Dead silence.
On the plaza of Qingyun Peak, the only sound was the faint whisper of wind sweeping a few wisps of ash across the scorched black ground.
Every gaze was locked, unblinking, on the center of the plaza.
There stood Chen Yang, breathing slightly hard, his posture still straight and unyielding!
And at his feet, Li Yan — once an arrogant inner disciple elite who had thought himself untouchable — lay crumpled like a boneless heap of mud, his face unrecognizable, his body a mess of charred flesh and blood.
Only the occasional involuntary twitch proved he was still alive, but his qi sea was shattered and his cultivation utterly destroyed — that much was certain.
The visual and emotional impact of this scene surpassed anything words could convey.
Those Outer Sect Disciples who had come to take the inner sect trial — each one proud and haughty — now wore expressions stripped bare of all mockery, contempt, and schadenfreude. In their place was a pallid mixture of dread, bewilderment, and disbelief.
They stared at Chen Yang as though watching a monster that had just crawled up from the abyss.
Fifth level of the Qi Refinement Realm, defeating the seventh!
And in such an utterly crushing, almost brutal fashion…
It had completely overturned their understanding of the power hierarchy in the cultivation world.
The white-bearded Foundation Establishment Elder presiding over the inner sect trial felt the muscles of his face twitch slightly, his eyes filled with emotions too tangled to name.
He had, in fact, considered stepping in at the critical moment to save Li Yan.
After all, Li Yan's background was not simple — his uncle, Li Wantian, was an Outer Sect Steward with a web of connections inside the sect. If Li Yan truly died right under his nose, it would cause no small amount of trouble.
But just as that thought arose, his attention had been completely seized by Chen Yang's display of the Nine Revolutions Body Tempering Art!
That unique circulation of qi and blood, and the unyielding aura radiating from his physical body — he could never mistake it!
This was unmistakably the exclusive Body Tempering cultivation technique jealously guarded by Elder Shen Hongmei of Spirit Sword Peak — that hot-tempered, fiercely protective woman!
It was said she valued this technique above all else, and had never lightly passed it on even to her own Personal Disciples. How had this seemingly ordinary Menial Disciple obtained it?
Could it be… that he was a disciple Elder Shen had been secretly cultivating?
Or did he share some unknown, intimate connection with Elder Shen?
This conjecture sent a storm surging through the Foundation Establishment Elder's heart, shaking him so thoroughly that he stood rooted to the spot in a daze.
Shen Hongmei was famously not someone to be trifled with in the Verdant Wood Sect — her cultivation was profound, her backing formidable. If this boy had her support…
Then these murky waters…
In that short while of hesitation and calculation, the situation on the field had already taken a sharp turn!
By the time he snapped back to his senses, Li Yan was already sprawled at Chen Yang's feet like a dead dog, his qi sea shattered beyond any hope of recovery.
"Alas…" The Elder sighed inwardly. Things had come to this — there was nothing more to be said.
The gaze he turned on Chen Yang now carried a measure of scrutiny and wariness.
Yet unlike the stunned, suppressed atmosphere at the high platform and the inner sect area, on the other end of the plaza — among the crowd of Menial Disciples who had been coerced into attacking Chen Yang — a restless, complex undercurrent was quietly spreading.
Many of them stared at Li Yan's wretched state, eyes wide with disbelief at first.
Then, an indescribable surge of satisfaction and vindication began to grow wildly in their hearts, like weeds after rain!
Li Yan had always relied on his inner sect status and connections to beat and berate the laborers as he pleased, treating them like animals. The slightest displeasure from him meant humiliation, and docking their allotted spirit stones was as routine as breathing.
The Menial Disciples had long harbored deep resentment toward him, daring to feel anger but never daring to speak it.
Now, seeing this tyrant who had lorded over them and crushed them at will — stomped underfoot by one of their own, his cultivation destroyed, reduced to something even lower than them — the overturning of that order delivered a shock and a secret thrill of immense intensity!
Though they felt ashamed for having raised their hands against Chen Yang under pressure earlier, that shame was instantly swallowed by an even greater wave of elation.
Quite a few of them instinctively clenched their fists, the corners of their mouths curling upward despite themselves. They exchanged glances full of unspoken "serves him right" and "karma."
Some even secretly, quickly spat in Li Yan's direction, then immediately bowed their heads in nervous haste, terrified of being noticed.
Chen Yang stood in the center of the plaza and drew a long, deep breath. The air still carried the acrid smell of scorched flesh and a faint tang of blood.
This fierce battle had been brief, but the danger had been extreme — especially the unknown terror of facing the Blazing Flame Serpent Devour at the outset, and the decisive ruthlessness required when Li Yan launched his desperate dying counterattack.
Now, the stifling weight that had pressed on his chest ever since he came up the mountain — because of Zhao Yanran, because of those three Senior Brothers, because of his status as a Menial Disciple — had finally been swept away by a third with Li Yan's crushing defeat!
Zhao Yanran's three cultivation partner Senior Brothers: Yang Tianming, Lin Yang, Li Yan.
Now, Li Yan had been personally destroyed by his own hands!
The debt for Xiaodouzi's shattered qi sea had been repaid — with interest!
Two remained!
His gaze snapped upward like two ice-cold arrows cutting through the air, locking precisely onto Lin Yang — who still sat at ease in the grand master's chair on the high platform at the far end, looking for all the world as though he had been watching an entertaining show from start to finish!
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Killing intent — undisguised — coalesced and boiled in his eyes!
He could even feel the spiritual energy inside him accelerating its flow in response to that killing intent, the qi and blood that had barely settled from the battle beginning to surge again.
A reckless thought burst free, uncontrollable — strike now, and deal with this treacherous schemer at the same time!
As though sensing the weight of that ice-cold gaze, the habitual, unsettling smirk on Lin Yang's face faltered for just a moment — then spread wider and deeper than before.
With practiced ease, he snapped his folding fan shut with a crisp snap, his figure swaying lightly, drifting down from the high platform like a weightless feather. In a few graceful bounds, he landed not far from Chen Yang, only a few steps from where Li Yan lay collapsed.
He first lowered his head and gave Li Yan's charred skull a light prod with his fan, calling out twice:
"Junior Brother Li? Junior Brother Li?"
Seeing no response from Li Yan — only breath going out, none coming in — he raised his head and looked back at Chen Yang. Those narrow, slitted eyes glimmered with amusement and curiosity, as though appraising an interesting toy.
"Aren't you going to avenge him?" Chen Yang's voice was cold and hoarse, laced with undisguised hostility.
He kept his eyes fixed on Lin Yang, every muscle in his body still coiled taut, ready to explode into a thunderous strike at any moment.
"Avenge him?"
Lin Yang reacted as though he had heard something genuinely amusing. He raised his folding fan to cover his mouth and let out a low, soft laugh.
"Heh heh heh… Senior Brother Chen Yang jests. Junior Brother Li's qi sea is broken, his path destroyed — he's a cripple now. To make an enemy of someone like Senior Brother Chen Yang — a 'newcomer' with such hidden depths and boundless potential — over a cripple? That's a losing trade. I, Lin Yang, have never done business at a loss."
His words were light and cold, trampling the bonds of fellowship underfoot without a second thought, his eyes reflecting nothing but naked calculation.
Chen Yang's brow furrowed deeply. His opponent's reaction gave him the stifled feeling of throwing a punch into empty air.
This Lin Yang was even more treacherous and slippery than he had imagined.
Lin Yang seemed not to notice the killing intent intensifying in Chen Yang's eyes, and continued in that maddening tone:
"Senior Brother Chen Yang, don't look at me like that. What — finishing off Li Yan wasn't enough? You want to deal with me too?"
He tilted his head in a show of contemplation, tapping his folding fan lightly against his palm:
"Hmm… let me think. Li Yan was at the seventh level of the Qi Refinement Realm, with fierce fire-type spell techniques and close-quarters combat ability — nothing remarkable, but his cultivation level spoke for itself. Yet he still lost to you, and so completely… What does that tell us? It tells us that your true strength, Senior Brother Chen Yang, is almost certainly far beyond the fifth level of the Qi Refinement Realm you've shown. You must have hidden trump cards of formidable power, isn't that right?"
His gaze drifted, seemingly casual, over Chen Yang's sleeve and waist — where the Flying Sword gifted by Shen Hongmei and its duplicate were concealed.
Chen Yang's heart lurched sharply. He felt as though a venomous snake had fixed its eyes on him — as though most of his hidden cards had already been seen through!
This Lin Yang's perception was terrifyingly sharp!
"And so," Lin Yang spread his hands with an expression of "I know my limits."
"Knowing the odds aren't in my favor — that I might even capsize in the gutter — why would I accept the challenge? A fight with no certainty of winning is so dreadfully dull."
He said all this with complete self-assurance, showing not the slightest embarrassment at backing down from a fight. If anything, he seemed rather pleased with his own shrewdness.
Chen Yang's fists clenched so hard his knuckles went white, yet he found himself utterly powerless against the man!
His opponent simply refused to engage — slippery and evasive to the last — leaving all his killing intent and fury with nowhere to land!
Just then, Lin Yang suddenly seemed to remember something. He glanced up at the sky and feigned a look of sudden realization:
"Oh my, look at my memory. I got so caught up watching the show I nearly forgot what I came for. It's getting late — I still need to hurry back to Jade Bamboo Peak."
He deliberately raised his voice a few notches, making sure plenty of the people nearby could hear:
"Junior Sister Yanran's Passion Gu seems to be flaring up again today. She asked me earlier to come play the zither for her — to calm her heart and ease the stagnant energy… Oh, and tonight I'll likely be staying at the Jade Bamboo Lodge, spending the whole night 'curing' Junior Sister."
As he said the word "curing," he deliberately drew it out, his tone thick with suggestive ambiguity.
At the same time, he snapped his folding fan upright with a flourish, shielding most of his face, leaving only a pair of eyes brimming with mockery and provocation — casting Chen Yang one long, meaningful glance.
Boom——!
Those words were like a spark dropping into a volcano on the verge of eruption!
Zhao Yanran!
Passion Gu!
Jade Bamboo Lodge!
Spending the whole night "curing" her!
These words, combined, instantly ignited the most sensitive, most agonizing nerve in Chen Yang's heart!
The image of Zhao Yanran and Yang Tianming in that room, which he had witnessed with his own eyes — along with countless nights of suspicion and humiliation — crashed over him like a tidal wave!
Fury!
Absolute, blinding fury instantly shattered his reason!
"Lin Yang! I'll kill you!!!"
Chen Yang's eyes turned crimson in an instant. He let out a roar like a wild beast, the spiritual energy inside him erupting violently as he lunged toward Lin Yang without a second thought!
But Lin Yang seemed to have anticipated his reaction all along. In the fleeting moment before Chen Yang exploded into motion, he had already let out a light laugh and drifted backward like a phantom — at breathtaking speed!
"Senior Brother Chen Yang, don't be so hot-headed. A spring night is worth its weight in gold — your Senior Brother here won't be keeping you company any longer. Farewell!"
Before the words had even faded, a faint green luminescence bloomed around his body. He had activated some form of Body-Lightening Magic. His figure flickered several times, leaped to the edge of the plaza, then transformed into a streak of light and shot away in the direction of Jade Bamboo Peak — at a speed so great that Chen Yang could not even come close to matching it!
Chen Yang charged madly after him for a dozen or so steps, but could only watch helplessly as that streak of light vanished into the horizon.
He could not ride qi to fly. On foot alone, he had no hope of catching a seventh level Qi Refinement Realm cultivator who was intent on fleeing!
"AHHH!!!"
An overwhelming sense of powerlessness and humiliation surged up within him. Chen Yang skidded to a halt and threw his head back, unleashing a howl of utter, unbearable frustration — his voice raw and ragged, saturated with boundless hatred!
He slammed his fist into the ground beside him with a thunderous crack. The solid stone slabs shattered outward from the point of impact in countless fractures.
With great effort, he forced down the churning qi and blood and the killing intent. Chen Yang stood motionless, his chest heaving violently, his eyes cold enough to freeze the air around him.
Lin Yang!
This man's treachery and viciousness far exceeded Li Yan's! Every humiliation suffered today — he would repay it a hundredfold!
Just then, a smooth, warm object came flying through the air. Chen Yang instinctively reached out and caught it.
He looked down. It was a jade token of finer quality, engraved with the characters for "inner disciple," radiating spiritual energy several times denser than his old outer disciple jade token.
The white-bearded Foundation Establishment Elder had approached at some point without his noticing. He looked at Chen Yang with a complex expression, and announced in a flat, even tone:
"Outer Sect Disciple Chen Yang has successfully challenged inner disciple Li Yan. In accordance with sect rules, effective immediately, you are promoted to inner disciple of the Verdant Wood Sect. Each month you may collect two hundred low-grade spirit stones as cultivation resources. In three days, you may proceed to the Cultivation Technique Pavilion to select one cultivation technique for your practice."
With the announcement complete, the Elder spared Chen Yang no further glance. His gaze shifted to the unconscious Li Yan on the ground, and his brow creased slightly.
He considered for a moment, then swept his sleeve — a gentle current of spiritual energy lifted Li Yan's limp, mud-like body.
Leaving Li Yan here was clearly unacceptable.
This was the plaza of Qingyun Peak, a place where the Sect Master cultivated in seclusion. That it had already been made this bloody was improper enough.
Moreover, looking at the barely concealed hostility in the eyes of the surrounding Menial Disciples as they watched Li Yan, the Elder had no doubt.
If the utterly crippled Li Yan were left here, he would likely be quietly beaten to death by these laborers — who had suffered his abuse for so long — before his uncle could even send anyone. That would create far greater trouble.
Better to take him away first and hand him over to the Law Enforcement Hall or his uncle Li Wantian to deal with.
With that decided, the Foundation Establishment Elder lingered no longer. His figure stirred, and carrying the unconscious Li Yan, he transformed into a streak of rainbow light and swiftly departed from the plaza of Qingyun Peak.
With the Elder's departure, the curtain finally fell on this day's trial — a trial full of twists and turns, heart-stopping from beginning to end.
On the plaza, only the countless disciples with complicated hearts remained — and Chen Yang, standing alone, gripping tightly in his hand that brand-new inner disciple jade token.
Sunlight broke through the clouds and fell upon his blood-stained robes and the jade token that marked his change in standing, casting a long, long shadow behind him.