Chapter 10: Mission Accomplished, Depart With Flicked Robes
Lu Yun killed four Black Rank experts who blocked his path and appeared on the Guqin Platform. This was something Xiahou Lei had never expected.
But Lu Yun did not seize the opportunity to attack immediately. Instead, he allowed Xiahou Lei to stand up and even let him adjust his essence, qi, and spirit to peak state.
Xiahou Lei’s expression became extremely grave. His opponent had broken through the heavy encirclement to stand before him, so he definitely knew he had the strength of an Earth Rank Grandmaster, yet he still waited for him to prepare. This naked contempt not only made him feel greatly insulted but also caused strands of chill to rise in his heart…
Could this person have the strength to crush Earth Rank? A trace of gloom flashed in Xiahou Lei’s mind. But there were only about ten Heavenly Rank Grandmasters in total under heaven, and the opponent clearly was not one of them! Where did this confidence come from?!
“Arrogant!” Xiahou Lei snorted angrily and said to the trembling Liu Qianqian, “Miss Qianqian, play the zither to aid me. Watch me kill this fiend!”
“…” Liu Qianqian was stunned for a moment before tremblingly placing her hands on the strings and gritting her teeth to pluck them.
The zither music started off intermittent and tuneless, but she was after all a zither master. Soon, a stirring and majestic purple Entry to Battle Tune resounded on the Guqin Platform.
Below the Guqin Platform, Xiahou Lei used this passionate zither music to suppress all stray thoughts in his heart, his battle intent continuously rising!
Meanwhile, his opponent had already let his hands hang down, sheathed his saber, and watched Xiahou Lei’s theatrics with a hint of mockery in his eyes. This was not Lu Yun being deliberately arrogant but psychologically suppressing Xiahou Lei. Uncle Bao had told him that in a showdown between experts, momentum was paramount. Once momentum suppressed the opponent, they could hardly perform at their true level. When both sides had equal strength, victory or defeat was naturally decided.
Xiahou Lei finally could not hold back and roared, “Die!” Borrowing the passionate zither music, he turned into a black shadow and pounced toward his opponent!
Lu Yun appeared contemptuous but was actually not the least bit negligent. He immediately raised both hands to meet the enemy!
Neither side probed; they went all out right from the start! In the blink of an eye, they had exchanged dozens of solid, hard clashes! The surging forceful energy tore the gauze curtains below the Guqin Platform into fragments!
Those fragments were drawn by the qi aura entangled between the two, swirling around them without falling, shredded ever finer like scattered snowflakes dancing in the air!
This rare sight made Miss Qianqian on the Guqin Platform completely forget her fear. Her jade-like fingers fluttered like butterflies, the zither music becoming ever more generous and passionate, each note seeming to make one’s heart leap out of their chest!
Under the infection of the zither music, Xiahou Lei felt he had never been this powerful!
The Investigative Bureau’s so-called Earth Rank Grandmaster list had a disgusting restriction: it only ranked warriors under fifty! They believed that unless one broke through the legendary Xiantian Secret Realm, after fifty, one’s qi and blood would decline and martial arts would inevitably regress! But Xiahou Lei felt his qi and blood still surging; at least at this moment, every punch he threw and every kick he landed surpassed what he could do before fifty!
This was no illusion. As Xiahou Lei’s momentum continuously rose, Lu Yun was gradually suppressed.
‘Selfless state!’ Lu Yun could not help but frown tightly. He never expected Xiahou Lei to completely shake off the psychological influence he had imposed with the help of the zither music and enter the selfless realm that martial artists yearned for!
In the selfless state, body and mind approached the Dao. At this time, one’s lifelong cultivation and experience could be exerted to the fullest, even shutting off the five senses and fighting purely on instinct! One could even surpass oneself and reach unprecedented realms.
Xiahou Lei was in such a state, his true qi surging like a thousand galloping horses and crashing like ocean tides! Moreover, as the battle continued, it kept rising, and the Dragon Elephant Subduing Demon Divine Skill, stagnant for over a decade, faintly showed signs of breakthrough!
In a flash, Xiahou Lei clasped his hands to his chest, fingers interlocked, mudras flipping, and roared, “Approach, soldier, fight, person, all array forward!” With that angry shout, Xiahou Lei thrust both palms forward!
In an instant, Lu Yun seemed to see a divine dragon descending, a holy elephant charging, the Buddha glaring in anger, and Vajra subduing demons! An unstoppable colossal force smashed toward him!
With a ‘boom’ loud noise, all the snowflakes were swept away. Lu Yun was sent flying straight back, his back slamming heavily into a pillar!
Amid cracking sounds, that thick, sturdy redwood pillar was actually covered in countless cracks! Lu Yun’s protective true qi was forcibly scattered, and he spat out a mouthful of blood!
Xiahou Lei looked at his hands, trembling slightly with excitement. He had finally executed the eighth form of the Dragon Elephant Great Hand Seal—the Sun Seal! Though its power was far from matching that of his nephews’ Sun Seals. But given time, he could definitely use this to break through the Dragon Elephant Subduing Demon Divine Skill to the eighth layer! Becoming a Heavenly Rank Grandmaster!
Indeed, misfortune turned to fortune. He never thought this assassination attempt would become his opportunity for breakthrough!
“Arrogant junior, now you know this old man’s power!” Xiahou Lei stood proudly below the Guqin Platform, looking down at the slumped Lu Yun, and laughed toward the sky. “Zuo Yanqing, you castrated dog, open your dog eyes and watch this old man break through!”
In Xiahou Lei’s view, victory or defeat was already decided now, with no suspense.
Who knew Lu Yun would start laughing hoarsely. Xiahou Lei frowned tightly; he had never seen such an arrogant, nonsensical person!
“It seems I still underestimated the heroes under heaven…” Lu Yun wiped the blood from his mouth with his hand, supported himself on the pillar to stand, his body swaying unsteadily. His hands formed a strange mudra, a sharp glint flashed in his eyes as he said, “Again!” He then curled his five fingers into his palms, thumbs pressing down his index and middle fingers, stomped his foot with a roar, and charged at Xiahou Lei!
Seeing that mudra, Liu Qianqian’s zither music clearly faltered. She hurriedly suppressed the stormy waves in her heart and continued playing to aid the battle!
“Useless!” Seeing Lu Yun’s movement technique obviously slowed, clearly forcing himself, Xiahou Lei laughed loudly: “Let this old man send you to the western paradise!” With that, he clapped both palms, the Sun Seal of the Dragon Elephant Great Hand Seal carrying a million-jun force, aiming to smash this reckless junior to powder!
But Lu Yun neither dodged nor evaded, slowly punching out. He was going to hard-block that palm that had sent him flying!
Again a ‘boom’ loud noise, fist and palm clashed without fancy. This time, it was Xiahou Lei who flew sideways!
Crashing a pillar clean in half at the waist, Xiahou Lei spat out a mouthful of blood! For a moment, Xiahou Lei could not even move his fingers, his departed souls all risking flight!
Clearly the moment before, the opponent’s strength was inferior to his, yet in a turn of the eye, he was completely crushed! And this was peak state him! There could only be one explanation: the opponent had not gone all out before; this was his true strength!
The ferocious force rampaged like electric current in Xiahou Lei’s body, making his five viscera ache like knife cuts! True qi did not dissipate immediately after leaving the body and could still harm the enemy—this was something only a Heavenly Rank Grandmaster could do!
After a good while, Xiahou Lei lay paralyzed on the ground, all sorts of thoughts flooding his mind. He even wondered which level of hell he would go to after death…
At this time, Liu Qianqian’s urgent zither music brought Xiahou Lei back to his senses. He suddenly realized the opponent had not pressed the attack and still stood motionless there, clearly having suffered no light internal injury and seizing time to regulate his breathing!
How could Xiahou Lei dare delay? He circulated the Dragon Elephant Subduing Demon Divine Skill, and in a few breaths, dissipated that force and suppressed his raging qi and blood. Clearly, the opponent was not Heavenly Rank, or else how would he give him a chance to recover!
Amid the clanging zither music, Xiahou Lei leaped up like a fish, roared, and unleashed a mighty and peerless Great Hand Seal toward his opponent!
A cold smile curled at Lu Yun’s lips as he raised his hand for a punch! That punch seemed to summon thunder, majestic and peerless like splitting heaven and earth!
Who knew Xiahou Lei’s move had not been full strength. Seeing Lu Yun still able to strike, he flicked his wrist, and the Sun Seal smashed onto a pillar of the Guqin Platform!
The entire Guqin Platform shook from his strike. Miss Qianqian hurriedly pressed down the seven-string zither, preventing it from falling off.
The zither music abruptly stopped, and Xiahou Lei borrowed the rebounding colossal force to turn and leap out of the Painted Boat!
“Where do you escape!” Lu Yun glanced at the pale-faced Liu Qianqian and chased after Xiahou Lei!
Miss Qianqian’s hair in disarray, she stared blankly as the two, one in front and one behind, skimmed across the lake surface like two flying birds…
.
Lingbo Weibu was a Heavenly Rank Grandmaster’s skill. Neither Lu Yun nor Xiahou Lei had this ability yet. They could chase on the water surface without a boat because of the endless lotus flowers extending outside the Painted Boat…
Their toes rapidly tapped on leaf after leaf. The slender leaf stems bent fiercely, seeming about to snap, yet suddenly bore no weight! As the lotus leaves trembled, the two atop them flashed past, already on another lotus leaf a zhang away! If not for the startled water birds and splashing water flowers, they seemed to fly through the clouds.
It was just that these clouds were a patch of verdant green…
On the Xiahou Clan boat, both sides also stopped fighting. Seeing this scene, Shankou was completely certain they had been schemed against today! How could he still linger in battle? He whistled, shook off his enemies, left behind four or five corpses, and led the remaining assassins back to his own boat.
The Xiahou Clan warriors could not be bothered to chase them and frantically rowed to pick up Xiahou Lei. But the two were already out of sight; how could they catch up…
