Name: Lu Chen Cultivation: Fifth Rank (10%) Cultivation Art: Azure Wave Art (Mastered), True Heaven Art (Not Initiated) Martial Arts: Four Absolute Martial Arts (Mastered), Grass on Flying (Mastered), Tidal Wave Saber Technique (Mastered · Lone Boat Slashes the Moon), Blood Shadow Sword (Mastered · Blood Fiend), Blood Fiend Art (Minor Accomplishment), Gale Saber (Initiated), Sky Severing Finger (Initiated), Big Dipper Seven Stars Array (Initiated) Talents: Convince with Virtue, Bronze Skin Iron Bones, Lightning Law King Merit Points: 154 ...
Lu Chen looked at the panel before him and began to ponder. "True Heaven Art is the same as Azure Wave Art, both are [Fine-Grade Cultivation Arts]. Their levels are about the same. I wonder if cultivating True Heaven Art can still bring a surge in Internal Energy. Besides, the two cultivation arts have different attributes, and the Internal Energy they produce will repel each other. Later, I'll still have to undergo Internal Energy Fusion..."
Internal Energy Fusion was a path every powerhouse had no choice but to walk.
Unless one was a disciple of a great clan or major sect, whose cultivation art from the very beginning was a top-tier one. That would ensure they could cultivate all the way from First Rank to Ninth Rank without taking the risk of Internal Energy Fusion.
As for other small and medium-sized factions, the limits of their cultivation arts meant they could at most reach Sixth or Seventh Rank. They could only continue cultivating after obtaining stronger cultivation arts later on.
As a result, the Internal Energy cultivated in the beginning had to be merged into the Internal Energy cultivated afterward.
This was often the most time-consuming and exhausting step.
After some thought, Lu Chen still decided to give it a try first.
He would first see how much True Heaven Art could increase his cultivation. "Merit Points, add points to True Heaven Art!"
[ Ding! You consumed 50 Merit Points. True Heaven Art has been raised to the Initiated realm! ]
[ The next upgrade of True Heaven Art to the Basic Mastery realm requires 150 Merit Points! ]
The next moment, Lu Chen felt an additional cycle suddenly appear within his body. Unlike the Azure Wave Art from before, its flow was weak, yet it contained a vast, unyielding, righteous aura.
This was the Internal Energy cultivated through True Heaven Art!
He then looked toward the panel.
His cultivation had changed from Fifth Rank (10%) to Fifth Rank (14%).
The progress had only increased by four points.
"As expected, cultivation arts of the same grade won't bring a surge in cultivation!"
Lu Chen thought to himself. Since that was the case, he could only pour all his remaining Merit Points into those martial arts.
"Merit Points, add points to Blood Fiend Art and Gale Saber."
[ You consumed 80 Merit Points. Blood Fiend Art has been raised to the Mastered realm. Your qi and blood surge wildly, allowing you to instantly unleash strength more than twice your own! ]
[ You consumed 20 Merit Points. Gale Saber has been raised to the Basic Mastery realm! ]
Two lines of text appeared in succession.
His remaining 104 Merit Points instantly became 4 again.
His entire body was covered in a faint layer of blood-red light.
Beneath his skin, qi and blood surged as blood vessels writhed like thick earthworms.
It radiated formidable power.
As his Internal Energy circulated, that surging qi and blood gradually withdrew inward.
"Although my cultivation hasn't risen again, my overall combat strength has increased far, far more than before..."
Lu Chen looked at his palm and gently clenched it. Power surged within it.
"You... you're from the Blood Sacrifice Cult too? This is Blood Fiend Art?"
The Imperial Guard revealed a terrified expression as he looked at Lu Chen.
The moment Blood Fiend Art reached Mastery, the blood energy around Lu Chen's body had become impossible to conceal.
At a single glance, he saw through it.
"You know quite a lot."
Lu Chen's face was cold as he stared at him. "Tell me, how many people are pursuing me this time? What realms are they in?"
"Right now, only one banner is pursuing you. There are forty-nine of us in total. Most of us are about as strong as we are, but the Squad Leader leading us is called Iron Masked Judge Yu Tianli. He's stronger, at the Mid-stage Sixth Rank!"
The man's voice trembled, not daring to refuse.
"Mid-stage Sixth Rank!"
Lu Chen's gaze narrowed.
That was more than an entire realm above his current level!
But it was nothing.
He possessed numerous talents and several martial arts at Mastery. He could not be measured by ordinary standards.
"What martial arts does he cultivate? Does he have any ultimate techniques?"
Lu Chen asked.
"Yes. The cultivation arts Squad Leaders cultivate are all superior-grade cultivation arts, and their martial arts are all second-rate..."
The man replied.
Superior-grade cultivation arts were one level higher than fine-grade cultivation arts.
The Internal Energy they cultivated was also more refined! If the two clashed, a fine-grade cultivation art would undoubtedly be instantly crushed and shattered.
"Is that so?"
Lu Chen felt an invisible pressure in his heart.
This was not a place to linger!
"Thank you for telling me all that. I'll grant you a quick death!"
Bang! Bang!
Before the two could react, Lu Chen swiftly struck their foreheads. They spat blood and died miserably.
Lu Chen quickly searched them, took their dry rations and water, then turned and left, darting into the distance at top speed.
Half a day later.
Dusk was approaching.
Lu Chen had done nothing but weave through the forest, and he had finally completely left the boundaries of Panshi City. Yet he still had not shaken off the people from the Town Suppression Bureau.
Instead, he could feel the pursuit behind him tightening.
It was clearly no longer ordinary people pursuing him.
Anyone who could bite down on his trail this tightly had to be an expert.
"Did those Town Suppression Bureau people call in reinforcements, or have other people from the Martial World joined the hunt?"
Lu Chen frowned.
This road of fleeing through the Martial World was indeed more thrilling than he had imagined.
Lu Chen drank all the water from his flask, tucked the shriveled flask into his chest, and once again darted into the distance at top speed.
Not long after he left.
Several powerful experts rapidly gave chase from afar.
"There are fewer and fewer traces. If Brother Zhang hadn't brought the Heavenly Silkworm Gu, we would have lost him by now. Damn it, this Lu Chen really can run!"
Yu Tianli's face was gloomy as he moved at high speed, shooting out from a patch of forest.
By now, all the subordinates behind him had been scattered.
Only he and the two men beside him had relied on secret methods to track their way here.
"Once my Heavenly Silkworm Gu smells someone's aura, no matter where he runs, it can lock onto him precisely. But it has one weakness: once it encounters thunderstorm weather, the Heavenly Silkworm Gu's sense of smell fails. The thunderstorm will conceal his aura. If he escapes beyond a hundred li, even the Heavenly Silkworm Gu won't be able to smell him. So we need to move faster."
Beside him stood a middle-aged man in a dark robe. He raised his head and said, "The weather has been strange these past few days. A torrential downpour could happen at any moment."
"Understood."
Yu Tianli nodded lightly with a gloomy expression. "There are traces over there. He went to the right!"
The three figures once again sped forward in pursuit.
Rumble!
Crack!
Just as expected, in the dead of night, the sky truly began to churn with wind and clouds.
Thunder rolled like cannon fire.
Thick bolts of lightning tore down, flashing across heaven and earth and nearly illuminating the night.
Then came a drenching downpour, pattering loudly.
It was even more violent than two days ago.
It quickly formed an enormous curtain of rain. Rainwater fell onto the ground and gathered into puddles after puddles. The puddles grew more and more numerous until, in the end, they rushed into the distance like mountain floods.
Lu Chen suddenly shot out from a forest. His internal cultivation circulated like a transparent raincoat, blocking all the rain outside. He swept his gaze around and finally spotted a hazy firelight on the official road in the distance.
It seemed to be a roadside inn.
After thinking it over, his body flashed, and he still darted toward that inn at top speed.
On one hand, it was to take shelter from the rain for the moment.
On the other, it was to replenish his supplies.
After days of rushing about, all the provisions on him had been exhausted.
Taking advantage of the late-night downpour, he could replenish them.
From far away, he could see quite a few horses parked outside the inn.
They seemed to belong to passing merchants and people of the Martial World.
The inn's doors were tightly shut, while waves of rich aromas of wine and food continuously drifted out from within.
After Lu Chen lightly landed outside the door, he immediately pushed it open. Creak!
In an instant.
Every gaze within the inn involuntarily swept directly toward him.
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