Becoming a Martial Master: Starting as a Swordsmith

Seeing that Xu Qingqing's attack was ineffective, Shen Chu frowned and stepped forward.

He took a deep breath, channeled the full power of the "Mountain Collapse Force," and punched the base of the Red Lotus!

A muffled thud!

A powerful recoil force traveled back up his arm, making his hand go numb and his blood surge upwards.

But the red lotus remained completely still!

Xu Zhibao also tried to cut, but to no avail.

The three of them looked extremely grim.

The red lotus was far harder than they had imagined; their combined strength was simply insufficient to destroy it.

Just as everyone was getting anxious, Hu Bai suddenly spoke up: "Uncle Xu, Sister Xu, you should hurry back and inform Lord Situ and the others to come over. They are experts; perhaps they can destroy this red lotus."

What the hell?

Upon hearing the boy call him "uncle," Xu Zhibao felt a wave of dizziness. He glanced at Xu Qingqing beside him, who had suddenly pursed her lips.

This woman is older than me. You call her "sister" and me "uncle"?

What does it mean?

But now is not the time to dwell on this.

Xu Zhibao and Xu Qingqing exchanged a glance, then looked at Shen Chu.

Shen Chu was silent for a moment, then slowly nodded: "I'd appreciate it if you could make this trip. Hu Bai and I will stay here."

Without further hesitation, Xu Zhibao tugged at Xu Qingqing's sleeve, and the two turned and ran back the way they came, their footsteps quickly disappearing into the distance.

Only Shen Chu and Hu Bai remained in the room, along with the three old men who stood motionless like stone sculptures, and the enormous red lotus that slowly rotated and emitted an eerie red light.

After watching Xu Zhibao and Xu Qingqing disappear and confirming that their footsteps had faded into the distance, Shen Chu slowly turned around and his gaze fell on Hu Bai.

He didn't beat around the bush and asked directly, "Speak, you specifically sent them away, is there something you want to say to me alone?"

Hu Bai was slightly taken aback, seemingly not expecting Shen Chu to see through his thoughts so clearly.

He lowered his head and remained silent for a moment, then raised his head and slowly said, "Brother Shen, that red lotus is not real."

Shen Chu frowned: "It's not true?"

"Yes." Hu Bai nodded.

"My intuition tells me that the red lotus is just a decoy. It looks big and intimidating, but it's definitely not the real key to the formation. The real red lotus should be somewhere else."

"If it's not real, then what is real?"

Shen Chu stared at Hu Bai, her gaze filled with scrutiny and contemplation.

He knew that this boy was hiding a secret, and the snake demon he encountered when he first met Hu Bai had been hinting at his unusual nature.

But Shen Chu never pressed for details, because everyone has their own past and their own secrets.

But now, this secret concerns the entire Changping County, and even his own life and death.

Hu Bai noticed the hesitation and doubt in Shen Chu's eyes, and his voice involuntarily became tinged with urgency:

"Brother Shen, you saved our lives. We are not ungrateful people. Please believe me, I will never harm you."

Shen Chu remained silent for a moment, then slowly exhaled.

Now that things have come to this, he has no better choice.

Whether Situ Aotian can arrive in time is still unknown, and whether he can break through this giant red lotus is another unknown.

Instead of waiting here idly, let's take a gamble!

"Okay, I believe you."

Shen Chu's eyes narrowed.

He didn't press Hu Bai about how he knew, nor did he interrogate him about his secrets.

"Lead the way!"

A flicker of gratitude flashed in Hu Bai's eyes. Without saying anything more, he turned and walked back in the direction he had come from.

Shen Chu followed closely behind.

As they walked, they came to a seemingly ordinary wall.

There was no way forward.

Hu Bai reached out and felt around on the wall for a moment. Seeing this, Shen Chu became impatient and directly shattered the wall with a single stroke of her sword.

A narrow passage then appeared before the two of them.

"Tell me which way to go, and I'll clear the way!"

"Oh, okay, good!"

Perhaps frightened by Shen Chu's violence, Hu Bai nodded quickly.

The two walked along the narrow passage for about the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, until a small secret room appeared at the end of the passage.

The secret room was small, only a few feet square, with a stone table in the center and a red lotus on it.

The red lotus was many times smaller than the enormous thing they had seen before, only the size of a palm. It lay quietly on the stone table, its petals a deep dark red, looking unremarkable and even somewhat ordinary.

But Shen Chu recognized it at a glance; it was the very same red lotus he had personally handed to the flag lord before!

It turns out that the flag lord hid the real Red Lotus in this secluded chamber, while setting up a huge illusion outside to attract everyone's attention.

If Hu Bai hadn't seen through this illusion, everyone would probably have been held back by that fake Red Lotus until the real sacrificial ceremony was completed!

Shen Chu no longer hesitated. He took a deep breath and channeled all his strength into the single-edged sword in his hand.

He pushed all his strength to the limit, and a faint light emanated from the blade!

He shouted and swung his sword down!

At this moment, Hu Bai also made a subtle movement, but Shen Chu did not notice.

Click!

A crisp cracking sound rang out, and the red lotus shattered, turning into countless fragments scattered across the stone table.

A few drops of crimson liquid seeped from the petals, like fresh blood, and slowly flowed on the stone table, then quickly evaporated and disappeared, as if they had never existed!

......

Meanwhile, on the other side of the scene.

Xu Zhibao rushed back to the scene with Uncle Li from the Longchuan Sword Sect, leaving Xu Qingqing to support Situ Aotian.

As soon as Uncle Li entered, he saw the giant red lotus floating in mid-air, and the three old men sitting cross-legged around it.

Without saying a word, he drew his longsword, concentrated all his life's power on the blade, and with a loud shout, cleaved the giant red lotus in two!

clang!!!

A deafening clang of metal clashing rang out, sparks flying everywhere.

Uncle Li felt a tremendous force of recoil from the blade, which made his hand numb and his tiger's mouth ache.

And not a single mark was left on that huge red lotus!

Upon seeing this, Uncle Li's face immediately turned as black as the bottom of a pot.

He glanced around the room, then suddenly frowned: "Hmm? Where's that kid named Shen Chu? And that boy who was with him?"

Xu Zhibao then noticed that Shen Chu and Hu Bai were no longer in the room.

He was so focused on leading the way that he didn't notice when the two people left.

His heart tightened, and he was about to say that he was going to find someone when he suddenly heard an extremely faint cracking sound.

Click.....

The sound was very soft, but it was exceptionally clear in the quiet room.

Uncle Li and Xu Zhibao turned their heads at the same time and looked at the huge red lotus.