Chapter 4: Instakill!

Elder Lu’s eyes were like shards of ice. “To kill the likes of you, this Elder does not need to lift a finger!”

“Shifu, let me!”

A disciple stepped out from behind Elder Lu.

“Ni Xiansi! You are the number one disciple of the Outer Sect, a genius personally trained by me. If you can eliminate this traitor today, it will be a great merit. I will personally recommend you for the Inner Sect!”

“Yes, Shifu!”

Ni Xiansi grinned with a cold sneer. By the time he faced Lu Jin, a longsword glowing with green light was already in his hand.

“Scum who colluded with the demons, surrender now!”

Ni Xiansi’s sword light billowed. He stepped forward with the confidence of a fifth-stage Spirit Pearl expert. At this moment, he was undoubtedly the center of attention.

Lu Jin merely shook his head. “You want to die first?”

Murderous intent shot from Ni Xiansi’s eyes. “Remember the name of the man who kills you: Ni Xiansi!”

Swish!

Before his voice had even faded, his sword thrust forward.

“Thinking my foot!”

Lu Jin threw a punch. His spiritual Qi condensed into a pillar of light, instantly obliterating Ni Xiansi’s head.

There was a muffled thud. The longsword hit the ground with a crisp, clear ring. Everyone present shuddered.

One move. An instakill!

Hiss!

The sound of people sharply drawing in breath echoed through the valley. Everyone stared at the scene with wide, disbelieving eyes.

“What… what! He just instakilled the number one disciple of the Outer Sect!”

“Lu Jin’s aura… it is also at the fifth stage of the Spirit Pearl Realm! He has actually recovered to the fifth stage!”

“Wasn’t his Dantian shattered? It seems the rumors of him colluding with demons were true. He must have cultivated a demonic art and entered the path of slaughter!”

“Ni Xiansi was too careless! To think he would die at the hands of someone in the same realm. He capsized in a shallow stream!”

“He killed the Outer Sect’s top genius. Elder Lu is going to lose his mind!”

Amidst the clamor, Elder Lu was indeed shaken. He never expected Lu Jin to have recovered to the fifth stage. His fury boiled over. For Lu Jin to kill his prize disciple right in front of him was a humiliation beyond words!

“Lu Jin! You dare kill my disciple!”

“Even if you’ve used demonic arts to regain your strength, you are still nothing before this Elder’s seventh-stage Spirit Pearl cultivation! Die!”

Boom!

Elder Lu’s aura erupted. Without another word, he charged directly at Lu Jin.

In his mind, while Lu Jin could kill Ni Xiansi, he was no match for a seventh-stage expert. There was a gap of two whole stages between them! Furthermore, his opening move was the sect’s high-level technique: the Sword Heart Palm!

Spiritual Qi condensed into blades within his palm. A single strike possessed the power to shatter gold and split stone.

Facing Elder Lu’s attack, Lu Jin showed no fear.

“A mere seventh-stage Spirit Pearl… die!”

Flash!

Lu Jin charged forward to meet Elder Lu head-on.

“What? He dares to counterattack directly!”

“He is using the same technique as Elder Lu! The Sword Heart Palm!”

“Such speed!”

In the middle of the shock, a muffled impact rang out. The crowd froze, their scalps tingling at the bloody sight.

Elder Lu remained frozen in his lunging posture, but his head had already been severed by a single palm strike from Lu Jin. It rolled several times on the ground, his eyes wide with lingering shock.

“What? How is this possible!”

“He killed Elder Lu!!!”

“Heavens! Send a transmission talisman to the Peak Master immediately!”

“He isn’t at the fifth stage! He hid his strength! He can even instakill Elder Lu!”

The scene descended into chaos. The disciples were trembling with fear.

The experts from other sects watching from the shadows were also startled by Lu Jin’s sudden appearance. However, they did not know his identity; they were simply surprised that a fifth-stage cultivator could slaughter someone like Elder Lu. To them, this level of fighting was still just a minor skirmish compared to their own Jindan-level Saint Sons and Saintesses. It was merely entertainment.

Lu Jin looked at his own palm, the corners of his mouth curling upward. This level of combat power had indeed exceeded his expectations. Although they used the same techniques from the Ten Thousand Swords Sect, the spiritual power he utilized was on a completely different level of quality!

“Who else wants to die? Step forward!”

His words were like clashing steel, looking down on the entire field. Many disciples felt their hearts go cold. Returning after three years, he was so powerful and dominant that his very temperament had changed. He was like a God of Slaughter: sharp, overbearing, and unstoppable!

No disciple dared to step forward. Even the Inner Sect disciples present, some stronger than Elder Lu, remained silent. No one wanted to be the bird that stands out or the fool who follows in Elder Lu’s footsteps.

The majority here were Outer Sect or servant disciples. The true experts of the Inner Sect wouldn’t waste their time watching such “boredom” when they could be cultivating. More importantly, being unable to see the opponent’s true depth was the most terrifying thing of all.

Seeing the silence, Lu Jin gave a cold laugh. “Where is Liu Ruyan?”

No one dared to answer with words, but they all turned their heads toward the Saintess Peak.

Lu Jin followed their gaze. Since Liu Ruyan was now a Saintess, she would naturally live there. He didn’t linger; he flickered toward the peak.

Only Jindan experts could fly through the sky, yet Lu Jin was able to use his extraordinary means to glide through the air for hundreds of feet at a time. This once again stunned the onlookers.

“Gliding for a hundred feet! His strength is terrifying!”

“He is going to the Saintess Peak to seek revenge!”

“But the Peak Master said she is protecting the Saintess in the Marrow-Cleansing Pool. They must not be disturbed!”

“Lu Jin is already at the gates! No Inner Sect elders are on the mountain. We must find Senior Brother Wang Fan!”

“Senior Brother is at the Beast Park taming a Purple-Eyed Fire-Tail Leopard. Send a transmission talisman!”

After Lu Jin left, the crowd did not disperse. Instead, they chased after him.

In the depths of the mountain forest, within a forbidden cultivation area filled with spiritual Qi, two figures emerged.

“As expected of the Marrow-Cleansing Pool! Your lightning wounds have healed in just three days. Disciple, you must now put all your effort into reaching the second grade of the Jindan Realm!”

“Thank you for protecting me, Shifu. I will not disappoint you!”

Ji Yaoyue nodded. She looked up, her brow furrowed. “The lightning clouds were relentless for three days and have finally vanished. I wonder what truly happened.”

“Shifu!”

A figure approached. It was the disciple she had sent to investigate.

“Shifu, something terrible has happened!”

Ji Yaoyue frowned. “Speak!”

“Shifu, it’s Lu Jin! The person who triggered the lightning was Lu Jin, who disappeared three years ago! Moreover, he has already killed Elder Lu and the top Outer Sect disciple, Ni Xiansi!”

The faces of the two women changed instantly. They were filled with disbelief.

“Lu Jin? He isn’t dead!”

“Not only is he alive, he must have stumbled upon a massive fortune to be able to kill Elder Lu!”

Liu Ruyan was even more shocked. Ever since Lu Jin vanished three years ago, she had never stopped searching for him to pull the weeds by their roots. She had found nothing.

“I didn’t expect him to return. In that case, Shifu, I will personally tear him into a thousand pieces!”

“Liu Ruyan! If you do not show yourself today, I will tear down this Saintess Palace and burn the Saintess Peak to the ground!”

Lu Jin stood proudly on the peak, looking like an Asura of vengeance.

“The Saintess Peak is a sacred ground of the sect. You dare to shout here? You’re looking for death!”

Several disciples came out to meet him, swords in hand and killing intent in their eyes.

“I am here for Liu Ruyan. It has nothing to do with any of you. If you insist on dying, I will grant your wish!”

Buzz!

A powerful aura expanded. Though he was only at the fifth stage of the Spirit Pearl Realm, the pressure he exerted made their hearts skip a beat. The disciples were about to shout again, but they were stopped by those who had witnessed the earlier fight. Once they heard that Elder Lu had been instakilled, they didn’t dare move.

Whoosh!

A shadow flickered. A figure riding a mount flew from the distant forest, arriving before the palace in seconds.

“Senior Brother Wang Fan, it’s him! Lu Jin! He’s the one who killed Elder Lu!”

A disciple rushed over to tell Wang Fan everything.

“Lu Jin? You actually didn’t die?”

Wang Fan frowned. Lu Jin had been gone for three years; for him to reappear with the power to kill Elder Lu was indeed surprising. However, the disbelief in his eyes was fleeting.

“To kill Elder Lu with luck is one thing. But this is the Saintess Peak. This is not a place for you to run wild!”

Wang Fan was at the eighth stage of the Spirit Pearl Realm. He was an arrogant man who would never take a fifth-stage cultivator seriously. In his eyes, Elder Lu’s death was merely a fluke.

Lu Jin’s gaze was icy. “I will say this once. I am here for revenge against Liu Ruyan. It has nothing to do with anyone else.”

“If you do not listen to my warning, Elder Lu will be your example.”

Wang Fan folded his arms, sneering from his high horse. “Are you threatening me?”

Lu Jin didn’t even look at him. “What kind of thing are you? Get lost!”

This dominance made the gathered disciples seethe with anger.

“Senior Brother Wang Fan is the number one on Saintess Peak! He is third in the entire Ten Thousand Swords Sect!”

“He is at the eighth stage! He is much stronger than an Outer Sect elder!”

“Lu Jin, you are courting death by disrespecting Senior Brother!”

Lu Jin’s face remained calm. “Three years have passed. Now every cat and dog thinks they can bark at me?”

“Strength is the only truth. In that case, I will have to reason with you using my fists.”

Lu Jin didn’t want to waste time. To deal with arrogant people, he only needed to offer his fist.

“Lu Jin! You dare call Senior Brother a dog!”

“Senior Brother, kill him!”

The disciples around Wang Fan shouted. Wang Fan narrowed his eyes and looked at Lu Jin. “Lu Jin, if this were the past, I would have called you Senior Brother. But now? As you can see, I am at the eighth stage. What do you have to fight me with?”

Lu Jin shook his head and sighed. “Wang Fan, it wasn’t easy to reach this stage. Isn’t it better to stay alive? Why must you act tough?”

Wang Fan snorted. “Die!”

Buzz!

He charged. His fist was wreathed in spiritual Qi and murderous intent.

Lu Jin’s eyes narrowed. He didn’t move an inch. He simply reached out his palm—without even using spiritual Qi—and caught the glowing fist.

Under the tempering of the Great Derivation Dragon Transformation Art, his physical strength had already surpassed all logic!

“What… what! How is this possible!”

“He caught Senior Brother’s fist with one hand!”

“He didn’t even use spiritual Qi!”

Everyone’s mouths fell open. Wang Fan was also horrified. Feeling the terrifying force coming from Lu Jin’s hand, he tried to retreat, but he was clamped tight. He couldn’t move!

“The eighth stage? That’s it?”

Lu Jin snorted. He squeezed his palm. Pop! Wang Fan’s spiritual-filled fist exploded into a mist of blood and bone!

“Aaaargh!”

The pain shot to his skull. Wang Fan screamed, but a second later, the sound was cut off in his throat. Lu Jin gripped him by the neck.

“Speak. Where is Liu Ruyan?”

NOTES

Dantian: Energy core. 

Ni Xiansi: The name sounds like “Thinking of Immortals.” Lu Jin’s retort Thinking my foot is a dismissive pun on the name.