Chapter 230

Chapter 230: Encounter on the Road, Life-Calling

Master Sou Ming’s breakthrough gave Lu Qing even greater confidence for this journey to Yunzhou.

At the peak of the Innate Minor Success stage, coupled with dual-element Innate Qi and the realization of the Innate Domain,

Lu Qing suspected that even against a true Innate Great Success master, his current master wouldn’t necessarily be at a disadvantage. No matter

how powerful the Innate Realm masters of the Liuyun Sect were, they likely wouldn’t be as impressive as those at the Great Success stage.

Otherwise, the Liuyun Sect wouldn’t be just one of Yunzhou’s three major sects.

After breakfast, Lu Qing and his companions continued on their journey.

It was somewhat strange; now that they had officially entered Yunzhou territory and had been traveling along official roads,

they hadn’t encountered anyone from the Liuyun Sect for several days. They

wondered if the Liuyun Sect hadn’t sent anyone to search for their Young Sect Master, or if they had taken another route.

If the latter was the case, it wasn’t good news for Lu Qing and his companions.

Just as Lu Qing was considering whether to find a reason to return and investigate, his expression suddenly shifted, and he glanced forward.

Soon, a cloud of dust billowed ahead. A powerful group of warriors, riding tall horses, galloped towards them.

“Whatever you think is coming true.”

From a distance, Lu Qing noticed the familiar attire worn by the leading figures, and couldn’t help but smile.

“Ah Qing, what’s the matter?”

the old doctor asked, lifting the carriage curtain.

Before Lu Qing could reply, the mounted warriors in front of him started shouting.

“Carriage ahead, get out of the way! Three breaths! If you don’t get out of the way, you’ll die!”

Three breaths passed in a flash, and Ma Gu only had time to stop the carriage, not to move it off the road.

Seeing this, the warriors on the opposite side looked stern. A sudden gust of wind blew, and several long whips lashed out at the carriage.

Judging from the whistling sound, if the carriage was hit hard, even if it didn’t shatter, the powerful force of the whips would probably have toppled it off the road.

Seeing this, Ma Gu’s face fell. Just as he was about to intervene, he heard several hissing sounds.

The warriors in front suddenly cried out, blood splattering from their foreheads. They tumbled from their horses, their whips completely exhausted, unable to reach the carriage.

“What?!”

This sudden turn of events caught the opposing team completely by surprise.

The fall of the warriors in front of them was particularly shocking. Fortunately

, the opposing team were all martial arts masters with exceptional horsemanship. In the

nick of time, they leaped forward, avoiding the tragic fate of their own men being trampled. As a result, everyone was inevitably stopped.

But even if they hadn’t been stopped, these warriors wouldn’t have been able to leave.

They noticed that their fallen companions, though not trampled by the horses, hadn’t gotten up, not even moved.

Upon closer inspection, they were already dead!

“Junior Brother Zhao!”

“Junior Brother Huang!”

“Junior Brother Wang!”

This shock was truly immense.

After all, the deceased were all exceptionally skilled, at least masters of the Bones and Muscles realm. Yet, they perished in an instant. For

a moment, the expressions of all the warriors changed drastically.

“Who dares to launch a surprise attack? Are you tired of living?”

A tall, burly man with a long sword at his waist, his face drastically changed, and he shouted at the carriage.

“The people of the Liuyun Sect are truly incorrigible. Wherever they go, they are always so tyrannical and disregard human life.”

Before the warriors could fully recover from their shock, Lu Qing slowly stepped off the carriage and spoke coldly.

“Brother Lu Qing, you said these people are from the Liuyun Sect?” Ma Gu asked.

“Yes, look at their attire.”

Ma Gu looked closely and found the warriors’ attire familiar, especially the flowing clouds on their sleeves. It was exactly the same as the ones worn by the Liuyun Sect disciples they had killed in Qingfeng Town a few days ago.

“What scum of the Liuyun Sect!” Ma Gu said suddenly.

“How arrogant!”

“You don’t know what’s good for you!”

“You’re courting death!”

Seeing the two men dare to insult them in person, all the Liuyun Sect disciples were furious.

A chill flashed in the eyes of the ruddy-faced man in the lead. With a clang, the long sword at his waist was unsheathed, a flash of cold light, and in an instant, it slashed towards Ma Gu.

The ruddy-faced man could see that Lu Qing’s cultivation was not high, only at the Qi and Blood Realm. Even Ma Gu was only at the Great Perfection of the Bones and Tendons Realm. It was

impossible for these two to sneak attack and kill their companions in an instant.

The only explanation was that the person who wanted to sneak attack them was still hiding in the carriage.

He wanted to observe the situation further, but Ma Gu’s arrogant words suddenly filled him with murderous intent.

“Good timing!”

The sudden attack did not frighten Ma Gu.

Instead, he was excited, and the sword behind him was also unsheathed. In a very dangerous situation, he blocked the fatal blow.

“What?”

Surprise crossed the ruddy-faced man’s face, but before he could make another move, Magu had already leaped from the carriage and pounced on him.

“Haha, Brother Lu Qing, don’t do anything yet. Stand aside and let me have some fun first!”

Magu laughed while he was in mid-air.

The sword in his hand slashed towards the ruddy-faced man with the force of collapsing mountains.

“This sword technique?!”

The ruddy-faced man felt the power of Ma Gu’s sword, and the look of shock reappeared on his face.

Without time to think, he subconsciously exerted force with his feet, and had already left the horse’s back and retreated backwards.

Crash!

The strong smell of blood permeated the air. Ma Gu’s powerful sword cut the tall horse in half!

Killing a tall horse with one sword, Ma Gu did not stop at all. He lightly stepped on the ground and chased the ruddy-faced man, slashing him with another sword.

“Master Ma, be careful, your opponent is a master of the internal organs realm.”

Lu Qing reminded him.

But there was no worry on his face.

Hearing Lu Qing’s words revealing his own cultivation level, the ruddy-faced man, who had originally wanted to hide his abilities to guard against the mysterious hidden weapon master in the carriage, was shocked again.

But his retreat suddenly stopped, a fierce look on his face. A powerful aura erupted from him, and the sword in his hand suddenly increased in speed.

Clang!

The sharp sound of metal clashing rang out, and amidst the violent energy, Magu, who had been rushing forward, suddenly flew backward.

“Can he escape?”

Seeing that his powerful sword attack had not killed Magu, the rosy-faced man’s eyes flashed with surprise.

Killing intent surged within him, and with a bang, he charged towards Magu, who was already in mid-air, unable to gain leverage, intent on slicing him in two.

Just

as the ruddy-faced man was about to catch up with Magu and cut him down with his sword, a sharp whistling sound echoed.

A sense of utter danger suddenly loomed within him, piercing his heart with a sharp contraction. The ruddy-faced man was startled,   and

before he could react, his honed warrior instincts had already thrust his sword up, blocking his brow.   With a resounding bang, the ruddy-faced man’s entire body trembled violently, his forward charge not only coming to a complete halt but even forced him to retreat several steps before finally coming to a stop.   Once he had come to a stop, he gazed at the sword in his hand, a look of horror in his eyes.   He saw that the broad blade of his Thousand Refined Sword, acquired at such great expense, was bent and deformed.   A cloud of exploding stone dust clung to the bend, threatening to pierce the blade.   ”Elder Hong!”   the other Liuyun Sect disciples exclaimed.   ”Excellent reflexes! You were able to block my stone.”   Seeing the ruddy-faced man block the attack, Lu Qing was somewhat surprised.   ”Brother Lu Qing, this ruddy-faced fellow’s swordsmanship is truly formidable. I’m no match for him,”   Ma Gu exclaimed, having rolled back to safety.   His hands, gripping the sword, were trembling slightly, and blood oozed from his knuckles.   It was from the shock of the previous swordfight .   ”He’s a master of the Inner Viscera Realm, and his swordsmanship is also extremely advanced. It’s not surprising that you, Master Ma, are no match for him,” Lu Qing said with a smile.   In fact, if Ma Gu hadn’t practiced the Shanhai Sword, personally taught by Wei Shanhai, a master of the Xiantian Realm, he probably wouldn’t have been able to block a single blow.   ”Who exactly are you, sir, and why are you trying to pick a fight with my Liuyun Sect?”   The ruddy-faced man forced his boiling blood down and looked at Lu Qing with horror.   He knew then that he had misjudged him.   The young man before him was no Qi and Blood Realm rookie at all, but a master who was playing dumb and catching the tiger, a master hidden deep within. He   could destroy his Thousand Refined Sword with a single stone, nearly shattering his Qi and blood.   Such a master, at least a supreme martial artist above the Grandmaster level, was definitely not someone they could afford to provoke at this moment.   Remembering Lu Qing and Ma Gu’s attitude when they had previously mentioned their sect, the ruddy-faced man groaned inwardly.   The mysterious figure before him seemed to hold a profound dislike for their Liuyun Sect.   ”Liuyun Sect? I thought you were truly indifferent to your Young Sect Master, but you’re a bit slow to react, only now appearing.”   Lu Qing said calmly, a hint of coldness in his eyes as he looked at the note that appeared above the ruddy-faced man’s head.   ”Do you know our Young Sect Master?”   The ruddy-faced man feigned surprise, but a chill ran through his heart.   He knew the Young Sect Master was dead; the Grand Elder had said so himself.   Now that these people were mentioning the Young Sect Master, didn’t that mean…   ”I don’t know him, but I just killed him a few days ago.”   ”Run!”   Hearing this, the ruddy-faced man felt a chill in his heart, and he shouted immediately.   Simultaneously, his body retreated at a rapid speed.   The other Liuyun Sect disciples were still a little stunned, but the next moment, there were only a series of hissing sounds, and one by one, a Liuyun Sect disciple felt a pain in his brow and lost consciousness.   The ruddy-faced man fled, keeping an eye on the movements behind him.   Seeing his disciples being shot down one by one by the young man with his terrifying stone hidden weapon, his heart trembled with fear.   He gritted his teeth, his aura suddenly multiplied, and his speed increased dramatically.   He even expended his vital energy, unleashing explosive secret techniques to escape. He   also secretly regretted that this section of official road was surrounded by farmland on both sides, with not even a forest. He couldn’t hide, so he had to flee in a straight line.   At this moment, the ruddy-faced man was filled with regret.   I shouldn’t have volunteered to go out and look for the young sect leader.   I didn’t expect that I would run into a bad guy like Lu Qing just by randomly looking in a direction!   Bang!   The ruddy-faced man was running away at full speed, but suddenly, he felt a pain in his legs and could no longer exert any strength. He lost his balance and fell forward.   Even if he supported himself with his hands, he couldn’t keep his balance and turned into a rolling gourd, rolling on the official road.   ”Are you not running away anymore?”   A cold voice sounded, and Lu Qing appeared.   ”Your hidden weapon skills are unparalleled, and I admire you.”   The ruddy-faced man looked at the Liuyun Sect disciples lying on the ground behind Lu Qing, then looked at his leg bones broken by the stones, smiled miserably, and looked at Lu Qing.   ”But there is one thing I don’t understand, and I hope you can explain it to me so that I can die with peace of mind.”   ”What is it?” Lu Qing looked down at him.   ”Who exactly are you? What deep hatred do you have with our Liuyun Sect? Why do you want to kill our young sect leader? And why do you want to kill us as soon as we meet?”   ”Don’t act so innocent.” Lu Qing said lightly, “Weren’t you the ones who attacked us first? If we were ordinary people, with those whips you whipped, we would at least end up with the car destroyed and people dead, right?”   The rosy-faced man paused.

“In the final analysis, you’re nothing but a bunch of cowardly scum who bully the weak. Stop pretending to be so pathetic,” Lu Qing sneered. “What I’m doing is nothing more than the law of the jungle you so flatter. “

The ruddy-faced man paled, speechless.

“As for your question about our vendetta against your Liuyun Sect? Strictly speaking, we don’t have any grudge against you.”

The ruddy-faced man’s face lit up with joy.

But before he could truly rejoice, Lu Qing’s next words froze his expression again.

“It was simply your Young Sect Master and some of your Liuyun Sect disciples who committed an unforgivable crime in a small town. We happened to run into them, so we just slaughtered them all.”

“Sir, that was the Young Sect Master’s personal act. It has nothing to do with our Liuyun Sect. If I had been there, I would have stopped him!

Our Liuyun Sect is a righteous sect, and we will never tolerate anything that goes against the righteous path…”

the ruddy-faced man argued hastily.

Although he didn’t know what the young master and his men had done in that small town to provoke the mysterious master in front of him to be so angry,

he knew that he had to give up Lu Qing’s murderous intentions right now, otherwise he would surely die.

“A righteous sect?” Lu Qing showed a hint of sarcasm at the corner of his mouth, “Hong Houyi, right? Do you still remember how your sister-in-law died?”

“How could you…” The ruddy-faced man was shocked and his eyes suddenly widened.

“Your parents died young, and your brother and sister-in-law worked hard to raise you, but you had lustful thoughts about her. When you failed to insult her, you strangled her to death, and even chopped your drunken brother to death, right?”

“Who are you and how do you know this?!”

The ruddy-faced man, who had hidden the biggest secret of his life in his heart for decades, could no longer bear it and shouted madly!

“I was asked by your brother and sister-in-law to come here specifically to claim your life!”

A strange look suddenly appeared on Lu Qing’s face.

(End of this chapter)