"Retainer Xu! Watch out for Liu Hong’s saber!"
Lu Changfeng shouted the warning as he ran a Liu Family scion through with his sword.
He had seen Liu Hong’s Talent.
Name: Liu Hong
Root Bone: B Class+
Talent: Middle Grade Talent [Sabersmanship]
This was the second Martial Artist with a weapon-type Middle Grade Talent that Lu Changfeng had ever encountered.
The last one had been Li Youtian.
’A Middle Grade Talent combined with a Blood Forging Fifth Layer cultivation... An ordinary Blood Forging Fifth Layer Martial Artist like Retainer Xu definitely won’t be able to hold Liu Hong off for long.’
This Liu Hong had hidden his abilities well.
He hadn’t shown the slightest sign of his Sabersmanship Talent before this.
On the other side, having received Lu Changfeng’s warning, Retainer Xu became extremely cautious as he executed his Staff Technique.
But his opponent, Liu Hong, suddenly grinned, and the speed of the Curved Saber in his hand instantly increased by thirty percent!
Full Moon Saber Technique!
Moon Dance!
Retainer Xu reacted quickly and blocked the first strike, but a numbing pain shot through the web of his thumb.
In Liu Hong’s hands, the Curved Saber became a dancing full moon! ’This is definitely a Blood Forging Realm Saber Technique at the Perfection Level!’
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
’He’s too strong!’
Retainer Xu found it hard to imagine that Liu Hong, a man only in his early thirties, had not only reached the Fifth Layer of Blood Forging but had also mastered a Saber Technique to such a degree!
’Only those old freaks in the Tendon Transformation Realm, who are seventy or eighty years old, would have the time to polish their Martial Arts to this Realm!’
BANG!
Liu Hong found his moment and slashed at Retainer Xu’s chest.
Drawing on his experience, Retainer Xu held his staff horizontally to block. Still, the force of the charged strike sent him staggering back seven or eight meters, and he spat out a mouthful of blood. He had already sustained internal injuries.
At that moment, Zhou Feng finished killing his targets: the Liu Family’s second and fourth sons.
Lu Changfeng, relying on his superior Body Technique, also singled out and killed the Liu Family’s fifth son and eldest grandson from within the crowd.
With that, the two closed in on Liu Hong.
For the moment, Retainer Xu’s predicament was relieved.
"You dogs!!"
Seeing the rivers of blood all around him, Liu Hong gritted his teeth and raised his saber, slashing at Retainer Xu.
Zhou Feng raised his sword to block Liu Hong’s Curved Saber. A numbing pain shot through the web of his thumb, and he realized the level of Liu Hong’s Saber Technique.
"Be careful! Liu Hong’s Saber Technique Realm is terrifyingly high!" Zhou Feng said, mainly to warn his junior brother, Lu Changfeng.
But Lu Changfeng had already learned of Liu Hong’s Talent through the interface.
Lu Changfeng raised his sword and Retainer Xu his staff, joining Zhou Feng to surround and attack Liu Hong.
Retainer Xu had internal injuries, so the speed and power of his Staff Technique had diminished significantly.
As for Lu Changfeng, although his cultivation was the lowest...
...he was demonstrating Swordsmanship at the Perfection Level, and the speed and power he displayed were nearly on par with Retainer Xu’s.
An occasionally stunning sword strike would even throw Liu Hong into a panic.
Despite fighting one against three, Liu Hong’s momentum didn’t weaken in the slightest.
He focused his attacks on the injured Retainer Xu. An occasional charged slash would send shudders through Xu’s body, worsening his injuries!
And so, the four of them battled for over ten minutes.
During this time, some members of the Liu Family tried to escape and report the incident, but Liuu Ye had already surrounded the area with the Liuu Family’s retainers.
Without any Blood Forging Realm Martial Artists to help them, the ordinary Liu Family members couldn’t cause any trouble.
Liuu Ye stood guard in the front courtyard. Whenever a Liu Family member emerged from a corner, he would raise his saber and cut them down.
Listening to the sounds of fighting from the central courtyard, he grew anxious, hoping no harm would come to his senior and junior brothers.
If he hadn’t been tasked with leading the retainers to prevent any escapes, he would have rushed in to join the slaughter long ago.
"AHH!"
Suddenly, a blood-curdling scream came from the central courtyard.
Liuu Ye couldn’t hold back any longer. He ordered his men to watch the main gate and charged into the central courtyard.
There, in the middle of the courtyard, stood three figures: Lu Changfeng, Zhou Feng, and a pale-faced Retainer Xu.
A fourth person lay unconscious on the ground in the center, their limbs severed. Liuu Ye recognized him as Liu Hong, the eldest son of the Liu Family and the primary target of their mission!
"Excellent! We did it!" Liuu Ye couldn’t help but exclaim when he saw Liu Hong.
Just then, Lu Changfeng sheathed his Autumn Water Sword.
Zhou Feng and Retainer Xu, however, were staring at Lu Changfeng with complicated expressions.
「Half a minute earlier.」
Fighting one against three, Liu Hong’s stamina was draining rapidly. He grew increasingly desperate to kill Retainer Xu and find a way to break the stalemate!
In his haste, Liu Hong exposed an opening!
Lu Changfeng, who had been waiting for this exact moment, didn’t hesitate. His aura surged, and he unleashed his Gale Sword Intent!
The Gale Sword Intent enveloped Liu Hong, causing his movements to slow for an instant!
In a way, Gale Sword Intent could be considered a form of Spiritual Energy!
Lu Changfeng channeled his Sword Intent to execute the Sword Technique, Gale and Torrential Rain!
He struck eight times in a single second!
Liu Hong barely managed to turn and block the first sword strike. He blocked the second as well, but with insufficient force; the resulting shock left him with a minor internal injury!
He blocked the third with a desperate effort but was now severely injured!
Liu Hong truly couldn’t block the fourth sword strike, and his right arm—the one holding the saber—was sliced off!
The fifth strike, Liu Hong’s left arm fell from the shoulder!
The sixth strike took his left leg! The seventh took his right!
With the eighth strike, Lu Changfeng "tidied up" Liu Hong’s right arm, severing it cleanly at the shoulder to match the left one—a perfect, symmetrical cut!
After the eight strikes, Liu Hong had been carved into a "human stick," and he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
At the side, Zhou Feng and Retainer Xu were dumbfounded. Although Lu Changfeng hadn’t aimed his Sword Intent at them...
...they had still felt the piercing Sword Intent radiating from him when he attacked.
’If it were us, we probably couldn’t have blocked those eight terrifying strikes either.’
’Junior Brother’s Swordsmanship... has it actually reached such an unheard-of Realm?’ Zhou Feng was completely shaken.
Before this, he had been thinking about how he would need to look after Lu Changfeng during this mission.
But now, it seemed they had only defeated Liu Hong so easily thanks to his junior brother.
’With such incredible Swordsmanship, Junior Brother’s strength is already greater than my own!’
Retainer Xu’s feelings were also extremely complicated. ’Where in the world did Liuu Ye find this monster? He looks so young, yet he possesses such a terrifying Martial Arts Realm!’
’If I’m not mistaken, what that young man just used was Martial Arts True Intent, wasn’t it?’
’Or perhaps Half-step True Intent?’
’Simply terrifying!! I must never offend this boy. I need to get on his good side!’
"Third Senior Brother, please take good care of Liu Hong. Don’t let him die for at least fifty days," Lu Changfeng requested.
This was, of course, because he had his eyes on Liu Hong’s Middle Grade Talent [Sabersmanship].
"No problem. I won’t let him die easily."
Liuu Ye didn’t understand why, but he nodded anyway. He called over some retainers, gave them instructions, and Liu Hong was sent to the Liuu Family’s own infirmary.
In this Fantasy World, there were plenty of ways to keep a "human stick" alive.
Seeing Liuu Ye agree...
...Lu Changfeng and Zhou Feng headed for the rear courtyard.
That was where the Liu Family produced their Exotic Beast Meat.
Retainer Xu didn’t follow. The Exotic Beast Meat recipe belonged to Lu Changfeng and Zhou Feng; the Liuu Family must have promised Retainer Xu some other benefit to make him give up his claim to it.
The two of them arrived in the rear courtyard and began to search.
In the end, Lu Changfeng used his Light Body Technique to leap into the middle of a pond.
In the center of the pond was a stone toad sculpture over three meters tall.
He gently twisted a stone pearl in the toad’s mouth, and a downward passage appeared behind the sculpture.
"It really is here!"
Lu Changfeng called Zhou Feng over, and the two of them descended into the entrance.