Chapter 159: Sixth on the Wuhou Ranking

Lu Yan leaped forward, covering a distance of dozens of meters, and lunged at the tier-2 mutated beast king. His fists were already glowing a golden hue as he unleashed a rapid succession of punches.

The tier-2 mutated beast king was already at the end of its tether and had no way to evade Lu Yan’s iron fists. Taking several direct blows to its head, its skin instantly ruptured and its bones shattered. It crashed heavily onto the ground, gasping for its last breaths.

Lu Yan drew his Crimson Blood Saber and brought it down on the beast king’s neck, severing the head entirely to finish it off for good.

Feral beasts, unlike malevolent specters or martial spirits, did not possess such tenacious vitality; once their heads were severed, they were truly dead.

Swish, swish, swish!

Six figures emerged, forming a fan-shaped formation to surround Lu Yan.

"Your Excellency, this tier-2 mutated beast king was hunted down by our combined efforts. What is this? Are you trying to muscle in and steal our kill halfway through?"

Asked a burly man wielding a mountain-splitting saber with a cold voice.

"Everyone, there is a misunderstanding here. I am not trying to rob you. Rather, this beast king is fated to be with me."

Lu Yan replied with a completely serious expression.

The group: "..."

"Fated my ass!"

The man with the mountain-splitting saber cursed outright, clearly possessing a fiery temper.

"You don't believe me? I was just sitting here quietly and peacefully, yet this beast king ran all the way over to me on its own accord. If that isn't fate, what is? This is ordained by the heavens."

Lu Yan said.

"Your Excellency, you'd better stop spouting nonsense. This tier-2 mutated beast king was hunted down by us through untold hardships. If you want to hijack it halfway, it depends on whether you have the ability to do so. Just be careful not to throw your own life away in the process."

Said a robust, powerfully built middle-aged woman standing about one meter and eighty centimeters tall.

Although Lu Yan had effortlessly dispatched the tier-2 mutated beast king just moments ago, in their eyes, that meant little. The tier-2 mutated beast king had already been exceptionally weak and on the verge of death; killing it was not difficult.

"Everyone, this beast king truly shares a bond of fate with me—it is heaven-willed. If you stubbornly defy the will of heaven, I'm afraid you will bring bloody calamity upon yourselves."

Lu Yan said.

"Cut the motherfucking crap! Everyone, let's join forces to kill this person first, and then we can decide the ownership of the heart pearl. How about it?"

The man with the mountain-splitting saber shouted loudly.

However, no one answered. The other five merely watched with cold detachment.

It wasn't that they were afraid of Lu Yan; rather, they wanted to sit on the sidelines and watch the show. They hoped the burly man and Lu Yan would fight it out, ideally resulting in mutual destruction so that one fewer competitor remained.

"You all have too many schemes in your heads—why even practice martial arts? Watch me slaughter him first."

The man with the mountain-splitting saber let out a cold snort. He pushed off with his legs, leaped into the air, and brought his saber down toward Lu Yan. The blade's glare whistled through the air, as if it could truly split mountains apart.

This man was immensely powerful and a notable figure on the Martial Marquis Rankings. He had cultivated two strands of bone-strength, making his strength no less inferior to Zhao Yi’s back then.

Lu Yan sidestepped to evade the incoming blade and slapped the flat of his opponent's weapon with his palm.

Hum!

The mountain-splitting saber vibrated violently, and the burly man felt as though he had been struck by lightning, his body stumbling backward.

Lu Yan stepped forward to close the distance and struck the man’s chest with a palm strike. The burly man flew backward for over twenty meters, coughing up a mouthful of blood, his face turning pale.

"I told you, defying the will of heaven brings bloody calamity. And here it is. You really should listen to advice."

Lu Yan sighed.

He then shifted his gaze toward the remaining five people and said, "Are you all going to try your luck as well? Beware of bloody calamity."

The expressions of the five turned gloomy, yet their hearts were shaken.

To defeat that burly man with such ease meant this person's strength was unfathomable.

However, to let them just retreat now was something they found utterly unacceptable.

The heart pearl!

Grandmaster-level aristocratic families possessed secret formulas to nurture tier-2 mutated beast kings, but on average, cultivating a single tier-2 mutated beast king took decades of time.

Yet how many people within the grandmaster-level families were waiting in line?

Furthermore, new talents emerge with every generation; when would it ever be their turn?

A heart pearl was simply too precious.

Mount Kunwu was a shortcut.

"Everyone, let's join forces. Thinking of sitting on the sidelines any longer is out of the question. Only by teaming up to defeat this person first can we possibly obtain the heart pearl."

The middle-aged woman whispered to the other four.

"Fine."

"That's the only way."

The remaining four nodded in agreement.

Swish!

It wasn't the middle-aged woman and the other four who moved first—it was Lu Yan.

Since the opposition intended to join forces, he naturally preferred to strike first and gain the initiative.

How terrifying was Lu Yan's speed? An elderly man was caught completely off guard as Lu Yan struck his abdomen with a single punch, sending him flying dozens of meters away. The man crashed through two large boulders, blood streaming from his wounds, and was unable to get back to his feet for a moment.

The remaining four were alarmed and immediately unleashed their killing moves.

Yet Lu Yan was far too fast. Darting, weaving, and shifting positions, he effortlessly dodged their attacks before drawing his Crimson Blood Saber.

It was like a flash of lightning, flickering across the void.

Following that, four figures retreated rapidly. Each of them clutched their chest, blood seeping through the gaps of their fingers, their faces filled with dread and shock.

They understood that Lu Yan had shown mercy. Otherwise, they would already be dead by now.

Whether it was in bone-strength or martial arts mastery, they were simply not in the same league as Lu Yan.

"I told you, bloody calamity would befall you, but you refused to believe it. Leave now, or else you might face mortal peril."

Lu Yan said calmly.

Clap, clap, clap...

A young man in his thirties walked out while applauding, saying, "Your Excellency possesses such formidable strength that it has made my hands itch. Might you grace me with a few pointers?"

This person carried a long spear on his back, wore a purple robe, and possessed a handsome appearance with an extraordinary demeanor.

"It's him, Tuoba Zhu."

Seeing this person, the other individuals felt a wave of shock and uncertainty.

Seen in this light, Tuoba Zhu had been tailing them all along. Even if they hadn't encountered Lu Yan, Tuoba Zhu would have inevitably intervened in the end, meaning the heart pearl was destined to have nothing to do with them.

After all, Tuoba Zhu ranked sixth on the Martial Marquis Rankings.

Such a figure was practically the existence of invincibility among Martial Marquises, short of a Grandmaster stepping out.

Within the Martial Marquis realm, very few could rival him.

"Tuoba Zhu."

Lu Yan’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Naturally, he had also heard of Tuoba Zhu's renown.

He was a direct descendant of the Tuoba clan of Nanyiyi County, and also the fifth most powerful expert within the clan, second only to the Tuoba clan's four Grandmasters.

It was said that this person had cultivated four strands of bone-strength, possessed exceptional comprehension, and wielded battle prowess that was extremely tyrannical.

"What is this? If you don't dare to fight, then retreat right now and hand over the heart pearl."

Tuoba Zhu held his spear in hand, slowly walking closer to Lu Yan.

"And if I win?"

Lu Yan asked.

"If you can defeat me by even a single move or half a move, I will turn around and leave immediately."

Tuoba Zhu said.

"Come then."

Lu Yan held his saber in one hand, his aura bursting forth as nine strands of bone-strength simultaneously surged and circulated throughout the bones of his entire body.

Hum!

Tuoba Zhu’s fighting intent soared. As his bone-strength erupted, he stepped forward and thrust his spear straight at Lu Yan like an arrow.

Man and spear united, resembling a straight line capable of piercing through everything.

Lu Yan did not dare to be careless. Even if he pushed his Vajra Indestructible Art to its absolute limit, he would still be unable to block this spear and would be pierced through.

Lu Yan stood motionlessly, fixing his gaze unwaveringly on the spear tip. The moment the tip drew close, Lu Yan swung his saber to parry.

With a loud *clang*, the long spear was deflected off its original trajectory under the impact of the Crimson Blood Saber, brushing past the side of Lu Yan’s neck.

And Lu Yan seized the momentum to swing his weapon.

The Crimson Blood Saber slid down along the spear shaft, slashing directly toward Tuoba Zhu’s hand.

"Such formidable saber technique!"

Tuoba Zhu could not help but praise aloud.

An expert makes a move, and you know instantly whether they're the real deal.

Lu Yan’s saber strike just now looked simple, but it required an utterly precise grasp of power and timing. Otherwise, attempting such a move would be courting death.

Tuoba Zhu did not dare to take him lightly. All four strands of bone-strength erupted completely, flooding into the spear before he violently shook the shaft.

The spear shaft twisted violently like the body of a serpent, colliding against the Crimson Blood Saber with a deafening crash.

Tuoba Zhu intended to rely on his tyrannical bone-strength to force Lu Yan back before launching another ferocious spear assault.

Yet, how could he possibly anticipate that Lu Yan’s bone-strength actually surpassed his own?

Having cultivated four strands of bone-strength and reached the peak of the fifth-layer Martial Marquis realm, the only way someone could suppress him in bone-strength was by cultivating five strands.

However, across the six counties of Lingdong, innate martial physiques possessing five times the ordinary person's blood-qi numbered fewer than a single hand.

And among those, only three had reached the fifth layer of the Martial Marquis realm.

Two of them had already left the six counties of Lingdong to cultivate at the Sage Mysterious Sect prior to the malevolent specter turmoil. Therefore, the only fifth-layer Martial Marquis who had entered Mount Kunwu and cultivated five strands of bone-strength was...

Definitely not Lu Yan.

Thus, his strategy miscalculated.

Once he miscalculated, he fell into a disadvantageous position. Not only did his spear fail to force Lu Yan back, but his own arm went numb from the recoil.

Meanwhile, Lu Yan’s Crimson Blood Saber was already closing in.

Left with no choice, Tuoba Zhu dragged his spear as he retreated.

As he retreated, Lu Yan advanced—and at an even faster pace.

The next moment, Lu Yan’s Crimson Blood Saber came to rest right against Tuoba Zhu’s neck.

Tuoba Zhu’s face turned pale.

In battles between experts, a miss of a hair's breadth leads to a thousand miles of error. By misjudging Lu Yan's cultivation level, he had fallen into a disadvantageous position; one mistake led to step-by-step errors, leaving his profound spear techniques with zero opportunity to be unleashed.

If this had been a battle of life and death, Lu Yan would have already killed him with a single strike.

"I have lost."

Tuoba Zhu let out a long sigh. Dragging his spear, he turned and began to walk away. Yet, after walking a short distance, feeling somewhat unreconciled, he turned back and said, "We will have a chance to fight again. Just now, I hadn't fully unleashed my true strength."

"What a coincidence, neither had I."

Lu Yan replied.

"..."

Tuoba Zhu stopped lingering, turned around, and departed swiftly.

The surrounding people, witnessing how easily Lu Yan had defeated Tuoba Zhu, no longer dared to stay and scattered in a hurry. Very quickly, only Lu Yan remained in the clearing.

Lu Yan walked over to the tier-2 mutated beast king with his saber in hand and sliced open its chest. Finally, near the location of its heart, he retrieved a steaming heart pearl.

The heart pearl was essentially similar to mutated heart-flesh.

However, the heart pearl no longer resembled mere flesh; it was perfectly round, solidified like a solid object, about the size of a child's fist, resembling a glowing round bead—hence the name heart pearl.

It was akin to the extreme condensation of mutated heart-flesh.

Furthermore, using a heart pearl as the primary ingredient, paired with more than twenty kinds of rare herbs such as ink-jade glossy ganoderma, one could cook a martial culinary dish known as Ink-Jade Heart Pearl. Consuming it increased the chance of breaking through to the Grandmaster realm by thirty percent.

It was of inestimable value.

Lu Yan produced a box, carefully packed the heart pearl inside, and stowed it away in his pack.

"The harvest is good. The phoenix-blood insect and the heart pearl have both been secured; this trip has truly been worthwhile."

A smile appeared on Lu Yan's face.

If he could cook the Phoenix-Blood Heart-Guarding Soup and the Ink-Jade Heart Pearl, consuming them together with the enhancement of the Heart-Tempering Technique, breaking through to the Grandmaster realm would be a dead certainty.

At this thought, Lu Yan remembered the Phoenix Fragrance. He hurried back to check, but found nothing.

"It seems there are no phoenix-blood insects here. Let's try changing locations."

Lu Yan mused. He extinguished the Phoenix Fragrance, put it away, and shifted to a different spot.

There was still about half of the Phoenix Fragrance left; he hoped it would yield results.

In the blink of an eye, a day passed, and still there was no harvest—not even a patch of crimson-red earth had been discovered.

It wasn't until the night of the second day that Lu Yan finally located another patch of crimson-red land. He ignited the Phoenix Fragrance and waited quietly.

(End of this chapter)