Water-Severing Divine Ability!
With a thought, Lu Ming unleashed the power of his divine ability. The steel blade in his hand seemed to become an extension of his body, almost alive.
In his field of vision, a wisp of gray wind swept past. Whoosh! The blade in Lu Ming's hand slashed out.
Generally speaking, any attack—whether with a fist, palm, blade, or sword—stirred the air. Even when there was no wind, an attack would create it.
A blade slashing through the wind only made it gust harder, just as drawing a blade to cut water only made it flow faster.
Yet when Lu Ming struck, his blade imbued with the power of the Water-Severing Divine Ability. The wind snapped apart before the blade, and in an instant, that wisp of gray wind vanished!
The wind around him abruptly fell silent, and the air grew stifling.
"It can actually cut through wind!"
A flash of brilliance crossed Lu Ming's eyes. His heart leaped with delight as his guess was confirmed.
The essence of the Water-Severing Divine Ability lay in cutting off momentum—wind, water, or even an enemy's offensive momentum!
Even used on its own, this divine ability was already quite remarkable. And for Lu Ming, it could also work in tandem with the Point-Kill Divine Ability!
With the Point-Kill Divine Ability, Lu Ming could kill someone with a single finger if their aura was weaker than his.
Before, he could only strengthen his own aura through the Heaven Leak Divine Ability or Godly Movement Divine Ability, giving him some control over the difference in aura between himself and his opponent.
Now, by unleashing the Water-Severing Divine Ability, he could interrupt an enemy's attacks and weaken their aura.
As one waned and the other waxed, the enemy would retreat while he advanced. The conditions for using the Point-Kill Divine Ability would become even less restrictive.
"Not bad. This divine ability is really good!"
Lu Ming nodded in satisfaction. Then, brimming with enthusiasm, he continued cultivating the Formless Divine Art!
He had to reach Initial Completion as soon as possible, so he could wield two martial arts at once. After that, he would work toward cultivating three at the same time!
Once he did, each time he cultivated the Formless Divine Art, he would gain experience in three martial arts. Just thinking about it excited him.
Besides, every successful cultivation of the Formless Divine Art now earned him 24 points of Leg Dao experience.
Once he could succeed every time he practiced the Formless Divine Art, he would gain 1,440 experience points in a single day.
In just seven days, he could evolve a third Leg Dao Divine Ability from nothing!
Compared to the struggle of evolving the Acupoint Divine Ability, he now had various methods at his disposal that greatly shortened the time needed to evolve a third divine ability.
This left Lu Ming rather pleased with himself.
"Time to grind!"
[Currently evolving Leg Dao Divine Ability (176/10000)...]
[Currently evolving Blade Dao Divine Ability (19/1000)...]
The following night.
[Currently evolving Leg Dao Divine Ability (1880/10000)...]
[Currently evolving Blade Dao Divine Ability (1013/1000)...]
After a full day of cultivation, Lu Ming saw that his Blade Dao experience had filled up once again. Though his whole body was exhausted, his eyes were bright and his heart soared.
[Evolution complete!]
[Acquired Blade Dao Divine Ability: Gold-Inlaid.]
[Gold-Inlaid]: A golden-inlaid blade adorned with white jade, its light shining through windows at night. Let your mind roam freely; wield the gold-inlaid blade, and its radiance will illuminate all directions!
[Blade Dao Divine Abilities]: Water-Severing (Initial Completion), Gold-Inlaid (Initial Completion).
The Gold-Inlaid Divine Ability!
Lu Ming studied its name, unsure what it did. After carefully reading the description and contemplating the divine ability's mysteries, he nodded to himself.
The Gold-Inlaid Divine Ability allowed him to manifest his own aura through the blade in his hand and use it to pressure his enemies!
It was somewhat similar to the aura pressure of demons.
In the past, he had struggled to withstand the pressure at the Grand Martial Arts Arena as he tempered himself.
Now he could unleash a similar kind of aura pressure?
This divine ability was pretty good too!
And the stronger his own aura, the stronger the blade's aura pressure would be.
Perhaps one day, with a blade in hand, he could command the same terrifying aura pressure as an Earth Dragon Beast.
As the saying went, one could never have too many skills—and the same went for divine abilities. Lu Ming felt a trace of satisfaction at having gained another powerful one.
What was more, he had nearly mastered the Formless Divine Art today. By tomorrow, he would probably succeed every time he practiced it.
Starting tomorrow, his divine ability evolution would proceed even faster.
"You came looking for Lu Ming? He hasn't come out. What, are you going to keep waiting? Qingzhu, I told you long ago he wasn't reliable."
"Don't put words in my mouth. I'm not here for the reason you think."
"Qingzhu, your father's about to force you into marriage, and you're still putting on a brave front with me? If you'd cut ties with Lu Ming sooner and befriended true geniuses like Senior Brother Chen, you wouldn't be left with no options now!"
Suddenly, Lu Ming heard Feng Qingzhu and Liu Yiyi's voices outside.
A trace of surprise stirred in him. Feng Qingzhu was going to be forced into marriage by Feng Buping?
Remembering how he'd heard that Feng Buping had forcibly taken the Red Token Feng Qingzhu earned in the small assessment, Lu Ming furrowed his brows.
Feng Buping really was capable of such a thing.
After thinking it over, he headed for the door.
Outside the courtyard, two beautiful women stood on a flagstone path beneath the hazy night sky, arguing.
The long-legged woman was Liu Yiyi. Looking at Feng Qingzhu's proud, aloof face, she thought Qingzhu was just being petulant, stubborn, and willful!
Liu Yiyi said, "The Green Bamboo Gang and our Flying Dragon Martial Hall are both neutral forces. But Senior Zhou came in person to propose a marriage on Shen Changfeng's behalf.
"Do you think the Green Bamboo Gang has a choice?
"What's more, they gave your father so many betrothal gifts.
"Lu Ming isn't like Senior Brother Chen, who's loyal and bold. He didn't even dare to serve as Genius Bait, even though it was a tremendous opportunity. He wouldn't do it.
"Would he really offend Senior Zhou for your sake now? You shouldn't have come looking for him in the first place!"
Feng Qingzhu looked at her quietly. "My affairs are none of your concern. And since we've known each other for a while, let me give you one piece of advice: getting too close to Chen Feng isn't a good idea."
Liu Yiyi was taken aback. She hadn't expected Feng Qingzhu to turn around and advise her.
She smiled helplessly. Feng Qingzhu just couldn't accept reality! Chen Feng had lost the earlier fight over the Red Token, but he'd been willing to serve as Genius Bait for everyone's sake. He'd acquitted himself admirably.
Feng Qingzhu probably said such things because she was jealous of her.
After all, the Lu Ming Feng Qingzhu had pinned her hopes on had performed so poorly that day.
"Fine, then. Take care of yourself!" Liu Yiyi shook her head. Since Feng Qingzhu was so stubborn, there was nothing she could do. She turned and left.
Though Shen Changfeng wasn't yet thirty and might soon reach Tendon Refining Grand Completion, he would have made a good match for another woman.
But Shen Changfeng wasn't a disciple of a Third-Rate Sect. He was merely a disciple of the ordinary Sword Qi Sect. Liu Yiyi looked down on him and thought he wasn't worthy of Feng Qingzhu either.
Feng Qingzhu was more talented than she was and had a chance of joining a Third-Rate Sect.
But since Zhou Zhen had proposed the match and Feng Buping had agreed, Feng Qingzhu didn't have much choice.
Feng Qingzhu watched Liu Yiyi's retreating figure, then glanced toward Lu Ming's courtyard.
The truth was, she'd come here to leave the fifty catties of Demon Meat she'd earned that day in Lu Ming's care.
Shen Changfeng had proposed to her partly to win the Green Bamboo Gang over—and partly, very likely, because he wanted the Demon Meat she had.
Shen Changfeng was pushing to reach Tendon Refining Grand Completion. With the Demon Meat, his chances would be better.
Last time, she hadn't been able to hold on to the Red Token she'd earned in the small assessment; her father, Feng Buping, had taken it from her.
This time, Feng Buping had practically sold her to Shen Changfeng. She would rather give the Demon Meat to Lu Ming than let someone else take it for nothing.
She hadn't expected Liu Yiyi to show up and make a scene. Feng Qingzhu furrowed her brows, sensing whispers drifting from a few nearby courtyards.
This was her own affair. She didn't want to drag Lu Ming into it.
Feng Qingzhu tightened her grip on the bundle in her hands, breathed out softly, and turned to leave.
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