"Senior Brother Jin, can I wager Marrow Cleansing Pills?" Ye Zhen walked up to Jin Yuanbao and asked. With such a golden opportunity before him, if Ye Zhen did not make a fortune for himself, he would truly be a fool.
"Of course! Here with me, Jin Yuanbao, anything valuable can be wagered, and my prices are fair! One Marrow Cleansing Pill is worth a thousand taels of silver." Jin Yuanbao spoke with no small amount of pride.
"What about Sect Contribution Points?"
"Of course they can!"
"Good. Senior Brother Jin, two Marrow Cleansing Pills and fifty Sect Contribution Points—I wager them on myself!" Having tossed down his stake, Ye Zhen turned gracefully and headed straight for the Martial Arena.
One Marrow Cleansing Pill had been his reward for passing the Fish Dragon Path. The other had been issued by the sect after an Outer Disciple broke through to the Blood Refining Fourth Level.
"Junior Brother Ye, is this your entire fortune?"
After Ye Zhen nodded, a flash of wild joy that no one noticed suddenly crossed Jin Yuanbao's stunned face. Those who dared wager their entire fortune were either madmen or utterly certain of victory.
"Ye Zhen, I want you dead!"
Swish!
On the Martial Arena, Ma Hun's sword flew from its sheath behind his back. With a flick of his wrist, nine cold stars shot toward Ye Zhen like lightning.
The Mortal-tier High Grade martial skill, the Cold Star Sword Technique, was known for its speed, precision, and ruthlessness. At its peak, one sword strike could stab nine times, and it was especially adept at sealing throats with a single blow.
"Too slow!" Ye Zhen crouched and sprang, appearing twenty meters away in an instant. Ma Hun only saw a blur before Ye Zhen vanished from sight. When he turned, he saw Ye Zhen sneering behind him, and his expression immediately turned grim.
"Heavens, Snake-Wandering Steps! That Snake-Wandering Steps which Outer Disciples were said to be incapable of mastering—Ye Zhen actually learned it!" The Outer Disciples beneath the Martial Arena immediately cried out when they saw Ye Zhen's Snake Springing Grass move.
"Doesn't that mean Ye Zhen might win? Heavens, I bet five hundred taels on Ma Hun!" The corner of one Outer Disciple's mouth immediately twitched.
"Not necessarily. Snake-Wandering Steps only gives him an advantage in movement. Still, mastering Snake-Wandering Steps really isn't simple..."
Watching Ye Zhen use Snake-Wandering Steps, the expressions of the many Outer Disciples all turned solemn. If they had known that Ye Zhen was still holding back while using Snake-Wandering Steps, who knew how shocked they would have been.
"You're not the only one who knows movement techniques!" Ma Hun shouted harshly. His body swept up like a swallow as he lunged at Ye Zhen. The sword in his hand flashed repeatedly, conjuring countless cold stars that nearly sealed off every path of retreat before, behind, above, and below Ye Zhen, leaving him no choice but to take the attack head-on.
This time, Ye Zhen did not dodge early. When the sword reached him, his body twisted strangely like a swimming snake several times, slipping through the sword's encirclement with remarkable skill.
"Take one of my punches too!"
Taking advantage of the momentum, Ye Zhen turned slightly, his fists blurring into shadows as he hurled a Five Peaks Divine Fist at Ma Hun.
When enemies met, their eyes burned especially red. A dazzling green light suddenly burst from Ma Hun's sword as he met Ye Zhen's attack.
"Ma Hun has used True Essence. Ye Zhen is going to lose," an Outer Disciple beneath the Martial Arena said softly.
"True Essence? So do I!"
Ye Zhen clenched his fists and exerted force. Both fists abruptly accelerated, dazzling green True Essence bursting forth as they met Ma Hun's sword.
"In such a short time, Ye Zhen actually broke through to the Blood Refining Fifth Level too?"
Just as the Outer Disciples below cried out in alarm, Ye Zhen's fists and Ma Hun's sword collided fiercely. Yet to everyone's surprise, an invisible shield seemed to exist three inches from Ye Zhen's fists, preventing Ma Hun's sword from advancing even an inch.
Wuu!
Both men exerted force at once. Ma Hun's sword suddenly bent to its limit, then sprang back violently as Ma Hun retreated, emitting a series of buzzing sounds.
In that exchange, Ma Hun had actually retreated half a step. The Outer Disciples beneath the Martial Arena who had wagered on Ma Hun instantly grew tense. In less than a hundred breaths since the battle began, this was already the second time Ma Hun had shown signs of defeat.
As Ma Hun retreated, Ye Zhen pursued like a shadow. Green light flashed around his hands, and each Five Peaks Divine Fist was fiercer than the last. Ma Hun showed no weakness either, his sword dancing in a sheet of green light, defending so tightly that not even wind or rain could penetrate.
Suddenly, Ma Hun's pupils inexplicably contracted.
His sword had originally been moving to meet Ye Zhen's fist, but the green light on Ye Zhen's fist flickered once and vanished without warning.
By the time Ma Hun sensed something wrong in front of his chest, the vanished green light from Ye Zhen's fist was already inches away from it.
The Five Peaks Divine Fist's Fist Qi had left the fist!
The broad and sweeping Five Peaks Divine Fist had been executed by Ye Zhen with such eerie unpredictability that Ma Hun's soul nearly fled his body. Yet the True Essence Fist Qi was incredibly fast. At the critical moment between life and death, Ma Hun could only instinctively twist his body, avoiding the vital point at his heart.
Bang!
True Essence brimming with explosive power detonated against Ma Hun's chest, instantly blasting it into a bloody mess. The immense force within sent Ma Hun flying backward.
Ye Zhen charged after him once more like a shadow, fists and legs working together as fist light and kicking shadows rained down upon Ma Hun's head and face.
The explosive sounds of bang bang bang rang without end alongside the cracking of Ma Hun's bones. Blood began spraying uncontrollably from Ma Hun's mouth.
Ye Zhen beat Ma Hun savagely as though he were a human punching bag. Scenes of Ma Hun deliberately provoking him in the past, even nearly killing him, surfaced before his eyes one after another. Ye Zhen's gaze became incomparably cold. Even though Ma Hun was gravely injured and nearly unable to fight back, Ye Zhen still showed no intention of stopping.
Such a bloody scene instantly silenced the many Outer Disciples beneath the Martial Arena.
At that moment, the Sect Deacon guarding the Martial Arena nearby leaped onto the platform and stopped Ye Zhen. "Enough, Ye Zhen. You have already won. Stop now, and do not break the sect's rules!"
Although Qi Yun Sect's Outer Disciples gave their all once they stepped onto the Martial Arena, and they could not always hold back, making deaths and cripplings common occurrences.
But because there had been too many deaths and injuries on the Martial Arena in earlier years, some Outer Disciples with grudges would step onto the arena as though entering a battle to the death, refusing to rest until one side died.
Therefore, the sect assigned deacons specifically to oversee the Martial Arena. They normally said nothing, but once victory had been decided, if the winner continued to strike with lethal intent, they had to intervene.
Bang!
Somewhat unwillingly, Ye Zhen kicked Ma Hun away before finally stopping. Had the Sect Deacon not intervened, Ye Zhen might truly have killed Ma Hun. A person like Ma Hun deserved to die!
With Ye Zhen's victory, the many Outer Disciples below who had wagered on Ma Hun began sighing and lamenting. The occasional one or two who had bet on Ye Zhen now practically wanted to leap into the air.
The happiest of all was Jin Yuanbao. His fat face had crumpled into a mass from smiling so broadly. Opening such a dark horse betting pool once was enough to let him earn until his bowls overflowed and his pots brimmed.
"If this fellow fought a few more matches, how wonderful would that be!" Jin Yuanbao's gaze toward Ye Zhen was already full of stars.
At the very moment Ye Zhen defeated Ma Hun, the Identity Jade Tokens of both Ye Zhen and Ma Hun flickered faintly. In the next instant, Ye Zhen's name appeared at three hundred and eighth place on the Earth Ranking, replacing Ma Hun's position.
Ma Hun's name did not drop directly off the ranking, but was instead shifted back by one place.
However, Ye Zhen looked from afar toward the highest reaches of the Earth Ranking.
"Senior Brother Jin, do you have an Amplification Talisman? Lend me one?" Ye Zhen paused, his gaze fixed on Jin Yuanbao.
"An Amplification Talisman? I have one..." Jin Yuanbao, who had been answering Ye Zhen with a beaming smile, suddenly turned deathly pale. "Watch out..."
Before the words "watch out" could leave his mouth, a vicious wind had already risen behind Ye Zhen.
After Ma Hun, sprawled on the Martial Arena, caught his breath slightly, he stared venomously at Ye Zhen's back. Evil surged from his heart to his guts. Gathering every last scrap of strength, he hurled the sword in his hand toward Ye Zhen from afar.
Whoosh!
The sword, infused with all of Ma Hun's strength, tore through the air with an astonishing shriek as it stabbed toward Ye Zhen's back.
Hearing the vicious wind behind him, Ye Zhen's gaze immediately turned cold. He stamped the ground and performed a kite flip, dodging Ma Hun's thrown sword. The instant he evaded it, Ye Zhen unleashed a chain of kicks.
One kick lightly redirected Ma Hun's sword, turning it halfway around. Then another kick struck fiercely. In an instant, Ma Hun's sword looped in a great arc and shot back at Ma Hun even faster than it had come!
Pfft!
Before blood-eyed Ma Hun could react, his own sword had pierced straight through his chest, and he immediately breathed his last.
Ye Zhen looked toward the Sect Deacon still on the platform and spread his hands, indicating that it had nothing to do with him.
"One who brings disaster upon himself cannot live," the Sect Deacon sighed softly before leaping down from the Martial Arena. Someone would naturally come to deal with Ma Hun's corpse.
From afar, Jin Yuanbao gave Ye Zhen a thumbs-up. At the same time, he tossed a Jade Talisman toward Ye Zhen. "Junior Brother Ye, what do you need an Amplification Talisman for? Only people like us doing business have occasional use for this thing. This one costs a hundred taels of silver—consider it a gift from me!"
Ye Zhen smiled mysteriously. "You'll know soon enough!"
The next instant, Ye Zhen suddenly crushed the Amplification Talisman in his hand. As it scattered a hazy green light, Ye Zhen, carrying the might of having just killed Ma Hun, spoke in a voice laced with icy killing intent that rang through every corner of East Arrival Peak!
"Hong Bao, you turtle grandson, do you dare fight your grandfather Ye Zhen?!"
The many Outer Disciples beneath the Martial Arena, who had been leaving with dejected faces after losing silver, were instantly struck as though by lightning. Their gazes toward Ye Zhen abruptly became filled with disbelief!
P.S. Young men, if Ye Zhen can be this mad, then let your recommendation votes go mad too!
Before you continue