Chapter 13: Chapter 12 Life and Death Duel
Emperor Peak was not just a single mountain but a sprawling mountain range. Its many peaks formed what was collectively known as the Emperor Peak line, one of the nine great peak veins of the Emperor Immortal Sect, and it was also referred to as the foremost among the nine.
The disciples who joined the Emperor Peak line were from the Inner Sect, each with strength above the Reach Profound, at least at the Divine Gate Realm.
Ye Xuan could be said to be an anomaly within the entire Emperor Peak line and the only mortal.
Of course, that was all in the past.
Now, Ye Xuan had stepped into the Third Layer of Reach Profound and had awakened a unique Taoist Body not seen for countless ages. His rise was only a matter of time.
Ye Xuan walked back to Emperor Peak on foot, and he had to pass by the Emperor Daoist Platform.
At this moment, the Daoist Platform was abuzz with noise, extraordinarily lively.
"Hahaha, the Holy Daughter has brought forth such Heaven and Earth Phenomena, surpassing Leng Yifan will be within reach soon, and then no one will dare to call our Emperor Peak line a mere empty title of the first peak!"
"Indeed, as long as the Holy Daughter surpasses Leng Yifan, our Emperor Peak line will then truly be the first of the nine great peak veins!"
At this time, the faces of countless disciples of the Emperor Peak line were flushed with excitement as they spoke.
At that moment, someone in the crowd noticed Ye Xuan passing by, and their gaze suddenly turned cold as they spoke out loud, "So what if she surpasses him? With that idiot here, our Emperor Peak line will always be a joke."
As soon as these words were uttered, the noisy Daoist Platform instantly quieted down.
Ye Xuan, without glancing sideways and without stopping his steps, headed straight towards the main peak, Emperor Peak.
At this moment, all the disciples noticed Ye Xuan, immediately displaying expressions of mockery, contempt, and anger.
"Yeah, with that idiot in our Emperor Peak line, we'll always just be a joke."
"The Holy Daughter's talent is unrivaled through the ages. How could she marry such a loser? This loser doesn't even have the slightest self-awareness; why doesn't he just die!"
"This idiot being alive is a disgrace to the Holy Daughter, a disgrace to our Emperor Peak line, a disgrace to the Emperor Immortal Sect!"
The crowd slung insults towards Ye Xuan.
To all of this, Ye Xuan turned a deaf ear, striding forward and humming an unknown ancient tune as if in a good mood.
"Ye Xuan!"
Just then, someone blocked Ye Xuan's path, and the other disciples also gathered around, looking at Ye Xuan with hostility.
They had mocked him so, yet Ye Xuan acted as if nothing was bothering him, which greatly annoyed them.
Ye Xuan stopped in his tracks, slightly lifted his eyelids, and said in a calm and unhurried manner, "Good dogs don't stand in the way."
"What!?"
This statement caused the entire Daoist Platform to erupt in surprised murmurs, everyone looking at Ye Xuan with astonishment, "Can this guy actually speak properly now?!"
Ye Xuan was known to all as an idiot who could hardly speak a complete sentence, usually babbling incoherently, but now he had managed to utter a full sentence and even an insulting one. This immediately surprised everyone.
"Has this guy been pretending all along, or has the Holy Daughter reached the realm of a Prince, snapping him back to his senses?!"
Everyone felt puzzled and bewildered.
"Ye Xuan, the rubbing of 'Heavenly Cloud Step' that Brother Zhao borrowed from the Scripture Pavilion is missing, say, was it you who took it?" The disciple who blocked Ye Xuan's path squinted slightly as he spoke.
This made the people present somewhat speechless—this excuse was too far-fetched.
Everyone knew Ye Xuan was a fool who couldn't cultivate at all. Could it be that Ye Xuan was the one who took it? What could he do with it?
However, no one present liked Ye Xuan, so no one pointed it out and they all watched Ye Xuan with a mocking look.
Now that this guy has regained his senses, they wondered what it would feel like to bully him.
Ye Xuan raised his eyebrows slightly—why did these guys enjoy causing trouble so much?
Seeing Ye Xuan's silence, the disciple seemed to get even more excited and spoke harshly, "The Daoist Magic of our Emperor Immortal Sect is not something an outsider like you can practice. Hand over the rubbing of 'Heavenly Cloud Step' that Brother Zhao borrowed and come with us to the Law Enforcement Hall to admit your guilt, otherwise Brother Zhao won't let you off!"
Ye Xuan curled his lips and said indifferently, "After all is said and done, it's that wimp Zhao Wenhai who wants to find fault with me, sending his lackey to do his dirty work, right?"
This Zhao Wenhai, was a young prodigy of the Emperor Peak lineage, who had always been fond of Zhou Youwei. After Ye Xuan married Zhou Youwei, Zhao Wenhai frequently came to trouble Ye Xuan.
It was undoubtedly Zhao Wenhai who instigated this matter.
"You!" The disciple's face turned red with anger, shaking with rage.
"Alright, alright, call out Zhao Wenhai," Ye Xuan said as he picked at his ear, looking impatient.
A path opened up in the crowd, and a handsome young man clad in fine garments approached, coming face to face with Ye Xuan, he said, "Hand over the rubbing of the 'Heavenly Cloud Step.' Otherwise, you can forget about returning to Emperor Peak today."
Seeing this, many disciples smirked and said, "Brother Zhao, in my opinion, this guy must have hidden the rubbing on his person. Why don't we strip his clothes and check?"
In this Emperor Peak lineage, Zhao Wenhai wielded considerable influence. Not only was he a young prodigy, but his grandfather was also one of the eight Great Elders, in charge of the Xuansheng Peak lineage of the nine peak veins.
This was precisely why Zhao Wenhai dared to bully Ye Xuan with no qualms.
Otherwise, if an ordinary disciple bullied Ye Xuan and word got out to Zhou Youwei, it would still not end well.
At this moment, Ye Xuan looked completely unperturbed, giving Zhao Wenhai a sidelong glance, he drawled, "It just proves that a good-for-nothing like you, my wife wouldn't even give a second look. Not to mention whether I care about your 'Heavenly Cloud Step,' even if I did, I would only need to mention it to my wife, and the Scripture Pavilion would hand over the original copy. Do you think I'd need your rubbing?"
Ye Xuan calling her his wife and calling Zhao Wenhai a good-for-nothing left all the disciples present stunned.
"Oh my word, this guy is surprisingly so sharp-tongued after regaining his senses. What a miracle!"
"This guy has no cultivation to speak of and yet he dares to call Brother Zhao a good-for-nothing. Where does he get the courage?"
At this moment, the disciple beside Zhao Wenhai was even more furious, "You mongrel, who do you think you are to dare curse Brother Zhao?"
Zhao Wenhai's expression turned as cold as ice as he sneered, "You're sharp-tongued, but since you won't admit your guilt, I will have to make you admit it through beating!"
A majestic aura rose from Zhao Wenhai!
Zhao Wenhai, who had opened the Divine Gate and built the Dao Foundation of the Daoist Platform Realm, was a formidable practitioner, much stronger than Zhang Tianlin, the top-ranker of the Outer Sect!
"So, you want to fight?" Ye Xuan grinned, a hint of killing intent flashing in his eyes.
Ye Xuan never held back against his enemies.
Once, a Demon Emperor who dominated the All Heavens had vexed Ye Xuan, and was directly torn into ten thousand pieces by him; his Demon Sect was crushed under Ye Xuan's might.
And yet, Zhao Wenhai dared to provoke him here.
"Stop it! What are you doing!"
Just then, a delicate shout rang out.
Following that, a figure dashed over and a girl in a pink dress appeared beside them, hurrying over.
"Second Princess!"
Seeing the newcomer, all the disciples were shocked and promptly performed a greeting ritual.
The person was none other than Zhou Bingyi.
Zhou Bingyi arrived with an angry face, she coldly looked at Zhao Wenhai and questioned, "What are you doing?"
Zhao Wenhai retracted his aura and said with a slight bow, "Bingyi junior sister, I was merely suspecting that Ye Xuan stole my copy of 'Heavenly Cloud Step,' so I questioned him, that's all."
"Bullshit, Ye Xuan doesn't even cultivate, what would he want with your copy for?" Zhou Bingyi said unsparingly.
Zhao Wenhai slightly narrowed his eyes and said, "That is the thinking of a normal person, but is Ye Xuan normal?"
"All talk and no action, you just want to fight, right?" Ye Xuan glanced askew at Zhao Wenhai and said lazily.
"Yes!" Zhao Wenhai, full of rage, seeing that Ye Xuan was so arrogant, said sternly, "I not only want to fight, but I also want to kill you."
"Fine then, bring it on," Ye Xuan said with an indifferent face.
Seeing the two nearly about to come to blows, Zhou Bingyi was so anxious she glared at Ye Xuan and said, "Can't you say fewer words, will you die?"
Ye Xuan said leisurely, "Since he wants to kill me, then I'll just have to kill him."
These words made Zhao Wenhai so angry he laughed instead and said, "If that is the case, then let's meet on the Life and Death Platform, dare you?"
"Zhao Wenhai!" Zhou Bingyi's face suddenly turned pale with anger as she shouted, "Don't push people too far! You, a person of the Daoist Platform Realm, to bully someone who has no cultivation, what kind of skill is that!"
"Ye Xuan, don't bother with him, I'll take you back," Zhou Bingyi then turned to Ye Xuan and said.
Although Zhou Bingyi didn't like Ye Xuan before, that was only because of the infamy suffered by her sister, Zhou Youwei. Since Ye Xuan had cured Zhou Youwei, Zhou Bingyi's opinion of Ye Xuan had somewhat improved.
In her heart, Zhou Bingyi naturally did not want to see Ye Xuan bullied by Zhao Wenhai.
But Ye Xuan paid no attention to Zhou Bingyi, chuckling instead, "Life and Death Platform?"
"An ant like you is not worthy to fight a life-and-death battle with me."
"However, since you are looking for death, then I'll oblige you."
"What?!" Zhou Bingyi suddenly froze, anxiously saying, "Do you know what the Life and Death Platform means?!"
Not just Zhou Bingyi, everyone else was also dumbstruck.
"Holy shit, he actually agreed?!"
Even Zhao Wenhai was taken aback for a second, but then he started laughing and said, "Junior sister Bingyi, these are Ye Xuan's own words. Even if the Sect Master comes, he cannot invalidate them!"
"Ye Xuan, it seems you've grown quite bold since regaining your senses. Very well, I'll wait for you on the Life and Death Platform!"
With that, he headed towards the direction of the Life and Death Platform, as if fearful that Ye Xuan would change his mind.
All the disciples started to eagerly follow Zhao Wenhai, their faces filled with excitement.
Ye Xuan had actually agreed to face Zhao Wenhai on the Life and Death Platform!
This was huge news!
They must spread it quickly!
At this moment, Zhou Bingyi looked at Ye Xuan, frustrated, and said harshly:
"Do you understand what you're doing? Agreeing to go to the Life and Death Platform, even father can't intervene!"
"It's just a fight to the death, isn't it," Ye Xuan glanced at Zhou Bingyi and said, "Don't worry, the one who will die is definitely this guy."
"You idiot, Zhao Wenhai is already at the Daoist Platform Realm, he could kill tens of thousands of you with just one palm, what will you fight with?!" Zhou Bingyi was almost going crazy.
"Naturally, I'll fight with my fists," Ye Xuan raised his fist.
Zhou Bingyi was suddenly at a loss for words.
Great, this guy must have gone stupid again.
Still fight with fists, why don't you go headbutt him? Who do you think you are?
Seeing Zhou Bingyi's expression, Ye Xuan couldn't help but laugh.
This little auntie is all sharp tongue and soft heart.
"Don't worry, Zhao Yulong isn't even my match, what is Zhao Wenhai worth?" Ye Xuan started moving towards the Life and Death Platform.
But his words suddenly jolted Zhou Bingyi awake.
That's right!
Previously when Zhao Yulong made a move against Ye Xuan, it turned out that Zhao Yulong was mysteriously injured instead, while Ye Xuan was perfectly fine.
"Could it be… this guy has some sort of ace up his sleeve?!" Zhou Bingyi watched Ye Xuan's departing figure, a different light glowing in her eyes.