“You go too far, Lu Yun!” The cultivator who’d been facing down the newcomer flew into a rage after hearing the renewed challenge. His thousand or so other clansmen that’d congregated in front of the meeting hall felt the same way.
One move?
All of them wanted to smash Lu Yun to pieces. They considered the youth before them an interloper, unwanted guest, or basically anyone but their clansman. No matter why the Qing Clan had come to their front door, the clan should’ve been the one to deal with it.
Lu Yun had overstepped with his meddling, and sending out his subordinate to kill Qing Shan was unacceptable. The female immortal in red had publicly confirmed his orders—as such, this was utter humiliation!
Despite the problem having been solved, the Lu youths still burned from inordinate outrage.
“That’s right, I’m bullying you. What can you do about it?” Lu Yun proudly put both hands behind his back. “How about this? All 1,382 of you can go at the same time. I don’t care how many attacks you make, if even one of you is capable of touching the edge of my clothes, I lose.”
Silence.
Complete crickets.
Even the clan ancestor, Lu Daoling, was stunned into speechlessness. Did Lu Yun truly want to burn every bridge with the clan? Did he really want to go past the point of no return in his opposition to them?
No matter who won today, the clan would suffer a devastating blow. The consequences of this would be worse than Qing Shan’s blockade! If all thousand-odd young cultivators couldn’t touch Lu Yun despite making a concerted effort, the clan itself would be too embarrassed to further remain in the paradise.
The younger generation had come to challenge him for two reasons: first, because they’d been rather frustrated themselves, and second, someone had riled them up from the shadows. Now that their passions had subsided, they didn’t dare take Lu Yun on again.
If they fought one at a time, it wouldn’t be a problem… but all thirteen hundred together and still not touching even his clothing? That was too hefty a price to pay.
“Hahahaha!” A burst of raucous laughter cut through the deathly silence. “You really worked hard to get me out here, Lu Yun!”
It was coarse and hearty, reflecting its owner’s appearance and personality: a tall, strapping man with a mane of wild hair was emerging from thin air. Large-eyed and bushy-browed, hair echoed by a curly beard, he wore a hempen robe and nothing on his feet.
The way he carried himself made him seem like a homeless wanderer. However, the most interesting thing about him was a very large blade upon his back. The slab of a weapon was as wide and thick as a door!
“Who is this? Why is he in Mauve Peace Paradise?” Many of the Lu clansmen were highly confused by the rough and tumble newcomer. Evidently, they didn’t recognize the man.
“It’s Shenhou! He’s finally back!” Patriarch Lu Qianjun brightened when he caught a glimpse of the new arrival.
Everyone thought Lu Yuanhou was the smartest genius in the clan, but that wasn’t actually the case. That title belonged to Lu Shenhou, instead.
Since the Lu Clan was still recovering, it couldn’t exactly show all of its cards in the open. Thus, Lu Shenhou had departed thirty years ago for adventuring in the outside world. He’d only been origin core realm back then, but now he was peak transformed spirit and infinitely close to immortality.
For many of the more senior clansmen, the surprise lay in the drastic transformation of his appearance. The once dapper and urbane gentleman was no more, which was why they hadn’t recognized him at first.
“Lu Shenhou! The real number one genius among the younger generation! So he’s finally back, eh?” A wave of cheers swept the crowd. They’d heard of his name before, but three decades was a long time to them… long enough for the memory to fade from their minds.
“Lu Yun! Your name’s been repeated to me so many times that I have calluses on my ears. We finally meet… but you’re a tricky one, eh?” Lu Shenhou made his way to Lu Yun’s vicinity with only a few short steps. He towered a full two heads over the younger man.
“My concealment technique is one of the best in the world. It should be impossible for anyone below dao immortal to notice me… how’d you do it?” He stared closely at Lu Yun, trying to figure out the youth’s secrets.
“I didn’t spot you,” Lu Yun shook his head, “but my sword intent noticed yours.”
“Aha! So that’s it.” Lu Shenhou clenched a hand in agreement, then drew the heavy blade upon his back. “Wanna fight?” A fierce sword intent erupted from his body, even as his eyes flared with eagerness.
Lu Yun carefully looked the man up and down, then frowned and shook his head slightly. “Nope.”
“Hahahaha… Lu Yun, you coward! Are you afraid now?”
“So you do know your own place after all, Lu Yun. You know you’re no match for the Lu Clan’s foremost cultivator!”
“I think that Lu Yuanhou would’ve been able to win too. Too bad he died to that zombie!”
Lu Shenhou squinted slightly as he focused on Lu Yun. His fighting spirit intensified until it nearly took physical form.
“You’re injured. You’ll die if you fight.” His intended opponent shook his head again. “I’ll fight you when you get better. Ten days from now.”
“You can see that I’m injured?” Lu Shenhou blinked.
“You must’ve raided a tomb a short while ago. The evil spirits inside harmed you in some way, and their sinister qi has entered your body. However, your soul’s still alright. If not, even our venerated ancestor wouldn’t be able to save you.” Lu Yun shrugged.
Lu Shenhou’s face fell. “That tomb was packed with treasures and books,” he nodded helplessly, “but I wasn’t good enough to break through the formations there. The evil spirits got me good.”
“You can stand off to the side. I thought there was finally someone worth fighting at my full strength… but you’re practically a cripple right now.” Lu Yun twisted the corners of his mouth before glancing at the other Lu cultivators again. “Alright, it’s back to us again! All 1,382 of you can come at me at the same time. If you can touch any bit of my clothing, you win.”
Lu Shenhou did as he was told. He wasn’t upset; Lu Yun was absolutely right about his condition. However, the congregated cultivators wanted to cry.
“Son of a—” the burly man thundered furiously when he saw his clansmen’s expressions. “What’s with all of you? What are you afraid of? There’s thirteen hundred of you, but you’re worried about one guy?”
Lu Shenhou’s words shook the Lu cultivators to their core, but they still remained silently unmoving where they were.
“You’re all trash!” he proclaimed loudly. “Aside from our ancestor, everyone in the Lu Clan is trash! Everyone who lived through the disaster a hundred years ago—this means you! Trash has no rights! You can’t even die in battle right! You wouldn’t touch him even if all of you worked together! That’s because he’s a genius, and you’re useless!”
Those words got a reaction out of his audience. Heads jerked up with a hint of resentment, and anger began percolating through the crowd again.
“Heh, I’m only speaking the truth. You’re all real trash. Is failure so scary that you don’t want to fight at all? Keep being trash then! I’m not trash anymore. In the Enlightened Major, I fought Wu Tulong at least a hundred times over! I still can’t beat him, but I have the guts to fuck with him!”
Fuck with him! He’d hit his stride with crude, but effective language.
“Lu Yun said he’d stand still and let you hit him, but you’re not brave enough to even do that? Hahaha, if that’s the case, I’ll petition the ancestor to move the clan out of Mauve Peace Paradise right away. It’s a waste of resources for us to live here.”
“Fuck with him!!” Renewed fervor simmered in the Lu cultivators, their desire to fight reignited. Lu Shenhou’s insults had woken them up. Weak bodies were one thing, but if they lost their courage as well, they really would be trash.
Rumble.
Stream after stream of mystical force gathered into the air, converging into a singular will. As it swelled in strength, it grew closer and closer to immortal energy.
Lu Yun took a deep breath, pushing his heels a little deeper into the ground. A wave of sword intent as mighty as the sea flooded from him.
Rumble!!
All kinds of arts, methods, techniques and powers fell upon him in a torrential downpour. A bit of starlight glimmered in his eye. Once more, he made only a single move. Intent molded into technique; his Starstream Stroke protected him from the brunt of the attacks.
Rip—
An imperceptibly small noise made its way into people’s ears.
“His shirt… the corner ripped! Lu Yun’s lost!” someone murmured.
In the next moment, every eye focused on the corner of his shirt.
“I lost,” Lu Yun inclined. He raised his left hand, showing a trickle of blood slowly running down from his fingers. “What do you all want me to do?”
“Um…” Every cultivator present was lost for words. What?! They’d actually hurt Lu Yun!?
They might be the best the clan had to offer, but in the other clans, they’d only be bottom of the barrel. They’d have no right to be a core disciple. Lu Shenhou was right: they really were all trash. However, their unified attack had actually hurt Lu Yun?
“The fuck you all thinking about? Have Lu Yun teach you! Right now! He said he’d do anything you asked!” Exasperated to the point of wanting to bang heads together, Lu Shenhou yelled, “He went easy on you this time. If anyone dares tell him to kowtow in front of freaking Lu Yuanhou’s grave, I’ll break their legs and then dig up that trash’s dead body!”
He really was worried about someone making that asinine demand. While the cultivators and most of the immortals present might not have noticed, he’d seen Lu Yun create an opening and put his hand forward in that instant, allowing his finger to be cut.