Yang Tianming's towering figure stepped forward, instantly becoming the center of attention for everyone present.
He made no deliberate effort to project his aura.
Yet the vast spiritual energy belonging to the ninth level of the Qi Refinement Realm — already on the cusp of Foundation Establishment — naturally radiated outward of its own accord.
It formed a heart-shaking pressure that enveloped Chen Yang entirely.
Chen Yang's expression turned grave in an instant, his heart accelerating beyond his control.
This oppressive force was heavy, dense, and solid!
It carried the embryonic might of something nearly at Foundation Establishment.
He had only ever felt something like it from that thirty-meter crocodile demon that had nearly taken his life!
Though it was slightly weaker than the crocodile demon's pure, savage ferocity, the refinement and control that came from a human cultivator made it far more difficult to deal with!
In recent times, he had devoted most of his energy to repairing the damage to his meridians.
Though the Yimu Immortality Art was profound and the Minor Vitality Cultivation Pills were remarkably effective — his injuries had recovered to roughly seventy or eighty percent, and his cultivation had steadily advanced, quietly brushing against the threshold of the seventh level of the Qi Refinement Realm.
Yet compared to Yang Tianming at the ninth level of the Qi Refinement Realm, the gap remained as vast as a chasm!
And yet.
Faced with this seemingly insurmountable difference in power, Chen Yang's eyes held not a single trace of retreat or fear.
He fixed his gaze on Yang Tianming, and within his chest, a battle-will laced with fury, resolve, and a sense of destiny surged and blazed like subterranean fire!
This battle…
He could not run from it!
Not merely to protect the hard-won opportunity that had come to Liu Yiyi and Xiaochunhua.
But because between him and Yang Tianming, there was a grudge long since forged — one that had to be settled!
From the moment Zhao Yanran returned with three senior brothers and proposed their separation…
From the moment he witnessed that shameful scene between Zhao Yanran and Yang Tianming in the medicine garden…
From the moment Yang Tianming coldly took Zhao Yanran away, leaving him in a room full of humiliation and despair…
That grudge had lodged itself like a poisoned thorn, buried deep in his heart!
Today was merely the moment it finally detonated!
He no longer held any feelings for Zhao Yanran, but toward Yang Tianming, hatred still burned.
Zhao Yanran, standing at Yang Tianming's side, keenly noticed the undisguised battle-will and resolve in Chen Yang's eyes.
A faint, fleeting flicker of complex emotion crossed her heart.
But then, almost immediately.
That emotion was replaced by something far stronger — jealousy, resentment, and a smug satisfaction at having found someone powerful to lean on.
She hesitated for an instant.
Then she reached out on her own initiative, gently taking Yang Tianming's large, well-defined hand in hers, leaning her body slightly closer to him in a posture of dependence and submission.
She tilted her chin upward.
Her gaze met Chen Yang's with open provocation.
Yang Tianming felt the slight coolness and softness in his palm. He glanced down at Zhao Yanran, who was deliberately displaying their intimacy, and a barely perceptible warmth and satisfaction flickered through his eyes.
He gently squeezed her hand in return.
As if offering her silent comfort and support.
This scene.
Falling upon the eyes of the many disciples below the platform, it immediately stirred a wave of low murmurs and discussion.
"Senior Brother Yang is actually going to make a move?"
"He's at the ninth level of the Qi Refinement Realm! Junior Brother Chen is only at the sixth level, right? This… this gap is enormous!"
"That's right — even if Junior Brother Chen defeated Senior Brother Li Yan by fighting above his level before, Senior Brother Yang and Senior Brother Li Yan are on completely different tiers!"
"This is clearly bullying — using strength to oppress the weak!"
"Sigh, it looks like Junior Brother Chen is going to suffer this time…"
"Is it even worth it, for two girls who just became Personal Disciples?"
Many of the inner disciples wore expressions of discomfort, feeling that Yang Tianming's conduct was truly beneath his station.
Up on the high platform.
Liu Yiyi and Xiaochunhua had a clear view of everything happening below.
When they heard Shen Hongmei announce that a spell duel would settle the dispute, and then saw Yang Tianming step forward, both of their hearts leapt straight into their throats!
Liu Yiyi's face went deathly pale.
Her eyes were filled with anxiety and worry.
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She watched Chen Yang below — the one who had stepped forward for their sake, standing alone against a powerful enemy — and felt both deeply moved and wracked with guilt.
She absolutely could not allow Chen Yang to be placed in such danger because of an opportunity meant for her!
On instinct, she wanted to speak up, to seek help from Song Jiayu, who stood beside her and had just accepted them as disciples…
Even if it meant voluntarily giving up her place as a Personal Disciple, she would never allow Chen Yang to risk his life!
However.
The moment she opened her mouth, she discovered in horror that her lips were sealed shut by some invisible force — she couldn't make a sound, couldn't even move her teeth!
A binding force far more refined and powerful than anything Zhao Yanran had previously used locked her mouth and tongue completely in place!
She circulated the meager spiritual energy within her body and pushed against it.
It was like an ant trying to shake a great tree — the restriction did not budge in the slightest!
She snapped her head around to look beside her, and saw that Xiaochunhua's face was equally frantic, her lips pressed tightly shut, only able to produce urgent muffled sounds of "Mmm, mmm, mmm" — clearly suffering the same predicament!
It was the Silencing Technique!
And the level of this Silencing Technique was far beyond anything Zhao Yanran could compare to!
At that very moment, a cool, unhurried voice — like a gentle stream — flowed directly into both of their minds. It was Song Jiayu's sound transmission:
"Do not act rashly. Watch quietly. The matter will find its resolution."
Upon hearing this, Liu Yiyi and Song Chunxin remained deeply anxious at heart.
But sensing the unquestionable tone in their master's words, along with the faint thread of reassurance woven through them, they had no choice but to forcibly suppress the urge within them.
Their gazes stayed fixed on the scene below, filled with helpless worry.
Xiaochunhua in particular.
By her usual nature, she would never have stood by watching Chen Yang step out for her sake while she enjoyed the privilege of becoming a Personal Disciple.
Now, with her mouth sealed shut, her eyes had reddened with urgency, and she could only grip Liu Yiyi's hand tightly.
Even as Song Jiayu used sound transmission to reassure her two new disciples, the corner of her eye quietly drifted to Shen Hongmei beside her, whose expression had turned completely icy.
Shen Hongmei's mood at this moment could only be described as dreadful.
Especially when Yang Tianming stepped forward and targeted Chen Yang with that near-crushing posture — she felt an uncontrollable surge of killing intent rise within her!
This Yang Tianming, relying on his cultivation and whatever backing he had, dared to humiliate her… the person she had taken notice of!
However.
The moment that killing intent arose, reason forcibly suppressed it.
She remembered the warning once given to her by Sect Master Senior Brother Ouyang Hua — this Yang Tianming had considerable connections behind him, and held influence even within the sect.
The sect was currently in troubled times.
It was not the moment to stir great waves, nor to rashly tear away the pretense of civility.
Suppressing her fury, her gaze shot toward Yang Tianming below like two ice-cold spikes, her voice frigid and carrying the authority of a Foundation Establishment Elder as she declared aloud:
"Yang Tianming! You have reached the ninth level of the Qi Refinement Realm and are preparing for Foundation Establishment — you are the finest among the inner disciples of our Verdant Wood Sect! And yet you would raise your hand against a junior brother at the sixth level of the Qi Refinement Realm over the doubts of a single registered disciple? Do you not find this… beneath your dignity? If word spreads, would outsiders not laugh at our Verdant Wood Sect's disciples for knowing only how to bully the weak with strength?!"
With these words, she had directly placed the label of "bullying the weak" squarely upon him.
She was attempting to use this to stop the spell duel before it began — a duel so lopsided in strength.
Faced with Shen Hongmei's question laced with barely-contained fury, Yang Tianming showed little sign of fear on his face.
He merely bowed slightly, his manner appearing respectful, yet his words yielded not an inch:
"Elder Shen, please see clearly. This disciple has no intention of bullying the weak. It is simply that the crux of the dispute between Junior Brother Chen Yang and Yanran just now was whether cultivation realm or moral character matters more in a Personal Disciple. Since Junior Brother Chen insists that moral character is more important, he must surely be a person of noble character and unwavering resolve himself. If that is so, why would he concern himself with a mere difference in his opponent's cultivation realm? Does true moral character not manifest precisely in standing firm against power and holding to one's convictions? If he retreats because his opponent's cultivation is higher, then his earlier words about 'character over cultivation' would ring hollow, would they not?"
His argument was tightly reasoned, cleverly turning Chen Yang's own earlier point against him like a blade.
It sounded, on the surface, almost reasonable — difficult to directly refute in the moment.
Shen Hongmei was momentarily choked by his words.
She inwardly cursed — this Yang Tianming was truly no easy opponent.
Seeing Shen Hongmei at a momentary loss for words, Yang Tianming turned his gaze to Chen Yang, his tone growing even more arrogant:
"Junior Brother Chen, wouldn't you say that's right? What's more, rumor has it that when you were at the fifth level of the Qi Refinement Realm, you defeated Li Yan of Crimson Glow Peak — who was at the seventh level of the Qi Refinement Realm — by fighting above your level. Such breathtaking talent, treating cross-realm combat as an everyday affair — your true strength must far exceed your current realm, marking you as a true genius! Surely exchanging a few blows with me, a mere ninth level of the Qi Refinement Realm, would be nothing to you?"
These words seemed like flattery on the surface, but in truth they had cornered Chen Yang completely, leaving him no room to refuse.
Chen Yang met Yang Tianming's contemptuous gaze. His chest heaved once, then slowly settled.
He drew a deep breath, cast aside all distracting thoughts, and his eyes became steady and clear once more.
Yes, the gap was enormous.
But so what?
In the past, the gap between him and Yang Tianming had been the divide between mortal and immortal.
An uncrossable abyss.
He could only watch helplessly as the other man took his wife away, leaving behind endless humiliation.
But today, the gap between him and Yang Tianming was nothing more than a difference in cultivation realm!
A gap that could be bridged through effort, through battle, through walking again and again along the edge between life and death!
He — Chen Yang — was no longer afraid!
"Senior Brother Yang makes a fair point."
Chen Yang spoke slowly, his voice calm yet carrying an iron-clad resolve:
"Cultivation realm is not the sole measure of all things. This battle — I, Chen Yang, accept it!"
As his words fell, he made to step out from the crowd and face his powerful opponent.
However, just as his foot lifted —
A closed white jade folding fan appeared like a phantom, silently and soundlessly, stretching across his path, blocking his way forward.
Chen Yang's step halted. He turned his head in surprise toward the owner of the folding fan.
He saw that Lin Yang — at some unknown point — had already stepped out from the Qin Valley disciples' area and was now standing at his side.
Lin Yang still wore that languid, casual air, a half-smile playing on his face, as though he had merely done something utterly trivial.
"Lin Yang?"
Chen Yang called out instinctively, his eyes full of confusion.
He had no idea what Lin Yang intended by this.
Yang Tianming, seeing Lin Yang suddenly intervene, felt his expression darken in an instant. His gaze cut toward Lin Yang like a blade, his voice carrying unmistakable displeasure and challenge:
"Lin Yang! What is the meaning of this?!"
Every eye on the plaza was drawn once again to this sudden development, all locking onto Lin Yang.
Up on the high platform, both Shen Hongmei and Song Jiayu beside her flashed a glint of surprise.
Clearly, neither had anticipated that this Qin Valley disciple would intervene at this moment.
Under the weight of countless gazes, Lin Yang lightly swayed the folding fan in his hand, his posture utterly at ease — as though he felt nothing of Yang Tianming's nearly murderous stare, nor the heavy atmosphere that gripped the entire plaza.
He raised those eyes of his — the ones that always seemed to carry a hint of drowsiness — and looked at Yang Tianming, his tone as flat as if he were discussing whether the weather was nice today:
"Oh, nothing much."
He paused, the half-smile at the corner of his mouth deepening slightly. His gaze swept over Chen Yang, then settled back on Yang Tianming, as he continued in an unhurried drawl:
"It's just… I was listening carefully just now, and I suddenly thought — he does seem to have a point."
"When it comes to Personal Disciples, moral character and virtue really do matter quite a bit, don't you think?"
He tilted his head to one side, wearing an expression of apparent puzzlement, lightly tapping the folding fan against his palm, his tone carrying an inscrutable playfulness:
"My, my — whatever shall we do about this?"