Of course, there were those who worried as well.
Lu Feng's expression was more serious than ever. An air of wild, unrestrained pride radiated from him, and his brows brimmed with confidence.
Jiang Ruoyun was moved, her face full of concern. She understood that Lu Feng was doing this for her.
Watching Lu Feng step forward and shield her with his body, Jiang Ruoyun stood frozen for a moment, her eyes reddening. "Why are you being so foolish? How could you possibly survive two palm strikes...?"
In her eyes, Lu Feng was only at the Two Soul Realm. Whether in spiritual energy or physical strength, he was inferior even to her.
He could not withstand even a single palm from Yan Mingchi, much less two palms that could employ a stacked technique. This was no different from throwing his life away.
Tang Yuan stared wide-eyed at Lu Feng, utterly incredulous. "Brother Lu Feng, are you serious?"
Lu Feng's gaze was unwavering, and his body did not sway in the slightest. Opening his mouth, he told everyone once more, "I'll take the remaining two palms!"
"No!"
"You can't!"
The two cries rang out at once. One was Jiang Ruoyun's attempt to stop him, while the other came from Yan Jingjing.
It was only natural for Jiang Ruoyun to stop him, but Yan Jingjing's concerned objection seemed somewhat abrupt.
"I... I was only... only afraid Brother Mingchi would beat him to death and bring trouble upon himself."
Yan Jingjing seemed to realize that her words had been inappropriate and hastily tried to explain.
Yet that explanation only made it seem more like a case of hiding a silver hoard three hundred taels away.
Lu Feng did not retreat. He nodded gratefully at Yan Jingjing. "Thank you, but protecting my master is my duty."
To ensure that no one could stop him, Lu Feng resolutely revealed the existence of the contract formation. That vivid cloud-shaped mark appeared between his brows once again, silently declaring itself to the surroundings.
"You're actually... Jiang Ruoyun's slave...?" Yan Jingjing blurted out, her expression shaken and somewhat despondent.
The rest of Yan Manor was equally startled. The calmness Lu Feng displayed and the breezy ease with which he handled matters made him look nothing like a slave.
Yet the "cloud" mark between Lu Feng's brows could not be faked.
Lu Feng's words also left everyone present unable to stop him any longer. Instead, they came to admire his loyalty in protecting his master.
Jiang Ruoyun still wanted to stop him, but Lu Feng met her with an unwavering look.
Leaning a little closer, Lu Feng whispered, "Trust me. He can't hurt me."
A flush instantly rose to Jiang Ruoyun's cheeks. Feeling Lu Feng's breath brush against her ear, she did not even catch all of what he said. Vaguely, she only heard the words, "Trust me."
"Brother Yan, please enlighten me."
Lu Feng looked calm, but his gaze was exceptionally serious.
Back in Worryfree Village, Exquisite Steps had broken through to the second level, but he had never been able to fully master it.
Lu Feng wanted to use this brush with life and death to take a gamble and completely grasp the second-level realm of Exquisite Steps, Shadowy Evasive Steps.
Jiang Ruoyun remained rooted to the spot, staring blankly at Lu Feng, the shyness still lingering on her face.
The feeling of having someone step forward to protect her was wonderful. She could not help but feel a little more dependent on that towering figure.
Seeing Lu Feng's resolute stance, Yan Mingchi was somewhat moved. With a trace of respect, he confirmed, "Are you sure you want to take two palms?"
"If it's two palms, I'll use my stacked technique. If you can't withstand it and die, don't blame me."
There was some reluctance in Yan Mingchi's words. Perhaps even he had not expected that the Stacked Palm he had never used on a person would be used today—and on someone only at the Two Soul Realm at that. It felt like using an ox-cleaver to kill a chicken.
Lu Feng nodded in confirmation. "Brother Yan, strike as you please. Life or death, I accept it."
The greater the pressure, the greater the stimulation it brought. Lu Feng had confidence in himself.
"Fine, you brought this upon yourself. Watch out!"
Yan Mingchi gave a loud shout and charged at Lu Feng.
Lu Feng's status as a contract slave made Yan Mingchi completely let go of his reservations. Before everyone's eyes, Lu Feng had voluntarily agreed to receive the palms regardless of life or death, so even killing him would bring no consequences.
Such was the sorrow of slaves. On this land, a slave's life was worth nothing. What did it matter if one died?
Feeling Yan Mingchi's fierce Palm Wind, Lu Feng focused. His knees bent slightly, his lower abdomen drew back, and his body silently assumed the posture of a backward leap.
He precisely calculated the moment he would be struck.
Two steps, one step...
Yan Mingchi's wrist flipped rapidly. He was clearly beginning to use the Stacked Palm technique. Even against a weak opponent at the Two Soul Realm, he had no intention of showing even the slightest mercy.
Lu Feng did not dodge in the slightest, and Yan Mingchi's palm held no mercy either. The strike landed perfectly on Lu Feng's chest, sending him flying straight backward.
Seeing this, Jiang Ruoyun's eyes instantly turned red. Disregarding everything else, she ran toward Lu Feng.
Yet at the instant Lu Feng was sent flying, Yan Mingchi's palm trembled again. He clearly felt that his second palm had... unexpectedly struck empty air?
Yan Mingchi stared blankly at his own palm, his expression full of astonishment and disbelief. How could his proudest Stacked Palm miss?
How could someone evade two palms separated by less than an instant?
Everyone present had sharp eyes. Even the dim light before dawn could not conceal their keen sight.
Yan Mingchi's second palm had indeed missed.
But what about the first palm?
Lu Feng had been sent flying a full thirty paces. He had clearly been hit.
Even just one palm should have been enough to take Lu Feng's life.
Yet Old Master Yan sighed in admiration. "What fine footwork."
Everyone was puzzled upon hearing this. Then they saw Lu Feng slowly rise in the distance. Apart from some dust on his clothes, he had suffered surprisingly little injury.
"How... how is that possible?"
Yan Mingchi cried out. It was already difficult for him to accept that the second palm had missed, but now it seemed that the first palm had "missed" as well?
"That's wonderful!"
Jiang Ruoyun cried out joyfully. She had already reached Lu Feng's side and was brushing the dust from his back. At that moment, her eyes held only Lu Feng, and only him.
To the others, this scene looked nothing like master and servant. They were plainly a sweet young couple.
The concern and worry on Jiang Ruoyun's face, her crescent-moon eyes curved in a smile, the joy overflowing from her expression—even a blind man could sense it!
Everyone smiled knowingly, silently deciding what the two were to each other. As for the contract formation, it was surely just a peculiar little amusement between a couple.
Seeing that Lu Feng was unharmed, Yan Jingjing also let go of the trace of worry in her heart. Watching the intimate behavior between Lu Feng and Jiang Ruoyun, her expression became thoughtful, resentful, and impossible to read.
Old Master Yan shifted his gaze from Lu Feng to Yan Mingchi. Seeing Yan Mingchi still standing there in deep thought, he frowned and said to Yan Zhengchi beside him, "Mingchi has likely suffered a heavy blow this time. Go and talk him through it."
Yan Zhengchi nodded solemnly. If Yan Mingchi developed a knot in his heart because of this, that would be Yan Manor's greatest loss.
The onlookers saw clearly while those caught in the situation remained confused. After thinking it over, nearly everyone present understood why Lu Feng had emerged unscathed, but Yan Mingchi still could not make sense of it.
"Mingchi." Yan Zhengchi walked over, patted him on the shoulder, and spoke.
Yan Mingchi snapped back to his senses, strode before Lu Feng, and roared, "What trick did you pull?"
Mistaking this for an attempt to harm Lu Feng, Tang Yuan flashed forward and stood in front of him.
That instinctive gesture moved Lu Feng deeply. He had always been the one protecting others. Being protected by someone else now seemed... not bad either.
Yan Zhengchi stepped forward and pulled Yan Mingchi back, lest he embarrass himself further. He explained softly, "Neither of your two palms harmed him in the slightest."
"The first palm did strike him, but he retreated along with your Palm Strength. You could say that he used the force of your palm to evade your Stacked Palm."
"How is that possible?!"
Yan Mingchi was speechless. He stared at Lu Feng in shock. How could this young man, only at the Two Soul Realm, possess such meticulous calculations?
Had he truly seen through the battle so thoroughly?
He had actually borrowed the enemy's force to dissolve a dead end?
Thinking back on it now, Lu Feng himself felt some lingering fear. Had he been even slightly careless just then, he would likely have been gravely injured or killed.
Yan Mingchi's Palm Strength had been somewhat greater than Lu Feng calculated. Even though he had seized the timing perfectly, he had not completely dispersed that force. He had still suffered a minor injury when he was sent flying, but had simply not shown it.
Before taking the palm, Lu Feng had already anticipated Yan Mingchi's use of the stacked technique between his two strikes. He had roughly guessed the speed at which the Stacked Palms overlapped.
Only then had he devised a method to borrow the force and shed the power of the first palm, while escaping the second palm in the process.
The interval between the two palms was extraordinarily brief. Without an extremely precise grasp of timing, it would have been impossible to evade the second palm's attack.
This was also thanks to Lu Feng mastering his footwork in time. At that critical moment, he had finally completely gained control of the second realm of Exquisite Steps, Shadowy Evasive Steps.
His footwork synchronized with the external force as he retreated together with it. In that instant, Lu Feng could feel the backward force brought by his footwork almost merge into one with Yan Mingchi's Palm Strength, without the slightest resistance. Only then had he been perfectly "sent flying."
To achieve this, one needed not only immensely rich [ ] combat experience.
One also needed an extremely precise grasp of timing, as well as perfect control over one's body.
Fortunately, he had expected the palm strikes. If this had been actual combat, then with Lu Feng's strength, he likely would not even have had the chance to evade the first palm.
Tang Yuan suddenly sensed a change in Lu Feng's aura and exclaimed in delight, "Brother Lu... you... you actually broke through?"
Lu Feng froze, then was greatly startled. Good fortune had come one after another—the Heroic Soul, the soul governing control over the body, had actually been opened.
At the moment he mastered Shadowy Evasive Steps, that Heroic Soul formation had unknowingly "acknowledged him as master." It was somewhat similar to when Lu Feng had opened the Heavenly Rush Soul three years ago; both had been accidental breakthroughs.
Once he calmed his mind, Lu Feng could clearly perceive the movement of every inch of skin on his body. His control over his body had also improved greatly compared to before.
If he took Yan Mingchi's two palms now, he would not suffer even a minor injury.
Before you continue