Chapter 216: Senior Brother is So Amazing

Chapter 216: Chapter 216: Senior Brother is So Amazing

’Why does this feel so strange?’

At the entrance to the back mountain, Liu Chen narrowed his eyes. He couldn’t shake the feeling that the bamboo forest ahead was different from before. A faint hostility seemed to emanate from it.

"It should be—"

Just as Ye Linglong was about to speak, she felt the world spin around her. When her vision cleared, she saw her smiling Master at her side, along with Ji Suyao, who looked just as bewildered.

"What is this?"

Ye Linglong couldn’t help but ask. It was the first time she had been whisked away like this, without any warning at all.

"Watch carefully."

Bai Qiulan said nothing more, simply tossing the black Jade Bracelet in her hand into the air. An image immediately appeared before them.

In the image, Liu Chen was narrowing his eyes, staring in astonishment at the spot where his two junior sisters had just been.

’Master and his wife aren’t this bored, so an accident must have happened. Since Purple Bamboo Peak is peaceful, the problem must be here on the back mountain. They took my two junior sisters away to prevent me from being affected... It must be the Mo Family.’

Liu Chen muttered to himself for a moment before stepping into the bamboo forest. He decided he would go a little easy on them. He didn’t know the full situation, but with Purple Bamboo Peak itself being completely normal, whoever set this up on the back mountain couldn’t truly be an enemy.

Of course, that was on the condition that his opponents were within his ability to handle. If he were up against a Qi Refining Realm cultivator, for example, Liu Chen would definitely bolt without a second thought.

Liu Chen took a step forward, as if passing through a barrier. A figure stood quietly on the path not far ahead. With a quick scan, Liu Chen saw that the man was a Meridian Passage Peak Cultivator.

"Only Body Tempering Middle Stage... I thought my own strength was the worst, that I had the least chance of becoming the Young Master’s disciple. I never thought you’d be..."

The black-robed youth hadn’t finished speaking when Liu Chen, who had been standing right in front of him, vanished. The next thing he knew, something smashed against his head. The world spun, and then everything went dark.

Liu Chen stood behind the youth, looking at the wound on his head. He glanced hesitantly at the miniature Profound Cauldron in his hand, which he had formed with his Mystic Cauldron Technique. Since he had already figured the man was from the Mo Family, Liu Chen had reduced the technique’s power.

That last strike didn’t even have thirty percent of its usual power, but this youth sprawled on the ground looked as if he was on the verge of death.

After a moment of observation, Liu Chen sensed the man’s Spiritual Power falling into disarray.

’He’s not faking it!’

Once he confirmed the man wasn’t faking, Liu Chen sighed in resignation. He had no choice but to heal the man’s injuries with a Recovery Technique. Then, just before he woke up, Liu Chen used the Dragon Locking Skill to hang him from a nearby stalk of Cyan Bamboo.

’So weak.’

Liu Chen shook his head and continued walking. It wasn’t long before a second figure appeared within range of his Spiritual Sense. Except for the face, the man’s clothes and aura were identical to the first opponent.

’There might be a gap in their strength, but they all feel like they’re on the same level to me. Under normal circumstances, I would just kill them outright, but these are supposed to be members of the Mo Family.’

’Killing is out of the question. If I’m not mistaken, my Master, his wife, and even members of the Mo Family are watching from the shadows right now. The best I can do is incapacitate them without dealing a fatal blow.’

This was what annoyed Liu Chen. The problem wasn’t that his enemies were too strong, but that they were too weak. Even though they were all at the Meridian Passage Peak, Liu Chen felt he could take on at least a hundred cultivators of their caliber.

And that was without even considering wide-area-of-effect spells like the Celestial Thunder Technique, which could probably annihilate a whole crowd of them with a single cast.

’I have to show my strength but also keep them from dropping dead... Looks like the Dragon Locking Skill is my only option.’

Liu Chen shook his head and melted into the shadows, reappearing in the shade of a bamboo stalk near the second figure. With a flick of his finger, nine dragon-shaped chains instantly bound the man, who was still meditating with his eyes closed, and left him hanging upside down beneath the Cyan Bamboo.

After accomplishing this, Liu Chen’s figure vanished once more.

Inside the Bamboo Garden, Mo Jinyu watched the unfolding scene and had a bad feeling. As she saw it, a mere Body Tempering Middle Stage Cultivator had just used a floating Profound Cauldron to nearly beat the Mo Family’s seventh-ranked prodigy of this generation to death.

Then, he had used a single Binding Spell to capture the sixth-ranked one, who hadn’t even sensed anything amiss from start to finish. His Spiritual Power was sealed, and he was left to hang from a Cyan Bamboo stalk, swaying in the wind.

"Senior Brother is amazing."

Ji Suyao, standing behind Bai Qiulan nearby, couldn’t help but exclaim. Ye Linglong said nothing, but her wide eyes betrayed her astonishment.

They understood now what was going on. The Mo Family had come to test their Senior Brother’s abilities, but from the looks of it, these Mo Family Disciples were utterly fragile.

The moment Ji Suyao finished speaking, Mo Jinyu’s eyes fell upon her. As much as she hated to admit it, the girl’s thoughts mirrored her own. But she was representing the Mo Family right now, and she couldn’t voice such an opinion.

So, Mo Jinyu could only offer a helpless smile before looking away.

Mo Xuan and Bai Qiulan, however, were less surprised. They simply watched the scene calmly. Liu Chen had already been at Meridian Passage Peak when he left for the Great Xia Imperial City. And while he was still at the same stage now, the spiritual fluctuations he radiated were worlds apart from those of the ordinary Mo Family Disciples.

It would be stranger if he *couldn’t* win. Right now, Mo Xuan and Bai Qiulan were only curious whether Liu Chen was going all out.

While the observers were lost in thought, Liu Chen appeared behind the final person. If the previous six felt like they were all in the same echelon, this last one felt a bit stronger to him.

Based on that, Liu Chen figured he could handle at most ten Meridian Passage Peak Cultivators of this caliber.

To be on the safe side, Liu Chen cast the Dragon Locking Skill twice, sending a total of eighteen dragon-shaped chains to bind his opponent securely.

"All done!"

After hanging this final Mo Family Disciple from a Cyan Bamboo, Liu Chen finally breathed a sigh of relief.

’This last disciple seems a bit stronger than the others,’ Liu Chen thought. ’Even while bound, he can still send out his Spiritual Sense to probe my cultivation. In a real life-and-death fight, he’d be the first one I’d have to eliminate.’

"Come to the Bamboo Garden."

His Master’s voice echoed from the distance. Liu Chen felt the dense fog around him begin to dissipate. He wasn’t sure what had happened; the once-scenic back mountain was now shrouded in a thick mist, and he didn’t like the feeling at all.

After hearing his Master’s voice, Liu Chen glanced hesitantly at the Mo Family Disciples swaying in the breeze behind him. He walked a few steps, then snapped his fingers. All the Dragon Locking Skills were instantly undone, and the disciples plummeted to the ground.

"Monster!"

The Mo Family Disciple who had just climbed to his feet stared at Liu Chen’s departing back and muttered in resignation. He was the strongest of the Mo Family’s Meridian Passage Realm disciples, yet while he was bound just now, he couldn’t muster even a shred of Spiritual Power.

It was the most despairing moment he had ever experienced in his entire cultivation journey.