Lyu Family?
Junior Leopard's eyebrows furrowed slightly, the corner of his mouth revealing a strand of cold smile.
In the present world, the well-known families ruled. The big ones were the Pingzhou Li Family, the Qingzhou Liang Family, the Hedong Cui Family etc. They were all well-known families. Their legacies ran for thousands of years and they had a strong foundation. Even the royal family of Jin had to give leeway to them. Their strength was enough to compare with the large thousand year old sects like the Mingyi School and the Tian Long Taoism. The talents in their tribes were numerous. Normally they would not reveal themselves. However, if there were big events or dangers, these families would explode with terrifying strength. Nobody would forget how 800 years ago, when the world was in chaos, the Northern Yuan had conquered the south. The Pingzhou Li Family, the Hedong Cui Family, the Qingzhou Liang Family and a few other well-known families had joined hands to resist the enemy, displaying their awesome might.
Within a night, the world had 6 Level Nine experts, 14 Level Eight experts, 29 Level Seven experts and hundreds of Bone-Forging Realm experts. They had helped the Marquis Wu to stabilize the Central Plains. In just half a year, they managed to chase the Northern Yuan army back to the north. In half a year Marquis Wu had also unified the Central Plains and established the Wu Dynasty. After the dynasty had been established, these experts that had come out of nowhere disappeared almost overnight, as if they had never appeared.
This was the only time in the past thousand years that the few well-known families had displayed their strength. In the eight hundred years since, even though there were years of war, and the Northern Yuan had conquered the south numerous times, they did not reach to such an extent. The well-known families with their frightening foundations very rarely appeared in the world to reveal their true strength.
However, although a few hundred years had passed, the deterrent strength of the families were deeply embedded in people's hearts. This was the case even though they kept a very low-profile.
The Lyu Family was also a well-known family. However, compared with the millennial families of power and influence like the Pingzhou Li Family, the Qingzhou Liang Family, the Tian Long Taoism and the Mingyi School, the Lyu Family was only a mid-sized family. Their influence only spanned one province.
Qingzhou's Silvercity Province was under the rule of the Lyu Family.
The Silvercity Province was very close to Maojiang. Hence, the Lyu Family had a lot of status in this area.
However, what did this have to do with Junior Leopard?
In his eyes, the Lyu Family was merely a wealthy family in the area. They had actually dared to use lethal poison to harm him and schemed to obtain his celestial device. This was just as well. All this could be attributed to greed. However, when the poisoner was caught, he didn't submit. In addition to that, he even used the Lyu Family to pressure him, as if the Lyu Family was anything great.
This was an idiot who didn't know how high the heavens were or how thick the earth was!
Seeing the idiot struggling and crying beneath his feet, Junior Leopard once again raised his legs and stomped on his elbow.
"Kcha!"
"Ah—!"
There was a sound of bone crushing, followed by a shriek as if a pig had been killed. All the guests in the backyard of the Governor's Mansion were startled.
However, this time around, they knew that a small thief who did not know his limits had been caught by His Excellency. Naturally they would not clamorously rush to the front of the door.
A few miserable cries came out from the room, followed by a "Hu" sound. A black body flew out from Junior Leopard's room, like a broken bag. "Laihong, find some place and bury his corpse!"
"Yes!" Lu Laihong responded. He asked a few soldiers to carry away the corpse whose brain had been smashed in by Junior Leopard.
A silent night!
It was just that Junior Leopard was unable to fall asleep.
The fellow he had killed held a position in the Lyu Family. No, it should be said that he held a superior status. If not, he would not have built such a personality where he was pampered and not scared of anything.
When faced with someone who had used poison against him in a scheme to rob the celestial device, Junior Leopard naturally would not show mercy. However, Maojiang was very close to Silvercity Province. Junior Leopard did not want to incur a huge enmity. Hence, he smashed the man's head to prevent people from recognizing who he was. He then settled him like a normal thief. In this way, even if the Lyu Family had suspicions, they did not have any proof.
The problem now was the information that he had obtained from this Lyu Jianyun.
"Damn it. The situation is even more troublesome than I thought. I assumed that only a few greedy Jianghu people would come looking for trouble. Who would have thought that these mid and small-sized families also want my Asura Yin Evil Needles. F**k, this group of bastards ought to die. They don't even know what my celestial device is, yet they believe that I have a celestial device that allows me to fight across levels. Since that is the case, I might as well put the Demon Devil Needle out in the open. I have already completely refined these needles anyway. I can even form the formation. Who is scared of it?!"
Junior Leopard thought for a while. His heart was beating rapidly. Lyu Jianyun was a useless douchebag. Junior Leopard had obtained a lot of information from him. Originally Junior Leopard hadn't planned to kill him. It was a pity that the information he revealed cost him his life.
The poison he'd used to harm Junior Leopard and Lu Laihong was called Seven Heart Golden Scorpion Poison. It was one of the Nine Great Poisons. It was refined from the poison of the Seven Heart Golden Scorpion mixed with other lethal poison. Apart from the unique antidote, only the legendary Poison-absorbing Green Bead could counter such a poison. This poison had been obtained by the Lyu Family by chance and it was considered a treasure. It was kept in the treasure vault and wasn't used easily. Lyu Jianyun was the ancestress' favorite grandson in the Lyu Family. It was also because he was doted by the ancestress that he had such a personality. When Lyu Jianyun had heard the Jianghu rumours that Zhou Bao was relying on a celestial device to kill the Northern Yuan Level Eight expert and shocked the world, he became envious.
If it was during normal times, he would not have had such thoughts. However, these Jianghu rumors came one after another. They said that Junior Leopard was heavily injured because of this and was going to die soon. There were also rumors that countless people were heading for Maojiang to try to steal his celestial device.
As a Young Master in the Lyu Family, he also vaguely knew that apart from the ordinary Jianghu people, a few well-known families whose strength was on par with the Lyu Family had also secretly sent people to Maojiang to look for an opportunity to steal the celestial device from Junior Leopard. Hence, he was jealous. Since others could go, why couldn't he go as well?
Furthermore, Maojiang was not far away from Silvercity. The Lyu Family had some influence in that area. He obtained the Seven Heart Golden Scorpion Poison from the Lyu Family's ancestress so that he could bring it with him and seek opportunity within Maojiang.
Unexpectedly, two days after his arrival at Maojiang, he bumped into Junior Leopard and Lu Laihong roaming the streets. Others might not have recognized Junior Leopard, but he did.
Even though he was a douchebag, he was not someone who did not prepare for battles. Before coming, he'd gotten drawings of Junior Leopard. He came across Junior Leopard, and seized the opportunity. He then calculated the time and secretly poisoned their food. He had been prepared to see their bodies that night.
He had extremely confidence in this Seven Heart Golden Scorpion Poison. He also knew that in this world, besides the unique antidote, only the Poison-absorbing Green Bead could neutralize this poison. Therefore, when he saw Junior Leopard and Lu Laihong eat the meat, he thought that things were done. After all, the Poison-absorbing Green Bead had not shown up in the world for hundreds of years. Even if it appeared, Junior Leopard would not have had it.
But he had miscalculated!
When Junior Leopard heard that this Seven Heart Golden Scorpion Poison could only be neutralized by a unique antidote or the Poison-absorbing Green Bead and that Lyu Jianyun firmly believed that he had swallowed this poison, he did not react in time. If he let Lyu Jianyun go, Lyu Jianyun, making a connection, would absolutely think that the Poison-absorbing Green Bead was in his hands. If other people then linked the bead to what had happened in South Yuezhou State and continued making the connections…. Junior Leopard himself would break into a cold sweat when thinking about it, let alone other people.
Jianghu lacked everything, however it did not lack imagination. The boorish men in Jianghu were all fertile in imagination. They could make up 70-80 sources for even a truly groundless rumor, what would they say about such a well-founded matter?
Thus, Junior Leopard took cruel action viciously and destroyed the corpse and evidence.
"The Lyu Family doesn't have evidence. Even if they have doubts, they can't do anything to me. However, the matter that Lyu Jianyun talked about is very interesting."
Lyu Jianyun had already been beaten up viciously by Junior Leopard. He did not have a shred of arrogance left in him. He told him everything that he should and should not be have. He was the Lyu Family's Young Master and also the apple of the ancestress' eye. He knew many secrets. During normal times, his lips were sealed. However, when meeting with the ferocious Junior Leopard, he did not dare to conceal anymore. He told him all the things that should have been kept secret. A few matters that were considered utmost secrets were also revealed to Junior Leopard.
"The Lyu Family has actually discovered an excellent refined iron vein in Yunzhou. They wanted to hide it from others. Interesting!"
Yunzhou was the Wu's territory. Especially the refined iron veins, they were basically under the control of the Wu Family. Furthermore, amongst the disciples of Wu, if anybody discovered such an iron vein and reported it to the Wu Family, not only would he gain a huge reward, he could even gain a percentage of the profits from it. As for how much would be distributed to him, it would depend on his position in the Wu Family!
With Junior Leopard's strength and his position as an Outer Core Elder in the Wu Family, he should be able to gain a huge sum of benefits.
Furthermore, he didn't need to act at all. He only needed to transmit the information to the Wu Family. In this way he didn't even need to exert his strength and he could gain a huge profit. He might as well do it!
"Silvercity Lyu City, hmph, don't blame me. You can only blame yourselves for being unlucky and wanting to find trouble with me!" Junior Leopard laughed in his heart coldly. He sat down on the bed and threw all these matters out of his head. He began to think about his own official tasks.
"My injuries are mostly healed. I should set off. I've been delaying here for about fifteen days. In another few days, the rations should arrive at the destination. If I rush during these few days, I should be able to hand them over in time. Even though it is unlikely something will happen along the way now, it is better for things to have a beginning and an end. However, if I am to hurry there, I cannot bring the hammer. It is way too heavy, even for me. I can't use my Lightness Skill on it!"
Thinking of this, a few eccentric pithy formulas suddenly crossed his mind.
Riding the dragon and the air, relying on the nine heavens, ...
Way of the wind, a priority of being carefree, ...
Dragon Flying Technique!
Every sentence of the concise formula flashed through his heart. Unknowingly, the Nine Dragons Heavenly Fire Technique Internal Qi began to circulate. The Qi flow began to rush in the surroundings. Numerous fine airflows, under the guidance of the Nine Dragons Heavenly Fire Technique, began to flow into his body from the acupuncture points and then flow through his whole body. It only took an instant for Junior Leopard to feel that the Internal Qi was within his body. His body weight seemed to disappear.
Subconsciously, he slapped the bed and his body began to float.
"Huh?!" His figure went through the broken window and went up several meters in midair. His feet stepped on empty air. Yanfu Inner Strength began to circulate unknowingly. He waved both of his hands horizontally and went up once more. There was no resistance at all.
"Pu, pu, pu—!" His feet stepped on empty air. Step by step, Junior Leopard made for the empty sky. Gravity no longer seemed to work on his body. His huge sleeves fluttered in the air. He looked like an immortal.
"Dragon Flying Technique!"
Junior Leopard had a weak smile on his face. His figure had already rose up to 30 meters in the air. He stopped going further up. His steps, however, did not stop. He strode forward step by step. Every step he took spanned several meters. Just these two points alone showed the extent of the power of this Lightness Skill's four sentence mantra.
Dragon Flying Technique was an extremely profound Lightness Skill mental cultivation method. It was different from normal mental cultivation methods and even from most other mental cultivation methods. It not only circulated the body's Internal Qi but also borrowed the airflow from the surroundings and absorbed the airflow between the heavens and earth into the body. It then borrowed the force of the airflow to channel the Internal Qi within the body into different meridians, causing the speed of the flow of Internal Qi to increase dramatically. The airflow around his body circulated in the acupoints, turning itself to be a part of the airflow in nature. Finally, one could use the airflow's strength to fly upwards. That was the essence of the Dragon Flying Technique.
"This mental cultivation method is really strange. I've never heard before of any mental cultivation or secret skills that could make use of the surrounding energy!" Junior Leopard thought to himself. This Dragon Flying Technique unleashed the limit of the Lightness Skill. There wasn't any other Lightness Skill that could surpass it.
"With this Dragon Flying Technique, even if I fail to cultivate Gang Qi, I could fly anywhere in the world!" Junior Leopard's body was floating in the air. He was slowly coming down from up above. "It is a pity that this mental cultivation method needs to consume a certain amount of Internal Qi. If the Internal Qi is not enough, then it could only be used in the low sky. Unlike those who have cultivated Gang Qi, they can fly without worrying for thousands of miles!" Junior Leopard sighed in his heart. He landed on the floor. However, he did not completely land on the ground. He stepped onto Maojiang.
Yes, in this short period of time, Junior Leopard had reached Maojiang. He stepped upon the rushing water as if stepping upon flat ground, not sinking at all.
"It isn't bad to use it to walk on water. With the buoyancy of the water and this mental cultivation method, it is basically the same as walking on the flat land. However, this Dragon Flying Technique's cultivation method seems to not only apply to the Lightness Skill!" Feeling that this mental cultivation method was swimming about in his body, Junior Leopard seemed to think of something. His heart moved slightly. Between his eyebrows, a red light flashed and appeared. A streak of red Sword Qi appeared on his fingers. He pointed his finger. A rock by the riverside was pierced by this red sword light.
"Haha, it really is so. My thinking is right!" Junior Leopard was happy in his heart. The greatest benefit of the Dragon Flying Technique was that it allowed airflow to flow freely within the tendons and meridians. This mental cultivation was not only useful for his Internal Qi but also for his practice of the Extreme Yang Through Sky Sword.
It must be known that the Extreme Yang Through Sky Sword had been refined from the extreme Yang Blood Essence Evil Yuan. Even though its power was immense, it would cause extreme harm to the meridians in his body. Normally he could only keep it within the External Elixir in between his eyebrows. If he wanted to use it, he had to make it go through the Fiery Eye between his eyebrows. This greatly limited his usage of this powerful secret skill. The most important thing was that this Yin and Yang Heavenly Sword was not only a powerful Sword Qi, there was a sword manual that went along with it. According to the sword manual, the greatest destructive power came only when it was released through the hands. It was a pity that his body was only at the toughness of a Level Four Bone-Forging Realm. If the Sword Qi of the Extreme Yang Through Sky Sword was put into his body and circulated half way through his meridians, he would lose his life.
However, with the Dragon Flying Technique, things were different. This mental cultivation method would not increase the Internal Qi density, nor would it help to condense and purify it, but it provided people with a way to circulate the Internal Qi. It made use of the normal airflow that was breathed in to quickly send the Internal Qi to different acupoints in the body. It could make use of the Nine Dragons Heavenly Fire Technique Internal Qi. Similarly, it could also utilize the Extreme Yang Through Sky Sword's Sword Qi.
The only trouble was that he could not expel all of the Extreme Yang Through Sky Sword's Sword Qi in one go. Junior Leopard did not need to do that.
Extreme Yang Through Sky Sword's destructive force was immeasurable. A mere strand could take a person's life. One didn't need much. The most important thing was that using the Dragon Flying Technique could allow him to easily display the sword manual of the Extreme Yin Heavenly Sword.
By making use of the airflow to wrap around the strands of Sword Qi, one did not need to worry about the Sword Qi flowing through the meridians and injuring it. That was because there was a large amount of airflow surrounding the Sword Qi.
The airflow was equivalent to adding a thick layer of protection inside his meridians. It allowed him to safely use the Extreme Yang Through Sky Sword's destructive sword qi. It could allow the destructive sword qi to flow freely like Internal Qi within the meridians.
The most important thing was that this was not only suitable for Extreme Yang Through Sky Sword, but also for other kinds of special techniques.
"With this Dragon Flying Technique, my combat capability has increased by at least three-fold. It is just that this mental cultivation's origin is too strange!"
Upon thinking about this mental cultivation method's origin, Junior Leopard lapsed into silence. This cultivation method had been imparted into his brain after the Lion's return. In other words, this cultivation method had been passed to him by the Lion. It was very mysterious.
The Lion was the third form of the Nine Dragons Heavenly Fire Technique, one of the Nine Forms of Real Dragon. It sounded quite mysterious. However, at the bottom, it was merely condensed from his Internal Qi. It was the Qi that he inhaled and exhaled, turning the spiritual Qi into Internal Qi. No matter how powerful it was, it was just Internal Qi, not a living creature. How could it have consciousness and impart such a mysterious cultivation method to Junior Leopard?
In the past few days, he had been checking his body for any abnormalities within his Internal Qi. He couldn't find anything. He even condensed the Lion once again and released it from his body. After observing it for a few hours, he still drew a blank.
It was as if nothing had happened before.
However, Junior Leopard clearly knew in his heart that everything really had happened, and it happened so mysteriously. It happened in such a way that it was hard for him to understand.
"This matter is unexplainable and could never be conveyed to people. It looks like my understanding of this world is not as deep as I thought. There are many things that I do not yet know. Maybe Tian Long Taoism will help. After all this cultivation method is from Tian Long Taoism. I have to find a chance to source it out from Wang She. Who knows whether this guy is even still alive? It is not fun to be chased by the two old Level Nine experts!"
A mocking intent flashed over Junior Leopard's face. Suddenly thunder rumbled. Junior Leopard looked up to the sky where dark clouds were gathering. The wind had also gradually become chilly. Within the clouds, lightning was churning, and thunder was crashing. The humidity in the air was gradually growing.
"Damn it. It seems that it's going to rain soon. I'd better go back earlier. Tomorrow I'll set off and chase for the rations to be delivered...!"
Junior Leopard's mouth suddenly split apart. He stared at the clouds ahead. The clouds in the sky had already formed. He gazed in the direction where the lightning and thunder had gathered the most. With rumbling thunder, a bright color flashed around the clouds, illuminating everything. Even though it was only for an instant, with Junior Leopard's eyes, he could still see very clearly.
There was a person!
Within the clouds, a person sat there!
Although it was very far away, Junior Leopard was still able to see clearly. Someone was definitely sitting there. He sat in the empty air. His hands were on his knees, forming two barriers.
A sound of thunder arose. A flash of lightning struck the person. He did not show any intention to resist it and let the thick lightning bolt strike his body.
"Hong, pi pa—!"
After the lightning and thunder, the person did not move an inch. Even his clothes remained untouched.
"Gulp!" Junior Leopard stood blankly on the water. He violently gulped down his saliva. He raised his hands and rubbed his eyes. He then raised his head to look up again. The person was still there. He had seen correctly. Another streak of lightning struck him.
Junior Leopard trembled violently, as if the lightning bolt had hit his own body. His Internal Qi leaked, and he fell into the river. The Maojiang river was rapidly flowing. One wave came up and pushed him several meters away. When Junior Leopard recovered his breath, and floated up to the surface, he was unable to distinguish where he was.
Almost at the same time when Junior Leopard sank into the water, the man sitting in the clouds opened his eyes. Two streaks of light shot out one meter from his eyes. He turned his head and looked in Junior Leopard's direction. He seemed to have detected that someone had been spying on him. However, coincidentally, Junior Leopard was sinking in the water. Even though the person's cultivation had reached an omnipotent stage, he was unable to see through the rushing flow of the river. His face had a trace of a lost look. "Could it be an illusion?!" He closed his eyes. His body was swallowed by the endless clouds and countless lightning bolts came rushing towards him!