Chapter 1573: A Finger

“It’s him!”

Cheng Hong exclaimed loudly, while all the others were baffled.

She recognized him at first glance. He was the same ignorant man who she had been talking to at the entrance of her home.

She definitely didn’t expect him to have enough courage to stand up to fight Shuo Xin.

“What is it? Do you know him?” Cheng Renlong, her father, asked curiously.

“I just met him outside our house a little while ago.”

Cheng Hong told her father what had happened briefly. She didn’t forget to add in a sarcastic voice, “Father, he had never even heard of your great name.”

“He knows the Gaos of the celestial phoenix?”

Cheng Renlong kept a calm appearance, but he was actually pretty startled.

He sized up the young man on the square seriously, wondering if he posed a threat.

“It can’t be,” he murmured to himself.

Then Cheng Renlong concluded that the odds of his secret being found out were minimal. His duplicity wouldn’t be discovered.

He had never instructed Jiang Chen in anything, not even one movement. He had never even met Jiang Chen.

However, Jiang Chen had become such a famous, almost fantastical, character.

It was as if as soon as Jiang Chen arrived in some plane’s world, in no longer than six months or sometimes several years, he would create great disturbances in that world.

Cheng Renlong was jealous of him, but he himself had no more potential to develop. He was limited and would never be as outstanding as Jiang Chen in his entire life.

As a Star Venerable, he’d started to think about retiring, staying away from disputes, and seeking dominance in the Realm of Nine Heavens.

Each plane’s world was like a bottle that held a certain amount of liquid. A Star Venerable was a little too big for the Realm of Nine Heavens to hold.

So Cheng Renlong had figured out a way to ease his acceptance into the Realm of Nine Heavens. He’d lied about his relations with Jiang Chen.

At first, he’d only expected that this lie would make it easier for the people of the Realm of Nine Heavens to accept him.

But to his surprise, the people of the Realm of Nine Heavens were much warmer than he had imagined. His family was received warmly here.

Cheng Renlong, who had never been very special among his peers, was obsessed with the admiration and the respect that he’d received in the Realm of Nine Heavens.

And, because his head became swollen with all this admiration and respect, he took it one step further and moved into the Gaos’ mansion, claiming that it had been Jiang Chen who had asked him to do this.

Thanks to his state and his extraordinary appearance, no one ever suspected he had fabricated this story.

Cheng Renlong certainly had worried about the possibility that his secret would be revealed if Jiang Chen or his clansmen returned to the Realm of Nine Heavens.

However, he thought that he knew that neither Jiang Chen nor the Gaos would return very soon.

“Father, if he loses, will the Sacred Inst.i.tute really be driven away?” asked Cheng Hong.

“It is after all the deal that they made. The Lightning Thunder Race didn’t drive them away directly because Jiang Chen had tamed the Ancient Race before.” Cheng Renlong didn’t want to meddle in others’ business at all. He was only here to pretend he cared.

“Father, it is thanks to you that Jiang Chen can be such a great person,” Cheng Hong said proudly.

Cheng Renlong would usually just keep smiling without answering when Cheng Hong made comments like this, but, due to his worries, he felt a little upset.

Getting back to the upcoming fight, the onlookers all started to talk about Jiang Chen after seeing him appear out of nowhere. Everyone felt confused.

Even the members of the Sacred Inst.i.tute felt very confused. They didn’t know who this man was who was going to fight on their behalf.

s.h.i.+ Gandang was about to say something, but Nan Gong, who was standing next to him, stopped him.

Nan Gong felt like a heavy weight had been lifted from his mind. He was smiling, full of confidence.

He hadn’t recognized Jiang Chen, but Jiang Chen had told him through holy awareness about his ident.i.ty.

s.h.i.+ Gandang hesitated, but he chose to trust Nan Gong.

“What’s going on?”

Seeing that the top management of the Sacred Inst.i.tute didn’t stop the stranger, the disciples were all puzzled.

Ying Wushuang, who had been ready to sacrifice herself, was astonished.

“Where is this guy coming from?!”

The man next to Ying Wushuang was certainly the most irritated.

This pretty woman was about to say yes to him, but, in the end, this man jumped out to create a scene. Of course he was irritated.

“Does he think Shuo Xin is easy to deal with? She is a genius who has achieved the rank of Star Venerable!” He couldn’t help but wish to frustrate Jiang Chen.

Seeing those from the Sacred Inst.i.tute not drive Jiang Chen away, the Lightning Thunder Race realized that this man would be their rival.

They started to size Jiang Chen up. Then they frowned, one after another.

They couldn’t ascertain Jiang Chen’s state!

Although they were Ancients, they knew the human system pretty well.

But somehow, they couldn’t figure out how strong Jiang Chen was.

There were two possibilities. The first was that Jiang Chen was deliberately hiding his state.

The second was that his state was too high and they weren’t at a level high enough to identify it.

Judging from Jiang Chen’s age, they guessed that it was the first reason.

“Ha, ha, ha, Sacred Inst.i.tute, are you at your wit’s end? You found this guy to try to bluff us. You think the problem will be solved in this way?”

Shuo Xin burst out laughing sarcastically.

She thought the Sacred Inst.i.tute was just bluffing.

“What are you thinking? You think I’ll be scared off by him?”

Then Shuo Xin walked up fearlessly. She was wearing short-sleeved clothes. Electric arcs were jumping around her slim arms. She looked splendid.

She was wearing bracelets on her wrists, but the black steel bracelets didn’t look decorative at all.

“Shuo Xin, watch out,” Shuo Jin warned her.

His instincts warned him that Jiang Chen was not a simple person.

“Father, calm down. What kind of dangerous fighter do you think the Sacred Inst.i.tute could find?” Shuo Xin asked disdainfully.

“Well, you’re probably right.”

Shuo Jin had to admit she had a point.

“Bring it on. Let me see how strong you are.”

Shuo Xin spoke to Jiang Chen in a sarcastic tone.

Jiang Chen shrugged his shoulders. Then he extended one finger.

People were confused by what he was doing. They didn’t know what he was going to do next.

“I’ll defeat you with one finger,” Jiang Chen said seriously.

In this way, he wouldn’t have to exert his strength too much.

This statement of Jiang Chen started an enormous disturbance. Shuo Xin’s pretty face became terrifying.

She had been disdainful before, but now she was in a rage.

CRACK!

She swung her wrists. Just like the Infinite Sai, the steel bracelets she was wearing transformed into two short knives the length of daggers.

The blades had gentle curves. They were extremely sharp, s.h.i.+ning with a cold metal light.

Then her arms lit up like ornaments. The brilliant electric arcs surged into the short knives.

She launched an attack as fierce as an ocean storm in an instant.

With the momentum of thunder, the short knives were moving fast and fiercely.

The sudden battle pushed the onlookers to take one and then another step back so that they wouldn’t be affected by the battle.

PAH! PAH! PAH!

Soon, they stopped retreating. They stared incredulously, one by one, as if they had been struck dumb.

No matter how dazzling Shuo Xin’s attack was, Jiang Chen was just standing where he had started, resisting the electric blades with only one finger.

“How is this possible?!”

The man next to Ying Wushuang was given a good scare, as if he’d been struck by thunder.

Even Shuo Xin herself couldn’t believe what was happening. She snarled in anger. The electricity all over her body surged into the short knives so that the blades extended half a foot in length.

However, Jiang Chen and that delicate, slim index finger still didn’t even move an inch.

Sparks broke out when the blades, sharp enough to slice steel, made contact with the finger.

Shuo Xin tried her best, but she couldn’t pose any threat to Jiang Chen.

At first, the onlookers were shocked. Then they got used to his power. However, finally, they were shocked once again.

“Is he that strong?”

Cheng Hong could hardly believe that the guy who she thought was a b.u.mpkin was actually so strong.

“Shuo Xin, come back.”

Shuo Jin looked awful. He knew they would absolutely lose this fight.

But his daughter still refused to recognize that fact. She continued attacking.

Every CLANG that came from the blow exchanges sounded like a slap in the Lightning Thunder Race’s face.

Shuo Jin had to go out and pull his daughter back in person.

“Get your hands off me. Believe me, I will win!” Shuo Xin shouted, crying.