Chapter 255

Chapter 255: Crushing Beauty

As Qiu Yuwan arrived and boldly placed her stakes, neither Zhang Yang nor Bing Yuyan were surprised. They knew that her true goal was the Great Path Sacred Fruit all along.

“What do you plan to do this time? Should we continue with the deception?” Bing Yuyan asked, clearly enjoying the game. The rewards had been far too lucrative to stop.

Zhang Yang smirked. “What do you think?”

Bing Yuyan sighed. “As much as I’d love to keep going, I know that Yilie and Su Baishi aren’t fools. They’re old foxes, they wouldn’t keep losing like this without catching on.”

Then, as if struck by a thought, her stunning face lit up with a mischievous smile. “So, I’ll have to seize the opportunity while I still can.”

Zhang Yang raised an eyebrow. Did she also plan to stir up trouble?

Bing Yuyan’s eyes sparkled with excitement as ideas formed in her mind. She dashed toward the courtyard entrance but suddenly stopped. Turning back, she said with feigned seriousness, “It seems this palace master has been misled by you. These past few days have been nothing but distractions, which is quite troubling. After all, I am a goddess, untouched by worldly matters. This kind of behavior… it shouldn’t continue.”

Then, she added with a playful smirk, “Hmm, maybe after this round.”

Before Zhang Yang could respond, she ran off.

Zhang Yang’s expression turned strange. Misled by him?

He had always been an honest, upstanding man!

Shaking his head, he sat down, adjusting his state of mind to prepare for the upcoming match.

Half an hour passed quickly.

Zhang Yang stood up and stepped outside.

At the entrance of Green Sparrow Palace, he saw Mu Lanxin, accompanied by two Great Boundless members.

Their eyes gleamed with anticipation.

They knew that Zhang Yang was capable of achieving in this single betting match what they couldn’t accomplish in ten years.

Zhang Yang nodded at them before turning to Bing Yuyan.

She was looking at him with an even more intense gaze—not with romantic admiration, but with sheer excitement.

Her eyes practically spoke: Go. Win. Bring back those treasures.

Zhang Yang shifted his attention to the duel platform.

The stakes had changed.

Besides the two Great Path Sacred Fruits, there was now the Ice Spirit Holy Sword.

He couldn’t help but grimace. This woman… she was reckless and bold.

Looking across, his gaze fell upon the treasures presented by Qiu Yuwan’s side: Five Suppressing Evil with the Green Jade Bamboo, a sage’s bone from before the Eternal Night era, three drops of Phoenix Luan holy blood, and a tattered piece of animal skin. His sharp eyes lingered on the animal skin. It appeared to contain a record of some kind of sword technique.

What kind of sword technique could possibly make Bing Yuyan willing to wager the Ice Spirit Holy Sword?

The thought puzzled him, but he remained outwardly calm, masking his intrigue with an expression of hesitation and uncertainty.

He had to be careful. If Yilie and Su Baishi sensed anything unusual, they might stop the bet.

Slowly, he stepped toward the duel platform.

Qiu Yuwan was already there, waiting.

The forbidden laws of the duel had activated.

She smirked and called out confidently, “Zhang Yang, come and fight!”

Zhang Yang ignored her, glanced at the stakes, clenched his fists, gritted his teeth, and stepped onto the duel platform.

As he entered, the forbidden laws fully activated, forming a protective barrier—one that only a sage could break.

“You’ve finally come to die,” Qiu Yuwan sneered, her once-striking features now twisted with malice.

Zhang Yang raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean by that?”

Qiu Yuwan let out a loud, mocking laugh. “You’re going to die. Do you really need me to explain it to you?”

Zhang Yang ignored her and instead looked at Yilie, Su Baishi, and the others on the opposite side of the platform.

The two old foxes wore cold smirks, tilting their heads slightly, radiating an air of superiority.

“I don’t recall agreeing to a fight to the death,” Zhang Yang remarked.

Qiu Yuwan scoffed. “And you also didn’t say it wasn’t a fight to the death. This is a betting match—anything can happen. For example, I might just ‘accidentally’ kill you. A very real possibility!”

Zhang Yang chuckled. “You? Accidentally kill me?”

“Exactly! Me!” Qiu Yuwan lifted her chin proudly. “All your glory, Zhang Yang, will end at my hands. Unless a sage arrives to break the duel platform, no one can stop me from killing you!”

Her aura was overwhelming, brimming with confidence.

Zhang Yang crossed his arms lazily. “And who exactly gave you the confidence to think you could kill me?”

“You did,” Qiu Yuwan replied with a malicious grin.

Zhang Yang smirked. “Are you referring to the Absolute Holy Forbidden Law?”

Qiu Yuwan’s expression faltered.

On the opposite side, Yilie and Su Baishi, the two cunning veterans, also showed visible shifts in expression.

“Or maybe… you mean this?” Zhang Yang rolled up his left sleeve, revealing his entire arm. A Dark Demon Sparrow tattoo was etched onto his upper arm. “The Dark Chaos Curse that supposedly restricts this arm from moving?”

As he spoke, he flexed his left arm effortlessly. “Well, it does have some effect—I mean, having one arm exposed makes me a little uncomfortable.”

Then, he casually lowered his sleeve.

Qiu Yuwan’s face drained of color, her body trembling uncontrollably.

Yilie and Su Baishi’s expressions turned to sheer shock as they rushed to the edge of the duel platform.

“You!”

Yilie shouted furiously, recalling their past losses.

Zhang Yang smiled cheerfully. “I’m doing just fine. In fact, I’ve been great. Those last two betting matches? Went better than I expected. Of course, to avoid making the Third Elder suspicious of my little act, I had to put in quite the performance.”

His gaze darkened. “But now? There’s no need for that anymore. I’m still the Mighty Battle God, the so-called Human Catastrophe in your eyes.”

Yilie’s face turned deathly pale, and she trembled with fury. Pointing a shaking finger at Zhang Yang, she seethed, “You little bastard! How dare you play me like this!”

Zhang Yang’s smile vanished, his voice turning cold. “Yilie, if it weren’t for your daughter, you’d already be dead. Do you really think I’d just let your betrayal slide? That I wouldn’t settle the score?”

His tone grew even sharper. “Let me make this clear—I’ve run out of patience with you. This time, consider it a lesson. Next time? I won’t stop at ruining you, I’ll kill you.”

Yilie’s face twisted in rage. “You little bastard! My treasure! My holy treasure!” She glanced desperately at the stakes.

At that moment, the duel platform’s forbidden laws still held the stakes under their protection. They wouldn’t be released until the match officially ended.

Su Baishi’s aura surged violently. “Zhang Yang, how dare you toy with this elder! Do you even understand the consequences?”

Zhang Yang cast him a disinterested glance, then casually raised his hand—

Smack!

Qiu Yuwan didn’t even have time to react before she was sent spinning through the air, flipping ten times before crashing to the ground.

Even after undergoing a shocking transformation at the Daybreak Phoenix Ruins, even after rapidly advancing to the Ascending to Heaven Realm, in Zhang Yang’s eyes, she was still nothing more than an ant.

“How dare you! You actually struck the young lady of Moonview Tower!” Su Baishi roared in fury.

Smack!

Another slap.

Qiu Yuwan was sent flying once more.

Zhang Yang didn’t even spare her a glance, his gaze remained locked onto Su Baishi.

“You!” Su Baishi’s anger surged.

Smack!

The third slap struck Qiu Yuwan’s face mercilessly. Blood poured from her seven orifices, her eyes filled with pure despair.

This time, Su Baishi fell silent.

He realized that the situation had escalated far beyond their control.

Zhang Yang stepped toward Qiu Yuwan and crouched down.

Lying on the ground, the once-arrogant and domineering Qiu Yuwan now trembled in sheer terror.

“Qiu Yuwan,” Zhang Yang said slowly. “Do you remember back in Mo City? When you and Long Luanshen mocked Liu Feijue and the others? When you treated me like an ant?”

He let out a small sigh, shaking his head. “You know… I never took you seriously. And I don’t say that to brag, I mean it. Because in my eyes, you’re simply too pathetic to even remember.”

His expression turned colder. “But why is it that none of you have any self-awareness?”

“From Mo City to the Daybreak Phoenix Ruins, and now to the Green Sparrow Palace, you’ve been the same. Arrogant. Blind. Pathetic. Do you have any idea how disgusting it is to me?”

He exhaled sharply. “I never wanted to waste my time on you. You’re not worth it. Yet you keep insisting on throwing yourselves into the fire.”

He stood up.

A terrifying Holy Might surged from his body, pressing down on Qiu Yuwan, suffocating her beneath its immense pressure.

“No! Please don’t kill me! I beg you! Don’t kill me!” Qiu Yuwan pleaded desperately, tears streaming down her bloodied face.

Zhang Yang’s eyes remained cold and indifferent. “Too late.”

Boom!

The Holy Might descended, crushing the space around them.

Qiu Yuwan’s life force was severed in an instant.

She was dead.

The duel had ended.

The forbidden laws surrounding the platform trembled violently, beginning to dissipate.

Yilie, Su Baishi, and the other members of Moonview Tower and Embrace Moon Tower stepped forward, preparing for battle.

Bing Yuyan, Mu Lanxin, and the others followed suit.

The allure of the holy treasures was simply too overwhelming.

With their schemes exposed, their patience worn thin, and their own plans turned against them, Yilie and Su Baishi abandoned all pretense. They were ready to cast aside all decorum and protect their stakes at any cost.

Just then, urgent shouts echoed from the distance.

“The Ten Major Holy Places have dispatched thirty saints to the Vast Forest, preparing for a holy war! Their goal is to annihilate the Vast Forest!”

“The Vast Forest must fall, and the Mighty Battle God, Zhang Yang, must die!”

“We come to kill Zhang Yang!”

Figures flickered as powerful presences descended upon the battlefield.

At the forefront were Mu Yujing, the royal uncle of the Great Xia Empire, and Ying Wuji, a powerhouse from the Golden Cauldron Sacred Land, leading their forces straight toward them.