Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Even the protagonists of web novels shouldn’t be this badass!
A torrent of emotions flooded the Square-faced fatso.
Non-practitioners of martial arts could never understand why martial legends were such feared beings.
Martial arts legends were hardly human; instead, they were more like Mortal Gods. Had they been born in ancient times, it would not be stretch even to call them deities walking among mortals.
They were on a level that average martial artists wouldn’t dare to fathom. Most ordinary practitioners could only aspire to become a HuaJin Master after a lifetime of cultivation. Even for geniuses with incredible talent, achieving the position of a Baodan Grandmaster was the absolute limit.
A martial arts legend was indeed just a legend. They only appeared once every few centuries!
Although the radical change of heaven and earth had significantly lowered the bar for one to become a martial arts legend, and that they currently lived in an era of progressiveness and prosperity, martial arts legends were still closer to mythical creatures that existed only in tales.
He never would’ve expected to meet one, let alone one who was so young.
The square-faced fatso tried to recall what he did at this age. Perhaps he just managed to break through the third level of AnJin. Even so, it was enough for his Master to praise him as a once-in-a-decade genius.
If that was enough to constitute him as a genius, then what was this lazy-looking boy in front of him?
A monster?
A demon?
Could what he read from the internal files come true? As they approached the golden age of cultivation, monsters like Lu Xuan would only multiply, just like those at the headquarter. Despite having awakened a mere half a year ago, they were already past level four and moving onto level five.
Compared to other cultivators, they were progressing at rocket speed.
The people around were clearly under the shock of Lu Xuan’s apparent breakthrough, especially Lin Sheng, who once thought that Lu Xuan would measure up to his Master at most.
That was already an incredible feat. It might even earn Lu Xuan the privilege of walking inside the Inner Palace, or the friendship of various leaders—the apotheosis of martial artists.
Who would’ve thought that in the blink of an eye, he would achieve the level of martial arts legend? Such a bigwig would not only be granted free access to the Inner Palace but also be greeted as guests of honor by the leaders.
Yet the father and daughter—Ling Huang and Ling Fei—held a much simpler view. For them, the stronger Lu Xuan was, the better it was.
While they didn’t fully grasp the significance of a martial arts legend, but judging by the expression of square-faced fatso, Yun Sheng, and Lin Sheng, they could make an intelligent guess.
The martial arts legend must be a great expert who can easily dominate the scene.
And that was enough!
“Back then, I was only 70% certain about the plan. However, with Mr. Lu keeping watch and holding the fort, I’m now 100% certain that our plan will succeed. This time, we will absolutely capture Higashigawa Taro and the assassins of Hellfire!”
Yun Sheng spoke, clenching his hands.
Meanwhile, a group of ordinary-looking men and women gathered inside the presidential suite of a five-star hotel in Fu City.
The moment they stepped into the room, their front of normalcy vanished into thin air. All of the visitors gave off a chilling feeling of murderous intent; each of them was a cold-blooded assassin who would kill without batting an eyelash.
Amongst them, the one who seemed to be their leader was a man in his forties. Donning a set of Japanese fighting gear, he was a man of average build.
“The Chinese police have been tightening their security checks. I’m guessing that they have heard the news about us entering the country!”
“Their dog noses are quite keen, I see. Hmph, they are but a bunch of commoners. How dare they meddle with our affairs? If it weren’t for the fact that it is not time for us to reveal ourselves, I would have killed them all to my heart’s content!”
“No need to fear those policemen for they are nothing. The only ones we need to keep our eyes open for is the Agency of Special Affairs, the shadow lurking behind them. The Agency is a faction not to be trifled with!”
The suit broke into chatter as everyone began to talk over each other. While the assassins did not hold much fear toward the regular police, they had always kept their distance from the Agency of Special Affairs.
Over the years, when a majority of the ordinary folks were unaware, the Agency of Special Affairs had extinguished many factions who tried to somehow meddle with Huaxia.
On the international stage, the Agency was also a renowned organization by and for cultivators.
“One hour. You will only have an hour to complete your mission to kill every single soul in the Ling family. Especially the three. Do not let all of them off!”
Higashigawa Taro, who had stayed silent all this while, commanded.
Surprisingly, he could speak Mandarin fluently.
“An hour later, no matter who wins or losses, you must retreat to the seaside. There will be a boat bringing us out of Huaxia!”
A schemeful gleam flashed past his eyes. While he was confident of shaking off the Agency of Special Affairs even if they had their eyes on him, he sensed that something was amiss. It was as if they had caught the attention of the Agency of Special Affairs before their operation commenced.
Higashigawa Taro was clear about just how hard it was to deal with those people with the Agency. In normal circumstances, he would turn to leave immediately; however, since he had undertaken the mission, that was no reason to give up. At least, there has been no such precedent in Hellfire.
That was why he left an hour for himself. From his investigation, everyone in that family was an ordinary human. No matter what happened, an hour would be more than enough time to clean things up.
Even the few bodyguards that they had hired were like clay chickens and pottery dogs. It was completely useless.
Ling Manor, inside Lu Xuan’s room, Lu Xuan was holding the phone, talking to someone over the line. On the screen, it showed the caller ID “Mother Empress.”
“How in the world did you get this much money? You suddenly transferred three million to your Dad!” On the other side of the line, Liu Wanrong asked in great puzzlement.
From what she understood, her son had just graduated from university. How could he have earned three million dollars?
For many, that was the amount that they might earn in their lifetime.
“Don’t tell me that you robbed a bank!”
His father, Lu Tianxiang, suddenly interrupted over the phone.
Before Lu Xuan could answer, one could hear Liu Wanrong’s enraged voice, “Ptui! How dare you say something like that, you old geezer! My son has been exemplary in school ever since he was young, and the city even awarded him with the title ‘Fu City’s Top Ten Students Exemplarary in Character, Academics, and Sports’! He would never rob a bank!
“Don’t take it to heart, my son! Your Dad’s just an old muddlehead who’s starting to bald. He’d be a bald, middle-aged uncle in no time! While there’s no saving him, you should really start to take care of yourself. Don’t go for nights without sleeping! You need to guard your hairline. Boys who can’t protect their hairlines can never protect their lives. Even if you go bald, you must only do so after you find yourself a wife, okay? And so, how’s it going with Lin Miaoyi from the blind date? Have you asked her out yet?”
Liu Wanrong’s ability to urge him to marry was impressive. Hearing how she managed to turn a topic on money transfer into getting a girlfriend, Lu Xuan didn’t know if he should laugh or cry. Nevertheless, it was still heartwarming.
Lu Xuan’s mother was unconcerned as to how he had made such a massive sum of money. All she cared about was if he had found himself a girlfriend or not.
One look and anyone could tell that they were his biological parents.
“We are still taking it easy, Dad and Mom. Stop worrying about me!”
Lu Xuan explained, “I have accepted a special job offer, and that was my pay. I’ll tell you guys personally when we meet. In any case, this sum is legal and clean. Just accept it!”
“All right then. You are an adult, I believe in your judgment!” Liu Wanrong sounded like she had a lot of faith in Lu Xuan. “As for that money, your Dad and I are getting on in years. How much could we spend? We’ll save them as your funds to marry your future wife!”
After he hung up, Lu Xuan resumed his usual languid self. The current him looked like he had genuinely broken free of the shackles on his heart. Carefree and unconstrained, without care or worries.
Bam!
Suddenly, a gunshot smashed Lu Xuan’s thoughts. Although it sounded like it had been muffled to a considerable extent by a silencer, leaving but a small whistle, it could never have escaped Lu Xuan’s detection.
“They’re here!”
