Chapter 12: Gnashing One's Teeth in Humiliation (Part 2)
Rushing to the new person chart, urgently seeking recommendation votes and collections, hoping everyone will generously assist, letting Ten Steps truly live up to its name, killing one person with a single step, traveling a thousand miles without leaving a trail, killing all the way to the top ten! (Desperately seeking recommendation votes)
By the time he struggled to support himself until the fifth move, Lu Qing felt that his dantian qihai was empty, and a deep sense of weakness surged up throughout his body. The sword yuanqi that had been lingering on the broken sword suddenly dissipated, the two swords clashed, the tiger's mouth shook violently, and the broken sword flew out of his hand instantly. Fresh blood flowed from the tiger's mouth.
Lu Qing's footsteps flashed rapidly as he tried to break free from the Three Talents Sword Formation, but how could the young man's resentment towards Lu Qing's sudden sword rise be so easily calmed? Lu Qing only felt a brief darkness in front of him, and the three long swords that had scattered their sword energy swooped down from above with a whistling sound.
Bang, bang, bang, three loud clanging sounds, Lu Qing's left and right shoulders and left cheek were simultaneously struck by a sword. His body involuntarily knelt down, his knees hitting the ground with a dull thud. The intense pain almost made Lu Qing faint, at this moment he had almost lost control of his body. His entire skeleton felt like it was falling apart, without any strength, and his face was burning with pain. A deep sense of shame flooded his heart.
My head can be cut off, but the backbone of the Lu family's sons cannot be broken!
It seemed as if the stern teachings of his childhood echoed in his ears once again, and at this moment, they appeared so clear. The mental state that he had barely held onto instantly dissipated, and Lu Qing's eyes quickly turned bright red, with both hands pushing against the ground to get up.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Again, three sword shadows fell, and both knees hit the ground again. In addition to the left and right shoulders, the right cheek was also struck by a sword, and it began to swell up like the left cheek. At this moment, Lu Qing could no longer get up. The three young men had obviously increased their strength. When Lu Qing's knees hit the ground, the sound of touching the ground was even louder than the first time. The weakness, pain, and numbness in his knee joints pierced his heart, his lips turned pale, and beads of sweat gradually covered his forehead, then slid down from the tip of his nose.
At the age of twelve, Lu Qing had never suffered such humiliation. As the only descendant of the Lu family, he had been strictly educated by Lu Yun since childhood and was known for his humility and courtesy. In Chaoyang Town, he was loved by all the townspeople, and no one dared to bully him due to his background. Except for practicing swordsmanship and suffering when learning to cast swords with Lu Yun, no one had ever scolded or beaten him, not even Lu Yun, who only occasionally reprimanded him. Therefore, this encounter was the greatest shame of Lu Qing's life.
Man has no intention of hurting the tiger, but the tiger has a mind to harm man!
Lu Qing first understood the cruelty of this world, even in the sect's territory where he had lived since childhood.
"Taiyun, you're too deceitful!"
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Lu Qing's current state, and Duan Qingyun couldn't help but burst into anger. She no longer cared about the consumption of Sword Yuan's power, and with one move, it was extremely powerful. As Duan Qingyun infused her sword with Yuan, the Lihuo sword in her hand immediately emitted a dazzling purple glow. The six-inch sword energy that had already extended from the tip of the sword suddenly surged again, although it didn't reach seven inches, but it wasn't far off either.
"Violet energy arrives!" Duan Qingyun shouted, his sword drawing a circle, its sharp sword energy outlining a purple light ring that enveloped the Fire Wolf's head, wherever the light ring passed, the ground was plowed open with a deep trench.
As a spiritual beast, although only first-class, the Huo Lang Wolf's perception of air machine danger is also extremely sensitive. Feeling the power of this green cloud that can cause serious injury to itself, the Huo Lang Wolf's big mouth was urgent, and three human-head-sized fierce flame balls were sprayed out in succession, whistling towards Duan Qingyun to block him. And with the ejection of these three flame balls, the Huo Lang Wolf's expression also became somewhat dispirited. After all, it had only recently come of age and was taken away by Tai Yun today, and its own strength had not yet reached the peak of a first-class spiritual beast, still needing to absorb the heaven and earth's original energy to continuously consolidate. At present, its actual strength was at most that of an early-stage sword master, and the difference in strength with Duan Qingyun, who was at the peak of mid-sky rank, was not great.
Taiyun was even more aware of the power of Duan Qingyun's move, "Purple Energy Arrives from the East". This move was one of the three most powerful techniques in the 13 Swords of Dawn, along with the 11th sword "Broken Clouds at Dawn" and the 13th sword "Dawn Rises". These three moves were considered to be the most difficult among the Swordsmen's tier, and usually required a cultivator to reach the Great Heaven stage to fully comprehend. With Duan Qingyun's current cultivation level, using this move with full force would only put him at the early stages of the Swordsmen's Great Heaven stage. If Huo Lang were to resist it head-on, he would likely suffer severe injuries. This was not what Taiyun wanted to see happen. "Huo Lang, come back!"
Upon hearing Taiyun's command, Huo Lang didn't hesitate and immediately turned around to leap back beside Taiyun. The three flame bullets he had previously spat out were only slightly blocked by Duan Qingyun's purple sword energy aura before being extinguished within it.
What! Taiyun's eyebrows suddenly furrowed, because he thought Duan Qingyun's sword was attacking him. The Purple Mist Sect's rules state that unless one party initiates an attack, the higher realm is not allowed to make a move without permission from the sect leader or supervisor during non-major competitions. Otherwise, they will be expelled from the sect. At this time, Taiyun had already reached the second realm of the sword path, Sword Guest stage, and could not take the initiative to attack Duan Qingyun, who was still in the first realm. He originally wanted to use Huo Lang to teach him a lesson, but unexpectedly, Duan Qingyun grasped the second of the three ultimate moves of the Rising Sun Thirteen Swords, which was beyond his expectations.
At this time, Duan Qingyun had a clear goal, using the propulsion force generated by the extinction of the three flame bullets to turn his body and pounce on the three people who were besieging Lu Qing. The fierce fire sword slashed horizontally at the waists of the three young men, the purple sword energy on the tip of the sword swallowing and spitting out, tearing through the air with a whistling sound.
Feeling the crisis behind him, the young man's eyes moved and the two people beside him immediately understood. With a flash of their bodies, they joined hands to block Duan Qingyun. Previously, dealing with Lu Qing had hardly consumed any sword energy, although at present, it seems that Duan Qingyun's understanding of swordsmanship is higher than theirs under the same cultivation level. However, after fighting against Huo Lang and finally using the Purple Energy East Coming technique, Duan Qingyun had already exhausted more than half of his sword energy. At this moment, being intercepted by two people, he was unexpectedly trapped in a bitter battle. After all, spiritual beasts are different from humans. Compared to the single innate ability attack of spiritual beasts, the varied and ever-changing swordsmanship of sword cultivators is even harder to deal with. So no matter how Duan Qingyun roared and tried to break through, he couldn't penetrate the blockade of the two people, and even resisting began to become difficult.
As the fight continued, disciples had begun to gather in the distance, watching from afar, but no one dared to take a step forward. In Lu Qing's eyes, these onlookers were now lying flat on their faces in front of him, not because they had been attacked or suddenly collapsed, but rather, Lu Qing's face was tightly pressed against the ground. In his memory, there had never been a day when the ground was so cold, devoid of any emotion. Dust covered the right half of his face, while on the left side was a rough, flat-soled boot, trampling his twelve-year-old face without mercy, also crushing the dignity that had sustained him until now into pieces scattered all over the ground.
"Listen up, kiddo, this is what I taught you - " The young man's face revealed a sly smile as he leaned down and whispered in Lu Qing's ear.
His teeth were clenched tightly on his lower lip, and the bright red blood flowed down from the wound, Lu Qing's eyes became bloodshot due to congestion, and he had regained some consciousness in his body. However, Lu Qing did not want to resist again, because he already knew that this would only bring greater devastation. In the hearts of people who only recognized strength, bullying others had become a matter of course.
Seeing Lu Qing unable to resist, the young man seemed to have gained great satisfaction, and his left foot lifted again, wanting to step down once more.
"If you dare to step down, I will punish you to be confined in the Purple Flame Cave for a year as the law enforcer of Chaoyang Peak." A calm voice came from afar.
It's him! The young man and Tai Yun's faces changed at the same time, and the newcomer was none other than Zhao Qianye, who had rushed over after receiving news from other disciples. At the same time, Yu Jihua, who had also rushed over, saw Lu Qing's appearance and became even more furious.
"Don't be impulsive—" But it was Zhao Qianye's hand that pressed down on Yu Jihua's right hand, which was reaching for the hilt of his sword. Taking a deep breath, Yu Jihua took a step forward towards Lu Qing, and as he approached, the young man who had been about to shout something else saw Yu Jihua's icy gaze and felt his body tense up with each step. "Gong Yangyu, do you have anything else to say?" By the time Yu Jihua reached the sixth step, his aura was already thick and heavy like a mountain, and the young man felt an overwhelming pressure emanating from him, making him feel like he was being crushed by a massive boulder. He involuntarily took several steps back until he retreated to Taiyun's side, where he finally felt a sense of relief as Taiyun took over the aura. However, Taiyun also stumbled slightly before regaining his footing, and the two men who had been attacking Duan Qingyun earlier also knew that things were not going in their favor, so they had already retreated behind Taiyun after Zhao Qianye spoke up.
"Little brother, are you okay?" A hand helped Lu Qing up, Duan Qingyun asked with some concern, his left hand also grasped Lu Qing's wrist, a strand of sword energy entered into Lu Qing's meridians to investigate, and only relaxed when he found that Lu Qing was just exhausted. His face then showed deep regret and remorse: "It's all my fault for implicating you, if it wasn't for my past conflicts with them, they wouldn't have vented their anger on you, little brother, feel free to hit or scold me once you've recovered." However, Duan Qingyun was taken aback, as he discovered that Lu Qing's eyes were still filled with bloodshot due to extreme rage, but his expression was unusually calm, so calm that it was impossible to tell what he was thinking. Duan Qingyun couldn't help but feel a pang in his heart, knowing that today's events would leave an indelible mark on Lu Qing for a long time, and might even hinder his future sword cultivation. Such humiliation wasn't something anyone could tolerate, after all, people are born with flesh and blood emotions, not saints.
After recovering a bit of energy, Lu Qing shook off Duan Qingyun's support and stood up with difficulty. "Lu Qing——" Duan Qingyun couldn't help but say in a low voice, but Lu Qing just faintly shook his head. Although the pain in his knees and shoulders was piercing to the bone, the swelling on his face was even more painful, penetrating deep into his bones.
