Martial God Asura Chapters 81-85: Chu Feng's Humiliation and the One-Year Death Duel
The air in the Azure Dragon School's core zone plaza was thick with unspoken hierarchy and simmering power. For Chu Feng, Su Mei, and the members of the Wings Alliance, their arrival as new core disciples should have been a moment of triumph. Instead, it became the stage for a confrontation that would define their path and set a timer on a life. The imposing figure of Gong Luyun, the undisputed number one disciple, cast a long shadow over their aspirations, his decree against alliances in the core zone an unbreakable law delivered with cold finality.
Han Xue, a core disciple who shared history with Su Mei, approached with a face full of conflicted apology. “Little Mei, I know your feelings for the Wings Alliance run deep,” she said quietly, her eyes flickering toward the distant Gong Luyun. “But the situation here is different. Personal strength is all that matters. Senior Gong has spoken. Who dares not to follow?”
One by one, the Wings Alliance members, including Situ Yu, removed their badges with resigned faces, their earlier camaraderie crumbling under the weight of fear. Su Mei’s hand hesitated at her own badge, her heart warring with her sense of self-preservation. It was then that Chu Feng spoke, his voice cutting through the tense silence. “At the end, isn’t Gong Luyun just a disciple? How is he qualified to speak those words?”
The question hung in the air, a direct challenge to the established order. Han Xue’s eyes widened slightly at the audacity of the unfamiliar youth. Before she could formulate a reply, the atmosphere shifted. Gong Luyun himself was walking over, his presence causing the surrounding disciples to instinctively step back. His gaze, when it landed on Chu Feng, was devoid of any emotion save for mild contempt.
“I think the things that should have been said were said by Han Xue,” Gong Luyun stated, his tone absolute. “I’m giving you a choice. Take the badges off your chest, and I will act as if nothing happened.”
Su Mei, feeling the lethal pressure emanating from the man, slowly raised a trembling hand to comply. But Chu Feng’s hand shot out, gently grasping hers to stop her. He met Gong Luyun’s eyes. “Senior Gong, our Wings Alliance won’t affect others. Is there an absolute need to disband it?”
The response was not words, but violence. In a blur of motion, Gong Luyun’s palm sliced through the air toward Chu Feng’s face. Reacting on pure instinct, Chu Feng activated the Imperial Sky Technique, his body vanishing from the spot and reappearing ten meters away, a move that drew shocked murmurs from the crowd. But his speed, impressive as it was, meant nothing to a Profound realm expert. With a cold snort, Gong Luyun ghosted behind him. An overwhelming power engulfed Chu Feng, paralyzing him, before a crushing hand on his neck slammed him face-first into the solid stone of the plaza floor.
Bang! The impact sent cracks spider-webbing through the rock. Chu Feng’s body was embedded in the crater, held down by a force that felt like a mountain. “You remember this,” Gong Luyun’s voice dripped with disdain from above him. “In this core zone, no one dares to go against me. Those who do only have one ending. That’s to be like you, kneeling on the ground like a dog.”
Rage, pure and incandescent, burned through Chu Feng’s veins. He pushed against the ground with all his might, the Mysterious Technique roaring within his dantian, but it was futile. The pressure only increased, making each breath a struggle. “Senior Gong, we’ll disband the Wings Alliance! Please, let him go!” Su Mei’s tearful plea rang out as she frantically tore her badge off.
Gong Luyun ignored her, yanking Chu Feng up from the rubble. “Words of begging are useless from you. I need him to personally say that to me.”
Chu Feng, his face bloodied and caked with dust, met Gong Luyun’s eyes. Instead of submission, he gathered the fury and humiliation in his throat and spat. The phlegm flew with shocking speed and accuracy, landing squarely on Gong Luyun’s cheek with a wet slap.
A deathly silence fell over the entire plaza. Then, a roar of pure murderous intent erupted from Gong Luyun. “I will slaughter you!” His fist, carrying the full, bone-shattering power of the Profound realm, shot toward Chu Feng’s skull. The air cracked around it; the outcome seemed inevitable. Chu Feng braced for the end.
But the blow never landed. A withered, skeletal hand shot out and closed around Gong Luyun’s wrist, stopping the fatal punch dead. All eyes turned to the intervenor: Elder Li, the seemingly feeble old man who tended the gardens and greeted new disciples. The elder everyone looked down upon now held the number one disciple’s strike immobile.
“Gong Luyun, as the number one disciple, you should be protecting your juniors. What is this way of handling things?” Elder Li’s voice was calm, his gentle smile unnerving.
A power struggle ensued, not with grand techniques, but with sheer, terrifying strength. Gong Luyun tried to break free and found he could not. When Elder Li finally waved his arm, Gong Luyun was flung back several steps, his face a mask of fury and humiliation. “You are protecting him?” he seethed.
“Not protecting him. It’s just that I don’t want a good seed being killed by someone,” Elder Li replied.
The argument escalated, with Gong Luyun accusing the elder of interfering. “You’re saying that I’m using my long years of cultivation to bully his little years of cultivation?”
“If not that, then what?” Elder Li’s retort was a cold smile.
Enraged, Gong Luyun pointed a finger at the elder and then at Chu Feng. “Fine! I’ll give him ten years. In ten years, if he still cannot win against me, I will have you two kneeling on the ground and admitting your wrongs.”
Elder Li looked at Chu Feng, raising an eyebrow in question. Chu Feng, wiping blood from his lip, felt the weight of the public shame and the burning need for vengeance compress time itself in his mind. “Ten years is too long,” he declared, his voice ringing clear. “One year is enough.”
The plaza erupted in disbelieving chatter. Even Elder Li looked momentarily stunned. “Little friend, one year of time. Are you sure?”
“One year is enough,” Chu Feng stated firmly, “because I, Chu Feng, always take my revenge for enmity and I don’t like delaying it for too long.”
Gong Luyun’s angry laugh boomed across the grounds. “Haha, what an arrogant brat! One year it is. Don’t say that I was bullying you. After one year, you don’t need to defeat me. As long as you can take three of my attacks, I will say that you’ve won.”
Chu Feng’s smile was icy, his eyes promising death. “No. One year later, I will beat you to death.”
“A life-or-death match?” Gong Luyun sneered. “Scared?”
“Scared? Would I be scared of you?” Chu Feng shot back, sealing the pact before the entire core zone. Gong Luyun, feeding off the crowd’s anticipation, made a grand proclamation. “Today, I set a life-or-death battle with this person! One year later, at this same place, one battle will determine the winner! If he can block three of my attacks, I, Gong Luyun, will cut my throat right here!” He then pointed a menacing finger at Chu Feng. “But, one year later, if you cannot take three of my attacks, I will beat you to death and no one will be able to save you.”
With a final cold snort, Gong Luyun and his entourage departed, leaving Chu Feng standing amidst the wreckage of the plaza and the shattered remains of his pride. Su Mei rushed to him, her tears flowing anew. “Chu Feng, sorry, it’s my fault…”
“It’s nothing. They’re just minor wounds,” he reassured her, his thumb gently wiping her tears. His gaze then shifted to Situ Yu and the other former Wings Alliance members, who lingered at a safe distance, fear etched on their faces. He understood. “No need to fear,” Chu Feng said, his voice losing its earlier warmth. “Since we’re not Wings Alliance members anymore, we don’t have any relations between us. I won’t spread the trouble.”
His dismissal was cold and final. He did not want, nor need, their false companionship. As they scattered, Elder Li ambled over, his ancient eyes studying Chu Feng. “Little friend, with a year of time, how confident would you be in defeating Gong Luyun?”
Chu Feng offered a honest, wry smile. “I’ll be honest. The current me isn’t even ten percent confident.”
Elder Li’s eyes nearly bulged out of his head. “What? You’re not even ten percent confident yet you dared to set a life-or-death battle? Are you trying to trap me?”
“My confidence comes from pressure,” Chu Feng explained, his expression hardening. “One year later, if I don’t win, I die. Therefore, I must win.”
Shaking his head at the folly of youth, Elder Li posted the exam results. When the crowd saw “Unclear Talent” next to Chu Feng’s name, and heard the elder explain it was because he failed to activate the testing stone, their contempt returned in waves. “Trash,” the whispers said. Chu Feng ignored them. His gratitude to Elder Li would be shown not with words, but by winning that duel.
Back in his assigned residence, Su Mei pleaded with him. “Leave the Azure Dragon School. Come to my family. Let us protect you. You don’t know Gong Luyun’s background… even if you could win, you cannot kill him. His family would hunt you down.”
Her words, meant as salvation, felt like chains to Chu Feng. “What do you mean? You want me to be a turtle that has its head tucked in its shell?” The displeasure in his voice was palpable. He listened as she laid out the grim political reality, but it only stoked the fire within him.
He looked at her, and the words that came out were not just a reply, but a declaration of his very soul. “Ho. If it’s like that, not only will I kill him, I will annihilate his family.” He stepped closer, his voice dropping to a low, intense timbre. “Su Mei, I know you’re thinking for me, but I, Chu Feng, am never afraid. I am not afraid of dying, but I’m afraid of living cowardly. Since Gong Luyun humiliated me like this today, I will return the humiliation a hundred times back.”
His eyes blazed with an unyielding light. “No. I, Chu Feng, am a person that does not get bullied. No matter who it is, they should not even think about beating me down. I can endure a moment of humiliation, but I will never endure a lifelong of humiliation. All those who bully me will pay the price. Since Gong Luyun dared to bully me, I dare to kill him. If his family dares to bully me, I will exterminate his family. If everyone in the world dares to bully me, I will massacre everyone in the world. Unless I die, no one in the entire world should even think of bullying me, Chu Feng!”
Su Mei was left speechless, captivated and terrified by the sheer, uncompromising grandeur of his resolve. She saw he meant every word.
Determined to grow stronger immediately, they headed for the core zone’s Martial Skill Building. The news of their duel had spread like wildfire, and hostile, curious eyes followed them every step of the way. Inside the building, Chu Feng was drawn to a rank 5 martial skill scroll titled Bow of Hundred Transformations. It was a condensation skill, allowing the user to mold spiritual energy into any weapon form—blades, spears, whips—with the ultimate form being a bow that could fire spiritual energy arrows over vast distances. Its difficulty was legendary, which made it perfect for him.
After registering for the skill, they exited the building only to find their path blocked by over twenty core disciples, their expressions malicious. These were bottom-tier disciples, mostly at the 8th and 9th level of the Spirit realm, seeking to curry favor with Gong Luyun by punishing his new enemy.
“Chu Feng offended senior Gong,” one of them sneered at Su Mei. “We’re here to give this arrogant brat a lesson. Step away, or we can’t blame us for harming you.”
Chu Feng laughed, a sound full of disdain. “You’re giving me a lesson to help Gong Luyun, or are you using that as an excuse so Gong Luyun would have a better impression of you? Trash are indeed trash.”
The insult triggered them. One disciple lunged, his clawed hand aimed at Chu Feng’s throat. Bam! Chu Feng’s hand snapped up, catching the wrist in an iron grip. Before the attacker could react, Chu Feng twisted down, then kicked out. Two sickening snaps echoed—the arm and then the knee—leaving the disciple writhing and howling on the ground.
Whoosh! Chu Feng became a blur, appearing before another disciple and driving a fist into his jaw, shattering it. “Cripple this bastard!” the mob roared, launching a coordinated assault with a variety of martial skills.
A cold smile touched Chu Feng’s lips. “Nice timing.” In his eyes, a flash of lightning appeared. Then, his body erupted.
Bzzzz~~~!
A sunburst of brilliant, violent lightning exploded from him, forking out in every direction like enraged serpents. The light was blinding, the force repulsive. Observers cried out, shielding their eyes and stumbling back. When the dazzling light and the deafening crackle faded, the scene that greeted them was one of stunning defeat.
All twenty-odd attackers were strewn across the ground, their bodies scorched black, robes smoldering, as they rolled and screamed in agony. In the center stood Chu Feng, unblemished, not a speck of dust on his clothes. He swept his chilling gaze over the groaning figures. “You are not qualified to give me a lesson.” His eyes then lifted to the crowd of onlookers, who shivered and retreated under its intensity. Without another word, he left with Su Mei, the whispers exploding behind him.
“Heavens! That aura… that wasn’t a Spirit realm disciple’s power!” “That skill… it looked like the Three Thunder Styles!” “But that’s a rank 4 skill! That was rank 5 power!” “Don’t you know? If one masters the legendary third style, it becomes a rank 5 skill!” The implication was earth-shattering. Chu Feng had potentially achieved what only the school’s founder had done.
Unseen by Chu Feng, two figures observed his departure from a shadowed corner: a man and a woman, their auras solidly within the Origin realm, their eyes sharp and calculating. “Hehe, it seems like this guy isn’t simple,” the man murmured. “That was indeed the third style. It seems the person Leng Wuzui wants us to find is him.”
The pair were Gao Le and Liu Bing, former names on the prestigious Azure Dragon Leaderboard who now served the mysterious Leng Wuzui—the only disciple in the school known to possess Spirit power, a genius ranked third and forever lurking in Gong Luyun’s shadow.
Meanwhile, Chu Feng, having parted ways with Su Mei, did not return to his residence. The need for strength was urgent, but so was the need for purpose. He left the confines of the Azure Dragon School, aiming for his hometown, Leaning Mountain Town. He would plant the Azure Dragon Banner there himself, a tangible symbol of his progress for his family to see. It was a moment of personal pride, a brief mission of light before returning to the all-consuming darkness of his training and the deadly countdown that had begun.
He moved with purpose, unaware that the moment he passed through the school gates, two figures detached themselves from the shadows and began to follow with silent, predatory grace. Gao Le and Liu Bing, agents of Leng Wuzui, melted into the landscape behind him. Danger no longer just waited for him in a year, or lurked in the core zone’s plazas. It was now on the road with him, tracking his every step into the world beyond. The battle for survival, and the long road to vengeance, had truly begun the moment Gong Luyun pressed his face into the stone, and every path forward was now lined with hidden blades.