Father and Son

Father and Son

Inside his mind, fragments of memory played like lantern slides. Every scene in which the former owner had held a deep impression of his father played one by one, until they remained forever in the icy river waters, never to play again.

Because from then on, it was Lu Zhaojin who experienced everything.

This time, the lingering obsession left behind by the former owner greatly affected Lu Zhaojin. The closeness rising from the depths of his heart, along with that intangible resonance of bloodline, made his heart tremble. The word "Father" nearly slipped from his lips, as though the former owner were borrowing this body to leave behind one final whisper.

Though his voice was not loud, most of those present were in the Seventh-Rank Realm, with keen eyes and ears. They all stopped fighting and turned toward the sound, spotting the outsider.

Hearing that familiar call, Lu Jinlin's eyes trembled. When he saw that it was Lu Zhaojin, his lips quivered faintly. He opened his mouth several times as if wanting to speak. Tears glimmered in the middle-aged man's eyes. "Zhaojin... it's good that you're all right..."

That night in Shiqiao Town, Lu Jinlin had drawn away a large number of pursuers and fled all the way, eventually escaping to Mount Qi by boat.

To avoid the Zhang Family and Zhao Family's search, he had no choice but to head deeper into the mountains.

Then, by chance, he discovered a cave. For the past few days, he had been healing his injuries there, hunting wild beasts to fill his stomach whenever he grew hungry.

Lu Jinlin had originally intended to descend the mountain and search for Lu Zhaojin once his injuries healed, but before that day came, people from the Zhang Family had climbed the mountain.

He had thought they were looking for him, only to discover that they were searching for a youth. Zhang Heng had even fought fiercely with that youth and blasted open a hidden Cave Mansion.

Lu Jinlin had previously assumed the cave was naturally formed. Moreover, he had been worried about Lu Zhaojin's safety, so he had never considered exploring it further. But Zhang Heng's actions made him feel that this cave might not be so simple either.

The tunnel he had entered was not as winding and twisting as Zhang Heng's route. Instead, it led straight through, and its stone door was rather well concealed. It should have been an escape route secretly hidden by the Cave Mansion's owner.

These past few days, Lu Jinlin had actually been deeply uneasy. He feared that once his injuries healed and he went searching for Lu Zhaojin, the news he found would be news of Lu Zhaojin's death.

If that happened, he would have no face to meet Lu Zhaojin's birth mother.

Fortunately, Lu Zhaojin was fine. Seeing him standing before him alive and well, the great stone in his heart finally settled firmly to the ground.

Seeing him distracted, someone suddenly launched a sneak attack. Throwing knives about the size of fingers shot out, seeming to turn into faint glimmers in midair as they sped toward Lu Jinlin.

Lu Zhaojin hurriedly shouted, "Watch out!"

His hand did not stop either. He swung his sword, slashing out a streak of Sword Qi that knocked all the throwing knives to the ground.

That display of Sword Qi made everyone reveal shocked expressions. "Seventh-Rank Realm!"

At the same time, some people instinctively looked toward Zhao Jinzhi.

They had originally believed Zhao Jinzhi's breakthrough into the Seventh-Rank Realm was already heaven's special favor, yet they had not expected someone else to reach the Seventh-Rank Realm at such an age.

Comparing people truly could make one furious enough to die.

Naturally, Zhao Jinzhi's expression became a kaleidoscope of colors. He had never expected that in merely half a day, Lu Zhaojin had also broken through to the Seventh-Rank Realm.

But the two people with the ugliest expressions here were naturally Zhao Huaishui and the person who had fired the throwing knives.

Lu Zhaojin knew Zhao Huaishui and had spoken with him before, but because of Mu Zhuo, he still held no favorable impression of him. As for the person who had tried to ambush him with throwing knives, he had never seen him before. He was likely connected to his father somehow.

His brows drew together slightly. Recalling the Xu Huan Zhao Huaishui had mentioned, he looked at him with cold eyes. In the dim Cave Mansion, the Hundred Refined Sword gave off a faint blue gleam, like rippling waterlight.

Lu Jinlin recognized the man. Pointing his longsword at him, he said hatefully, "Xu Huan, you and I have a personal grudge. You can come straight for me if you wish. Why involve the others from the Sihai Escort Agency?"

So it really was Xu Huan.

Lu Zhaojin did not know what personal grudge existed between his father and Xu Huan, but that was unimportant. In any case, Xu Huan would die today.

Xu Huan wore a pale cyan Wenwu Sleeve, and his gold-inlaid, jade-adorned belt showed that he came from no ordinary background. His face was clean and somewhat delicate. In response to Lu Jinlin's question, mockery filled his narrow phoenix eyes as he smiled. "Of course I came for you. Those ants were merely incidental."

Lu Jinlin narrowed his eyes, killing intent flickering within them. There was no need for further words. He charged at Xu Huan.

Xu Huan was remarkably strong, possessing cultivation at the middle stage of the Seventh Rank.

The two fought, neither able to gain the upper hand. Only their true qi shook in all directions.

Then Xu Huan roared, "Zhao Yuanshan, what are you still hesitating for? Help me capture Lu Jinlin and force Lu Zhaojin to submit! Otherwise, with how ruthless and decisive he has been lately, none of us will meet a good end!"

Zhao Yuanshan had come up the mountain with Xu Huan. Not only had he encountered Lu Jinlin here, he had also run into Zhao Jinzhi, who should have been at his maternal grandmother's home.

Moreover, Zhao Jinzhi possessed Seventh-Rank Realm cultivation, seeming like an entirely different person before and after. This left Zhao Yuanshan greatly astonished, uncertain whether he should be glad or worried.

Now.

Lu Zhaojin had also appeared before him with Seventh-Rank Realm cultivation. Zhao Yuanshan was horrified beyond measure. Thinking of the scene when the Sihai Escort Agency had been slaughtered that night, he suddenly regretted agreeing to the Zhang Family's proposal.

But just as Xu Huan had said, things had come this far. Regret was useless; he could only keep making mistakes to the bitter end.

A vicious gleam flashed through Zhao Yuanshan's eyes as he attacked Lu Jinlin.

Lu Zhaojin wanted to go forward and help, but a figure blocked his view.

Chen Kang had never personally met Lu Zhaojin, but his portrait was etched deeply into his mind. Toward the youth who had killed his son, he naturally wished to smash him into a meat pie with his bare hands. "You are Lu Zhaojin!"

Lu Zhaojin found Chen Kang's features somewhat familiar. After thinking carefully, he realized they resembled Chen Yuan's. "You are Chen Kang?"

Chen Kang did not answer. He simply threw a punch.

This man's true qi was dense and powerful, having reached at least the middle stage of the Seventh Rank.

Lu Zhaojin had only just broken through to the Seventh Rank, but with the system, he did not need to go through those cumbersome processes and could quickly wield true qi with proficiency.

Furthermore, with the Golden Body Technique, he did not fear this martial artist at the middle stage of the Seventh Rank.

With one sword strike, he cleaved apart the phantom fist shadow. Crescent-shaped Sword Qi flew toward Chen Kang, only to be shattered by a punch. Chen Kang then closed in, approaching Lu Zhaojin and launching a straight punch.

Lu Zhaojin swung his sword at him, yet Chen Kang neither dodged nor avoided it. His bare fist collided with the blade, and the strike failed to cut through.

That was because Lu Zhaojin's sword had not truly struck him.

Dense true qi wrapped around Chen Kang's fist, seemingly forming a transparent fist gauntlet that kept the blade half an inch away.

This was a unique method of wielding true qi from the cultivation art Chen Kang practiced. When his true qi circulated at full force, it was as though he wore armor reinforced with steel. Ordinary weapons could not harm him.

The Hundred Refined Sword in Lu Zhaojin's hand was an ordinary weapon. Had it not been infused with true qi, Chen Kang's punch would likely have shattered it outright.

Zhao Jinzhi suddenly said, "He is Lu Zhaojin, and he is also the one who killed Li Yue."

His purpose in saying this was to distract the two elderly men from the Dingshan Sect.

Both of them were at the middle stage of the Seventh Rank. They were experienced, and their methods of wielding true qi were highly practiced as well. Zhao Jinzhi found dealing with them troublesome.

The main reason was that he had encountered Zhang Heng immediately after breaking through to the Seventh-Rank Realm, and Zhang Heng had attacked him without a word.

The two had fought fiercely. Though they stopped after discovering this Cave Mansion, they had already expended considerable true qi beforehand. If not for his master secretly aiding him from the shadows, he would likely have found it difficult even to handle these two elders of the Dingshan Sect.

These two elders were naturally Elder Hengshan and Elder Qiushui.

Elder Hengshan had been searching for Zhao Jinzhi all along and naturally would not let go of the youth who had killed his beloved disciple, so he remained unmoved.

Elder Qiushui swung his longsword and stared coldly at Zhao Jinzhi. "No rush. Once we get rid of you, Lu Zhaojin will naturally follow in your footsteps."

Seeing that his attempt to sow discord had failed, Zhao Jinzhi cursed inwardly and could only hope that his master would make a move.