Stretch their muscles?
"Oh…"
Ye Feng let out a light chuckle.
Let us two old men know who we really are?
"Heh…"
He laughed again, this time genuinely amused.
So, this was their game. Qianmu and Bai Lie clearly didn't want to hand over Jia Nan Academy's Fallen Heart Flame without trying one last move. If Ye Feng proved overwhelmingly powerful, they'd admit defeat and surrender the flame. But if he wasn't? Then why give up such a precious treasure?
They wanted to test the waters, to gauge his strength without triggering his wrath. Clever. Very clever.
Ye Feng saw right through it.
"These two old foxes…" he thought to himself, bemused.
Still, he didn't object. He could play along.
Seeing Ye Feng remain silent, Qianmu cautiously asked, "Senior, is that… acceptable?"
"Arrange it," Ye Feng said.
"Arrange?" Bai Lie echoed.
"Yes." Ye Feng's voice was calm, but the pressure in it was unmistakable. "Since you've made this request, I'll allow it. Go ahead. Stretch your muscles."
As his voice fell, Ye Feng's body slowly rose into the air.
Qianmu and Bai Lie followed, rising up until all three floated mid-sky, facing each other from a distance above Heping Town.
"To avoid collateral damage, should we change locations?" Bai Lie offered politely. "After all, the town is right below us—"
"No need," Ye Feng cut him off. "You can begin now. Don't waste my time."
"…Very well."
Bai Lie nodded, and the fiery red fighting spirit on his body flared to life.
With a cry, he unleashed a roaring fire dragon, surging through the sky toward Ye Feng.
But Ye Feng merely raised a hand. A massive gray energy palm formed in the air and slapped downward—effortless, casual.
Boom!
The fire dragon was extinguished in an instant.
"Wood Bind!"
Qianmu struck next. Green spirit energy pulsed from his body, and the surrounding space twisted. Vines erupted from the air, twining around Ye Feng's limbs like venomous serpents. The thorny entanglement twisted and pulled, trying to tear him apart.
"Haha! Got him!" Bai Lie exclaimed.
"Naïve," Ye Feng replied coldly.
With a slight tug, he snapped the vines like they were dried twigs. His body radiated with Qi Gang, and a swirling shield of power burst around him, sharp and suffocating. The pressure alone sent gusts sweeping across the sky.
Then, he pointed a single finger at Bai Lie.
BOOM!
The air itself cracked with sound. From over a hundred meters away, Bai Lie was slammed backward by the sheer pressure of that one pointed finger.
Ye Feng didn't stop there.
With a simple motion of his hand, an invisible giant palm materialized above Qianmu.
Earth-Rank Intermediate Fighting Skill: Tree King Possession!
Qianmu's green fighting spirit condensed into a massive tree to shield himself. Its towering branches stretched wide, glowing with power.
But the invisible palm crushed it instantly.
CRACK!
The Tree King shattered like glass. Qianmu barely had time to react before the massive palm slammed him to the ground.
BOOM!
A thunderous impact followed as the giant palm embedded itself into the earth. A deep crater formed beneath it, with Qianmu lying inside—his bones broken in more than twenty places.
PFFF!
He coughed up blood, his face pale as a sheet.
Bai Lie wasn't faring much better. The impact from Ye Feng's earlier finger strike had hurled him over a thousand meters, straight into the side of a mountain.
CRASH!
The solitary peak trembled, half of it collapsing. Rubble buried Bai Lie beneath its weight.
Even watching from afar, Su Qian—himself a Two-Star Dou Zong—felt his throat go dry.
He had sensed Ye Feng's terrifying presence… but this? This was beyond anything he had imagined. These two—Qianmu and Bai Lie—had already stepped into the Half-Venerable realm, yet they couldn't even resist.
BANG! BANG!
Ye Feng moved his hands again, casually sending shockwaves across the battlefield.
Both elders were slammed again into the ground.
"Stop… that's enough…" Qianmu gasped, clutching his chest in pain. Fear was written clearly across his face.
But Ye Feng was far from done.
BANG!
He raised his hand and sent Qianmu flying once more. The man soared through the sky before crashing into the earth, carving a man-shaped pit into the soil.
"Done stretching your muscles?" Ye Feng asked sarcastically, his expression unreadable.
He pointed again.
BOOM!
Bai Lie, who had just managed to climb from the rubble, was pinned back down by a colossal energy palm. The street of Heping Town quaked under the blow, forming yet another bottomless crater.
From the depths of the hole came Bai Lie's weak voice.
"…Stretched… thank you… Senior…"
Ye Feng hovered above in silence. Then, he asked plainly, "Now… do you know who you are?"
"We know… we know who we are…" Qianmu muttered from the dirt.
"I also know who I am…" Bai Lie added weakly.
Ye Feng turned his gaze to Su Qian.
"Then… about the Fallen Heart Flame?"
Su Qian's entire body trembled.
Ye Feng's power… was simply too terrifying. Even if Mang Tianchi were here, he wasn't sure they'd stand a chance.
"The Fallen Heart Flame… is yours," Su Qian said, bowing respectfully. "But… we cannot simply deliver it to you. It has already developed intelligence."
"Understood," Ye Feng said with a nod.
Then he raised his hand and shouted:
"Fallen Heart Flame—come!"
BOOM!
Thousands of miles away, in a massive meteorite crater hidden deep in the mountains, the ground suddenly shook. Fierce winds howled.
That place—the Inner Courtyard of Jia Nan Academy—was built atop the Fallen Heart Flame's resting ground.
BOOM!
The tremor was so powerful that even Heping Town felt the impact.
"The Fallen Heart Flame…" Su Qian murmured. "It's awakening."
BOOM! BOOM!
The earth continued to quake for nearly half a minute.
Suddenly, Ye Feng's brow furrowed. "Tch. Still sealed."
He extended a hand, gathering energy.
"Let me help you."
BANG!
A tremendous chaotic palm struck down from above, shattering the seal that had confined the Fallen Heart Flame for years.
A brilliant streak of light burst out.
From the crater in the Inner Courtyard, a milky-white rainbow shot through the sky, arcing across the horizon at unimaginable speed.
Moments later, it arrived in Heping Town.
It was flame—but not any ordinary flame.
It danced like a serpent, pulsed like a heart, and exuded an aura of intelligence and fury.
It was the 14th-ranked Heavenly Flame on the Heavenly Flame Ranking—
The Fallen Heart Flame.