Refresh

As the sword-bearing young man spoke, the Long Clan soldiers charged over like maddened tigers.

Their armor and weapons clashed together with a series of thunderous crashes.

Chu Xisheng's expression turned utterly grim.

Anywhere else, they would never have fallen into such peril.

The footsteps of these Long Clan soldiers and the clattering of their armor plates could have been heard from a third of a mile away.

But the hot spring water flowing here had absorbed and blocked those sounds.

"Go!" Lu Luanli held her straight saber in a reverse grip, her expression grave as she watched the men opposite her. "I'll do my best to stop them."

Her undercover identity would have to end here.

Without hesitation, Chu Xisheng ran back the way he had come with Tie Xiaosheng over his shoulder.

If he and Tie Xiaosheng stayed here, they would only burden Lu Luanli.

Especially the fellow on his back-he would certainly die.

Seeing this out of the corner of her eye, Lu Luanli's lips twitched.

Put Tie Xiaosheng down before you go! This fellow was usually quite clever, so why did he have no awareness of his own physical condition?

He was someone who had to gasp for breath after running a short distance, yet he overestimated himself enough to try escaping with a man weighing at least two hundred and seventy-five pounds on his back. Could he possibly get away?

Then she had no attention to spare, for the sword-bearing young man leaped straight across the hot spring pool, several dozen feet long.

Sword in his right hand, he swooped like an eagle diving from high in the sky, his sword tip aimed straight at Chu Xisheng's back.

Without hesitation, Lu Luanli swept her saber upward toward the young man's chest and abdomen. With a light metallic chime between them, the sword-bearing young man was forced back several dozen feet, and faint traces of blood appeared beside his shoulder.

It was a minor wound that did not affect his fighting strength, but the sword-bearing young man frowned and looked at the woman before him with some surprise. "Fine saber work. Your martial cultivation is at least upper seventh rank! So that's it. No wonder you managed to cut down more than twenty of our men in less than a quarter of an hour.

"I was wondering-even if that Chu Xisheng's saber was fast, that killing speed was far too outrageous. You were the one truly doing the killing."

Lu Luanli did not answer. Her saber light sealed off their path as she unleashed an arc of saber gang, not only killing two men but forcing back every Long Clan soldier attempting to circle around either side.

The sword-bearing young man paid no attention to the dead Long Clan soldiers. He watched the straight saber in Lu Luanli's hand.

More precisely, he was looking at a notch in its blade.

His sword light had struck it hard when their blades clashed, leaving that damage.

"A pity your saber is a little lacking. It doesn't deserve your saber work." The sword-bearing young man's lips curved slightly. Suddenly, he darted forward, light on his feet, and the blue longsword in his hand collided repeatedly with Lu Luanli's straight saber, producing a string of metallic clangs and showers of sparks.

His target, however, was not Lu Luanli herself, but the saber in her hand, which gained three more notches in an instant.

While exchanging blows, Lu Luanli had no choice but to take out a platinum-colored talisman and slap it onto her blade.

This was a Gengyuan Talisman, which could strengthen a weapon's durability.

"You practice dual cultivation of technique and martial arts?" The sword-bearing young man's eyes widened, his surprise deepening.

Then he sneered inwardly. He had not expected anyone in this world to be so foolish.

Not only did spell techniques abhor metal, but spiritual power and martial true essence were also difficult to merge.

Cultivating both techniques and martial arts could hardly prove useful before fourth rank; it was nothing short of wasting one's talent.

Just then, Lu Luanli abruptly swept her right hand, whipping up a turbulent gale inside the cavern.

Her saber mingled with the wild wind, slashing toward her opponent like a streak of white light.

The sword-bearing young man instinctively tried to dodge, only to discover that the turbulent gale had slightly hindered his movement, temporarily preventing him from shifting as freely as before.

Lu Luanli's saber also broke through his defensive sword light, leaving a wound on his arm.

"You practice the Divine Eagle Sword."

Lu Luanli's gaze was icy as her saber light surged toward him again and again. "The question is, does an eagle that's fallen into a pit still have what it takes to reign over all birds?"

The sword-bearing young man's expression darkened slightly as he fought with all his strength to defend himself.

His Divine Eagle Sword had to be paired with wide-ranging evasive footwork to unleash its true power.

Inside this narrow cavern, less than fifty feet high, he could not muster even seventy percent of his usual fighting strength.

But within his field of vision, more than a dozen Long Clan soldiers had already bypassed the woman blocking their path and were racing in the direction Chu Xisheng had fled.

After running two thousand feet, Chu Xisheng could run no farther.

He gulped down air, panting like an ox, as beads of sweat the size of beans emerged on his forehead.

Just then, a weak voice sounded beside Chu Xisheng's ear. "Brother, put me down."

Chu Xisheng jumped in fright. Turning his head to look, he realized it was Tie Xiaosheng.

The man had actually awakened at this moment. His breath was as faint as a thread, his lips pale. "Brother, I am indebted to you for protecting me, and my gratitude is engraved in my very being. But there's no need to drag yourself down with me. If you put me down now, you should still be able to escape."

Chu Xisheng smiled at those words. He looked around, then really did put Tie Xiaosheng down in a concealed corner.

Afterward, he walked back to the middle of the path and stood there boldly, feet planted wide.

Tie Xiaosheng was stunned for a moment, staring at Chu Xisheng in astonishment.

Why was this man not fleeing? Did he intend to oppose those Long Clan soldiers single-handedly?

This young man's cultivation had clearly only just reached ninth-rank lower. He might have broken through only recently, and his true essence was extremely unstable. Why was he being so unwise?

Holding his spare steel saber, Chu Xisheng did his best to steady his breathing while looking expressionlessly at his system panel.

The number of Martial Dao Points on the panel had already fallen to twenty-eight.

The crux of this system was indeed the word "belief." When people stopped believing, his Martial Dao Points would fall.

Once those Long Clan soldiers saw Lu Luanli, they knew he had not killed the men earlier.

He did not dwell on it. Instead, he opened the Martial Dao Treasury and first exchanged for a Divine Strength Pill, then swallowed it.

As soon as the pill entered his stomach, Chu Xisheng felt power filling his entire body.

The Divine Strength Pill temporarily increased strength by two hundred percent, speed by sixty percent, and reaction speed by sixty percent. It lasted twenty-four hours, and its effects could not stack.

Next, Chu Xisheng waited quietly.

He could already see more than a dozen Long Clan soldiers in leather armor running toward him, the distance between them rapidly closing.

Just as the Long Clan soldiers came within fifty feet, close enough for both sides to clearly see each other's faces, the Martial Dao Treasury before Chu Xisheng's eyes suddenly changed.

It was precisely the end of the fourth quarter of the midnight watch-exactly twelve midnight in the modern world, the moment when the Martial Dao Treasury refreshed!

Chu Xisheng's gaze swiftly swept over the fourteen colorful items before him. His eyes immediately widened with delighted surprise.

His plan was to exchange directly for an item if this refresh produced something good that caught his fancy.

If it did not, he would use his Martial Dao Points to upgrade his Wind-Chasing Blade and Yazi Saber Intent.

But this refresh of the treasury brought him indescribable delight.

Pure Yang Thunder Body, stage one-permanently increased true essence by fifty percent, strength by fifty percent, speed by twenty percent, reaction speed by twenty percent, endurance by twenty percent, and resistance to blows by twenty percent. It also nurtured pure yang and thunder power within the body. Required 25 Martial Dao Points to exchange.

Star-Shift Lightning Feet, stage one-allowed one to stride like a shooting star and move like lightning, increasing movement speed by one hundred percent and jumping ability by one hundred percent. Required 20 Martial Dao Points to exchange.

Without hesitation, Chu Xisheng spent 25 Martial Dao Points and selected the Pure Yang Thunder Body.

Star-Shift Lightning Feet was excellent too, but at this moment, the Pure Yang Thunder Body, which could increase his attack speed and strength, was more useful.

At the very instant he completed the exchange, those Long Clan soldiers had already reached him, close enough for each side to hear the other's breathing.