Lu Yin glanced over at Zhang Dingtian, and then Liu Tianmu before nodding. “This junior has just received an inheritance, so it would be good to practice it.”
It was necessary to reveal one’s strength in order to dominate the world. No one would entrust an opportunity to a piece of trash. Even if Lu Yin was a Hunter and had a powerful physique, as far as people like Long Xi and Long Tian were concerned, Lu Yin was far less than impressive.
Lu Yin hoped to gain the attention of a Junior Progenitor before they traveled up to the Dominion Realm, as Lu Yin’s goal was also to visit the Dominion Realm.
He was not willing to give up on such an opportunity, and while he might need to take some risks, he had just been given an excellent excuse in the form of receiving an inheritance from the Sword Monument. This gave him a reason to show that his strength had improved by leaps and bounds.
Everyone was intrigued when they heard that Lu Yin wanted to practice the inheritance he had just received from the Sword Monument, and they all gathered around.
Soon, Lu Yin stood across from the youth from the Liu family. They were just a short distance away from the Sword Monument.
“Liu family, Liu Lu.”1
“White Dragon Clan, Long Qi.”
Liu Lu stared at Lu Yin, and then his right hand slowly moved down to settle on the hilt of his sword. “Brother Long, be careful. While I haven’t received anything from the Sword Monument, I have trained the Burning Heart Sword Intent that has been passed down from an ancestor who inherited it from the Sword Monument. A single sword can summon a flame within living creatures. This is a deadly technique.”
Lu Yin stared back at Liu Lu. This person was not putting on any sort of act or trying to intimidate Lu Yin. There was determination in Liu Lu’s eyes. Lu Yin had seen the same in Liu Shaoqiu, Zhang Dingtian, and many people he had encountered throughout his life. These eyes belonged to people who had a one-track mind and who wanted nothing more than to pursue a single path to an extreme. Of course, Lu Yin did not know how dangerous this opponent was.
“Please,” Lu Yin said.
Liu Lu’s eyes suddenly went wide, and his thumb flicked off of the hilt of his sword. He moved his hand to grab the sword, and then his body suddenly disappeared as he rushed towards Lu Yin at an incredible speed. Lu Yin’s eyes lit up. While using extreme speed could be considered an effective tactic, unfortunately, this was not fast enough to threaten Lu Yin. Liu Lu was much slower than Wang Yi.
There was a gentle sound as Liu Lu shot through the air with his sword pointed directly at Lu Yin’s shoulder.
Long Kui frowned from his distant vantage point, but did not move.
Many members of the Liu family opened their eyes wide. They had heard a little about Long Qi, and they did not believe him to be a match for Liu Lu. Also, they did not want Long Qi to be badly injured. While the Liu family hated the Fourteenth Gate, there was a certain balance in place, and they did not want to risk an open confrontation.
Right when the sword was stabbing at Lu Yin, he moved a hand. For the first time since he had entered the Perennial World, he unleashed a Vacuum Palm.
The sword was smacked aside, and the hand struck Liu Lu’s chest, sending him flipping through the air as he spat out blood.
The onlookers went silent. Most of them had not been able to see what Lu Yin had done. There were very few that understood what had just happened.
“With such a fast palm attack! It also superimposes the power of the attack, and Liu Lu couldn’t see it at all.”
“That’s what he learned from the Sword Monument? That’s amazing.”
…
Liu Hao’s eyes lit up from where he stood behind the stooped old man. This was a good palm technique, and its power rose as the stacks increased. It was still a bit weak, but it was already practically unbeatable by any Hunters.
Liu Lu was instantly defeated by this palm attack, and was even badly injured.
Lu Yin quickly apologized, “I’m sorry! This was the first time I used it, so I wasn’t able to understand the power behind it.”
Many of the youths in the Liu family instantly became eager to challenge Lu Yin, but Liu Lu was already their second most talented youth behind Liu Hao, and Liu Lu had been defeated by a single palm, so the rest of them stood no chance.
“It’s just that Liu Lu’s abilities are lacking when compared to those like you.” Liu Hao stepped forward and walked over to take Liu Lu’s place. “How about I go a round with you? I’m Liu Hao.”
Lu Yin instantly became cautious when he saw Liu Hao. This person was an Enlighter, so Lu Yin needed to be careful of how much strength he revealed.
Liu Tianmu arched a brow when she saw Liu Hao walk out. She had been hiding her strength since the moment she had arrived at the Liu family, and yet despite her efforts, she had still drawn a great deal of attention. There were many people who had compared her to Liu Hao, so she had some idea of how strong the man was, even if it was only a vague impression.
She estimated Liu Hao to be at the same level of strength as Wang Yi, or maybe even Shang Qing. She intended to use Lu Yin to find out just how powerful this Liu Hao really was.
Liu Hao was the current generation’s representative of the Liu family, and the Liu family grew excited to see him prepared to make a move.
Lu Yin smiled wryly. “I’ve heard that Brother Liu is an exceptional expert in our generation. This younger brother has only just accepted an inheritance, so how could I compare to Brother Liu? Please don’t embarrass your younger brother.”
Liu Hao casually retorted, “It’s just a spar, and I won’t hurt you in any way. Actually, if you manage to wound me at all, it’s my loss.”
Lu Yin felt troubled.
The hunched Elder Song smiled in the distance. “Child, don’t be afraid. This old man promises you won’t be hurt.”
Lu Yin gritted his teeth. “Since Senior has spoken, a junior like me wouldn’t dare refuse. Alright, Brother Liu, let’s go.”
Vacuum Palm was an invisible palm attack that was also incredibly fast. Due to these two aspects, unlike what Lu Yin had expected, Liu Hao was instantly struck by the palm.
Fortunately, Lu Yin had not used a full 250 Stacks, but instead had only used 150 Stacks, which was the same level of physical strength he had revealed to Long Xi. Even though the destructive power of his attack was enough to injure even one of the Ten Arbiters, it was not overpowering to someone like Liu Hao who was already an Enlighter.
Liu Hao was knocked a few steps back by the palm. He then bent over and picked up a blade of grass from the ground, and held it as a replacement for his sword. He pressed down onto the ground with his right foot, and disappeared for a moment before appearing right behind Lu Yin.
It was a bit of an insult to be attacked with a blade of grass instead of an actual sword, but Liu Hao’s reputation and status qualified him to do so. There were few people who were able to force him to draw his sword.
Even if he was using a blade of grass in place of a sword, his skills left Lu Yin’s scalp tingling. Lu Yin could feel a limitless sword intent shrouding the “weapon.” Even though he was being attacked by nothing more than a blade of grass, Lu Yin felt as if the sharpest sword in the world was attacking him.
Liu Tianmu’s pupils shrank to pinpricks from where she was watching. She was also capable of using this level of skill with, as the Thirteen Swords’ Tenth Sword was able to achieve the same kind of sword intent. However, Liu Tianmu needed to use a real sword in order to be able to display such power, while Liu Hao was able to do so with nothing but a piece of grass. It was clear that his sword intent far surpassed Liu Tianmu’s.
This showed the abilities of the Liu family’s most outstanding descendant.
In the past, if Lu Yin had been faced with the sword intent of the Thirteen Swords or Liu Hao’s blade of grass,he would have needed a powerful counter attack to be able to endure. However, Lu Yin had seen countless movements of that black scythe when receiving the inheritance from the Sword Monument, and all of them had broken various weapons. Lu Yin seemed to suddenly receive some unexplainable enlightenment, and his knowledge of weapons drastically improved by countless levels.
Liu Hao was using a blade of grass in place of a sword, but it was radiating sword intent in all directions, and Lu Yin could clearly see the flow of the sword. This sort of perception was different from the Cosmic Art. The Cosmic Art allowed a user to see where an attack would go, but Lu Yin did not need to see that detail at this moment. At this moment, Lu Yin was able to determine the trajectory of the attack just by seeing Liu Hao’s hand, and could also sense exactly where the blade would stab, as well as how powerful the attack was.
Lu Yin was completely certain that if he held the black scythe at this moment, he would be able to slice through Liu Hao’s “sword.” Still, Lu Yin could not reveal too much already.
The blade of grass pierced through the air and approached Lu Yin. Liu Hao duplicated Liu Lu’s attack, and was targeting Lu Yin’s shoulder.
Numerous thoughts passed through Lu Yin’s mind at this moment. The person whose identity he had assumed was not someone who should be able to see through Liu Hao’s skills, or be able to stop Liu Hao’s attack. From what everyone around knew of Long Qi, this attack would strike his shoulder and would prove Liu Hao’s invincibility. There was no way for Long Qi to overcome this moment with a single inheritance.
Lu Yin’s thoughts branched out; who had said that he had only accepted a single inheritance?
He thought through all that he knew, and then created a spear out of star energy. His left foot moved a centimeter back, allowing him to just barely evade the blade of grass. At the same time, the spear traveled a strange path as it avoided the blade of grass and simultaneously forced Liu Hao from advancing any further.
Lu Yin’s counter had looked to be a magical maneuver, as he had forced Liu Hao to step back.
Elder Song and other experts from the Liu family were all caught off guard. This was not a matter of a battle technique, but of perception. Long Qi had seen through Liu Hao’s swordsmanship.
Liu Tianmu was shocked. According to what she knew, Lu Yin should not have been able to see through Liu Hao’s sword skills, and should have only made some sort of reckless move. Instead, he had used a spear to counter- wait, a spear? Since when did Lu Yin use a spear? The only weapon he had ever been known to use had been that scythe.
Liu Hao fell a few steps back and stared at Lu Yin in shock. “You just saw through my movements?”
Lu Yin held the star energy spear in his hands and deliberately panted to make himself look a bit scared. “Brother Liu, didn’t you say you wouldn’t hurt me?”
Liu Hao replied in a low voice, “I never intended to hurt you, but I need to know, did you just see through my attack?”
Lu Yin dropped his head and looked to be considering the matter for a while. Finally, he nodded. “I don’t know if I exactly saw through it, but I knew where your attack would land and how strong it was going to be.”
The people hearing this broke out in excitement; Long Qi had seen through Liu Hao’s skills? There was not one person in Liu Hao’s generation who was capable of doing that!
The Liu family’s older experts all went silent.
“Have you studied the sword?” Liu Hao asked in surprise.
Lu Yin shook his head. “This little brother saw a great deal of sword movements when I was receiving the inheritance from the Sword Monument, that’s all.”
Clearly, this was enough for Liu Hao to understand that Lu Yin had received more from the Sword Monument than just the palm technique, and Long Qi had also gained knowledge of the sword. Things instantly became understandable. After all, the Sword Monument held countless supreme sword techniques, and if Long Qi earnestly studied what he had received, there was no doubt that he would be to unravel numerous sword techniques. Not to mention, Long Qi was from the White Dragon Clan, and the people of that clan were masters of the spear, and they had a powerful foundation for such arts.
The more Liu Hao thought about this, the brighter his eyes became. He looked at Lu Yin with eyes that sparkled like a baby’s.
Lu Yin felt creeped out and became wary. “Brother Liu, what’s wrong?”
Liu Hao said with excitement, “Brother Long, stay here! You and I can practice with each other! You can unravel my sword skills while I teach you the way of the sword! What do you say?”
Lu Yin reflexively scanned the area, and as he did so, he noticed that many of the members of the Liu family had become excited. He quickly understood, as they were seeing him as a tool to find the weak point of their sword skills. They wanted to use him to improve their own strength.
Only an idiot would agree to such an offer.
Lu Yin refused without any hesitation, “Brother Liu’s swordsmanship is incredible, but this little brother could only possibly see through half of your ability. You must be joking to suggest that I can see through all of your sword skills.”
“Brother Long, my Liu family does not fall far behind even the White Dragon Clan. If you promise to stay here with us, you will be allowed to observe the Sword Monument whenever you wish!” Liu Hao promised.
Not even the Liu patriarch qualified to offer such a promise, but even though Liu Hao had delivered such an offer, no one spoke up to counter him, not even Elder Song.
[1] While he is a “Lu,” it is not anywhere close to the same character as Lu Yin’s name. This Lu means “furnace.” ☜
