Master

Master

Zhao Jinzhi had also experienced the sensation of Zhou Ran striking steel.

But he was not as miserable as Zhou Ran. He seemed to have cultivated a Hardening Technique as well, though he had yet to truly enter the path and could not compare to Lu Zhaojin.

Moreover, Lu Zhaojin possessed strength of a thousand jin, utterly beyond the scope of an Eighth-Rank Martial Artist. Zhao Jinzhi was also at the eighth rank, yet Lu Zhaojin's shove forced him back two steps.

Lu Zhaojin pressed his advantage without mercy, swinging his sword at Zhao Jinzhi's neck. With his full strength behind this strike, he was determined to sever his head.

A streak of Sword Light slashed straight ahead, swift as a startled gleam snatching lightning, like cold radiance suddenly flashing forth. Even Zhao Jinzhi could not see its trajectory before the blade was right before him, rolling up a frigid wind that made his hair stand on end.

"Jade Palm."

He drove his Internal Energy with all his might. It even showed signs of transforming into true qi. His entire hand turned jade-green, faintly glimmering with the luster of precious jade.

And this jade was bolstered by true qi, incomparably hard. Lu Zhaojin's sword could not cut through it. Still, the jade was not entirely unscathed—a bloody line ran across his palm, with blood seeping out.

Zhao Jinzhi's expression darkened. During this period, he had fought others and had even killed inner disciples of the Dingshan Sect, yet he had never been as humiliated as he was today.

Most of the time, he had defeated stronger foes while weak himself, so he had never truly understood the hysterics of those he defeated.

But today, he understood.

And understood thoroughly.

Lu Zhaojin found it somewhat regrettable that his sword had failed to take Zhao Jinzhi's head. He had not expected Zhao Jinzhi to have something hidden up his sleeve. But if one sword was not enough, then he would use another.

Seeing that Lu Zhaojin was determined to kill him, Zhao Jinzhi was enraged as well. He decided to hide nothing further, tearing off his cloak and flinging it over Lu Zhaojin like a cast fishing net. Yet after only several flashes of Sword Light, the cloak became scraps of cloth.

However, that was merely a feint to delay Lu Zhaojin's advance. His real purpose was to buy time to assemble the three-sectioned long spear on his back.

He swiftly put the spear together. Including the spearhead, it measured a full six chi and three cun.

As the saying went, an inch longer meant an inch stronger.

With the advantage of reach, Zhao Jinzhi fought Lu Zhaojin blow for blow.

Seeing them locked in an inseparable battle, Li Yue wanted to seize the Blood Ginseng and flee, then report today's events to the sect elders and have them strike down these people who dared defy the Dingshan Sect.

But a long spear shot toward him, plunging into the ground and blocking his path. Immediately afterward, someone stamped a palm into his chest. That hand was green as jade; it was clearly Zhao Jinzhi's doing.

Li Yue suffered a heavy blow, coughing up blood as he staggered backward again and again. The look he gave Zhao Jinzhi seemed as though he wished to swallow him alive.

Lu Zhaojin also found Li Yue an eyesore, but he could not let the opportunity go to waste. In an instant, he slashed out several streaks of Sword Light, each striking a vital point. The fatal wound was naturally a single sword sealing the throat.

Experience +500 for killing an Eighth-Rank Martial Artist

Experience: 1649

Experience had once again broken past the fifteen-hundred mark.

Yet it still did not quench his thirst.

The Golden Body Technique could not be improved for the time being, as it had no subsequent cultivation method.

The Flowing Water Art, however, could be advanced to the minor mastery realm.

Consume 1600 experience points to upgrade the Flowing Water Art?

The ratio was sixty to one.

Naturally, Lu Zhaojin chose to upgrade it.

Flowing Water Art (50/100)

That warm current surged through his body once more, stronger and fiercer than it had been that night. It forcefully opened the Belt and Rush meridians before finally flowing into his dantian and spreading through his entire body. That warm, comfortable sensation came over him again.

Realm: Mid Eighth Rank

A breakthrough in the midst of battle!

All of this happened in the flash between sparks and flint. Zhao Jinzhi had no time to react and could scarcely believe it. Lu Zhaojin had merely killed Li Yue—how had he advanced to the mid Eighth Rank as well?

His expression grew solemn. They had already been evenly matched when Lu Zhaojin was at the initial stage. Now that he had suddenly advanced to the middle stage, would this not make things even more difficult?

Just what kind of monster was Lu Zhaojin?

The people watching from nearby cried out in shock as well, thinking that after this battle, this young man would likely make a name for himself on Mount Qi.

Zhao Jinzhi was now caught between two difficult choices. Should he abandon the Blood Ginseng and flee, or should he fight Lu Zhaojin to the death at all costs, kill him, and take the prize belonging to the victor?

Zhao Jinzhi was unwilling to retreat just like that. The Blood Ginseng was of great use to him—how could he give it up so easily?

Besides, if he retreated today, would that not mean he feared Lu Zhaojin? A demonic obstacle might take root in his heart.

While Zhao Jinzhi was turning the matter over and over in his mind, Lu Zhaojin's sword had already come slashing down.

Zhao Jinzhi gripped his spear with both hands and blocked.

Clang!

Metal struck metal, followed by a trembling ring.

Lu Zhaojin's strike left Zhao Jinzhi in great discomfort. It felt as if he had been struck by a thousand-jin hammer, leaving his arms numb and his spear nearly impossible to hold.

"Po Jun Spear Art."

Zhao Jinzhi still wanted to counterattack. His spear thrust forth, driving straight for Huang Long, like a great general charging alone through an enemy formation on the battlefield, unstoppable and pressing onward.

Facing this thrust, Lu Zhaojin swept it aside with his sword, causing the momentum Zhao Jinzhi had gathered with such difficulty to spill away.

Then, amid Zhao Jinzhi's hurried retreat, Lu Zhaojin pressed forward step by step. Zhao Jinzhi felt suffocated and aggrieved, his anger blazing as he fought with increasing urgency, his thoughts thrown into chaos.

A mysterious voice suddenly sounded in his mind. "Disciple, do not panic."

It was as though a basin of cold water had been poured over Zhao Jinzhi. He became extraordinarily calm, while inwardly he was overjoyed. Master, you're awake!

This was a thought from his heart.

Naturally, Lu Zhaojin could not hear it, but he took Zhao Jinzhi's change fully into his eyes.

He narrowed his eyes, sensing something amiss. His offensive became faster and fiercer, like a raging wind beneath a curtain of rain.

Yet Zhao Jinzhi seemed to have become another person. An invisible aura appeared to billow around him, his long hair moving without wind and his robes fluttering. It was as though he had gathered an unseen field around himself, causing Lu Zhaojin's slashing sword to seem trapped in a swamp. It encountered resistance, slowed, and allowed Zhao Jinzhi to evade it with ease.

"Jade Palm."

The long spear swept the Hundred Refined Sword aside.

This time, Zhao Jinzhi's right palm had nearly completely transformed into jade. It shone with flowing colors like glazed glass and contained an inexplicable power as it struck toward Lu Zhaojin.

That palm made Lu Zhaojin's heart palpitate. If it hit him, he would be crippled even if he did not die.

At the same time, that life-or-death sense of danger made his blood boil and his vitality surge. He drove the Golden Body Technique to its limit, his skin taking on a bronze hue as he gathered all his strength and met the palm head-on.

Bang!

Unlike the dull sound of their previous palm clash, this impact rang out like a bell being struck, its echoes lingering.

Lu Zhaojin retreated five steps, each one immensely heavy enough to leave footprints in the ground. Blood seeped from the corner of his mouth. Zhao Jinzhi's palm strike had made all five of his viscera and six bowels tremble.

Furthermore, the energy contained within that palm differed from true qi. It was far more refined. If it entered his body, internal injuries would be the least of his problems—his organs might be shattered apart.

In contrast, Zhao Jinzhi did not move an inch. But dense cracks covered his right palm, like precious jade thrown to the ground, on the verge of shattering without quite breaking.

It seemed he could no longer unleash that palm again.

Zhao Jinzhi's master did not dare use too much power, or Zhao Jinzhi's fleshly body simply would not withstand it.

At the same time, he had not expected the youth opposite him to block the attack. Recalling the hardness he had felt in their exchange of palms, he was inwardly astonished. I never expected an ancient body-tempering method to still exist. This youth actually managed to cultivate it. What good fortune, what skill, what perseverance.

Zhao Jinzhi's mind trembled. His master had apparently told him of the ancient path of body tempering before, and he felt considerable envy. Then what should we do?

He had not expected that even with his master taking action, they could do nothing to the other side.

In Zhao Jinzhi's heart, jealousy and hatred arose—feelings even he himself failed to notice.

Zhao Jinzhi's master said, "I cannot borrow your body for too long, or hidden dangers will certainly remain. The medicinal efficacy of the Blood Ginseng Grass is not weak either. It will be enough for you to break through to the seventh rank."

Zhao Jinzhi's thoughts could not escape his master. "Do not be greedy. There is something strange about that youth. His innate constitution is terribly poor, yet he may have cultivated an exceptionally high-grade body-tempering method. He must have encountered some extraordinary opportunity, so do not make an enemy of him for now. Your innate constitution is superb. Once you break through to the seventh rank, or even the sixth rank, he will be nothing more than an ant to you."

Zhao Jinzhi could only nod.

Seeing Zhao Jinzhi move, Lu Zhaojin thought he was about to attack again. He forced himself to hold on, ready to respond at any moment.

To his surprise, Zhao Jinzhi went straight to pluck the Blood Ginseng Grass. He ignored the Blood Ginseng beneath the soil, grabbed the herb, and ran toward the dense forest where no one barred his way, vanishing from sight soon afterward.

Lu Zhaojin also let out a sigh of relief. As expected of someone favored by fate. He truly is difficult to kill. But perhaps killing a Child of Destiny would grant experience points beyond comparison to anyone else's.

Ignoring the gazes of the people around him, Lu Zhaojin went to dig up the Blood Ginseng.