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The servant disciples of Qiyun Sect had to complete an extremely demanding amount of labor each day, which consumed a large portion of their time and encroached on their cultivation time.
On Hundred Pine Peak, where Ye Zhen resided, servant disciples had the task of chopping down fifty iron branch pines with bowl-sized trunks each day and then transporting them to the foot of the mountain.
The iron branch pine was incredibly tough; sometimes, when chopping it with an axe, sparks would fly.
When Ye Zhen first arrived, it even took him seven hours to complete a day's labor.
Even Ma Yuanwu, currently the strongest disciple on Hundred Pine Peak and a seed candidate, needed over three hours at his quickest to finish the labor.
Usually, the servant disciples would rest for a while after completing their morning exercises before ascending the mountain to chop trees, but today, after breakfast, each of them hurriedly made their way up the mountain.
Every one of them hoped that under this pressure, they could make a breakthrough and become an outer disciple as soon as possible.
Compared to the status of outer disciples, the status of servant disciples was like heaven and earth.
Ye Zhen was no exception. After breakfast, he too carried his axe and headed up the mountain early.
Along the way, Ye Zhen pondered over the Fish-Dragon Path and the issue of seed candidates.
It was a shortcut within Qiyun Sect to advance to an outer disciple earlier, and once one became an outer disciple, they would have access to cultivation resources several times that of servant disciples and could even choose their own martial skills and mental methods to practice.
However, to compete for the Fish-Dragon Path, one first had to become a seed candidate of a peak; in other words, if Ye Zhen wanted to participate in the Fish-Dragon Path, he would have to first defeat Hundred Pine Peak's seed candidate, Ma Yuanwu.
Ye Zhen dreamed of beating Ma Yuanwu until he was bruised and bleeding. The day Ma Yuanwu ruined everything his mother had sent him, whenever he thought of it, Ye Zhen wished he could kill Ma Yuanwu.
But it all depended on strength, everything did.
It was said that Ma Yuanwu had recently reached the Peak of Third Stage Blood Training and was just a step away from breaking through to the Fourth Stage of Blood Training and becoming an outer disciple.
However, that final step wasn't easy to make; it could take one or two months, or even half a year.
Ye Zhen, currently at the Late Stage of Second Stage Blood Training, possessed an extremely condensed Blood Qi which endowed him with a tremendous force of four thousand jin. This strength could be compared to a martial artist at the Late Stage of the Third Stage Blood Training.
But there was still a gap between him and Ma Yuanwu, who was at the Peak of Third Stage Blood Training.
"Breakthrough, within these three days, I must practice bitterly in hopes of breaking through!"
Only by breaking through would he have a chance to defeat Ma Yuanwu and avenge his past humiliation; Ye Zhen silently made up his mind.
Chop, chop, chop!
Putting all his strength into it, Ye Zhen chopped down repeatedly, and slowly, an iron branch pine with a bowl-sized trunk fell to the ground.
After carelessly cleaving off the extra branches, Ye Zhen once again raised his axe toward another iron branch pine.
All morning, Ye Zhen sweated profusely, not daring to slack off for a moment, hoping to finish his labor sooner and have more time for cultivation.
Just as Ye Zhen had completed the majority of his labor, the sound of pine needles being crushed suddenly came from behind him.
"Hey, Junior Brother Ye, over thirty trees already, not a bad pace. Seems like your cultivation has been on the rise," an annoying voice sounded behind Ye Zhen.
"Wuy Jian?" When Ye Zhen turned around and saw who it was, a flash of hatred couldn't help but cross his eyes.
This Wuy Jian, also one of the top disciples in terms of cultivation at Hundred Pine Peak, had often bullied them by leveraging Ma Yuanwu's power. Forcing Ye Zhen and others to wash clothes, smelly socks, carry foot-washing water, and more such demeaning tasks had been far too common.
"What do you want?" Ye Zhen wiped off a bit of sweat and stared coldly at Wuy Jian.
"Nothing much, just that I sparred with Senior Brother Ma for too long this morning, and I'm afraid I might not finish today's labor. I especially came to borrow a few of your chopped iron branch pines," said Wuy Jian as he walked towards the neatly stacked iron branch pines that Ye Zhen had chopped and piled to the side, laughing smugly.
"Ha, Junior Brother Ye, I won't take much, just this thirty iron branch pines; I'll help myself," Wuy Jian said as he bent down to carry the pines that Ye Zhen had prepared, ignoring Ye Zhen's opinion entirely, as he always had.
Whoosh!
Ye Zhen's axe flew towards Wuy Jian from a distance, whizzing past the tip of his nose and startling Wuy Jian into shouting in alarm as he swiftly got up.
"Wuy Jian, even if you want to borrow the iron branch pines, you still should ask if I agree, right?" Ye Zhen walked towards Wuy Jian, full of anger, "Besides, even if you wanted to borrow them, you should at least return the two hundred and seven pines you borrowed from me before, right?"
Wuy Jian often bullied Ye Zhen by relying on his strength; if ever he felt lazy and didn't want to do his labor, he would just come and take Ye Zhen's results.
Hearing Ye Zhen's words, Wuy Jian's face suddenly showed an absurd expression, "Ye Zhen, am I hearing things? Since when did I need your consent to use your worthless iron branch pines?
It seems you've healed from your injuries and have forgotten the pain—it must be time for you to itch again!"
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While speaking, Wu Jian clenched his fists and rubbed his palms together, striding like a meteor toward Ye Zhen.
Ten steps.
Five steps.
As he closed in, Wu Jian suddenly let out a fierce shout, unleashing the Bear King emerging from its cave, with a whooshing sound, hammering towards Ye Zhen.
"Ye Zhen, I'll teach you, this piece of trash, a lesson today!"
The mention of the past was a mistake; recalling how he had been bullied before, Ye Zhen's eyes immediately reddened.
With a roar, the instant sound of cracking bones thundered, and Ye Zhen likewise threw a punch.
Bear King emerging from its cave!
Meeting force with force, an eye for an eye!
Seeing Ye Zhen also using the move Bear King emerging from its cave, a sneer appeared on Wu Jian's lips, "Seeking death!" His iron fist suddenly accelerated.
Bang!
The two iron fists collided violently, and the sneer on Wu Jian's lips instantly froze, twisting into a look of shocked pain.
Crack!
Wu Jian's forearm twisted at an unnatural angle and broke!
"Ah, my hand!"
Wu Jian was utterly horrified!
As Wu Jian screamed in agony, Ye Zhen did not hold back, advancing with a meteoric stride, and launched another punch at Wu Jian.
Bang bang bang!
Under the weight of that first punch, the broken-armed Wu Jian was in a panic, like a human-shaped punching bag, continuously struck by Ye Zhen.
Lazy Bear Stretching!
Bear King emerging from its cave!
Old Bear Tears Rabbit!
The three moves with nine forms of the Bear King Mountain Carrying Fist evolved one by one on Wu Jian's body. The grievances and humiliations Ye Zhen suffered from Wu Jian over the past year were all being reclaimed at this moment.
The sound of snapping bones occasionally rang out. Wu Jian, barely able to dodge vital spots, was trembling with fear, unable to fight back.
"Bear King Mountain Carrying!" Ye Zhen roared, executing the final technique of the Bear King Mountain Carrying Fist, striking towards Wu Jian's chest with a thunderous impact of tearing through the air.
Seeing this move, Wu Jian's heart shattered with fright. If this punch hit his chest, he was certain to die!
"Spare my life!" Wu Jian screamed pitifully.
This scream snapped Ye Zhen back to reality, and seeing Wu Jian's utterly terrified expression, Ye Zhen suddenly understood something.
The punch changed course; the previously ferocious iron fist swiveled and harshly smashed onto Wu Jian's thigh.
He had killed chickens and slaughtered many wild beasts like wolves, but Ye Zhen had never killed a person. Besides, he only wanted revenge, and he didn't intend to kill Wu Jian.
Moreover, in the Qiyun Sect, sparring among servant disciples and causing injuries were permissible, but killing someone was a serious matter.
Crack!
Wu Jian's thigh bone was directly broken by Ye Zhen's punch, with the stark white bone protruding through the flesh.
Stricken with such a severe blow, Wu Jian didn't even have the chance to be shocked. With a scream, his eyes rolled back, and he fainted on the spot.
He could never have imagined that Ye Zhen, whom he used to bully at will, had become so formidable-
"Thrilling!"
Looking at Wu Jian fainted from the pain, Ye Zhen felt an unparalleled thrill. The humiliations he had endured at Wu Jian's hands over the past year were all vented out in this moment.
Not only that, but Ye Zhen also felt that his Bear King Mountain Carrying Fist had improved through this real combat. Several variations that he hadn't completely understood before suddenly became clear.