The wind sweeping across Qingyun Peak's plaza seemed to carry the rusty tang of blood.
Xiaodouzi's anguished wailing drove into Chen Yang's eardrums like a red-hot iron spike, scorching his very soul until it trembled.
That cry held more than the agony of a shattered cultivation — it held the despair of a dream of immortality utterly destroyed.
A laborer who had clawed his way to the second level of the Qi Refinement Realm — how much sweat and humiliation had that cost?
Yet an inner disciple had erased it all with a casual flick of his hand.
Because he refused to raise his fist against Chen Yang?
Because he still had a shred of human conscience?
Chen Yang snapped his eyes shut. When they opened again, the last trace of hesitation and warmth had vanished from their depths, leaving only a frozen fury and a killing intent that was almost tangible.
He clutched the ice-cold Outer Sect Disciple jade token; blood dripped from between his fingers, pattering onto the dark stone slabs and blooming into small, dark-red stains.
"Charge! Take him down!"
"For the chance to advance to the outer disciples! Give it everything!"
The first wave of laborers surged forward, their faces twisted with a madness born of greed and fear. Hoes, wooden clubs, even bare fists — all wrapped in faint ripples of spiritual energy — came crashing down toward Chen Yang from every direction.
In their eyes, Chen Yang had merely gotten lucky with a sneak attack on Li Baode, and now that Senior Brother Li Yan had him in his sights, he was the perfect stepping stone!
But the very next second, that madness froze on their faces.
Chen Yang had not drawn upon a single wisp of spiritual energy.
He simply sidestepped, dodging the swinging hoe, then reached back and seized the laborer's wrist in a reverse grip.
The laborer felt an irresistible, crushing force surge through him. His wrist bones let out a teeth-aching creak, and before his scream could even escape his throat, Chen Yang had already swung him off his feet like a tattered burlap sack and hurled him into the two men charging from the side!
Boom!
A dull, meaty impact rang out.
All three collapsed in a heap, bones broken and tendons snapped, screaming as they crumpled to the ground.
Another wooden club came whistling toward the back of Chen Yang's head.
Chen Yang seemed to have eyes in the back of his skull. Without turning, he simply raised his left arm in a backward block.
Crack!
The solid wooden club shattered on impact!
The laborer who had swung it stared at the splintered stump left in his bleeding, tiger-mouthed hands, then at Chen Yang's arm — not even a scratch on it — as though he were witnessing a ghost.
"Is his body… made of iron?!" someone cried out in disbelief.
Chen Yang moved.
No longer content to defend, he plunged into the crowd of laborers like a tiger among sheep!
No dazzling spell techniques. No radiant spiritual energy.
Only the most primal, most savage, and most effective force — the power of the flesh.
Fists, feet, elbows, knees — every part of his body became a terrifying weapon.
The formidable physique forged by the Nine Revolutions Body Tempering Art, combined with the solid foundation laid by the Spirit Origin Pill gifted by Shen Hongmei, was now on full display.
He had consumed countless duplicated demon cores from demon beasts, and the ferocious Demon Energy that had settled deep within his flesh and blood — though not yet fully unleashed — already granted him strength, speed, and reflexes far beyond those of the same cultivation level, let alone these laborers, most of whom were only at the first or second level of the Qi Refinement Realm!
Thud!
A burly laborer who tried to tackle him was met with a shoulder slam to the chest; his sternum caved in instantly, and he flew backward spitting blood.
Crack!
A backhand strike twisted the iron shovel out of another laborer's hands and sent both the man and the warped tool flying several meters away.
He moved like a runaway war chariot, crashing through the crowd without restraint.
Wherever he passed, men tumbled and fell; the sounds of snapping bones and tearing tendons were unceasing.
Screams, cries of shock, and the heavy thuds of bodies hitting the ground rose one after another.
Rage churned within him!
Especially when he spotted familiar faces — men he had worked alongside in the medicine garden day after day, men who had once grumbled with him about the steward's docked rations — now charging at him with bloodshot eyes and clenched teeth. The fury burned even hotter.
"Wang Laosan! The last time a venomous snake bit you, who was it that sucked out the poison and dressed your wound?!"
Chen Yang snarled, dodging a scythe and driving his fist into the man's gut.
Wang Laosan's eyes bulged; he doubled over clutching his stomach like a shrimp, groaning in pain, his face flooded with shame.
"Liu Er! When your mother was gravely ill and you desperately needed spirit stones, who lent them to you?!"
He twisted aside to avoid a sucker punch, then brought a knife-hand strike precisely down on the side of another man's neck. That man crumpled to the ground without a sound.
But there were too many of them.
Driven to madness by the promise of an outer disciple slot and the threat of being cast off the mountain, the frenzied crowd surged forward in wave after wave, heedless of the fallen.
No matter how powerful Chen Yang's body was, he could not dodge every single attack.
A sharpened bamboo pole came thrusting at him from an impossibly tricky angle, aimed straight at the small of his back!
Chen Yang had just deflected three attackers from the front and was a half-beat slow to cover his flank.
Rip—
The bamboo tip tore through the hem of his laborer's robe and carved a shallow gash along his side.
The sting of pain only sharpened his ferocity.
He spun around and locked eyes with the laborer who had landed the hit — a flicker of satisfaction had just crossed the man's face.
The moment that laborer met Chen Yang's gaze — ice-cold, bone-deep, utterly devoid of any human warmth — that satisfaction dissolved instantly into boundless terror. His hands and feet went numb, and he stumbled backward.
"Get out of my way!"
Chen Yang's roar sent shockwaves rolling through the air; the people nearby clutched their ringing ears and faltered.
He stomped his right foot into the ground. The stone slab cracked outward from beneath his heel in a dense web of fractures, and he launched himself forward like a cannonball, closing the distance to the retreating laborer in an instant. One simple, straight punch!
The laborer barely had time to raise the broken bamboo pole across his chest.
Boom!
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The bamboo exploded into splinters! The fist drove through without resistance and slammed into his chest.
Spit—!
The laborer sprayed blood and flew backward like a kite with a snapped string, bowling over four or five men behind him before collapsing in a heap, his fate unknown.
The savagery and power of that single punch finally acted like a bucket of ice water, dousing the frenzy of those at the front of the mob.
They stared at Chen Yang — a demon god standing amid a field of groaning bodies — at the faint but vivid bloodstain along his side, and at the all-consuming rage blazing in his eyes. Their momentum faltered involuntarily; fear crept onto their faces, and their feet began to inch backward.
Up on the high platform.
The amusement and contempt on Li Yan's face dimmed slightly, and his brow furrowed.
"Hmm?" A questioning sound escaped from his nose.
Beside him, Lin Yang — who had been smiling his cold, sinister smile — felt that smile fade a few degrees as a flicker of surprise crossed his eyes:
"Interesting. Senior Brother Li, it seems your cousin's loss… was not undeserved. This person — has he still not used any spiritual energy?"
Li Yan let out a cold snort. His tone remained disdainful, but his gaze had grown more attentive:
"He's just relying on brute strength! That Baode brat's foundation was always shaky — he must have been careless and fallen for a trick. No matter how strong an ant is, it's still an ant!"
His words were hard, but inwardly he had been genuinely shaken.
This mortal husband of Zhao Yanran's — the first time Li Yan had laid eyes on him, he had found him nothing but an eyesore, like filth stuck to the sole of a shoe. Especially when he thought of Junior Sister Zhao's jade-pure body having shared a bed with such a creature, a savage, murderous urge would rise unbidden in his chest.
Had Zhao Yanran not pleaded softly with him time and again, he would have crushed the man underfoot long ago.
For the past half year or so, he had nearly forgotten there was such a person buried among the laborers.
He had come to serve as an examiner today purely as a favor to his uncle Li Wantian, to casually stand up for his useless cousin.
He had expected a cat toying with a mouse — a tedious little game. He had not expected this mouse's teeth to be somewhat sharper than anticipated.
But that was all it amounted to.
A laborer was still a laborer. So what if he had stumbled into some physical strength? Was he going to overturn the heavens?
He, Li Yan, was a seventh level of the Qi Refinement Realm inner disciple elite!
Destined for Foundation Establishment!
With that thought, the small ripple that had risen in Li Yan's heart quickly settled, replaced once more by arrogance.
He even found the whole affair rather dull. This underhanded tactic of using a borrowed blade to kill was entirely at odds with his straightforward nature.
It was all Lin Yang's doing — that man with his twisting, winding schemes, insisting on "repaying someone in their own coin," having the laborers tear Chen Yang apart themselves, claiming it was the most psychologically devastating approach and would keep their own hands clean.
"Wrap this up," Li Yan said to Lin Yang with a hint of impatience. "Once this is dealt with, I still need to go find Junior Sister Zhao for a music appreciation session."
That was what Lin Yang had said when he came.
Lin Yang's lips curved back into that unsettling arc as he gave a light nod. "Of course. It's just a farce — time to bring down the curtain…"
His words were not yet finished when a new development erupted below!
Chen Yang sent the last laborer who dared charge at him flying with a single punch, then swept his gaze around.
Every laborer his eyes passed over shrank back in dread, retreating one after another — not a single one dared step forward again.
They looked at the field of groaning bodies around them and finally understood completely: this medicine garden laborer who had always seemed quiet and single-minded in his work was an existence they could never hope to shake!
Chen Yang drew a deep breath, suppressing the churning blood and killing intent within him.
He glanced at Xiaodouzi lying not far away on the ground — breath faint, still silently sobbing — then looked down at the jade token in his hand, stained with his own blood.
That jade token felt like a massive, bitter irony at this moment.
Then he snapped his head up. His gaze swept past the terrified laborers, past the plaza, and locked precisely onto the far end!
Over there was the arena for the Inner Disciple Advancement trials.
Far fewer people than on the laborer side, but the atmosphere was far more solemn. Presiding over it was a white-haired, white-bearded elder in Elder's robes, whose suppressive aura — far surpassing that of Li Yan or Lin Yang — radiated faintly from him. He was clearly at the Foundation Establishment Stage!
A wild, reckless idea seized Chen Yang's heart like a poisonous vine bursting through the earth!
He recalled the rules Lin Yang had announced moments ago —
"Outer Sect Disciples may also challenge inner disciples, provided the difference in cultivation is no more than three minor levels…"
"Three minor levels…" A blade-sharp resolve flashed in Chen Yang's eyes. "I'm at the fifth level of the Qi Refinement Realm; he's at the seventh level of the Qi Refinement Realm. Perfect!"
He hesitated no longer. The spiritual energy within him finally surged into motion for the first time — not for an attack, but poured entirely into his legs!
Whoosh—!
His entire body became an arrow loosed from a bowstring, his speed erupting to its absolute peak!
He vanished from where he stood!
In the next instant, his silhouette flickered several times and, at breathtaking speed, swept across the vast plaza. Under the stunned gazes of every Menial Disciple, and even Li Yan and Lin Yang on the high platform, he soared like a hawk skimming the earth, crossing hundreds of meters in a heartbeat, and landed steadily at the edge of the inner disciple trial grounds!
"Who goes there?!"
"What incredible speed!"
The Outer Sect Disciples participating in the inner disciple trials were all startled by this sudden intrusion, crying out in alarm and eyeing this uninvited guest with wariness.
Most of them were well-dressed, their auras far more composed and deep than those of the Menial Disciples — yet even they were shaken by Chen Yang's explosive speed and the Baleful Ferocity Aura that still clung to him.
The white-bearded Foundation Establishment Elder presiding over the trials had been stroking his beard while watching an Outer Sect Disciple demonstrate a fireball technique. Now his white brows arched upward and a sharp gleam flashed in his eyes as he turned to look at Chen Yang.
His divine sense was powerful; he had already sensed the commotion at the other end of the plaza and had vaguely perceived that the laborer causing the disturbance seemed to be concealing his cultivation.
But he had not bothered to investigate further, dismissing it as a squabble among laborers — not worth his attention.
He had never imagined this person would come charging directly before him.
Chen Yang landed, slightly winded, but stood ramrod straight.
Ignoring every uncertain and suspicious gaze around him, he looked directly at the white-bearded elder — clearly the highest authority present — and flicked his wrist, sending a low-grade spirit stone sailing precisely toward the steward disciple responsible for registration at the elder's side.
"I'm registering." Chen Yang's voice was hoarse from the battle and his fury, yet it rang out with unusual clarity and resolve. "I wish to advance to inner disciple."
"What?"
The steward disciple caught the spirit stone on reflex and stood there, dumbfounded.
The Outer Sect Disciples around him were equally stunned — then burst into uproarious laughter.
"Hahaha! Has this guy lost his mind? A laborer, trying to advance to inner disciple?"
"Did he get beaten stupid? Did he run over here from the other side?"
"The registration fee alone for the inner disciple trials is five spirit stones — does he even know that?! He only threw one low-grade spirit stone!"
The white-bearded elder raised a hand, silencing the laughter.
He studied Chen Yang from head to toe, his gaze sharp as lightning, as though trying to see straight through him.
Chen Yang felt a powerful divine sense sweep over him. He immediately ran the Nine Revolutions Body Tempering Art at full force, allowing his true cultivation to be revealed.
The elder's surprise deepened. He could indeed sense that this young man's blood and vitality were absurdly vigorous — not only was his physical constitution far beyond what his cultivation level should allow, but his true cultivation had genuinely reached the fifth level of the Qi Refinement Realm!
The elder stroked his beard and spoke, his voice steady:
"Young man, this is the arena for the Inner Disciple Advancement trials. Your trial is over there."
He gestured toward the other end of the plaza.
"Rules must not be broken."
"Rules?"
Chen Yang snapped his head up, raising his voice so that even those at the far end of the plaza could faintly hear: "Just now, Senior Brother Li Yan and Senior Brother Lin Yang stated it themselves — the Verdant Wood Sect has an old rule: laborers may challenge Outer Sect Disciples, and the victor advances! Outer Sect Disciples may likewise challenge inner disciples, provided the difference in cultivation is no more than three minor levels, and the victor advances! Is that rule false?!"
He had poured spiritual energy into his voice; it rang out like a thunderclap across open ground, spreading across more than half the plaza in an instant!
The noisy plaza fell into sudden, absolute silence!
Everyone was stunned — the Outer Sect Disciples and inner disciple Elder on this side, the Menial Disciples on the far side who had just been beaten into submission by Chen Yang, and even Li Yan and Lin Yang on the high platform who had been watching the spectacle!
He… what was he trying to do?!
The white-bearded elder was caught off guard by Chen Yang's words and nodded instinctively:
"The rule… does exist. It was established by the sect to encourage disciples to strive forward. In recent years it has rarely been invoked…"
"Then that's all I need to know!"
Chen Yang cut him off without ceremony, his gaze blazing.
"I am now an Outer Sect Disciple!" He thrust the bloodstained jade token into the air. "By this rule, do I or do I not have the right to challenge an inner disciple?!"
The jade token caught the sunlight and threw off a blinding glare.
The elder, cowed by his momentum, was taken aback again and answered almost reflexively:
"If you are already an Outer Sect Disciple, and the cultivation of the one you challenge does not exceed yours by more than three minor levels, then naturally… you meet the requirements."
"Good!" Chen Yang let out a great shout and spun around!
His arm shot up, his index finger extended like a drawn sword, pointing straight and true across the plaza toward the high platform at the far end — toward the young man in the moon-white brocade robe whose expression had already darkened into something ugly!
His voice came down like a thunderbolt, cracking across every ear on the plaza:
"Then I challenge him!"
"Li — Yan —!"
Silence.
A silence like death.
Even the wind seemed to stop.
The clouds pressed lower.
Across the entire Qingyun Peak plaza — laborers, outer disciples, inner disciples, the Foundation Establishment Elder, even Lin Yang on the high platform — every single person stood as though struck by the Body-Binding Art, frozen in place, their faces wearing nothing but extreme shock and disbelief.
What did he say?
He wants to challenge… Senior Brother Li Yan?!
A man who had only just — not even officially — advanced, a former laborer and brand-new Outer Sect Disciple, wants to challenge a seventh level of the Qi Refinement Realm inner disciple elite?!
This man had truly gone mad!
Completely and utterly mad!
The white-bearded elder stood frozen for a full three breaths before, as though unable to trust his own ears, he asked haltingly, almost in a murmur:
"You… who is it you're challenging?"
Chen Yang stood tall at the center of the grounds. Blood from the wound at his side seeped out and trickled slowly down, yet he was completely unaware of it.
His gaze was locked onto that distant figure on the high platform. He gathered every ounce of strength in his body and bellowed that name again, his voice echoing between the mountains:
"Inner disciple — Li — Yan —!"
"I, Chen Yang, challenge you this day — from below to above!"
"This battle shall determine superiority!"
Chen Yang's voice paused. The frozen fury within him finally erupted completely, transforming into a killing intent that surged toward the sky:
"And it shall decide — life or death!"