Chapter 44

6th February, night.

Meng Chuan, Liu Qiyue, and Yan Jin walked out of Cloud River Restaurant.

“I’ll definitely beat you next time,” said Yan Jin.

“But in the past half-year, you’ve already lost three times,” said Meng Chuan with a laugh. Ever since Meng Chuan had saved Yan Jin’s life when they fought side-by-side at Idle Stone Garden, their relationship had blossomed. Yan Jin would occasionally visit Mirror Lake Meng Manor to spar with Meng Chuan. He had a robust Godfiend foundation, and his Yin-Yang dual-sword technique was extremely powerful as well. Unbeknownst to him, Meng Chuan had already comprehended Force a long time ago.

Thus, in the three sparring matches against Meng Chuan, Yan Jin always suffered a narrow defeat.

There was nothing he could do. For now, Meng Chuan had to hide his “Force,” and could only unleash a portion of his power. But even so, defeating Yan Jin—who had yet to gain insights into Force—was quite easy. Withholding his true strength ended up more difficult.

“I’ve already vaguely grasped the threshold to Force while sparring with you today.” Yan Jin looked at Meng Chuan. “Next time, I’ll be much stronger than I am now.”

“Then I’ll be waiting,” said Meng Chuan with a smile.

“Grasped Force? Stop bragging,” Liu Qiyue said from the side.

“Humph.” Yan Jin was too lazy to argue and turned to leave alone.

However, Meng Chuan could sense a powerful aura hundreds of feet away from Yan Jin. It was silently following him. In fact, whenever Yan Jin visited Mirror Lake Meng Manor to spar with him, the aura had also been waiting outside his residence.

That old servant doesn’t follow him anymore. Instead, there’s a mysterious expert following him in secret. It seems that his family sent stronger guards after he was injured last time.

“Ah Chuan, Yan Jin said he’s about to achieve Force. What about you?” Liu Qiyue asked. “Don’t lose to him.”

“I’ll secretly tell you a secret,” whispered Meng Chuan. “I think I have hope of comprehending Force within a few months.”

“You’ve also sensed the threshold to Saber Force?” Liu Qiyue was surprised, but her ears began to turn red.

“Yes, you have to keep it a secret.”

“Definitely, I’ll definitely keep it a secret.” Liu Qiyue nodded immediately.

Seeing Qiyue like this, Meng Chuan couldn’t help but chuckle inwardly.

They walked alongside each other as they headed home. It was still early spring, and the nights were still cold. The duo walked shoulder-to-shoulder.

Qiyue has grown up too. Meng Chuan looked at Liu Qiyue and sighed. He clearly remembered this snot-nosed little girl being hand-held into the Meng residence by Uncle Liu. In the blink of an eye, she was already sixteen-years-old.

Although he had been diligent in his cultivation all these years, he spent his time with Qiyue every day. He would even be dragged out by Qiyue every few days to have a “feast.” Although his heart ached for the money, he had a great time eating and drinking together.

The cold wind from the early-spring evening was bone-piercing, but Meng Chuan found it pleasant.

Oh? His heart palpitated as he sensed three powerful demonic auras appear within half a kilometer of him. They were rapidly approaching him.

It’s that Skydemon Sect expert from Idle Stone Garden? Meng Chuan immediately recognized one of them. Back then, the hunchbacked man’s demonic aura had invaded his body, causing him to suffer quite a bit. His grandaunt had personally helped him expel the demonic aura. Therefore, when he sensed the three demonic auras, he found one of them very familiar. He was certain that it was the hunchbacked man.

Three auras. The two weaker auras are similar to Father’s and the others’. However, there is an aura that is stronger than Father’s and Uncle Liu’s. This aura is very powerful and very strange. Meng Chuan felt an immense threat.

They are rapidly approaching. Are they targeting me? Or are they targeting someone else? Meng Chuan couldn’t help but guess.

He immediately made up his mind and said to Liu Qiyue, “Qiyue, I just recalled something. I need to go to the ancestral mansion immediately. Head back without me.”

“You’re heading to the ancestral mansion? Alright.” Liu Qiyue nodded. “But don’t let history repeat itself. Throwing me behind and running to Azure Cloud Brothel to kill two Blood Cloud Bandits.”

“Do you think it’s that easy meeting Blood Cloud Bandits?” Meng Chuan laughed. “Alright, I’ll be off to the ancestral mansion.” With that said, he turned around and walked towards the ancestral mansion.

Liu Qiyue didn’t think too much about it and returned to Meng Manor.

…

They didn’t follow Qiyue but continued to follow after me. Meng Chuan walked to a deserted street. Most Eastcalm Prefecture citizens slept early at night. Candles were very costly, and ordinary people needed to be thrifty.

Apart from the restaurants and tea shops, many places were pitch-black.

The cold wind blew.

Meng Chuan walked alone.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

The three Skydemon Sect experts silently landed on a roof as they looked at the lonely figure walking in the distance. The white-browed man’s eyes were faintly glowing golden. He could see a distance of almost one kilometer at night, much less during the day.

“Brother, he’s heading towards the Meng family’s ancestral mansion,” the hunchbacked man said softly.

Vice Branch Master Tu immediately said, “We have to act immediately. If we let him continue his journey, we will be too close to the Meng family’s ancestral mansion. If we attack him and he sends a distress signal… Fairy Meng would probably arrive shortly.”

“Yes.” The white-browed man nodded. “I’ll ambush him from behind and capture him alive. The two of you are to ambush him from the front. If we fail our ambush, we’ll surround him from three sides. He will have nowhere to run.”

The hunchbacked man and Vice Branch Master Tu nodded. “Alright.” Both of them trusted their elder brother’s capabilities.

“Move out.” The white-browed man gave the order.

The trio quickly separated. The white-browed man silently closed in from behind, while the hunchbacked man and the other two rushed forward to block Meng Chuan’s path.

…

Here they come. Meng Chuan could sense them very clearly, and he was exceptionally calm right now.

The powerful aura rapidly approached him without making a sound.

Oh? Meng Chuan seemed to sense something as he turned his head to look in the direction where the white-browed man was about 800 feet away. The white-browed man was tall; his eyes were long and narrow, and his pupils were golden. His white eyebrows were so long they drooped. A gray demonic aura enveloped his entire body. Each of his two hands held a scimitar.

Their gazes met.

When Meng Chuan saw the white-eyebrowed, golden-eyed expert emit the demonic aura, his expression changed drastically. With a whoosh, he transformed into a blur as he charged forward.

He discovered me even before I made a move? Murong You was like a giant bird in the darkness, but he was 80 feet away. Yet, he had been discovered. This made him rather astonished.

Unbeknownst to him, as soon as he was 100 feet from Meng Chuan, Meng Chuan was able to “see” him carefully. He had intentionally turned his head to pretend like he had discovered his enemy.

Murong You was adept at sneak attacks and assassination. He often hid behind his enemy without them ever detecting him. Now, he had been discovered in this chilly windy night when he had been 80 feet away. Murong You felt rather aggrieved.

He was lucky. It just so happened that he turned his head.Murong You didn’t have the luxury of time to think.

Swoosh!

The fleeing Meng Chuan took out a distress flare and activated it immediately. The flare shot into the sky, becoming very eye-catching in the darkness.

Murong You coldly shouted, “Block him!”

Run! Meng Chuan fled in a panic, but his speed was extremely fast.

“Young Master Meng, your speed is much faster than before.” A figure flew out from the darkness. It was none other than the hunchbacked man who exuded a green demonic aura. The hunchbacked man’s green eyes stared at him as he lunged forward.

“The improvement of a genius is naturally fast.” Another figure rushed out from the other side. Vice Branch Master Tu—a muscular man who emanated a black demonic aura—chuckled as he wielded a huge axe. He looked like a giant bear.

“What!?” Meng Chuan wore a furious, alarmed look.

Behind him was the terrifying golden-eyed, white-browed expert. He was desperately trying to escape, but there were experts in front of him—each attacking him from the flanks.

“Skydemon Sect! How dare you ambush me! My Meng family will definitely not let you off!” As he roared, he chose to flee towards the hunchbacked man.

“Haha, the Meng family won’t be able to save you in time.” Seeing Meng Chuan coming towards him, the hunchbacked man went to intercept him immediately.

More than half a year ago, the hunchbacked man had exchanged blows with Meng Chuan. At the time, he had sent his fingernails flying, and Meng Chuan had almost lost his life from the severe injuries.

The hunchbacked man was naturally very confident.

“Stop.” The hunched man flicked his finger, sending a fingernail flying out with terrifying might.

At this close distance, Meng Chuan barely dodged the attack, but this greatly reduced his speed.

“Haha.” The hunchbacked man laughed loudly as he stretched out his sharp claws. They turned into vague shadows as he grabbed at Meng Chuan.

Meng Chuan—who was escaping desperately—slashed out instantly without any warning.

He infused the Power of the Soul into his whole body. His Quintessential Energy—fifteen times greater than normal—and physical body perfectly fused. After the fusion, he released his Saber Force! Meng Chuan had cultivated the Saber Drawing Stance the most, and it was the fastest attack he could deliver! The 17th stance of the Lightning Devastator Saber had allowed him to discover a brilliant method of fusing his body with his Quintessential Energy. When used, the lightning from his Lightning Divine Body would become denser, making him faster.

Ever since he integrated some of Lightning Devastator Saber’s secrets into the Saber Drawing Stance, its strength by nearly 50%.

Lightning Ultimate Saber Drawing Stance! A cold light flashed in his eyes.

Following the Saber Force, a surge of energy erupted from his body as a terrifying strike containing his Quintessential Energy formed. Having stirred up the Heaven and Earth powers, it became a terrifying saber beam that was over 100 feet long.

The saber beam was so dazzling it was hard to see the true body of the saber.

Pfft.

The hunchbacked man was initially confident, but when he suddenly saw a blinding saber beam appear in front of him, he instinctively used both his claws to protect his vitals. Before he could see the saber, his waist was injured.

The hunchbacked man’s lower body was still moving, but his upper body had already fallen to the ground. It tumbled about, covering the ground in blood.

He had been sliced in two with a single strike!