Chapter 16: Nine-grade Spiritual Root, Nothing More

As Chen Zhengdao landed.

Xu Zhengyan led Lu Zheng and the Xu family members out, kneeling on one knee to greet him.

"Welcome, honored Master of the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion!"

Chen Zhengdao smiled and nodded gently, "I am the Deputy Pavilion Master of the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion, Chen Zhengdao."

Deputy Pavilion Master?

Everyone present was shocked.

They had thought that it was just a deacon or someone similar coming.

Who knew, it was actually a Deputy Pavilion Master!

Everyone was both terrified and shocked.

The importance the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion placed on the Ninth-grade Spiritual Root far exceeded their expectations!

"Who here possesses the Ninth-grade Spiritual Root?"

Chen Zhengdao asked impatiently.

In one two-hour span, breaking through three levels in a row.

This was simply defying the heavens.

Everyone's gaze uniformly focused on Lu Zheng.

Envy, jealousy, joy, and other emotions converged, making Lu Zheng feel extremely proud.

He cupped his hands and said, "Junior Lu Zheng greets Deputy Pavilion Master Chen!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Zhengdao hurriedly stepped forward and personally helped him up, nodding repeatedly in praise.

"Not bad, not bad, a fine young man!"

Lu Zheng was flattered and overwhelmed.

He had never expected that Deputy Pavilion Master Chen would be so approachable, causing him to become more reserved.

Chen Zhengdao smiled, holding Lu Zheng's hand, "No need to be nervous, we could be considered half-countrymen."

"I am from the neighboring Biliu City. Thirty years ago, when it was detected that I had an Eighth-grade Spiritual Root, it shocked the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion."

"Thirty years later, you were detected to have a Ninth-grade Spiritual Root, shocking the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion once again."

"This is our destiny."

Everyone suddenly understood.

So Chen Zhengdao was the prodigy from Biliu City with the black Eight-grade Spiritual Root back then!

His initiative to forge a connection and draw in Lu Zheng was clearly understood by everyone present.

This meant that when Lu Zheng went to the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion, Chen Zhengdao would definitely look after him.

Lu Zheng's potential was infinitely bright!

Qin Changsheng excitedly clenched his fist, murmuring to himself, "I told you, I, Qin Changsheng, have never made a wrong choice in my life!"

"Clinging to Lu Zheng is my most correct decision in this life."

After chatting with Lu Zheng for a long time and becoming familiar with him, Chen Zhengdao finally got to the point.

Glancing at the members of the Xu Family kneeling on the ground, he said, "You may all rise."

Xu Zhengyan was the first to stand up and respectfully said, "Deputy Pavilion Master Chen, please come inside."

With that, everyone moved to the main hall.

Chen Zhengdao sat alone, while the rest stood at the sides of the hall, not daring to breathe loudly.

"Little Lu, I heard of the power of your Ninth-grade Spiritual Root on the way here."

Chen Zhengdao chuckled softly, "Even that cold girl from the Green Cloud Sect was moved to tears by you."

Hmm?

Lu Zheng was slightly bewildered.

The girl from the Green Cloud Sect?

Who was that?

Chen Zhengdao continued, "Could you demonstrate here how you operate your Spiritual Root and its marvels?"

Breaking through three levels in one two-hour span, the speed of absorbing Spiritual Energy was probably like a whale consuming seawater.

Lu Zheng nodded, stepping to the center of the hall.

The people from the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion wanting him to showcase himself was expected.

However, merely operating the Spiritual Root wouldn't fully demonstrate the power of his Ninth-grade Spiritual Root.

So, he already had a better idea.

"Deputy Pavilion Master Chen, could we change it to a sparring match instead?"

Without hesitation, Chen Zhengdao nodded, "Who do you wish to spar with?"

A true expert would be obvious from the first move.

In a bout, Lu Zheng could better showcase the uniqueness of the Ninth-grade Spiritual Root.

Lu Zheng chuckled coldly inside, pointing towards Jiang Fan, who stood calmly with his hands folded in his sleeves.

"Jiang Fan, do you dare to compete with me again?"

Oh?

Chen Zhengdao followed his finger and saw Jiang Fan.

Seeing that he couldn't speak and could only write to respond, he was surprised, "A mute?"

Lu Zheng explained, "Deputy Pavilion Master Chen, you may not know!"

"My beloved was taken away by him with a marriage contract. To win her back, I competed with him to see who could break through a level faster!"

"But he used underhanded methods to win."

"I was not convinced, so I wanted Deputy Pavilion Master Chen to witness how I take back my beloved honorably and openly."

This was asking the Deputy Pavilion Master to uphold justice.

The Deputy Pavilion Master, however, frowned slightly.

A mute, able to bully Lu Zheng, who had a Ninth-grade Spiritual Root?

Wang Yingfeng hurriedly stepped forward and said, "Reporting to Deputy Pavilion Master Chen, this is indeed the case."

"This Jiang Fan, relying on the kindness he once showed us, forced my eldest daughter to marry him."

"Out of gratitude, we swallowed our anger and had my daughter endure the humiliation and consent to marry."

"When my nephew tested as having a Ninth-grade Spiritual Root and wanted to win his beloved back, Jiang Fan used deception to win."

As she spoke,

she glanced at the Xu family members, coercing them to lie in support of Lu Zheng.

Perhaps out of conscience or fear of the Deputy Pavilion Master's authority, no one dared to speak.

However, Qin Changsheng quickly turned his eyes and immediately said, "Deputy Pavilion Master Chen, I guarantee with the credibility of the Qin family that this is true!"

With two people attesting, the Deputy Pavilion Master's expression turned slightly cold.

He looked at Jiang Fan with a hint of severity and said, "Using the pretext of kindness for forced marriage is no different from robbery!"

"Do you dare to compete with Lu Zheng for the love you cherish?"

Xu Youran was stunned.

It was clearly the Xu family who were ungrateful and changed the marriage arrangement.

How did it turn into Jiang Fan exploiting his kindness?

She opened her mouth to explain, but Jiang Fan stopped her from speaking further and wrote, "No need for more words!"

"What can be solved with fists doesn't need debate."

He then looked at Lu Zheng, wrote, "How do you want to compete?"

Lu Zheng arrogantly replied, "Naturally, it's a competition of strength! Do you have the guts to fight?"

Almost without hesitation.

Jiang Fan swiftly wrote with his pen, "Alright!"

Seeing this, Lu Zheng sneered in his heart.

Stupid and overestimating fool!

He was at the fifth layer of Qi Cultivation, and these past few days he had secretly practiced the Xu family's "Xu's Sword Technique."

And Jiang Fan?

He had merely lucked into breaking through to the third layer of Qi Cultivation by coincidence.

What could he use to win against him?

"Then let's begin!"

Lu Zheng drew his sword, pointing it at Jiang Fan from a distance.

Today!

He would step on Jiang Fan's face, take away Jiang Fan's woman, and show the world the power of the Ninth-grade Spiritual Root!

And Jiang Fan would be the stepping stone for his rise to the heavens!

Jiang Fan remained unafraid, calmly stepping to the center of the hall.

He casually made a beckoning gesture.

This arrogant gesture brought ridicule from Qin Changsheng:

"How ignorant does one have to be to provoke the Ninth-grade Spiritual Root?"

"He kept saying I would regret it; later, when he is lying on the ground like a dead dog, I will ask him if he regrets it!"

Chen Zhengdao also gently shook his head and sighed softly, "To dare to act so arrogantly in the face of a Ninth-grade Spiritual Root!"

"This kid is too conceited."

Such disdainful behavior further incited Lu Zheng's anger.

"You brought this upon yourself!"

Lu Zheng snorted coldly, using a move "Powerful Splitting Hua Mountain," channeling the strong Spiritual Power of his fifth layer of Qi Cultivation to slash ferociously.

Jiang Fan smiled.

After all this time, Lu Zheng had made no progress at all.

As the sword's shadow came down, Jiang Fan released Spiritual Energy of the sixth layer of Qi Cultivation!

His finger, imbued with Spiritual Energy, lightly flicked the sword blade.

The immense force, far beyond what Lu Zheng could withstand, instantly sent the sword flying from his hand.

Lu Zheng was stunned momentarily, not comprehending what had just happened as Jiang Fan switched his finger to a palm, striking towards his face.

Lu Zheng hastily channeled his Spiritual Power, roaring as he punched to meet the strike.

He attempted to knock Jiang Fan away, salvaging some dignity.

However.

The clash resulted in Lu Zheng's hundred-pound body being sent flying with a single palm strike, crashing into a tea table before coming to a stop.

The entire scene fell silent.

It was a deathly silence!

Only the sound of Jiang Fan dusting off his sleeves could be heard, along with the words he penned:

"A Ninth-grade Spiritual Root is nothing special."