The Secret Cave Was Destroyed?

"You were trying to get me to talk, Ye Zhen. Do you really think I can't deal with you alone?" Senior Disciple Brother Gu Duozhi immediately understood that Ye Zhen had been probing him to see whether he had accomplices.

And after getting his answer, Ye Zhen's expression became much more resolute. Clearly, he had considerable confidence in his own strength.

"Hong Bao thought the same thing before he stepped onto the Martial Arena." Ye Zhen had actually been seventy to eighty percent certain from the start that Gu Duozhi had come alone. His probing just now had only been a precaution.

Now that he had confirmed Gu Duozhi was alone, things became much easier.

Ye Zhen slowly moved toward the entrance of the Cliff Secret Cave. A murderous chill gradually spread through the not-so-spacious cave.

"Junior Brother Ye, are you trying to kill me?" Gu Duozhi raised his brows and shouted.

"Does Senior Disciple Brother expect me to wait helplessly for death?"

"Haha, Junior Brother Ye, don't be hasty. Actually, fighting until one of us dies isn't the only solution. We can settle this peacefully," Gu Duozhi said with a laugh.

"Settle it peacefully?" Ye Zhen looked deeply unconvinced.

"You don't believe me?" Gu Duozhi stared at Ye Zhen as something suddenly appeared in his hand. "Take a look at this."

Whoosh!

The instant Ye Zhen's gaze shifted, Gu Duozhi flicked his fingers. A streak of dim light, accompanied by a piercing shriek through the air, shot toward Ye Zhen. Almost at the same time, the long sword at Gu Duozhi's waist flew from its sheath, sword light flashing wildly as it chopped straight at Ye Zhen!

Even though Ye Zhen had been on guard, Gu Duozhi still caught him off balance. Cursing inwardly at his treachery, Ye Zhen flashed aside to evade the hidden weapon. But the Cliff Secret Cave was simply too cramped—less than twenty meters from end to end, not even enough room for Snake Springing Grass to be unleashed at full force once.

Gu Duozhi pursued him like a shadow, displaying a compact and inscrutable Lesser Heavenly Star Swordplay. Coordinating it with several-foot-long sword light that flickered in and out along his blade, he slashed at Ye Zhen again.

Fortunately, Ye Zhen's Snake-Wandering Steps were suited for close-quarters entanglement, and they were even easier to use in such a confined space.

Suddenly, Ye Zhen spun sharply, dodging the sword light at Gu Duozhi's tip as it explosively stretched to five feet. He slid away, opening a little distance. Just as Ye Zhen was about to counterattack, an accident occurred.

His dodge had brought him before the broken Stone Shoot in the cave. Ye Zhen had broken it off earlier because the origin of the Marrow Spirit Liquid had been unclear. Yet, fearing that digging further would stop the Marrow Spirit Liquid from appearing forever, he had not dared continue.

Ye Zhen had dodged, but the broken Stone Shoot that produced Marrow Spirit Liquid was inanimate. Gu Duozhi's five-foot sword light crashed into it with a boom.

Bang!

Broken stones flew everywhere.

The broken Stone Shoot, along with the large bamboo tube Ye Zhen had hung there, was blasted to powder by Gu Duozhi's sword light. A pit over a meter deep was gouged into the ground as well.

Destroyed?

Ye Zhen and Gu Duozhi both froze.

The next instant, sword light surged in Gu Duozhi's hand. He leaped forward as cold stars flashed in succession, stabbing rapidly at Ye Zhen. He had grown anxious and directly used the killing move of the Lesser Heavenly Star Sword—Heavenly Star Consecutive Flashes!

Almost simultaneously, Ye Zhen, having gained a brief chance to catch his breath, threw a punch!

The killing move of the Mortal-tier High Grade Five Peaks Divine Fist—Five Peaks Unite!

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Ye Zhen threw several punches in succession, several pure azure True Essence fist seals flying out to meet Gu Duozhi's sword light.

"True Essence Realm?" The pure azure fist seals made Gu Duozhi pause. "You broke through so quickly?"

But the instant Gu Duozhi's sword light collided with Ye Zhen's pure azure fist seals, Gu Duozhi's expression changed drastically, and extreme shock surfaced in his eyes.

"How is this possible?"

Gu Duozhi's sword light was actually shattered by Ye Zhen's pure azure fist seals. Not only that, the remaining force of those fist seals even forced Gu Duozhi to withdraw his move and defend.

Gu Duozhi had every reason to be shocked. With equal cultivation, when a Mortal-tier High Grade martial skill met a Human-tier Low Grade martial skill, the Mortal-tier High Grade skill basically had no chance of winning.

Even if it did, at most they would be evenly matched. It was impossible for it to gain the upper hand.

Yet now, this very situation had occurred.

At the exact moment Gu Duozhi was stunned, Ye Zhen crouched and sprang. With a Snake Springing Grass, he crashed directly into Gu Duozhi's chest. Pa! Pa! Pa!

His ten fingers moved like spirit snakes, striking thirty times in an instant—the Pulse Severing and Essence Sealing of the Spirit Snake Vein-Cutting Hand!

Gu Duozhi's body stiffened, and his face instantly flushed crimson. True Essence surged throughout his body as the places Ye Zhen had struck erupted one after another. Gu Duozhi frantically drove his True Essence, trying to break Ye Zhen's Spirit Snake Vein-Cutting Hand.

But it was already too late.

For a True Essence Realm martial artist, one instant of opportunity was enough to defeat an enemy and secure victory.

What was more, the Pulse Severing and Essence Sealing on Gu Duozhi gave Ye Zhen far more than one or two breaths of time.

Pa! Pa! Pa!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Ye Zhen flashed about, his fists and palms like blades. In an instant, dozens of punches packed with terrifying True Essence slammed into Gu Duozhi's vital points.

In the blink of an eye, Gu Duozhi was coughing blood wildly as he collapsed to the ground, barely clinging to life.

Even so, Ye Zhen was still not at ease. With a sweep of the Spirit Snake Vein-Cutting Hand, he dislocated the joints of Gu Duozhi's arms and legs.

At last, after a brief moment of thought, Ye Zhen made his decision. A cold gleam flashed through his eyes as he chopped a palm toward Gu Duozhi's throat.

In that brief instant, Ye Zhen had already thought it through. No matter how conspicuous Gu Duozhi's status was, he had to kill him today.

"Wait!"

At the juncture between life and death, Gu Duozhi spoke. "Don't—don't kill me, Junior Brother Ye. I'm first on the Earth Ranking, and I've already entered the sect elders' sights. If you kill me, you'll be in huge trouble!"

"If I don't kill you, I'll be in huge trouble instead!"

"No, no, Junior Brother Ye, I have treasures! I have pills worth ten thousand gold in my room. I'll trade those pills for my life. Junior Brother Ye, I also have..."

Gu Duozhi's voice stopped abruptly. Ye Zhen had smashed his throat with a single palm.

Wealth could move a person's heart. Though Gu Duozhi's promises were exceedingly tempting, Ye Zhen needed to live long enough to spend them.

Gu Duozhi was right. As first on the Earth Ranking, he was almost certain to become an Inner Disciple in the future—an Inner Disciple with great potential, highly valued by the sect.

Even the death of an ordinary Inner Disciple would stir up a great uproar in the Qi Yun Sect. If Gu Duozhi, first on the Earth Ranking, died, the shock it caused could easily be imagined.

But Ye Zhen had no choice but to kill him.

All Ye Zhen could do now was put an end to this matter within the Cliff Secret Cave.

As for everything else, Ye Zhen could only gamble!

Gamble on Gu Duozhi's selfishness.

Or rather, gamble that Gu Duozhi was a normal person and had not told anyone about his actions today. As for Gu Duozhi having sent people to Hundred Pine Peak earlier to investigate Ye Zhen, and people knowing that Gu Duozhi had been paying attention to Ye Zhen, Ye Zhen was not worried about that in the slightest.

His cultivation had risen so quickly that it would have been stranger if he had not drawn attention.

Looking at Gu Duozhi's corpse after it stopped twitching, Ye Zhen suddenly began to gasp violently. An indescribable mix of fear and excitement surged into his heart, leaving him drenched in sweat.

Come to think of it, this was Ye Zhen's first time truly killing someone at close range.

The last time, when he had kicked a sword from afar and killed Ma Hun, he had been too far away to feel anything at all.

After steadying his breathing and wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, Ye Zhen walked toward where the broken Stone Shoot had been. That was what concerned him most right now.

Had Gu Duozhi destroyed it?

That place had now been blasted into a large hole by Gu Duozhi. The broken Stone Shoot that had once flowed with Marrow Spirit Liquid had been pulverized down to its roots. Not the slightest trace of Stone Shoot or Marrow Spirit Liquid remained.

Ye Zhen vigorously pulled aside the broken stones and cleared the area. The more he cleared, the more his heart sank. Had Gu Duozhi's single sword strike truly destroyed the Marrow Spirit Liquid for good?

Suddenly, Ye Zhen's eyes lit up as he cleared away the rubble!

P.S. Young men, guess what he found?

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