The secret cave is destroyed?

"You were fishing for information, Ye Zhen. Do you really think I can't handle you on my own?" Senior Disciple Brother Gu Duozhi realized it instantly; Ye Zhen had been probing to see if he had any accomplices.

After extracting the answer, Ye Zhen's expression became much more resolute, clearly showing he was quite confident in his own strength.

"Hong Bao thought the same thing before he stepped onto the Martial Arena." In truth, Ye Zhen had already been seventy or eighty percent sure that Gu Duozhi had come alone; the probing was just a precaution.

Now that it was confirmed Gu Duozhi was by himself, things would be much easier to handle.

Ye Zhen's figure moved slowly toward the entrance of the Cliff Secret Cave, and an atmosphere of grim slaughter gradually spread throughout the not-so-spacious cavern.

"Junior Disciple Brother Ye, do you intend to kill me?" Gu Duozhi raised an eyebrow and barked.

"Does Senior Disciple Brother expect me to just stand here and wait for death?"

"Haha, Junior Disciple Brother Ye, don't be so hasty. Actually, life and death aren't the only way to resolve this. We can settle this peacefully," Gu Duozhi laughed.

"Peacefully?" Ye Zhen looked at him with utter disbelief.

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

Whoosh!

The moment Ye Zhen's gaze shifted, Gu Duozhi flicked his fingers sharply. A cold, ghostly light streaked toward Ye Zhen with a piercing whistle. Almost simultaneously, the long sword at Gu Duozhi's waist left its scabbard, its blade flashing wildly as he slashed directly at Ye Zhen!

Even though Ye Zhen had been on guard, he was still caught off guard by Gu Duozhi's move. Cursing him for being "insidious," he dodged rapidly to avoid the hidden weapon. However, the space in the Cliff Secret Cave was too small—barely twenty meters from front to back—not even enough for him to fully execute a Snake Springing Grass.

Gu Duozhi pursued him like a shadow, unleashing a compact and treacherous Lesser Heavenly Star Swordplay. Combined with the flickering, foot-long sword aura pulsing rhythmically on his blade, he slashed at Ye Zhen once more.

It was fortunate that Ye Zhen's Snake-Wandering Steps were suited for close-quarters entanglement, making them even more effective in such a cramped space.

Suddenly, Ye Zhen spun his body violently, dodging the sword aura that had surged to five feet in length. With a swift slide, he opened up a bit of distance. Just as Ye Zhen was about to counterattack, an accident occurred.

It turned out that when Ye Zhen dodged, he had moved right in front of the broken stalactite in the cave. That broken stone pillar was the one he had snapped off earlier because he was unsure of the source of the Marrow Spirit Liquid, but he hadn't dared to dig further for fear that the supply would dry up.

Ye Zhen had dodged, but the broken stalactite, which was inanimate, took the hit. Gu Duozhi's five-foot sword aura slammed into it with a thunderous boom.

Bang!

Stone fragments flew everywhere.

The area where the stalactite had been, including the large bamboo tube Ye Zhen had hanging there, was pulverized by the sword aura, leaving behind a crater a meter deep.

Destroyed?

Ye Zhen and Gu Duozhi were both stunned for a moment.

In the next instant, the sword light in Gu Duozhi's hand surged. He leaped forward, his blade flashing like cold stars as he struck rapidly at Ye Zhen. He was desperate now, having directly unleashed the killing move of the Lesser Heavenly Star Swordplay: Heavenly Star Consecutive Flashes!

Almost at the same time, Ye Zhen, having gained a moment of respite, threw a punch!

It was 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, and several pure cyan True Essence fist imprints met Gu Duozhi's sword light.

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

But the moment Gu Duozhi's sword light collided with Ye Zhen's pure cyan fist imprints, his expression changed drastically, and a look of extreme shock appeared in his eyes.

"How is this possible?"

Gu Duozhi's sword light was actually shattered by Ye Zhen's pure cyan fist imprints. Not only that, but the remaining force of the fist imprints forced Gu Duozhi to retract his stance and retreat.

Gu Duozhi had reason to be shocked. When cultivation levels were equal, a Mortal-tier High Grade martial art had virtually no chance of winning against a Human-tier Low Grade martial art.

Even if it did, it would at best be a draw; it was impossible to gain the upper hand.

Yet, that was exactly what was happening now.

Just as Gu Duozhi was reeling in shock, Ye Zhen crouched and sprang forward. With a Snake Springing Grass, he slammed directly into Gu Duozhi's chest. Slap, slap, slap!

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

Gu Duozhi's body stiffened, his face turning a deep, congested red. His True Essence surged throughout his body, and the thirty-six points Ye Zhen had just struck began to explode with bang, bang, bang sounds. Gu Duozhi was frantically channeling his True Essence to break through Ye Zhen's Spirit Snake Vein-Cutting Hand.

But it was already too late.

For a martial artist in the True Essence Realm, a single moment of opportunity is all that is needed to defeat an enemy.

Furthermore, the time Gu Duozhi provided to Ye Zhen, having been afflicted by the Pulse Severing and Essence Sealing, was far more than just a breath or two.

Slap, slap, slap!

Bang, bang, bang!

Ye Zhen's figure flashed rapidly, his fists and palms moving like blades. In an instant, dozens of punches, each containing terrifying True Essence, slammed into Gu Duozhi's vital points.

In the blink of an eye, Gu Duozhi was vomiting blood, collapsing to the ground, and gasping his final breaths.

Even in this state, Ye Zhen remained cautious. With a sweep of his Spirit Snake Vein-Cutting Hand, he dislocated the joints in Gu Duozhi's arms and legs.

Finally, Ye Zhen pondered for a moment and made up his mind. A cold glint flashed in his eyes as he brought his palm down toward Gu Duozhi's throat.

In this brief moment, Ye Zhen had considered everything; even if Gu Duozhi's status was highly prominent, he had to be eliminated today.

"Wait!"

At the threshold of life and death, Gu Duozhi spoke up. "Don't, don't kill me, Junior Disciple Brother Ye. I am the number one on the Earth Ranking and have already caught the eye of the sect elders. If you kill me, you will be in big trouble!"

"If I don't kill you, that's when I'll have trouble!"

"No, 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 came to an abrupt halt as Ye Zhen chopped through his throat with a single palm strike.

Wealth moves the heart, but even if Gu Duozhi's promises were incredibly tempting, Ye Zhen had to be alive to spend them.

Gu Duozhi was right; with his status as the number one on the Earth Ranking, he was almost guaranteed to become an Inner Disciple in the future, and a highly valued one with great potential at that.

If an ordinary Inner Disciple died, it would cause a massive uproar in the Qi Yun Sect; if Gu Duozhi, the top of the Earth Ranking, were to die, the shockwaves could be imagined.

But he had to be killed.

All Ye Zhen could do now was ensure this matter ended right here in this Cliff Secret Cave.

As for everything else, Ye Zhen could only gamble!

He was gambling on Gu Duozhi's selfishness.

Or rather, gambling that Gu Duozhi was a normal person who hadn't told anyone about his actions today. As for Gu Duozhi previously arranging for people to go to Hundred Pine Peak to investigate Ye Zhen, and others knowing that Gu Duozhi was paying attention to him, Ye Zhen wasn't worried about that at all.

With his cultivation speed soaring so rapidly, it would be strange if he didn't attract attention.

Looking at Gu Duozhi's corpse, which had stopped twitching, Ye Zhen suddenly began to pant heavily. An inexplicable sense of fear and excitement rose in his heart simultaneously, causing him to break out in a cold sweat.

When it came down to it, this was the first time Ye Zhen had truly killed someone at such close range.

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

Calming his breathing and wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, Ye Zhen walked toward the spot where the broken stalagmite had been; that was what Ye Zhen cared about most right now.

He wondered if it had been destroyed by Gu Duozhi?

The area had been blasted into a large hole by Gu Duozhi, and the broken stalagmite that had previously been oozing Marrow Spirit Liquid had been smashed to pieces, roots and all, by Gu Duozhi. Not a single trace of the stalagmite or the Marrow Spirit Liquid could be found.

He frantically pushed aside the rubble, clearing the area. The more he cleared, the more his heart sank. Could the Marrow Spirit Liquid have been destroyed by that strike from Gu Duozhi?

Suddenly, as Ye Zhen was clearing the debris, his eyes lit up!

*********

ps: Young ones, guess what he's going to find?

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