Chương 291: The Genius meeting

Long Feng couldn't conceal the joy on his face as he sensed the powerful energy gushing through his veins. All issues had been resolved, at least to the best of his abilities and understanding. He was very confident that he could face Dong Fang and Lei Jie head on and even defeat them right now. As for Huang Fang Hao, the gulf between them wasn't something that could be overcome with a single level increase. The most important thing was that his aura was no longer chaotic and his energy was fully under control.

"I've spent a few days already. Senior Ao Zhentian should be coming soon. I'd best use this chance to stabilize my foundation before he returns." He murmured, realizing that the genius meeting was taking place in a few more days. From what he had heard, the genius Meeting would be quite interesting. And Ao Zhentian had also mentioned that it would help in widening Long Feng's horizons, so he would definitely be going. Long Feng quietened down and began to stabilize his cultivation after his breakthrough.

This was very easy for him, as his original foundation was beyond steady. In just a day, he was done. After that, he delved into the memory fragment of the Firmament Sword Saint and began to further his comprehension of the sword as well as the heaven firmament strike. Right now, his spirit cyclone was in a delicate balance. And that balance was reliant on the fact that his sword energy was stronger than the other two energies.

The moment either of the two energies caught up to his sword energy in power, or surpassed it, then Long Feng's Dantian would instantly lose all order again and become unstable. Thus, he had to always keep the sword energy as far ahead as he could while not letting the other two Daos fall behind. This would undoubtedly be stressful in the future, but for now, he had his methods to manage. Three days passed quietly and Long Feng hadn't made much progress with his sword energy.

He was currently at rank eight sword Dao concept level, a mere step away from the peak. Yet that single line was suddenly very hard for him to overcome. It was as though he had run into a bottleneck in his Dao concept. Even with him constantly deepening his understanding from the Firmament Sword Saint's soul fragment, he was still unable to make any progress. This left him feeling frustrated to no extent.

"What's going on? I'm clearly already at the limit of rank eight Dao concept. Why can't I advance?" Long Feng furrowed his brows and muttered. When he couldn't make heads or tail of this issue, he sighed and paused his cultivation.

"Senior Ao Zhentian should have returned by now…" he slowly murmured and looked around lazily. He suddenly froze when he looked behind him. Seated there silently behind him was Ao Zhentian himself, watching him with a faint smile.

"Indeed. I've been here for a while now. You seemed to be quite immersed in your comprehension. I must admit, your progress in these past few days have surprised me slightly." He opened his mouth and spoke calmly, disregarding Long Feng's shocked expression.

"A while? How long has senior been here for?" Long Feng calmed down and asked.

"Just a few hours." Ao Zhentian replied leisurely while studying Long Feng.

"Kid, your aura is extremely stable, completely opposed to before I left. You must've been successful in your attempt and even made a breakthrough. That's good." Long Feng sighed inwardly and smiled.

"It wasn't anything serious senior."

"Hm. The genius meeting is commencing this night. I've come to take you there if you're still interested in going. Also, the reward I promised you earlier still stands. After the meeting, I will help you to raise your cultivation substantially." Long Feng's face brightened at that. The genius meeting wasn't nearly as important to him as raising his strength right now.

Although he wouldn't care to admit it, he had actually been having a weird feeling in his heart ever since he heard of Li Yue'er's current cultivation. It certainly wasn't envy or anything of the sort. He was very happy for her. But… he wouldn't want to be left behind by her, no matter what happened. And judging by the current situation, that was exactly what would happen if he didn't push himself harder.

"Alright, you have a couple more hours. Get ready. The moment the genius meeting ends, we'll be leaving for the Mainland." Ao Zhentian added. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Long Feng froze and the figures of his father and more of the Long clansmen surfaced in his mind. It then dawned on him that he hadn't bid anyone farewell. He couldn't simply vanish silently and leave many people worried.

"Actually, senior, I have my family clan back in the Yihua continent and I haven't bid them farewell…" He began after thinking about it. Ao Zhentian waved his hand and interrupted.

"I understand. I'll take you to your home one last time before we leave. I don't suppose you have any more requests?" Long Feng shook his head.

"Good. You have two hours to prepare." Ao Zhentian didn't leave this time. He simply closed his eyes and remained silent, seeming to be meditating. His presence seemed to vanish completely. If Long Feng wasn't staring at him with his own eyes, then he wouldn't have known that someone was seated there at all. Not even his soul power could detect Ao Zhentian. Once again feeling awed by his power, Long Feng also closed his eyes and used the two hours to comprehend as much as he could from the Heaven Firmament strike.

Two hours wasn't a particularly long time, especially when one was cultivating. It passed very quickly. Long Feng was already keeping track of time and he immediately exited his cultivation and opened his eyes. Ao Zhentian was already standing and the moment Long Feng opened his eyes, the former waved his hand. Long Feng felt the world spinning briefly and when the feeling faded, he wasn't in the hall anymore. He was seated on the floor in the exact same posture he was in the hall, but he was now in a vast plain.

He didn't know this place but judging by the density of the natural energy here, they were probably on the thunder sky continent Also, Ao Zhentian was nowhere to be found. As Long Feng looked around blankly, he suddenly heard Ao Zhentian's bland voice in his mind.

"Kid, head straight. You'll find your destination. I'll find you when you're done." Long Feng grimaced and cursed in his heart. Ao Zhentian was very similar to Wu Kong. They were both completely unreliable fellows. Sulking, he stood up and flew in the direction Ao Zhentian mentioned. What he thought would be a short journey actually took him almost another two hours! The place was still bright originally, but it was already getting dark. The sun had already set about an hour ago and darkness was approaching.

Luckily, he could already sight his destination; a magnificent building in the distance. It was easily the largest building Long Feng had ever seen before and it stood alone in this empty land, surrounded by nothing but plains and distant mountains. Long Feng sped up and approached the building. Even before he arrived, he could sense a pressure around the building that got heavier the closer he got. Of course, this was nothing to him.

Just as he reached the entrance though, a figure appeared out of nowhere before him, emanating a very powerful aura that made Long Feng's pupils to shrink.

"Your invitation card!" The man who appeared extended his hand and asked slowly, his indifferent gaze focused on Long Feng. Long Feng didn't hesitate. He took out the invitation card he received from the Yihua clan's Great Elder and handed it over to the man. The man calmly verified it put it away and stepped aside.

"Welcome to the Thunder Son Palace. Please go in. The genius meeting is about to begin." The man also gave him directions. Long Feng nodded and quickly rushed into the building. The building was truly large. He would have easily gotten lost if it wasn't for the directions he received. He walked through several winding hallways, large rooms, halls and more before he reached the center of the building. This room couldn't really be considered a room. It was large enough to fit hundreds of people without being crowded.

And currently, quite a lot of people were seated inside. All of them were youths and Long Feng recognized some of them. He quickly noticed that the youths consisted of the top fifty geniuses of the continent zone with the exception of the champion Huang Fang Hao and Li Yue'er. The atmosphere was light as they discussed and chatted while eating and drinking. This was quite different from what Long Feng expected to find. His entrance drew the attention of everyone, and they all recognized him instantly.

The whole hall fell silent as everyone stared at him in shock.

"Isn't that Long Feng?"

"Of course it is."

"Wha- how? He actually made it?"

"Indeed. I thought he might already be…"

"I heard that several powerful Imperials went after him under the orders of their deity realm masters."

"Whoa! Then how did he escape? Did they fail to find him?"

"I believe so. He might've been hidden all this while. There's no way he can survive even after everything."

"If he managed to hide, then why come here? That's a reckless decision. Many powerhouses are paying attention to this place." Long Feng was very famous already. His feat were quite astonishing and unheard of, especially when his cultivation realm was added to the equation. For a rank one spirit realm warrior to rank fourth in the Hundred Continent Meeting, that had never happened before. Yet Long Feng proved his strength and defeated several overlord geniuses to secure his spot.

When he had failed to get into any force, many people had been secretly happy and gloated. After all, no one would want to see a talent rise above them. Long Feng was thought of as dead after the hundred continent meeting. Hence the surprise when they saw him walk in completely unharmed. As many geniuses discussed in hushed tones, one person stood up and approached Long Feng.

"Brother Long Feng, it's great that you could make it. You're just in time. The meeting just began." Long Feng smiled.

"Young master Lei Jie is too polite. I was held up on the way." Lei Jie nodded.

"Better late than never. We would need your help, especially with Huang Fang Hao gone." He replied seriously.

"Ah. Where are my manners? Come on in and take a seat." He smiled again and moved aside, leading Long Feng to sit in the center where the eight overlord geniuses sat. Among the overlord geniuses, only Huang Fang Hao was unable to make it. He had already left the continent zone days ago. Long Feng sat down and a nearby maid walked over and served him some tea and food. He muttered a thanks but didn't touch the food. He could sense the many curious gazes on himself and he could guess what they were all thinking.

Honestly, he really would've been dead if it wasn't for Ao Zhentian interfering and saving his life.

"Brother Long Feng, it's good that you're okay. But you really shouldn't have come here today." Jin Bao leaned closer and nudged Long Feng. Long Feng smiled faintly.

"I'll be fine. Congratulations by the way. You joined a body tempering sect which perfectly suits your path. Your future achievements won't be mediocre." Jin Bao grinned and scratched his head.

"Thank you. Don't slack off here. If you don't train hard, then the next time I return to the continent zone, you may not be able to withstand a single punch from me." Long Feng laughed without replying. Jin Bao also wiped his grin and turned serious again.

"Er, brother Long Feng, I see you're pretty talented in the body tempering path as well. I can out in some good words and get you to be accepted into the sect as well." He said this via voice transmission. Long Feng was startled briefly then he felt amused and grateful.

"I appreciate the thought, but I'll be fine. I have my plans." He replied.

"What do you mean you'll be fine? Deities will come after you. You need a powerful force to back you. Now is not the time to be proud." Jin Bao returned solemly, taking Long Feng's rejection for pride.

"Brother Jin Bao, I'm grateful, really. But I have my plans. And I know what I am doing. Thank you anyway." Long Feng replied calmly. Jin Bao stared at him for a while before he sighed and shook his head, giving up.

"Fine. Just try not to die. I still want to defeat you in the future." Long Feng smiled. The chatter continued. The overlord geniuses all spoke and discussed about many things. After a long time, Lei Jie cleared his throat and stood up, drawing everyone's attention.

"Everyone, thank you all for accepting my invitations. We're all among the strongest geniuses in the continent zone, and each of us have our unique advantages and strengths. It isn't wrong to say we are the future of the continent zone entirely. This genius meeting is a chance for all of us to interact and get to know each other. We might all one day need the help of one another in the future."

"That is even more so for those of us leaving the continent zone. We may not be joining the same forces, but I hope we all remember our origins. No matter what, we are all from the continent zone. That is our homeland, our identity. Regardless of all differences, I hope we'll all support each other in the Mainland. That is the only way for us to survive and thrive in that place teeming with monstrous geniuses." Lei Jie paused and looked around, noting the solemn expression on everyone's faces.

"If we don't come together and rise as one, then we'll all be buried in the mainland without room for growth at all. Once we leave the continent zone, all grudges and differences will be left behind. In the Mainland, we're all siblings, one big family. Do we all agree?" Everyone nodded silently without interrupting Lei Jie's speech. Lei Jie smiled and nodded as well.

"Good. Without further noise, let's actually begin the genius meeting. I personally believe that real connection is formed in a fight. Even enemies would usually have a general understanding and connection with each other after fighting several times. Ours won't be that extreme. We'll all be using this opportunity to build our connections and exchange pointers as well, benefiting us all. Everyone is welcome to challenge anyone to a friendly spar and exchange pointers.

I hope we'll all hold back and prevent any serious injuries or fierce fights."