"I perfectly know why you're in the Continent of the Gods," Yan Ran Xue said when she saw Si Ma Yan was ready to do anything to win. He was going into a frenzy.
Si Ma Yan shivered. He couldn't believe how strong Yan Ran Xue she was. She smiled indifferently and said slowly, "Si Ma Yan, the Si Ma Clan will never rule. Don't hope too much. It's useless."
"Who are you?" asked Si Ma Yan telepathically.
The crowd saw they seemed to be chatting, but they didn't know what they were saying. When they saw Si Ma Yan looked unhappy, they guessed Yan Ran Xue had said something which made him very angry.
"Who are you? Who are we?" replied Yan Ran Xue, smiling.
Si Ma Yan was alarmed. He was used to being the most mysterious person when he was here. Usually nobody knew who he was. Now there was someone who knew him here. He never thought someone would find him here.
Maybe they even knew what he was planning. Now, it was useless to continue. Thinking about that, Si Ma Yan looked even glummer. Yan Ran Xue had really infuriated him. He wanted to kill her. He didn't care whether she was a woman or not.
But Si Ma Yan also knew that he couldn't underestimate her, either. If he killed Yan Ran Xue, it would be a disaster. If he made even a little mistake, his identity would be revealed, and that would be a catastrophe.
"I surrender," said Si Ma Yan, after thinking for a long time. He decided to stop participating in the competition.
When Si Ma Yan said that, everybody was astonished and looked at him with their eyes wide. Bai Qi was also astonished and looked at him with his eyes wide as well, before taking half a step backwards. He knew he wouldn't be the champion anymore, against all expectations.
But after his battle against Lin Feng, he had already understood he had less and less chance to become the champion. He had decided to rely on Si Ma Yan, and now Si Ma Yan had given up, his decision influenced the whole Gods Government.
Si Ma Yan's decision pissed the leader of the Gods Government off so much that he left. He knew his son couldn't become the champion anymore, and now Si Ma Yan had given up, the Gods Government had nothing to do here anymore.
Now, it was all between Godsland and Gods City. Nobody would have thought Gods City would make it so far and that the Gods Government would be eliminated first. It was the first time something like this had happened at the competition.
After Bai Qi's loss to Lin Feng, the Gods Government already knew they had less and less chance to win.
The other members of the Gods Government also decided to leave. Only a few people remained: Bai Qi, Zhao Yang Chang, Chu Lian Ying, and a few other people.
———-
People were still astonished that Si Ma Yan had given up because of Yan Ran Xue.
Two of the five battles were already over. The results were unexpected. First, Huang Nü and Meng Qing had battled and their battle had ended up in a draw. Then Si Ma Yan and Yan Ran Xue had fought, and when everybody thought Si Ma Yan would use his full strength to win, he had instead given up.
After that, Young Emperor Tian Fan and Yan Chang were going to fight, as well as Yan Di and Fu Su Rong. Bai Qi and Lin Feng were also supposed to fight again.
The crowd was excited to see the next duels. Young Emperor Tian Fan against Yan Chang… they were both from Dynasties, the Celestial Evolution Holy Dynasty against the Celestial Emperors Dynasty. Then Yan Di would fight against Fu Su Rong. Some people called that battle Fu Su Rong's second duel, because the first one was during the Gods List.
The crowd was also excited to see Bai Qi fight against Lin Feng again.
The three next battles would take place at the same time. Six people were going to fight. By having the battles take place at the same time, they would save time and allow everybody to avoid awkward situations.
No matter who the champion of the Three Party Competition would be, during the last round, the largest number of people would get eliminated at the same time.
——-
The competition stopped temporarily. Lin Feng and everybody else went back to their residence. Yan Di and Yan Chang went to the palace at the front, as well as Hou Qing Lin, Ruo Xie and Lin Feng's other fellow disciples. Since Lin Feng had shown up again, they wanted to see him.
Huang Nü was injured, and Meng Qing was in a coma, so they didn't come to the palace. Qing Feng and Huang Nü had been sent back to the Celestial Evolution Battlefield by the Vermilion Bird.
At that moment, nobody felt the pressure, nobody had doubts about Lin Feng, so the situation was different from when he was still Zhu Tian.
"Haha! I knew it! Young Master Zhu Tian was so powerful, I knew it had to be Brother Lin!" said Han Da Li, laughing loudly. He was so happy to see Lin Feng, and he wasn't surprised that Zhu Tian was Lin Feng at all.
Lin Feng smiled back at Han Da Li. They all sat down.
"Dad, why didn't you tell us you were back? Why did you have to pretend you were Zhu Tian?" said Lin Zhe Tian. He didn't understand. Actually, everybody else wanted to ask the same question.
Lin Feng didn't know whether he could tell everybody that Xuan Yuan the Demon Emperor was still alive or not. He just knew it was part of a very important plan.
As Lin Feng didn't know what to say, an ice-cold voice came from outside. "Tell them. It's alright. Everybody will find out sooner or later."
Everybody turned around and saw Xu Gan. He seemed exhausted, travel-worn, and weary as if he had endured the hardships of a long journey.
Someone brought a chair for Xu Gan and put it at the table. Xu Gan sat down next to Lin Feng. He drank a few cups of tea and took a deep breath. He said to the crowd, "The reason why Lin Feng had to be incognito is because of my fellow disciple."
"Your fellow disciple?" repeated Godly Emperor Du Hu. Even the Vermilion Bird raised her head and looked at Xu Gan; she was extremely curious about Xu Gan's identity and background.
"My fellow disciple is Xuan Yuan the Demon Emperor," said Xu Gan indifferently.
"What?"
"How is that possible?"
"Your fellow disciple is Xuan Yuan?"
Xu Gan hadn't thought mentioning his fellow disciple would have such an impact on people. Everybody gasped in amazement.
Xu Gan hadn't been out in the outside world for a long time, he didn't know his fellow disciple was so famous here.
Seeing everybody's amazement, he was stunned. So if Xu Gan's fellow disciple was Xuan Yuan… Who was Lin Feng for Xuan Yuan?
Only a few people knew that Lin Feng had inherited knowledge from Xuan Yuan: Yan Di, Lin Zhe Tian, the Vermilion Bird, and the Black Tortoise. The Black Tortoise knew because he had seen Lin Feng's blood pills.
"Incredible," said Godly Emperor Du Hu after a long time. He was of the same generation as Xuan Yuan the Demon Emperor, but because he was less talented than him, back then they didn't have the opportunity to get to know each other. Now he only had the strength of the third Godly Emperor Layer.
Xuan Yuan had been considered as a criminal later. If he hadn't though, he would have become the strongest cultivator of the continent, Tian Di wouldn't have had that privilege. However, nobody dared talk about that in public.
"So, what you mean is… the Demon Emperor is…?" asked the Vermilion Bird stridently. Everybody understood what she meant.
"My fellow disciple isn't dead, but he can't show up for the time being. Therefore, we sent Lin Feng to investigate and assess the situation. Now, my fellow disciple is waiting for a good opportunity."
"I see," said the Vermilion Bird. Everybody nodded. The atmosphere became heavy.
After a long silence, a metallic female voice rose from outside. "Miss Yan Ran Xue would like to invite Young Master Zhu Tian to come to the pavilion!"
A woman in white clothes appeared in front of the palace at the front. She curtsied in front of Lin Feng and smiled, "Young Master Zhu Tian, you're invited to come to the pavilion."
"Yan Ran Xue invited you…?" whispered Yan Di.
Lin Feng looked pensive. He glanced at Tang You You. Tang You You nodded, meaning she let him go. Lin Feng raised his head and answered, "Please lead the way!"