Douluo: Opening with a Furious Rebuke at the Grandmaster

Fortunately, when faced with a life-or-death crisis, Lu Fei had not been foolish enough to sit there waiting for death. He rolled clumsily out of the way of the Gold-Patterned Black Panther's claws.

At the same time, he flipped to his feet and fiercely slashed at the Gold-Patterned Black Panther beside him.

"Huff..."

Only then did Lu Yu finally let out a sigh of relief.

"Pfft..."

The blade cut through the Gold-Patterned Black Panther's hide, but that was all.

Such a minor wound was nothing to the Gold-Patterned Black Panther. However, that very slash thoroughly enraged it.

"Roar..."

With an earth-shaking roar, the Gold-Patterned Black Panther spun around and raised a paw to swat at Lu Fei.

Lu Fei was startled. He clearly had not expected the Gold-Patterned Black Panther's defense to be so high. He hurriedly twisted through the air in a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree turn, narrowly dodging the swipe.

Lu Yu, hidden in the shadows, frowned slightly.

The reason Lu Fei's strike had failed was not because the Gold-Patterned Black Panther's defense was high, but because that sword was not sharp enough.

This was also something he needed to consider now.

As their levels rose, the enemies they faced in the future would naturally grow stronger and stronger. Ordinary weapons would already find it difficult to break through their defenses.

Moreover, Lu Fei would soon begin learning Flash Shadow Triple Kill, but ordinary weapons simply could not withstand the infusion of Soul Power.

When that time came, Lu Fei would find himself in the awkward position of having no weapon to use.

As for divine weapons—

That was not something they could consider at this point.

The only option was to ask a master craftsman to forge Lu Fei a "divine weapon," but the problem was that Lu Yu simply did not have that much money.

Besides, a master craftsman was not someone money alone could hire.

Lu Yu felt rather troubled now.

Meanwhile.

Perhaps because he no longer held much hope for Lu Yu, Lu Fei began making tentative counterattacks while using his movement technique to dodge for the sake of his own life.

But the gap in their strength was simply too great, and the outcome was painfully obvious.

He was sent flying again and again, then got back up again and again. More and more wounds appeared across his body, and his miserable appearance was enough to make anyone's heart ache.

Several times, Lu Yu had nearly lost control and intervened directly. Fortunately, Lu Fei quickly got back to his feet each time. That unyielding will truly astonished Lu Yu.

There was great terror between life and death.

Through falling and rising again and again, Lu Fei gradually integrated everything he had learned over the past half year into battle.

Though he gained many more wounds, he was countless times better than he had been at the start. At first, he had been nothing more than a punching bag. Now, while dodging, he could occasionally land a slash on the Gold-Patterned Black Panther.

Though they were all minor wounds and did not amount to much, they probably inflicted immense emotional trauma on the Gold-Patterned Black Panther.

After all, the gap in strength between them was not small. It should have been able to take him down easily, yet it had instead ended up in such a sorry state.

The combat talent Lu Fei displayed at this moment left Lu Yu in awe. It truly proved the saying: "If you do not push yourself, you will never know just how outstanding you can be."

The Pitiful Gold-Patterned Black Panther

Suddenly, Lu Yu's eyes narrowed as he stared intently at every detail of Lu Fei's movements.

The human body was flexible. After long-term training, it could perform all kinds of difficult movements. Combined with speed, agility, perception, prediction, and more, it could execute many unbelievable evasive maneuvers in battle.

And that was the Basic Movement Technique.

The Basic Movement Technique was easy to begin, but difficult to master, and achieving perfection was even harder.

The most obvious sign of the perfected realm was not speed, but beauty. This so-called beauty meant that every evasive movement was nearly flawless.

Before reaching perfection, your dodges might be agile enough, or your speed might be fast enough, but there would still be certain flaws.

As long as your opponent's eyesight was sharp enough, they could seize that tiny opening and counterattack. Beauty meant erasing that opening to the greatest possible extent.

When you no longer deliberately pursued speed, but instead learned to discard unnecessary movements and dodge in the simplest, most effective way—

That was the perfected realm.

Just now, when facing the Gold-Patterned Black Panther's attack, Lu Fei had not tried to evade with absolute speed as he had in the past. He had merely stepped to the left.

That single step had been perfectly timed. It cleanly avoided the Gold-Patterned Black Panther's fatal strike, and he had then driven his sword into its kidney with a backhand thrust.

That step already carried a hint of perfection.

Of course.

It might have just been dumb luck. Whether he could seize that opportunity depended on himself.

"Roar..."

Its kidney had nearly been cut open, and the Gold-Patterned Black Panther was completely enraged now. All its fury merged into that earth-shaking roar.

Both Lu Fei, who faced it directly, and Lu Yu, who hid in the shadows, became alert. This was a sign that the Gold-Patterned Black Panther was about to go berserk.

After roaring, the Gold-Patterned Black Panther leaped up and transformed into a black blur as it pounced at Lu Fei.

But this time, Lu Fei did not rush to flee. He did not even move, because that last dodge had given him many new insights.

Seeing Lu Fei remain motionless, Lu Yu's eyes immediately lit up.

It seemed he truly understood.

As he watched the Gold-Patterned Black Panther rush toward him, Lu Fei somehow felt as if its speed had slowed down.

But there was no time to think. With the panther's claws less than half a meter away, Lu Fei suddenly stepped sideways to the right.

At the same time, he thrust his sword to the left.

"Pfft..."

The sensation of the blade piercing flesh traveled through the sword and into Lu Fei's mind.

Lu Fei's eyes lit up.

I understand.

So the ultimate end of the Basic Movement Technique is not unparalleled speed, but returning to simplicity—dodging in the simplest, most direct way. That is the true essence of the Basic Movement Technique.

"Nine Absolutes Sword Technique—Flash Shadow Triple Kill!"

Suddenly, fierce sword intent illuminated the forest like the blazing sun. Lu Fei turned his head and saw three golden sword energies, as though they would tear apart heaven and earth, sweeping toward the Gold-Patterned Black Panther from where Lu Yu had been hiding.

Lu Yu had made his move.

At that moment, Lu Fei understood. It was not that Lu Yu had refused to act, but that the critical moment had not yet arrived. Once his movement technique reached perfection, the Gold-Patterned Black Panther would no longer be useful.

As for swordsmanship...

Though he had severely wounded the Gold-Patterned Black Panther with two consecutive strikes, using it to train his swordsmanship was unrealistic.

Swordsmanship could not be mastered by relying on the advantage of movement techniques to launch sneak attacks. Only true frontal combat would do.

"Pfft..."

The golden sword energies tore through the air and effortlessly ripped open the Gold-Patterned Black Panther's hide. Three horrifying wounds appeared along its flank.

Blood streamed continuously, but the Gold-Patterned Black Panther did not lose its ability to move. It looked fearfully at Lu Yu, who had emerged from the shadows, then fled without looking back.

The reason it was able to leave was not because its hide was thick. Lu Yu had simply not used his full strength. They did not need the Gold-Patterned Black Panther's Soul Ring, so there was no need to kill it.

As for whether it could survive, that depended on its luck.

"Brother Yu..."

Lu Fei crossed the distance in a few quick strides and arrived before Lu Yu.

Lu Yu asked with concern, "How are your injuries?"

Shaking his head, Lu Fei grinned foolishly. "Nothing serious. I'm tough as nails."

Seeing that he was still smiling, Lu Yu could not help teasing him. "What? You do not blame me for standing by and watching you die? Weren't you just calling me inhuman?"

"Hehe..." Lu Fei smiled awkwardly. "That was because I did not understand your good intentions, Brother Yu."

Lu Yu asked, "Do you understand now?"

"I do. I understand everything now. My movement technique has entered the perfected realm, and that is the best explanation." Lu Fei smiled.

"That is good." Lu Yu said, "All right, let's leave first. The smell of blood will draw other Soul Beasts here soon."

Lu Fei nodded.

Then the two turned and left.

They found a spot beside a stream and stopped. They began cleaning and bandaging Lu Fei's wounds, making him bare his teeth in pain and howl repeatedly.

"Brother, I lost so much blood. When we get out, we need to have a good meal and make up for it," Lu Fei said pitifully after the bandaging was finished.

Lu Yu was speechless.

In Lu Fei's world, there was probably nothing more important than food.

After half a year at the academy, this guy had not only failed to lose weight, but had even gained more than ten jin. He probably weighed around eighty jin now.

Fortunately, he had grown taller quickly too and was nearly 1.4 meters tall now. He was a little chubby, but at least he was not unbearable to look at.

Since Lu Fei was injured, Lu Yu did not intend to rush off in search of Soul Beasts. Instead, he planned to rest beside the stream for a while.

At the same time, he began teaching Lu Fei Lingbo Microsteps.

But in Lu Fei's current condition, strenuous movement was truly unsuitable, so Lu Yu only began with the Soul Power circulation route.

As for the footwork, they could wait until Lu Fei had memorized the Soul Power circulation route. In any case, this process could not be completed in a day or two.

And so, the two remained by the stream for two days.

During that time, quite a few Soul Beasts came to drink, but none were particularly old. Lu Yu casually made some noise and scared them away.

Another thing worth mentioning was that they encountered a group of Soul Masters preparing to return.

Seeing how young the two were, and that one of them was injured, the group kindly offered to help them. However, Lu Yu politely declined.

Of course, that was not the important part.

The important part was that through their conversation, Lu Yu learned that their target this time had been an agility-type Soul Beast. By chance, they had encountered a nearly six-hundred-year-old Gold-Patterned Black Panther that was already injured.

They had taken it down with almost no effort.

If nothing unexpected had happened, the Gold-Patterned Black Panther they spoke of was the one Lu Yu had injured. Lu Yu did not know whether to laugh or cry.

Poor Gold-Patterned Black Panther.

All Lu Yu could do was silently pray for it in his heart.

May there be no Soul Masters in heaven.

A Soul Beast Delivered to Their Doorstep

"Brother Yu, should we get going? If we keep delaying, the academy might think we died out here."

Soul Masters had extremely powerful recovery abilities, and Lu Fei's injuries had not been severe to begin with. They had not reached the point of damaging his muscles or bones.

"It is time to go." Lu Yu nodded and stood up.

Suddenly, Lu Yu's gaze sharpened as he looked toward the forest not far away.

He warned, "Careful. A Soul Beast is coming."

If it had been an ordinary Soul Beast, Lu Yu naturally would not have been so cautious.

But according to his senses, this Soul Beast should not be weak.

At his words, Lu Fei also became alert and stared intently in the same direction.

Very soon, a large, imposing horse emerged from the forest.

As six eyes met, the atmosphere instantly fell silent.

The horse was covered in golden hide, with a spiraled horn like gold atop its head. It looked gentle and entirely harmless.