Immortal-Exterminating Divine Venerable

’Huh? An opening? Is it deliberate? Impossible. He’s just a little brat at the Innate Realm Third Layer. Qiu Chengjun’s death was just an accident. Fine. In that case, I’ll seize this chance and kill him in one blow!’

Zhang Cheng did indeed see the opening Yang Xiao had revealed.

And just as Yang Xiao had suspected, Zhang Cheng wanted him dead too.

Because he had killed Qiu Chengjun.

For the honor of the Sect, Yang Xiao had to die.

’As long as I handle this properly, I’ll definitely catch the eye of the higher-ups. Even if I can’t become the Junior Sect Leader, I’ll have a great chance of being accepted as a disciple by a Supreme Elder.’

Zhang Cheng smiled inwardly.

He certainly wouldn’t show any mercy.

Of course, he wouldn’t be like Qiu Chengjun, who had attacked recklessly and made his intent to kill Yang Xiao painfully obvious, only to end up dying unexpectedly by his hand.

As a Martial Arts Grandmaster-level expert, Zhang Cheng’s combat experience was extremely vast.

He didn’t need to get close to Yang Xiao at all.

He simply raised his hand and struck out with his palm.

A giant palm, formed from Innate Gang Qi, immediately shot toward Yang Xiao.

”Ah, so powerful!”

Yang Xiao let out a startled cry.

His figure flashed as he tried to dodge.

This was all part of Zhang Cheng’s plan. He had been waiting for Yang Xiao to dodge.

Zhang Cheng’s figure flashed, and he appeared behind Yang Xiao. He raised a hand, fingers forming a sword-hand. Instantly, his Innate Gang Qi morphed into a sharp Sword Gang that tore through the void, aimed at Yang Xiao’s neck.

If the blow landed, it would undoubtedly be fatal.

Better still, as Yang Xiao dodged, his body shifted in a direction that made it look as if he were about to run right into the Sword Gang himself.

At this sight, Elder Yun’s eyes lit up.

’Good lad. This disciple, Zhang Cheng, is worth cultivating after all.’

He stroked his beard, inwardly pleased.

But in the blink of an eye, his hand froze stiff.

He had unconsciously torn out several strands of his long beard.

Yet he didn’t feel the pain at all, for the scene unfolding before him was far too shocking.

At the very precipice of life and death, Yang Xiao’s knees had suddenly buckled, causing him to drop down a full head’s height.

He had dodged the fatal strike.

And what happened next was even more unbelievable.

After the sword strike missed, Yang Xiao raised a hand and pointed directly behind him.

It was the same finger strike as before.

A pillar of orange fire shot out.

The seemingly random attack struck Zhang Cheng directly on the chin, piercing clean through his head.

BANG!

Zhang Cheng—the arrogant True Disciple at the Martial Arts Grandmaster First Stage Peak, who had seemed to hold the power of life and death over Yang Xiao with no effort—crashed heavily onto the high arena platform.

Dead.

The one who killed him?

The Junior Sect Leader of the Purple Sun Sect.

Yang Xiao, at the Peak of Innate Realm Third Layer.

This was simply unbelievable.

They had already been stunned once when Yang Xiao killed Qiu Chengjun in what seemed like an accident.

But back then, Qiu Chengjun had been far too reckless.

He hadn’t even activated his Protective True Qi.

When he closed in on Yang Xiao.

He was pierced and killed by a seemingly random finger strike.

While it was a pity, people could only sigh and chalk it up to him being extremely unlucky.

But now...

Zhang Cheng was different from Qiu Chengjun.

He was a powerful figure among the True Disciples, an expert at the Martial Grandmaster Peak First Level.

And he was far more cautious than Qiu Chengjun.

And yet...

He had been on the verge of killing Yang Xiao.

Yet, in the blink of an eye, he had died by Yang Xiao’s hand.

The scene was so incredible it seemed unreal.

Utterly unbelievable.

Even Elder Yun, who had remained composed with killing intent brewing in his heart, saw his expression change drastically. He shot to his feet, his gaze fixed on Yang Xiao, all traces of his previous indifference and impartiality gone.

Replaced by a grim darkness.

And fury.

”Boy, did you do that on purpose?”

He roared.

His voice jolted the crowd below the stage back to their senses.

”Elder Yun is about to blow! That kid is a dead man.”

”That’s right! How dare he kill Senior Brother Zhang Cheng! His crime is monstrous!”

”Kill him, Elder! Avenge our two senior brothers!”

Elder Yun paid the voices no mind, his eyes fixed solely on Yang Xiao.

Staring at him.

His eyes were filled with killing intent.

He wanted to see how the boy would explain himself.

”Oh dear, you saw right through me. That’s right, I did it on purpose.”

Yang Xiao said with a look of mock regret.

He looked infuriatingly smug.

”He did it on purpose?”

”He really did it on purpose?”

But the moment the words left his mouth, no one believed him.

They were all dumbfounded.

Because the strength Yang Xiao had displayed was only that of the Innate Realm Third Layer.

Innate Realm Third Layer.

A decent level in the secular world, perhaps enough to guard a region.

But in Medicine King Valley, that was merely the level of an Inner Sect Disciple.

Not even high enough to be considered a Core Disciple.

How could someone like that possibly kill a True Disciple of Medicine King Valley?

It was too incredible.

”The kid must be insane. He knows our Medicine King Valley won’t let him go, so he’s just spouting nonsense.”

A Core Disciple said with self-assured confidence.

The Medicine King Valley disciples around him immediately started nodding in agreement.

”Yes, that must be it.”

”But now he’s thoroughly enraged Elder Yun. He’s a dead man. No one can save him now.”

True enough, upon hearing Yang Xiao’s words, Elder Yun’s expression shifted several times.

It grew even darker.

And uglier.

”Do you have any idea what the consequences are for deliberately murdering a disciple of my Sect?”

Elder Yun said coldly.

Yang Xiao, however, was not the least bit afraid. He shrugged and said, ”I don’t know. All I know is that they wanted to kill me, and you didn’t stop them. So, I killed them.”

”What? Does Elder Yun find something wrong with that? Or is Medicine King Valley so tyrannical that your disciples are allowed to kill others, but others are not allowed to fight back?”

”If that’s the case, then I’m speechless. However, I imagine someone is bound to expose this matter at the Nine Sects Grand Competition.”

Yang Xiao spoke with calm confidence, completely unafraid.

His demeanor infuriated the disciples in the crowd.

Elder Yun, however, hesitated.

’Could it be? Does this boy have another card up his sleeve?’

If this incident were truly brought up at the Nine Sects Grand Competition, it would be extremely detrimental to Medicine King Valley.

In fact, if word of this simply got out,

it would be a major scandal.

This put Elder Yun in a difficult position.

He couldn’t act.

But he couldn’t do nothing either.

”Actually, I am the Junior Sect Leader of the Purple Sun Sect, and I am here at your Medicine King Valley to learn. As long as an elder doesn’t make a move, anyone else—even your own Junior Sect Leader—is my peer.”

”In a competition between peers, deaths and injuries are quite normal. Wouldn’t you agree, Elder?”

Yang Xiao’s words...

...completely extinguished any thought Elder Yun had of attacking.

He nodded. ”You’re right. In a competition between peers, death and injury are indeed quite normal. You win this round. However, my Medicine King Valley has no shortage of geniuses. I only hope you won’t refuse their challenges.”

”Refuse? I won’t. As long as the stakes are high enough, I’ll never refuse a challenge. Of course, without good stakes, I can’t be bothered. As a Junior Sect Leader, I have to be mindful of my status and maintain a certain standard, you know.”

Yang Xiao agreed lazily.

He had, of course, understood the hidden threat in Elder Yun’s words.

But he truly wasn’t afraid.

His only fear was that the stakes wouldn’t be high enough.

”Good. Very good. Truly, heroes are born from the young. Does anyone else wish to issue a challenge?”

Elder Yun’s gaze swept over the crowd below.

But no one spoke up.

And just then, a voice rang out from the distance.

”Elder, I, Lin Tianhao, wish to fight the Junior Sect Leader of the Purple Sun Sect!”