Chapter 113: Heavenly Ladder Duel! The Holy Land’s Fury!

Qingyun Sect, back mountain.

What had once been a gigantic valley overgrown with weeds, used only for ordinary drills, had now been completely transformed.

A colossal ring-shaped structure spanning several li rose from the ground.

The main body of the structure had been built from solid obsidian, its exterior carved with densely packed reinforcement runes that flickered with faint spiritual light, making it obvious at a glance that it was indestructible.

At the very center of the structure stood ten enormous arenas shrouded in formation light screens, each one large enough to accommodate a hundred people battling at the same time.

This was the “Honor of Kings Arena”!

At this moment, the arena was filled with a roaring crowd, every seat occupied.

Tens of thousands of disciples sat in concentric spectator stands according to their respective halls and departments, each craning their necks, faces filled with excitement and anticipation.

To the direct north of the arena was a lofty VIP stand.

Chu Feng, Murong Xue, Leng Yanran, and other members of the Group’s senior management were seated there.

Murong Xue looked at the frenzied scene below and still felt a sense of unreality.

An internal conflict that had been enough to tear the sect apart had been turned by this man, with just a few words, into a grand carnival involving everyone.

“The auspicious hour has arrived! The Ascension Group’s first ‘Heavenly Ladder Ranking Promotion Tournament’ now begins!”

A hoarse, duck-like roar spread throughout the entire venue through the amplification conch horn.

On the tallest platform at the very center of the arena, Zhao Wuji was seen wearing a specially tailored, luxurious Daoist robe embroidered with the four large characters “Gold-Medal Commentator.” Holding a dazzling golden conch horn in his hand, his face was flushed red, his expression excited to the extreme.

“All family members! Fellow Daoists! All strivers who aspire to realize self-worth on the Immortal Dao path! Good morning, everyone!”

Zhao Wuji cleared his throat and roared in his highly incendiary tone,

“I am the chief commentator of this tournament, Zhao Wuji!”

“Today, we have gathered here not for personal gain, not for old grudges, but to practice our Group’s core values of ‘higher, faster, stronger’! It is to achieve our collective iterative upgrade through healthy competition!”

His words sent the disciples in the spectator stands into a boiling frenzy, their unified shouts echoing through the arena.

“Alright! Next, let us welcome our first pair of competitors onto the stage!”

Zhao Wuji swung his arm and pointed at Arena No. 1,

“They are, Fellow Daoist Ma Shouzi from the ‘Wolf Fang Alliance,’ and Fellow Daoist Zhou Skinflint from the ‘Fairness Association’!”

As soon as his words fell, two figures rushed out from the competitors’ passageways and leapt onto the arena.

They were precisely the two instigators of the internal turmoil from a few days earlier.

Both of them were now wearing brand-new “Arena Guardian” uniforms, but the looks they exchanged were still filled with the smell of gunpowder.

“According to the Group’s basic principle of ‘internal conflict internal resolution,’ the two Guardians will decide the future priority allocation of cultivation resources through this ‘grudge match’!”

Zhao Wuji explained with overflowing passion,

“Now, I announce that the ‘official discussion betting market’ is officially open!”

“Those supporting Fellow Daoist Ma Shouzi, please bet on the red side! Those supporting Fellow Daoist Zhou Skinflint, please bet on the blue side! Odds are one to one point two! Bets placed, no regrets!”

At his command, the spectator stands instantly erupted.

“I’m betting on Ma Shouzi! His ‘wolf-nature test’ rating was excellent, he’s definitely fiercer!”

“I’m betting on Zhou Skinflint! That guy’s sinister, he definitely has something up his sleeve!”

“Damn it, all in! Win and it’s luxury and beauties, lose and it’s back to digging!”

The disciples pulled out their identity jade tokens one after another, crazily betting the contribution points they had painstakingly saved on the side they favored.

Their fervor far exceeded the enthusiasm they showed for their own cultivation.

On the VIP stand, Murong Xue supported her forehead, feeling her Dao heart starting to ache again.

This was not a cultivation sect at all; it was clearly a massive, filthy casino.

“Clang!”

A gong sounded, and the duel began!

“Zhou Skinflint, you piece of trash! Today, your grandpa will show you what real ‘wolf nature’ is!”

Ma Shouzi let out a ferocious laugh, formed a hand seal, and dozens of sharp wind blades swept toward his opponent.

“Zhou Skinflint, however, remained unhurried. He chuckled, raised his hand, and scattered a large cloud of white powder.”

“Rule number one of dueling: never play fair with your opponent! Take my ‘Soul-Confusing Lime Powder’!”

Caught off guard, Ma Shouzi was splashed full in the face by the lime powder. His eyes burned with pain as he instantly lost his vision, letting out a furious roar.

“Despicable!”

“All’s fair in war; this is called ‘differentiated competition’!”

Zhou Skinflint cackled strangely, stepping with an extremely sleazy snake-like footwork. He circled behind Ma Shouzi and delivered a standard “Black Tiger Steals the Heart,” smashing viciously into his kidneys.

“Pfft!”

Ma Shouzi spat out a mouthful of old blood, baring his teeth in agony.

Seeing this, Zhao Wuji below the arena became even more excited, dancing with joy:

“Beautiful! A beautiful backstab! Contestant Zhou Skinflint perfectly exploited the opponent’s carelessness, delivering a textbook ‘asymmetric strike’!”

“He did not choose a frontal clash, but instead used tactical avoidance to precisely hit the opponent’s ‘high-value weak point’!”

“This fully proves that in dueling, superiority in thinking patterns is far more important than sheer spiritual power!”

The commentary made the corners of Murong Xue’s mouth twitch violently on the VIP stand.

In the end, this “grudge match” concluded with Zhou Skinflint using a despicable move called “Monkey Steals the Peach,” successfully rendering Ma Shouzi incapable of fighting.

Zhou Skinflint won the duel and also won massive points and betting dividends, feeling immensely pleased with himself.

Although Ma Shouzi lost, he was completely convinced by Zhou Skinflint’s “wisdom.” The two settled their grievances on the arena, and after stepping down, they even slung arms around each other’s shoulders, heading off together to study how to exploit the rules to earn even more points.

An internal conflict was thus dissolved without a trace.

Chu Feng nodded in satisfaction; this was exactly the result he wanted.

And just as Qingyun Sect was immersed in this competitive frenzy—

Tens of thousands of li away, in the core region of the Eastern Wasteland, Heavenheart Holy Land.

Within a magnificent divine hall suspended above the sea of clouds, the atmosphere was so oppressive it was nearly frozen solid.

A middle-aged man wearing the Saint Lord’s ceremonial robes, his features dignified and imposing, was quietly staring at the life-soul jade slip in his hand that had just shattered.

On the jade slip, the two characters “Lieyang” had already lost all light.

Below, a black-clad scout knelt on the ground, trembling as he reported everything that had happened at Qingyun Sect without missing a single word.

“…According to reports, that demon Chu Feng used evil techniques and demonic arts to refine Elder Lieyang… into a formation core, extracting his origin.”

“And… and he even bewitched the entire Qingyun Sect, tens of thousands of disciples, within three days, all… breaking through to the Foundation Establishment realm!”

When the four words “all members Foundation Establishment” were spoken by the scout, every elder in the hall sucked in a cold breath, shock written across their faces.

How was this possible?!

This had already exceeded the common sense of the Cultivation World!

“Good… good Chu Feng! Good Qingyun Sect!”

The Saint Lord did not roar. His voice was terrifyingly calm, but beneath that calm lay boundless killing intent capable of freezing souls.

True Lord Lieyang’s fall was humiliation!

The collective breakthrough of tens of thousands of disciples was a threat!

A massive threat capable of shaking the very foundations of Heavenheart Holy Land’s rule!

Such an uncontrollable “heretic” had to be completely erased with the most thunderous means, together with all traces of its existence, cleansed from the world!

“Transmit my decree!”

The Saint Lord’s icy voice echoed through the hall.

“Order the Inner Sect Disciplinary Elder, True Lord Lingxiao, to immediately command the ‘Purifiers’ legion and march on Qingyun Sect!”

“True Lord Lingxiao?”

Upon hearing this name, all the elders in the hall felt their hearts tighten.

True Lord Lingxiao, a great cultivator at the mid Nascent Soul stage, was also the most iron-blooded and ruthless butcher of Heavenheart Holy Land!

Under his command, the “Purifiers” legion possessed three Inner Sect elders at the early Nascent Soul stage, thirty Outer Sect elders at the Golden Core stage,

as well as three thousand well-trained Foundation Establishment cultivators, all clad in white like snow, striking as fast as lightning. Wherever they passed, not a blade of grass remained!

They were a war machine specially used by the Holy Land to purge rebels and annihilate hostile sects!

It seemed that this time, the Saint Lord truly had unleashed thunderous fury!

“Tell Lingxiao,”

The Saint Lord slowly closed his eyes, his voice devoid of any emotion,

“I want no prisoners, no surrender.”

“I want Qingyun Sect to disappear completely from the map of the Eastern Wasteland.”

“Purify the Eastern Wasteland—leave not even chickens or dogs alive!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep