Chen Yang's fist was about to fall.
The icy wind of the blow swept across her face, twisted with fear.
He looked at this woman curled up on the ground, every trace of her former cold arrogance gone, and found his heart unexpectedly calm.
There was no exhilaration of a long-awaited revenge, nor any reluctance born of pity.
For Zhao Yanran, he had long since ceased to feel anything.
Those three years at the foot of the mountain had been a bone-deep longing, day after day without end.
Then came the reunion after he ascended the mountain — the scene where she proposed separation, and the betrayal that followed — all of it had crushed that longing in an instant, transforming it into towering hatred.
He had once been scorched day and night by the flames of vengeance, wishing he could tear Zhao Yanran and her three Senior Brothers apart.
And yet.
As his days of cultivation within the Verdant Wood Sect deepened, as he witnessed a broader world, survived life-and-death battles, came to know Liu Yiyi and Xiaochunhua, and received a measure of care from Senior Shen Hongmei…
That hatred, once as dense and tangible as a physical thing, had been diluted and settled without his noticing, until it finally transformed into something close to indifferent detachment.
Zhao Yanran was no longer the wife he had loved so deeply and hated so bitterly.
She was more like a familiar stranger — someone he once knew, now walking an entirely different path.
Had she not stepped forward today to challenge him and attempted to destroy the hard-won opportunity that Liu Yiyi and Xiaochunhua had earned, Chen Yang would not even have bothered to exchange another word with her, let alone raise a hand against her.
But since he had raised his hand, Chen Yang had no intention of showing mercy.
This was not out of hatred — it was because he knew Zhao Yanran far too well.
This woman…
At her core, she feared pain. More than that, she feared death.
Otherwise, she would never have resolutely left home and climbed the mountain all those years ago, chasing the elusive path of immortality, all just to escape the mortal cycle of aging and dying.
Only by making her truly taste bone-deep suffering would she learn her lesson — only fear would rein her in, and only then would she not dare to so easily entertain those vicious thoughts again.
Though Liu Yiyi and Xiaochunhua had been fortunate enough to become disciples under Elder Song Jiayu of Jade Bamboo Peak, seemingly ascending to the heavens in a single step, the fact remained that their cultivation was weak.
And that Elder Song — rumored to be cold and aloof, unworldly, rarely leaving her quarters — how could she watch over them at every moment?
In the Cultivation World, strength was the ultimate authority.
Until Liu Yiyi and Xiaochunhua possessed enough strength to protect themselves, the best course of action was to strip Zhao Yanran — this lurking threat — of any ability to cause trouble.
Chen Yang's thinking was simple and direct:
This punch didn't need to take her life, but it had to shatter her tendons and bones, leaving her bedridden and obedient for a year or more.
That way, by the time she recovered, Liu Yiyi and Xiaochunhua would surely be in a far stronger position at Elder Song's side, with the means to handle whatever came their way.
And yet.
At that most critical moment —
A figure, moving faster than Chen Yang's eyes could track, appeared at his side as if from thin air!
Chen Yang didn't even manage to see the movement clearly. He only felt a force like a collapsing mountain slam into his chest!
Boom!
A deep, muffled impact, like a fist striking leather!
Chen Yang felt as though his chest had been struck by a hammer of immense weight. Searing pain instantly spread through every inch of his body, and a sweet taste rose in his throat, followed by a rush of iron.
He flew backward like a kite with a snapped string, completely out of control!
Screech —
Crack!
Crack!
His feet scraped and stomped frantically against the stone-paved ground, trying to bleed off the terrifying force.
The soles of his shoes were instantly shredded, and the hard stone slabs crumbled beneath his feet like tofu, leaving two deep gouges stretching several meters — a horrifying sight.
Only when he crashed into a stone pillar at the edge of the plaza, with a dull thud, did he barely manage to halt his backward momentum.
Pfft —
He forcibly swallowed back the surge of blood that had risen to his throat, his face flushing crimson before draining to a deathly pale.
He looked down at his chest. On the front of his robe was a clear handprint.
Piercing pain radiated from his sternum — it felt as though hairline fractures had already formed in the bone.
What a terrifying palm strike!
Had he not cultivated the Nine Revolutions Body Tempering Art, giving his physical body a toughness far beyond those at the same level, and had the opponent not seemed to hold back somewhat, that single palm might have shattered his heart meridians outright.
He snapped his head up and fixed his gaze on the attacker who had appeared so suddenly…
It was Yang Tianming!
Chen Yang's heart lurched. He immediately turned to look in the direction where Lin Yang had been standing.
Lin Yang was still in his spot, unharmed, but the habitual laziness on his face had vanished, replaced by a rare gravity.
His gaze was locked on Yang Tianming, brow faintly furrowed, as though he too was shaken by the speed and power Yang Tianming had just displayed.
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
And at that moment.
The entire Qingyun Peak Plaza fell into an eerie silence — then erupted in a thunderous uproar.
"Just now… what just happened?!"
"Senior Brother Yang… wasn't he over there trading blows with Senior Brother Lin? How did he — in an instant —"
"I couldn't see it at all! It was like… like teleportation!"
"Too fast! That speed… how could a disciple at the ninth level of the Qi Refinement Realm possibly move like that?!"
"The power of that palm… I felt my heart jump even from this distance!"
Not only were the disciples pale with shock — even the Foundation Establishment Elders seated on the high platform, who had remained composed throughout, now stared wide-eyed, their faces written with disbelief.
"This young man… that movement technique just now…" One white-haired Elder's hand, which had been stroking his beard, froze in place.
"It was close to the Earth-Shrinking Step! Not yet perfected, but it has captured the essence of it. No ordinary Qi Refinement Realm cultivation technique could achieve this!"
"That palm drew in a portion of the ambient Spiritual Energy. The force was dense and concentrated, the burst of power extraordinary… he has already touched the threshold of Foundation Establishment!"
Shen Hongmei was equally shaken. She snapped her gaze upward toward the sky.
At some point, the sky that had been relatively clear had become blanketed in dark clouds.
Heavy leaden clouds hung low, as if within reach, completely blotting out the light, plunging the entire plaza into an oppressive dimness — as though night had arrived ahead of its time.
"It's going to rain…"
The thought flashed through Shen Hongmei's mind.
And just then, in the instant the clouds fully swallowed the last of the light —
Her focus seemed to waver for the briefest, most imperceptible moment, and she had failed to fully track Yang Tianming's movement in time.
By the time she registered what had happened, Chen Yang had already been sent flying.
"A disciple at the ninth level of the Qi Refinement Realm, and yet…"
Waves of astonishment crashed through Shen Hongmei's mind. She finally understood why the Sect Master had specifically warned her beforehand that this Yang Tianming had an unusual background and to keep an eye on him.
He had even seemed, in his words, to hold this young man in rather high… regard.
Just as Shen Hongmei's thoughts were racing —
Boom!!
A deafening crack of thunder exploded over Qingyun Peak, as if even the heavens had been startled by the struggle below.
Immediately after.
Fat raindrops poured down without warning, instantly merging into a curtain of rain that hammered the stone slabs of the plaza, sending up countless tiny splashes.
In the blink of an eye, a torrential downpour fell, and the world became a blur of grey.
Yang Tianming stood in the rain, channeling his spiritual energy to raise a light screen that kept the falling rain at bay.
He first crouched down and carefully helped Zhao Yanran — who had collapsed on the ground and was still in a daze — to her feet, asking with concern:
"Yanran, are you all right? Are you hurt anywhere?"
Zhao Yanran seemed not to hear him. She only stared blankly ahead, her lips trembling slightly.
She appeared still lost in the terror of Chen Yang's merciless, killing-intent-laden fist, unable to come back to herself.
She could not believe it.
That Chen Yang — the one who had once obeyed her every word and never spoken a harsh syllable to her — had become so…
Cold and terrifying.
Seeing that she did not answer, Yang Tianming asked no more. He raised his head, his gaze cutting through the rain, and looked toward Chen Yang, who had just struggled upright beside the stone pillar. His voice carried clearly through the sound of the rain:
"Junior Brother Chen, I acted in haste just now and gave offense. However, the outcome is now decided. Since Yanran has been defeated, the earlier dispute over the Personal Disciple qualification shall be settled by the result of the spell duel, as Elder Shen previously declared. She will raise no further objections."
He then turned his head and gave Lin Yang a look of complex meaning, his voice level but carrying a faint, barely perceptible edge:
"Junior Brother Lin, it seems we are evenly matched today. If the opportunity arises another time, I look forward to exchanging pointers again."
With that.
He paid no further attention to anyone, bent down, and lifted the still-dazed Zhao Yanran into his arms. He then turned toward the high platform and the surrounding Elders who had been watching the matter, giving a slight nod in greeting.
Then.
He shifted his stance, spiritual energy surging beneath his feet to carry them both aloft, and rose directly into the air, shooting up into the curtain of rain and swiftly vanishing from sight.
On the plaza.
The sound of the rain drowned out much of the chatter.
But Elders and disciples with deeper cultivation could still catch fragments of hushed conversation.
"This Yang Tianming… remarkable!"
"Indeed — that speed, that palm force. I'd believe it if someone said he was already at Foundation Establishment!"
"I've heard that Elders have long wanted to take him as a Personal Disciple, but he's turned them all down…"
"Hey, did you know? There's a rumor that Yang Tianming isn't even from our Qi Kingdom!"
"Not from the Qi Kingdom? Then where is he from?"
"They say… he's from the other side of the mountains. Beyond them lies a vast, boundless… sea…"
These murmurs blended into the rain, vague and mysterious.
Shen Hongmei, however, had no mind to listen to such gossip.
Her gaze remained fixed on Chen Yang, who had barely managed to stand after being sent flying.
The rain quickly soaked through his robes, leaving him looking rather bedraggled.
Shen Hongmei carefully sensed his aura.
Though it was somewhat turbulent, with his qi and blood in turmoil, his foundation had not been damaged — only his sternum might have a hairline fracture, requiring a few days of rest to recover.
Seeing this, she felt a measure of relief settle in her heart.
But immediately after.
Her gaze shifted toward the direction Yang Tianming had departed, her eyes growing deep and complex, her thoughts drifting.
This young man…
Was no ordinary fish in a small pond.
His origins and intentions were surely anything but simple.
Before long.
The torrential rain threw the plaza into chaos.
Those outer sect disciples and Menial Disciples whose cultivation was still shallow — those who had not yet mastered the Water Repulsion Art or possessed a water-repelling magical weapon — were instantly drenched to the bone.
Cries of surprise and the sounds of people scrambling for shelter rose one after another.
Shen Hongmei withdrew her gaze, drew a deep breath of cool, moist air, and gently shook her head, pushing down her tangled thoughts for the moment.
She channeled her spiritual energy, and her clear, cool voice cut through the rain, reaching every disciple's ears distinctly:
"Today's Sect Assembly is hereby concluded! All disciples, withdraw in an orderly fashion!"
At her command, the disciples — already unsettled by the sudden upheaval and the downpour — felt as though pardoned, and began to surge into motion, hurrying through the rain toward their respective peaks and valleys.
Chen Yang stood where he was, rain sliding continuously down his sharp-featured face.
He raised his head, his gaze passing through the crowd and settling on the high platform.
He saw that Elder Song Jiayu had, at some point, produced an elegant Oil-Paper Umbrella and held it over Liu Yiyi and Xiaochunhua.
She took each of them gently by the arm, and then the three of them, wrapped in a soft radiance of spiritual light, rose lightly into the air — like three green lotuses — and drifted away in the direction of Jade Bamboo Peak.
In the instant they ascended, Liu Yiyi turned her head.
Through the misty curtain of rain, she gazed long and deep at Chen Yang, her eyes filled with worry, gratitude, and reluctance to part.
Xiaochunhua also waved energetically toward Chen Yang, her mouth opening and closing.
She seemed to be saying something, but her words were swallowed by the wind and rain and the distance between them.
Watching them depart with the Foundation Establishment Elder, the great stone that had been hanging in Chen Yang's heart finally settled completely.
He felt genuinely happy for the two of them — this was undeniably a tremendous stroke of fortune.
And yet.
A faint sense of loss welled up in his heart, impossible to suppress.
He had originally thought he might earn merit during the demon beast rampage at this gathering and collect some sect rewards…
Even a few spirit stones would have helped ease the pressure on his cultivation resources.
Instead, not only had he received no reward, but he had somehow ended up fighting two battles and sustaining a not-insignificant injury.
He turned to look at the spot where Lin Yang had been standing, only to find it already empty — Lin Yang had slipped away silently at some point without anyone noticing.
Senior Sister Zhuxiu and Zhou Shan from Crimson Glow Peak also seemed to have taken advantage of the chaos to leave early.
Chen Yang wiped the rain from his face, feeling the dull ache pulsing from his chest, and let out a wry smile. He prepared to drag his exhausted, injured body back to his courtyard to rest and recover.
However.
Just as he took his first step, a cool and familiar voice threaded directly into his ear like a fine strand of silk, cutting cleanly through the surrounding rain and noise:
"I have sect matters to attend to in the coming days and cannot get away. Three days from now, at midnight, I will come find you."
The voice paused briefly, as though carrying a barely perceptible note of apology, and added:
"Also — the sect has a separate reward for your merit during the demon beast rampage. However, today… with the dispute and the chaos, it was not convenient to present it on the spot. It will be given to you together in three days."
Chen Yang heard every word with perfect clarity. It was Shen Hongmei's sound transmission.
He instinctively looked up toward the high platform.
The silver-haired figure had already transformed into a flash of light, shooting skyward, piercing through the rain, and vanishing into the depths of Qingyun Peak in an instant.
Leaving behind only a slender silhouette that quickly blurred in the rain.