phoenix, Ma Xuantong overheard Jiang Fei calling the golden-haired lady his senior disciple. Therefore, Ma Xuantong naturally associated Phoenix as a disciple to Zhuge Shanzhen as well. If the Soaring Cloud Sect’s elder could not defeat Zhuge Shanzhen’s disciple, how could they possibly defend themselves if Zhuge Shanzhen came in person?

Shuffle! Shuffle! Right then, two beams of light came to a halt in front of Jiang Fei and the rest.

“Hehe, dolly, you mutants sure have some interesting powers. I respect that!” Soaring Cloud Sect’s elder said as he laughed.

“Yep.” Phoenix nodded gently without saying anything else. Having been modified, her personality had changed drastically. She had become rather cold and distant, and therefore could not care less about making small talk.

Jiang Fei looked from one person to the next and discovered that neither of them had been injured. In fact, they had barely scratched each other. It seemed like the battle had ended with a tie.

“Dolly, you and I are both unable to harm each other. Shall I propose we call it a day?” The Soaring Cloud Sect’s elder suggested.

Phoenix did not agree instantly when she heard his question. Instead, she turned to look at Jiang Fei. After all, she had appeared this time due to Jiang Fei’s request. Naturally, she had to take into account his opinion as well.

“Call it a day? The Soaring Cloud Sect kidnapped my parents. How could we just let that slide? That’s out of the question!” Jiang Fei snorted coolly. Since he had taken on a fake persona, he could not back down even if he was facing a strong martial artist.

“Young fellow! How dare you speak so rudely?” Dissatisfied by how a young man had spoken disrespectfully to him, the Soaring Cloud Sect’s elder became angered instantly.

“Please calm down, elder!” Ma Xuantong hurried over to the elder and whispered into his ears.

“Eh?” Indeed, after Ma Xuantong had finished his sentence, the Soaring Cloud Sect’s elder started frowning.

“Zhuge Shanzhen? I, Feng Tianqi, have been on this path for over two hundred years. Yet, I have never heard of this name before.” The Soaring Cloud Sect’s elder mumbled to himself.

“What? Feng Tianqi? Hadn’t this old fellow died already?”

“Feng Baldie is still alive?”

“Shh! Do you want to die? He is a Level 5 expert now. If he hears you calling him by his nickname, do you think he would let you live?”

“I can’t believe it! Soaring Cloud Sect kept the secret really well!”

…

The Soaring Cloud Sect’s elder’s words stirred up a conversation among the martial artists from other sects. Unlike the Zhuge Shanzhen made up by Jiang Fei, Feng Tianqi was a famous figure in the China Martial Art Alliance back in the day.

When the fellow first started his martial arts training, he used to train by pouring oil over his head. Therefore, he had never been able to keep any hair on his head, which also explained why people called him Feng Baldie. After he became stronger, he managed to grow some hair at last. However, the nickname still stuck. Therefore, although he was not happy about it, there was not much he could do about it.

After the fellow reached a hundred years old, he gradually moved out of the limelight and kept things lowkey. Most people thought he had died of old age. However, nobody expected him to breakthrough to the Level 5 state and even become the Soaring Cloud Sect’s guardian.

Right then, Feng Tianqi was feeling equally surprised. He had never heard of anyone named Zhuge Shanzhen in the past. Despite that, Ma Xuantong had only just informed him that the golden-haired lady was merely Zhuge Shanzhen’s disciple. Zhuge Shanzhen, according to Ma Xuantong, was capable of flying on a sword and emptying an entire mining area with a single wave of his hand. Such capabilities were incredible even to Feng Tianqi who had the powers of a Level 5 Metahuman.

“Flying on a sword isn’t difficult. I can fly even without a sword. The sword could either be his weapon or merely a prop. That’s not extraordinary. However, emptying an entire mining area with a single wave of his hand? That doesn’t sound like something a Level 5 Metahuman should be capable of.” Feng Tianqi felt chills going down his spine as he pondered further.