The 25th Chapter

Lu Feixin's expression turned cold as he shouted, "Which hero will bring this mischievous girl down!"

A loud voice boomed from the crowd, "I will!"

A burly man chuckled, leaping through the crowd like a black bear and heading towards the rooftop. The man's appearance startled the young girl on the rooftop, causing her to scream, "Don't come over!" Frightened, the girl lost her footing and fell from the building.

The rooftop was at least forty feet above the ground. Hearing the scream, the onlookers realized it was too late to catch her and lamented the loss of the vibrant young girl, fearing she would be broken.

Those on the second floor could have intervened to catch her, but no one moved, watching with cold expressions.

The young girl landed on the stone-paved ground, her backside hitting first. Miraculously, she was unharmed, but the pain made her cry out.

The burly man, now swooping down, laughed, "Little girl, why are you so willful? Did I scare you?!" He knew it was his doing, but with good intentions, he stepped forward to help the crying girl.

The girl, still crying, yelled at the man, "Don't come over!" She kicked forward with her small foot, and the onlookers saw the tower-like man fly backward, rolling over thirty feet on the ground. The scene made everyone gasp, secretly amazed by the girl's strength.

Indeed, one cannot judge a book by its cover. This seemingly delicate young girl possessed a strength greater than an ox, a truly astonishing feat.

The girl's crying subsided. The pine nuts in her pocket had spilled all over the ground from the fall. She sat on the ground, ignoring everyone, and began picking them up one by one.

The burly man got up and looked at the girl as if she were a monster. He touched his nose and grumbled, "Is it wrong to be ugly?!"

This small interlude was thus concluded.

Lu Feixin said solemnly, "Let's begin!" He had intended to say a few more words, but now he didn't want to utter another, his mood soured. As he sat down, his peripheral vision caught the green-clad girl, who had finished picking up her pine nuts, and his eyelid twitched.

At this point, all eyes turned to the arena. The green-clad girl squeezed through the crowd to the edge of the stage, blinking as she watched the two people on it. She was very curious, but her hands didn't stop peeling pine nuts, popping the kernels into her mouth with relish.

The Gloomy Cold Soul Severing Sword was held at Ning Chang'an's shoulder, with Lu Sheng holding the sword.

The Lu family's ancestral sword style, the Cloud-Emerging Sword Style, excelled in its elegant and agile movements. Its techniques appeared artless and unintentional, yet they concealed profound mysteries and subtle variations.

All martial arts in the world were divided into techniques and mind methods, each at different levels. External martial arts only had techniques, no mind methods. Internal Energy Cultivation, Qi Gong, Essence Cultivation, and Divine Cultivation were all mind methods, sometimes with accompanying techniques. These systems of cultivation and techniques, gathered from the wisdom of generations, became a standard for measuring martial arts in the jianghu. The division into Internal, Qi, Essence, and Divine extended to martial arts techniques, used to measure their sophistication, no longer limited to describing mind methods.

Classified according to the standards of Internal, Qi, Essence, and Divine, this Cloud-Emerging Sword Style could be considered a mediocre Qi Gong. However, the Lu family's Cloud Qi Art mind method was extraordinary, a superior Qi Gong. When cultivated to the peak of perfection, this Qi Gong allowed one to consume qi and become like an immortal on earth.

Unfortunately, since the ancestor of the Lu family, no descendant had ever reached that realm. They could only gaze up at the legends of their ancestors.

The Cloud-Emerging Sword Style, combined with the Cloud Qi Art, increased its power, forming the foundation of the Lu family's enduring presence in the jianghu.

The Cloud-Emerging Sword Style emphasized the act of drawing the sword. A sudden draw was like clouds emerging from a mountain, natural and untraceable. The moment the sword was drawn, the enemy's initiative was seized.

Lu Sheng stood proudly, his right hand gripping the sword hilt.

The atmosphere was deadly.

The spring breeze was cold!

With a flash of flame, Lu Sheng had drawn his sword.

Everyone's eyes widened, exclaiming, "Blazing Fire Sword!"

This sword, passed down from the Lu family ancestor, was entirely fiery red. When true qi was infused into it, a scorching aura enveloped the blade. It was the supreme treasure of the Lu family manor. To witness the true appearance of this sword was a blessing for the onlookers.

It seemed the Lu family had invested heavily in this battle, and Lu Sheng was determined to win.

The clouds had turned into fiery clouds, a blazing, burning red.

Lu Sheng's sword strike condensed all his spirit and energy, relying on the divine sword's might to completely suppress Ning Chang'an within a single move, even defeating him. The first move of the Cloud-Emerging Sword Style, "Precious Sword Drawn," was this formidable. Many jianghu swordsmen could not withstand it, falling victim to this initial strike.

The sword drawn was the essence of the Cloud-Emerging Sword Style.

The Blazing Fire Sword was upon him. Ning Chang'an clearly saw the cold smile on Lu Sheng's face.

Ning Chang'an's eyes narrowed slightly. Feeling the scorching airflow on his face like burning embers, he suddenly straightened his long sword, and a sword cry erupted, like a fierce tiger roaring in the mountains, the sword moving as if divinely guided.

Lu Feixin's body trembled, and he suddenly stood up, his expression grave.

Everyone's heart skipped a beat, awestruck by the spirit of that sword strike, leaving them dumbfounded.

The Gloomy Cold Soul Severing Sword met the tip of the Blazing Fire Sword.

Lu Sheng's face changed drastically.

Ning Chang'an's sword thrust directly at the flaw in his swordsmanship that he had least expected. This flaw was the tip of the Blazing Fire Sword, which was not normally a weakness. But the moment the Blazing Fire Sword collided with the Gloomy Cold Soul Severing Sword, Lu Sheng finally realized the fatal nature of that flaw.

Ordinary weapons could not touch the tip of the Blazing Fire Sword; they would be destroyed. Therefore, Lu Sheng had paid no attention to this flaw. How many weapons in the world could compare to the Blazing Fire Sword?! Lu Sheng didn't know, but he knew Ning Chang'an's Dragon Head Sword could. However, the Dragon Head Sword had already been stolen—that should have been enough.

But he hadn't expected that after losing the Dragon Head Sword, Ning Chang'an would acquire another one, the Gloomy Cold Soul Severing Sword, and that this sword was no weaker than the Dragon Head Sword.

In that moment, Lu Sheng felt as if he had swallowed a fly, his face extremely unsightly.

Even more unsightly than his face was his arm, because one of his arms had been broken. The Blazing Fire Sword flew from his grasp, embedding itself in the arena. Lu Sheng's face was deathly pale. Ning Chang'an's sword strike, powerful as a fierce tiger, had stunned him, making him forget to even cry out.

Lu Sheng was defeated in a single move. No one had expected this.

A bloody stain spread across Ning Chang'an's chest; his wound had reopened.

That sword strike, executed with exhilarating freedom, came at the cost of reopening the wound carefully stitched by Liu Ruyan.

"What's going on?"

"Ning Family's Chang'an is actually injured!"

"It looks like he's seriously hurt..."

The blood on Ning Chang'an's chest spread as his wound reopened, causing his face to turn pale with pain. The martial artists below the stage discussed with surprise, malice, or apprehension.

Defeating Lu Sheng, one of the Young Three Heroes of the Lu family, who wielded the peerless divine sword Blazing Fire Sword, with an injury, in a single move, was something few in the audience could do. They admitted that few among them could withstand Ning Chang'an's strike.

Lu Sheng twisted his body, clutching his shattered arm with one hand. His deathly pale face was filled with terror and malice as he stared directly at Ning Chang'an.

Ning Chang'an glanced down at the bloodstain on his chest, narrowed his eyes slightly, and looked at Lu Sheng. "Lu Sheng, you have lost!"

His voice was very calm, and his tone wasn't heavy at all.

Hearing this, Lu Sheng felt as if his heart had been struck a heavy blow! The more composed and self-assured Ning Chang'an was, the more Lu Sheng felt Ning Chang'an's arrogance and disdain. The malice in his heart grew even stronger. An evil energy immediately surged into his mind, and Lu Sheng's qi became unsettled, causing him to spit out a mouthful of blood.

Ning Chang'an slung the Gloomy Cold Soul Severing Sword over his shoulder and turned to walk off the stage.

He knew he wouldn't be able to walk away, but he had to try.

This action of his was actually a signal.

It was like a wounded lion facing a pack of hungry hyenas. When the lion turned to retreat, the hyenas would ferociously pounce.

As Ning Chang'an turned, two people had already swiftly leaped onto the stage. Both were disciples of the Lu Family Manor. One helped Lu Sheng off the stage, while the other carefully "escorted" the Blazing Fire Sword away.

These two moved so fast that by the time Ning Chang'an had taken three steps, he was the only one left on the stage.

Suddenly, the stage shook, and a person landed on it. Although he was a person, his landing was like a small mountain crashing down, causing the entire stage to tremble. Where he landed, the stone slabs shattered, stone fragments flew everywhere, and his feet sank into the stone, leaving two footprints in the hard stone slabs.

"Ning Family's Chang'an, what a fierce sword style! I, Yuan Meng, wish to spar with you!"

The one who jumped onto the stage was a large man. Yuan Meng was powerfully built with bronzed skin, standing there like an iron tower, his eyes gleaming as he stared intently at Ning Chang'an's back. In his hand, he held a large saber, a frighteningly large, blunt-edged heavy saber.

Yuan Meng's saber weighed a genuine one hundred and eighty jin, as large as a door panel.

Chang'an slowly turned, a faint smile on his face, and looked askance at Yuan Meng's bronzed complexion. "Give me a good reason! My sword style isn't for just anyone to spar with."

Yuan Meng raised two thick, long fingers. "First, I'm short on cash lately, and your head is worth a lot; second, your reputation is truly terrible, and I want to do some good by punishing evil. Heh heh, either way, you're going to die, so pick whichever reason you like!"

Yuan Meng was an abandoned disciple of Subduing Tiger Mountain. Expelled for his numerous misdeeds, he had been wandering the jianghu as a common bandit. Yet, at this moment, he had suddenly appeared.

Normally, such a character would never be allowed to set foot in Green Willow Manor.

The Lu Family Manor was renowned as a legitimate noble sect, engaging in honorable professions like escorting goods across the land. They had always abhorred evil and had a truly good reputation. Ordinary villains and bandits kept their distance.

But today, Yuan Meng had not only entered Green Willow Manor but had also leaped onto the stage built by the Lu Family Manor.

Ning Chang'an looked up and saw Lu Feixin seated in a high position, his eyes closed.

Ning Chang'an let out a cold laugh in his heart.

With a ferocious roar, Yuan Meng charged forward with his great saber, swinging it in a wide arc that whistled through the air, making him appear utterly savage. He was known for his immense strength and had a fearsome reputation in the jianghu. If one couldn't withstand his initial saber strike, they would have no chance at all.