The Greatest Gain

Bang!

Hong Bao's fist, glittering with golden light, slammed into Ye Zhen's shoulder like a golden meteor. Everyone below the stage immediately held their breath.

Yet the scene that many Outer Disciples had expected—or rather, predicted—of Ye Zhen being blasted away by one punch did not occur. At the instant he was struck, Ye Zhen's shoulder began to tremble rapidly at a strange frequency. It looked somewhat like waves, but even more like the slick body of a snake.

Slippery Snake Style of the Snake-Wandering Steps!

Hong Bao's savage expression abruptly froze. The sensation in his hand, as though he had struck a slippery loach, told him that the punch he had believed would kill Ye Zhen had not caused much damage at all. This is bad!

Almost at the same moment, Ye Zhen's hands, slipping out from beneath his ribs like spirit snakes, flashed rapidly as they struck Hong Bao's chest and ribs. At that moment, Ye Zhen's hands were like spirit snakes, all ten fingers moving in succession, each fingertip flicking out a speck of azure light.

Puff puff puff puff!

As Ye Zhen's ten fingers flicked rapidly, those tiny specks of azure True Essence between them were actually driven directly into Hong Bao's body.

Whenever a point of azure light entered Hong Bao's body, his body trembled inexplicably.

Clap clap clap clap clap!

In virtually an instant, Ye Zhen struck thirty-six points across Hong Bao's body with both hands. The moment all thirty-six finger strikes landed, a flash of terror suddenly rose in Hong Bao's eyes.

Because at that instant, he could no longer sense the True Essence within his body. Or rather, the True Essence in his body could only circle around within his dantian and could not leave it at all.

Not only that, the golden Fist Qi densely covering his fists also receded like the tide.

"Pulse Severing and Essence Sealing—the killing move of the Spirit Snake Vein-Cutting Hand, Pulse Severing and Essence Sealing?" Gu Duozhi, watching beneath the stage, abruptly rose to his feet.

Whoosh!

Hong Bao, standing there unable to mobilize his True Essence, was still unwilling to give up. He swung his barely movable arms and smashed them toward Ye Zhen's head.

Ye Zhen respectively tugged and shoved with both hands. With two crisp cracks, Hong Bao's shoulder joints were dislocated. The instant his arms hung limply at his sides, Ye Zhen suddenly exhaled and shouted, "Ha!"

A Five Peaks Divine Fist struck Hong Bao squarely in the vital point of his chest. A bloody arrow sprayed wildly from Hong Bao's mouth as he was sent flying with a single punch.

Hong Bao flew through the air, but the popping sounds of True Essence breaking through the pulse-severing seal rang out without end. Hong Bao was frantically driving his True Essence, trying to break open Ye Zhen's Spirit Snake Vein-Cutting Hand.

Ye Zhen's body suddenly dipped and sprang up. A palm blade dense with True Essence slashed toward Hong Bao's throat.

Ye Zhen moved like lightning, and Hong Bao's pupils suddenly contracted to their limit. For the first time, terror appeared in his eyes.

The palm blade dense with True Essence could cleave gold and cut jade. Its sharpness was even greater than that of blades and swords. If that strike landed solidly, Hong Bao would undoubtedly die.

Yet at this moment, Hong Bao's True Essence was sealed. Of the thirty-six points of pulse-severing True Essence Ye Zhen had planted in his body, he had broken through less than half. He could only watch helplessly as Ye Zhen's palm slashed toward him.

At the instant the palm wind reached his body, Hong Bao's eyes suddenly bulged to their limit, even bursting with bloodshot veins.

Death was so close to him at this moment!

Just when Hong Bao believed himself certain to die, a jade bead arrived after yet struck first, smashing fiercely into Ye Zhen's palm blade and knocking it aside.

Crack!

Ye Zhen's palm blade slashed viciously across Hong Bao's collarbone, instantly breaking it in two. Hong Bao suffered another grave injury and collapsed to the ground, unable to rise.

Ye Zhen abruptly turned around, his gaze somewhat hostile as he stared at the Sect Deacon guarding the Martial Arena. That man had acted just now. Counting this, it was already the second time he had stopped Ye Zhen. At this moment, the Sect Deacon was walking toward Hong Bao, who lay unable to rise.

"In a few more years, you'll realize that killing people isn't the only way."

"Besides, this is my duty. If you were the disciple about to be killed, I would have acted just the same."

After offering that explanation, the Sect Deacon guarding the Martial Arena glanced at Hong Bao on the ground. With several pats, he restored Hong Bao's dislocated joints, then announced, "Ye Zhen wins!"

Beneath the Martial Arena, silence descended in an instant. The gazes of more than a thousand Outer Disciples immediately became utterly vacant. Jin Yuanbao, standing before the betting table, even rubbed his eyes in disbelief.

Hong Bao, whose arms had only just been restored, immediately clenched both fists tightly.

He did not dare raise his head, much less stand up.

His pride and arrogance had been smashed to pieces by Ye Zhen in that instant.

In the past, he had lorded it over others and demanded that everyone yield to him. He wanted privileges in everything he did because he believed himself powerful, believed he deserved such privileges. Even Gu Duozhi did not dare provoke him. This was the treatment the strong deserved.

But now, his former self-confidence had become a joke—a joke Ye Zhen had easily poked through.

"Hahahaha, he won! Ye Zhen won! Ye Zhen won!" Jin Yuanbao laughed excitedly, as if every piece of fat on his body were laughing along with him.

"Brothers, thank you for your silver! I'm rich, I'm rich!" A quarter of an hour ago, Jin Yuanbao had still been cursing Senior Disciple Brother Gu Duozhi, who had forced him to open the betting pool, as a menace, and had even wanted to tear apart Ye Zhen's mouth.

Now, however, he wished he could pull Ye Zhen's mouth over and kiss it hard twice—if Ye Zhen were willing, that was.

Jin Yuanbao's wild laughter, however, drew the dissatisfaction and even fury of more than a thousand Outer Disciples who had lost silver. Many among them had believed this was a chance to pick up money and had even wagered their entire fortunes.

The furious stares of more than a thousand people immediately made Jin Yuanbao realize something was wrong. Decisively, he hugged the several sacks of wagers and leaped behind Senior Disciple Brother Gu Duozhi. He wisely shut his mouth as well, afraid of stirring up public wrath again.

Gu Duozhi loved presenting himself as impartial. At this time, the only one who could protect him was Gu Duozhi.

Senior Disciple Brother Gu Duozhi was still wearing an expression of shock, immersed in Ye Zhen's Pulse Severing and Essence Sealing Hand, his face full of disbelief.

The reason was that Gu Duozhi, too, had once chosen to cultivate the Spirit Snake Vein-Cutting Hand because he had recognized its power, and once he began training it, he had trained bitterly for more than half a year.

After more than half a year of bitter training, Gu Duozhi's Spirit Snake Vein-Cutting Hand could be considered a minor accomplishment. Yet he simply could not master its killing move, the Pulse Severing and Essence Sealing Hand.

To strike thirty-six times in a single breath—even after half a year of painstaking effort and breaking through to the True Essence Realm, he still could not accomplish it.

Yet Ye Zhen had just done it, and had made it seem as natural as flowing clouds and running water.

Before long, the more than a thousand Outer Disciples gathered here gradually dispersed. Even those Outer Disciples who had lost everything could only leave helplessly.

A wager was a wager. Before the eyes of the public, these young and reckless Outer Disciples could not bring themselves to do something as shameless as reneging.

"Hahahaha, five thousand taels! Shi Tianjia, I won five thousand taels! I can exchange it for more than twenty Blood Origin Pills. Now my cultivation can enter the Blood Refining Fifth Level too!"

Feng Haoran waved his winnings at Shi Tianjia, who stood there dumbfounded, then laughed loudly and strode away, leaving Shi Tianjia standing in place like a wooden chicken.

The eight hundred taels of silver and two hundred Sect Contribution Points he had bet on Hong Bao were his entire fortune. The eight hundred taels had been given by his family, while the two hundred Sect Contribution Points had been saved over four months by desperately completing Sect Missions. He had never been willing to use them.

Now, everything had vanished in a single day!

"Jin Yuanbao, this time you've made a killing." Having recovered his senses, Senior Disciple Brother Gu Duozhi suddenly smiled at Jin Yuanbao.

"Just a small fortune, just a small fortune. It's all thanks to Senior Disciple Brother, all thanks to Senior Disciple Brother." Jin Yuanbao nodded repeatedly.

Hearing that, Gu Duozhi froze for a moment. It seemed that he had been the one who had forcibly made Jin Yuanbao open the betting pool.

"By the way, Jin Yuanbao, let me ask you something. I heard Ye Zhen was still a Menial Disciple four months ago. Is that true?" Gu Duozhi asked.

"It's true, it's true. Senior Disciple Brother, do you know about the Fish Dragon Path that was specially opened for Menial Disciples four months ago? A dark horse! Ye Zhen was a dark horse that came charging out of nowhere, and he made me a fortune."

"So it's true. By the way, do you know which Menial Peak Ye Zhen used to stay at?" Gu Duozhi suddenly asked.

"The Menial Peak Ye Zhen used to stay at? Let me think... Oh, right, Hundred Pine Peak. It was Hundred Pine Peak. Back then, Ma Hun wanted to bully Ye Zhen, and the steward of Hundred Pine Peak even came out to stand up for Ye Zhen." Jin Yuanbao replied.

"Hundred Pine Peak... I understand..." With that, Senior Disciple Brother Gu Duozhi drifted away. Yet on the face he had turned away, there was an additional trace of something inscrutable.

Only after Senior Disciple Brother Gu Duozhi had gone far away did Jin Yuanbao mutter in confusion, "Why is Senior Disciple Brother asking about the Menial Peak Ye Zhen used to be at?"

At that very moment, the Earth Ranking on Heaven and Earth Cliff flickered several times. Ye Zhen's name immediately replaced Hong Bao's in the second position of the Earth Ranking.

Hong Bao's name fell to third place, while Li Yuncong's name was pushed down in turn to fourth.

Whenever one's ranking changed, the Identity Jade Token carried on one's person would also change. Looking at his own Identity Jade Token, Li Yuncong gave a bitter smile. He had cultivated bitterly for more than half a year—how had his ranking fallen instead of risen?

At the same time, when the Earth Ranking changed, Steward Liu of East Arrival Peak let out a soft cry. "Eh? A new top-three member of the Earth Ranking has emerged?"

The instant he stepped out to take a closer look, Steward Liu of East Arrival Peak was greatly shocked.

At the same time, amid the clouds above the Martial Arena, a pair of beautiful eyes suddenly vanished. "He actually won. That really is rather unexpected..."

"Senior Brother Jin, we can split the spoils right where we stand now, can't we?" Ye Zhen laughed loudly as he ran toward Jin Yuanbao. The greatest gain from this battle was actually right here.

Hong Bao, who had just been carried away for treatment, heard Ye Zhen's shout and could not suppress another mouthful of clotted blood, which he sprayed out wildly.

He had wagered his entire fortune with Jin Yuanbao. With this loss, he had become a penniless pauper.

Becoming a pauper was one thing. What filled him with hatred was that half of his fortune would actually fall into Ye Zhen's hands. This was a textbook case of aiding the enemy—aid to the enemy!

P.S. Young men, even Hong Bao has started aiding the enemy. Where is your support?

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