Primordial Qi

The Lu Family's lack of respect didn't sit well with the Mu Family members.

But they had long heard of Young Master Lu, and had no intention of making an issue of it.

Mu Yuan then smiled warmly and said:

"You're considerate, Nephew Lu. We did have something to attend to this morning, and kept you waiting. May I ask what brings you here?"

Lu Shui looked up at Mu Yuan, then said:

"I came for Mu Xue."

"Oh? Do tell." Mu Yuan sounded somewhat curious, as if he had no idea why Lu Shui had come to the Mu Family.

Lu Shui didn't care how the other man pretended. His purpose was clear:

"This matter requires Mu Xue to be present, so I'll trouble you Seniors to invite her here."

There was no point breaking off the engagement with these people.

He wanted to break it off in person, in front of Mu Xue.

Mu Yuan smiled and said:

"Since you've asked, Nephew, we can hardly refuse."

Then he called to someone outside:

"Ask the eldest miss to come here."

Mu Xue walked along a path in the Mu Family estate. Her expression was calm, without a trace of panic or hesitation.

After waiting for a long time, she had finally been summoned by the elders of her clan.

For her, this was something she had been looking forward to for a long time.

Mu Xue looked ahead. A flash of killing intent flickered in her eyes and vanished.

Then Mu Xue crossed the path and came out onto the main road. A straight walk would take her to the hall.

Just then, she heard voices behind her:

"Brother, that was Miss Mu, wasn't it? I heard the Lu Family is coming to break off the engagement today. I wonder what'll happen to her after this.

"But she brought it on herself, lying to the clan leader and the others. She was clearly a good-for-nothing, yet managed to pass herself off as a genius for over a decade.

"If she hadn't been the Lu Family Fiancee, who knows? She might've been stuck doing odd jobs.

"Now she's about to lose that status, too. But she's pretty, so maybe someone will take her as a concubine."

"Mu Xue may be a good-for-nothing, but the Young Master of the Lu Family is even more useless. I heard the Young Master of the Lu Family built up his cultivation entirely on spirit medicines. He won't get far.

"And forget his cultivation being useless. He's useless as a person, too, as stupid as a clown.

"Recently, the Qiao Family said they only let a little cultivation pressure slip in front of him, and that Young Master of the Lu Family was so scared he wet himself on the spot.

"Tsk, even if the Lu Family raised a dog, it wouldn't be that pathetic.

"That Lu Shui isn't even as good as a—"

He didn't finish the sentence. Suddenly, he felt as if something were pressing down on the air around him, and he couldn't speak.

As he stood there in shock, an invisible palm seemed to appear in the air.

It didn't hesitate for a moment. It swung straight at him.

Smack!

A sharp sound rang out.

The man was sent flying with a heavy slap, along with all the teeth in his mouth and a great deal of blood.

He was a Second Tier cultivator, but he hit the ground so hard that his cultivation fell from the Second Tier to the First Tier.

He and his sister stared around in terror from where they lay, with no idea what had happened.

Outside the courtyard, Mu Xue walked along the main road. She merely raised a hand to tuck back a loose strand of hair.

Then she continued on her way.

The hall lay straight ahead.

Lu Shui waited in the hall, in no hurry at all.

The Mu Family members didn't speak either. They were all waiting—for Mu Xue to arrive, and for Lu Shui to break off the engagement.

Everyone knew how things stood.

But until the ending arrived, they all had to play their parts.

Soon, someone came in to report:

"Clan leader, the eldest miss is outside."

"Let her in," Mu Yuan said, his voice somewhat low.

Hearing that Mu Xue was coming in, the corners of Lu Shui's mouth lifted slightly. He had finally been waiting for her.

Lu Shui stood in the hall without turning around. Mu Xue deserved to see only his imposing back.

Once Mu Xue came to his side, it would be time for him to break off the engagement.

He had to look the part.

"Mu Xue, let me see what kind of expression you'll make. The more shocked, heartbroken, and unwilling you look, the happier I'll be.

"I wonder if you'll shout, 'Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west—don't bully a poor young girl!'

"That would make it even better.

"I'll record the whole thing."

Lu Shui silently spoke to himself, eagerly anticipating what came next.

He had already planned out plenty of things.

For instance, what to do after breaking off the engagement, and what Mu Xue would do afterward.

His idea was simple: after breaking off the engagement, when Mu Xue looked most helpless and despairing, he would take her back to the Lu... Hm? Killing intent?

That killing intent felt so familiar.

Lu Shui had been curious just a moment ago, but now he was horrified.

Not because the killing intent was familiar, but because it had become almost tangible, trapping him completely.

In that instant, it felt as if he were standing atop a tiny pillar that pierced the boundless sky. On every side of him yawned the Endless Abyss.

If he dared move even a little, whether forward or backward, the Abyss would swallow him whole and grind him to dust.

As he felt all of this, a storm of emotion surged through Lu Shui.

How was this possible? How could this be?

The Slaughter Domain—was this Mu Xue's Slaughter Domain?

While Lu Shui stood there in shock, clear footsteps sounded in the hall. In his ears, they grew louder and louder, clearer with every step.

The sound struck straight at his mind, as if each step were landing on his consciousness.

The Nine Steps of Chaos?

Lu Shui couldn't believe it. He didn't believe it for a second. This was the supreme Chaos Heart Technique Mu Xue had created in her previous life specifically to deal with him.

Why could Mu Xue use it now?

And how had she unleashed the Slaughter Domain? Hadn't she lost all her cultivation?

Was the information wrong?

Where had things gone wrong?

Lu Shui wanted to turn around and look at Mu Xue, but her killing intent held him firmly in place. He couldn't turn his head.

The gap between them was too vast. Even if he hadn't used his Heaven and Earth Power before, he still couldn't stand against her.

Soon the footsteps stopped. Lu Shui caught a faint, delicate fragrance, and then he saw Mu Xue, with the air of a young girl about her.

But the moment he saw her, Lu Shui froze completely. He immediately lowered his head, forcing himself to look normal.

What had he just seen?

Primordial Qi, heavy as a mountain.

The terrifying Primordial Qi around Mu Xue could crush everything here.

What was Primordial Qi?

It was the original breath of all things between Heaven and Earth. Primordial meant the source.

Mu Xue had comprehended her Primordial Qi herself.

Lu Shui cultivated Heaven and Earth Power, while Mu Xue cultivated Primordial Qi. Lu Shui's Heaven and Earth Power could command Heaven and Earth, wielding boundless might, and grew even more powerful in the later stages.

But Mu Xue was different. She had cultivated Primordial Qi, and used it to cultivate in just one direction.

That direction was slaughter.

In that instant, Lu Shui understood. He knew why Mu Xue had lost all her cultivation, and he understood how she could use the Slaughter Domain against him. He also understood why she knew the Nine Steps of Chaos.

It was because Mu Xue, like him, had been reborn.

Not only that, she had been reborn an unknown amount of time before him.

Now that he knew all this, Lu Shui panicked. He was truly panicking. Mu Xue had attacked him as soon as she arrived. Did she know he had been reborn too?