"What terrifying strength, what blindingly fast swordsmanship!"
"Could even the Divine Strength Realm elders of the sect surpass this?"
Elder Chu was thoroughly shaken.
He had seen it with absolute clarity. Though it had looked like a single stroke, "Zhuang Thirteen" had in truth unleashed thirteen strikes while cutting through the Thirteen Desert Riders, each one piercing clean through a vital spot.
To masters of their caliber, a single flaw and a single opening meant that one sword strike decided life and death.
Thus, in mere moments, the Thirteen Desert Riders had all been slain.
Now that the riders were dead, remaining here held no purpose whatsoever.
Elder Chu slipped backward quietly. In the blink of an eye, he retreated into the buildings of the mountain stronghold and made a soundless escape out the other side.
Lu Changsheng had in fact noticed Elder Chu, but he did not give chase.
The Thirteen Desert Riders were dead, yet several hundred bandits still lingered within the stronghold.
Every last one of these bandits was steeped in heinous crimes, their hands soaked in blood; not a single one was innocent.
If allowed to scatter, they would only regroup into sporadic bandit dens, continuing to scourge Nanyang Prefecture.
Lu Changsheng had no desire to see a tragedy like Xiaohe Village unfold again.
"Since I'm already here, I might as well clean them all out together."
A chilling murderous aura radiated from Lu Changsheng.
"Run!"
"The chiefs are dead, run!"
"Head for the woods! He's only one man—he can't be everywhere at once! He can't kill us all..."
Many of the bandits were sharp-witted. The instant they saw the Thirteen Desert Riders fall, their minds turned straight to flight.
This was deep in the mountain forest with rugged, tangled terrain. If they truly scattered into the woods, a lone man would never be able to hunt them all down.
Yet how could Lu Changsheng possibly let them escape?
*Hum.*
The qi and blood inside Lu Changsheng roared. He released all his qi and blood—far more than he had summoned when wrenching that towering tree from the earth.
A vast, billowing sea of qi and blood coalesced into a blood-red cloud in the open air.
"Go."
Instantly, the blood cloud detonated.
Countless wisps of qi and blood shot outward in every direction.
And as they flew, they rapidly condensed into streams of the Silken Thread Sword.
In the span of a single breath, the Silken Thread Sword flared outward. Within a radius of ten zhang centered on Lu Changsheng, not a single bandit was left breathing.
At the same time, Lu Changsheng leaped straight toward the densest clusters of bandits.
Wherever he landed, he unleashed the Silken Thread Sword, slaughtering every bandit within ten zhang.
Through this ferocious method, everywhere Lu Changsheng passed was torn to tatters.
Centered on Lu Changsheng, the Silken Thread Sword struck without discrimination across a radius of ten zhang, filling the stronghold with desperate wails and agonized shrieks.
In less than a quarter of an hour, the stronghold fell utterly silent.
A heavy stench of blood hung in the air, while several hundred corpses lay strewn haphazardly across the ground.
This had not been a battle; it was a one-sided massacre!
A handful of bandits might have managed to slip away, but they were precious few.
Even having survived such an ordeal, witnessing a slaughter akin to an earthly purgatory would leave scars burned indelibly into their minds.
Lu Changsheng walked forward step by step, stopping before a bandit.
Perhaps this was the sole living soul remaining in the stronghold.
The bandit trembled violently, sheer terror plastered across his face.
"Where are the people from the White Lotus Sect?" Lu Changsheng asked.
"Gone... they fled!"
"That old man in the white robe from before—everyone called him Elder Chu."
"While you were battling the thirteen chiefs, Elder Chu realized things were bad and slipped away!" the bandit answered with trembling caution.
"Elder Chu?"
Lu Changsheng recalled him.
He had indeed seen that white-robed elder earlier.
To think that man was one of the White Demons, yet he had vanished in the blink of an eye. He certainly knew how to run.
Still, the White Demons were of secondary concern.
As long as the bandit menace was purged, the White Demons would have little room to stir up major trouble in Nanyang Prefecture.
*Squelch.*
A gleam of sword light flashed from Lu Changsheng's hand, piercing clean through the bandit's throat.
The final bandit of the stronghold collapsed.
Now, nothing remained across the grounds save a field of dead bodies.
Lu Changsheng crouched down to begin searching the corpses.
With so many dead, he had no interest in rummaging through each one.
He focused solely on key figures, such as the Refining Organs martial artists.
First came the Thirteen Desert Riders; their bodies were mandatory targets.
Lu Changsheng searched them with meticulous care.
Having looted bodies many times before, his craft had improved considerably.
He knew precisely where corpses were most prone to concealing items and where martial artists typically tucked away their belongings.
Even if valuables were hidden with extreme secrecy, a brief pat-down by Lu Changsheng was sure to uncover them.
"Hm? What's this..."
After searching several bodies of the Thirteen Desert Riders, he indeed pulled something out: a sheepskin scroll!
The scroll was densely packed with tiny characters.
In truth, whether from the desert or the northern barbarians, their written language was identical to that of the Great Fish Dynasty, all inherited from antiquity.
"Qiantian Treasure Transformation Secret Method!"
To his surprise, the sheepskin scroll contained a Divine Strength Realm secret method, one that only martial artists in the Divine Strength Realm could cultivate.
Earlier, Lu Changsheng had acquired the Divine Dragon Transformation, which was also a secret method for that realm.
Yet the Divine Dragon Transformation appeared to be an art tailored for combat.
The Qiantian Treasure Transformation Secret Method was entirely different.
According to the scroll's records, the method possessed seven layers in total, each corresponding to a specific rare secret treasure.
Refining one rare treasure granted an increase equal to the "strength of ten tripods." With seven layers in all, it could augment one's might by the "strength of seventy tripods."
"What does 'the strength of ten tripods' mean?"
Lu Changsheng did not know what concept that phrase truly represented.
Yet that did not prevent him from sensing the sheer wonder of the Qiantian Treasure Transformation Secret Method!
This was without doubt an extraordinarily rare Divine Strength Realm secret method—perhaps even a superior-grade one!
Lu Changsheng carefully tucked the sheepskin scroll away before continuing to search the corpses.
To his mild surprise, he found no Divine Strength Realm martial arts manuals.
Either the Thirteen Desert Riders possessed none, or they had not carried them on their persons.
Lu Changsheng checked a few other bandit bodies in turn, but turned up little else of note.
Afterward, he gathered the thirteen scimitars from the ground.
These weapons were his proof of having slain the Thirteen Desert Riders.
Wrapping the scimitars in cloth, Lu Changsheng swept through the bandits' quarters, gathering a quantity of silver and banknotes.
He was not particularly short on money these days.
Even so, he would hardly complain about having too much.
Silver ingots were cumbersome to carry, so Lu Changsheng simply took all the banknotes.
After busying himself for over an hour, Lu Changsheng finally concluded his search and took stock of his haul.
This trip had yielded substantial gains.
Yet compared to the banknotes and secret method, what he gained internally was far greater.
He stepped out of the stronghold and cast a backward glance. The compound was deathly silent, the earth blanketed in corpses.
A scene resembling an asura's hell brought Lu Changsheng profound tranquility instead.
In this moment, his mind was finally at peace!
He seemed to "glimpse" an illusory, black-and-white portal within his mind.
A flash of insight struck Lu Changsheng, and he recognized at once what that spectral gateway was.
The life-and-death gateway!
This was the life-and-death gateway!
"The gateway has appeared; the opportunity to advance to the Divine Strength Realm is here!" Lu Changsheng murmured softly.
He understood clearly that whenever he wished, he could now attempt to break through the life-and-death gateway and ascend to the Divine Strength Realm!
Even so, Lu Changsheng did not rush. He steadied his churning emotions.
Advancing to the Divine Strength Realm was a momentous step. This was a wild mountain forest, and countless dead now lay around him.
If an unexpected mishap occurred during his breakthrough, his position would become precarious.
"I'll head back first."
Without lingering, Lu Changsheng turned and made his way down the mountain.
***
Nanyang City, the Prefectural Yamen.
Bloodshot veins netted Li Mu's eyes, and he looked thoroughly exhausted.
He had tossed and turned throughout the night without a wink of sleep. Even as dawn broke, his thoughts remained fixed entirely on the Thirteen Desert Riders.
"Has there been any word from Hero Zhuang, who took down the notice last night?" Li Mu asked.
Though the night watchmen had been relieved, the incoming bailiffs knew someone had torn down the notice the previous night. One replied at once, "My lord, there is still no word from Hero Zhuang."
Li Mu's heart sank slightly.
Based on past experience, the longer things dragged out, the bleaker the prospects became.
After all, if someone possessed genuine strength, wiping out the Thirteen Desert Riders would not require much time at all.
The bailiff beside him dared say no more.
Deep down, none of them held any real hope.
In earlier attempts, the Seven Brothers of Yunshan, the One-Armed Hero, Shen Ying, and the rest—which of them had not been formidable martial artists of great renown and varied tricks?
And what was the outcome?
Not one had succeeded. How could some nameless wanderer from the jianghu possibly destroy the Thirteen Desert Riders?
Just then, Li Mu's eyes snapped wide.
What was he looking at?
"Zhuang Thirteen" was walking through the yamen gates, step by steady step.
With a flick of his arm, he tossed down a cloth bundle.
*Clatter.*
The bundle struck the flagstones, spilling open to reveal several uniquely shaped scimitars before everyone's eyes.
"These are... the scimitars of the Thirteen Desert Riders?"
"Hero Zhuang, you... you eradicated the Thirteen Desert Riders?"
Li Mu looked as though he could hardly believe his senses. Blood rushed to his face in a bright flush, his demeanor radiant with excitement.
"The Thirteen Desert Riders are dead,"
Lu Changsheng answered calmly. "If Your Excellency doubts it, you may send men to their stronghold to confirm.
"By the way, it would be best if Your Excellency sent plenty of men. There are quite a few corpses up there, and they should be buried as soon as possible."
"I believe you! Naturally, I believe Hero Zhuang!"
"The scimitars of the Thirteen Desert Riders are unmistakable; anyone can tell at a glance."
"Hahaha! The hundreds of thousands of common folk in our Nanyang Prefecture owe you a debt of gratitude! Hero Zhuang, please accept my bow!"
Ecstatic, Li Mu bowed directly to Lu Changsheng.
"Lord Li, now that I have eliminated the Thirteen Desert Riders, is it time for the yamen to honor its reward?"
Lu Changsheng had come to the yamen for that very prize.
A thousand taels of gold meant little to him, but he was keenly interested in a Divine Strength Realm martial art.
"Of course! The thirteen scimitars are your proof. With proof in hand, the reward on the Righteous Heroes Notice shall naturally be delivered."
"Men, bring the chest from my quarters!"
Bailiffs hurried off and soon returned carrying a large chest.
Li Mu unlatched the lid. Inside lay a dazzling expanse of gold.
A thousand taels of gold equaled ten thousand taels of silver—a full hundred jin in weight!
Yet Lu Changsheng's gaze bypassed the gold, fixing instead on a manual resting within the chest.
Following Lu Changsheng's line of sight, Li Mu saw the manual as well. He smiled faintly, lifting it out and offering it to Lu Changsheng.
"Here are the thousand taels of gold and the Divine Strength Realm martial art."
Lu Changsheng nodded and took the manual. Flipping through it briefly, he confirmed it was indeed a Divine Strength Realm technique, titled the Raging Wave Divine Strength Art.
He did not read closely just yet.
Tucking the manual into his robes, he said impassively, "Do you have ten thousand taels in banknotes?"
He had no desire to haul around raw gold.
Carrying that much weight was far too troublesome.
"Of course."
Li Mu promptly fetched banknotes for Lu Changsheng.
Shortly thereafter, Lu Changsheng departed from the yamen.
Watching his back recede into the distance, a nearby bailiff leaned in and asked cautiously, "My lord, did this Hero Zhuang truly kill the Thirteen Desert Riders?"
"Hmph! The scimitars are right here. How could there be any falsehood?"
"Still, your caution is sensible. We must be thorough. Dispatch men immediately to inspect the bandits' lair."
"If the corpses of the Thirteen Desert Riders are truly there, bring them all back! Make a grand show of it—let everyone across Nanyang City know!"
A sharp light gleamed in Li Mu's eyes.
With the Thirteen Desert Riders dead, his personal crisis was resolved.
Better yet, this counted as an official merit.
He would naturally make a great fanfare of it, perhaps even using the occasion to squeeze another round of silver from those wealthy merchants and influential patrons!
At that thought, Li Mu felt immense relief and satisfaction.
His only lingering question was who this "Zhuang Thirteen" truly was.
***
The man Li Mu spoke of as "Zhuang Thirteen" had already changed into fresh clothes, once again becoming Physician Lu of Miaoshou Garden.
Lu Changsheng took out the Raging Wave Divine Strength Art he had just obtained from the prefectural yamen.
The name sounded somewhat common, so he was unsure how effective it would prove.
Opening the manual, he examined it carefully.
The Raging Wave Divine Strength Art was indeed not an exceptionally profound technique.
In quality, it was roughly comparable to the Overlapping Peaks Divine Strength Art.
However, its pages contained remarkably thorough notes. Beyond the core mnemonic chants for the Divine Strength Realm, it was filled with extensive commentaries.
Yes, commentaries.
They appeared to be the detailed explanations of an elder martial arts predecessor regarding the art.
Lu Changsheng read through them with care.
The commentaries were exceptionally clear.
For instance, the art required one to perceive the life-and-death gateway.
The manual offered a concrete method: driving oneself to the absolute peak of fury.
Rage stretched to its very limits.
Only at that zenith of wrath did one reach out to sense the life-and-death gateway.
This differed slightly from the Overlapping Peaks Divine Strength Art, offering a more tangible path.
Still, pushing oneself into such blinding anger was by no means easy.
Yet Lu Changsheng had no need for that anymore.
He had already perceived the gateway.
*"Once the life-and-death gateway is shattered through the Raging Wave Divine Strength Art, divine strength will emerge of its own accord, granting the strength of ten tripods at once..."*
Reading this passage, Lu Changsheng's eyes narrowed sharply.
The strength of ten tripods!
He had encountered that phrase once again!
Lu Changsheng immediately drew out the Qiantian Treasure Transformation Secret Method he had taken from the Thirteen Desert Riders. It clearly stated that once a martial artist attained the Divine Strength Realm, refining a single rare secret treasure would add the strength of ten tripods.
*So reaching the Divine Strength Realm naturally grants the strength of ten tripods.*
*And practicing the Qiantian Treasure Transformation Secret Method to its seventh layer adds another seventy tripods' worth of might. This secret method is extraordinary indeed—a truly superior art!*
A bright spark flickered in Lu Changsheng's gaze.
With this Qiantian Treasure Transformation Secret Method, he had truly stumbled upon a treasure!
He read on.
The commentary even offered an explanation of what the "strength of ten tripods" meant.
In ordinary eyes, being able to lift a heavy tripod was deemed having the strength of a thousand jun—already the absolute ceiling for normal martial artists.
Yet the Divine Strength Realm was fundamentally different.
Those in the Divine Strength Realm had shattered the life-and-death gateway, undergoing a total transformation of life itself.
Even the weakest among them wielded the strength of ten tripods, roughly equivalent to the strength of ten thousand jun!
Naturally, terms like a thousand jun or ten thousand jun were merely figurative figures of speech.
No matter how naturally gifted an ordinary person was with innate divine strength, their limit was lifting a single tripod.
Yet for the Divine Strength Realm, the baseline was ten tripods—the equivalent of lifting ten tripods at once!
This distinction alone was more than enough to draw a clear line between ordinary martial artists and those of the Divine Strength Realm.
Lu Changsheng closed the manual of the Raging Wave Divine Strength Art.
He could already perceive the life-and-death gateway, and having returned to Miaoshou Garden, his safety was assured.
All that remained was deciding which art to use for his breakthrough.
In truth, the two techniques differed little; upon reaching the Divine Strength Realm, both would naturally generate divine strength.
"The Raging Wave Divine Strength Art leans more toward explosive bursts of power, whereas the Overlapping Peaks Divine Strength Art provides an all-around elevation of physical attributes across the board."
After considering the matter, Lu Changsheng chose the Overlapping Peaks Divine Strength Art.
After all, the body was the root of everything!
With his mind made up, Lu Changsheng opened the manual of the Overlapping Peaks Divine Strength Art, reading through it repeatedly to absorb every critical point.
Once all was in order, Lu Changsheng drew a long breath, settling his mind into absolute stillness.
"Begin."
With that, Lu Changsheng closed his eyes.
Chapter 68