Lin Yun had barely finished speaking when Lu Chen's body pounced in an instant. Dazzling, blinding saber qi swept straight toward him, filling him with shock and rage. A scarlet flexible sword instantly slid from his waist, letting out a shrill, piercing screech as it shot forth like a venomous blood-red viper.
Blurred afterimages.
The stench of blood.
At a tricky, bizarre angle, it shot rapidly toward Lu Chen.
"Courting death! Do you really think I'm afraid of you?!"
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Their saber and sword collided, producing thunderous booms.
Sparks flew.
Saber qi and Sword Qi scattered in every direction.
"Hmm?"
Lu Chen frowned. He had not expected Lin Yun to have concealed himself so deeply.
His strength had reached at least the fourth rank.
He was actually a notch stronger than Senior Brother Zhang.
His internal force was so powerful that it numbed even Lu Chen's palms.
Moreover, threads of fine energy, like steel needles, continuously drilled into his body along his meridians.
The defensive line formed by his internal force was rapidly collapsing beneath that energy.
Fortunately, he possessed the [Bronze Skin Iron Bones] talent. His body was tough and fierce enough to endure it head-on. From the very start, Lu Chen pushed his Tidal Wave Saber Technique to its limit.
The saber light glittered in layer upon layer, like countless waves—each wave higher than the last, each surge covering the one before it—seemingly endless as they rolled mightily toward Lin Yun and sought to drown him.
The flexible sword in Lin Yun's hand kept emitting shrill screeches. Like a venomous snake, it contended relentlessly against Lu Chen amid countless hazy blood shadows.
In the blink of an eye, they had exchanged dozens of blows.
At last, as saber and sword collided, their palms shot out and slammed viciously toward one another.
Boom!
A violent blast rang out, and powerful shockwaves swept outward from between them.
Their bodies were both sent flying backward.
They landed seven or eight meters apart. Lin Yun was both shocked and enraged. Though his internal force far surpassed Lu Chen's, his palms and fingers had still cramped from the impact, and his arms had nearly gone numb.
Lu Chen's saber technique was too fast.
Like endless towering waves, each slash was faster than the last, each slash stronger than the last.
Lin Yun considered himself well-traveled and well-informed.
Yet among those of his generation, he had never seen anyone who had trained a saber technique to Lu Chen's level.
If not for his profound internal force protecting his body, he would have gained no advantage at all.
"A Ranked Martial Skill? You actually mastered a Ranked Martial Skill, and you've even trained it to the perfected realm!"
He stared fixedly at Lu Chen, utterly incredulous.
According to his intelligence,
Lu Chen had still been an ordinary person yesterday.
When facing the porcelain shopkeeper, he could only be beaten half to death before crawling out of the city.
Yet in just one day,
he had not only become a martial artist close to the fourth rank, but had also mastered a nearly perfected Ranked Martial Skill!
Was that even possible?
That was simply impossible!
No matter how gifted a genius was, there could never be one like Lu Chen.
Suddenly, a sinister grin stretched across Lin Yun's face. A flush rose on his cheeks, and he said excitedly, "Good, good, good, Lu Chen. The secret you carry is even greater than I imagined. I don't even dare imagine what kind of future I would have if I possessed such a secret. You've truly given me a tremendous surprise. I'll take you down with a forbidden technique—Azure Moon · Blood Burn!"
Boom!
Layers of blood light suddenly burst from his body, as though he had begun burning. His aura rapidly climbed, while waves of scarlet, nauseating stench erupted endlessly from him.
The ground itself trembled and shook, sending sand and stones flying.
A dense, bloody aura instantly enveloped the entire courtyard.
Lu Chen narrowed his eyes.
A forbidden technique?
A grim smile appeared at the corner of his mouth as his gaze settled on the panel before him.
After killing Senior Brother Zhang, his Merit Points had reached 352.
How could your forbidden technique compare to my point allocation?
"Merit Points, upgrade Azure Wave Art."
Lu Chen spoke silently in his heart.
[You have consumed 250 Merit Points. Azure Wave Art has been upgraded to the Minor Accomplishment realm!]
Boom! The next instant, his panel blurred again. The Azure Wave Art within him seemed to have been triggered, and layers of powerful internal force began gushing out from his body.
His formerly thin internal force rapidly strengthened and thickened, as though some peerless master had suddenly infused him with decades of internal force.
Even his cultivation changed once more.
He leaped from Great Accomplishment Third Rank straight into the fourth rank.
Name: Lu Chen Cultivation: Fourth Rank (28%) Mental Art: Azure Wave Art (Minor Accomplishment) Martial Arts: Four Absolute Martial Arts (Perfected), Grass on Flying (Great Accomplishment), Tidal Wave Saber Technique (Perfected · Lone Boat Slashes the Moon) Talents: Convince People with Virtue, Bronze Skin Iron Bones Merit Points: 112 ...[Upgrading Azure Wave Art to the Great Accomplishment realm next time will consume 300 Merit Points!]
A line of text appeared.
"Die!"
After his cultivation rose, Lu Chen shot toward Lin Yun like lightning.
The blood light around Lin Yun had yet to burn completely.
His forbidden technique was barely halfway activated.
His heart shook, and disbelief filled his face.
Had Lu Chen used a forbidden technique too?
How could his strength surge so quickly?
"Blood Shadow Life-Taking Sword!"
Lin Yun roared. Though his secret technique had not been fully completed, he could no longer care about that. The scarlet flexible sword in his hand gave a shrill screech. Like a blood-red venomous snake, it buzzed with a scarlet, nauseating aura as countless afterimages flashed forth, hurtling toward Lu Chen.
Lu Chen charged forward, his long saber dazzling and blinding. It was like night descending upon the sea, a lone boat on the vast ocean, as a snow-white rainbow shot from the waves toward the bright moon overhead.
Secret technique · Lone Boat Slashes the Moon!
Clang!
Rumble!
Their weapons collided instantly.
Yet at the very moment of impact, the scarlet flexible sword in Lin Yun's hand was knocked free. Struck by an incomparably massive force, it flew high into the air beyond his control.
Terror instantly appeared on Lin Yun's face, and he hurriedly tried to retreat.
But his entire body was swallowed by snowy light.
He only felt saber light everywhere, in all directions.
There was nowhere to retreat.
Nowhere to evade! It was as if he had fallen straight into an ocean of saber qi.
"Don't..."
Slash!
His body split into two halves, carrying shattered organs as they shot to either side.
Lu Chen had cleaved him alive straight down the middle!
[You killed a Blood Sacrifice Cult expert steeped in evil. Merit Points +130]
A line of text appeared.
Lu Chen's body stopped instantly. His face was icy as he suddenly turned and swept his gaze around.
The villagers who had fled earlier wore panicked expressions.
Every face was pale, and they wished they could grow eight legs and flee this place.
"Since you bullied Shan Zi while he was alive, I'll send you down to apologize to him in person!" Whoosh!
His body flashed toward them in an instant.
"Spare me, Lu Chen! I'm from the same village as you..."
"When I was little, I..."
"It has nothing to do with me..."
Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash!
"Argh!"
[You personally sent a villager down to apologize. Merit Points +1]
[+1]
[+1]
In the blink of an eye, he had killed more than a dozen people.
Only after cutting down every villager who had previously held grudges against Shan Zi or himself did Lu Chen finally stop. He did not even spare the remaining people a glance before turning back to begin looting the battlefield.
He first picked up the scarlet flexible sword from the ground, inspecting it with secret amazement.
What a fine sword!
This flexible sword had collided with his saber again and again.
Yet it had not suffered the slightest damage.
The saber in his hand was a treasured blade, the treasure that upheld Canglang Martial Hall. Su Yingxue had always kept it at her side.
Yet this flexible sword could contend evenly with that treasured blade.
Its quality was clearly extraordinary.
Lu Chen swiftly rushed to Lin Yun's corpse and felt around his waist. He untied a soft steel belt from it—it was the sword sheath.
He fastened the soft steel belt around his own waist and slipped the scarlet flexible sword inside. Then he quickly searched Lin Yun's corpse again.
Unfortunately, he only found some banknotes and no manuals or anything of the sort.
Unwilling to accept this, Lu Chen dashed out and began searching the rooms ahead.
At this moment, the entire county yamen was in chaos.
All the bailiffs and servants were fleeing.
Everyone was terrified.
The past two days had been like the end of the world for them.
Not only had the chief constable died,
but even the County Magistrate's son had been killed.
"Quick, inform the magistrate!"
"Report this to the County Magistrate..."
"Run!" Just then,
Su Yingxue rushed over from afar and finally landed within the county yamen. Looking at the many corpses scattered throughout the office, she was shocked and quickly darted toward Lu Chen.
"Junior Brother Lu, why haven't you left yet?!"
She shouted.
Lu Chen emerged from Lin Yun's room at last, a smile on his face.
The trip had not been in vain.
He had truly found something.
Before you continue