Chapter 98: Chapter 94 Spring and Autumn Martial School_1
"Take this."
Duan Shenfei bellowed lowly as his Qi-blood surged. His palms instantly turned a glowing red that resembled a heated iron poker.
With a step forward, his figure swooped towards Lu Yan like the wind, launching consecutive palm strikes. The heat wave arrived before his palms did.
Lu Yan countered with Gale Hand, parrying each blow and exchanged a few with his opponent.
Though the nine mediocre martial arts techniques had merged into a top-tier one, it didn’t mean that Lu Yan had ceased using the original skills. Not only did he still utilize them, he had honed them to perfection and could use them at will.
After a few moves, Lu Yan accelerated and landed a palm on Duan Shenfei’s chest, sending him flying off the stage, spitting blood.
In truth, Lu Yan didn’t even need to land multiple hits to take down Duan Shenfei, half a move would have sufficed.
The key was, Lu Yan didn’t wish to be too ostentatious and reveal too much of his true power.
It’s always best to show just three parts of your strength and conceal the other seven, keeping your enemies forever guessing.
"Excellent!"
"Our Pavilion Master is invincible!"
The most excited ones at Lu Yan’s victory were none other than the disciples of the Sanjue Martial Arts Hall. They were so thrilled it was as if they had been injected with a dose of adrenaline.
It showed that their money had been well spent. Their Pavilion Master was truly powerful, astonishingly so.
As long as they worked hard and learned diligently, they too could become as powerful as their Pavilion Master someday.
Those who were previously hesitant made up their mind then and there. As soon as the contest ended, they would join the Sanjue Martial Arts Hall.
"Red Sand Flying Wolf is nothing special. Who’s next?"
Lu Yan’s gaze swept over the heads of all the other Pavilion Masters present, his voice resonating calmly throughout.
The faces of the remaining eleven Pavilion Masters were extremely grave.
They were well aware of Duan Shenfei’s level of skill: a genuine five-time Limit Breaker and his Red Sand Palm Technique, honed for many years, had reached the Height of Perfection, just a step away from the Peak of Perfection.
With those abilities, he could only last for three moves against Lu Yan.
Lu Yan’s second-grade martial art had at least reached the Peak of Perfection, if not stronger.
Those Pavilion Masters whose strength levels were not much different from Duan Shenfei didn’t dare to step forward, promptly avoiding eye contact with Lu Yan.
"I’ll give it a go."
A burly figure stepped onto the ring, none other than Iron Tower Overseeing the River, Zhao Tie.
After Zhao Tie got on the stage and introduced himself, he immediately launched his attack on Lu Yan.
He practiced the Black Destroyer Body, a hard style technique that had reached the Peak of Perfection. Once the technique was in effect, his muscles bulged and his skin became glistening and black, transforming him into a man of iron.
Bang!
One step down, the competition stage almost collapsed, as he swung his fists at Lu Yan.
Lu Yan’s body twisted slightly, retreating back like a gust of wind, avoiding Zhao Tie’s punch.
After a punch missed, Zhao Tie continued his onslaught, but after a dozen or so punches, all had missed and he hadn’t even grazed Lu Yan’s clothing.
"What kind of skill is evading my blows? Let’s see if you dare to confront me directly."
Zhao Tie roared angrily.
"I’m known as the Sanjue Martial Artist. You do know that leg techniques are part of my special skills, don’t you?"
Lu Yan retorted.
Today, he wanted to showcase the three special skills of his Sanjue Martial Artist transformation. How else would he build his reputation?
"You’re nothing but a slippery bastard."
Zhao Tie roared again.
"Being a man doesn’t mean you have to be robust and dark-skinned. Stamina and endurance count too. But since you’re in a rush, I’ll oblige."
Lu Yan ceased dodging and launched a palm strike, confronting Zhao Tie head-on.
Zhao Tie shook and retreated five to six steps in succession, his arm felt numb. Inside, he was shocked.
Whoosh!
Lu Yan’s second palm strike arrived.
Zhao Tie could only muster all his strength to resist.
After the second strike, he retreated another five steps.
After the third one, he retreated six steps and fell off the ring.
"Good job!"
The students of the Sanjue Martial Arts School once again burst into thunderous cheers. Even the servants were greatly excited and vowed silently to work hard, so they could stay at the martial arts school and learn martial arts.
If they performed well and were noticed by the Pavilion Master, they might even get a chance to become a direct disciple. That would be a giant leap towards their dreams.
"Zhao Tie, how was it? Did you get a good read on his style?"
Once the others had helped Zhao Tie up, one of them asked.
"This man must have practiced a top-tier martial arts technique. His Qi-blood is strong and fierce, like a raging thunderbolt. I only lost because my Qi-blood couldn’t match his," Zhao Tie replied.
"Seems like he’s the offspring of a diminished Feudal Lord."
Everyone else pondered over this, their expressions grim.
There were many of this sort in Baicao City.
Many Feudal Lords exist in the six provinces of Lingdong and every year, a few of them are annihilated. The remaining descendants would end up scattered everywhere.
Especially in big cities like Baicao City, this wasn’t uncommon.
What Zhao Tie could observe was obviously what Lu Yan wanted him to see.
Defeating a martial artist of the same level effortlessly without revealing anything peculiar was impossible.
Revealing his top-tier martial arts technique was much better than unveiling his second-grade Unity of Man and Martial Arts technique.
Many people practiced top-tier martial arts techniques, but those who could cultivate a second-grade martial arts technique to Unity of Man and Martial Arts were extremely rare.
Those who practice a top-tier martial arts technique cannot leave out the Divine Intent Diagram in the initial stages. However, once they’ve made progress, even without the Divine Intent Diagram, they can continue to cultivate and improve.
Pretending to be the scion of a fallen Feudal Lord, sans any Divine Intent Diagram, leaves him without fear of people coveting it.
Of course, he could not easily reveal his Acquired Martial Body, six times of normal Qi-blood, and his top-ranking Martial Arts that have achieved the Unity of Man and Martial Arts. These are his trump cards.
"Is there anyone else?"
On the stage, Lu Yan continued his challenge.
Below, the masters of the various schools were still discussing.
"The top-ranking martial arts this man mainly cultivates should be palm techniques. It may have already reached the level of Mastery."
"The top-ranking martial arts of Mastery level, are not something we can handle."
Finally, the masters turned their gaze to a man who was more than seventy years old.
This old man was Fu Changqing, the master of Changqing Martial Arts School. Also a descendant of a fallen Feudal Lord, he cultivated top-ranking martial arts and had reached the stage of Mastery. He was said to be the second-best in the Martial School Alliance of Thirteen Schools.
"Let me try him."
Fu Changqing stepped forward onto the stage to fight Lu Yan. After they exchanged names, the battle began.
As soon as they engaged, Lu Yan showed a serious temperament. His Qi-blood was surging around his body, which was fully engaged in battle. After more than fifty moves with Fu Changqing, he finally knocked Fu Changqing off the stage with a palm.
The disciples of Sanjue Martial School cheered enthusiastically. Their faces turned red with excitement and they felt immensely proud.
In the crowd, the three disciples who had previously withdrawn were downcast and full of regret, wishing they could bang their heads and die.
"Let’s leave."
Fu Changqing sighed disappointingly and left first.
The other school masters, feeling humiliated, departed from the location with sour faces.
"Master Lu, I want to join Sanjue Martial School."
"Me too; don’t push me, I was here first."
Suddenly, a crowd rushed towards Sanjue Martial School, intending to join it.
Lu Yan leapt a few times and hopped into the school.
The remaining affairs could be left to Wang Lin, Li Quan, and others. There was no need for him to handle everything personally.
All he had to do was cultivate in peace and keep the situation under control.
That’s the benefit of having subordinates.
Over the next few days, more than a hundred people came to enroll.
Sanjue Martial School accepted everyone without rejection.
Those without silver also came to register as servants. Lu Yan instructed Li Quan and Wang Lin to select some promising ones from them. Li Quan was told to lead them, initially as scouts, later infiltrating various places to collect information.
For these poor youngsters, as long as they were given food, they were willing to work very hard. Not to mention that they still had the opportunity to learn martial arts in the future.
On the third day, as night fell, Lu Yan paced around the yard preparing to return to the practice room. However, his body abruptly halted, and he turned to look at a certain direction.
"Since you’re here, why not show yourself?"
Lu Yan spoke as his Qi-blood swirled throughout his body, ready to fight at any moment.
Following a soft chuckle, a figure descended from the roof.
It was an old man, his hair and beard were all white, his skin started to wrinkle, but his eyes were bright and spirited, containing a kind of grandeur.
Lu Yan dared not underestimate this man, for just by standing there casually, he gave Lu Yan an intense sense of danger.
Martial Marquis!
Lu Yan had already guessed who this person was, because he had been waiting for this man for several days.
This was the master of the Spring and Autumn Martial School and the Alliance Hierarch of the Martial School Alliance of Thirteen Schools, Feng Yueming.
Now that other schools had been defeated, as the Hierarch, it was not possible for Feng Yueming not to show up.
"Senior, are you the master of the Spring and Autumn School?"
Lu Yan saluted with a fist.
"Indeed."
Feng Yueming nodded, sizing up Lu Yan, and said, "I was present at the competition three days ago. You are strong and careful. You didn’t use your full strength that day, did you?"
"So, is Senior here today to give me a lesson?"
Lu Yan said.
"No, no..."
Feng Yueming shook his head, saying, "I’m over a hundred years old, not many years left. I’m not suitable to handle fights and killing."
"What is the reason for Senior’s visit today?"
Lu Yan inquired, naturally not going to lower his guard just because of a few words from the old man.
"I just have a few words of advice for you."
"Junior is all ears."
"Quit while you’re ahead."
Feng Yueming earnestly advised, "You deliberately lowered your prices and let Red Sand Martial Arts Hall and Black Blade Martial Arts Hall spread rumors. Then you struck hard in response, all for one purpose: to establish the reputation of Sanjue Martial School. Now that you have achieved your goal, why don’t you retire when you’re on top?"
"Retire on whose terms, Senior’s?"
Lu Yan asked.
"Certainly."
Feng Yueming nodded, and continued, "If you insist on remaining in position, I won’t take action. But you should know, the thirteen martial schools can exist in Baicao City because they have various connections with the Master Level Feudal Lords of the Li Family behind the scenes. If you disturb the Li Family, it won’t do you any good. Remember, what is hard will snap."
"Thank you for your advice, Senior. I understand."
Lu Yan replied.
"As long as you understand, I should be leaving."
Feng Yueming leaped, exiting over the wall, and disappeared into the night.
