The gap was almost unbelievable.
And because they had underestimated Yan Jiu, no one noticed the subtle way he positioned himself—except the young man he had kicked away. Even he probably thought it was a coincidence that Yan Jiu had ended up in his path.
Swordsmanship and footwork weren't the Lu Family's specialties, but after so many generations of passing down their arts, they had a solid foundation in both.
If Yan Jiu knew what the young man was thinking, he would have told him about something called anticipation. The young man's shaky fundamentals and superficial movements were plain to see, and after Ye Chuqi's thorough training, Yan Jiu couldn't resist teaching him a lesson.
As Ye Chuqi would put it, letting someone like that use those moves and footwork was an insult to them.
Yan Jiu's kick had been heavy, but he didn't have Ye Chuqi's monstrous strength—the kind that could leave someone unable to look after himself with a single kick. The young man from the Lu Family was a High-Rank Martial Fighter, waiting only to obtain this Beast Soul before he could begin cultivating the family's techniques and advance to Martial Grandmaster. He had the defenses of a High-Rank Martial Fighter, but the kick still left him feeling as if his organs had been knocked out of place. His ribs ached as though they had cracked.
In the end, he couldn't hold it back. Heat rose in his throat, and he spat out a mouthful of hot, metallic blood.
Everyone: ...
Ye Chuqi, ever eager to stir things up, let out an "Oh-ho!" She had seen Yan Jiu's little maneuver, of course. All she could do was marvel: if Yan Jiu, a boy who had been learning the Lush Mountain Lineage's teachings for only a few years,