It was not that Mei Hongli was sent out by the punch. That figure was only an Illusion Clone: a trademark ability of those from Mei Clan.
The Illusion Clone allowed users to create clones that bore an uncanny resemblance to their real selves. Depending on how the user wielded the power, the strength of the clones varied.
But even with this power, the clones were never as strong as the original. They were merely pawns that could be used for invasion or as a distraction in close combat.
The strength and number of clones relied entirely on the amount of Theríon the user employed. As one's mastery of this ability improved, the Theríon used to create the clones diminished, like how Second Elder could create thousands of clones while his son would only be able to create a few at a time.
Although Feng Luotian had struck a mere clone, it still generated another Evil Cyclone for him to harness.
Just as he evaporated the clone, a blue sweep of light flashed past his neck, alerting him to the imminent danger.
Before long, Mei Hongli emerged from the right side and swept the sword towards his neck.
Feng Luotian jumped up to avoid the attack and gave a whip kick to Mei Hongli. But even before the kick made contact, he knew what was coming next, muttering with confidence, "This one too, I guess."
As expected, the figure dissolved into an aurora light, leaving no trace behind.
Succeeding the two exchanges, another blue slash of light manifested even faster than before, crossing from his head down to his crotch.
At this rate, Feng Luotian would be split in half by the slash.
Buzz. Thunder.
His body was suddenly enveloped in a golden aura, crackling with lightning that seemed to radiate an even greater pressure than before.
"Hmph!! Nothing will be effective if you are not fast enough!!" Feng Luotian flashed and disappeared, leaving the slash hit nothing but air.
"What? How?!" Mei Hongli's attack missed, and he was left to wonder how his opponent had managed to dodge it.
The one who attacked just now was the real Mei Hongli. He thought that, with two Illusion Clones distracting his enemy, he should be able to land a decisive hit.
And as a matter of fact, Mei Hongli was right.
If Feng Luotian had not activated Pinnacle Flash Lightning, he would have a difficult time dodging the attack.
With his new speed, his figure was nowhere to be found. The only thing Mei Hongli saw was streaks of lightning traveling back and forth.
He was now moving at the speed that the cultivators under Eight Fangs could not hope to track with their eyes.
If Mei Hongli was to fight like this, there was no way he could deliver a single hit. He was getting anxious and challenged his opponent: "Come out and face me directly if you have the guts to do it!!"
"Okay." Feng Luotian plainly replied.
Right after that, Feng Luotian sent his three Evil Cyclones to attack all Mei Hongli's weak points.
When Mei Hongli was busy protecting himself from the cyclones, a flash of lightning appeared behind him.
Following that, four impacts sounded.
A punch to the stomach.
A kick to the right leg.
A kick to the left temple.
And a punch to the face.
Four attacks were made in a split second. And Mei Hongli was lying still outside of the exam site. He did not even see Feng Luotian's shadow or even know what hit him.
"Hmph!! Too weak!!" Feng Luotian contemptuously snarled.
The crowd outside the exam site was stunned for a moment before rumbling the entire area with cheers. Their admiration was too much to keep inside their hearts.
Mei Hongyi hurried over to his son's side and treated his injury. Seeing how brutal his son had suffered, the rage inside was more than he could suppress: "FENG LUOT—"
"Do you have to be that angry? One part of it is your own fault for not restricting the fight among humans. Earlier your son's men also sent someone out with the same level of cruelty." Before Mei Hongyi's rage could go beyond his reason, Peacock Lord interrupted.
A flat comment from Peacock Lord stopped Mei Hongyi from going out of control: "That's not …"
Surely, Mei Hongyi could not act as he pleased when such a figure was around. He wished to explain but could not find an excuse to justify his son because it was exactly as Peacock Lord said.
"I agree with you that Tian'er has gone overboard with his punches. I will reprimand him and punish him accordingly." Peacock Lord added.
"Thank you for your understanding, Clan Chief."
Although Mei Hongyi did not believe that Peacock Lord would really punish Feng Luotian—now that the boy was one of the most talented younglings in Divine Bird City, and he was Peacock Lord's favorite, to begin with—Mei Hongyi had no choice but to let this go now and get back to him afterward.
"Lord Father, I have questions." Peacock Lord turned to Mei Hengkong.
"You want to ask me about the brat's aura and skill." Mei Hengkong knew what his son wanted right away.
"Yes, Lord Father. I know full well about his origin. But the aura he unleashed was not the same as his predecessors. Also, that movement skill, I've never seen anything like it. Even more, I've seen that cyclone's ability before, but it's nothing related to his supposed-to-have bloodline ability." Peacock Lord analyzed.
"There are many skills that can increase the speed of oneself by several folds. He might obtain it from someone outside the city. And although that cyclone might look exactly like the one which the cultivators of Evil Wind Dusk Chasing Owl bloodline produce, there are still thousands of skills that we did not know. There might be some skill that yields the same result but is different from the mentioned ability by their most fundamental things like activation requirements." Mei Hengkong gave his own thought.
"…" Peacock Lord was silent and kept listening.
Mei Hengkong continued: "What's really strange is his aura. One's aura represented one's bloodline. Different aura means different bloodlines. There is no way one would have a different bloodline than their parents."
"Yes, that's what I thought too." Peacock Lord affirmed.
Mei Hengkong commented more: "His way of dodging the attack, along with his eyes flashing blue, that's definitely Blue-Eyes Heavenly Royal Swan's Momentum Eyes. That means he's still got his mother's bloodline. However, that purple aura radiating from him was neither one of his parents' bloodlines."
"Mhm." Peacock Lord nodded approvingly.
"Maybe he created his own bloodline?" Peacock Lady casually gave her own opinion, whatever came to her mind first.
"Impossible!!"
Peacock Lord and Mei Hengkong simultaneously said.
Mei Hengkong felt like teaching his daughter-in-law, so he explained in detail: "Xue'er, to create one's own bloodline means becoming a progenitor of one bloodline. That requires more than just thousands of years of experiment and research."
"They also need an original Theríon from the twelve divine beasts, which in the current world is practically impossible to find anymore."
"More than that, they will lose their former ability once a new bloodline is formed. To create a new bloodline while retaining the ability of the former bloodline was just unheard of. Even he, the God, cannot do it!!"
Mei Xue'er accepted the explanation but still insisted on her point of view: "I'm just saying. Anything might be possible. Tian'er is his son, after all."
Peacock Lord and his father became silent, exchanging glances and thinking about the possibility. But in the end, they rejected the idea by shaking heads. After all, the boy was just fourteen.