Chapter 550: Chapter 332: Rising to Fame

"Huh... Xu Yang and Sun Tao? To think Huo Xiaochen and Lin Jingyu actually let you two off the hook? You really lucked out again."

A somewhat disappointed, highly sarcastic voice rang out. The surrounding people all turned to look at Zhang Hanzhou in shock, wearing expressions as if they were looking at an absolute idiot.

Qi Xuancheng finally understood why Gu Qingfeng, Liu Rumei, and the others had looked at him with those exact same expressions earlier.

Not far away, Huo Xiaochen shuddered. He hadn’t expected that just as things had quieted down, another imbecile would bring the matter up—and to mock Xu Yang and Sun Tao while elevating him, no less.

At this moment, he felt as humiliated as if he had just soiled himself in front of everyone.

"Shut up," Qi Xuancheng hastily warned Zhang Hanzhou, noticing that Huo Xiaochen’s face was turning green with fury.

"Why should I shut up? If they didn’t get eliminated by Huo Xiaochen and Lin Jingyu, is that not dumb luck?" Zhang Hanzhou retorted.

Completely ignoring Qi Xuancheng’s desperate winks, he turned toward Ye Qiuling, Wu Xiuyuan, and the others who were walking over. "Junior Sister Ye, Brother Wu, come here quickly! Xu Yang and Sun Tao actually weren’t eliminated!"

Ye Qiuling walked over with a look of surprise. "Junior Brother Xu, Junior Brother Sun, how did you two escape the ambush from Lin Jingyu and Huo Xiaochen? Did Lin Jingyu take into account the friendship between the Purple Sun Sect and the Yellow Maple Valley, and persuade Huo Xiaochen to let you go?"

"I’m afraid it was the Young Sect Leader and Peak Master Yue who went to plead with the Yellow Maple Valley," Zhang Hanzhou said with a laugh.

"Shut your mouth! It wasn’t Lin Jingyu and Huo Xiaochen who let them go! Their ambush failed, and they killed Lin Jingyu!" Qi Xuancheng roared in a low voice.

Seeing Zhang Hanzhou act like a complete fool, he wished he could find a hole in the ground and bury himself.

"Haha... Miss Ye, Brother Qi is quite funny. Two bottom-feeders on the Lingyun List beat the eleventh-ranked Lin Jingyu to death? Do you actually believe that?" Wu Xiuyuan couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

Ye Qiuling looked embarrassed. "Please excuse us, Brother Wu. Senior Brother Qi just loves making jokes." She then glared at Qi Xuancheng. "Senior Brother Qi, please refrain from making such jokes in the future."

"Do I look like I’m joking?"

Qi Xuancheng knew that they, just like him earlier, refused to believe Xu Yang and Sun Tao possessed such capability. Pointing at Huo Xiaochen in the distance, he said, "Look over there. Do you see any sign of Lin Jingyu?"

Zhang Hanzhou and Ye Qiuling turned to look. They saw Huo Xiaochen with an incredibly dark and ugly expression on his face, and sure enough, there was no sign of Lin Jingyu. They didn’t even see Huang Xiao or Luo Ying.

"Is Lin Jingyu really dead?" Ye Qiuling gasped in horror, covering her mouth.

That was an eleventh-ranked genius on the Lingyun List! Did he just die like that?

Zhang Hanzhou’s eyes practically bulged out of their sockets. "Brother Qi, you’re not joking with me?"

"How is that possible? How could two bottom-feeders on the Lingyun List possibly kill Lin Jingyu?" Wu Xiuyuan’s face was filled with disbelief.

Lin Jingyu was ranked even higher than him. Didn’t that mean Xu Yang and Sun Tao could kill him as well?

"If you don’t believe me, go ask Huo Xiaochen yourselves. But it’s best you don’t—he’s in a terrible mood right now," Qi Xuancheng said, ignoring the three of them afterward. He was worried that if he said anything more, he would offend the petty Huo Xiaochen.

"I’m afraid it’s true!" Wu Xiuyuan took a sharp breath.

At this distance, Huo Xiaochen definitely could have heard their conversation. The fact that he hadn’t refuted a single word meant that what was being said must be the truth.

"Xu Yang... Sun Tao... I..." Zhang Hanzhou tried to speak but found his mouth completely dry.

To think these two guys were actually this powerful, even taking out Lin Jingyu! Recalling his sarcastic remarks just moments ago, he felt a sudden chill run down his spine. If they got the chance later on, would they just get rid of him too?

She thought, "Who would have thought these two were the real dark horses?" Regret welled up in Ye Qiuling’s heart.

If she had known Xu Yang and Sun Tao were this powerful, she never would have refused their offer to team up, nor would she have needed to rely on her physical charms to woo other experts. Although she hadn’t given up anything substantial, it was still detrimental to her reputation. Her image as an aloof fairy was already becoming somewhat difficult to maintain.

She desperately wanted to ask Xu Yang and Sun Tao how they did it, but seeing their demeanor, they clearly didn’t want to pay her any mind. She had no choice but to suppress the curiosity in her heart.

As time passed, the registration for those who passed the chaotic melee soon concluded. However, no one left; they were all waiting for Chu Nanguai’s next instructions.

"Take three days to heal and rest. Those who passed will return here in three days to continue participating in the selection," Chu Nanguai announced, before directly tearing through the air and leaving.

With his departure, the Martial Artists from Yunzhou City who had come to watch the spectacle also flew off into the sky.

"What is this? We have to wait another three days," Sun Tao grumbled, somewhat dissatisfied.

"Quite a few people are injured and need time to heal," Zhang Jun noted.

He was wounded as well, as was Liu Rumei. There were very few people like Xu Yang and Sun Tao who hadn’t suffered a single scratch, and practically all of them were top-tier geniuses on the Lingyun List.

"Excellent, excellent! I didn’t expect the two of you to possess such strength, to actually kill Lin Jingyu! You made the Young Sect Leader and me worry for nothing!" Yue Zhong and Bai Shaoling came over to greet them, their tones brimming with excitement.

At first, they almost thought Xu Yang and Sun Tao were done for. To their absolute surprise, the duo’s true strength was so formidable that they managed to counter-kill Lin Jingyu.

"Xu Yang and Sun Tao actually said early on that they weren’t afraid of Huo Xiaochen and Lin Jingyu. It’s just that we didn’t believe them," Bai Shaoling said with a bright smile.

"Indeed, we severely underestimated the two of them." Yue Zhong burst into hearty laughter.

Beside them, Li Chuyang, Ye Qiuling, and the others were in a daze. Did Xu Yang and Sun Tao really join forces to kill Lin Jingyu?

"We killed Lin Jingyu, and Junior Brother Xu also killed Li Yunzhou. Will this bring trouble to the Sect?" Sun Tao asked.

The killing had felt great at the time, but thinking back on it now, he worried about triggering unbearable consequences. Lin Jingyu was backed not only by the Yellow Maple Valley but also by the millennial Kong family. On top of that, several disciples of the Iron Sword Sect had died at their hands. He and Xu Yang weren’t afraid, but they feared dragging the Purple Sun Sect down with them.

As soon as these words were spoken, the hearts of Zhang Hanzhou, Qi Xuancheng, and the others violently trembled again. Xu Yang had also killed the fifty-second-ranked Li Yunzhou? Just how much had they missed?!

While Ye Qiuling, Li Chuyang, and Jiang Fan managed to keep their expressions relatively calm, Zhang Hanzhou and Qi Xuancheng were completely losing their composure. How could Xu Yang be this ruthless?

Bai Shaoling chuckled. "Such minor troubles are nothing to fear. As long as you two are still around, they won’t go overboard. Besides, the only real trouble is the Kong family. Now that Lin Jingyu is dead, they aren’t going to stick their necks out for a dead man.

"Don’t underestimate our Purple Sun Sect. While our overall strength may be average, the Sect Leader’s Cultivation makes him an expert even when looking at the entire Yun Province.

"Furthermore, if you didn’t kill them, were you supposed to just let them kill you? The Purple Sun Sect isn’t afraid of trouble."

As for the Iron Sword Sect and the Yellow Maple Valley, he wasn’t worried in the slightest.

The Iron Sword Sect was too far away, and the Yellow Maple Valley had suffered such a massive setback that they would be too busy laying low and recovering to even think about starting a war with the Purple Sun Sect.

Of course, the most important reason was that the Purple Sun Sect had Zhang Jingyuan. That was the source of their confidence. In that situation, he would have killed them too. Given the chance to eliminate such a genius by the roots, why leave them alive to exact revenge in the future?

"There’s no need to worry too much. It’s completely normal for people to die in this kind of selection. If everyone sought revenge, all the major Sects in Yun Province would be at war with one another," Jiang Fan said. "They won’t cause trouble for the Purple Sun Sect, but it might be a different story for you and Xu Yang. Just be careful from now on."

Sun Tao nodded, agreeing with Jiang Fan’s reasoning. It wasn’t just him and Xu Yang who had killed people; at least a hundred individuals had died today. If everyone retaliated, Yun Province would descend into complete chaos. There would certainly be personal grudges, but it shouldn’t escalate to involve the Sects.

Soon, the group returned to Dragon Ascending Street. As time passed, various pieces of news gradually spread.

The fact that Xu Yang first slew the fifty-second-ranked Li Yunzhou, and then teamed up with Sun Tao to beat Lin Jingyu to death, caused a massive sensation throughout Yunzhou City. No one expected that Chu Nanguai’s rules would result in the death of yet another top-tier genius.

Xu Yang and Sun Tao, two individuals who originally didn’t have much of a reputation, suddenly became the center of everyone’s discussions, emerging as the most dazzling figures of the Secondary Dragon Ascension.

Meanwhile, at the Kong family estate!

Several horse-drawn carriages loaded with supplies rolled in from the outside. Xiong Wanhai followed closely behind, a long saber strapped to his waist. Seeing the carriages arrive safely at the Kong family estate, he and his companions let out a long sigh of relief.

Several servants stepped forward and began unloading the goods to store in the warehouse.

Unable to hold himself back any longer, Xiong Wanhai turned to Duan Ming, a fellow Honored Guest Elder of the Kong family. "Keep an eye on the goods being stored. I’m going to go ask around about today’s Secondary Dragon Ascension Selection."

He was originally supposed to go watch the Secondary Dragon Ascension Selection in person today, but unfortunately, he had been assigned this escort mission and had to miss it. Right now, he was dying to know whether his old friend Huoyun’s disciple had successfully passed.

"You’re still thinking about your friend’s disciple, Xu Yang? Being targeted by Huo Xiaochen, he’s definitely already been eliminated. There won’t be any miracles," Duan Ming said with a laugh.

He knew why Xiong Wanhai was so anxious, but Xu Yang had offended Huo Xiaochen, and the Xiao family had joined forces with the Kong family. Under such circumstances, even a genius ranked in the top ten of the Lingyun List would be in grave danger, let alone someone merely ranked ninety-eighth.

"He’s still my old friend’s disciple after all. I’m just worried that Huo Xiaochen and Lin Jingyu might have taken his life," Xiong Wanhai said.

"Honored Guest Elder Xiong, that Xu Yang is your friend’s disciple?" a servant who was currently moving goods suddenly piped up.

"You actually know of Xu Yang?" Xiong Wanhai asked, revealing a look of surprise.

The servant smiled. "Who doesn’t know of Xu Yang right now? He’s the number one figure of today’s Dragon Ascension! He first beheaded the fifty-second-ranked Li Yunzhou, and then killed the eleventh-ranked Lin Jingyu! His name has shaken the entire Yunzhou City, and even the Kong family is in an uproar because of him!"

"What did you just say?"

Xu Yang first killed Li Yunzhou, and then killed Lin Jingyu? Thinking he must have misheard, Xiong Wanhai asked him to repeat it.

Beside him, Duan Ming was left utterly dumbfounded, also believing his own ears were playing tricks on him.

Lin Jingyu was a genius recruited by the Kong family! How could he possibly die at the hands of a mediocrity like Xu Yang? The young lady hadn’t even married him yet, and Lin Jingyu was already killed? Was this some kind of joke?

"Honored Guest Elder, you didn’t mishear. Xu Yang really did kill Li Yunzhou and Lin Jingyu. He and Sun Tao of the Purple Sun Sect became the biggest dark horses in today’s Dragon Ascension. The two of them joined forces and struck Lin Jingyu dead during the chaotic melee."

Xiong Wanhai was absolutely stunned. He had been worried that Xu Yang would be beaten to death by Lin Jingyu and Huo Xiaochen, but he never expected that Xu Yang would be the one to counter-kill Lin Jingyu!

"Lin Jingyu was killed?" Duan Ming felt as if thunder were rumbling in his head.

The servant might have dared to joke with them the first time, but there was absolutely no way he would repeat a joke a second time. That meant Lin Jingyu truly was dead.

"Huoyun really took in a good disciple," Xiong Wanhai murmured, completely flabbergasted.

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