Ghost Soul

To avoid wasting time, Du Shaohai took the initiative to attack, intending to finish his opponent quickly.

"Sweep Away Demons!"

Du Shaohai used this move again, but unlike before, he unleashed five streams of fist force in rapid succession, each one unbelievably fast.

"Watch out, his fist force is incredibly domineering!"

Behind him, Cui Bai, who had experienced it firsthand, hurriedly warned him.

Lu Ming did not respond. To be honest, he had already seen through the other party's fist technique completely.

It might be domineering, but before him, it was nothing at all.

Thus, as the five streams of fist force came rushing at him, his figure suddenly darted out like a ghost, instantly slipping through the gaps between them and charging toward Du Shaohai himself.

What?

Du Shaohai was startled by the other party's speed. Just as he was about to react, a flash of blade light swept past his eyes.

With one strike, Lu Ming appeared off to one side, standing with his longsword tucked beneath his arm. Du Shaohai, meanwhile, stared blankly at the slashed-open clothes over his abdomen.

So fast!

Alarm surged through his heart. If this had been a life-and-death battle, he would already be dead.

The onlookers nearby were also somewhat stunned. They had not expected the fight to end so quickly, much less in such a bizarre manner.

"Did you all see that clearly?" someone asked in confusion.

"It was a blade technique. He actually drew his blade and struck in an instant, then returned it to its sheath just as quickly. At that speed, ordinary people would find it hard to defend against."

"It really was fast. I definitely couldn't block it. I reckon only senior brothers ranked within the top five hundred could withstand it."

"You lost. You can leave now, can't you?"

Although the Wuji Sect did not prohibit fights, it did not permit killing, nor did it allow people to inflict serious injuries on others.

Besides, under these circumstances, Lu Ming had no need to strike heavily. He had merely issued a warning. If the other party continued to pester him, then he could only make him suffer a little.

"This time, my skills were inferior. We'll compete again next time."

Du Shaohai gave Lu Ming a deep look, then quickly departed.

Lu Ming looked toward the others again. They too were only in the Early True Qi Realm, and their strength was likely not even comparable to Chu Yunxiao's. He was confident he could defeat them.

"We only came along with Du Shaohai. Sorry for disturbing you."

"That's right. I live on the neighboring Shanmu Peak. Let's gather again another day."

These people clearly had no confidence in blocking Lu Ming's lightning-fast strike either, so none of them lingered and they quickly left.

Soon, only Lu Ming and Cui Bai remained.

"Thanks. I never expected your strength to surpass mine by so much."

Cui Bai had always thought Lu Ming was only a little stronger than himself. How could he have imagined that Du Shaohai, whom he could not defeat, was not even worthy of a single move from Lu Ming?

Lu Ming shook his head and held up two fingers at him. "There are two things I want to say. Which one do you want to hear first?"

Cui Bai froze, not understanding what he meant. Then he said speechlessly, "Isn't that nonsense? No matter which one I choose, you'll still say the first one first."

Lu Ming smiled. "The first is that I began cultivating a very high-grade cultivation method early on. So it's only natural that I'm stronger than you."

"I could tell that long ago."

Cui Bai was not surprised. After all, Lu Ming was the descendant of an old friend of Elder Ming and Elder Gongsun. It was not strange for him to begin cultivating a high-level cultivation method from the start.

Not just him—disciples from great families were basically all like this.

Of course, high-level cultivation methods also came in different types. Some methods were of too high a grade, and cultivating them too early would only produce the opposite effect.

For one, they could refine the body's essence too fiercely, causing problems with the physical body.

For another, the inner qi cultivated would be too domineering for the meridians to withstand.

"Then what's the second thing?"

Without thinking much about it, he asked again.

"The second is that even if I cultivated the same method as you, I would still be confident that I'd be stronger than you."

Cui Bai was stunned again, then burst into laughter. He finally understood what Lu Ming meant by those two statements.

The first was to comfort him: he was only weak for now. The second was to stir up his fighting spirit: he should not lose heart.

"Interesting, interesting. Then wait for me. Once I switch to a Human-grade High-level Cultivation Method, I'll come compete with you again."

The gloom from before had indeed been swept away.

"Then I'll wait."

With that, Lu Ming turned and headed straight for his own courtyard.

Watching his retreating back, Cui Bai was deeply moved and muttered to himself:

"Cui Bai, Cui Bai, you've gone through three life-and-death crises and thought you could bear anything, yet you're still this fragile."

He clenched both fists, then said with resolute eyes, "The opponents ahead will only grow stronger and stronger. I can admit defeat, but I cannot stop moving forward."

Meanwhile, Lu Ming naturally had no idea what the person behind him was thinking. Right now, he was inspecting his own private courtyard.

He found it spacious and fully equipped.

Bedroom, kitchen, training room—everything was there.

After looking around, he began settling in. First, he took some of the less valuable items out of his storage ring so they would not take up space.

Storage rings were divided into four grades: low, middle, high, and supreme. The one in his hand was a low-grade storage ring. Perhaps Old Man Zhao had feared that possessing a treasure would invite disaster upon him, which was why he had given him one of this grade.

Still, although it was low-grade, it had the capacity of an entire room.

It was only because it contained all sorts of books that it seemed so cramped.

Now, he took out all those volumes and arranged them neatly. Then he removed some other unimportant items, leaving behind only some money and more than a dozen long sabers.

He had bought those dozen-plus sabers as backups before leaving Shuofeng City, lest his long saber be damaged in battle and his strength greatly diminished.

Speaking of which, Divine Weapons and Sharp Tools also existed in this world. Like storage rings, they were divided into low, middle, high, and supreme grades.

Even the lowest-grade Divine Weapon could shatter an ordinary weapon with a single clash.

Thus, a Divine Weapon provided an enormous boost to a Martial Artist's strength.

Naturally, such Divine Weapons and Sharp Tools were exceedingly rare and extremely expensive.

Generally, only those in the Gangqi Realm could begin to own them. Old Man Heavenly Saber had possessed a low-grade Divine Weapon saber, which had been stored inside his storage ring.

And that storage ring had been taken into the coffin with him.

Unfortunately, Lu Ming had not obtained it. He did not know who had picked it up, and he had regretted it for quite some time.

After tidying up, Lu Ming decided to go to the Weapon Pavilion first and collect a weapon.

Naturally, this weapon could not be a Divine Weapon, but it would certainly be stronger than those sold on the market. It should be considered a top-tier Mortal Weapon.

Lu Ming did not mind in the slightest. On the contrary, he was very pleased.

When he arrived outside Cui Bai's courtyard and invited him along, he found that Cui Bai had not yet finished settling in and wanted to visit the Martial Arts Pavilion first.

With no other choice, Lu Ming went on alone.

Upon arriving at the Weapon Pavilion, Lu Ming was somewhat surprised to find that the elder guarding the pavilion seemed to have been waiting specifically for him. The moment he saw Lu Ming, he directly handed him a suitable long saber.

"This saber was forged from Black Mountain Profound Iron. Though it does not rank among Divine Weapons, it is not far off. The sect specially prepared it for you."

Lu Ming accepted it and drew the blade. Its body was covered in jet-black patterns, yet its edge was white as snow. It looked as though slicing gold and cleaving jade would be no more difficult than a casual gesture.

Moreover, it gave off a constant sensation of sharp severing. As expected, it was only a hair inferior to a Divine Weapon.

"Thank you, Elder, and thank the sect as well. I will certainly cultivate diligently in the future."

Lu Ming liked the saber immensely. After sheathing it, he spoke his thanks.

"This is also what the sect ought to do."

The elder guarding the pavilion nodded in satisfaction, then reminded him, "Do not be too impatient either. Remember, haste makes waste. Just proceed steadily, step by step."

Lu Ming nodded. He had already learned that lesson the hard way. After thanking the elder once more, he left the Weapon Pavilion.

"From now on, I'll call you Ghost Soul."

Once outside, Lu Ming glanced at the long saber again, then placed it into his storage ring and headed toward the Martial Arts Pavilion.