Chapter 121: Chapter 121: Fist Blast Shatters the Wicked Seal (Request for Full Subscription)
"Without Master Qiao Xing here, dueling with swordsmanship is against the rules. So for today, let’s just have a simple hand-to-hand combat, what do you think?"
Qi Gefei had already taken off his outer armor, revealing his solid, powerful muscles and the remaining half-body armor beneath.
In comparison to his 2-meter stature and weight exceeding 150 kilograms, Lu Luo looked much weaker.
"I can accept any rule you propose."
Lu Luo’s expression today was very calm, but his fingers were trembling slightly, which to others undoubtedly seemed like a display of nervousness and fear.
But only Lu Luo himself knew that he was excited, exceptionally so, and he was very eager to feel the extent of his own power.
"It seems my performance yesterday gave you confidence, but today, you won’t have such an opportunity, Fourth Ring man."
This time, Qi Gefei didn’t rush to attack and instead stood his ground, making preparations.
[Strong Sequence particles detected, suspected to be B-15-Primitive Beastliness LV2]
B-15-Primitive Beastliness LV2
Effect: Unleashes the most primal beastliness, reducing rationality by 30%; increasing speed, strength, and Constitution by 20%; and reducing pain by 20%.
Assessment: Losing humanity means losing much; losing beastliness means losing everything.
[Sequence particles detected, suspected to be D-78-Energy Bone Hardening LV2]
D-78-Energy Bone Hardening LV2
Effect: Uses energy to harden the body, reducing physical damage by 20%.
Description: It’s like applying a defensive layer of energy onto the skin.
A Dual Sequence Holder! And one who has enhanced to Level 2 at that! It looks good, but it’s still far from Extreme.
Qi Gefei was better prepared than yesterday, and internally more calm—Lu Luo knew he was not an easy opponent.
Without saying another word, he directly initiated overdrive mode.
[Overdrive mode initiated.]
Facing someone from the Church, he never took things lightly.
Qi Gefei, with his Dual Sequences activated, took the initiative to strike. He moved rapidly towards Lu Luo, his movements faster than yesterday, and in the blink of an eye, he threw a punch.
BANG!
Their fists collided, and with a swift sidestep, Lu Luo retreated to a distance ten meters away.
Qi Gefei’s entire body surged with energy, and white Holy Radiance began to flare in his eyes as he raised his fists overhead.
"Justice."
Once again, Qi Gefei charged like an armored vehicle—he was not only immensely strong but also incredibly fast.
The sheer inertia of his footsteps was enough to shatter the floor.
As he closed in on Lu Luo again, Qi Gefei swung both fists, and a white light sprayed out like two white cannons firing.
BOOM! BOOM!
His fists hit Lu Luo accurately, exploding on impact.
"Lu Luo!" Lu Yang stood up worriedly, but his companion held him back.
Qi Xinzhu was also concerned, but she sensed that Lu Luo’s aura was very strong and had not diminished at all despite being hit.
Lu Luo stood in a defensive position, the white Holy Radiance circulating around him as if he were bathing in light, before gradually dissipating.
Steam, First Gear.
Lu Luo glanced at his own fists—the opponent’s Holy Seal of Justice had actually penetrated his triple-channel defensive Qi He and sturdy double-layer defense.
That attack was powerful enough to break the skin on my fingers—a truly formidable move.
This fierce attack by Qi Gefei also served to cool down Lu Luo, who had been feeling somewhat overconfident. After all, a chief is a chief, capable of harming me.
"Now that you’ve activated your Sequences, your attacks are stronger than before. That’s quite impressive."
"Spare me the grand words!"
Qi Gefei attacked again, but Lu Luo, fully recovered, could now keep pace with Qi Gefei’s speed and strength in his First Gear Steam Form.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Their fists collided in the air. Initially, both were defensive, parrying blows.
But as the fight progressed, they both began to abandon defense.
Qi Gefei did so because the Priests would heal his injuries; even if he were hurt today, he could receive treatment upon his return in the evening.
Lu Luo, on the other hand, abandoned defense because Qi Gefei’s attacks, lacking the blessing of a Holy Seal, weren’t actually that strong.
BOOM!
After another fierce exchange of punches, Qi Gefei and Lu Luo each took several steps back.
Qi Gefei bit his lip tightly, forcibly swallowing the blood that threatened to spill from his throat.
For some reason, when fighting Lu Luo, my stamina and energy are depleting unusually quickly.
The battle hasn’t lasted long, yet I’m already very tired. What is going on?
What Qi Gefei didn’t know was that Lu Luo had been holding back as much as he could. The effects of the Devourer’s Rainbow Demon powers were far more than just plundering energy and stamina.
He could even devour Qi Gefei’s life force during battle, but doing so might attract unnecessary trouble, which was why he hadn’t acted on it.
"Have you rested enough? If you have, let’s continue!"
Lu Luo stood with one fist on his lower back and the other hand’s thumb clasped, with four fingers extended, exuding the air of a master.
Seeing the state of the two fighters, the others whispered among themselves.
Lu Luo’s relaxed and composed appearance clearly showed he was solidly suppressing Qi Gefei. How has this happened in just one day? they wondered.
"It looks like Qi Gefei is going to lose."
"It can’t be! Is the current chief really so weak? He doesn’t seem up to par, not even as good as our Lu Yang."
"It looks like he’s going to lose. Qi Gefei’s physical state, his Holy Radiance, is deteriorating rapidly; he’s clearly no match for Lu Luo."
"Winning or losing still depends on the final Evil Holy Seal. That should be the deciding factor, right?"
Lu Yang was also surprised by Lu Luo’s formidable combat strength. Is the Steam Form really that powerful?
The whispers of the onlookers further agitated Qi Gefei. If it weren’t for needing to reclaim the face the Knight of Justice reserve members had previously lost, and if it weren’t to prove his own strength, why else would he keep challenging Lu Luo?
But this time, it seemed he truly was going to fail. Compared to Lu Luo’s calm and collected demeanor, Qi Gefei’s heart was a tumultuous sea.
Lu Luo wasn’t this strong yesterday, was he? What happened today? His Qi He is many times stronger than the day before!
"Your Qi He, has it broken through?"
"Yeah, just last night."
A weight sank in Qi Gefei’s heart. If Lu Luo has truly broken through, then in my current condition, I’m no match for him at all.
"Alright, I had some reservations before, but now I don’t."
Qi Gefei abandoned the last of his rationality and changed his fighting stance.
HA!
Qi Gefei placed both hands on the ground. His white Holy Radiance gradually began to turn purple, and malevolent energy started to emanate from within him.
His body swelled, and his muscles knitted together, further empowered by his Primal Beastliness Sequence.
At that moment, Qi Gefei resembled a wounded wild beast in its most terrifying state.
[The opponent has activated the Evil Holy Seal. The effect is unknown, but the strength of the Holy Radiance has increased significantly.]
Qi Gefei’s Holy Radiance has indeed become much stronger. If it were yesterday, I would have had a hard fight, but not today.
"Good, let me experience the legendary Evil Holy Seal of the Four Dark Holy Seals!"
Qi Gefei lunged violently, leaving a purple afterimage behind him as his massive form charged straight at Lu Luo. Malevolent energy converged in his hands; he was like a starving wolf ready to tear Lu Luo to shreds.
Lu Luo didn’t push himself to the limit like yesterday to activate the Second Gear of his Steam Form.
I could activate it, but there’s no need.
He planted his right foot, slid his left foot forward, and pulled his right fist back as if drawing a bow.
The same posture, the same feeling, but my Qi He now is not what it was before.
Deliberate Bombardment Fist!
BOOM!
Intense steam pressure created a shockwave. As his fist thrust forward, a conical blast of air turned all the grass behind Qi Gefei to dust.
At the same time, the piercing shockwave also shattered Qi Gefei’s half-body armor, along with his purple Holy Radiance and his breastbone.
As the dust settled, everyone swallowed hard at the sight of Qi Gefei on the ground, his eyes vacant.
This punch ended the battle and left everyone in awe.
But soon someone realized that they had to do something.
"Quick, save him! Where’s the Priest?"
Qi Gefei had completely lost consciousness. However, since Lu Luo had held back, his life wasn’t in danger.
However, with a completely shattered breastbone, even for a Priest, it would take a tremendous amount of energy to heal.
Moreover, Qi Gefei himself would probably have to endure a great deal of pain.
Yu Luo looked at the defeated Qi Gefei with disdain in her eyes.
"The reserves of the Knight of Justice are really disappointing, to be beaten up like this by a Fourth Ring person. Saintess, did you expect this as well?"
Yu Luo originally wanted to use her words to disgust Qi Xinzhu, but Qi Xinzhu did not catch her meaning and simply nodded.
"Um, indeed, it was expected."
Yu Luo didn’t know why Qi Xinzhu would follow Lu Luo, but this was important intelligence. And I could also try to approach Lu Luo, she mused.
If I could snatch someone away from the Saintess, that would indeed be a pleasurable thing.
"Heh, the Saintess really is far-sighted!"
All the reserves of the four major Knights Groups were discussing the recent battle, and even the strongest Life Knights Group was no exception.
A few of them exchanged glances, and one of them spoke first.
"Qi Gefei lost, and he lost thoroughly."
"I’m not sure I could beat him either. That Fourth Ring person called Lu Luo is very strong, especially strong."
Among the group clad in red armor, there was one particularly thin figure, toying with a small knife.
As the voices of the others gradually died down, all eyes shifted toward her, seemingly waiting for her to speak.
"Boss, the Knight of Justice is still one of the four major Knights Groups after all. What do you think about Qi Gefei’s situation?"
"Only boring weaklings rush to prove themselves. In the world of the strong, being weak is a sin.
"In the eyes of the strong, there is no place for the weak. The Knight of Justice is too weak, and, bearing the name of one of the four major Knights Groups, they are more anxious than anyone else.
"Mediocrity is the root of all evil. They are so weak they have to prove themselves with the help of a Fourth Ring person. They are not worth mentioning."
"What about this Lu Luo then?"
"An impressive talent, a worthy opponent. However, his techniques and energy are too unrefined. I’m confident I can win."
Hearing their leader speak like this, the people of the Life Knights Group all sighed with relief.
Swordsmanship practical training would take place next week. As people from the Inner Ring, if they were defeated by a Fourth Ring person, or even brutally crushed, it would be a very bad situation.
Aside from Qi Gefei and Lu Luo himself, no one else realized that today’s Steam Form and yesterday’s were entirely different.
Qi Gefei hadn’t even forced Lu Luo to use his Second Gear like yesterday, which left Lu Luo somewhat disappointed.
"Shall we go back now?" Qi Xinzhu had already come to Lu Luo’s side and asked softly.
"Ah, let’s go back."
Under everyone’s gaze, the two of them walked towards Qiao Xing’s home, one after the other.
However, what the people at the swordsmanship training ground didn’t realize was that their Archbishop Qiao Xing had not gone home today but was lurking in a corner spying on this scene.
"Steam Form, Hunter Ludie’s technique, huh? He’s gotten quite good at it, but these young ones are all focused on the steam.
"Have they not noticed that the truly remarkable thing about Lu Luo, the thing that really sets him apart from them, is clearly his physical constitution!"
Unlike the others, Qiao Xing’s level allowed him to see the root of Lu Luo’s formidable performance; it all came down to his incredibly strong attributes.
With all stats at 20, plus the ’Extreme’ modifier, he was at a crushing level even against peers from the Inner Ring.
That strong foundation, along with Steam Form amplification, gave him such an astonishing combat power.
"Sigh, this kid’s talents are somewhat outrageous! The strategies I thought of before seem to be of no use at all. It’s really vexing!"
「」
Over the next few days, Lu Luo continued his routine sword practice, ignoring Qiao Xing’s lessons. Qiao Xing only made simple corrections to Lu Luo’s sword-drawing posture and trajectory and said no more.
Five days passed quickly. There were no swordsmanship classes on Saturday and Sunday because Qiao Xing, as the Archbishop of the East Ring, also had to preside over the Church’s worship services.
On Zhou Wu evening, Lu Luo finally completed his 60,000th sword swing. He had mastered the six basic sword moves by heart, achieving effortless execution.
Qiao Xing, as if knowing in advance how many swings Lu Luo had completed, came out directly as Lu Luo rested.
"Finished?"
"Yes, Archbishop Qiao Xing."
"How do you feel?"
"I’m probably at the level where I can fight with a sword now," Lu Luo replied. This was his current, intuitive assessment; 60,000 empowered sword swings had brought him to the point where he could indeed fight with a greatsword.
However, his current weapon was still the Wraith Blade, and he knew finding a weapon stronger than the Wraith Blade in a short amount of time would be quite difficult.
"Alright then, since you’ve completed the basic training, let’s talk about techniques today," Qiao Xing said.
Lu Luo’s eyes shone slightly. Indeed, Qiao Xing is only teaching me techniques after I’ve completed the basic sword forms.
"Like the Shock Sword from before?" Lu Luo asked.
"Shock Sword? That’s just to fool people. The armor-breaking effect of the Shock Sword makes them think it’s a great move.
"That way, they’ll think they’ve learned something useful from me, and the Church won’t give me trouble."
Ugh! That rationale is so blunt it makes me feel sorry for those people. But if something like the Shock Sword isn’t considered a technique, then what kind of move would qualify?
"I actually feel like the Shock Sword is already a pretty awesome technique, with its strong piercing effect. If that’s not a technique, what kind of technique does Lord Qiao Xing have in mind?"
Qiao Xing frowned and looked at Lu Luo. After pondering for a while, he slightly nodded.
"Hmm, perhaps you are right. The Shock Sword, to the likes of you, could indeed be considered a technique."
Damn, the way this man speaks, his tone... it’s as if he’s saying, ’For trash like you, this basic move could indeed be considered a technique.’
"Lord Qiao Xing, can you please speak kindly?"
"What? Haven’t I?"
Lu Luo felt uncomfortable. If I didn’t need to learn swordsmanship from Qiao Xing, and if Qiao Xing weren’t so strong, I would have started a war of words long ago. He wouldn’t be the one dishing out criticism like this!
"Lord Qiao Xing, let’s continue talking about techniques."
"Then let’s start from the Shock Sword. The purpose of the shaking is to cause the Slash Strike to quiver, thereby creating an armor-breaking effect.
"Actually, this is a method that many high-level Transcendents use. I’ve merely incorporated it into swordsmanship and taught it to these people.
"Even if they didn’t learn it from me, chances are they would’ve realized it on their own after growing for a while.
"But the technique I’m talking about is a real technique, the power of swordsmanship pushed to the extreme, also known as sword skills."
"Sword skills? The kind that kill in one blow?"
Lu Luo, who had extensively read wuxia novels, immediately thought of peerless sword arts like Dugu Nine Swords or Flying Immortal from Beyond the Heavens—swordsmanship techniques that were almost divine in essence.
Qiao Xing didn’t understand why Lu Luo would say that, but he thought for a moment and then nodded.
"The kind that kills in one blow? Yes, roughly speaking!"
Looking at Qiao Xing’s matter-of-fact expression, I really want to punch him. But never mind, he’s my teacher after all. It’s best not to commit such an outrageous act of disrespect.
[Shouldn’t the point be that you can’t beat him?]
"What are Lord Qiao Xing’s sword skills like?"
"Hmm, for all these years, I’ve been repeatedly training those six basic sword forms. You should know, something like swordsmanship really comes down to practice makes perfect.
"My training of the basic sword forms has basically reached the pinnacle of what I can comprehend.
"After doing something for a long time, it can get boring, so I started thinking about new things.
"Well, it was about ten years, off and on, that I’ve made breakthroughs in these six basic sword forms, turning them into my own set of sword skills, completely different from the Church’s."
"Your own sword skills?"
"Yes, because this set of sword skills is based on the six basic sword forms, and I developed them independently.
"So I’ve named this set: Mi’s Peak Swordsmanship Techniques’ Four Great Secrets."
Lu Luo’s face fell.
"Could you go with a more normal name? And why call it Mi-style swordsmanship instead of Qiao-style swordsmanship?"
"I was planning to pass this swordsmanship technique to Qiao Xiao Mi. With the title of a swordsmanship founder, her future would be a bit easier.
"Do you think the name I chose is bad?"
"No, it’s just that I feel something like swordsmanship should be treated more seriously."
"More seriously, huh? Then, call it Sword Heart Quadrilogy; it’s all the same anyway."
Qiao Xing’s gaze seemed distant as if the name Sword Heart Quadrilogy was worthy of his long contemplation.
"What exactly is this Sword Heart Quadrilogy?"
Qiao Xing picked up Lu Luo’s sword, and his originally calm aura became sharp in an instant—as if he himself were a drawn sword.
"The sword cuts the flesh; the heart cuts the soul."