Chapter 235: Your Challenge, I Accept It!

Nan Xuanrou’s expression darkened slightly, then she lowered her voice and said to Gu Fan:

“Xun Bo, Wan Peng’s senior brother, this person is at the half-step Celestial Heart Realm. Among the disciples, he’s considered rather senior, and currently the only one among all True Disciples with thirty years under his belt.”

Gu Fan nodded and interjected:

“Doesn’t that mean he’s just muddling along because he lacks talent?”

Everyone present was of significant cultivation level, and Gu Fan hadn’t bothered to lower his voice. Naturally, Xun Bo and the others heard him clearly.

Xun Bo’s expression stiffened slightly, but he still maintained his smile while looking at Gu Fan.

Only a trace of killing intent flickered in his eyes.

Even Nan Xuanrou was momentarily stunned by those words. But upon further thought, it didn’t seem entirely wrong either.

“Mm, you might have a point… However, his strength is ranked ninth among the True Disciples. He’s very strong, and you’ve only just entered the ranks of the True Disciples.”

“Even if you’ve defeated Xia Qianliu, you still have to start from the lowest position. So you’re under no obligation to accept challenges from those ranked above.”

This was the first time Gu Fan had heard about the ranking mechanism among the True Disciples, but now, facing someone who was clearly overstepping boundaries, he wasn’t about to back down.

When had Gu Fan ever suffered a loss or admitted defeat?

If push came to shove, he’d just whip out a big treasure and show it to the other party—guaranteed they’d drop to their knees and start singing songs of surrender!

“I understand, Senior Sister Nan. If it were someone else, I might really be a bit worried. But facing this Senior Brother Xun Bo… I actually think I’ve got a chance.”

Xun Bo was directly amused by this, assuming Gu Fan was just putting on airs in front of Nan Xuanrou.

So he chuckled and said:

“Oh? Seems Junior Brother Gu is quite confident about defeating me?”

“Haha, it’s nothing really. If it were any of the other top ten True Disciples, I might truly be no match. But Senior Brother Xun Bo is different!”

Gu Fan laughed loudly. He never humored those who came looking for trouble.

“I heard that True Disciples generally don’t stay longer than twenty years. After that, most of them either break through to the Celestial Heart Realm and become special True Disciples like Senior Sister Nan—no longer ranked—”

“Or, if they fail to break through for many years, they can become Elders of the sect and contribute their strength as repayment.”

“But Senior Brother has stayed on for thirty years, unable to break through to the Celestial Heart Realm, unwilling to contribute to the sect either. Truly eye-opening!”

Xun Bo’s expression turned ugly. Thirty years wasn’t a long time for a cultivator.

But for a so-called genius, being stuck in the Solar Radiance Realm for thirty years was indeed rather long!

He had always claimed to be the most senior among the True Disciples, but he didn’t like being reminded of his age.

Now Gu Fan was bringing this up in front of so many people—he might look calm on the outside, but inside, he was already boiling with murderous rage!

“Oh? And what does that have to do with you accepting my challenge?”

“Of course it’s related!” Gu Fan smiled and said:

“In a duel between cultivators, what matters most? Aside from strength, it’s momentum.”

“Both I and Xia Qianliu possess the momentum and belief to suppress enemies and sweep through all opponents. I believe that most of the current True Disciples are filled with the drive to break through realms with unstoppable momentum.”

“But Senior Brother Xun is different. You’ve lingered in the position of True Disciple for thirty years, unwilling to repay the sect, still claiming seniority. With such a mindset, what momentum can you possibly have?”

“And the fact that you can, with a higher cultivation, shamelessly challenge those at a lower realm, only proves my point… Senior Brother Xun, you’ve already lost the pride and dignity that belong to a genius. How can you possibly maintain your momentum?”

After Gu Fan finished speaking, the spectators exchanged glances. Although they were jealous and envious of Gu Fan’s closeness with Nan Xuanrou,

they had to admit that what Gu Fan said wasn’t wrong. Xun Bo, a disciple who had lingered in the position of True Disciple for over thirty years without a breakthrough, had indeed long lost the forward-driving momentum.

To put it bluntly, even if he did break through to the Celestial Heart Realm later, his path afterward wouldn’t go far.

Seeing the crowd lost in thought, seemingly agreeing with Gu Fan’s logic, Xun Bo nearly burst with rage.

The smile and calm facade on his face gradually faded.

“Junior Brother Gu is so confident. It seems you’ve accepted my challenge?”

Nan Xuanrou frowned. This Xun Bo really was like a dead pig unafraid of boiling water. Things had escalated to this point, yet he was still pressing Gu Fan to accept the duel.

“Junior Brother Gu, you are ranked lower. You can refuse!”

But Gu Fan smiled and replied:

“Why refuse? I just said it. Among the top ten, Senior Brother Xun is the easiest to break through. If I don’t act fast, someone else might beat me to it!”

Those words made Xun Bo tremble all over with fury!

What did that make him?

A hot commodity? Something anyone could step on?

Gu Fan made it sound like his half-step Celestial Heart Realm was just for show, a decoration that anyone could toy with?

At this moment, Gu Fan looked solemnly at Xun Bo and said:

“Don’t be anxious, Senior Brother Xun. Your face is turning black.”

“I accept your challenge, but I’ll decide the timing—within one month!”

One month… Xun Bo sneered. Forget one month—even in a year, he didn’t believe Gu Fan could defeat him!

“Very well! Senior Brother will wait for you for one month. Let’s hope you don’t regret it, Junior Brother Gu!”

“Of course not. As for this one month—I’d like to warm up with Senior Brother Wan Peng.”

As he spoke, Gu Fan turned to Wan Peng with a grin and said:

“I remember someone just said, when a lower-ranked disciple initiates a challenge to a higher-ranked one, the higher rank cannot refuse?”

Nan Xuanrou nodded.

“That’s right.”

“In that case, Senior Brother Wan Peng, get ready for our challenge. I’ll come find you!”

Wan Peng’s face looked terrible, but with so many people watching, backing down was impossible—unless he never intended to mix in the sect again.

Thinking this, Wan Peng tried to act tough in front of Gu Fan and said:

“A fight it is. I’ll wait for you, Gu Fan!”

With that, he turned and left. Today was a particularly unlucky day for Wan Peng.

He failed to chat up Nan Xuanrou, got humiliated by Gu Fan, and in the end, even his senior brother got dragged in and embarrassed.

Thinking of all this, Wan Peng gritted his teeth.

“Senior Brother, that Gu Fan is way too arrogant. We must make him pay!”

With no outsiders around now, Xun Bo’s face twisted with rage. Clearly, he had been restraining himself the whole time.

“Hmph, no need to say more. I’ll teach him a proper lesson! Before that, gather information on this guy—find out if he has any complicated background. If there’s really nothing behind him… then I’ll cripple him during the ranking battle!”

Wan Peng nodded and said:

“Don’t worry, Senior Brother. I’ll investigate thoroughly!”

The two exchanged glances and saw the same killing intent in each other’s eyes!

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep