Door of Luck and Fortune

Gu Fei was forcibly stopped in his tracks, realizing something from Ning Cheng's words. Ning Cheng was someone he had to kill. Ning Cheng was right, the king had promised in front of many that he wouldn't kill Ning Cheng without reason. But what if he had a reason?

With that thought, Gu Fei sneered and said, "Ning Cheng, you indeed have a way with words. I now challenge you for no reason but the slap you gave me. The duel platform is right there. If you dare not go, then crawl through from under grandfather's crotch first, and then talk about the ugly Ji..."

"Gu Fei, you're at Gathering Qi Level 3 and you dare challenge someone at Gathering Qi Level 1, do you not know shame?" Sister Zhuang said with a trace of anger in her voice.

Gu Yiming spoke calmly, "Sister Zhuang, I must speak fairly, not because Gu Fei is my brother. A student at Gathering Qi Level 1 daring to slap a student at Gathering Qi Level 3 on his own initiative—Gu Fei is abiding by the academy's rules by formally challenging Ning Cheng. Even if he killed Ning Cheng directly, it would be Ning Cheng's own fault."

Ning Cheng laughed loudly, interrupting Gu Yiming, "You two pieces of trash stop blabbering in front of me. It's just a challenge, and I accept."

Death loomed over him, but before his end, might as well take out Gu Fei and breathe easy.

"Ning Cheng, you're only at Gathering Qi Level 1, stepping onto the duel platform with Gu Fei is a road to death..." Zhuang Tianya knew Ning Cheng had no choice, yet she couldn't help but utter a word of caution.

Ning Cheng was of course clearer about his lack of options than anyone. He saluted Zhuang Tianya with a clasped fist and said, "Thank you, Sister Zhuang, for helping me a few times. If Ning Cheng has no opportunities, then so be it. But if I do, I will surely repay you."

"Hmph, nothing but trash that can only challenge those with lower cultivation. Have the guts to face me, Hou Chuan, instead." Another voice of disdain came.

Ning Cheng recognized the person, Hou Chuan, chosen by the Cang Qin Academy to join the Falling Star Academy, was a genius who only focused on cultivation. He had just arrived at the academy's gate and could not help but scornfully interject.

Gu Yiming's face turned ugly; had it been anyone else, he would have taught them a lesson by now. But facing Hou Chuan, he dared not act. Not only was Hou Chuan's cultivation not inferior to his own, but even Hou Chuan's current status was something he couldn't affront—would he dare touch a student of Falling Star Academy?

Ning Cheng saluted Hou Chuan with a fist and then said to Gu Fei, "You challenge me and I accept. As the challenged party, I naturally get to choose the rules of the duel."

Gu Fei said disdainfully, "Choose then, whatever type of duel you pick, I, Gu Fei, will accept."

"Fine, I'm at Gathering Qi Level 1, clearly it wouldn't be fair to have a magic fight. But I'm fairly confident in my speed. We'll race. Both of us start at the gate of Cang Le City and run towards Daan Forest. Whoever gets caught first must submit to being killed," Ning Cheng said as if it was nothing.

Once Ning Cheng had spoken, everyone understood—he intended to use this method to escape. But that seemed too far-fetched. If such a method could allow someone to escape, then what was the point of cultivation? Some of the onlookers even snickered, finding Ning Cheng's idea to be naïve.

Hou Chuan, however, shook his head after hearing this and quickly left the crowd, moving away swiftly. If it were him, he would die fighting Gu Fei on the duel platform to see who was superior, rather than concoct a means of escape to be humiliated and eventually killed anyway. Thus, he was no longer interested in Ning Cheng's duel, as he was planning to buy a few things in Cang Le City as a keepsake before heading to Huazhou.

Zhuang Tianya also shook her head speechlessly—she had not expected Ning Cheng to come up with such a childish plan. A Gathering Qi Level 1, no matter how fast, could outrun someone at Gathering Qi Level 3?

Gu Fei, too, understood Ning Cheng's intentions and sneered even more. Think you can escape from me? Dream on. He was actually not averse to Ning Cheng's method of dueling. Even if Ji Luofei's aunt only made an empty threat, they still had to maintain appearances. Moreover, the king of Cang Qin Country had already decreed that no one should trouble Ning Cheng without good reason.

Now that Ning Cheng wished to flee like a rat, he would chase him down to a place with no witnesses and kill him, and then claim that Ning Cheng had escaped. That was exactly what he wanted. He was certain that even if everyone knew he had killed Ning Cheng, no one would question his word afterward.

Sure enough, Gu Fei saw his brother, Gu Yiming, nod at him, clearly signaling him to finish off Ning Cheng where there were no onlookers.

"Good, I agree to your method of combat. Let's leave the city," Gu Fei said, a flash of murderous intent gleaming in the corner of his eye as he left first.

Ning Cheng heaved a sigh of relief. He was certain that Gu Fei would agree, but he feared others would see through his real cultivation level. If anyone knew he was at Gathering Qi Level 3 instead of Gathering Qi Level 1, no one would agree to a running race outside the city.

Zhuang Tianya no longer had the heart to watch Ning Cheng get killed, as she was about to leave Cang Qin Country and needed to speak with her family. However, those Cang Qin Country students with nothing better to do all wanted to see the spectacle, curious whether Gu Fei would kill Ning Cheng just after he started running.

...

The students of Cang Qin Academy held a high status in Cang Le City, and the crowd of students heading out of the city immediately caused a sensation. The road leading out was promptly cleared for them.

Half an hour later, the group finally left Cang Le City. Looking back at the age-old and unsophisticated Cang Le City, Ning Cheng's heart was filled with emotion. Even without obstruction, it had taken him more than an hour to leave the city. It was clear that even if he and Ji Luofei had managed to evade those two Gathering Qi Level 6 cultivators, it would have been impossible to safely leave Cang Le City. His previous thoughts had been too naïve.

"This is your last glimpse of Cang Le City in this lifetime. Take a look and run. Don't worry, I won't let you get far," Gu Fei said with a cold laugh as he saw Ning Cheng looking back at Cang Le City.

Ning Cheng couldn't be bothered with him; he turned back to the students who had come to watch and clasped his fists in a salute, then said, "The chase begins now. I'm leaving first. Gu Fei, if you can catch up with me, you're free to kill."

Having said that, Ning Cheng wasted no more words and bolted away. They were already outside the city; it would have been strange if he didn't run.

As Gu Fei and Gu Yiming watched Ning Cheng run, noting his posture, speed, and the strength of his qi, they realized they hadn't been mistaken—Ning Cheng was indeed trying to escape by such means. Unfortunately for Ning Cheng, with such a low level of cultivation, even an ordinary person at Gathering Qi Level 1 could easily catch up to him and kill him.

Gu Fei also told the onlookers, "I'm off to toy with a clown."

After finishing his taunt, his figure flashed forward, and in just a few movements, he had nearly caught up to Ning Cheng. However, instead of immediately stopping him, Gu Fei sent a wind blade flying. Instantly, a fresh wound opened up on Ning Cheng's back.

By this point, the crowd had lost interest in watching. Ning Cheng had naively thought he could escape, and now Gu Fei was just toying with him. What point was there in watching? Some students began to head back to the academy. They had followed only because they believed Ning Cheng truly had some means of escape. Seeing that he didn't, who would still want to watch?

Gu Yiming gave a fist salute to the crowd with a smile, "I'll go take a look."

After finishing his sentence, he leisurely followed behind, moving much slower than Ning Cheng, despite claiming he was going to watch.

There were no friends of Ning Cheng here. As the Gu brothers set out to kill someone at Gathering Qi Level 1, no one wanted to join the spectacle. If they went to see the outcome, wouldn't that be openly offending the Gu brothers? Gu Yiming's slow pace clearly indicated he wanted to see who would be indiscreet enough to follow.

After Ning Cheng endured several wind blades launched by Gu Fei, he finally picked up speed once Cang Le City was out of sight, but his breathing became even more strained.

Seeing Ning Cheng accelerate caught Gu Fei off guard, but he immediately sensed Ning Cheng's steps were unsteady. His qi was in chaos, he was running on sheer physical strength.

"Let's end this. Grandpa is tired of the chase," Gu Fei said, and accelerated as well, sending out a knife shadow.

Ning Cheng suddenly twisted around, retreating instead of advancing, and almost instantly, he dodged Gu Fei's knife shadow. His form closed in on Gu Fei's right side, and in a flash, he struck with a blade of fire.

Gu Fei had never taken Ning Cheng seriously, and seeing him suddenly speed up made him realize he had been deceived. Ning Cheng's reflexes and the momentum of his fire blade were definitely not that of someone at Gathering Qi Level 1—it was the prowess of someone at Gathering Qi Level 3. Even at Level 3, it was impossible to release a fire blade.

There was no time for Gu Fei to ponder how Ning Cheng had reached Gathering Qi Level 3. He hurriedly twisted his body trying to evade Ning Cheng's fire blade, but it appeared to have eyes, severing his arm and cutting through half his torso.

"Gu Fei, you're lucky today. I don't have time to slowly finish you off. I'll take care of your brother gradually in the future. Have another taste of my blade..."

As Ning Cheng unleashed another fire blade, he suddenly felt an extreme sense of danger.

With a "pff," at the moment his fire blade was about to split Gu Fei in two, he felt a tearing pain starting from his lower abdomen that quickly engulfed his whole body.

A sinking feeling in his heart, Ning Cheng immediately knew he had been ambushed. It was his lack of combat experience, thinking Gu Fei was certain to die and getting too close to him, that had caused this.

Although Gu Fei managed a sneak attack just before his death, he could no longer hold on and was split in half by Ning Cheng.

Ning Cheng, enduring his injuries, tore off his clothes and discarded them on the spot. Then he grabbed Gu Fei's corpse and sprinted forward, blood dripping behind him. After running several hundred meters, Ning Cheng unexpectedly turned back and took off in a different direction, fleeing at a speed more than ten times faster than Gu Fei's chase.

Ning Cheng knew very well that if he didn't hasten his escape, when Gu Yiming arrived, he would be truly doomed. Now he hung Gu Fei's knife on his back and, in a blaze, burnt one of Gu Fei's arms to a crisp. Then he burnt the rest of Gu Fei's body before heaving it into a large lake by the roadside.

(Monday's old request for recommendation tickets and collection support!)

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