Chapter 287: Stirring Restlessly
To be sure, there are different tiers within the Human Martial Arts Peak Realm.
But just reaching the Human Martial Arts Peak Realm is already an incredible feat.
In essence, this was the Core Formation Realm.
It was just that in the current era—the Dharma Decline Era—the Core Formation Realm was already considered the highest attainable state. Advancing any further was thought to be nearly impossible.
Thus, the Core Formation Realm came to be known as the Human Martial Arts Peak Realm!
"I'll deal with the two of you later!" Chu Tianshan announced to the crowd. "Now, who else wants to give it a try? If anyone wants to keep making trouble for my Chu Family, then come on! I, Chu Tianshan, will take on all challengers."
His gruff voice was so powerful it seemed to make the entire mountaintop tremble.
"Patriarch Chu, you jest! How could we possibly make trouble for the Chu Family? We're here to congratulate you! Now that you've broken through to the Human Martial Arts Peak, the Chu Family is destined to reach even greater heights!" a Cultivator immediately chimed in, his voice dripping with flattery.
It couldn't be helped. In this world, the strong commanded respect. As long as you were powerful enough, no one would dare to cross you.
After all, now that Chu Tianshan had reached such a pinnacle, who would be foolish enough to court death?
Besides, many of them had only come to watch the drama unfold.
Those who, like the He Family, were actually willing to make a move were few and far between.
In truth, Chu Tianshan understood perfectly. By revealing his strength prematurely, he had merely prevented some of the hidden figures from making their move.
There were definitely experts at the Human Martial Arts Peak Realm hidden within the crowd.
For Chu Feng, it was even simpler.
With a single sweep of his Divine Soul, he could clearly perceive the realm and relative strength of everyone present.
'So this is what it's like when they break through to the Core Formation Realm,' Chu Feng thought to himself. 'Their Divine Souls are so weak. Their combat strength is decent, though.'
After that incident, everyone stopped causing trouble and obediently took their seats for the banquet.
Over a hundred tables had been set up in total; a great number of people had come.
The entire summit of Wangyue Mountain was bustling with activity.
Originally, many among them had planned to join forces and suppress the Chu Family, completely crushing them, as soon as someone else made the first move.
However, with this major turn of events—Chu Tianshan reaching the Human Martial Arts Peak Realm—no one dared to make a rash move.
The first person to act would undoubtedly die a miserable death.
So, while no one dared to make a move, they were all quietly sending messages, immediately relaying the news of what had happened.
After all, the emergence of an expert at the Human Martial Arts Peak was enough to send shockwaves through the various Martial Arts Families.
At that moment, at the foot of Wangyue Mountain, the men from the Qing Gang received the news. They had spies on the mountain, so they knew everything that had transpired.
"What's going on? Are you sure this information is correct?" The Qing Gang members were gathered in a low-lying area at the foot of the mountain, where they had been waiting for the right moment to charge the summit.
They had never expected to hear that Chu Tianshan had broken through to the Human Martial Arts Peak Realm.
The Patriarch of the Tang Family stared wide-eyed, his face contorted with fury.
Years ago, during the battle between the Qing Gang and the Chu Family, the Gang Leader of the Qing Gang—who was also the Tang Family's expert at the Human Martial Arts Peak—had fought a deadly battle with Chu Tianshan.
In the end, their Gang Leader had perished completely, but Chu Tianshan had also been grievously wounded.
Chu Tianshan's Divine Soul had been damaged in the process. If he hadn't encountered Chu Feng, he likely would have never recovered in his lifetime.
"The news is most likely true; too many people have heard it by now. We underestimated Chu Tianshan. He must have had a sizable stash of Cultivation Spirit Stones, otherwise, how could he have possibly broken through to the Human Martial Arts Peak Realm?"
"What's more, he probably kept the Chu Family in seclusion all these years just to prepare for this breakthrough to the Human Martial Arts Peak Realm!" the Qing Gang Leader said.
"Sigh... that man is truly cunning," the Qing Gang Leader continued. "Trying to annihilate the Chu Family now will be incredibly difficult. If an expert of his caliber goes all out, it'll be a tough fight even if we bring out our own old patriarch. Even if we managed to win, it would be a pyrrhic victory. The cost would far outweigh the reward."
"Indeed. The Human Martial Arts Peak Realm is worlds apart from the Foundation Establishment Realm. If we were to charge in now, our casualties would be catastrophic," the Liu Family Patriarch added. He was reluctant to engage them.
During that great war years ago, the Liu Family had lost several experts of the Foundation Establishment Realm.
Back then, the Chu Family had been filled with powerful experts, and the Liu Family's losses had been immense.
"Now that Madman Chu has reached the Human Martial Arts Peak Realm, our only choice is to wait and see how the others react," said the Gang Leader of the Qing Gang.
In fact, it wasn't just the Qing Gang; other Martial Arts Clans and Martial Arts Sects were equally stunned.
Even the Martial Cultivators who had been eager to act now had no choice but to hesitate.
Elsewhere at the foot of the mountain, within a patch of woods.
"Old Patriarch, Chu Tianshan has broken through. Do we still proceed?" a man in black asked an old man.
"Hmph. We proceed," the old man stated, his expression calm. "So what if Chu Tianshan broke through? His strength is nothing special. If I attack together with the others, we can certainly take him down."