Three Moves

After leaving the escort agency, Lu Cheng headed straight for Zhao Cheng's home.

If he practiced the River-Blocking Halberd Technique by himself, he wouldn't make much progress in an hour, let alone a whole day.

But practicing against someone familiar with the halberd was another matter.

If things went well, one hour would be enough for Lu Cheng to master all thirty-six moves.

Two Mid-Grade Human Tier martial techniques—although his mastery was inferior to Yang Xiong's—should be enough to defeat him.

After all, fighting barehanded against a sword put you at a disadvantage, but against a halberd, the swordsman was the one at a disadvantage.

Zhao Cheng's home wasn't far from the Long Wind Escort Agency.

It was a small courtyard beside the street.

Zhao Cheng was determined to work out the remaining halberd moves, so he rarely went out.

When Lu Cheng arrived, Zhao Cheng was, as expected, practicing halberd moves in the courtyard.

As soon as Lu Cheng entered, he called out to Zhao Cheng:

"Brother Zhao, I've got wonderful news!"

Before Zhao Cheng could react, Lu Cheng thrust his halberd at him:

"Take this!"

Zhao Cheng said nothing, simply extending his own halberd to block Lu Cheng's attack.

The two halberds clashed with a clang, sparks flying.

The tremendous force of their collision traveled back along both shafts.

Zhao Cheng flicked his rear hand, dispelling the force in his halberd.

He was about to counterattack when a streak of cold light suddenly halted right in front of him.

He froze on the spot.

Looking up, he saw Lu Cheng standing before him, smiling.

"How... how did you do that?"

Zhao Cheng stared in confusion, then asked incredulously:

"Brother Lu, have you reached the Late Stage of Strength Refining?"

Along with his shock, a faint sense of doubt stirred in his heart.

When their halberds had crossed, the force couldn't have flowed only toward him.

Besides, Lu Cheng had been the one to attack while he defended.

By all rights, Lu Cheng's move had already run its course.

So Zhao Cheng should have been able to strike faster than Lu Cheng with his next move.

The only explanation that made sense was that Lu Cheng's cultivation had advanced.

Lu Cheng shook his head and walked to an open patch of ground. With a swish, he leveled his halberd:

"Brother Zhao, watch closely."

With that, he performed the thirteen to eighteenth moves of the halberd technique, six moves in all.

It wasn't that Lu Cheng was withholding the final eighteen moves.

They were pressed for time, and simply practicing all thirty-six moves would take quite a while.

Zhao Cheng would also need a great deal of time to comprehend them.

There was no way they could practice together afterward.

Better to master a few moves than learn many without skill. Six well-practiced moves would be enough to deal with Yang Xiong.

Zhao Cheng was so astonished that he couldn't speak.

These were exactly the remaining halberd moves he'd dreamed of!

He didn't even blink, doing everything he could to imprint the moves in his mind.

The six moves were over in a flash.

Lu Cheng didn't stop.

Instead, he practiced them three more times.

Only after seeing that Zhao Cheng had grasped something did he lower his halberd. He took a few breaths, then leveled it at Zhao Cheng again:

"Brother Zhao, don't rush to study them just yet. I'm short on time, so practice with me first. Once I've taken care of what I need to do, I'll come back and teach you all twenty-four of the remaining moves."

Hearing Lu Cheng say that he'd worked out all of the remaining twenty-four moves, Zhao Cheng's eyes flew wide open.

His heart began pounding wildly, beyond his control.

But seeing how rushed Lu Cheng was, he forced himself to calm down. He asked no questions, simply giving a solemn "All right" before making the first move.

His attacks already incorporated the new moves he'd just learned.

"Good!"

Lu Cheng laughed and met his halberd head-on.

An hour passed in the blink of an eye.

Lu Cheng lowered his halberd and stood at ease.

[River-Blocking Halberd Technique]

[Grade: Mid-Grade Human Tier (Upgradeable)]

[Mastery: Beginner (59/200)]

His overall mastery hadn't increased much, but that was because he hadn't practiced the final eighteen moves.

Still, he had grown quite proficient in moves thirteen through eighteen.

"Brother Zhao, wait here for me. I'll make sure to teach you the complete River-Blocking Halberd Technique today."

With that, he hurried back to the Long Wind Escort Agency.

Inside the agency, as time went by, many people grew impatient.

Some even suspected that Lu Cheng had fled to avoid the duel.

Just as Lin Wanxiong was starting to lose patience too, everyone abruptly turned their eyes toward the figure at the entrance.

"Lu Cheng's back!"

"I told you Lu Cheng wouldn't run away. See? He's back!"

"That's bullshit. You weren't saying that just now."

Yang Xiong had stood in place with his eyes closed, waiting.

Only when Lu Cheng returned to the courtyard did he open his eyes.

Seeing Lu Cheng drenched in sweat, he narrowed his eyes and asked with a frown:

"Were you off learning some moves?"

Lu Cheng nodded:

"I have a friend who's skilled with the halberd, so I went to practice with him and polish my moves."

"Whoa!"

Everyone was in an uproar.

None of the Long Wind Escort Agency's three chief escorts wielded a halberd. How had Lu Cheng learned to use one?

And what could he have learned from an hour of practice?

Lu Cheng was being far too bold.

The three men seated at the head exchanged glances, none of them sure what was going on.

Feng Zhan was about to tell Lu Cheng to stick to the Seven Strikes of the Black Hawk, but Feng Qi stopped him.

Though he didn't know what Lu Cheng was thinking, he trusted that Lu Cheng wasn't the sort to fool around.

He immediately sent a secret voice transmission to Feng Zhan and Feng Ji:

"Let's wait and see. With Lu Cheng's strength, even if he loses, he shouldn't get hurt."

The two nodded and stayed where they were.

Only Fatty and Liu Chang'an had an inkling of what was going on.

The only person Lu Cheng knew who wielded a halberd was probably Zhao Cheng.

As everyone's thoughts raced, Lu Cheng already had his halberd in hand. He skillfully performed several flourishes.

He lifted, snapped, hooked, and flicked the halberd with effortless ease.

He blocked, braced, probed, and thrust with practiced skill.

Anyone could see that he really had practiced with it.

After warming up, Lu Cheng didn't put on airs. He simply settled into a Four-Level Stance:

"Brother Yang, please instruct me!"

Yang Xiong nodded, his curiosity piqued:

"So you didn't just cram at the last minute."

It was impossible to become this proficient with a halberd in an hour. Lu Cheng must have practiced before.

"In that case, I won't be picking on you. Here comes my sword!"

With that, Yang Xiong struck first.

His body blurred as he rushed toward Lu Cheng.

He raised his hand and thrust his sword straight at Lu Cheng's chest.

It was an ordinary thrust, yet its speed was so astonishing that the Long Wind Escort Agency's disciples stopped breathing.

Lu Cheng didn't retreat. He charged forward instead, somehow channeling force through his halberd. Like a silver dragon lifting its head, it angled up and knocked Yang Xiong's sword aside.

"Clang!"

Metal rang against metal, sparks flying.

Yang Xiong's sword point was knocked aside, but neither his speed nor his momentum changed.

He seemed about to crash straight into the halberd in Lu Cheng's hands.

Then something bizarre happened.

The sword that had been knocked aside curved around and came back, slashing at Lu Cheng's wrist from an even trickier angle.

Martial techniques with a grade truly were something else.

The Seven Strikes of the Black Hawk's elusive footwork and powerful claw strikes, and Yang Xiong's casual control of his sword—any of them would have been astonishing in the ordinary world.

"Good!"

Lu Cheng gave a low shout and turned his wrist, reversing the halberd so that its crescent blade pointed down and blocked the incoming sword.

Their weapons touched and parted in an instant. Yang Xiong retreated a step.

Lu Cheng immediately understood some of the tricks behind the Pine Cloud Sword Technique.

It seemed that with Yang Xiong's current skill, he could only use that strange sword move once.

In that case...

Lu Cheng planted his foot and swept his halberd horizontally toward Yang Xiong's waist and abdomen.

Yang Xiong sneered and swayed aside to dodge the halberd. As his sword tapped the shaft, he suddenly sprang forward another step.

Just as his sword was about to pierce Lu Cheng's chest, Lin Wanxiong suddenly shouted:

"Watch your back!"

Yang Xiong didn't hesitate. He twisted his waist, forcibly stopping his forward momentum, and darted to one side.

But as soon as he darted aside, pain flared at his waist. A streak of cold light scraped past his side, and a line of blood suddenly blossomed.

How was that possible?!

Yang Xiong was dumbfounded.

Lu Cheng's halberd had clearly thrust forward. How had it suddenly reversed?

Forget a heavy weapon like a halberd.

Even with the sword in his own hand, he couldn't channel his strength in the exact opposite direction without the slightest hitch!

While Yang Xiong stood there stunned, Lu Cheng's sweeping halberd carved out another arc.

Like a silver dragon, it chased after Yang Xiong.

In the blink of an eye, it lunged right at Yang Xiong's face.

"Stop!"