Breaking Ten Thousand

Chapter 20: Breaking Ten Thousand

[Killed Eighth-Rank Martial Artist EXP +500]

[EXP: 7318]

A pleasant sound echoed in his mind.

Looking at his experience points, which had once again broken the 7,000 mark, Lu Zhaojin glanced at Chen Kang and the others, thinking he could break 10,000 today.

The people who appeared here were more or less connected to him.

Uncle Chen didn't have this before, but he did now.

Facing the flying spear, Lu Zhaojin didn't dodge. He grabbed the spearhead with his left hand and whipped the spear shaft towards Chen Kang as if it had turned into a long whip.

Crack!

Even the armor condensed by Chen Kang's True Qi couldn't resist. It shattered, and the spear shaft heavily landed on his arms. He felt like he had been hit by a giant beast. With a crisp sound of bone breaking, he was sent flying backward.

Chen Kang fell to the ground.

Lu Zhaojin leaped up and appeared above Chen Kang. The sword energy he unleashed was like a dragon emerging from the sea, biting towards Chen Kang.

At the same time, he raised his left hand, tightly gripping the spear, and thrust it fiercely at Chen Kang while he was resisting the sword energy.

Chen Kang couldn't multitask. Resisting the sword energy had already consumed most of his True Qi. The materials used to forge this spear were also extraordinary, so this thrust instantly disintegrated his True Qi armor and pierced his waist.

Chen Kang's face turned ashen. He shattered the sword energy and tightly gripped the spear, preventing Lu Zhaojin from advancing further and causing more damage.

Uncle Chen arrived late, delivering a flying kick, but Lu Zhaojin dodged it.

As the spear slipped from his grasp and he retreated, Lu Zhaojin also unleashed a sword energy attack towards Uncle Chen.

Uncle Chen kicked it apart. The aftermath of the True Qi collision caused Chen Kang to stagger back two steps. If Uncle Chen hadn't grabbed the spear shaft, he might have fallen to the ground.

However, Uncle Chen wasn't acting out of kindness. He forcefully pulled the spear out and, regardless of Chen Kang's state, charged at Lu Zhaojin with the spear.

Uncle Chen's killing intent surged like a monstrous wave. Every thrust towards Lu Zhaojin aimed for a vital spot. "Do you know who you just killed?"

The thrusting spear was parried by Lu Zhaojin's Hundred Refined Sword. Uncle Chen seized the opportunity to close in, kicking towards Lu Zhaojin's face. "He is from the Chen family of Yanling Commandery. You ignorant bumpkins from the mountains will be burned to ashes by the Chen family's wrath."

Lu Zhaojin forcefully punched away the incoming foot, his expression calm, almost devoid of emotion. "So much nonsense."

He didn't know how powerful the Chen family was in Yanling Commandery, but he didn't care much. If they came looking for him, he would just kill them.

Uncle Chen hadn't expected this mountain youth to be so audacious and possess such strength. Even among the younger generation of the Chen family, he would rank highly.

Since that was the case, he absolutely couldn't let Lu Zhaojin live.

In the past, the Chen family's approach to such talented youths was to try and recruit them if possible. If not, maintaining a peaceful relationship was ideal. Otherwise, they would suppress them ruthlessly.

Lu Zhaojin killing Chen Jingyi, and being a person from the mountains of Mount Qi, was an act of defiance against his Chen family. No matter how outstanding his talent, he was still an unrisen prodigy.

Their Chen family had stifled no small number of prodigies.

A trace of pleasure surfaced in Uncle Chen's heart, as if he could already see a rising star falling before him.

Unconsciously, his grip on the spear tightened.

Lu Zhaojin saw the change in his opponent. Although he didn't know the specific reason, he knew it boded no good for him.

He was still finding it somewhat challenging to deal with a late-stage Seventh Rank cultivator.

This was because his opponent not only had a far greater capacity for True Qi but also possessed considerable combat experience, unlike someone like Chen Kang.

With the introductory Golden Body Technique, Lu Zhaojin wasn't afraid. However, if the fight dragged on, his True Qi would be depleted, and his strength would eventually run out.

At that point, even if he managed to win a pyrrhic victory against Uncle Chen, how would he deal with the people from the Dingshan Sect?

Lu Zhaojin couldn't help but glance at Chen Kang, who was currently recovering, planning to kill him first to gain the experience points. After that, he would see if there were any cultivation techniques among the corpses.

Due to the conflicts between the two commanderies, Mount Qi's position in the martial world had been declining, leaving little reason to stay. Many martial artists had left, and now, cultivation techniques in Mount Qi were extremely rare. Those martial forces that possessed them treated them as heirlooms and would not sell or copy them.

There was actually another way to obtain cultivation techniques.

That was to join the Dingshan Sect.

However, having already offended the Dingshan Sect, this method was naturally out of the question.

Therefore, he could only resort to stealing.

Lu Zhaojin thought that after today's events were completely resolved, he would leave Mount Qi. As for whether to go to Yanling Commandery or Luoshui Commandery, he was still considering it. But now, it seemed Yanling Commandery was out of the question.

With the Chen family there, he would be unable to move freely in Yanling Commandery.

Uncle Chen was unaware of Lu Zhaojin's thoughts. He strode forward, bent his waist, and gathered his strength for a thrust.

"Chaotic Shadow Spear."

Uncle Chen only thrust his spear once, but in Lu Zhaojin's eyes, dozens of spear shadows appeared, dense and numerous, making it impossible to discern which was the real spear and which was the true killing intent.

Lu Zhaojin didn't have time to discern. His plan was to shatter all the spear shadows, and the real spear shadow would naturally reveal itself.

Perhaps to others, this approach would be incredibly difficult, even impossible.

Lu Zhaojin possessed the Perfected Gale Sword Art and had achieved a high level of mastery in the art of fast swordsmanship. However, breaking through to ten sword strikes per instant was still very difficult.

The Hundred Refined Sword spun in Lu Zhaojin's hands, transforming into layers of sword shadows. They appeared chaotic, yet each sword strike shattered a spear shadow.

Until the crisp clang of metal on metal rang out.

The Hundred Refined Sword parried the spear tip, revealing Uncle Chen behind it, his face etched with slight surprise.

From his rapid sword movements, Lu Zhaojin seemed to have grasped a spark of inspiration, showing faint signs of breaking through the eleven-sword-per-instant barrier.

But this spark was as slippery as a loach, escaping his grasp the moment he thought he had it.

Lu Zhaojin felt a pang of loss, but it vanished in an instant. He reminded himself that things would naturally fall into place, and besides, with the system and various techniques, he could eventually forge his own path by integrating the strengths of many.

"Meteor Spear."

Uncle Chen's spear thrust was incredibly fast, like a meteor flashing through the darkness.

Clang!

Lu Zhaojin met it with his swift sword.

However, the Hundred Refined Sword's material was ultimately inferior to the spear Uncle Chen wielded.

A notch appeared on the sword's blade.

Uncle Chen showed no intention of stopping. His meteor-like spear technique, infused with dense True Qi, transformed into a rain of meteors that rained down upon Lu Zhaojin.

Lu Zhaojin danced with his long sword, sword energy crisscrossing the air, weaving a fine net that caught every incoming meteor.

But the Hundred Refined Sword couldn't hold up. More notches appeared, turning it into a serrated blade.

Not bad, Lu Zhaojin thought, if this were to cut someone, wouldn't it tear out a chunk of flesh with every slash?

While defending against Uncle Chen's spear, Lu Zhaojin retreated, using the force of the thrust to his advantage. The opponent hadn't noticed that his retreat was actually bringing him closer to Chen Kang.

By the time Uncle Chen realized what was happening, it was too late.

Using the momentum from Uncle Chen's thrust, Lu Zhaojin leaped towards Chen Kang, unleashing several sword strikes from above.

Chen Kang was already severely wounded and his True Qi was nearly depleted. How could he possibly defend against the sudden assault from Lu Zhaojin?

He only managed to shatter one or two of the sword energies.

Several others struck his body, leaving long, thin gashes. Blood flowed freely, almost dyeing him red.

Chen Kang was a tough man; even such pain couldn't make him cry out. He merely stifled a groan, forcing himself to remain standing.

Uncle Chen didn't understand why Lu Zhaojin wanted to kill Chen Kang. But seeing Lu Zhaojin ignore him to attack someone else, his eyes turned crimson, blazing with fury. "Die!"

Uncle Chen channeled all his True Qi into the spear, throwing it with all his might. This time, he was determined to kill Lu Zhaojin.

Lu Zhaojin's counter-strike was equally ruthless. His True Qi surged, and a sharp intent permeated the air, making him appear like a drawn sword, his edge fully exposed.

A silver-white sword light, radiating a chilling coldness, extinguished Chen Kang's life. His head separated from his neck, and blood spurted out like a fountain.

Because the Hundred Refined Sword was full of notches, the wound was not clean.

At that moment, Uncle Chen's thrown spear arrived, striking Lu Zhaojin squarely in the chest. He flew back like a kite with a broken string, tumbling across the ground.

But.

The notification sound in his mind was like heavenly music.

[Killed Seventh Rank Martial Artist, EXP +5000]

[EXP: 12318]

[Host's EXP has surpassed 10,000, unlocking hidden feature: Enemies may drop various items if you get lucky.]

[Killing a Child of Destiny will guarantee an item drop.]

[Can spend 10,000 EXP to upgrade Brute Ox Stance.]

[Can spend 10,000 EXP to upgrade Gale Sword Art.]