Chapter 43 - 39: Purple Fire Transforms into a Sword, Floating Light and Sweeping Shadows! Life and Death... in an Instant!

Chapter 43: Chapter 39: Purple Fire Transforms into a Sword, Floating Light and Sweeping Shadows! Life and Death... in an Instant!

On the empty street, the massive Shangfu Bird closed the distance in a few swift strides, suddenly arriving right in front of Lu Chen. Looking down at this tiny prey who barely reached its chest, a glint of excitement flashed in the Shangfu Bird’s eyes. It viciously pecked at Lu Chen with its razor-sharp beak.

BOOM!

Against the Shangfu Bird’s sharp beak, the hard concrete street was as fragile as tofu. In an instant, a massive crater was smashed open, sending countless pieces of rubble flying into the air.

Fortunately, Lu Chen reacted quickly. The moment the Shang Fu attacked, he used a Body Technique to dodge, instantly shifting into midair. Looking at the Shangfu Bird with one of its heads still buried in the concrete, Lu Chen attacked decisively.

Swordsmanship... Water Dragon Roar!

ROAR!

The rapidly vibrating blade emitted a metallic hum as it pierced toward one of the Shangfu Bird’s necks, tearing through the air. However, as a Spirit Beast at the Foundation Establishment Stage in its prime, the Shangfu Bird’s power far exceeded Lu Chen’s imagination.

Facing Lu Chen’s attack, the Shangfu Bird didn’t show the slightest intention of dodging. Instead, it chose to trade blow for blow. Its other two heads struck out in a coordinated pincer attack, lunging viciously at Lu Chen in midair.

This instantly put Lu Chen in a dilemma. If he continued his attack, he would undoubtedly inflict heavy damage on one of the Shangfu Bird’s heads. However, he wouldn’t have time to dodge and would be struck simultaneously by the beaks of its other two heads. Judging by the offensive power the Shangfu Bird had displayed so far, let alone being hit by two beaks at once, even surviving a single strike would leave him clinging to life by a thread.

Therefore, in that split second, the combat experience forged from dying hundreds of times in Dungeons guided Lu Chen to make the absolute right decision.

Body Technique... Flowing Cloud Step!

BANG!

Lu Chen stomped fiercely in midair. The air beneath his foot rippled like the surface of a lake, kicking up overlapping waves of air. Riding this momentum, his body twisted and drifted perfectly between the crossing beaks of the Shangfu Bird’s two heads, landing safely on an empty patch of ground nearby.

This slippery maneuver clearly caught the Shangfu Bird by surprise. Pulling its buried head out of the ground, all three of its heads stared at Lu Chen from a distance. Its eyes were filled with curiosity, seemingly wondering why this human—who clearly hadn’t reached the Foundation Establishment Stage—possessed an ability so similar to flight.

Also greatly astonished by Lu Chen’s performance was Bai Ling, who stood watching from afar.

Initially, Bai Ling had grown curious about Lu Chen back in the noodle shop for two reasons. First, she had used her Special Talent to sense his astonishing Spirit Root Talent. Second, she noticed that his aura was exceptionally calm and balanced, a clear sign that he had cultivated a Righteous Cultivation Method to Great Success.

What did these two points indicate? They meant that Lu Chen not only had incredible talent, but his Comprehension was also exceptionally high. Otherwise, for an ordinary person his age, let alone cultivating a Righteous Cultivation Method to Great Success, just being proficient in one or two types of Magic and utilizing their full Power would be considered quite an accomplishment.

Yet, building upon these two factors, Lu Chen gave her another massive surprise. Despite the glaring gap in their Power, this young man had actually managed to evade the Shangfu Bird’s attacks time and time again. Granted, the Shangfu Bird wasn’t fighting seriously and had only opted for the most basic physical attacks. But even so, it wouldn’t be easy for an ordinary Qi Refining cultivator to dodge them.

She thought, "How interesting. This guy is simply too interesting."

At this moment, Bai Ling couldn’t help but recall Lu Chen’s file. A person who had lost both parents at the age of eight had actually reached his current heights relying entirely on his own efforts. If she were in his shoes, would she be able to achieve what he had?

The answer was a resounding no.

Because no one knew better than her what she had to go through to obtain her current Power. Family background, Talent, resources, and Luck—none of them could be lacking. Yet, in Lu Chen, she only saw Talent and Luck. Without a prominent family background and abundant resources, she would never have been able to reach his level of achievement at his age.

Moreover, during Lu Chen’s brief exchange with the Shangfu Bird, Bai Ling figured out one more thing. Lu Chen was absolutely not a wicked thug from the Black Lotus Sect who used the Five Spirit Blood Pill Skill.

The Five Spirit Blood Pill Skill was a crooked Evil Skill akin to a cuckoo stealing another bird’s nest. Its core principle involved refining the Spiritual Roots of other geniuses into blood pills to improve one’s own subpar Talent. However, what belonged to others would always belong to others. No matter what methods one used, it was impossible to completely make them one’s own.

Therefore, it was almost guaranteed that any fake genius who used the Five Spirit Blood Pill Skill would have an unstable Realm. They would never be able to display an incredibly solid foundation in their Cultivation like Lu Chen was doing right now.

As for whether Lu Chen could be faking all of this?

Absolutely not.

Because no one could hold back while facing a life-and-death crisis.

Turning up the pressure on suspected Black Lotus Sect members to force them to reveal their own flaws was a tactic Bai Ling had used time and time again with unfailing success. Although she had often been criticized by her superiors—and even slapped with quite a few disciplinary actions—for this unorthodox and procedurally lacking method of investigation, she still loved doing it. Her motto was essentially: I’ll admit my mistakes, but I absolutely will not change my ways.

In her eyes, this was the most efficient way to investigate. Even if she ended up wrongly accusing someone, the worst-case scenario was that she would just apologize. After all, she was only verbally intimidating them; she still knew her limits when taking action.

However, what Bai Ling didn’t know was that in this world, not everyone could be brushed off with a simple apology after being wrongly accused.