Take My Punch

"What is it, Hall Master?"

The one who spoke was none other than Du Peng, the deputy hall master who had taught Lu Yun the Primordial Fist not long ago.

Although he had already reached the Innate Realm Mid-Stage, his perception was still far inferior to that of a veteran powerhouse like Lu Xingwen, so he had not noticed the earlier disturbance.

"It's nothing! There seemed to be some movement in the hall just now, but it has calmed down again. I must have heard wrong."

Lu Xingwen withdrew his gaze and shook his head.

"Speaking of which, the Martial Arts Assessment is the day after tomorrow. I wonder what this year will be like? Still, I can't speak for the others, but there's absolutely no problem with Lu Yun's martial arts talent."

Du Peng changed the subject and took the initiative to bring up this year's Martial Arts Assessment.

Ever since Lu Yun had visited him yesterday, he had become Lu Yun's number-one supporter. Since arriving here today, he had mentioned Lu Yun to Lu Xingwen over and over again.

"Sigh!"

"Deputy Hall Master Du, thank you for thinking so highly of him. If the child's dantian had not been injured, he should have been able to achieve a decent result in this Martial Arts Assessment."

"But unfortunately..."

Lu Xingwen did not take Du Peng's words to heart, merely seeing them as a gesture of goodwill toward him.

After all, no one understood Lu Yun's injuries better than he did.

Even if there had been some slight improvement over the past few days, the chances of any major change were practically nonexistent.

Besides, while Lu Yun's martial arts talent was indeed quite good, that depended on whom he was compared to.

Not to mention anyone else, Chu Hongxin's daughter, Chu Lingxue, surpassed Lu Feng by an unknown amount in martial arts talent alone.

Thinking of this, Lu Xingwen sighed softly.

"Speaking of this Martial Arts Assessment, that little girl Ling Xue has quite a good chance."

The Lu Family and the Chu Family had always been close, and Chu Lingxue often came by as well. Du Peng was fairly familiar with her, so he nodded.

"Indeed! That girl has the makings of a martial artist too, but compared to Lu Yun, she still falls far short."

This left Lu Xingwen at a loss for how to respond.

He felt that ever since the past two days, Deputy Hall Master Du of his martial arts hall had suddenly become Lu Yun's die-hard fan.

No matter what they talked about, within three sentences, the topic would always turn back to Lu Yun.

At the same time.

In a courtyard several hundred meters away, Lu Yun had already withdrawn his fist.

He stood motionless where he was.

His brows were tightly furrowed, as though he were pondering something.

"How strange..."

"When I was fully focused just now, why did I sense two extremely familiar auras dozens of kilometers away?"

"Since there's nothing to do anyway, I should go take a look and see what happened!"

Ever since advancing to the Divine Aperture Realm Complete, all three hundred and sixty-five acupoints throughout his body had opened. His perception was far beyond that of ordinary people.

Now that doubts had arisen in his heart.

He immediately gathered his qi and focused his mind, looking toward the direction where he had sensed something unusual.

Very soon...

Two familiar figures appeared in his eyes. It was Chu Lingxue being pursued by that assassin from the other day.

Lu Yun was no longer the Wu beneath the eastern gate of old.

With only a slight probe, he already knew the assassin's exact cultivation.

Unexpectedly, it was even higher than the Innate Realm Peak he had judged it to be that day.

The assassin was actually... an Innate Realm Completion expert.

This greatly exceeded Lu Yun's expectations.

"A dignified Innate Realm Completion expert, with a cultivation even higher than my father's—within tiny Tong City, he could be considered somebody. Why would he lower himself to hunt down a weak girl whose cultivation is far beneath his?"

What Lu Yun found most unbelievable was that he could not understand why someone with such high cultivation kept targeting Chu Lingxue.

Even if Chu Lingxue's father, Chu Hongxin, the vice city lord of Tong City, had some grudge with someone.

A grievance had its source, and a debt had its debtor. If they wanted revenge, they should seek out Chu Hongxin himself. What was the point of killing his daughter?

"Forget it. Why think so much? I'll just capture him and ask."

With that thought.

Lu Yun's figure flickered, and in the blink of an eye, he had appeared several hundred meters away.

Dozens of kilometers from the Heavenly Origin Martial Arts Hall.

On a long-abandoned suburban road, two blurry figures were speeding forward.

The smaller figure slightly ahead was Chu Lingxue, fleeing with all her strength.

Her cultivation had originally been far below her opponent's.

Fortunately, after the previous assassination attempt, Chu Hongxin had specifically arranged for two high-level guards at the Innate Realm Early-Stage to protect her. When danger struck more than ten minutes ago, they had bought her a precious chance to catch her breath.

However, Chu Hongxin had not expected the assassin to be an Innate Realm Completion expert.

Therefore, even Innate Realm experts had only managed to delay the assassin's steps slightly.

Fortunately, apart from her personal guards, Chu Lingxue had prepared Divine Movement Talismans in advance. In an emergency, as long as she activated one with her own blood, it could instantly unleash astonishing speed.

Under ordinary circumstances, that would have been enough for Chu Lingxue to escape with her life.

Unfortunately, the assassin she had encountered was simply too powerful.

Along the way, even though Chu Lingxue had activated three Divine Movement Talismans in succession, she still could not shake off the assassin's pursuit.

And now, she had used her last talisman. Before long, she would become a lamb awaiting slaughter, utterly unable to resist.

Even so, Chu Lingxue clenched the talisman tightly, a trace of determination shining in her beautiful eyes. She refused to give up so easily.

As long as her father received the news and arrived in time, she could escape this peril.

"Though I don't know who you are, you should understand this is Tong City. My father, Chu Hongxin, is the city lord here. You have tried to kill me time and again. Aren't you afraid of retaliation?"

As Chu Lingxue sped forward, she calmly transmitted her voice to the assassin not far behind her.

The assassin's face was veiled, concealing the true expression beneath it. Upon hearing Chu Lingxue's question, the assassin merely gave a cold laugh and spoke in a hoarse voice.

"What does Chu Hongxin amount to? Is the Primordial Astral Realm so impressive? Even if he came here himself, as long as I kill you, I am confident I can escape. You don't think you're the only one with methods to flee for your life, do you?"

"Besides..."

"I calculated it along the way just now. At Chu Hongxin's speed, it will take him at least another seven or eight minutes to get here from the City Lord's Manor."

"Your Divine Movement Talisman can last at most another minute or two. That is more than enough time to kill you!"

Although the assassin had a means of escape, Chu Hongxin was still an entire major realm above the assassin. Moreover, Chu Lingxue was Chu Hongxin's only precious daughter.

If it were possible to leave beforehand, the assassin still did not wish to face the wrath of a Primordial Astral Realm expert head-on.

"Damn it!"

Chu Lingxue's face grew even paler upon hearing the assassin's words.

She had to admit that the assassin's analysis was correct. If things continued like this, by the time Chu Hongxin arrived, her corpse would likely already be cold.

Moreover, she could now clearly sense that her Divine Movement Talisman was nearly exhausted.

It would probably last no more than another minute.

"For a junior who has only just entered the Postnatal Realm, lasting until now means you have some ability. Later, I can leave you an intact corpse."

The assassin spoke coldly, without a trace of emotion.

"You... are you truly determined to become enemies with the City Lord's Manor?"

Chu Lingxue spoke weakly. She knew that her hope of escaping today was exceedingly slim.

"Heh, now you know fear? Too bad I have already accepted someone else's commission. Today, I must kill you."

Watching Chu Lingxue's speed gradually slow, the assassin knew that her talisman's energy was nearly depleted. Then, with only the slightest movement of a finger, this girl would immediately fade away like jade and fragrance.

Just as the assassin prepared to strike, a majestic voice descended in an instant.

"Hmph!"

"You want to kill her?"

"Then... take my punch first!!!"