Shadow Tracing

"Lan Wuying is right here."

Lu Ming's words struck like thunder, leaving everyone stunned.

"Where?" Wu Yong, the disciple from Kaishan Gate, was the first to speak, hastily becoming alert and scanning their surroundings.

The others snapped back to reality and also looked around. They saw nothing but the sound of wind blowing fallen leaves.

They could only look back at Lu Ming with confusion, hoping for an explanation.

Lu Ming wasn't just talking nonsense. He had already considered how Lan Wuying would attempt the theft on his way here.

Since he had set the date for the theft in advance, he naturally had a complete plan.

And it was impossible for these sect disciples who came here not to know the situation.

So, the problem was, how could the theft be successful under the strict guard of numerous sect disciples?

Lu Ming pondered and thought that disguise and infiltration were the most likely methods.

However, disguising himself as a servant of the Liu Family would likely lead to exposure and might not allow him to get close to the item being guarded.

Disguising himself as a sect disciple, on the other hand, would be much easier.

Firstly, the Liu Family wouldn't be able to verify if the person was truly a sect disciple, and the disciples from other sects didn't know each other anyway.

Secondly, as someone who came to help, he would naturally be assigned to guard the stolen item closely.

This would make it incredibly easy to succeed, without anyone noticing.

However, impersonating a sect disciple wasn't easy, as each sect had unique identity tokens.

Therefore, ambushing a sect disciple halfway and taking their place was highly probable.

One reason Lu Ming arrived late, besides the long journey, was that he had been on guard the entire way.

After all, he was only in the early stage of the Zhen Qi Realm and appeared the most vulnerable, making him a likely target.

As a result, he only encountered a group of bandits, wasting his time, and he thought he might have been overthinking it.

However, after some probing upon entering, he still found a clue.

It turned out that the reason he had spoken words belittling Lan Wuying earlier, besides refuting Chen Jiang and not losing face, was more importantly to provoke someone.

Anger is an emotion that can express many things.

Under his keen perception and deliberate observation, he actually discovered that one of the people present showed a unique and even stronger sense of anger.

This was why he had said Lan Wuying was right there.

Now, facing everyone's confusion and bewilderment, he laid out his entire reasoning.

After listening, everyone was shocked again. Lu Ming's reasoning was logical and well-supported, and his thought process was very clear.

Therefore, they couldn't help but believe him to about seventy percent.

"Brilliant, that must be it." Liu Qing, the son of the Old Patriarch Liu, couldn't help but exclaim.

Clearly, he hadn't realized the gravity of the situation yet.

As expected, no one paid attention to him. Instead, they all followed Lu Ming's gaze towards Wu Yong, the Kaishan Gate disciple who had spoken first.

At this moment, his expression changed.

"It's you!"

Lu Ming immediately caught Wu Yong's subtle change in expression, further verifying his reasoning. He decisively formed his fingers into a claw and lunged at the opponent.

Crack!

The sharp claw energy, like five blades, sliced through the air, reaching its target first.

Wu Yong had realized he was exposed when Lu Ming presented his reasoning.

However, he still held onto a sliver of hope. Now, the opponent was decisively attacking him.

Without time to think, he immediately retreated.

Swish!

Wu Yong's figure suddenly moved like a falling leaf, easily dodging Lu Ming's claw attack and drifting backward.

"Take this, Heavenly Net!"

Lu Ming wasn't disappointed by the missed strike. His body moved forward again, launching consecutive claw attacks.

This was the third move of the [Tiger Fiend Claw], the same technique the Black Tiger Gang's Sect Leader, Li Chonghu, had used to trap his movements.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!

In an instant, over a dozen sharp claw energies enveloped Wu Yong from all directions.

It felt inescapable.

"Hmph, a mere trick!"

Faced with the encirclement, Wu Yong sneered contemptuously. His body suddenly twisted like a nimble snake, weaving through the incoming claw strikes and breaking free from the encirclement.

"Since you've found me today, I won't play with you anymore. I'll settle the score next time!"

Wu Yong directly admitted his identity and attempted to flee.

However, at this moment, the others also made their move, attacking him from all directions.

"Lan Wuying, take my Blazing Fist!"

Li Chonghu of the Nine Tripod Sect ignited a flame around his body, appearing like a man on fire. This was not real fire, but intensely burning True Qi.

Wrapped in this True Qi, his fist resembled a fiery meteor trailing a long tail of flame as it hurtled towards Lan Wuying.

The remaining individuals also unleashed their unique skills.

Facing the endless stream of ultimate moves, Lan Wuying chuckled again. With a spin, his form suddenly split into four afterimages, breaking out from four directions.

"That's the Demonic Cult's Lightness Skill, Shadow Tracing."

Jiang Ruoshui of the Jade Luo Sect recognized the afterimages. She retracted her sword stance and shouted a warning, "Among the four afterimages, one is real. Each of you take one!"

"I'll take this one!"

Missing his target with a punch that shattered a house, Li Chonghu of the Nine Tripod Sect immediately lunged towards the closest afterimage.

"Then I'll take this one."

Zhou Heng of the Seven Fragrance Gate also chose an afterimage.

Lu Ming, needless to say, hadn't even used a third of his strength yet. He was curious to gauge the strength of the disciples from various sects.

Clearly, this was not the time for observation. He increased his power by one point, activated the Hundred Li Qi Merging Lightness Skill, and instantly swept towards an afterimage, bringing his palm down.

With a poof, the afterimage shattered like a bubble.

"As expected, it was fake."

Lu Ming wasn't surprised. The moment the opponent created the afterimages, his sharp senses had detected the anomaly.

He just wasn't entirely sure, and since that particular afterimage was the closest to him, he didn't want to give it an opening.

Now that it was verified, he quickly looked towards Jiang Ruoshui's direction.

As expected, the other two directions were also fake. Only Jiang Ruoshui had encountered the real person.

"Hmph, treating me as an escape route, take this Hibiscus Soul Seal!"

Clearly displeased at being used as an escape route, Jiang Ruoshui's expression soured. As she swung her sword, a funnel shape formed around her, with waves of sword energy shooting outwards, creating a vortex.

The wide opening of the funnel enveloped Lan Wuying, as if intending to tear him to shreds.

"What a powerful sword technique."

Lu Ming couldn't help but praise it. True to its name, the sword energy under this Hibiscus Soul Seal was so dense that it left virtually no openings.

His Tiger Fiend Claw's Heavenly Net was still a net, allowing for evasion.

But this funnel was completely impenetrable.

Lan Wuying would likely have a hard time breaking through and would have to retreat.

As expected, Lan Wuying's relaxed expression finally vanished. Heaven knows, he had only thought that Jiang Ruoshui's direction offered complex terrain, making escape easier.

But it seemed he had run into the most formidable opponent.

Facing such dense sword energy, he couldn't find any gaps. Just as Lu Ming had guessed, he could only choose to retreat.

At this moment, Li Chonghu of the Nine Tripod Sect attacked again with his fiery fist.

Lu Ming and Zhou Heng from the Seven Fragrance Gate also stopped holding back, flying forward.

Facing the combined assault once more, Lan Wuying felt immense pressure, as the encirclement was now even tighter.

As for a head-on confrontation, while his strength was not weak, he even felt stronger than Chen Jiang of the Nine Heavens Sect, he couldn't possibly withstand the combined attack of four people.

Even if he managed to injure one of them, he would still have to face the attacks of the other three.

Especially with Lu Ming, whose palm strikes were powerful, he didn't have the True Qi shield that Chen Jiang possessed.

Therefore, he no longer hesitated. His body exploded outwards again. Ignoring the afterimages, he used his superior lightness skill to suddenly ascend into the air, intending to escape the encirclement from above.

Poof.

The few individuals, now prepared, immediately shattered the afterimages and continued towards Lan Wuying.

However, at this moment, a loud shout echoed.

"All you young heroes, quickly move aside!"

The shout came from Old Patriarch Liu, who had left earlier and disappeared. He had returned, now holding a finely woven fishing net, adorned with sharp fishhooks and spikes.

It turned out he hadn't come completely unprepared. Based on his experience, dealing with someone with exceptional lightness skills required a net, like catching a bird.

So, he had long prepared a net woven from fine iron threads, which he had placed around his ancestral cultivation method.

He had just gone to retrieve it.

"Hah!"

The Old Patriarch Liu, like a weathered eagle, soared into the air and cast the fine iron net towards Lan Wuying.

Lan Wuying finally lost his composure. His face contorted in terror, and he tried to change direction to dodge, but it was too late.

Lu Ming and the others' ranged attacks had already arrived.

This time, there was no escape.

Bang!

Lan Wuying narrowly dodged the attack once more, but was caught squarely by the cast fishing net.

He tried to use his formidable True Qi to shatter it, only to find the net incredibly resilient, impossible to break immediately.

Lu Ming and the others naturally wouldn't give him another chance. They directly attacked him with a flurry of punches and kicks.

This killed him on the spot, and he fell to the ground.