Chen Yang's gaze was sharp as lightning as he rapidly weighed the situation in his mind.
Although Li Baode had reached the fifth level of the Qi Refinement Realm, rumor had it that his cultivation had been entirely built up through Pills, and his actual combat strength was even inferior to some solid fourth level of the Qi Refinement Realm disciples.
Word had it that just a few days ago, he had gotten into a conflict with an Outer Sect Disciple at the fourth level of the Qi Refinement Realm and had nearly lost — only managing to settle the matter when his uncle, who served as a steward among the outer disciples, stepped in.
Chen Yang, on the other hand, might also appear to be at the fifth level of the Qi Refinement Realm on the surface, but his cultivation had been forged through life-and-death battles against demon beasts in the back mountains — every bit of it earned the hard way.
Not to mention that the demon cores of the Blazing Flame Tigers and Glacial Demon Leopards had not only elevated his cultivation but had also tempered his physical body without him even realizing it.
Chen Yang could feel it — his physique was far stronger than that of an ordinary cultivator. Every inch of muscle contained explosive power, and the spiritual energy flowing through his meridians was purer and more condensed.
The Chen Yang of the past had been nothing more than a laborer tending fields, but after the life-and-death struggles in the back mountains, he had been completely reborn.
Though he had no experience in formal duels between cultivators, demon beasts fought in a far more direct and savage manner, which had actually allowed him to grasp the most primal fundamentals of combat.
Every clash with a demon beast had been a brush with death, and that experience was something a cultivator like Li Baode — who had risen purely through Pills — could never hope to match.
"I need to end this quickly," Chen Yang resolved inwardly. "Best to subdue him with physical strength alone — I can't reveal that I'm at the fifth level of the Qi Refinement Realm. More importantly, I have to find out who's pulling the strings behind all this!"
Even as those thoughts flashed through his mind, Li Baode could no longer hold himself back.
Seeing that Chen Yang remained silent, he assumed the other party was too afraid to fight, and his arrogance swelled even further. A contemptuous sneer spread across his fleshy face. "What's the matter? Finally scared? You can still kneel and beg for mercy right now! Maybe if I'm in a good mood, I'll only break one of your legs!"
With that, he formed a spell technique, and a crimson fire serpent shot from his palm, lunging straight for Chen Yang's face.
This was the Flame Control Technique commonly used by Pill Hall disciples — not particularly powerful, but intimidating enough, and more than sufficient to deal with ordinary Menial Disciples.
In the past, Chen Yang might have panicked.
But after surviving the life-and-death battles in the back mountains and witnessing the true flames breathed by Blazing Flame Tigers, a spell of this level looked like child's play to him — riddled with openings.
He didn't dodge. He didn't evade. Instead, he reached out and grabbed directly at the fire serpent.
"You're asking to die!"
Li Baode let out a vicious grin, a cruel gleam flickering in his small eyes, as though he could already picture Chen Yang's palm being scorched to a crisp.
Zhang Sheng and the others behind him burst into mocking laughter, waiting to watch Chen Yang make a fool of himself.
But in the very next moment, every smile froze on their faces.
Chen Yang's hand closed precisely around the fire serpent's vital point. The crimson flames in his grip became as docile as a tame snake, utterly unable to harm him in the slightest.
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His five fingers clenched shut, and the fire serpent was crushed outright, dissolving into scattered sparks that faded into the air, leaving behind only a wisp of blue smoke.
"What?!"
Li Baode stood there dumbstruck, his pudgy face written over with disbelief.
Zhang Sheng and the others sharply sucked in a breath of cold air, eyes wide, as though they had witnessed something utterly impossible.
Before they could recover, Chen Yang moved.
He moved like a tiger bursting from its cage — swift as a thunderclap!
His feet drove into the ground, and the earth cracked beneath him with a web of fine fissures.
He shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bow, his speed so great it stirred a rushing gust of wind.
The Menial Disciples watching from around the courtyard barely had time to blink before Chen Yang was already standing in front of Li Baode.
Li Baode scrambled to retreat in a panic, only to find himself locked in place by a fierce, overwhelming pressure — a pressure that carried a faint, unmistakable scent of blood, leaving his entire body rigid and unable to move.
Chen Yang's right hand formed a claw and shot straight for Li Baode's throat.
The move looked simple, yet it was a lethal technique he had comprehended during his battles with the Blazing Flame Tigers — imbued with the predatory instinct of a demon beast, ruthless and merciless.
Li Baode hastily raised his arm to block, but a sharp crack rang out, and his arm was shattered by the force of Chen Yang's strike.
He let out a wretched cry, cold sweat the size of beans instantly soaking through the back of his robe, his face draining to a deathly white.
Zhang Sheng and the others were scared out of their wits, every one of them rooted to the spot, at a complete loss.
They had never imagined that this seemingly ordinary laborer from the medicine garden could possess such terrifying power.
Before Li Baode could even think, Chen Yang's left hand had already clamped onto his shoulder like an iron vice.
Five fingers tightened, and Li Baode felt as though his shoulder bone was about to shatter — the pain nearly sent him into unconsciousness.
He struggled with all his might, yet found himself as helpless as an infant in that iron grip.
"Get down!" Chen Yang barked coldly, his voice carrying an authority that brooked no argument, and he swept his foot lightly beneath Li Baode's legs.
Li Baode's corpulent body crashed to the ground with a heavy thud, sending up a cloud of dust.
He tried to struggle back to his feet, only to find that one of Chen Yang's feet was already planted on his chest.
That foot felt as though it weighed a thousand pounds, pressing down so hard he could barely breathe, his ribs groaning under the strain.
All of this had happened in the blink of an eye.
By the time Zhang Sheng and the others fully registered what had occurred, Li Baode was already pinned to the ground like a dead dog, utterly wretched.
"Let go of Senior Brother Li!" Zhang Sheng shouted with bluster he didn't feel, yet didn't dare step forward.
The other lackeys exchanged glances with one another, not a single one willing to move.
They had all been cowed by the power Chen Yang had displayed — every last trace of their earlier arrogance had vanished.
Chen Yang swept them with a cold glance, and the ferocity in his eyes made the group feel as though they had plunged into an icy abyss, involuntarily stumbling back several steps.
It was not the gaze of a human being at all — it was more like the stare of some bloodthirsty predator.
Xiaochunhua, hiding behind the door, was so shocked she clapped both hands over her mouth, her eyes wide as saucers.
She had known Chen Yang was no ordinary laborer, but she had never expected him to be this formidable — capable of subduing Li Baode, a cultivator at the fifth level of the Qi Refinement Realm, with such ease.
Li Baode lay pinned beneath Chen Yang's foot, burning with shame and fury, yet overwhelmed above all by fear.
He could feel the terrifying force contained in the foot pressing down on his chest — a force that, with the slightest increase in pressure, could easily crush his sternum.
What frightened him even more was the faint, killing aura radiating from Chen Yang — the kind of aura that only someone who had walked through life and death could carry.
"Now," Chen Yang's voice was calm yet carried an undeniable authority, as he applied just a little more weight, "can we have a proper conversation?"
Li Baode nodded with great difficulty, his fleshy face drenched in cold sweat, every shred of his earlier bravado gone without a trace. "L-let me go... we can talk... we're fellow disciples, there's no need for this..."
Chen Yang eased the pressure slightly but kept his foot firmly in place. "Talk. Who put you up to this?"
Li Baode's eyes darted around — he was clearly still hesitating.
Chen Yang pressed down just a fraction harder, and Li Baode immediately let out a shriek like a slaughtered pig. "I'll talk! I'll talk! It — it was Senior Sister Zhao..."
Chen Yang's pupils contracted sharply, and an ominous premonition rose in his heart. "Which Senior Sister Zhao?"
"It's — it's Senior Sister Zhao Yanran from Jade Bamboo Peak..." Li Baode gasped, his small eyes filled with terror. "She came to the Pill Hall a few days ago and found me — told me to come and make trouble for Liu Yiyi..."
Chen Yang felt as though he had been struck by lightning. His foot unconsciously eased its pressure, and he stood there frozen in place.
Zhao Yanran?
How could it be her?