Shadow Tracing

"Lan Wuying is here."

Lu Ming's words were like a thunderclap, leaving everyone stunned.

"Where?" Wu Yong of the Kaishan Gate was the first to speak. He hurriedly went on guard and swept his gaze around.

The others came to their senses and looked around as well, but apart from the sound of wind stirring fallen leaves, there was no other movement.

They could only look back at Lu Ming in confusion, hoping he would explain.

Lu Ming was not making things up. On his way here, he had already considered how Lan Wuying might attempt the theft.

Since Lan Wuying had chosen the date of the theft in advance, he naturally had a complete plan.

And since these disciples from the sects had come over, Lan Wuying could not possibly be unaware of the situation.

So the question was: How could he succeed in the theft under the tight guard of all these sect disciples?

After turning the matter over in his mind, Lu Ming felt that disguising himself and infiltrating the place was the most likely method.

Disguising himself as a servant of the Liu Family would make it easy to give himself away, and he might not even be able to get close to the guarded item.

Disguising himself as a sect disciple, however, would be much easier.

First, the Liu Family could not confirm whether the sect disciples who had come were genuine. Besides, the disciples of the various sects did not know one another;

Second, as people who had come to help, they would naturally have to guard the stolen item at close range.

That would make it extremely easy to succeed without anyone noticing.

However, sect disciples were not so easy to impersonate. After all, every sect had its own unique identity token.

Thus, ambushing a sect disciple halfway, taking his place, was entirely possible.

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

After all, he was only at the Early Zhen Qi Realm and looked the weakest. He was very likely to become the target.

In the end, he had encountered only one bandit gang, wasting his time and making him think he had been overthinking things.

However, after testing the waters upon entering, he still discovered something amiss.

The reason he had deliberately spoken disparagingly of Lan Wuying earlier was not only to refute Chen Jiang without losing momentum.

More importantly, he had intended to provoke someone into anger.

Anger was an emotion that could reveal many things.

With his keen perception and deliberate observation, he had truly discovered that one person's anger was different from the others'.

It was also far more intense.

That was why he had said that Lan Wuying was here.

Now, facing everyone's doubt and confusion, he told them all of his deductions.

After hearing him out, everyone was shocked once again. Lu Ming's reasoning was well-founded, and his train of thought was exceptionally clear.

Thus, they believed him by about seventy percent.

"Brilliant! It must be so." Liu Qing, the son of Old Patriarch Liu, could not help praising him aloud.

Clearly, he still had not realized what kind of situation they were in.

Sure enough, no one paid him any attention. Instead, following Lu Ming's gaze, they all looked toward the Kaishan Gate disciple who had spoken first—Wu Yong.

Wu Yong's expression changed.

"It's you!"

Lu Ming immediately caught the subtle change in Wu Yong's expression, confirming his deduction once more. He decisively formed his fingers into claws and lunged at him.

Crack!

The sharp claw force was like five blades, slicing through the air and arriving first.

When Lu Ming had voiced his deductions, Wu Yong had already realized that his identity was about to be exposed.

He had still harbored a sliver of hope, but now his opponent had actually attacked him without hesitation.

With no time to think, he immediately retreated.

Whoosh!

Wu Yong's figure suddenly became like a falling leaf. He easily evaded Lu Ming's claw strike and drifted backward.

"Take my Heavenly Net as well!"

His claw strike missed, but Lu Ming was not disappointed. His figure closed in again as he unleashed a succession of claws.

It was precisely the third form of the Tiger Fiend Claw. Back then, Li Chonghu, Sect Leader of the Black Tiger Gang, had used this move to seal off his escape routes.

Sss, sss, sss, sss!

In an instant, more than a dozen sharp claw forces enveloped Wu Yong from all directions.

They formed a net so tight that not even wind could pass through.

"Hmph, a trifling trick!"

Facing the encirclement, Wu Yong smiled contemptuously. His body suddenly twisted, like a nimble snake threading a needle, weaving past one claw force after another and breaking free of the encirclement.

"Now that you've discovered me, I won't play with you anymore. I'll settle this score next time!"

Wu Yong had essentially admitted his identity outright, and he actually intended to leave.

But by then, the others had also taken action. Each attacked from a different direction, surrounding him.

"Lan Wuying, take my Blazing Fist!"

A blazing flame ignited around Yu Shan of the Nine Tripod Sect, making him look like a man of fire. It was not real fire, but scorching True Qi.

Wrapped in this True Qi, his fist was like a crimson meteor, dragging a long tail of flames as it thundered toward Lan Wuying.

The others also unleashed their own ultimate techniques.

Facing one formidable move after another, Lan Wuying let out another light laugh. With a twist of his body, he suddenly transformed into four afterimages and broke out in four directions.

"This is the Demonic Cult's movement technique, Shadow Tracing."

When Jiang Ruoshui of the Jade Luo Sect saw the afterimages, she withdrew her sword stance and shouted a warning: "Only one of the four afterimages is real. Take one each!"

"I'll take this one!"

His punch had struck empty air and shattered only a house. Yu Shan of the Nine Tripod Sect immediately charged toward the nearest afterimage.

"Then I'll take this one."

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

There was no need to mention Lu Ming. Even now, he had not used thirty percent of his strength. Instead, he had wanted to see what the disciples of the various sects were capable of.

This was clearly not the time to watch, so he raised his strength by one level, activated the Hundred Li Qi Merging movement technique, and instantly swept toward an afterimage before bringing down a palm.

With a puff, the afterimage immediately shattered like a bubble.

"Sure enough, it was fake."

Lu Ming was not surprised. At the instant his opponent had split into afterimages, his keen perception had already detected something unusual.

He simply had not dared to confirm it. Besides, this afterimage was the closest to him, and he could not risk letting Lan Wuying exploit an opening.

Now that it had been verified, he hurriedly looked toward Jiang Ruoshui.

Sure enough, the afterimages in the other two directions were fake. Only Jiang Ruoshui had encountered the True Person.

"Hmph, you actually chose me as your breakthrough point. Take my Hibiscus Soul Seal!"

Clearly displeased at being chosen as the escape route, Jiang Ruoshui waved her long sword. As sword qi shot out around her, she formed a funnel with herself at its center.

The funnel's wide mouth naturally enveloped Lan Wuying, as though it intended to grind him to pieces.

"What an incredible sword technique."

Lu Ming could not help praising it. Just as its name suggested, the sword qi unleashed by the Hibiscus Soul Seal was so dense that it had left almost no gaps.

The Heavenly Net in his Tiger Fiend Claw was still a net, leaving room for someone to dodge.

This funnel, however, was completely airtight.

Lan Wuying would find it extremely difficult to pass through it and could only retreat.

Sure enough, Lan Wuying's expression finally lost its ease. Heaven knew he had only thought that the terrain around Jiang Ruoshui was complicated and would make escape convenient.

Instead, he seemed to have encountered the most troublesome opponent of all.

Facing such a dense barrage of sword qi, he could not thread through the gaps. Just as Lu Ming had guessed, he could only retreat.

At that moment, Yu Shan of the Nine Tripod Sect came charging in again, his fists wreathed in flames.

Lu Ming and Zhou Heng of the Seven Fragrance Gate also stopped standing by and swept forward.

Facing the encirclement once more, Lan Wuying felt immense pressure, because this time the circle around him was even tighter.

As for meeting them head-on, although his strength was not weak—in fact, he was confident that he was even stronger than Chen Jiang of the Nine Heavens Sect—he still could not withstand the attacks of all four of them.

Even if he injured one person, he would still have to face attacks from the other three.

Especially with Lu Ming among them, whose palm force was fierce and powerful. Lan Wuying did not possess Chen Jiang's True Qi shield.

Thus, he stopped hesitating. His figure exploded apart once more, and without caring about the afterimages, he relied on his superb movement technique to shoot upward in midair, intending to escape the encirclement from above.

Puff!

The prepared group immediately shattered the afterimage, then continued pursuing Lan Wuying.

But at that moment, a loud shout rang out.

"Young heroes, quickly move aside!"

The one shouting was Old Patriarch Liu, who had left earlier and vanished without a trace. He had returned, and in his hands was a fine-meshed fishing net covered with sharp hooks and spikes.

It turned out that he had not been completely unprepared. Based on his experience, dealing with someone whose movement technique was superb was like catching a bird—with a net.

He had prepared a net woven from fine strands of refined iron long ago and placed it around the family's inherited cultivation manual.

He had gone to retrieve it just now.

"Ha!"

Old Patriarch Liu was like an aged flying eagle as he soared into the air, then cast the refined-iron net down toward Lan Wuying.

Lan Wuying could no longer keep his composure. His expression turned horrified, and although he tried to change direction and evade, it was too late.

Lu Ming and the others' attacks from afar had also arrived.

This time, there was no escape.

Bang!

Lan Wuying once again narrowly evaded the attacks, only to be caught squarely by the spread-open fishing net.

He tried to use his powerful True Qi to break the net apart, but discovered that it was extremely tough and could not be torn through in one blow.

Lu Ming and the others naturally gave him no further chance, striking his body directly with fists and kicks.

He died on the spot and fell downward.