He was a bit surprised, but only a bit.
Xu Yuan naturally knew his current strength was no match for the story's protagonist, but he had not expected Su Jinxuan to conclude that he would still be instantly killed.
On second thought, however, it made sense.
If the world's protagonist could truly be overtaken by him in a single month, there wouldn't be so many young scions of great clans, all proclaimed invincible among their peers, waiting to be thoroughly humiliated and slapped in the face by him in the upcoming plot.
Noticing Xu Yuan's expression, Su Jinxuan asked softly, "You don't seem surprised?"
Xu Yuan shook his head, showing no resentment and being thoroughly practical about it. "Qin Mo killed two Seventh Rank Bone Tempering experts from my residence. It is only natural he could cut me down in an instant during a life-and-death battle."
Su Jinxuan gave Xu Yuan a deep look, seemingly wanting to ask something, but in the end, she merely said in a low voice, "When I parted ways with him, he had only just entered the Eighth Rank."
Hearing this, Xu Yuan finally frowned.
"You mean that even back then, he could have instantly killed me as I am now?"
One had to realize that nearly three or four months had passed since Qin Mo and Su Jinxuan parted ways.
"Yes."
"Why?"
Su Jinxuan glanced at the nearby wetland lake, weighing her words. "You have no way of handling one of his lethal moves."
Xu Yuan's brow furrowed deeper.
Did Qin Mo have an ultimate move during the Eighth Rank stage?
He searched his memories of the various skills from the Old Man route, but came up completely empty.
"What lethal move?"
A trace of reminiscence surfaced in Su Jinxuan's beautiful eyes as she chose her words carefully. "It should count as a sword technique..."
"A sword technique?"
Xu Yuan's frown tightened.
In the cultivation method of the Old Man worldline's protagonist, the Eighth Rank stage only featured an ordinary sword technique known as Gang Qi Slash.
Glancing at Xu Yuan's expression, Su Jinxuan raised both her fair hands.
"Like this."
With that, she held up an index finger on one hand, while using the other hand to make a chopping motion toward it.
"..."
Watching those two flawless hands waving about in the air, Xu Yuan's cheek twitched slightly.
Which low-tier sword technique *didn't* chop at someone like that?
Without a change in expression, Su Jinxuan explained, "When he lunges forward, his speed is terrifyingly fast."
Xu Yuan nodded, entirely unsurprised.
Sweeping Blade, of course—a minor gap-closer.
As she gestured, the hand making the chopping motion suddenly accelerated. "So fast that my naked eyes couldn't track him. In a single instant, he could cross over ten meters."
Xu Yuan froze, his gaze turning grave.
Only a Grandmaster was capable of moving so fast that the naked eye couldn't perceive them.
If Su Jinxuan wasn't lying, why would an ordinary Eighth Rank like Qin Mo possess speed imperceptible to the eye?
"Are you serious?"
Su Jinxuan's gaze was dead serious. "I won't lie to you now."
"Can you describe it in more detail?" Xu Yuan asked.
"Mmh..." A look of recollection crossed Su Jinxuan's delicate face. "His starting stance and his landing were at the normal speed of an Eighth Rank cultivator. But in between, for a brief stretch of distance, it was as if he vanished into thin air... I know it sounds strange, but that was the sensation it gave me."
"..." Xu Yuan.
Hearing this description, a wave of malice from the world slowly enveloped Xu Yuan.
He suddenly understood where Qin Mo's lethal move came from.
This technique...
He was all too familiar with it from his past life.
J + W + R, followed by timing a Sweeping Blade keypress just right.
The short dash of Sweeping Blade would glitch into a massive, extended lunge.
A bug caused by the game's mechanics.
It was extremely practical, and during the dash, it granted a split second of invulnerability frames.
One of the essential techniques for fighting high-level bosses above one's rank.
But...
God damn it.
You could abuse i-frames in the real world too?!
At the thought, Xu Yuan suddenly raised a hand and rubbed between his eyebrows with force.
With the game turned into reality, Qin Mo naturally couldn't be performing it by exploiting a bug. For him to unleash an essentially invincible maneuver like this, he had most likely grasped it through some kind of miraculous breakthrough that defied ordinary bounds.
It should be considered a secret technique.
Exhaling a long breath, Xu Yuan became even firmer in his resolve.
Once Xu Changge arrived,
he would take his eldest brother along to butcher Qin Mo.
This kid could not be allowed to live!
After a few moments of silence, Xu Yuan turned to Su Jinxuan, a hint of gratitude in his voice. "I understand."
Su Jinxuan blinked, looking somewhat hesitant. "You believe me?"
Back when she had reported this illogical anomaly to Qin Weijiu, he had merely laughed it off dismissively.
Xu Yuan glanced at her. "Do you have a reason to lie to me?"
"No." Su Jinxuan shook her head.
"Then why wouldn't I believe you?"
"..."
Su Jinxuan fell silent for two seconds before a gentle smile touched her lips. "There seems to be a drawback to this move of his. Back then, every time he used it, he would be weakened for a period afterward."
Xu Yuan understood, guessing this was the cost.
According to the conservation of energy—er, according to common sense, if a powerful move that required abusing game mechanics in his past life came with no drawbacks, that would truly defy all reason.
Pausing, Xu Yuan asked softly, "Aside from this move, is there anything else about Qin Mo to watch out for?"
Without a second thought, Su Jinxuan sold out the story's protagonist completely. "Qin Mo's standard combat strength is also formidable. Even though he had only just entered the Eighth Rank back then, ordinary Eighth Rank martial apprentices were already no match for him. He had thoroughly mastered all sorts of martial techniques; those guards in your residence cannot compare to him in the slightest."
Xu Yuan was somewhat surprised. "You understand the martial techniques of martial apprentices?"
Su Jinxuan replied softly, "Back when I was in Jiangnan, seeing that I had nothing to do all day, Qin Weijiu handed over some of the Tianyu Sect's mundane affairs for me to manage."
"..."
Hearing this, another thought suddenly struck Xu Yuan.
After reviewing those ledgers, Su Jinxuan had turned into a full-fledged anti-Qin crusader. When he tested her with plot information from his past life, she had answered everything without reservation and spoken nothing but the truth.
Xu Yuan had actually wondered why reading those ledgers had flipped her loyalty so decisively, leaving her without a shred of lingering delusion regarding Qin Weijiu.
Only now did it click.
Managing mundane businesses...
Some of the contents in the ledgers of the Konghua Chamber of Commerce had likely matched the events in Su Jinxuan's memory.
The ledgers that had been torn apart were probably innocent casualties of her fury.
Chuckling softly, Xu Yuan asked, "Among the businesses you managed, was there a Tianyu Sect martial arts school?"
Su Jinxuan nodded, a faint, complex chill flickering in her lovely eyes. "Yes. Although Qin Weijiu never gave me cultivation methods, he didn't hide the body-tempering methods and various martial techniques of the school from me."
Xu Yuan was silent for two seconds before asking, "Then did you never consider practicing them?"
"..."
Su Jinxuan narrowed her lovely eyes slightly and gave Xu Yuan a long look. "Me? Become a martial apprentice?"
"..."
Subconsciously, the image of those female guards in the Wuxuan Courtyard with their explosive, muscular physiques flashed through Xu Yuan's mind, and he glanced at the chest of the succubus beside him.
Xu Yuan cleared his throat softly.
"You are indeed ill-suited for that kind of training."
Her chest muscles were already big enough; there was no need to train them further.
Catching his glance, Su Jinxuan shook her head and changed the subject. "By the way, why do you care so much about this Qin Mo?"
"Didn't you say I was jealous?" Xu Yuan answered evasively.
"..."
Su Jinxuan rolled her eyes in mild resignation, tactfully choosing not to pry further. "Fine, I'll take it that you are jealous, then. But if you truly care this much about him, you'll be seeing him very soon."
Xu Yuan frowned. "What do you mean?"
Su Jinxuan pulled a secret letter from the sleeve of her plain robe, a trace of sarcasm in her tone.
"Qin Weijiu sent me a message today saying that Qin Mo has already emerged from Changhong Valley. He said Qin Mo seems intent on coming to rescue me, and told me to do everything I can to coax you into leaving the city to kill him."
Chapter 67