Zhanxian (Immortal Executioner)

Note:

These words were the same ones Yang Chen had said to Han Jiande of the Tian Quan Sect at the Heavenly Stairs when he had come, looking for trouble with Yang Chen. At that time, when Han Jiande, who had a higher cultivation, had challenged him, Yang Chen had immediately admitted defeat.

But who could have known that Yang Chen was not truly admitting defeat and was instead just forcing Han Jiande to accept a life and death duel with Yang Chen. Now Yang Chen had used the same words, so surely he had to have some kind of mortal enmity with Li QingChen.

“He is at the peak of the Foundation stage, Yang Chen, do you have complete confidence?”

Gao Yue naturally did not wish for Yang Chen, her first disciple, to fight a life and death duel with an expert who was at the peak Foundation stage, so she immediately asked, filled with worry.

“Whether I am confident or not, I must fight. In any case, it’s better than making the experts of the Greatest Heaven Sect bear grudges towards me and not allowing me live peacefully from now on!”

Yang Chen replied with a smile.

“Why?”

Gao Yue clearly didn’t know the reason for this. While the Palace Master and Wang Yong on the contrary, both nodded with a knowing smile after hearing Yang Chen’s words. This movement confused Gao Yue even more.

“Li QingChen will never agree to a confrontation with me in front of others, because that would certainly make him lose all face.”

Yang Chen knew that his master had not yet matured to the level of his previous life, where she understood everything. Since she couldn’t think of everything, Yang Chen patiently explained it to her.

“This is also the case for the Greatest Heaven Sect: they will absolutely not want a disciple who is sowing discord between two people by distorting the truth. Therefore, they will surely do everything they can to prevent that confrontation.”

The Palace Master once again nodded slightly at Yang Chen’s words.

“This is similar to how the sect traitor, Chu Heng, humiliated the sect.”

As if he had received encouragement, Yang Chen continued:

“The Greatest Heaven Sect would rather send some inferior disciple, as they also would not be willing to allow their sect to be disgraced by a lowly cultivator like me.”

When comparing the the reputation of a person with inferior skills and a person with bad name representing the sect, the former was preferred more by people. After all, a person with inferior skills had a lot of factors against them, so if they were unable to beat the opponent and lost, they would not lose face. As for losing face, it was the reputation of Li QingChen alone and would not damage the Greatest Heaven Sect.

Gao Yue understood this point clearly, but she was still slightly doubtful:

“They are not willing to carry the name of being a loser, so what relation does it have with you not accepting the challenge? Why would the experts bear grudges?”

“If I had not agreed to the challenge and had asked to arrange the confrontation, then Li QingChen would not be able to avoid losing face and the Greatest Heaven Sect would also become the target of everyone’s ridicule.”

Yang Chen continued explaining with a smile:

“Under such circumstances, the experts of Greatest Heaven Sect who would not dare to take out their anger on the Green Jade Immortal Islands will turn towards me and the result of such an event will be the loss of my life.”

Gao Yue repeatedly nodded her head hearing after this. Suddenly she couldn’t help raising her head to glance at Yang Chen, who was speaking with confidence. This disciple’s mind was seemingly clear headed indeed.

“But if I promised a life and death duel, that would mean that, this is just a private matter between Li QingChen and me. This way the Greatest Heaven Sect will also have a way out of an embarrassing situation.”

Seeing that his master was looking at him, Yang Chen rejoiced even more:

“With the attitude of the experts at the Greatest Heaven Sect, since it was a private affair, then regardless of whatever the outcome was, they would not meddle too much.”

“Compared to not replying to the challenge and then becoming the target of grudges for the countless experts of the Greatest Heaven Sect, I would prefer to fight a life or death duel with Li QingChen and settle our grudges.”

Yang Chen knew that Gao Yue had already begun to realize slowly, so his concluding words were simple.

“Then even if you accept his challenge, what is the need to insist on a life or death duel?”

Gao Yue was only thinking about Yang Chen’s life and death and did not care much about anything else.

“Because if we do not consider it a matter of life and death, the Green Jade Immortal Island would make us two confront each other, which would be completely unacceptable for the Greatest Heaven Sect.”

Yang Chen helplessly replied:

“Since the Greatest Heaven Sect has already said that this was a personal grudge between us, there was no other way but to issue the challenge to me. In fact, regardless of whether it was a life and death duel or not, for us it would have been the same. So rather than this, I would prefer to formally issue a life or death challenge, which would also give them a way out.”

“Wasn’t elder Hua Wanting very considerate of you?”

Gao Yue suddenly recalled Hua Wanting’s matter, which Yang Chen had said just recently, and hastily asked:

“If you do not agree, could it be that they would risk angering elder Hua Wanting by killing you?”

“The Greatest Heaven Sect is the only one sect which can ignore Elder Hua Wanting’s consideration towards me and accept the life and death challenge to kill me without having to worry about retaliation from elder Hua Wanting.”

Yang Chen clearly knew that some matters could not just be settled by a person’s determination:

“In fact, Li QingChen is very pathetic: he has already been abandoned by the Greatest Heaven Sect.”

“Why?”

Gao Yue asked with suspicion, confused again by Yang Chen’s words.

“Because regardless of the outcome, he cannot escape death.”

Yang Chen’s smile grew large. This was the part that made him most happy:

“If he wins, I die and then Li QingChen will also be executed. On one side to settle elder Hua Wanting’s anger, on the other side for the Greatest Heaven Sect to take up the position of placing righteousness before their family and admitting their errors in front of the Clear Sky Sect and the Green Jade Immortal Islands.”

“What if you win?”

Gao Yue asked like a curious kid in front of Yang Chen.

“If I win, he dies.”

Yang Chen replied with a smile:

“But the Greatest Heaven Sect will still admit their errors before the Green Jade Immortal Islands, conceding that they accepted an unworthy disciple.”

“Aren’t you just saying that the Greatest Heaven Sect is not willing to take responsibility for his actions as their disciple?”

Gao Yue refuted, opening her eyes even wider.

“They just don’t wish to be forced to admit their mistakes, that’s all.”

Yang Chen slowly shook his head:

“In fact, once the confrontation with Fairy Shi is over, the Greatest Heaven Sect will be forced into a corner. Rather than being forced to admit their mistakes, it would be better to admit it by their own initiative. But since any such thing which could make them bow their heads hasn’t happened, they also don’t wish for it.”

“Therefore, they arranged a challenge to get themselves out of the embarrassing situation?”

Gao Yue asked angrily. The Greatest Heaven Sect had gone too far by making Yang Chen take the risk for their matters, so how could Gao Yue accept this?

“Right!”

Yang Chen nodded his head:

“Actually, right now many people in the Greatest Heaven Sect are hoping that Li QingChen dies under my hands, as this is the best possible outcome. With this, they completely don’t need to worry about elder Wu and elder Hua Wanting’s anger and as long as they hand over a proper compensation to the Clear Sky Sect, this matter will be over.”

While Gao Yue and Yang Chen were conversing, the Palace Master and Great Master Wang Yong were listening to them on the side full of smiles, but did not say anything. The more they heard, the wider the smiles on their faces became. They were looking at Yang Chen and his master as if they were some kind of precious treasures.

“So, it is because this matter also involves the Green Jade Immortal Islands, otherwise, they would have held the confrontation secretly, and would not have had a need to proclaim this confrontation to the whole world, correct?”

After understanding the reasons Yang Chen had given her, Gao Yue’s mind was like an open tap, the more she pondered over this, the more questions she asked:

“Then aren’t they just exploiting you?”

In his previous life, Gao Yue was a very careful thinker, otherwise she would not have become the Palace Master of the Fierce Yang Hall. Once he heard these words, Yang Chen immediately understood that his master had begun to think over things.

This was a good thing. Yang Chen desired for his master to be safe and sound her entire life, but it was also impossible for him to accompany her everywhere, so he wanted her to have the ability to defend herself.

Although cultivation was one aspect, another was the ability to precisely judge the circumstances. This was the strongest ability she could rely on for self defence. The more Gao Yue began to ponder over this matter, the more it implied that her safety increased.

“Repulsive! How can the Green Jade Immortal Islands be like this?”

Gao Yue scolded them, feeling aggrieved:

“How can they just drag in my disciple?”

“Because of the new Da Cheng stage expert at the Clear Sky Sect, all big sects, including the Greatest Heaven Sect,the Five Phases Sect and the Green Jade Immortal Islands are feeling pressure.”

This time, it was not Yang Chen who replied, instead it was the Palace Master:

“Initially, all big sects were in an equilibrium, but the current problem is that the Green Jade Immortal Islands have to also look for something to maintain the balance.”

While explaining to Gao Yue, the Palace Master nodded towards Yang Chen in admiration. The words Yang Chen had said just a moment ago, simply caught the Palace Master and Wang Yong by surprise. A disciple who had just reached the Foundation stage not too long ago could analyze the disagreement between sects so thoroughly. This just made them pleasantly surprised.

This kind of intelligence and luck, moreover someone who could also look at the general situation as a whole… Such a disciple was simply an innate heavenly talent. At least ninety percent of JieDan experts in the Pure Yang Palace could not think about such a problem, not to mention the Foundation stage or qi layer disciples. If such a disciple was not properly cultivated, then the Pure Yang Palace could only be called extravagant.

“Yang Chen, you must go out in the near future and attentively cultivate, waiting for Li QingChen to drop in and throw away his life!”

After the Palace Master had explained to Gao Yue, he had turned around to Yang Chen:

“We will discuss again after this matter has been settled.”

“Yes, Palace Master!”

Yang Chen hastily bowed and replied.

This time, Gao Yue also didn’t say anything. She had clearly understood Yang Chen’s words, regardless of whether Li QingChen lived or died, in the end, he would not be able to escape his death. Even the people of the Greatest Heaven Sect wanted him to die. His odds of success in this life and death challenge were really very low.

Even if Li QingChen, at the peak of the Foundation stage, had a higher cultivation than Yang Chen, who in the Greatest Heaven Sect would agree to incur the anger of both elder Wu and elder Hua Wanting at the same time? Furthermore, since the Green Jade Immortal Islands were also participating, the Greatest Heaven Sect would absolutely not allow the Green Jade Immortal Islands to have their wishes fulfilled, so the best option would be to give up on a peak Foundation stage disciple.

After finishing the conversation, the Palace Master and Wang Yong didn’t stay for much longer and departed together, releasing some information to the other elders. Inside of Gao Yue’s room, only Gao Yue and Yang Chen remained.

“Yang Chen, this Li QingChen has been focusing on you all along, allowing him to die like this… Wouldn’t it be very convenient for him?”

Currently Gao Yue was thinking about this problem from Yang Chen’s point of view, she knew everything that Li QingChen and Chu Heng had done to Yang Chen, therefore she particularly wanted to know what Yang Chen would think about it.

“Master, did you not realize it?”

Since the Palace Master and Wang Yong were not in the room anymore, Yang Chen spoke to his master even more freely:

“Previously, Li QingChen had asked Chu Heng to deal with this disciple, relying on the power of being an official disciple of the Greatest Heaven Sect. But currently, they are expecting him to die. Compared to this, what could be more painful to him? What could be a better revenge than waiting for him to come and throw his life away? What else could be a more wonderful outcome than this?

“What if he is not willing and instead attacks you, facing death’s door?”

Gao Yue was still somewhat doubtful. She couldn’t help it, since this affair involved Yang Chen. This question however did not need Yang Chen to be answered, she herself knew the answer. Since the upper echelons of the Greatest Heaven Sect had decided it, then how would a minor, peak Foundation stage disciple, dare to rebel against that?

Once she thought this was the result of scheming and plotting between various sect, Gao Yue couldn’t help but feel a wave of anxiety. They would even abandon their sect’s disciples without the slightest hesitation! This was simply cruel.

“Aren’t they cultivators who have cultivated meticulously for so long? How can they all be like this?”

Gao Yue suddenly asked Yang Chen in a tone as if she was speaking to herself.

“I do not know about others.”

Yang Chen bluntly said:

“But you will not!”

If Gao Yue had been like that, then in his previous life, then why would she have chosen death to defend Yang Chen?

“How do you know?”

Gao Yue was quite puzzled at Yang Chen’s determined reply:

“Even I myself don’t know!”

“Because you are my master, so I know!”

Yang Chen casually answered Gao Yue on the surface, but in his heart he secretly added for himself:

“Because in my previous life, you have already used your life to prove that you are not that kind of person!”

“Then can you change into such a person?”

Seeing Yang Chen reply so confidently about her, Gao Yue seemed to be very happy and in turn asked Yang Chen.

“Towards others, maybe!”

As before, Yang Chen gave a reply which made Gao Yue feel even happier:

“I will forever not become like that towards master!”

“You will not, but if other people can then what?”

Gao Yue had seemingly sunk into a line of thought and had begun to drill Yang Chen on this question.

“Then I will turn into a person who other people cannot abandon!”

Yang Chen also understood what kind of thoughts Gao Yue was having. If Gao Yue was unable to get over this, then it could cause her to have a Heart’s Devil very easily. Therefore he very patiently straightened things out:

“With this disciple’s achievements and connections with people, they can only select Li QingChen to die and could not do anything to disciple!”

“With your connections, are you just making friends so that you can have formidable supporters to rely on?”

Gao Yue’s eyes suddenly flashed and she was very resentful towards Yang Chen’s attitude of seizing every opportunity.

“Disciple’s cultivation is quite shallow right now, so this is a plan for convenience!”

Yang Chen smiled:

“As soon as disciple’s cultivation starts rising, then at that time, we can decide who to abandon and who to protect according to our logic.”

“Decide according to our logic?”

Gao Yue shook her head. Apparently hadn’t realized that Yang Chen had used the word ‘our’:

“I will never become such a person!”

“Then you will basically become someone whom the people close to you will not even dare to think of abandoning, regardless of whatever the matter is!”

Yang Chen said with great heroic spirit.

These words of Yang Chen had struck a chord within Gao Yue’s heart. She had the nature of advancing bravely in front of all difficulties and wished to control her life by herself and not being controlled by others. She immediately replied with a smile:

“I like this. We will try to become this sort of people!”

After she had said this, her tone became even more cheerful, as if she had untied a knot in her heart, otherwise she would have remained entangled with this question. After this troublesome matter had been resolved, her nature had been tempered even more. After realizing this, Gao Yue smile’s became even wider.

“Master, be at ease!”

Yang Chen said as if he was replying to Gao Yue, but even more it seemed like he was making a pledge with himself:

“With disciple here, even if an earth shattering matter happen, master need not worry, disciple will take care of it!”