"Brother!"
The other young woman's pretty face changed. In disbelief, she hurriedly cried out.
Her brother had actually been sent flying by a single slash!
How was that possible?
She immediately leaped into the air and swiftly landed on the deck, shouting, "Do you know what you're doing? Do you know who my brother is? You dare hurt my brother? I don't care what backing you have, you will definitely—"
Splurt!
"Ah!" A scream rang out, and blood splashed.
Before the young woman could finish speaking, her body was suddenly sent flying backward. With a bang, she crashed down before Luo Changqing, drenched in blood and unconscious.
[You taught two self-righteous fools a lesson. Merit Points +80!]
"Your turn!"
Lu Chen's voice rang out as his gaze swept toward the man in black robes.
The black-robed man's heart sank. Slowly, he gripped a dark-colored spear from behind his back. The entire spear was eight feet long, its black sheen flickering. It had been forged from cold iron fallen from beyond the heavens.
No matter what, he had never expected this.
An expert ranked sixty-fifth on the Kirin Ranking had actually been sent flying by one slash!
What kind of joke was this?
Both were on the Kirin Ranking. Was the gap between sixty-fourth and sixty-fifth really this vast?
Luo Changqing could not even block a single move?
Had Lu Chen broken through again?
The moment this thought surfaced, he swiftly cast it aside.
Absolutely impossible!
Do not scare yourself!
"You will not get through. Even if you pass my trial, there are still hardships and dangers ahead. Hand Cui Qingqing over to me, and I guarantee I will not harm her life!"
The black-robed man spoke in a heavy tone, staring fixedly at Lu Chen.
"Just you?"
Lu Chen said coldly.
"Not just me, but the people behind me. I admire Prince Cui as well, but alas, entrusted by another, loyal to the task!"
The black-robed man said in a low voice. Boom!
His aura erupted. Almost immediately, he activated a forbidden technique within himself. His meridians crackled and popped, bursting out clouds of blood mist, while every vein and bone in his body exploded with violent sounds.
His aura surged upward at once.
It was as though he were performing some terrifying secret art.
Lu Chen frowned. He gave him no chance at all, stamping his foot and shooting forward in an instant.
The long saber in his hand let out an ear-splitting cry.
Lightning emerged all over his body.
Crackling and snapping, he seemed to transform into a terrifying man of lightning.
"Get lost!"
Rumble!
He slashed out. Endless lightning surged forth in an instant, like a vast sea of thunder. Even the skies above suddenly churned.
The previously clear blue sky abruptly filled with flashing lightning and roiling black clouds.
The black-robed man's eyes widened, and a trace of horror instantly appeared on his face.
Eighth rank?
Impossible!
"Ah!"
A scream rang out. Before the black-robed man's forbidden technique could be fully activated, he was swallowed by lightning. With a bang, he exploded completely, and even the pleasure boat beneath him was blasted apart.
[You killed a notorious underworld tyrant. Merit Points +500.]
That high?
Lu Chen raised his brows.
A Black Ranking expert truly lived up to his reputation.
Those who could make the Black Ranking were indeed all great villains. "Brother Liu, it seems the water route is no longer safe."
Lu Chen spoke calmly, as though he had merely done something ordinary. He turned and began searching the many corpses on the deck.
Liu Jinglan's mind roared, and he was nearly numb beyond all feeling.
"Young Hero Lu, you broke through again? You reached the eighth rank?"
"What do you think?"
Lu Chen glanced at him.
Liu Jinglan was dazed.
Was this even human?
Could this be human?
Making a guess was one thing; receiving confirmation was another.
He felt as though he had spent the past dozen years living like a dog.
Why was the gap between people so enormous?
How exactly did he cultivate? "Boatman, prepare to dock at once. We'll leave by land."
Suddenly coming to his senses, Liu Jinglan hurriedly looked toward the captain.
"Ah, yes, yes!"
The captain came back to himself and hurriedly answered.
The other passengers also shuddered and recovered their senses.
"Heartless Blade Lu Chen? He is actually Lu Chen, the one who keeps causing upheavals in the Kirin Ranking?"
"Am I dreaming?"
The huge pleasure boat turned in the river and headed toward a nearby dock.
Before long, it had drawn close to the dock.
Lu Chen and the other two left the ship directly, using their lightness skills to race down a small path.
Many Martial World wanderers' expressions shifted. Gritting their teeth, they followed after them. "From what that Black Ranking expert said, there will be people blocking the road ahead. Hurry and follow them to watch the excitement!"
"Are you tired of living?"
"What is life compared to a good spectacle..."
Many people rushed out at high speed.
Not long after Lu Chen's group departed.
In the distance, another large ship swiftly approached. Great flags hung from it, snapping loudly in the wind.
The crowd turned back to look and cried out in alarm.
"It's a Luo family ship!"
"The Luo family elders have arrived!"
"Have you seen anyone from my Luo family?"
A middle-aged man shouted toward the ship.
The captain looked nervous and hurriedly replied, "A brother and sister claiming to be from the Luo family are aboard!"
The middle-aged man leaped into the air and crossed through the sky, landing on this ship in a single bound. "Where are they?" he asked.
"Over there."
The captain instinctively pointed behind him.
The middle-aged man followed his finger. His pupils contracted, his expression changing drastically, and he shot forward.
In an instant, he arrived before Luo Changqing and his sister.
"What ruthless, vicious handiwork! Who did this? Which shameless old bastard had the nerve?"
He almost instinctively assumed that an elder had dealt the blow.
Otherwise, how could they have been wounded so badly by one slash?
With his eyesight, he could tell at a glance that this had been done by a single slash. There had absolutely not been a second strike in between.
"It... it was Heartless Blade Lu Chen."
The captain answered in panic. "Heartless Blade Lu Chen?"
The middle-aged man's heart jolted.
He could actually send the Luo family's heir flying with one slash?
How was that possible?
In the distance.
Lu Chen's group moved swiftly, focused only on speeding ahead.
"Young Hero Lu, once we cross that mountain ahead, we'll reach King Zhenbei's territory. Once we get there, we'll be safe!"
Liu Jinglan pointed toward the hazy mountain range ahead, his face full of gratitude.
"Safe? I'm afraid not!"
Lu Chen swept his gaze over it, unmoved. "If I were King Zhenbei's enemy, I would never let this go so easily. The closer we get to safety, the greater the danger will be. The mountain road ahead is likely the true road of Asura!"
Cui Qingqing's face turned pale, and she instinctively clutched her skirts tightly.
"Let's go!"
Lu Chen stepped forward and headed toward the mountains.
To be safe, he still decided to use the Merit Points he had accumulated to upgrade the Sun Sword Technique.
Merit Points remaining: 1974!
Not enough to upgrade his inner cultivation.
Then he could only improve his sword technique.
[ Ding! ]
[You consumed 275 Merit Points. Your Sun Sword Technique has reached perfection, deriving a secret skill: Sun's Manifestation!]
[Sun's Manifestation: When the sword emerges, it is like a great sun hanging in the sky. Wherever its radiance reaches, ghosts, demons, and monsters are all reduced to ash.]
Sss!
Streams of invisible Sword Qi instantly emerged within his body, hissing as they circled around him. Yet they quickly all withdrew, while countless combat techniques surfaced in his mind in an instant.
As though he had comprehended them for many years.
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