The burly man gripped his sword, staring at Lu Qing in shock.
He couldn't believe that Lu Qing had forced him to draw his sword with a single strike.
What he found even more unbelievable was that he discovered Lu Qing's swordsmanship was extremely skillful.
Even a master of swordsmanship like him almost couldn't block this profound strike.
Most importantly, he discovered that the power Lu Qing unleashed was actually quite formidable.
Although he didn't use his full strength when he hastily drew his sword.
But to be able to fight him to a standstill, that power has far exceeded the realm of the Bone and Tendon Realm.
"Um?"
On the city gate, even Wang Cangyi, a powerful expert at the Innate Realm, couldn't help but widen his eyes in disbelief.
"Sword intent? How is this possible?!"
What he saw was that the kid's swordsmanship was showing signs of breaking through the limits of acquired skills and reaching the realm of 【Intent】 that only those in the innate realm could comprehend!
But how could that be!
How could a mere martial artist at the Bone and Tendon Realm possibly comprehend the intent of the sword?
"What the hell? What did I just see? Is this young man really that powerful? He forced a Grandmaster at the peak of the Inner Strength Realm to draw his sword with just one strike?"
The county magistrate, who was not far away, almost jumped up.
Even the young man in plain clothes who had used the secret technique showed surprise in his eyes.
I never expected that Lu Qing's strength would be so formidable.
The perfection of the Bone and Tendon Realm was enough to almost cause a Grandmaster at the perfection of the Inner Organ Realm to suffer a silent loss, something that even he couldn't do when he was in the Bone and Tendon Realm.
The warriors watching the battle below the city gate were even more excited.
"What! Senior Brother has drawn his sword?"
"Did I see that right? Senior Brother was forced back by that kid with a single strike?"
"This young man's swordsmanship is incredibly deadly!"
"What terrifying swordsmanship!"
...
Amid a chorus of exclamations, the burly man finally suppressed his shock, regained his composure, and his expression turned serious.
"Excellent swordsmanship! No wonder you are so confident. In terms of swordsmanship alone, I'm afraid I am slightly inferior to you!"
"You flatter me," Lu Qing said with a smile.
"Although I don't know how you cultivated, to comprehend such swordsmanship at the Bone and Tendon Realm, among all the swordsmen I have ever encountered, you are undoubtedly the best in terms of swordsmanship talent."
The burly man spoke with a solemn tone, no longer daring to underestimate Lu Qing, and had already placed him on the same level as himself.
"However, no matter how high one's realm is, it still requires cultivation to support it. Next, I will use all my strength. I hope you will not disappoint me. It is rare to encounter a true master of the sword. I do not want to kill you in just a few moves!"
The burly man's blood and qi circulated rapidly, his aura rising steadily, and he directly used an explosive secret technique!
"As you wish."
Seeing that the other party had used an explosive secret technique without hesitation, Lu Qing's expression also became serious.
Not daring to be careless, he had a thought, and a small rune made of divine soul power in the acupoint between his eyebrows began to glow slightly, illuminating his entire body.
As the divine soul rune lit up, Lu Qing immediately felt that the connection between his consciousness and his physical body had become incredibly close.
He had complete control over all the power within his body.
It can unleash the body's full potential and generate the most powerful force anytime, anywhere.
“Every time I use this secret technique, I can’t help but marvel at how amazing the art of runes truly is.”
Feeling the surging power within him, which was completely under his control, Lu Qing was filled with admiration.
The divine soul rune in the acupoint between his eyebrows was the greatest result of his dedicated cultivation these past few days.
It is not martial arts, but a method of rune magic.
The first step in cultivating runes is to calm the mind and purify the heart, observing the patterns of all things in heaven and earth.
Once you've mastered the basics and cultivated your own spiritual power, you can move on to the next stage of cultivation.
This is also the stage when rune practitioners begin to cultivate methods truly unique to the path of runes.
At this stage, rune practitioners mainly need to do one thing.
That is, using the power of the soul, one can outline and condense a unique natal talisman in the acupoint between the eyebrows.
Once a natal talisman is completed, it can draw upon the primordial energy of heaven and earth to refine the talisman and elevate it to an extremely wondrous realm.
That will be the time when rune practitioners truly become powerful.
Of course, Lu Qing's current spiritual power is still very weak, far from being able to condense a natal talisman.
All his hard work these past few days has only resulted in the condensation of a core rune that forms the basis of the talisman.
But this single core rune already possesses quite wondrous abilities.
It not only greatly enhanced his control over his physical body, but also perfectly concealed the fluctuations of his spiritual power at the acupoint between his eyebrows.
The reason the young man in plain clothes couldn't tell that he had cultivated divine soul power was because of the existence of this divine soul rune.
Originally, Lu Qing didn't want to use this trump card so soon.
But the burly man opposite him had even unleashed an explosive secret technique. If he didn't go all out, he probably wouldn't last more than a few moves before being defeated.
With Lu Qing's current physical qualities far exceeding those of an ordinary person at the peak of the Bone and Tendon Realm, low-level explosive secret techniques like the Qi Explosion Technique are basically useless against him.
That rudimentary method of circulating qi and blood was simply unable to deeply stimulate his body and unleash his potential.
Even if it is used, it won't add much power.
In contrast, using divine soul runes to illuminate his entire body allows him to unleash his potential at will, unleashing all the power within him without damaging his body.
Unlike other explosive secret techniques, there is always a period of weakness after casting them, during which one cannot use secret techniques again.
As long as Lu Qing's spiritual power can sustain it, he can continue to use this secret technique without overdrawing his body.
For Lu Qing, this was the most powerful explosive secret technique.
Therefore, he called it a perfect outburst!
It's a long story, but in reality, it all happened in the blink of an eye.
After the burly man unleashed his explosive secret technique, Lu Qing also activated his soul runes.
Almost simultaneously, a powerful aura rose from the two, causing all the Houtian Realm martial artists watching to feel a chill run down their spines.
A disciple of the Heavenly Azure Sect looked shocked: "Our senior brother used an explosive secret technique?"
What he found even more unbelievable was that even with the use of secret techniques, his senior brother still couldn't seem to overwhelm the kid opposite him in terms of aura.
"Good, very good!"
The burly man sensed Lu Qing's aura. Although he didn't understand why the other party could unleash such strength, his fighting spirit was so intense that he was too lazy to think about it anymore.
With a swing of his long sword, the ground beneath his feet cracked instantly. In the next instant, his body went from extreme stillness to extreme motion, appearing before Lu Qing like a flashing bolt of lightning.
The long sword in his hand, accompanied by muffled thunderous sounds and leaving afterimages, slashed towards Lu Qing.
"You take my Thunderclap Blade move too!"
Faced with the burly man's imposing and incredibly fast strike, Lu Qing remained calm and composed, unleashing his own slash.
They actually adopted an offensive-on-off offense strategy, resulting in mutual destruction!
However, in an instant, the burly man sensed something was wrong.
Lu Qing's strike, seemingly intended to cause mutual destruction, was actually extremely clever, striking precisely where there was a weakness in his sword technique.
If he doesn't change his move, there will only be one outcome: before the longsword even reaches Lu Qing, his wrist will collide with the blade, rendering him completely useless, resulting in a severed hand and death.
What amazing insight!
The burly man was amazed, becoming even more certain that Lu Qing's swordsmanship was indeed superior to his own.
Being able to discern the flaws in his moves in that instant was something he had never encountered before after perfecting his Thunderclap Blade technique.
However, although his flaws were exposed, the burly man was ultimately at the peak of the Inner Strength Realm.
His swordsmanship has also reached the level of a master, combining strength and gentleness with meticulous detail.
With such mastery over the sword, able to control it at will and move it with complete freedom, one would not be so easily defeated.
With a twist of his arm, the long sword in his hand changed direction and slashed at Lu Qing's battle blade.
Since my swordsmanship is inferior to yours, I will suppress you with force!
The burly man's eyes widened, his internal energy and blood surged, and in an instant, he raised his long sword to an extreme speed, slashing at Lu Qingdao!
Clang!
Another ear-piercing sound of weapons clashing rang out.
With a burst of energy, neither of them retreated this time. Instead, they stood firmly on the ground, their feet planted firmly. After a slight pause, they engaged in battle once more.
The blades flashed, and killing intent filled the air.
Countless sword shadows appeared around Lu Qing and the burly man, then disappeared.
The occasional clash of swords was deafeningly loud, enough to send chills down one's spine.
One of them had the advantage in strength, while the other was superior in swordsmanship.
For a time, neither side could gain the upper hand.
But this scene was utterly shocking to the surrounding martial artists.
