"Wait, Young Hero Lu."
Liu Jinglan's expression shifted as he looked at Lu Chen and gritted his teeth. "If you are willing to help me rescue Miss Qingqing, I can guarantee a ninety percent chance that you will be granted a high-grade inner cultivation method. Something of an even higher level may even be possible!"
"Do I look like an idiot to you?"
Lu Chen looked back at him.
Ninety percent certainty?
Ninety percent certainty was no different from no certainty at all!
Besides, you are not the one giving it away. What right do you have to make someone else give it? Liu Jinglan's expression froze, as though he had not understood Lu Chen's meaning. He hurriedly said, "I mean it. If there is any falsehood in my words, may heaven strike me with thunder and deny me a good death."
"Even if what you say is true, where is the deposit? Do you have a second-rate martial art?"
Lu Chen's expression remained calm.
A second-rate martial art?
Liu Jinglan's expression changed again.
Good heavens!
Though second-rate martial arts were not as rare as high-grade inner cultivation methods, they were still immensely precious...
"See? That is why I said you cannot afford the price. Young Hero Liu, excuse me for now!"
Lu Chen smiled, lifted the man in his hand, and shot away in an instant.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh... His body flashed repeatedly.
In the blink of an eye, he had darted four or five li away. He dropped the man in his hand and said coldly, "Do you want a quick death, or do you want me to torture you bit by bit until you beg to live but cannot, and beg to die but cannot?"
"Give me a quick death. Hurry, give me a quick death!"
The man's face was covered in blood as he spoke in agony.
"A quick death is simple. Recite all your martial arts and inner cultivation methods to me!"
Lu Chen said.
"Martial arts and inner cultivation methods?"
The man suddenly laughed miserably.
This man was so powerful, yet he was actually interested in his martial arts?
"I advise you not to try any tricks, because I have my own means of telling whether what you recite is true or false. If I discover that you have recited something fake, countless tortures will be waiting for you."
Lu Chen said.
"The inner cultivation method I practice is called the Boulder Heart Method. It is a Mortal Grade inner cultivation method... The martial art is a third-rate martial art called the Iron-Cutting Saber Technique..."
The man began to recite.
Very soon, both martial arts appeared on Lu Chen's panel.
Even if the man intentionally altered certain crucial passages, it was useless.
Because his panel could automatically fill in the missing parts.
Bang!
A palm strike landed on the man's forehead, sending him on his way to the underworld.
Lu Chen then looked at the panel before him again.
He directly ignored the Boulder Heart Method.
Because it was also a Mortal Grade inner cultivation method. Even if he practiced it, it would not mean much.
But this Iron-Cutting Saber Technique was not bad.
"Merit Points, upgrade the Iron-Cutting Saber Technique!"
[You consumed 140 Merit Points. The Iron-Cutting Saber Technique has been upgraded to the perfected realm, generating secret skill: Gold-Cutting Iron-Breaking!] [Gold-Cutting Iron-Breaking: Your saber technique transcends the mundane and contains your own powerful will. Even hard gold and iron cannot stop it and will be cleaved apart with a single stroke!]
Ding!
[Would you like to consume 500 Merit Points to fuse saber techniques?]
Suddenly, a line of text appeared.
"Consume!"
Whoosh!
At once, the Iron-Cutting Saber Technique, Tidal Wave Saber Technique, and Gale Blade Technique on the panel rapidly blurred, as if countless pieces of information were being arranged and combined, swiftly merging together. In the blink of an eye, a new saber technique was born.
[Martial Art Name: Heartbreaking Saber Technique] [Grade: Second-rate] [Realm: Perfected] [Secret Skill: Lone Swan Absolute Shadow]
"The Heartbreaking Saber Technique? A second-rate martial art?"
Joy rose in Lu Chen's heart.
Heaven was truly helping him!
The Heartbreaking Saber Technique—one stroke to sever all feeling, unmatched under heaven.
More importantly, with the fusion of this saber technique, a faint kind of "momentum" actually emerged around him. In an instant, Lu Chen gained an unprecedented realization.
It was as if nothing before him could ever block him again.
Anything could be cleaved apart with a single stroke!
This was "momentum"!
Just as high officials who had long held high office and emperors enthroned above all possessed "momentum."
That kind of "momentum" made ordinary people dare not meet their gaze, leaving common folk with no choice but to fearfully avoid them.
But what Lu Chen possessed was saber momentum.
It was saber momentum specifically aimed at experts.
In a duel, it would directly bring enormous pressure upon the opponent's mind.
Lu Chen was immensely satisfied. He turned and once again swept toward the ruined temple.
Inside the ruined temple.
Liu Jinglan paced back and forth, his injuries already having stopped bleeding.
It seemed he had taken some kind of medicinal pill.
When he saw Lu Chen return, he immediately went to greet him, but his expression quickly changed slightly.
Because he felt that the Lu Chen before him seemed different from before.
The other man seemed to have suddenly gained an aura that kept ordinary people at a distance...
"Young Hero Lu, I know where there is a second-rate martial art. As long as you are willing to rescue Miss Qingqing, I am willing to tell you the location..."
Liu Jinglan hurriedly said.
"Stop joking. If there really was one, why would you not take it yourself and leave it for me?"
Lu Chen's tone was calm. He glanced at Liu Jinglan and said, "I heard you are from the He Shuo Liu Family. That is a major lineage, at least, right? Major lineages usually possess inheritances of profound martial arts. Look at you—you want to uphold justice, yet you cannot bear to pay the price. You even want to borrow someone else's chicken to lay your own eggs. Why bother?
"Either do not imitate others and uphold justice, or do not care about martial arts being passed outside the family. You shrink back at every turn, afraid of this and afraid of that. Are other people's lives not lives? Do they deserve to risk their lives to help you? Save it. The Martial World is not for you!" He walked straight to a corner, sat cross-legged on the ground, and closed his eyes to rest.
Liu Jinglan's face immediately flushed with shame.
Lu Chen's words left him with nowhere to hide.
Yes, he was from the He Shuo Liu Family, and he did indeed possess inheritances of profound martial arts.
He even had high-grade inner cultivation methods...
But those were lineage inheritances. How could he dare pass them on casually?
As for Lu Chen's words about borrowing a chicken to lay his own eggs, they truly struck him hard...
So this was what he looked like in the eyes of outsiders?
But upon careful thought, it really was so.
He wanted others to help him, yet he could not bear to pay the price...
He wanted to catch a white wolf with empty hands!
How could there be such a good thing under heaven? "I... I..."
Liu Jinglan's lips trembled. His face alternated between green and white, and he did not know what to say.
"What are you 'I'-ing for? Hurry up, wash up, and go to sleep. That Miss Qingqing is blessed by heaven, so she will surely be all right."
Lu Chen replied.
"Wait, I am willing to pass it on to you!"
Liu Jinglan's face flushed red as he said in frustration.
Whoosh!
Lu Chen's eyes snapped open. He swept a glance over Liu Jinglan and said, "Have you thought this through? You really want to pass down your family martial arts outside the lineage?"
"Yes."
Liu Jinglan gritted his teeth and nodded. "You are right. I asked you for help, and you have even risked your life. Could it be that I cannot even risk my martial arts? Besides... Miss Qingqing has an extraordinary status. Even if the lineage learns of this, they will approve of what I have done." He still kept something up his sleeve.
For major lineages like theirs, there was far more than one inherited martial art.
Especially inner cultivation methods.
He had not even learned the most core inner cultivation method himself, so naturally he could not pass it on even if he wanted to.
But what of the inner cultivation methods outside the core inheritance?
What did it matter if he passed those on?
"Oh?"
Lu Chen raised a brow. "What is her status?"
"I cannot tell you yet."
Liu Jinglan shook his head. "You will know when the time comes. I will first recite the inner cultivation method. The name of the inner cultivation method I practice is..."
"Wait, someone is coming!"
Suddenly, Lu Chen's gaze sharpened as he heard an urgent rush of wind outside the ruined temple, whistling harshly.
It seemed several figures were rapidly approaching. He rose straight from the ground and looked outside.
Liu Jinglan was startled as well and immediately became fully alert.
In the blink of an eye!
Four figures swiftly appeared outside the ruined temple.
Under the dim moonlight, the four figures were cast as hazy shadows, their long silhouettes stretching across the ground and giving off an indescribable pressure.
"Interesting. The West Mountain Nest of Ghosts actually died so quickly."
"They were weak, so they died. We are strong, so we will not die!"
"Huh, there are others here. Looks like someone interfered?"
"Who is this? He seems somewhat familiar?"
The newcomers spoke one after another, their gazes sweeping toward the inside of the temple.
Liu Jinglan's face tightened as he gripped the longsword in his hand.
"The Four Fiends of the He Family..." Lu Chen was expressionless.
"Are you... that Lu Chen, Lu Chen of the Kirin Ranking, ranked eighty-third?"
Suddenly, the man on the far left said in surprise.
"It really is him. I have seen his wanted poster. What a Lu Chen—to think he actually appeared here!"
The second figure said delightedly.
"How fortunate for us. I heard that this Lu Chen has a secret. He only killed Yu Tianli by using a forbidden technique, but how many times can that forbidden technique be used? His body is probably already riddled with hidden injuries!"
The third figure laughed.
"Good, good, good! What an unexpected delight!"
The fourth figure laughed.
"Young Hero Lu, the Four Fiends of the He Family are each at the peak of Fifth Rank..." Liu Jinglan whispered nervously. "And they possess a secret method for joining forces. They always advance and retreat together. When the four join hands, they can approach the level of a mid-stage Sixth Rank expert..."
Lu Chen said nothing as he slowly walked forward.
Before you continue