Give Me Death

"Where did these things come from?" Lin Ye looked up at Chen Feng.

"You don't need to worry about that," Chen Feng said calmly. "The Blood Origin Pill and True Essence Pill are for healing your injuries and helping you break through. The three manuals are the best I could get my hands on. The map is just a little extra."

"Did the person behind you give them to you?" Lin Ye asked.

Chen Feng was silent for a moment, then nodded. "I traded 'merits' for these things. You don't need to worry about getting dragged into anything."

"What merits?"

"You don't need to know that." Chen Feng looked at him. "All you need to know is that we're allies now. Only if you grow stronger can we survive together and overturn the board."

Lin Ye gave him a long look and didn't press further.

"Thanks." He put the things away.

"The Outer Sect Competition is in ten days," Chen Feng said. "Spend those ten days in seclusion here. I'll take care of things outside."

Time flew by in the blink of an eye.

On the evening of the tenth day, Chen Feng arrived.

When he saw Lin Ye, a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes.

"You broke through?"

"Mm." Lin Ye nodded.

"Good." Chen Feng didn't ask for details. He handed over a set of clothes. "The competition's tomorrow. Put these on."

It was a brand-new set of outer sect disciple robes, more finely made than the ordinary ones, with silver thread embroidered around the cuffs.

"These are..."

"Uniforms for prospective disciples of the Inner Sect Deacon Hall," Chen Feng said. "Zhao Mingxuan had someone deliver them."

Lin Ye took the clothes. "Did he say anything else?"

"He told you to perform well and not disgrace him," Chen Feng said calmly. "Elder Wang's people have confirmed that Zhao Liang is missing and suspect you're involved. But they have no evidence, so they won't make a move on you for now. At the competition, though, the people he's arranged will definitely try to cripple you."

"Do you know who they are?"

"Three of them," Chen Feng said. "Li Kui, at the ninth level of Body Tempering, practices the Iron Wall Technique and has extremely strong defenses. Zhang Li, at the peak of the eighth level of Body Tempering, has a vicious, sinister Poison Sand Palm. And then there's—Liu Mang."

"Liu Mang?" Lin Ye's gaze sharpened.

"That's right. The outer sect's number one, at the peak of the ninth level of Body Tempering. His Iron Wall Technique has reached the Bronze Skin and Iron Bones stage, and they say he's already touched the threshold of the True Qi Realm." Chen Feng's voice grew solemn. "Elder Wang paid a steep price to have him cripple you at the competition."

"Liu Mang..." Lin Ye committed the name to memory.

"But you don't need to worry too much," Chen Feng said. "The competition is public. He wouldn't dare kill anyone in plain sight."

"Understood." Lin Ye nodded.

"And this." Chen Feng handed him a jade token. "If you're in mortal danger, crush it. I'll find a way to save you."

The jade token was smooth and warm, etched with complex patterns. A faint spiritual fluctuation emanated from it.

"Thanks." Lin Ye put the token away.

Chen Feng nodded and turned to leave.

Watching him walk away, Lin Ye tightened his grip on the jade token.

Tomorrow, the competition.

It was both a crisis and an opportunity.

Live, and enter the inner sect.

Die, and all would be over.

Purple qi came from the east as the morning light tore through the sky, gilding the Cloud Sea Plaza—the largest square in Qingyun Sect's outer sect.

The gazes of thousands of outer sect disciples were fixed on the ancient Black Iron Arena at the center of the plaza, a hundred zhang across.

The arena was crowded with figures and a jumble of auras; more than a thousand people stood upon it. Oppressive killing intent, tension, anticipation, and fear mingled in the air, nearly condensing into something tangible.

Several figures with unfathomable auras sat atop the elevated platform.

At the center sat a white-haired elder in a green robe. Thunder flickered faintly in his eyes as they opened and closed. He was Yun Leizi, the inner sect's disciplinary elder, who oversaw the sect's laws. To his left sat a beautiful woman in a red robe: Master Huoyun, an elder of the Pill Hall, whose alchemy was unrivaled in the Eastern Region. To his right sat a stern, black-clad middle-aged man: Master Tiejian, an elder of the Law Enforcement Hall, whose swordsmanship was said to have reached the pinnacle.

Yet at that moment, no one was paying attention to the three elders.

At the far left of the platform sat a young man dressed in a moon-white robe patterned with flowing clouds. He looked to be just over twenty, with a face as fair as jade and an otherworldly bearing, as though he didn't belong amid the bloodthirsty atmosphere. Three lifelike, pale blue Flowing Cloud patterns were embroidered on his chest.

"It's Senior Brother Ye! Ye Wuchen!"

"Wasn't he in seclusion, trying to break into the Hua Yuan Realm? What's he doing here?"

"I heard the top ten in this competition will have a chance to enter the Xuanhuang Secret Realm. Could Senior Brother Ye have come for that?"

"Idiot, Senior Brother Ye entered the secret realm three years ago! He must have come on the sect master's orders to choose promising junior brothers for the Qingyun Peak lineage!"

Whispers rippled like a rising tide as reverent gazes repeatedly turned toward the white-robed figure.

On the arena, Lin Ye stood at the southeastern edge, his green robe making him seem out of place among those around him. His eyes were lowered and his expression calm, as though the thunderous roar of the crowd had nothing to do with him.

Not far from his side, Chen Feng stood with a long sword in his arms, black robes dark as ink and eyes sharp as a blade awaiting its draw.

At the very center of the arena stood a towering giant, nearly nine feet tall. His bare upper body was packed with muscles like cast iron, his skin gleaming with a faint bronze luster. Horrifying scars snaked across it, and his chest rose and fell with every breath like a bellows, exuding a heavy, oppressive presence.

Liu Mang. The undisputed number one of the outer sect. He had reached the peak of the ninth level of Body Tempering, and his Iron Wall Technique had advanced to the "Bronze Skin and Iron Bones" stage. He had once taken a strike from an inner sect senior brother newly entered into the True Qi Realm and retreated only three steps. He was also a blade Elder Wang of the inner sect had secretly cultivated.

Now, Liu Mang's bell-like eyes were fixed on Lin Ye, his undisguised killing intent almost tangible.

On the elevated platform, Ye Wuchen's gaze passed over the crowd and landed on Lin Ye. His handsome brows lifted almost imperceptibly.

"Ninth level of Body Tempering, with blood and qi refined like mercury, true qi dense and contained... His foundation is frighteningly solid." He was faintly surprised.

"The time has come!"

Yun Leizi's aged yet sonorous voice rang across the arena, drowning out all the commotion.

"Outer Sect Competition, first round: melee! A thousand-person battle on the arena. The last hundred standing advance to the second round!"

"The rules are unchanged: fall off the arena and you lose! Voluntarily concede and you lose! Lose the ability to fight and you lose!"

"This is a contest of victory and defeat, not life and death! However, once one side has conceded, the other may not continue to attack. Anyone who breaks this rule will have their cultivation crippled and be expelled from the sect!"

"Begin!"

"Boom—!!"

Almost the instant the final word fell, the entire arena erupted! Roars, screams, clashing weapons, and bursts of true qi instantly intertwined in a frenzied symphony of death!

Liu Mang moved. Without hesitation, he charged at Lin Ye like a rampaging ancient barbarian elephant. One stomp shattered the Black Iron Arena beneath his feet, and he surged forward with a wildly violent aura.

"Lin Ye! Give me death!"

His roar boomed like thunder. Liu Mang clenched his right fist, and the bronze hue beneath his skin deepened in an instant. He punched, compressing the air to the extreme until it released a piercing sonic boom. A visible white wave of air formed along his fist's path!

The Iron Wall Technique's killing move—Mountain Breaking Hammer!

There was nothing fancy about the punch. It combined sheer, overwhelming power with formidable defense, so domineering it could shatter a small hill!

"Senior Brother Liu Mang is using his ultimate move right off the bat!"

"He's going for a one-hit kill!"

"Lin Ye is finished!"

Shouts of alarm rose from below. Everyone could see that Liu Mang had put no restraint on this strike fueled by fury. He meant to use overwhelming force and blast Lin Ye to pieces before everyone's eyes!

Facing a punch that came crashing down like an avalanche, powerful enough to turn an ordinary ninth-level Body Tempering cultivator into a pulp, Lin Ye moved.

He didn't retreat.

Amid countless gazes—some horrified, some pitying, others gleeful—he stepped forward as well, drawing his right fist back to his waist and sending it out in a simple, straightforward punch.

His punch had none of Liu Mang's terrifying momentum. There was no sonic boom, no wave of air, and even its speed didn't seem particularly fast.

But the instant that plain, unadorned punch shot out, Ye Wuchen's previously relaxed gaze abruptly sharpened!

Master Huoyun and Master Tiejian both sat up straight at almost the same time!

A look of surprise flashed through Yun Leizi's eyes as well!

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