Chapter 96: Killing a Chicken to Scare the Monkey! (Part 2)

  "Lu Qing, he said his name was Lu Qing." The city guard was stunned, and then seemed to have thought of something, patted his own head heavily, "Ah, I should have thought of it earlier, the Dragon and Phoenix List that came out at the beginning of the month." After finishing speaking, his gaze turned towards Lu Qing who was gradually disappearing into the crowd, and the huge Lianxin Sword on his back appeared particularly large in the eyes of the city guard.

  In the southern part of the city, the atmosphere was particularly heavy. In the Lujia Sword Shop, Lu Zhan sat at a table with swords on it, his face filled with sadness and anger. He was an orphan adopted by the Lu family since childhood, given the surname Lu, and had been with them for over 40 years. Although he didn't have the talent to be a swordsman, he had become a sword slave, but due to his loyalty and honesty, he was appointed as the manager of this sword shop in Luojing City.

  But what has been happening recently is beyond his control. Despite their hard struggle, including his good friend and a food guest of the Lu family, the top-ranked swordsman Bu Yuan was also seriously injured. Now the entire sword shop is in a state of being sealed off and has had no income for half a month.

  Although he had already sent a message to the Lu family in Chaoyang Town, he also knew that it would not have any effect. The five swordsmen who were the only ones worshiped by the family all had to guard the five cities' sword shops, and although the mistress of the house had the cultivation of a heavenly sword guest, the ancestral land of the Lu family in Chaoyang Town was too important, so she couldn't take action. At most, Old Ye could hurry over, but it would also be of no use.

  Is it going to be like this, the sword shop that has been operated by the family for hundreds of years is about to fall into someone else's hands? Lu Zhan's face was filled with worry and bitterness. The family's sword shop was about to slip through his fingers, how could he face the family's decades of nurturing kindness? At this rate, in just half a month, the sword shop would be paralyzed due to lack of business.

  Just as Lu Zhan's eyebrows were furrowed in worry, the light in front of him suddenly dimmed, and a huge sword shadow appeared on the ground in front of him.

  "Young Master——" Lu Zhan's face showed a shocked expression, because the enormousness of Lu Qing's Lian Xin Sword was too obvious, and at the annual ceremony that year, Lu Zhan had also seen Lu Qing once, so he naturally recognized Lu Qing's appearance.

  Lu Qing's face was calm, but at this moment, Lu Zhan saw an added air of unspoken majesty, just like when he faced the former head of the Lu family, Lu Yun. Looking at Lu Zhan's bitter expression, Lu Qing asked directly, "What happened?"

  "This..." Lu Zhan's face was helpless, but he immediately thought of something and hastily spoke up, "Young Master, please follow me to the back hall, we'll talk about it later."

  Lu Qing furrowed his brow and said, "Is our Lu family really so unworthy? Do we have to go to the back hall for everything?"

  "Young master doesn't know..."

  "Right here, I'm telling you —" Lu Qing's words were firm and imposing, exerting an invisible pressure on Lu Zhan. However, Lu Zhan felt a wave of relief in his heart, thinking that the young master was just like the former head of the household.

  "It's the Situ family," Lu Qing's words had a calming effect on Lu Zhan, who spoke in a heavy tone, "The Situ family has been eyeing my sword shop's business, wanting to acquire it. Initially, our family head was hesitant to make a move, fearing retaliation, but now there are no more concerns. Although they didn't resort to strong-arm tactics, the result is almost the same."

  "Now, Sito's family elder, Sito Long, who has just recently advanced to the rank of Sword Guest Zhongtian, is stationed at the Sito family sword shop across from us, driving away all new and old customers who want to enter our Lu family sword shop. The sword shop hasn't made a single deal in half a month, and what's more, Sito Long has given an ultimatum: if the sword shop still doesn't agree to be acquired within half a month, he will wipe out our Lu family from Luojing City." Lu Zhan's words were filled with intense anger.

  However, Lu Zhan begged again: "Young Master, we all know that your swordsmanship is extraordinary and you have already become a small Heavenly Sword Guest. But this temporary loss of face cannot be helped. The Situ family is one of the five major families with deep roots, especially in terms of the number of swordsmen, which far surpasses our own family's current abilities. We can endure it as long as Young Master can enter the rank of Sword Master, and all that has been lost can be regained."

  Shaking his head, Lu Qing's eyes gleamed with a cold light: "A good horse is often ridden by others, a good person is often deceived by others. Since Father passed away, I've seen too much. My Lu family can no longer afford to be as uncompetitive as before. We must use competition to stop competition, and war to stop war, in order to curb the momentum of those who are now eyeing our Lu family's business."

  Lu Zhan was taken aback at first, but then anxiously said: "But Young Master, you can't even handle Si Tu Long, let alone the great elder of the Si family, who is a Sword Master of the Small Heavenly Realm. My Lu family doesn't have a match for them."

  He chuckled and said indifferently, "How would you know if you don't try?" Having cultivated the Purple Emperor Sword Body Technique, according to Ye Lao's estimation, Lu Qing was now at the first level. With his extraordinary Wind and Thunder Sword Qi and physical strength, combined with the decent compatibility of the Zi Xuan Wind and Thunder Sword, as long as the swordsmanship realm wasn't higher than his, even a great swordsman like a Sword Guest could be matched, or even defeated.

  "How would you know if you don't try?" At this time, a loud and proud voice came from the front of the sword shop.

  "It's you!" Lu Zhan's face changed greatly as soon as he saw the person who came. "Young Master, he is Si Tu Long."

  Lu Qing glanced at the newcomer from head to toe, who was also wearing a cyan-gray martial robe. This Si Tu Long appeared to be in his forties, with a silver long sword on his back, and his entire body radiated sharpness. Before he even opened his mouth, Lu Qing felt a surge of aura moving over, knowing that Si Tu Long had just broken through and couldn't fully restrain the aura around him.

  While Lu Qing was sizing up Situ Long, Situ Long was also sizing him up. After a few breaths, Situ Long let out a cold snort: "I originally thought that the newly appeared 15th ranked Dragon and Phoenix List would be some kind of earth-shaking figure, making even us old seniors praise him to no end. But it turns out he's just a young whelp who hasn't even dried off his mother's milk yet. Being able to withstand three sword energies from Lie Hu without dying is truly just dumb luck."

  The Dragon and Phoenix List not only recorded the basic cultivation data of those on the list, but also recorded all their achievements. So, Sī Tú Lóng also learned about the Zǐ Xiá Fēng incident from it. Of course, he was very skeptical, thinking that Lù Qīng's achievement at such a young age was simply impossible. Being able to reach the cultivation of a sword guest was already the limit, and saying that he defeated Liè Fēng and withstood Jiàn Zhǔ Qiángzhě Lì Jíng Shēng's three sword energies was only possible if the two were sparing him.

  Everyone has a hidden jealous heart, and Xi Tu Long's innate talent is not high. To reach his current level of cultivation is almost the limit. For Lu Qing to achieve such success at his age, the injustice in his heart is hard to express.

  Facing the arrogant words of Situ Long, Lu Qing naturally would not back down. With a cold gaze at Situ Long in front of him, Lu Qing said: "I don't have time to waste on idle chatter with you. Give up all actions against Jian Pu, and I can pretend nothing happened. Everyone will continue to mind their own business, otherwise, make a life-or-death vow, today you'll leave your life behind."

  Life and death are decided in an instant. Both sides will live or die. Listen to the heavens and follow your fate. No one is allowed to take revenge. This is the custom of the Ten Million Great Mountain.

  "Fine! Since you're looking for death, I'll fulfill your wish." Situ Long angrily laughed and responded loudly, so that everyone on Luojing Street at this time clearly heard.

  "That Sito Lung is going to challenge again, Luk's Swordsmith, quickly—"

  "Some poor soul is going to be unlucky again, how can they not see this coming? And yet, they still want to go to the Lujia Sword Shop." At this time, some of the villagers on Luojie Street who heard the commotion began to murmur and gather to watch the excitement. A large number of grey-robed swordsmen, as well as a small number of black-robed ones, also started to converge on the Lujia Sword Shop. After all, it was extremely rare to see a high-ranking swordsman from the Sword Guest class take action.

  "Master Lü, you can't!" At this moment, Lü Zhǎn was shocked and pale, hastily pulling Lü Qīng to dissuade him.

  "Let the young master go." At this moment, a weak middle-aged voice came from the back hall of the sword shop.

  "Shu Yuan, you——" Lu Zhan's eyes anxiously looked at his old friend who walked out from behind, and at this moment, Shu Yuan's footsteps were slightly unstable, and his face was pale, obviously suffering from an unclear internal injury.

  Hiss——

  Lu Qing's body left a residual shadow in place, and instantly appeared beside Chu Yuan.

  So fast!

  Situ Long's pupils contracted, and a solemn expression appeared on his face. At this speed, he had only seen it on the Great Elder Situ Chong before. At this moment, he remembered a record of Lu Qing on the Dragon and Phoenix List: Lu Qing, sword energy not five elements wind thunder sword energy, speed is extremely fast, comparable to Sword Master Xiao Tianwei.

  At this moment, Situ Long finally put away his slightly disdainful heart after Lu Qing showed extraordinary speed. In his heart, at this moment, after accepting Lu Qing's life-and-death duel challenge, for some reason, he had a faint and ominous premonition. However, considering the breakthrough in his cultivation just now, his confidence suppressed everything.

  Looking at Lu Qing again, his right hand was pressed on the back of Shu Yuan. In the astonished gaze of Lu Zhang and Si Tu Long, Shu Yuan's originally pale face actually became rosy in an instant. It turned out that Lu Qing had used the Purple Emperor Sword to force out half a drop of Blood Slashing Sword Essence from his body, which was transmitted into Shu Yuan's body and transformed into pure sword essence, nourishing his meridians and internal organs.

  After the fragrance of incense, Bu Yuan stood up straight and saluted Lu Qing with a bow: "Thank you, young master, for treating my injury." At this moment, he was filled with curiosity and awe towards Lu Qing. Just now, he had clearly felt that the sword energy that Lu Qing had transmitted into his body was incredibly pure, and it was also the same origin as his own diamond sword energy, which was simply unbelievable.