Rebel

Lu Wangchuan walked out of the Martial Hall and immediately read through the Limitless Sword Dao, imprinting the technique onto the Light Screen, then directly chose to add points.

Blood and Qi within his body burned and boiled wildly, taking a full several seconds before finally settling.

Lu Wangchuan only felt a newfound, razor-sharp sense of the sword dao surge into his mind.

This made him can't help but sigh inwardly—adding points was truly a godlike ability. If he had relied on his own cultivation, it would have taken years just to reach the first layer of the Limitless Sword Dao, but now, with point addition, it only took a few seconds.

He checked his stats again; his Blood and Qi were pitifully low, only a few dozen points left.

"Adding one point to the Limitless Sword Dao actually costs twelve hundred points of Blood and Qi!"

To think that even the Heavenly Dipper Eight Steps, a movement technique many fought over and could be considered the peak of ordinary techniques—arguably even half-step transcendent—only cost a thousand points per addition.

The Limitless Sword Dao required twelve hundred points. No wonder it was a transcendent sword technique. Instructor Lu had truly given him a great gift.

Lu Wangchuan had always been the type of person where if you wronged him by one part, he'd make you regret it tenfold, and if you treated him well by one part, he'd repay you tenfold.

He silently decided in his heart that from now on, he would treat Lu Xianyuan better.

Of course, better was better, but he still had to hide some of his strength. A person always needed to keep some secrets to live long.

When he arrived at his home, his eyes suddenly sharpened.

A Source Opening Realm expert's five senses and six perceptions had grown far stronger; even the slightest change in the entire courtyard couldn't escape his senses.

There were many messy footprints on the ground, though mostly covered by snow, they were crystal clear in his eyes. Moreover, the entire yard was eerily quiet. Xiao Wu and Xiao Yue couldn't possibly be sleeping at this hour—it was highly unusual.

Still, he didn't show any abnormality. With a calm expression, he walked toward the main hall.

He didn't know what had happened to Xiao Wu and Xiao Yue. Alerting the enemy might get them both killed.

The moment he stepped into the main hall, a cold, gleaming longsword was placed against his neck from behind the side door.

"Don't move."

Lu Wangchuan swept his gaze across the room. Xiao Wu and Xiao Yue were both tied up like dumplings. Beside them stood five figures—one woman and four men, two of whom were still wearing bloodstained prison uniforms.

It was the Black Lotus Society, the ones who had raided the execution grounds.

He immediately said in a deep voice:

"This Humble One has always admired the Black Lotus Society's righteous cause and has no intention of being an enemy. You may take all the valuables in this residence, but please spare my life and the lives of my two servants."

The moment his words fell, a figure quietly slipped in from outside the door, speaking with a delighted voice:

"Sister-in-law, who would've thought this brat was a big catch. The Training Room has plenty of Spirit Elixir, enough to heal Brother Zhao and Brother Chen's injuries. And there are quite a few Silver Notes too!"

The woman looked at Lu Wangchuan, her eyes turning cold.

"A little brat like him has this much money? His family must be beasts who squeeze the common people dry. Kill him!"

Just as her words ended, Lu Wangchuan struck without warning. First, he punched the man behind him square in the chest, then drove another fist into the back of the man in front who was holding the Spirit Elixir, simultaneously snatching the sword that had been resting on his neck.

A Source Opening Realm expert's speed was like lightning, and their power was terrifyingly overwhelming. With two punches thrown in less than half a second, both men flew backward in opposite directions. The first had his entire chest shattered and his liver burst; the second had his spine completely crushed and crashed straight into the others.

"He's an expert!"

The five of them were shocked, cried out in alarm, and immediately scrambled to their feet.

Lu Wangchuan activated the Heavenly Dipper Eight Steps, pushing his speed to its peak. A silver flash streaked through the air. The four men had barely stood up before their throats were slit. The woman tried to grab Xiao Wu and Xiao Yue as hostages, but before her hand could even touch them, the sword blade pierced straight through her chest from behind.

"You want to rob me and still pin a crime on me, acting like you're some chivalrous hero robbing the rich to help the poor. What a moron!"

Shk—!

He pulled the sword out. She stared with wide, unwilling eyes before collapsing. Lu Wangchuan swung his blade again, cutting the ropes binding Xiao Wu and Xiao Yue. The two scrambled up in panic.

"Young... Young Master, should we report this to the authorities?"

"No need. Less trouble is better. Throw the bodies out onto the street while it's dark."

Lu Wangchuan had no desire to deal with the authorities. Besides, these people were no weaklings—one had reached the Bone Forging realm, and two were at the Tendons and Membranes Realm. Handing them over to the officials would just expose his own cultivation level too.

He searched the bodies and found only a small Storage Bag. Inside were just over twenty Thunderclap Bombs, a pitiful four hundred taels in Silver Notes, and a jade token of mediocre quality. Clearly, they had traveled light to rescue people and hadn't brought much treasure.

Not only a moron, but a broke one too!

Pfft!

That night, Lu Wangchuan used the cover of darkness to dump the bodies on the street, then resumed his frantic cultivation.

Ever since he had transmigrated into this world, he had kept up this monotonous routine without pause. But he understood—if you wanted to become a master, you had to endure loneliness.

The martial path had no shortcuts. Train in the bitter cold of winter's three nine-day periods and the scorching heat of summer's three fu days. Only through day after day, year after year, could one achieve anything.

Over the next few months, Jianghai City finally quieted down considerably. There were no more rebels like the Black Lotus Society.

Lu Wangchuan thought these rebels had finally settled down. Little did he know, they were secretly gathering strength for another major outbreak.

In the fifth year of Tian Yuan, Huang Tianlong, the supreme leader of the Black Lotus Society, issued a manifesto in Qing Zhou, denouncing dozens of corruption charges against the imperial court. He then proclaimed the slogan—Da Qian is dead, Huang Tian shall rise—and carved out territory to declare himself king. The common people flocked to his banner, rising up in revolt, seizing cities and lands, capturing several towns in succession.

For a time, his momentum was unmatched!

When Lu Wangchuan heard about this, he immediately jolted upright.

The style wasn't really the issue—Da Qian's corruption and chaos would naturally invite popular rebellion. But that line, "Da Qian is dead, Huang Tian shall rise," gave him a strange sense of familiarity.

It almost made him wonder if he wasn't the only transmigrator.

Later, he heard that Huang Tianlong had died from exhaustion after a night of battling ten favored concubines. With the Black Lotus Society leaderless, the imperial court scattered them in short order, and only then did Lu Wangchuan breathe a sigh of relief.

Someone that stupid probably wasn't a transmigrator.

Even if he was, his intelligence wasn't anything to fear.

Still, this incident made Lu Wangchuan more vigilant. In the future, he would avoid making enemies lightly, but once he did, he would have to kill them completely, grinding their bones to ash.

Otherwise, if he ran into one of those 'thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river' types, no matter how high he cultivated—even to the level of a great emperor—he might still meet a grim fate.

One day, Lu Wangchuan went to the Martial Hall for class. After it ended, Lu Xianyuan called him to the small courtyard.

"What level have you reached in the Limitless Sword Dao?"

"To answer the mentor, I've already reached the first level."

"And your cultivation?"

"I'm at the peak of the Tendons and Membranes Realm, about to break through to Bone Forging."

"Oh~."

Lu Xianyuan let out a long 'oh,' then added a remark.

"Below the Bone Forging Realm, one cannot master transcendent martial techniques."

The contract is signed—everyone can now cast monthly votes.