Minor Accomplishment

Minor Accomplishment

Tian Geng had died.

A terrifying aura suddenly erupted within the city, like a mountain pressing down on everyone's shoulders, so heavy that they could not move.

As if he had anticipated it all along, Lu Zhaojin slipped into the woods and vanished.

Yet among the martial artists, one figure quietly retreated. In an unnoticed corner, he seemed like a clay man drenched in water, melting into a pool of shadow that blended into the night as he pursued the direction Lu Zhaojin had gone.

Before the crowd could understand what had happened, a black shadow raced across the rooftops, rapidly approaching. Boundless might surged around him, as though flames blazed fiercely about his body, warping the very air.

The black shadow finally landed atop the city wall. His black robe whipped wildly in the wind, and the crimson python embroidered upon it seemed to come alive, leaking a cold, sinister aura. Everyone present forgot to breathe, staring speechlessly at that dark figure.

The man in black stood with his hands behind his back. His ink-black hair moved without wind, and his weathered face remained expressionless. His icy gaze swept across the martial artists before falling upon Tian Geng's corpse. Sensing the astonishing sword intent lingering on it, he frowned slightly. "Who did this?"

The crowd came back to their senses. Feeling killing intent bearing down upon them, they did not dare conceal anything. They all pointed in the direction Lu Zhaojin had gone and described in detail what had just occurred.

The man in black did not trouble these martial artists. He pursued in the direction they indicated, moving so quickly that afterimages lingered behind him.

Seeing the black-robed man chase after Lu Zhaojin, the gathered martial artists finally let out a breath of relief, the boulder weighing on their hearts falling away.

"Why is he in Yuanyang City?"

"You know him?"

"Yang Tianrui, Battalion Commander Yang... Shouldn't we be calling him Commander Yang now?"

"He was the previous Battalion Commander of our Yuanyang City True Martial Division. His cultivation was profound and his martial arts formidable. He was once known as Yuanyang City's number one expert."

"So it was him..."

"But hadn't Yang Tianrui been transferred to the Imperial Capital three years ago? When did he return to Yuanyang City?"

"Who knows?"

The crowd was filled with doubts, unable to fathom why Yang Tianrui had returned to Yuanyang City.

After a long while, the martial artists who had yet to leave saw Yang Tianrui again. He flew from the woods onto the city wall, but Lu Zhaojin was nowhere to be seen. Apparently, he had failed to catch him.

Yang Tianrui's expression remained unchanged as he took the remaining True Martial Guards back to the True Martial Division. With Tian Geng dead, Yuanyang City's True Martial Division needed to select another Battalion Commander to hold the fort.

But they could not simply allow Lu Zhaojin to roam free outside.

Lu Zhaojin had turned Luoxia City's True Martial Division upside down, leaving countless dead and wounded. Even the city lord had died at his hands. Now, he had slain the True Martial Division's Battalion Commander with a single sword strike. The True Martial Division's face had been slapped until it rang.

Yang Tianrui's face felt burning hot as well.

Thus, upon returning to the True Martial Division, he immediately issued a bounty. Whoever could locate Lu Zhaojin would receive one hundred taels of silver and one cultivation method; whoever could bring back Lu Zhaojin's head would receive one thousand taels of silver and two cultivation methods.

Even cultivation methods had been offered as rewards. This showed just how determined Yang Tianrui was to kill Lu Zhaojin.

Lu Zhaojin had no idea he had become so valuable.

He activated his movement technique and burrowed deeper into the forest, heading for places where the trees grew thickest. Only after finding a concealed spot and confirming that no pursuers followed behind did he stop.

Moonlight filtered through the gaps between the leaves, scattering mottled patches across his face and body. His complexion was somewhat pale, nearly the same color as the moonlight, but he was not injured. He had merely consumed too much true essence.

Without a cultivation method capable of condensing true essence, he still had to use the Jade Purity Heart Method to gather the true qi within his body before refining it into true essence. Unlike higher-rank cultivation methods, which could directly condense true essence, it was far less convenient and efficient.

Lu Zhaojin

Bone Age: Sixteen

Aptitude: Average

Realm: Early Sixth Rank

Cultivation Methods: Flowing Water Art (Perfected), Jade Purity Heart Method (Perfected)

Techniques: Brute Ox Stance (Extreme Realm), Gale Sword Art (Extreme Realm), Golden Body Technique (25/100), Nine Heavens Thunder Sword Art (Extreme Realm), Thirteen Swords of Life-Taking (25/100)

Experience: 135078

Inventory: Mysterious Sky Dragon Slaying Sword Manual

His experience points had broken through the one-hundred-thousand mark for the first time.

However, unlike last time, there was no achievement reward.

Lu Zhaojin found that somewhat regrettable.

Still, one hundred and thirty thousand experience points were already enough to improve Thirteen Swords of Life-Taking.

Thirteen Swords of Life-Taking (50/100)

Thirteen Swords of Life-Taking had entered the Minor Accomplishment Realm.

Lu Zhaojin once again became that black swordsman.

If, when he had improved Thirteen Swords of Life-Taking last time, there had been a barrier between him and the black swordsman that had kept him from ever entering into the other's emotions—

Then this time, the barrier still existed, but it looked ready to collapse at a touch. When Lu Zhaojin reached out to pierce it, however, he could not do so. His finger, separated by that thin barrier, was almost able to touch the other's ethereal soul. Then a stabbing pain like an electric shock made Lu Zhaojin instinctively draw back his arm.

Perhaps because of his touch, that soul slowly awakened. Its eyes opened, meeting Lu Zhaojin's gaze through the bubble-like barrier.

Terrifying sword intent burst from those eyes, as though it could destroy everything. The scent of death coiled around Lu Zhaojin's heart, and his soul seemed struck by lightning, frozen in place and incapable of mounting any resistance.

A cold, hoarse voice rang out in his mind. "You are still no match for me."

Deafening drumbeats seemed like soul-hooking chains. After snaring Lu Zhaojin's soul, they dragged him from that eerie space back into his body.

His consciousness revived.

Lu Zhaojin abruptly opened his eyes. In the silent surroundings, he could hear his own heartbeat pounding like drums.

He stood there blankly for a long time without moving, that sentence endlessly echoing through his mind.

After a long while, light returned to Lu Zhaojin's unfocused eyes. He drew a deep breath and slowly let it out, his mood heavy. "As expected of Thirteen Swords of Life-Taking. It truly is profound."

Though Thirteen Swords of Life-Taking had only reached the Minor Accomplishment Realm, it already gave Lu Zhaojin an immensely powerful feeling. If he used it, people like Tian Geng and Duan Xuan could be slain with a casual stroke.

If it reached the Major Accomplishment Realm, what kind of power would it possess?

However, the improvement of Thirteen Swords of Life-Taking seemed to have brought an unknown danger as well. The words that had sounded in his mind at the end seemed to have been left behind by that soul.

Could it be that, if he wished to raise Thirteen Swords of Life-Taking to perfection, he would ultimately have to face that black swordsman?

Everything was filled with uncertainty, yet also with challenge.

For now, however, the most important thing was still to find a higher-rank cultivation method. Otherwise, his reserves of true essence would remain his weakness.

Lu Zhaojin rose from the ground, preparing to leave the woods and search for somewhere inhabited. At that moment, a shadow gathered somewhere in the forest. It was pitch-black, its appearance impossible to discern, and its voice sharp. "Heh heh heh, anyone from the True Martial Division who provokes you might as well have provoked the King of Hell."

When Lu Zhaojin had been improving Thirteen Swords of Life-Taking, he had hidden nearby without choosing to act, because the mission assigned to him by those above was to deliver Lu Zhaojin a letter, not to assassinate him.