The Life and Death Stage, as the name suggests, is a place for duels to the death.
Every sect's disciples inevitably have grudges, and rather than suppressing them, the Sword Sect created the Life and Death Stage to resolve conflicts. Once an irreconcilable grudge arises between disciples, one can issue a challenge to the other. However, the challenger’s realm cannot be more than two grades higher than the one being challenged.
Yang Ye originally didn’t want to issue a challenge at the Life and Death Stage, but seeing that Duan Jun was ready to kill him, he realized the other side had no intention of letting him go. If Duan Jun attacked immediately, whether Yang Ye won or lost, he would be at a disadvantage.
If he lost, it would be obvious: Duan Jun could kill him; if he won, he wouldn’t gain anything, and in fact, even injuring Duan Jun could bring him trouble, since he was just an outer disciple. The only way for them to be on equal footing was through a duel at the Life and Death Stage, where he could kill Duan Jun!
“Haha…” After snapping back to his senses, Duan Jun laughed loudly, pointing at Yang Ye, his face full of disdain. “This is laughable. The so-called number one trash is challenging me, at the Life and Death Stage? What right do you have? Because you’re the number one trash in history?”
Yang Ye paid no attention to Duan Jun’s disdain and said, “The Sword Sect has rules. A disciple of a lower realm can challenge one of a higher realm, and the higher realm disciple cannot refuse. Of course, you can refuse if you want, but if you do, it’ll be spread throughout the Sword Sect that Duan Jun, the so-called expert, dares not even face a challenge from an outer disciple!”
“I know you're trying to provoke me!” Duan Jun sneered. “But fine, I accept your challenge. Don’t worry, I won’t kill you. I’ll break every bone in your body one by one at the Life and Death Stage, in front of everyone, to show them that no matter how much you’ve become a Xuan practitioner, you’re still just trash!”
“Done talking? If you are, meet me at the Life and Death Stage!” Yang Ye glanced at Duan Jun indifferently before turning to walk toward the stage.
Seeing Yang Ye’s calm expression, Duan Jun’s killing intent deepened. This trash actually dared to act all high and mighty? Not only had Yang Ye cut off his financial resources, but now he was challenging him directly. An outer disciple was being insulted by a mere servant disciple! “I will make you wish you were dead!”
...
“Yang Ye has issued a challenge to an outer disciple, at the Life and Death Stage! Go, go, hurry and watch!”
“What? You’re not seeing things, right? Yang Ye is challenging an outer disciple?”
“You’re the one who can’t see! The whole family must be blind! Just now, Du Xiu’s cousin went to pick a fight with Yang Ye. Didn’t expect Yang Ye has become a Xuan practitioner and directly challenged Du Xiu’s cousin. They’re already heading to the Life and Death Stage. Let’s go, fast!”
“Yang Ye is already a Xuan practitioner? Great! Let’s go, let’s go cheer for Yang Ye!”
Outer Sect Disciple Peak.
“What? A servant disciple challenging an outer disciple? The number one trash in history? Are you kidding? Isn’t that trash still not even a Xuan practitioner?”
“I don’t know, but they’ve already gone to the Life and Death Stage. Let’s go. If we’re late, that servant disciple might get killed, and we’ll miss the show. I’ll go tell the others.”
“A servant disciple challenging an outer disciple? At the Life and Death Stage? He really doesn’t know his place. Let’s go and watch how we teach him a lesson.”
Soon, news of Yang Ye’s challenge spread like wildfire through both the servant disciple and outer disciple peaks, and thousands of servant disciples and hundreds of outer disciples gathered at the Life and Death Stage.
...
At the Life and Death Stage, an elderly man dressed in a blue-and-white long robe watched Yang Ye and the young man in green, but his gaze lingered mostly on Yang Ye. The old man’s name was Cao Huo, an elder of the Sword Sect’s outer sect, in charge of the outer sect’s law enforcement team. He had seen many duels at the Life and Death Stage before, but it was his first time seeing a servant disciple challenge an outer disciple.
Cao Huo waved his right hand, and two crystal-clear energy stones floated toward Yang Ye and Duan Jun. He said, “There are no rules at the Life and Death Stage. You may use any methods you like! To be fair, recover your internal energy fully, then begin.” With that, the old man moved to the side.
“You’ll die!” Duan Jun said coldly, staring at Yang Ye.
Yang Ye didn’t respond. Instead, he walked over to a nearby weapon rack and picked out a long sword. The sword was about 1.5 meters long, two fingers wide, made of regular refined iron. It wasn’t of any special quality, a low-grade item.
“Qingfeng Sword, Yellow rank, low-grade, cuts through iron like mud,” Duan Jun said as he drew his own sword, looking at Yang Ye. “But don’t worry, I won’t kill you. I’ll sever your tendons and bones one by one, then send your body back to your family, so they can share in your pain! How about that, am I merciful?”
He casually swung his sword, and Yang Ye spoke faintly, “Don’t worry, I’ll be merciful to you too.” With that, Yang Ye sat cross-legged and began absorbing the energy from the stones.
Duan Jun’s eyes flickered with cold killing intent, and he also sat down, absorbing the energy from the stone.
At this time, hundreds of outer sect disciples stood beneath the Life and Death Stage, watching the match between Yang Ye and the man in green. One long-faced disciple turned to another and said, “Jiang Qiushui, Duan Jun is a Xuan practitioner of the 8th grade. I don’t know what level that servant disciple is, but I bet Duan Jun will kill him in ten moves.”
“I bet five moves!” the man named Jiang Qiushui replied. “Twenty energy stones, do you dare bet?”
“You really think that lowly servant disciple is worth looking down on?” the long-faced disciple laughed.
“Two years in the sect, and only now becoming a Xuan practitioner? This trash doesn’t deserve my attention,” Jiang Qiushui said disdainfully. “How about it, twenty stones, I bet Duan Jun will take his head in five moves. Dare?”
“No problem!” the long-faced disciple laughed. “Since that servant disciple dared to challenge Duan Jun, he must have some skills. I don’t believe he can’t even last ten moves. Anyone else want to bet?”
“I bet five moves!”
“I bet ten moves…”
“I bet the servant disciple will win, fifty energy stones!” At this moment, a clear and somewhat childish voice rang out in the crowd.
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All the outer disciples froze for a moment and turned their heads. They saw a young girl, about fourteen or fifteen years old, smiling at them. She was wearing a pale yellow floral dress that concealed her already developing slender figure. With willow-leaf eyebrows, a cherry-like mouth, and bright, lively eyes that constantly shifted, there was a hint of mischief in her gaze.
The girl was none other than Bao’er from the Talismans Peak. She had come specifically to find Yang Ye today, but she hadn’t expected him to be in a fight. She also hadn’t expected that everyone here looked down on Yang Ye. But Bao’er knew how powerful Yang Ye was—he was a practitioner of the Five Elements Mystical Qi!
When the outer disciples saw the little girl, they were briefly stunned. Although she was young, they could all imagine how stunning she would be when she grew up. Some of them even had lecherous looks in their eyes.
Seeing the unwanted gazes, Bao’er snorted coldly and took out a stack of talismans from her pocket, walking up to Jiang Qiushui and the others. “I want to bet! I bet the little servant disciple will win.”
Jiang Qiushui was taken aback for a moment, but when he saw the stack of talismans in Bao’er’s hand, he was immediately stunned. It took a while for him to snap back to reality, and his previously aloof expression turned into one of warmth. He softly asked, “Y-You’re from the Talismans Peak?”
At this point, the outer disciples also noticed the talismans in Bao’er’s hand. Those were talismans—only the top ten strongest disciples in the outer sect were eligible to receive them! The disciples’ gazes became heated.
Bao’er snorted again and said, “Yes, I bet the servant disciple will win. Do you want to bet or not?” She didn’t like these people—these people not only looked down on the little servant disciple, but also looked at her with disgusting gazes. She planned to win all their cultivation resources!
Bet on the servant disciple winning?
Upon hearing this, the outer disciples exchanged looks. Was this little girl out of her mind? She actually bet on the servant disciple winning? They knew that Duan Jun was already a Xuan practitioner of the 8th grade, while the servant disciple was at most a 4th or 5th grade. How could he possibly defeat Duan Jun?
As they thought this, the outer disciples exchanged another glance, and their eyes gleamed with undisguised greed.
Jiang Qiushui’s eyes flickered for a moment, then he said, “We can bet with you, but you have to be the one to set the stakes. We all bet on the servant disciple losing. What do you say?”
Bao’er thought for a moment and then said, “Fine, you can place your bets. I’ll accept whatever amount!”
Suppressing his excitement, Jiang Qiushui continued, “Look, we have several hundred people here. That’s a considerable sum. If you lose, how about...?”
Bao’er naturally understood what Jiang Qiushui meant. She raised her eyebrows and took out another stack of talismans from her pocket, saying, “Here, I have about twenty middle-grade talismans. Each one can be sold for around five hundred energy stones. If I lose, I’ll use these as payment. Is that okay?”
“Middle-grade talismans?”
Seeing the talismans in Bao’er’s hand, the disciples’ eyes were now filled with an unmasked fiery look. Each middle-grade talisman wasn’t worth just five hundred energy stones—it could easily sell for a thousand energy stones or more!
This time, Jiang Qiushui didn’t even need to speak. The outer disciples immediately nodded in agreement. How often did they have such a good opportunity to fleece someone? If they didn’t take advantage of it, they’d be fools!
“I bet five hundred energy stones!” Jiang Qiushui suddenly said. “We don’t have that many energy stones on us, but you can keep a record. If we lose, we’ll definitely pay you back. We’re outer disciples, we won’t cheat you!”
Hearing Jiang Qiushui’s words, the servant disciples were stunned. Five hundred energy stones was no small amount—after all, they could only earn about twenty energy stones a month. Did Jiang Qiushui actually have that much?
As the surrounding outer disciples had guessed, Jiang Qiushui didn’t have five hundred energy stones, but he wasn’t worried. There was no way that servant disciple could win. The answer was simply impossible!
Bao’er thought for a moment and then said, “Okay, you can all place your bets. I’ll keep a record.” She wasn’t worried about these people going back on their word—no one in the Sword Sect dared to cheat her!
“I’ll raise it by two thousand energy stones!” Seeing that they could keep a record for now, Jiang Qiushui immediately added another five hundred energy stones. If he didn’t fleece this gullible girl now, he would never forgive himself.
Seeing that Bao’er had agreed to keep a record, the remaining disciples were stirred, and they immediately began calling out their bids.
“I bet one thousand energy stones!”
“I bet eight hundred!”
“I bet two thousand…”
Seeing everyone increase their bids, Bao’er smiled so widely that her eyes almost disappeared. She quickly began writing down everyone’s bets. For her, it would be best if Yang Ye won, but even if he lost, it didn’t matter. After all, she could easily make more talismans herself, and the Talismans Peak had plenty of them.
* (Zá yì dìzǐ) – Servant disciple; a low-ranking disciple in a martial sect, typically performing menial tasks or acting as an assistant to higher-ranked disciples.
* (Xuán zhě) – Xuan practitioner; a person who has achieved a certain level of mastery in cultivating martial arts or spiritual energy, often associated with a specific grade or rank.
* (Shēngsǐ tái) – Life-and-death platform; a location within the sect where disciples resolve their disputes through duels to the death or with high stakes, usually governed by specific rules.
* (Wǔ xíng xuánqì) – Five Elements Mystical Qi; a type of mystical or spiritual energy that embodies the five elements (wood, fire, earth, metal, and water), often associated with powerful martial arts techniques.
* (Fú lù) – Talismans; magical or spiritual symbols that can be used for various purposes, including enhancing one's abilities, protection, or even offense. In some settings, they are highly valuable and require significant cultivation to use or create.
* (Zhōng pǐn fú lù) – Middle-grade talismans; talismans of moderate quality, which are valued for their practical use and often sold for a higher price.
* (Wàimén dìzǐ) – Outer sect disciple; a disciple who belongs to the outer faction of a martial arts sect, generally lower in rank and prestige compared to inner sect disciples.
* (Néngliàng shí) – Energy stones; physical stones that contain mystical or spiritual energy, often used as a form of currency or to aid in cultivation.
* (Xuán zhě bā pǐn) – Xuan practitioner 8th grade; a level of advancement for a Xuan practitioner, indicating a high rank within the sect's hierarchy.