Chasing

Lu Ming heard Old Man Zhao's question and instinctively raised the saber in his hand for a look.

Over the past few days, besides the weapons shopkeeper who had come to present him with the saber, many others had also visited from time to time.

Some had come to befriend him, while others had come to invite him to join their factions.

For example, the Yang Family, one of the three great lineages, had sent someone to offer him the position of an elder from an outside lineage.

The salary they offered was quite enticing as well.

However, he had rejected them all.

Still, these people could be considered friendly. The unfriendly ones might still be watching from the sidelines, and who knew what schemes they were harboring against him.

Of course, he knew Old Man Zhao could shield him from them, but he did not want to trouble him because of this.

Thus, he planned to join a sect.

That way, he would have protection while also learning many cultivation arts and martial techniques.

Moreover, there were many geniuses his age within the sects. Competing with one another would be even more beneficial for improving his strength.

Now that Old Man Zhao had asked, he told him his thoughts in full.

Old Man Zhao did not seem surprised by his choice. He said:

"There are quite a few sects in Zhao. There are more than a dozen Ninth-Rank Sects, six Eighth-Rank Sects, and three Seventh-Rank Sects. Have you decided which one to join?"

Without hesitation, Lu Ming said, "Naturally, I'll choose the strongest one."

"Ambitious."

Old Man Zhao nodded, then analyzed the matter for him. "The three Seventh-Rank Sects are the Nine Heavens Sect, the Jade Luo Sect, and the Wuji Sect."

"Of these three, in terms of overall strength, the Nine Heavens Sect is the strongest, the Jade Luo Sect comes second, and the Wuji Sect ranks third."

"Then I'll go to the Nine Heavens Sect. With my talent, I'm sure I can successfully join."

Lu Ming spoke directly.

Old Man Zhao laughed heartily. "If you fail, that can only mean the Nine Heavens Sect is blind. They might regret it to death in the future."

"Then, Old Man, you..."

Lu Ming hesitated. Truth be told, although he had not spent much time with Old Man Zhao, he was still somewhat reluctant to leave so suddenly.

Sensing the emotion revealed by Lu Ming, Old Man Zhao felt both gratified and touched. "I'm leaving too."

"Leaving?"

Lu Ming was somewhat surprised. Then, thinking of the other man's mysterious background, he asked, "You still can't tell me your identity?"

Old Man Zhao shook his head. "It isn't time yet. But with your talent, I believe we'll meet again soon. When that happens..."

He did not continue.

Lu Ming said, "When that time comes, if you need me to help with anything, I won't refuse."

"Haha..."

Hearing this, Old Man Zhao laughed heartily. "Then this trip of mine was worth it. Here, take this."

After laughing, Old Man Zhao suddenly tossed something to Lu Ming.

"This is a Storage Ring?"

Lu Ming caught it in confusion. When he saw that it was the thing he had yearned for day and night, he was astonished. "This..."

"Take it. This thing is nothing to me. Oh, right, all the books I've collected over the years are inside too. I'm giving those to you as well."

Hearing this, Lu Ming had no choice but to accept it.

Afterward, Old Man Zhao did not leave immediately, and Lu Ming would not set off right away either. He planned to wait until he broke through to the ninth layer of Inner Qi before leaving.

That would make traveling far safer.

Half a month passed in the blink of an eye. At night, inside the room,

Lu Ming sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, entering a meditative state. The surroundings were utterly silent, while inside Lu Ming's body, it was a completely different story—as though the sound of a great river surging could be heard.

This was the sound produced as Inner Qi circulated through his meridians in a complete cycle.

Other people's sounds were not nearly so loud. From this, it was clear just how rapidly the Inner Qi within Lu Ming's body was circulating.

At last, it was as though flowing water had smashed through a dam blocking its path. Amid the cracking sounds, the roar of the surging river gradually faded away.

This was because the flowing water had gained more space, causing its momentum to grow calmer.

It also meant that Lu Ming had broken through and reached a new realm.

After a while, he finally opened his eyes.

"Ninth-layer Inner Qi. I finally made it."

After sensing the strength he had gained from this breakthrough, Lu Ming felt that if he faced Li Chonghu again, he could definitely finish him within ten moves.

And if he also used his Saber Intent Prototype, he could kill him in a single move.

Unfortunately, there would be no chance now. He had heard that after fleeing last time, Li Chonghu had not returned to the Black Tiger Gang. Instead, he had vanished without a trace.

This had caused the Black Tiger Gang to fall apart completely.

Lu Ming had always found the matter somewhat suspicious. Logically speaking, Li Chonghu should not have been frightened so badly.

He must have encountered some other trouble—or perhaps he was afraid that after being injured, another enemy would take the opportunity to come knocking.

Thus, he had gone into hiding.

However, Lu Ming did not care too much. After keeping it in mind, he put the matter aside.

He finished circulating his cultivation and went to sleep. The next day, after packing up, Lu Ming formally bade Old Man Zhao farewell.

The old man had said that he would only leave after Lu Ming set off first.

"Go on, go on."

Old Man Zhao waved his hand.

Thus, Lu Ming put away his tender feelings, placed a bamboo hat draped with black gauze on his head, and then resolutely turned and left.

"Old Man, until next time."

His voice was close, but his figure grew farther and farther away.

"Brat, you're getting sentimental even when you're leaving. Oh, well. There are quite a few petty villains spying around here lately. I'll protect you for one more stretch."

Old Man Zhao was rocking on his reclining chair when he suddenly vanished.

Shuofeng City lay in the northwestern part of Zhao, not far from the border with the neighboring country.

Therefore, to reach the sects within Zhao, one had to travel either east or south.

The Nine Heavens Sect lay directly to the south, so Lu Ming went straight out through the southern gate. Since he was wearing a bamboo hat, no one recognized him, saving him a great deal of trouble.

However, some trouble could not be avoided. It seemed that someone was specifically watching him.

They had started watching him from the moment he crossed the single-plank bridge.

"Hmph. I hope you can keep up."

Lu Ming's senses were sharp, so he naturally noticed something amiss. He was not afraid. After glancing behind him, he suddenly accelerated.

"He noticed us. What do we do?"

Three people wearing identical bamboo hats emerged from the crowd.

"Once we reach the open wilderness, where there's nowhere to hide, we'll be discovered sooner or later. Chase him directly!"

"Understood."

The three of them then quickly pursued Lu Ming's departing figure.

Just like that, the two groups traveled one after the other and soon arrived at a desolate, uninhabited area.

After that burst of speed, Lu Ming had finally drawn out everyone behind the scenes. He had also roughly judged their strength: two in the early stage of the Zhen Qi Realm and one in the middle stage.

He simply did not know what these three wanted or why they were pursuing him so relentlessly.

Of course, there was no doubt that they had come with hostile intentions.

He wondered whether he should ignore them and continue on his way, or stop and fight them.

If he fought, he had now comprehended the Saber Intent Prototype and was confident that even if he could not defeat them, he could at least escape.

If he ignored them, they would catch up sooner or later. After all, he could not match someone in the Zhen Qi Realm in terms of endurance.

Although he had Qi Replenishing Pills, there was no guarantee that his opponents did not have them as well.

Thus, it would be better to stop and fight them directly. At the very least, he had to suppress their arrogance.

Having made his decision, Lu Ming stopped wasting Inner Qi and halted in a suitable place. At the same time, he took a Qi Replenishing Pill to restore the Inner Qi he had already expended.

After thinking about it, he took another pill and held it in his mouth.

That way, he would not have to swallow it during the battle when he had no time to spare.

To be honest, the Qi Replenishing Pills Dugu Mingri had given him were of rather high quality. A single pill could immediately restore sixty percent of his Inner Qi.

The ones he had bought himself from the shops could not reach this level.

The three people pursuing him were also very fast. Lu Ming had only stopped for a dozen breaths before they arrived nearby.

"You're not running anymore?"

Truthfully, all three of them were somewhat surprised that Lu Ming had stopped specifically to wait for them.

Thus, as soon as they drew near, the person on the far right could not help asking.

"I don't want to run anymore." Lu Ming's tone was indifferent.

"Looks like you've accepted your fate."

This time, it was the person in the middle who spoke. He had the highest cultivation—the middle stage of the Zhen Qi Realm.

"I won't accept my fate."

Lu Ming shook his head, then asked, "We've never met before, so why have you pursued me relentlessly?"

The three suddenly fell silent, seemingly considering how to explain it to him.

However, at that moment, a voice came from the distance. It turned out that another person had followed behind the three—a sword-bearing youth.

"I can answer that question for them!"