Su Yingxue was fully on guard, every hair standing on end as she stared fixedly at Lu Chen, afraid that he might suddenly make a move.
The muscles throughout her body were taut, poised to strike like a drawn bowstring.
A man's reputation was like a tree's shadow.
Lu Chen had committed so many major crimes in succession. Never mind his martial cultivation—even this murderous aura was far from ordinary.
A martial artist who had killed and one who had never killed were two entirely different kinds of people.
Besides, everyone outside was saying that he had been possessed by demons and monsters!
"What do you want?"
Su Yingxue asked. Lu Chen frowned and instantly saw her tension. "I mean no harm. I heard you were recruiting experts to find someone to deal with Rising Sun Martial Hall. I think I can do it, but I have one condition!"
"You want to help me deal with Rising Sun Martial Hall?"
Su Yingxue quickly asked.
"Yes. I killed Zhao Hu's son. He won't let me go, and likewise, I won't let him go. We share a common enemy. Give me your cultivation method, and I'll kill him for you!"
Lu Chen came straight to the point, his tone calm.
"You want my cultivation method?"
Su Yingxue narrowed her eyes and scrutinized Lu Chen, nearly suspecting that he had come to swindle her cultivation method just like the others. "How am I supposed to trust you? Zhao Hu is a Third-Rank Realm expert. What about you? What realm are you in? Once you obtain my cultivation method, how long will it take before you can deal with Zhao Hu? I don't have three or five years to wait..."
"Third-Rank Realm?" Lu Chen frowned. "I think I can give it a try."
He suddenly clenched his fist. Swift as lightning, he appeared before a stone pillar in an instant and threw a punch.
Bang!
The entire stone pillar exploded at once.
Fragments shot in every direction.
"Is this enough?"
he asked.
Su Yingxue was startled inwardly, dumbfounded.
This stone pillar had been carved from granite and was extraordinarily tough.
Even blades and axes could only leave marks on it.
Yet now, someone had actually shattered it with a single punch?
"Third-Rank Realm? You're also in the Third-Rank Realm?"
Su Yingxue was shocked.
Yesterday, rumors about Lu Chen had spread throughout the city. They said that he had not even been a martial artist yesterday, only becoming one later all of a sudden.
Yet he had already reached the Third-Rank Realm now!
How was that possible?
What kind of speed was this?
"You... what kind of demon or monster are you?"
Su Yingxue's voice trembled as she asked in instinctive terror.
"I'm not a demon or monster. I'm human!"
Lu Chen frowned.
"You're human?"
Su Yingxue's eyes widened. "Then your strength?"
"What? Have you never seen a martial arts genius?"
Lu Chen snorted coldly and swept his sleeve. "I am a one-in-ten-thousand martial arts genius."
"..." For a moment, Su Yingxue did not know what to say.
It was her first time seeing someone boast about himself so shamelessly.
But!
If this person truly had not been a martial artist before, then reaching the Third-Rank Realm in just one day truly was talent worthy of one in ten thousand...
It was not merely one in ten thousand. It was something rarely seen even once in several hundred years.
Waves roiled through Su Yingxue's little mind as countless thoughts emerged.
"How am I supposed to trust that you'll avenge me after obtaining the cultivation method?"
She stared at Lu Chen.
"You can only trust me. I've committed so many crimes that the authorities won't let me go, Rising Sun Martial Hall won't let me go either, and now that the city gates are closed, I can't possibly leave. Sooner or later, I am destined to fight them." Lu Chen said.
Su Yingxue fell silent again.
"Senior Sister, you can't trust him so easily. He killed so many people..."
A disciple beside her warned vigilantly.
"Think about it. Would you rather be taken away directly by Zhao Hu and interrogated under duress, or gamble on me? Betting on me brings no harm to either of us."
Lu Chen said.
After a moment.
Su Yingxue seemed to have finally made up her mind. Gritting her teeth, she said, "Fine, I'll teach it to you. But you must acknowledge my father as your master. My family's cultivation method is only passed down to true disciples!"
"Easy enough!"
Lu Chen said.
It was only becoming a disciple. That was nothing. "Then come with me."
Su Yingxue led Lu Chen toward a room.
"Senior Sister..."
The others all changed expression.
The cultivation method was the core secret of the entire martial hall. They had joined the martial hall for so long, yet none of them had been taught it.
And now she was going to pass it on to someone else based on a few words?
"I know what I'm doing!"
Su Yingxue said firmly. "You should all go back first."
"Yes, Senior Sister!"
The several of them nodded uneasily.
"Also, do not reveal any news about Lu Chen."
Su Yingxue turned and shouted.
Their hearts churned as they nodded again.
After dismissing the others, Su Yingxue brought Lu Chen into the room and solemnly performed the disciple ceremony before a memorial tablet.
Su Yingxue said, "Although I don't know how you went from an ordinary person to a martial artist, you have earned my trust. From today onward, you are my junior brother. I hope you will keep your word from here on."
"Rest assured. I value promises above all else. If I said I'd help you kill Zhao Hu, then I'll help you kill Zhao Hu. I'll go kill him in a moment!"
Lu Chen nodded.
"In a moment?"
Su Yingxue's eyes widened.
"Of course. How long did you want to wait?"
Lu Chen said. "Teach me the cultivation method, and I can do it immediately."
"You're not joking, are you?"
Su Yingxue was utterly flabbergasted.
"Do I look like I'm joking?"
Lu Chen said.
"Then... all right. The cultivation method of our Canglang Martial Hall is called the Azure Wave Art..."
Su Yingxue immediately began explaining it word by word.
As its name implied, the Azure Wave Art allowed one's inner force to become like azure waves—enduring without end and immensely powerful. Cultivating it could form nine layers of enormous waves within the body.
Once inner force was unleashed, each wave rose higher than the last, tearing enemies apart from the inside out like a spiral.
This cultivation method was especially renowned for its endurance.
Su Yingxue's explanation was exceptionally detailed.
Lu Chen listened with equal seriousness.
After roughly half an incense stick's time.
Lu Chen had memorized the cultivation method.
[Name of Cultivation Method: Azure Wave Art] [Quality: Fine][Realm: Not Initiated]
When he saw the panel appear before him, Lu Chen immediately revealed a look of surprise.
"Fine quality?"
"Yes, the cultivation method of our Canglang Martial Hall is fine quality. Otherwise, Zhao Hu of Rising Sun Martial Hall would not have gone to such lengths to obtain my family's cultivation method."
Su Yingxue said proudly.
"So the cultivation method of Rising Sun Martial Hall isn't fine quality?"
Lu Chen asked.
"Of course not."
Su Yingxue nodded. "Half a year ago, Zhao Hu only managed to kill my father through the underhanded scheme of poisoning him in secret. Had they fought openly and fairly, how could he possibly have been my father's match?"
"So that's how it was."
Lu Chen's eyes flickered. This time, he had truly struck gold.
"Junior Brother Lu, recite it once now. I'll help you check whether you missed anything?"
Su Yingxue suddenly said.
"No need. I've remembered it all."
Lu Chen said.
"You remembered all of it?"
Su Yingxue's eyes widened again.
How was that possible?
She had only explained it once just now.
And she had even explained it word by word.
How could he have remembered everything?
What kind of memory was this?
Lu Chen ignored her and instead looked at the panel before him.
[Would you like to consume 200 Merit Points to add points to the Azure Wave Art?]
A line of text appeared.
Lu Chen was slightly stunned.
That high?
"Add points!"
He still muttered inwardly.
[You consumed 200 Merit Points. The Azure Wave Art crossed the entry threshold and advanced to the Basic Mastery realm!]
Whoosh!
It was as if an entirely new inner force network emerged within his body, forming a unique cycle. That cycle seemed to contain immense suction, automatically drawing all the meager inner force he had previously cultivated through Ranked Martial Skills into it.
If the inner force generated by his previous martial arts had been scattered and unsystematic, then after cultivating the Azure Wave Art, all the inner force in his body was forcibly unified into one system.
Both its quality and total quantity increased enormously.
Name: Lu Chen Cultivation: Third Rank (90%) Cultivation Method: Azure Wave Art (Basic Mastery) Martial Arts: Four Absolute Martial Arts (Perfected) Talents: Convince with Virtue, Bronze Skin Iron Bones Merit Points: 90
Surging layers of inner force poured from his pores, circulating throughout his body like invisible waves and radiating powerful auras.
Su Yingxue's eyes widened, her face bearing the expression of someone who had seen a ghost.
This was... the Azure Wave Art reaching the second realm?
How was that possible?
As an internal cultivation method, every realm had its own unique sign.
At this moment, inner force surged around Lu Chen's entire body like raging azure waves, rolling on without end. This was clearly the sign that the cultivation method had reached the second level!
"You... you cultivated the Azure Wave Art to Basic Mastery?"
She hurriedly asked.
As though seeking confirmation.
"More or less."
Lu Chen glanced at her, his tone calm.
He could not hide such characteristics from her.
Rather than conceal it, he might as well admit it openly.
"I told you, I'm a genius!" he emphasized again.
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