# Chapter 388: Bu Qianfan
Hearing the voice transmission from Three Knife Half-Saint, Xu Qing felt his heart relax and became more confident. He laughed loudly and said, "Since Miss Luo wants to wade through this muddy water, why wouldn't our Xu Holy Clan accompany her? Coincidentally, I also want to experience firsthand just how strong a Sacred Body really is?"
At Xu Qing's signal, the second and third ranked experts of the Xu Holy Clan rushed out simultaneously, attacking Luo Shuihan from left and right.
Both were at the Heavenly Extreme Stage Minor Extreme Position, with extremely high talent, only slightly weaker than Xu Qing.
Luo Shuihan struck out with both palms simultaneously, colliding with the two experts. With a booming sound, a ripple of true qi spread from the center of their three palms, surging outward in all directions.
Under the impact of that force, even experts like Chang Qiqi and Si Xingkong were forced to retreat repeatedly.
After one exchange, the three immediately separated.
"Boom! Boom!"
Moments later, the two great experts of the Xu Holy Clan—one with an ice-cold constitution, the other with a blazing fire constitution—attacked fiercely again from two directions.
Under their assault, Luo Shuihan appeared calm and unhurried, executing her movement technique and continuously counterattacking, dissolving the two experts' attacks into nothingness.
"Break!"
Luo Shuihan extended her arm, clenched her five fingers into a fist, and punched toward the void.
That fist contained an indescribably mysterious rule, as if it resonated with the laws of heaven and earth, giving people an ineffably profound feeling.
It was through comprehending this fist that Luo Shuihan had understood the Great Dao and cultivated her Sacred Body.
With just one punch, it gave people a sensation of space vibrating. The person attacking her from the left was immediately severely injured, a trace of blood seeping from the corner of his mouth as he retreated.
The other person attacked Luo Shuihan but was sent flying backward by her backhand strike.
The two top experts of the Xu Holy Clan were easily defeated by the Luo Family's Sacred Body, completely unable to withstand her attacks.
From another direction, Zhang Ruochen was also forcing Xu Qing to retreat continuously, his situation precarious, as if he might lose at any moment.
Si Xingkong, Huang Yanchen, Duanmu Xingling, Chang Qiqi, and Chen Xier also made their moves, scattering the genius disciples of the Xu Holy Clan. Already, more than ten people had rolled down the Pilgrimage Heavenly Staircase.
"Heavens! That's an entire Saint Clan's elite, yet they're being completely suppressed by a few disciples from Demon Ridge."
"The Xu Holy Clan is really unlucky, running into such a tough nut."
...
"He's actually this powerful... and he's even cultivated Sword Heart Illumination..."
Xue Yingrou's gaze was fixed on Zhang Ruochen, who was fighting Xu Qing. Her heart was filled with mixed emotions. If she had known earlier that Zhang Ruochen's talent was this high, even if he wasn't the heir of a Saint Clan, she should have stayed with him.
A figure like this—there were only a few among the younger generation of the entire Kunlun Realm. If he passed the examination and entered the Holy Academy, he would definitely receive focused training.
Just then, a wild-looking man with stubble on his chin walked out from among the many disciples. Squinting his eyes, he stared at Zhang Ruochen on the Pilgrimage Heavenly Staircase and said coldly, "Zhang Ruochen? He's the Zhang Ruochen who defeated Di Yi?"
Beside him, a disciple asked, "Who is Di Yi? Is he very powerful?"
The wild man's eyes flashed with a sharp, cold light, as if he were squeezing out two words from between his teeth: "Di Yi."
His ten fingers emitted cracking sounds as he walked steadily toward the Pilgrimage Heavenly Staircase. "After defeating Zhang Ruochen, I will naturally go and fight Di Yi as well."
"Who is this person? How can he be so arrogant?"
Many people heard what the wild man had just said and let out mocking laughter. He actually dared to think he could defeat Zhang Ruochen? Who did he think he was?
If it had been before Zhang Ruochen fought Xu Qing, perhaps everyone wouldn't have thought much of it. But just now, everyone had seen with their own eyes Zhang Ruochen suppressing Xu Qing, and he had even cultivated Sword Heart Illumination.
Who do you think you are, wanting to defeat Zhang Ruochen?
"He is... he is Bu Qianfan of the Bu Holy Clan... He once held the number one spot on the Earth Ranking for a full three years. It's said he reached Seven Absolute Half-Step."
"A while ago, I heard he was defeated in three swords by a mysterious figure from the Black Market, and then he went to the Death Ruins Realm."
"What? He actually dared to go to the Death Ruins Realm? It's said that place is extremely dangerous, and very few people can survive there for even three days."
Chen Yi, a talent from the Eastern Domain Saint Prince Manor who seemed to know something about Bu Qianfan, said, "But he stayed in the Death Ruins Realm for two months, and after coming out, his cultivation had greatly improved."
Another talent from the Eastern Domain Saint Prince Manor, Chen Tianshu, said, "That mysterious Black Market expert who defeated Bu Qianfan was Di Yi, the young master of First-Rank Hall. It's said that Bu Qianfan's strength wasn't much weaker than Di Yi's, but Bu Qianfan had a psychological flaw, and Di Yi happened to discover it. He first shattered Bu Qianfan's martial heart, then defeated him in just three swords."
"Bu Qianfan went to the Death Ruins Realm precisely to temper his martial heart and make up for that flaw. He actually lasted two months there. Such a strong willpower is already beyond ordinary people. He has probably already repaired the flaw in his martial heart."
Chen Yi said, "If that's really the case, Bu Qianfan's current strength has probably advanced even further."
Chen Tianshu laughed and said, "Bu Qianfan must have heard the news that Zhang Ruochen defeated Di Yi, so he rushed over to fight Zhang Ruochen. Only by defeating Zhang Ruochen can he regain his confidence and become the young king of martial arts."
"Although Bu Qianfan's talent is very high, he's like Zhang Ruochen, only about twenty years old—half a generation younger than Xu Qing and us. Half a year ago, he was still at the Earth Extreme Stage. I estimate he's at most at the Heavenly Extreme Stage Middle Stage now," Chen Yi said.
The three talents of the Eastern Domain Saint Prince Manor, along with Xu Qing, Zi Hansha, and others, were actually close to or already over thirty years old. Bu Qianfan and Zhang Ruochen were only juniors in front of them.
"With their talent surpassing Seven Absolute, being able to reach the Heavenly Extreme Stage Middle Stage is already very impressive. If they break through another realm, we old-timers probably won't even have a chance to fight back in front of them," Chen Tianshu laughed.
As they spoke, Bu Qianfan had already ascended the Pilgrimage Heavenly Staircase. His gaze fixed on Xu Qing as he let out a loud shout: "Get lost! Zhang Ruochen is my opponent."
The sound Bu Qianfan emitted sounded ordinary to others, but to Xu Qing's ears, it was as loud as heavenly thunder, shaking his mind into darkness as he retreated repeatedly.
Bu Qianfan was executing a Ghost-grade Lower Quality martial technique, the Great Thunder Brahma Heaven Sound. Having cultivated this technique to the Great Completion realm, one shout could annihilate a hundred-thousand-strong army.
Although Bu Qianfan had only cultivated it to the Minor Completion realm, it already had considerable power. Even Xu Qing, caught off guard, was stunned.
Xu Qing's constitution was strong, and he quickly recovered, saying, "Bu Qianfan, this is the Holy Academy, not the Ministry of War camp. You'd better show me some respect. Besides, we both have Zhang Ruochen as our opponent."
"I said Zhang Ruochen is my opponent. You can step down now," Bu Qianfan said without any courtesy.
Xu Qing's face turned cold with anger. If he hadn't suffered some hidden injuries from fighting Zhang Ruochen earlier, he would have wanted to teach this junior Bu Qianfan a lesson first.
"Fine, I'll let you fight Zhang Ruochen first. Let's see if you can do anything to him."
Xu Qing didn't insist on being stubborn and stepped aside.
By now, the other genius disciples of the Xu Holy Clan had all been knocked down the Pilgrimage Heavenly Staircase by Luo Shuihan and the others, each with a bruised and swollen face, a miserable sight.
Xu Qing couldn't be bothered with them. He took a healing pill and, while recovering, secretly observed Zhang Ruochen and Bu Qianfan, who were now facing off.
To become the heir of a Saint Clan required not only supreme talent but also exceptional intelligence.
Xu Qing was very clear that he had been too careless earlier, which was why he had lost to Zhang Ruochen.
Now, he would observe Zhang Ruochen's martial arts patterns from the side, thereby finding Zhang Ruochen's weaknesses. Only by knowing yourself and your enemy could you be victorious in every battle.
"So he's Bu Qianfan."
Zhang Ruochen had long heard of Bu Qianfan's name. His identity as number one on the Earth Ranking was probably already known to every household in the Eastern Domain.
In the past two or three years, the top Heavenly Proud Sons of the Eastern Domain were probably Zhang Ruochen, Di Yi, Bu Qianfan, plus Luo Shuihan, who had cultivated a Sacred Body, and the mysterious Holy Maiden of the Demon Sect.
Just these five.
Any one of them had the potential to become a Saint.
Their ages were similar, all around twenty years old, and their martial cultivation levels were also comparable. Even if there were differences in strength, they belonged to the same level.
"You defeated Di Yi?"
Bu Qianfan stood on the staircase, sizing up Zhang Ruochen, his eyes full of cold, murderous aura.
Only someone from the military who had killed countless people would have that kind of killing aura. Even without deliberately activating true qi, it could frighten ordinary martial artists into trembling and kneeling.
Zhang Ruochen also sized up Bu Qianfan. For a famous person like Bu Qianfan, his information had long been recorded in detail on the Earth Ranking. As long as you bought a copy of the Earth Ranking, you could easily know everything about him.
This year, Bu Qianfan was also twenty years old, the same age as Zhang Ruochen. But his face was covered in stubble, making him look very weathered, like a man of thirty-five or thirty-six.
Especially his eyes, like steel, containing an unyielding will.
Zhang Ruochen looked at him very calmly and said, "That's right, Di Yi and I did have a battle. I was lucky enough to win."
"There's no such thing as luck when it comes to defeating Di Yi."
Bu Qianfan's gaze was sharp and cold. "I'll give you half an hour to recover your true qi. After half an hour, you must fight me."
Zhang Ruochen smiled slightly and said, "I don't want to fight you. Besides, the Pilgrimage Heavenly Staircase is the Holy Academy's examination ground. You're from the Ministry of War; it's not appropriate for you to be here."
Bu Qianfan was wearing the armor of the Ministry of War.
"Do you think that because I lost to Di Yi in three swords, I'm not qualified to fight you?"
Bu Qianfan's gaze was sharp and cold. "I reached the Supreme Extreme Realm at the Yellow Extreme Stage. Am I qualified to fight you?"
Anyone who had reached the Supreme Extreme Realm would treat it as their greatest secret and never reveal it. But Bu Qianfan had no reservations and directly told Zhang Ruochen.
Did that mean he was foolish?
How could someone who had survived two months in the Death Ruins Realm be foolish?
It could only mean that Bu Qianfan's heart was fearless, open and aboveboard—the most orthodox path of the military strategist, able to be upright and impartial, sweeping away all sources of evil.