Chapter 14: Victory

Here is the rewritten content in the style of a Xianxia novel:

**Chapter 14: Triumph**

*Bang!*

His face bruised, Zhao Long staggered back from a fierce kick.

“This… this…” Below, the watching disciples’ eyes widened in disbelief. The exchange on the stage had been too swift; they hadn't even registered how Zhao Long had been so easily struck.

“Ye Chen, you shall die!” Zhao Long’s enraged roar immediately echoed across the battle stage.

Yet, no sooner had he regained his balance than Ye Chen was upon him once more.

“Kill!” Zhao Long's face contorted into a fearsome snarl as he struck out with a palm, unleashing a pale hand seal.

“A myriad of flaws!” Ye Chen let out a cold laugh. Channeling the **Beast Heart Rage** and the **Mysterious Tiger Pounce**, he evaded the palm strike and closed the distance to Zhao Long in an instant.

“Once I am at close quarters, your sorrow is inevitable.”

An icy voice flowed through the air as Ye Chen’s blood surged rapidly. The suppressed power in his muscles and bones exploded forth, and a single fist slammed into Zhao Long’s chest.

*Pu!*

Zhao Long coughed up a mouthful of fresh blood. Ye Chen's fist held a power far beyond what one might expect.

“You actually…”

“Actually what?” Ye Chen gave Zhao Long no time to react, pressing his attack relentlessly.

He moved like a fierce beast descending from the mountain, his strikes direct and utterly devoid of pretension. Sometimes like a tiger, sometimes like an ape, at other times like a lion or a blue wolf – grabbing, patting, tearing, using hands, feet, knees, and shoulders. Every joint on his body became a weapon, forcing Zhao Long into a continuous retreat, his body accumulating the marks of fists, palms, and feet.

“This… what kind of fighting style is this?” The scene on the stage left the disciples below utterly bewildered. Ye Chen’s fighting method completely defied their understanding.

Where were the ornate, mysterious techniques? The dazzling moves?

There were none. He employed only the most primitive fighting skills. Yet, it was precisely these fundamental techniques that caused Zhao Long to suffer setback after setback.

*Ah…!*

At this moment, the battle stage was filled with Zhao Long's roars of fury.

Not long ago, he had been arrogant, proclaiming his superiority with the airs of a senior disciple. Now, he had fallen to such a sorry state. In a head-to-head confrontation, his **Qi Gathering** sixth heaven cultivation was being utterly suppressed by someone in the first heaven.

*Roar!*

A wolf howl cut through the clamor below. Zhao Long had employed a secret technique. His fist was now enveloped by an illusory wolf's head, and with every strike, a wolf's howl echoed.

“**Blue Wolf Fist**!” The eyes of those watching filled with fervent heat, as if they had witnessed the ferocity of this mysterious technique. “To think the head of **Di Yang Peak** even taught Zhao Long this secret technique.”

“Die!” Zhao Long’s face was contorted with malice as he raised his fist and struck.

“**Running Thunder Palm**!”

With a cold cry, Ye Chen met the blow with his palm once more. Between his palm and fingers, bolts of lightning tore through the air, the power even more formidable and overbearing.

*Bang!*

Fist met palm with a resounding crash.

*Pu!*

A spitting of blood erupted as Zhao Long was sent staggering back.

“How… how is this possible?” As he retreated, Zhao Long stared at Ye Chen with utter disbelief. He clearly felt the overwhelming power contained within Ye Chen's palm and fingers, a power in no way inferior to his own.

**Blue Wolf Fist** was one of the few secret techniques of **Di Yang Peak**, renowned for its powerful attacks. With this technique, he had defeated countless outer disciples.

But now, he was being broken through head-on by a mere **Qi Gathering** first heaven probation disciple. This was something he simply could not accept.

Was he truly only in the **Qi Gathering** first heaven?

At this moment, not only Zhao Long, but even the disciples watching below were momentarily stunned.

“This boy is too strange.” Exclamations rose one after another from below, their expressions a marvel to behold.

“What? Still fighting?” Outside the crowd, another group of people rushed over. Those who had left earlier, hearing that the outcome was still undecided, had all returned. When they saw the ferocity of Ye Chen, their expressions were one of pure astonishment.

However, they could not know how deep Ye Chen’s foundation truly was.

In the past, within the **Zheng Yang Sect**, he had fought against demonic beasts at the **Qi Gathering** third heaven, and against opponents in the **Human Yuan Realm** at the fourth heaven. This extensive tempering meant his actual combat ability far surpassed Zhao Long’s.

At this moment, Ye Chen possessed a vast **Dan Sea**, his true qi quantity not inferior to Zhao Long's. His powerful physical body, tempered through refinement, was superior to Zhao Long's. Coupled with the overbearing **Beast Heart Rage** used in close combat, this duel was destined for Zhao Long’s crushing defeat from the very beginning.

*Ah…!*

The entire field was filled with Zhao Long's angry roars, yet no matter how furious he became, he was still utterly suppressed by Ye Chen.

“End of the line.” With a great roar from Ye Chen, he took a step, leaped into the air, and brought down the fierce, overbearing **Tian Que**. With the force of splitting Mount Hua, his movement was straightforward and clean, utterly devoid of any embellishment.

*Buzz!*

The heavy **Tian Que** struck the air, causing it to hum.

Seeing this, Zhao Long’s expression changed drastically. He hurriedly raised his golden sword to block, pouring his rolling true qi into it.

*Keng Dang!*

Ye Chen’s sword crashed down upon the spirit sword.

*Bang!*

Zhao Long, who had been standing but moments before, was slammed to a half-kneel by this single sword strike. He could even hear the sound of his arm bone fracturing.

*Pu!*

Subsequently, a mouthful of fresh blood erupted from Zhao Long's mouth.

Silence, an unusual silence, fell over the crowd.

The noisy scene from moments before was now replaced by the sound of hurried breathing. The scene on the stage had left their expressions frozen in disbelief.

Zhao Long, in the **Qi Gathering** fifth heaven, had actually been brought to his knees by a single sword strike from a probation disciple in the first heaven.

“You lose.”

“This… this is impossible.” Zhao Long roared, his legs trembling as he tried to stand, yet he was held down by Ye Chen's sword.

“Your life is forfeit,” Ye Chen’s icy voice responded to Zhao Long.

At this moment, everyone below seemed to awaken from a dream.

The gamble was their respective lives.

“Will… will this Ye Chen actually kill Zhao Long? Surely not! Zhao Long is the head disciple of **Di Yang Peak**. If he strikes him down with that sword, he won’t survive either.”

“But looking at Ye Chen’s stance, he might actually go for the kill!”

“I am a disciple of **Di Yang Peak**, dare you kill me?” Zhao Long seemed to still not comprehend his current situation, raising his head and roaring ferociously.

What gamble, what gambled life – in his eyes, it was all a joke. Although he had lost, it didn't mean he had to hand over his life, because he had a powerful backing. This was his leverage for being a rogue.

“You dare to kill Senior Brother Zhao, Master will never… never forgive you!” Below, the disciples who had come to aid Zheng Yang roared, but they were deterred by Ye Chen’s strength and none dared to step forward.

“The gamble was agreed upon first. He must die,” Ye Chen stated coldly.

“This Senior Brother, this is but a spar. Show mercy when you can,” an indifferent voice rose from the crowd. A female disciple glanced at Ye Chen.

This female disciple was truly a peerless beauty, her eyes bright and clear, her green hair flowing like water. Clad in white, she drifted like a blooming lotus flower, causing the eyes of the male disciples in the field to emit a fiery gaze.

“**Ren Yang Peak**’s Su Xin Yue.”

“She actually came, I didn’t see her before.”

Ye Chen turned his head, his gaze fixed on Su Xin Yue. “Senior Sister, if I, Ye Chen, had lost just now, would you also say such words?”

“Your killing intent is too heavy; it will be difficult to achieve the true path,” Su Xin Yue’s expression remained indifferent. Although standing within the crowd, she exuded an aura of being high above, her words already sentencing Ye Chen’s future path.

“Senior Sister’s meaning is to let me release him?” A cold smile touched the corner of Ye Chen’s mouth. He suppressed his anger, but it ultimately did not erupt.

This anger was directed not only at Zhao Long for harming Zhang Feng Nian and the others, but also at Su Xin Yue, because her temperament was too similar to Ji Ning Shuang’s – both held themselves aloof, both possessed that seemingly compassionate but ultimately false pretense.

“I wish to guide you back to the righteous path, do not be…”

“Do you have relatives?” Ye Chen directly interrupted Su Xin Yue’s words, his bloodshot eyes staring fixedly at her, as if questioning her.

Her words interrupted, Su Xin Yue’s beautiful brows furrowed slightly, and she was even more puzzled as to why Ye Chen would ask such a question.

“If your relatives were severely beaten for a day and a night, would you not seek to kill the one responsible?” Ye Chen questioned, looking at Su Xin Yue with a cold smile. “If you would, then spare this old man this pretense of compassion for all living beings.”

“You…” When the crowd was thus scolded, Su Xin Yue’s cheeks instantly covered with a layer of frost.

At this moment, even one as indifferent as her couldn’t help but feel her chest violently undulate. She was the head disciple of **Ren Yang Peak**, a flower of the **Heng Yue Sect**, when had she ever received such a lecture, and from a probation disciple in the **Qi Gathering** first heaven at that?

On the stage, Ye Chen had already withdrawn his gaze and raised his palm, imbued with surging true qi.

If this palm struck down, Zhao Long would surely die.

But, precisely at this moment, a powerful aura howled forth, instantly appearing on the battle stage, transforming into a dust-clad figure.

Looking closely at this person, was he not precisely Ge Hong, the head of **Di Yang Peak**?