Whoosh!
Two balls of scorching, domineering flame appeared in Luo An's hands. They leaped violently, giving off heart-stopping crackles as they burned the air.
A vicious look flashed in Luo An's eyes as all the Primordial Qi in his body erupted.
The flames on his palms roared as their light gradually drew inward and contracted. Yet as the flames shrank, the heat they gave off grew ever more astonishing, and a faint blood-red light even appeared within them.
The flames took on a dark red hue.
On the second floor, Zhu Lian of the Red Sand Hall could not help smiling at the sight. Luo An was quite good: his Blazing Fire Palm had already begun to touch the threshold of Major Accomplishment.
With strength like that, he would rank among the best of the Red Sand Hall disciples who had completed their second bone refinement.
"Good, that's it. Cripple that brat as soon as you strike!" Malice flickered in Zhu Lian's eyes. A High-Grade Divine Ability Bone truly posed a great threat to Divine Ability Halls like theirs. In the previous two years, Zhang Yue of the Thunderfire Hall had almost left them unable to breathe. They had finally waited for Zhang Yue to leave the Thunderfire Hall, only for Lu Ming to pop up.
Zhu Lian had come this time intending to seize the chance to severely injure Lu Ming. He might not be able to kill him, but at the very least, he could hinder his progress in Divine Abilities and slow his growth.
At that moment, Luo An shot forward, his palms stirring up rolling waves of scorching fire as he attacked Lu Ming.
Boom!
Faced with Luo An's fierce attack, Lu Ming summoned faint flashes of lightning beneath his feet. Pushing off with his toes, he leaped nimbly backward, escaping the reach of his opponent's flaming palms.
"So you've mastered the Thunderfire Hall's Lesser Thunderlight?"
Luo An gave a cold snort. Then he drew a sharp breath, his mouth swelling tremendously, with faint sparks flickering inside.
Whoosh!
The next instant, Luo An opened his mouth and spat out a cloud of dark red sand. The sand radiated intense heat, flames flowing through it as it swept like smoke toward the rapidly retreating Lu Ming.
This was the Red Sand Hall's Lower Divine Ability, the Flying Sand Art!
The art contained fire poison that attacked the eyes and corroded flesh.
Its wide coverage was just the thing to counter Lu Ming's Lesser Thunderlight speed.
With the red sand rushing toward his face, Lu Ming knew he could not escape its range. He stopped dodging and held out his hand. His Divine Ability Bone rumbled, and Primordial Qi poured out in torrents.
A blade of flame extended from his right palm, becoming a scorching crimson Flame Blade.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Lu Ming swung his Flame Blade, cutting through the red sand flying at him. At the same time, lightning flashed beneath his feet as he evaded the sand's attack.
But in doing so, his movements were slowed.
When Lu Ming cut through another cloud of red sand, his vision suddenly turned fiery red. Scorching heat swept over him, burning his skin until it stung.
"Take my palm!"
Crimson flames filled his vision, followed by Luo An's fierce roar. Luo An crossed his palms, their flames dark red as blood, and struck viciously at Lu Ming's chest with a scorching, violent gust.
At such close range, even Lesser Thunderlight could not get him out of the way in time.
"I'm afraid Lu Ming will be bedridden at home for quite a few days," Yan Zhizhi said with a smile from a private room on an upper floor.
Zhou Fuling folded her arms, a trace of disappointment passing through her eyes.
Li Shuang frowned slightly. If this was all Lu Ming was capable of, how had he dared to fight his opponent? Wasn't that foolish? In the past, she had occasionally heard Jingyi mention Lu Ming, and from what she had said, he was clearly a brave and resourceful young man.
In that lightning-fast instant, the onlookers felt a mix of emotions.
The flaming palms swept toward him like a raging wildfire, yet Lu Ming's face was unusually calm, without a trace of panic. At this distance, the Flame Blade was also at its most powerful.
He hesitated no longer. With a thought, he set his Divine Ability Bone rumbling and poured all his Primordial Qi into the Fire Lotus Mark, transforming it into profound, pure Fire Lotus Yuan Qi.
Whoosh.
Lu Ming slowly exhaled a breath of scorching air.
He raised the burning Flame Blade on his hand. Instead of retreating, he stepped forward and swung it straight at Luo An, who was lunging at him with his flaming palms.
"You think you can?! Your Flame Blade is only at the Minor Accomplishment Realm. Can it stand up to a Blazing Fire Palm honed to my level?!"
Luo An's smile grew more vicious. Lu Ming's Primordial Qi was weaker than his, and the Divine Ability he cultivated was also at a lower level. Such an obvious gap could not be bridged by sheer ferocity and courage.
But the next moment, Luo An's pupils abruptly contracted.
The crimson fire blade reflected in his eyes suddenly changed. Azure flames swept out from within it, and in a single breath, the once-crimson blade turned azure.
An azure Flame Blade—that was... a Flame Blade at the Major Accomplishment Realm!
How was that possible?! How long had Lu Ming been cultivating? How could he already have brought his Flame Blade to the Major Accomplishment Realm?!
Horror surged into Luo An's eyes like a tide.
But at this distance, it was too late to retreat!
Rip!
The fiery palm strike, dark red as blood, was ripped apart by the Flame Blade. Blood had barely splashed out before the heat vaporized it, while three fingers severed at the base were scorched black and fell to the ground.
Lu Ming appeared behind Luo An, the azure Flame Blade in his hand slowly dissipating.
Aah!
A piercing scream rang out behind him. Luo An clutched his bloody hand and rolled across the floor, his face deathly pale.
The onlookers all around fell silent.
Even Zhou Fuling, Yan Zhizhi, and Li Shuang in the private room above widened their eyes slightly, astonishment appearing on their pretty faces.
No one had expected Luo An, who had clearly held the advantage, to suffer such a complete defeat in the blink of an eye.
Besides, Lu Ming's bone-refining progress was clearly behind Luo An's, yet the result was...
"That was a Flame Blade at the Major Accomplishment Realm." Li Shuang parted her red lips, a note of surprise entering her voice for the first time.
"Didn't he only open his bone recently? How could he have cultivated a Lower Divine Ability to the Major Accomplishment Realm already?" Yan Zhizhi asked in shock. How could such talent and comprehension appear in a Divine Ability Hall disciple?
Zhou Fuling chuckled and looked at the other two women. "It seems you didn't know."
"Know what?" The two women looked at her in puzzlement.
Zhou Fuling smiled. "Lu Ming awakened a High-Grade Divine Ability Bone."
At those words, shock finally appeared on Yan Zhizhi's and Li Shuang's faces.
Even in Divine Ability Lineages like theirs, a High-Grade Divine Ability Bone would be regarded as a seed for the Lineage's growth and cultivated with all their resources.
"No wonder he could cultivate the Flame Blade to the Major Accomplishment Realm in such a short time... A High-Grade Divine Ability Bone would be the minimum needed to achieve such comprehension of Divine Abilities," Li Shuang murmured.
Yan Zhizhi stared blankly for a few seconds, then said sourly, "A High-Grade Divine Ability Bone born in a third-tier Divine Ability Hall is wasted. That Zhang Yue from before exhausted the Thunderfire Hall's resources. Can they even afford to support a second High-Grade Divine Ability Bone?"
"Without enough cultivation resources to support him, his High-Grade Divine Ability Bone will only exhaust its potential early, and he won't get far on the great path of Divine Abilities."
Despite those words, both Li Shuang and Yan Zhizhi began to take the young man below more seriously when they looked at him again. Whether or not the Thunderfire Hall could afford to support a High-Grade Divine Ability Bone, Lu Ming, with his talent, was no longer ordinary.
While their emotions churned, Zhu Lian stood on the second floor, staring in disbelief at Luo An, who was clutching his severed fingers and rolling on the ground, wailing.
The sudden turn had come so quickly that even he had not reacted before Luo An, who had clearly held the advantage, was defeated by the Flame Blade Lu Ming had unleashed.
"A Flame Blade at the Major Accomplishment Realm?! Well, Lu Qingyan, you certainly kept that hidden!" Zhu Lian's face darkened as he gritted his teeth and glared at Lu Qingyan.
Lu Qingyan was still staring blankly at Lu Ming's right palm, evidently shocked himself. Only yesterday, he had seen Lu Ming practicing the Flame Blade diligently, plainly stuck at the peak of the Minor Accomplishment Realm and unable to advance to the Major Accomplishment Realm.
Yet the azure Flame Blade he had just seen was unmistakably at the Major Accomplishment Realm!
Good lad, he was hiding a trick! No wonder he volunteered.
Lu Qingyan was delighted, but he kept a composed expression and smiled faintly at Zhu Lian. "Your Red Sand Hall can use the older to bully the younger, but my Thunderfire Hall can't let the weaker defeat the stronger?"
Steward Xu, who stood nearby, had also been stunned by the result for a while. According to his information, Lu Ming should only have opened his bone recently... He seemed to think of something, and his expression shifted slightly. His voice grew more cautious. "Brother Qingyan, your son's Divine Ability Bone..."
Lu Qingyan cupped his hands. "You guessed correctly, Steward Xu. Lu Ming was fortunate enough to awaken a High-Grade Divine Ability Bone."
Steward Xu drew a quiet breath, then his face instantly filled with smiles. "My, my, the Thunderfire Hall is truly blessed with good fortune. One High-Grade Divine Ability Bone left, and another, even closer to you, appeared. It seems your promotion to a fourth-tier Divine Ability Hall is just around the corner. Congratulations!"
Steward Xu's attitude was markedly different from before. Although Lu Ming, with his High-Grade Divine Ability Bone, was still very weak, and it was hard to say how far he would go, he was a hope regardless. There was no need to offend them too deeply.
Lu Qingyan sighed. "You know the Thunderfire Hall's situation, Steward Xu. To scrape together cultivation resources for my son, I could only come here with a thick face."
Steward Xu said solemnly, "Not at all. Since Lu Ming won this Divine Ability contest, our existing cooperation with the Thunderfire Hall will naturally continue unchanged, as agreed beforehand."
"Then thank you, Steward Xu." Lu Qingyan cupped his fists in thanks.
Beside them, Zhu Lian listened with a shifting expression and gave an inward snort. Knowing his attempt to snatch their business had failed, he said nothing more and moved to Luo An's side.
Expressionless, he grabbed Luo An by the back of his collar. With a sweep of his sleeve, he picked up the scorched severed fingers from the floor and left the Qingchuan Merchant Association in disgrace.
Lu Qingyan paid him no attention. After confirming the arrangements with Steward Xu for escorting the merchant caravans, he went over to Lu Ming, who was still standing in a daze, and asked with concern, "You're not hurt, are you?"
Only then did Lu Ming slowly come back to himself. He shook his head.
Lu Qingyan assumed he was upset because he had cut off someone's fingers in his first real fight. He comforted him, saying, "Divine Ability battles have no eyes. It's fine to strike a little hard."
Lu Ming paused. "Did I strike hard?"
He felt quite innocent. Luo An had clearly intended to cripple him, while he had only cut off a few of Luo An's fingers. He had actually shown considerable restraint.
Lu Qingyan was speechless. He looked at the young man before him, whose eyes were full of innocence, and could not help smiling. The lad usually seemed quite mild, a little like him, but looking at him now, the young man had a streak of ruthlessness in his bones that his father lacked.
He was rather like Lu Jin in his youth.
"It's good that you're all right."
"Go have a look around on your own. I still need to buy some materials. In a few days, I'll be leaving the market town to repair the Divine Ability Restriction at the medicine garden."