Ghost

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

"Sweep Away Demons!"

Du Shaohai used this move again, but compared to before, this time he unleashed five streams of fist force in a row, their speed astonishingly fast.

"Be careful! His fist force is extremely overbearing!"

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 his opponent's fist techniques completely.

Although they were overbearing, they were nothing in front of him.

Thus, when faced with the five incoming streams of fist force, his figure suddenly swept out like a ghost. In an instant, he passed through the gaps between them and charged toward Du Shaohai himself, who was attacking from behind.

What?

Du Shaohai was startled by his opponent's speed. Just as he was about to react, a saber light flashed before his eyes.

After one strike, Lu Ming appeared to the side, standing with his long saber in his arms. Du Shaohai, meanwhile, stared blankly at the clothes sliced open across his abdomen.

So fast!

He was horrified. If that had been a life-or-death battle, he would already have been 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 see clearly what happened?" someone asked in confusion.

"It was saber technique. His opponent actually managed to draw his saber and slash in an instant, then sheath it just as quickly. With that speed, ordinary people would have a hard time defending against it."

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

"You lost. You can leave now, right?"

Although the Wuji Sect did not prohibit fighting, it did not permit killing or seriously injuring others.

Besides, given the circumstances, there was no need for Lu Ming to strike heavily. He had merely issued a warning. If his opponent continued pestering 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 before leaving quickly.

Lu Ming then looked toward the others. They were all only at the early Zhen Qi Realm, and their strength was probably inferior even to Chu Yunxiao's. He was confident he could defeat them.

"We only came with Du Shaohai. Sorry for the disturbance."

"That's right. I live at Shanmu Peak next door. Let's meet again sometime."

Clearly lacking the confidence to withstand Lu Ming's blindingly fast saber strike, these people no longer lingered and quickly left.

Before long, only the two of them remained at the scene.

"Thank you. I didn't expect your strength to be so much greater than mine."

Cui Bai had always thought Lu Ming was at most a little stronger than him. How could he have imagined that Du Shaohai, whom he himself could not defeat, would not even be able to withstand a single move from Lu Ming?

Lu Ming shook his head. Looking at him, he held up two fingers and said, "I have two things to say. Which one do you want to hear first?"

Cui Bai was stunned, unable to understand what he meant. He then said speechlessly, "Isn't that nonsense? No matter which I choose, won't you still say one of them first?"

Lu Ming smiled. "First, I began cultivating a high-level cultivation method long ago. So it's only natural that I'm stronger than you."

"I could tell that much."

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

Not to mention him, the disciples of those great lineages were basically all the same.

Of course, high-level cultivation methods also had different classifications. If one cultivated a method of too high a level too early, it would only backfire.

First, refining the essence within the body too forcefully could cause problems with the physical body.

Second, the internal energy produced through cultivation could be too overbearing for the meridians to withstand.

"Then what's the second thing?"

Without thinking too much about it, he asked again.

"The second thing is that even if I cultivated the same method as you, I'd still be confident I could surpass you."

Cui Bai was stunned again, then burst out laughing. He now understood what Lu Ming meant by those two statements.

The first was meant to comfort him: You're only temporarily weaker.

The second was meant to stir his fighting spirit: Don't lose heart.

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

The gloom from earlier had indeed been swept away.

"Then I'll be waiting."

Leaving him with that, Lu Ming walked straight toward his own courtyard.

Watching his departing back, Cui Bai was deeply moved. He muttered to himself:

"Cui Bai, oh Cui Bai. You've weathered three brushes with death, yet you thought you could bear everything. In the end, you're still this fragile."

He clenched both fists, then said with a resolute gaze, "My opponents will only grow stronger from here on, but I may admit defeat—I cannot stop moving forward."

On the other side, Lu Ming naturally had no idea what the person behind him was thinking. At that moment, he was examining his private courtyard.

He discovered that it was spacious and fully equipped.

There was everything one could need: a bedroom, kitchen, training room, and more.

After looking around, he began settling in. First, he took out some of the less valuable things from his Storage Ring so they would not take up space.

Storage Rings were divided into four grades: low, medium, high, and supreme. The one in his possession was a low-grade Storage Ring. Perhaps Old Man Zhao had feared that he would invite disaster by possessing a treasure, which was why he had given him one of this grade.

Although it was low-grade, it was still the size of a room.

It only seemed cramped because he had stored all kinds of books inside.

Now, he took out all those books and arranged them properly. He then removed some other unimportant things, leaving behind only some money and more than a dozen long sabers.

He had bought those dozen-odd sabers before leaving Shuofeng City as spares, so that if his long saber broke during a battle, his strength would not be greatly reduced.

Speaking of which, divine weapons also existed in this world. Like Storage Rings, they were divided into four grades: low, medium, high, and supreme.

Even the lowest-grade divine weapon would shatter an ordinary weapon at the slightest contact.

Thus, a divine weapon provided a Martial Artist with a tremendous boost in strength.

Of course, such a divine weapon was naturally extremely rare and enormously expensive.

Generally, only those in the Gang Qi Realm could begin to possess one. Old Man Heavenly Saber had a low-grade divine saber, which was stored inside his Storage Ring.

As for the Storage Ring, he had brought it 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 the matter for quite some time.

After tidying up, Lu Ming planned to go to the weapon pavilion first and claim a weapon.

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

Lu Ming did not dislike it at all. On the contrary, he liked it very much.

He went outside Cui Bai's courtyard intending to invite him along, but Cui Bai had not finished tidying up and wanted to go to the Martial Skill Pavilion first.

With no other choice, Lu Ming went ahead alone.

When he arrived 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. Upon seeing him, the elder directly handed him a suitable long saber.

"This saber was forged from Black Mountain Profound Iron. Although it is not among the ranks of divine weapons, it is not far from one. The sect prepared it especially for you."

Lu Ming took it and drew it for a look. He found that the entire saber was covered in black patterns, while its edge was as white as snow. It looked as though cutting gold and severing jade would be child's play.

It also gave off a constant sensation of cutting. Sure enough, it was only a hair's breadth inferior to a divine weapon.

"Thank you, Elder, and thank you, sect. I'll definitely work hard at cultivation from now on."

Lu Ming liked the saber very much, so after sheathing it, he voiced his thanks.

"This is what the sect ought to do."

The elder guarding the pavilion nodded in satisfaction, then reminded him, "Don't be too impatient, either. You should know that haste makes waste. Just build your foundation steadily."

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."

Once he was outside, Lu Ming took another look at the long saber, then placed it in his Storage Ring and headed toward the Martial Skill Pavilion.