The world of martial arts, the immortal swordsman in the mortal realm.

Chapter 144, page 159: Wanwan issues a warning; demons launch a siege.
As dusk settles, candlelight and lanterns illuminate both banks of the Luo River, and boats of all sizes hang colorful lanterns, making the Luo River resemble a starry night sky.

Lu Chen sat alone on the balcony of the waterside pavilion, drinking chilled honey water and admiring the night view of the Luo River.

Suddenly, a small, black-awning boat came down the riverbank from upstream, then abruptly stopped, ignoring the scouring of the water, and moored steadily a foot in front of the waterside pavilion.

Then, a tall, graceful figure with curves as beautiful as the undulating mountains and rivers emerged from the awning.

Dressed in white like snow, with flowing black hair, and a pair of exquisite, delicate, snow-white bare feet, crystal clear as if sculpted by nature.

It was none other than the enchantress Wanwan.

She stood gracefully at the bow of the boat, smiling sweetly at Lu Chen.

At that moment, she was like the only color in a black and white photograph, radiating a breathtaking and strange charm.

however.

This strange charm still failed to stir any ripples in Lu Chen's heart.

He simply admired Wanwan's natural beauty, untouched by demonic arts, and nodded slightly to her.

"It's been three months since we last met. I wish you great progress in your skills, Miss. Congratulations!"

Since parting ways in Xiangyang, Lu Chen spent more than a month visiting relatives on Peach Blossom Island, then stayed in Luoyang for another month, and then visited relatives for another seven days. It has been almost three months since the two last saw each other.

Lu Chen's reaction made Wanwan purse her lips in annoyance. She suppressed her alluring charm, sat down on the gunwale, dangled one bare foot, and gently swung her leg, lightly splashing water with her delicate, snow-white toes. She said with a smile:

"Brother Lu still calls me Miss Zhu? Wan'er doesn't believe that Brother Lu hasn't heard of my current reputation."

She seemed to have regained the innocent and lively demeanor she had when she spent those few days with Lu Chen at Peach Blossom Manor.

"Well, congratulations to Miss Zhu on becoming famous in one battle and ranking among the most outstanding young masters in the world."

"Then why did you treat Wan'er the same as before when you saw her today, Brother Lu, without any sign of anything amiss?"

Should I act strangely?

Wanwan tilted her head and smiled, splashing her feet in the water with a soft, sweet voice:

“Wan’er is a notorious vixen, hated by everyone. Back at Peach Blossom Manor, she didn’t reveal her true identity to Brother Lu due to the rules of her sect, and she even concealed her martial arts skills… Aren’t you angry, Brother Lu?”

"It's alright. At least those nine sword manuals and the 'Bright Moon over the Vast Sea Visualization Method' are real."

"..."

Wanwan was speechless, and then she remembered how Lu Chen had taken advantage of her at Peach Blossom Manor.

Of course, Lu Chen was also seriously instructing her in swordsmanship at the time, which greatly improved her skills. Even her martial uncle Wen Caiting, who was skilled in swordsmanship, was no match for her.

Thinking of this, she couldn't help but smile again, her bright eyes fixed on Lu Chen, and she said happily:
"Wan'er is so lucky to have won Brother Lu's favor with nine second- or third-rate sword techniques and a visualization method that can only be used to 'guard the interior'. Hehe, it's not in vain that Brother Lu remembers Wan'er's kindness, since I came all the way here to warn Brother Lu."

"A warning?" Lu Chen was a little puzzled. "Is someone trying to get me?"

Wanwan smiled sweetly and said softly:
“Within my Holy Sect, there are elder-level experts who want to deal with Brother Lu.”

"why?"

Lu Chen was even more puzzled:

"I have no conflict with your Yin Gui Sect, at least for now, right?"

Wanwan said softly:

"Among the elders of the Holy Gate, someone proposed to cooperate with Garuda King Zhu Can to conquer Nanyang, but Brother Lu killed Zhu Can and destroyed the Garuda army, ruining that person's plans. Unfortunately, that person is narrow-minded and vindictive, and he hates Brother Lu, who ruined his plans, to the bone... This time, even Wan'er will be ordered to take action."

Lu Chen raised an eyebrow:
"Is Miss Zhu also going to make a move against me?"

"Ah."

Wanwan sighed softly:
"Brother Lu, please forgive me. I had no choice. Besides, they know my martial arts too well, so I dare not hold back. I can only go all out. Brother Lu, please don't underestimate me. My true martial arts are far more powerful than my swordsmanship."

Lu Chen slowly nodded:

"I understand. I will remember this favor, Miss Zhu."

Unless Zhu Yuyan comes in person, he doesn't care about one-on-one combat with just an elder-level expert from the Demonic Sect.

But if several Yin Gui Elders gang up on him, plus Wanwan, then he'd better be careful.

After all, he has not yet fully mastered the "strengthening of muscles and bones" technique. With the dual defense of strengthening his skin and flesh, he is not afraid of being surrounded by elite troops.

No matter how many soldiers there are, if their attack power cannot exceed his defense limit, then the attack is equivalent to zero against him, and he can lock his health and push through the enemy formation.

If there are enough "fierce generals" whose attack power exceeds his defense limit and can injure him, they will pose a certain threat to him when surrounded.

As for the "Shifting Stars" technique, which uses leverage to launch a counterattack, it can conserve one's energy and stamina, making one unafraid of being surrounded...

In a world of low-level martial arts, those who can use an opponent's strength to launch a counterattack are rare and exceptional skills.

However, in this world of twin dragons, such skills are nothing special—Qu Ao's "Seven Turns of Raging Waves" can absorb the enemy's attack force and counterattack.

The Yin Gui Sect's "Heavenly Demon Great Art" can absorb the enemy's true energy and counterattack.

Bian Bufu's self-created "Demon Heart Chain" incorporates some of the key techniques of the Heavenly Demon Great Art of using the opponent's force to counterattack, and can also be used to counterattack by using the opponent's force.

The Evil King Shi Zhixuan is even more powerful now. The "death energy" that others use to kill him can be transformed into "life energy" that restores his power and replenishes his vitality, making him virtually indestructible.

Shi Zhixuan's ability to use leverage to counterattack, and even the essence of life and death reversal, is also derived from stealing the essence of the Heavenly Demon Art from Zhu Yuyan. He then used his unparalleled talent to innovate and surpass the original, making him even more powerful than the Heavenly Demon Art in terms of using leverage to counterattack.

Even if the elders of the Yin Gui Sect couldn't practice the Heavenly Demon Great Art, which one of them hadn't, like Bian Bufu, borrowed a little bit of the essence of the Heavenly Demon Great Art to absorb the enemy's true energy and use it to counterattack?
So Wanwan's warning was really effective for him this time.

Wanwan smiled broadly:
"It's getting late, Wan'er needs to hurry back, otherwise it'll be troublesome if they find out you sneaked out. Um, and..."

She pursed her lips and said softly:
"Brother Lu, you need not hold back when facing Wan'er."

Lu Chen nodded seriously:

"I will not hold back."

"Huh? Brother Lu, are you really planning to kill them?"

Wanwan gave him a reproachful look and said angrily:

"Can't you leave Wan'er a breath of life?"

Lu Chen spoke solemnly:

"This is acceptable."

The two looked at each other for a moment, then suddenly burst out laughing.

"I'm leaving! Be careful, Brother Lu."

"Yes. Thank you, Miss Zhu."

"And you still call her Miss Zhu?"

"Thank you, Miss Wanwan."

"..."

The enchantress rolled her eyes at him speechlessly, stood up, and lightly stomped her bare foot on the deck, causing the still boat to move again.

"Please wait a moment, Miss."

Lu Chen called to Wanwan, went into the waterside pavilion, retrieved a brand-new porcelain cup, poured her a full cup of chilled honey water, and gently tossed it. The cup flew to Wanwan without spilling a drop. Wanwan raised her slender hand, caught the cup, gently sniffed it, and raised her delicate eyebrows in surprise:
"This time it's not boiled water?"

Lu Chen grinned, revealing his teeth.
"I'm so grateful that you risked coming to warn me. Please have a glass of chilled honey water as a token of my gratitude."

Wanwan took a small sip and whispered:
"It tastes better than regular honey water. Thank you!"

As she spoke, she sat back down at the bow of the boat, smiling as she looked at Lu Chen, then held the porcelain cup in her hands and sipped the honey water.

The small boat started moving again, drifting downstream, and soon disappeared from sight.

……

More than half an hour later.

Lu Chen remained seated on the balcony of the waterside pavilion, his eyes closed as he meditated on the "Heart Sword".

A melodious tune drifted over, accompanied by a man's lively conversation and a woman's charming laughter.

Lu Chen opened his eyes and looked in the direction of the sound. He saw a flower boat, also on his side of the riverbank, slowly sailing from upstream.

On the brightly lit deck of the flower boat, several graceful women were dancing with flowing sleeves, while a group of musicians played instruments beside them.

The spectators were several young men dressed as scholars, some holding folding fans and others carrying long swords. They sat at a table, enjoying the dance and music while drinking and chatting.

The flower boat looked perfectly normal.

A subtle smile appeared on Lu Chen's lips.

Before long, the flower boat slowly floated to the front of the waterside pavilion, only a little over six zhang away from the pavilion's balcony.

Then...

The lights on the pleasure boat suddenly went out.

The once brightly lit flower boat suddenly became pitch black.

The sounds of string and wind instruments and laughter on the boat all disappeared, and the huge pleasure boat seemed to have suddenly turned into a ghost ship.

This bizarre scene would likely startle anyone with a weak heart.

Even if they weren't horrified, they would probably be momentarily stunned and confused by this strange change.

A moment of confusion, in a battle between experts, often means losing the initiative or even revealing a weakness.

Sa——

A sharp, piercing sound rang out.

A figure flew over, holding a dull longsword, the tip of which was pointed directly at Lu Chen's heart.

At the same time, in the river water below Lu Chen, two thin black chains silently broke through the water, darting up the waterside balcony like venomous snakes and wrapping around Lu Chen's feet.

Faced with this sudden attack.

Lu Chen remained calm and raised his right hand, his thumb hooking his index finger, and flicked the finger onto the empty porcelain cup placed on the balcony railing in front of him.

Ding!
With a crisp sound, the porcelain cup shattered, and hundreds of tiny fragments of porcelain, accompanied by whooshing sounds, shot towards the swordsman flying straight at him.

The swordsman had no choice but to sheathe his sword and defend himself, his dark longsword spinning rapidly into a shield to cover his body.

clang clang clang clang...

A series of metallic clangs rang out, and although the swordsman tried his best to block the broken porcelain shards, he was still thrown back by the explosive force of the shards, coughing up blood and falling heavily into the river with a thud.

After shattering the porcelain cup, Lu Chen swiftly reached down with his right hand and grabbed the two black chains that were wrapped around his ankles, then pulled them with force.

With a loud splash, a figure dressed in tight-fitting water gear burst out of the water like a fish that had been caught, and involuntarily leaped in front of Lu Chen.

Lu Chen drew his fingers into a sword shape, and with a swift tap, an invisible sword of energy suddenly pierced the man's throat.

The man reacted with lightning speed, quickly releasing the chain and crossing his arms to block in front of his throat.

Lu Chenqi stabbed the man's arms, but he clearly felt that the stabbing was not right, because the man was wearing steel arm guards on both arms.

However, even with the steel arm guards, the invisible sword of energy condensed at his fingertips was only slightly hindered by Lu Chen's rapid exertion of true energy before it pierced through the arm guards with a snap, tore through the protective true energy, and pierced through both of the man's arms.

The sword was slightly hindered by the steel arm guard for a moment, allowing the man to lean back and avoid being pierced through the throat. Then, using the force of the sword's thrust, he somersaulted backward and was about to fall into the river.

However, before it even touched the river, Lu Chen's fingertip sword suddenly extended four feet, piercing the man's heart with a soft "poof".

tom!
In the end, the man could only fall into the river as a corpse.

At this moment, four more figures flew over from the dark flower boat. One of them held a long sword and thrust it from the center, while the other two flanked him from the left and right, also holding long swords.

Another person leaped above Lu Chen's head, turned upside down, and swooped down headfirst, his gleaming sword light carrying a chilling and sharp aura as he thrust it towards Lu Chen's head.

They were all young scholars who had been drinking and chatting on the pleasure boat earlier.

The four of them joined forces, their energy merging into one, like a cage, to trap Lu Chen inside and seal off all his space to move or dodge.

This combined attack clearly resembled a battle formation, indicating that the four "scholars" had obviously practiced some kind of sword formation together.

However, their martial arts skills did not originate from the same lineage, but rather from different sources, so the sword formation was not perfect and had flaws.

Of course, this flaw is insignificant and most experts wouldn't even notice it.

Even if he realized it, facing the combined sword formation of four skilled martial artists, all he could do was try his best to resist their combined attack and protect himself. It was really difficult to do anything by taking advantage of that slight flaw.

But in Lu Chen's presence, even the slightest flaw would be magnified infinitely.

Within his mind, the "Heart Sword" vibrated, and his spiritual senses expanded. Within a radius of seven feet around his body, even the slightest disturbance in the air was within Lu Chen's perception.

The attack trajectories of the four scholars, the nodes where their auras were connected, the strength of each aura, the vibrations of the sword blades, and the traces of true qi circulation on the sword blades...

Lu Chen had a complete grasp of every detail.

Lu Chen pointed his fingers together and drew his sword. Wherever the sword passed, visible transparent ripples spread through the air, transforming into wisps of sword wind that rapidly expanded in all directions, instantly evolving into an invisible storm like a deep-sea current.

The roaring sword winds were like invisible vortexes, or like pairs of invisible hands, constantly pulling and squeezing the weak points where the four people's energy was connected.

The three scholars who were thrusting forward from the front and flanking from the left and right were suddenly slowed down by the pushing and shoving of the sword wind. Their attack, which should have arrived at the same time as the scholar who was descending from the sky, was suddenly delayed by a beat.

Lu Chen calmly raised his hand and thrust his sword towards the sky. An invisible sword of energy shot out, three feet, four feet, seven feet!
The seven-foot sword energy far surpassed that of the scholar's three-foot sword. The scholar's downward strike was already outdated and he could not change his move to block it. He could only strike out with his left palm, trying to block the sword energy with the force of his palm.

pity……

Lu Chen's "Tendon and Bone Refinement" on his entire right arm was nearing completion. The power of his finger-striking sword energy increased further. The invisible sword energy force cleaved through the scholar's palm force with unstoppable momentum, piercing through his palm and then, with a soft "poof," penetrating into the scholar's brow.

One person died, and the sword formation was broken.

The scholar's corpse, which had been struck from mid-air, was still falling when Lu Chen took a step forward, leaving his original position.

At this moment, the scholar's longsword, flying straight at him, was almost upon him, its chilling aura striking him.

However, since the sword formation was no longer in place and the four swords could not attack together, this single sword posed no threat to Lu Chen.

Lu Chen neither dodged nor avoided, but instead flicked the back of his index and middle fingers against the side of the sword tip.

clang!
With a crisp sound, the explosive force was transmitted along the longsword like lightning. Wherever it passed, the fine steel longsword shattered into pieces. The fragments that should have scattered to the side instead rolled back and shot towards the scholar with a sharp whistling sound, instantly opening seventeen or eighteen bloody holes in his body!
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(End of this chapter)