Chapter 148: First Trial of the Rising Sun Mace Technique

Lu Zhe packed his belongings and descended the mountain in the company of the elderly physician.

Their purpose for this trip down the mountain was to search for the materials required to refine the "Minor Spirit Vein Pill." Because these materials were quite rare, the destination Lu Zhe headed to was a nation with a small territory but an extremely dense and transient population. Sandwiched between several major powers, this country served as a gathering place for people coming and going from all directions to exchange goods, intelligence, and various things that could not be brought to light. Given the immense influx and outflow of people, the public security here was naturally far from satisfactory. To obtain what one needed in this place, one required not only formidable strength but also a good deal of wits and alertness.

After a journey of a day, Lu Zhe and the old physician arrived at the city gates of this nation.

Gazing at the towering, majestic city gates that seemed to pierce the clouds, Lu Zhe was not particularly surprised. If a country's city gates were dilapidated, the state of the nation itself would hardly be any better. Above the gateway, several grand and imposing characters were carved in regular script:

Floating Cloud Nation!

Groups of three to five people brushed past Lu Zhe and the old physician—some pulling carts, others carrying packs, and some wearing gleaming blades at their waists. In short, all sorts of people could be seen here.

"Good dogs don't block the path!" a sudden angry shout came from behind Lu Zhe.

Lu Zhe and the old physician turned around simultaneously, only to see a towering fellow standing nearly seven feet tall, with a bizarre-looking creature strapped to his back, striding aggressively toward them while hurling curses with every step.

The big man was tall with long legs, and in just a few strides, he closed the distance to Lu Zhe and the old physician. Neither Lu Zhe nor the physician was short, yet they still had to tilt their heads up to look at him. This ferocious fellow had bloodshot eyes and a ferocious expression, as if he had just taken someone's life.

"I said good dogs don't block the path, are the two of you deaf?" Seeing that Lu Zhe and the physician had not stepped aside for him, the fierce brute raised his voice and shouted.

In fact, the spot where Lu Zhe and the physician stood was rather far to the left. Although the passing crowd was dense, it was by no means congested. Yet this big man, for reasons unknown, chose not to walk on the clear, spacious road and instead headed straight for their side—clearly looking for trouble.

Lu Zhe let out a light snort and shouted back in a voice no less loud than the brute's: "I am stepping aside for a good dog." With that, he pulled the old physician slightly to the side, clearing a path.

Because he had shouted at the top of his lungs, Lu Zhe felt a dull ache in his throat immediately afterward.

The two loud voices instantly attracted numerous passing pedestrians, who stopped in their tracks to watch how this farce would end.

"You..." Stung by Lu Zhe's retort, the big man flew into a rage. With so many onlookers watching, he had to save face at all costs, otherwise, he would no longer be able to survive in these parts.

"You little punk, completely lacking in discernment! Today, your Grandfather Sun will teach you how to conduct yourself!" Dropping this harsh threat, the brute drew the heavy saber from his waist, which still bore traces of fresh blood, and hacked it toward Lu Zhe.

This strike was both swift and vicious, and it seemed as though Lu Zhe was about to perish beneath the giant's blade. Among the spectators, a few timid ones even covered their eyes, terrified of witnessing a bloody scene.

However, just as that gleaming saber reached a distance of five inches from the top of Lu Zhe's head, his feet shifted and his body leaned to the side, allowing the blade to brush past his face. As the sharp edge swept close to his features, Lu Zhe distinctly caught a pungent, iron-scented reek of blood. It was clear this ferocious fellow led a life of licking blood off the edge of a blade.

"What?!" Surprised to see Lu Zhe evade his strike, the big man felt a momentary jolt of shock. Yet he was a man of the world, and his adaptability was no mere empty boast; he instantly mustered his full strength to halt the blade, then swung it back in a fierce horizontal slash toward Lu Zhe.

Had Lu Zhe been struck by this blow, his body would surely have been severed in two. But he remained calm and unhurried—his Cloud-Stepping Treading Technique was not practiced for naught. Instantly leaning backward, his body arched like a bow, narrowly avoiding the attack.

The heavy saber swept past his body once more. This time, the brute seemed to have anticipated this: as his right arm slashed through, his left hand followed closely behind. Seizing the moment while Lu Zhe's body was still arched, he thrust his left fist forward with lightning speed, aiming straight for Lu Zhe's stomach.

"Not good!" A chill ran through Lu Zhe's heart. He abruptly straightened his torso, dropped flat onto the ground, and rolled sideways several times.

Naturally, the big man would not afford Lu Zhe a moment to catch his breath. Seeing Lu Zhe roll several feet away, he eagerly chased after him, brandishing his weapon.

Swinging the saber as if chopping vegetables, the brute pursued Lu Zhe relentlessly, hacking wildly as he ran. The surrounding onlookers, seeing Lu Zhe rolling toward them, hastily scrambled left and right to avoid being caught in the indiscriminate slashing.

Having rolled some four or five zhang away, Lu Zhe realized that continuing this way was a dead end as the giant bit relentlessly at his heels. While flat on the ground, he slammed his right hand fiercely against the earth, and his entire body sprang rigidly upright!

Although Lu Zhe's reflexes were extremely fast, an opening inevitably appeared. Spotting the flaw, the big man seized the opportunity and kicked out, sending Lu Zhe flying several zhang away.

"Ah..." A collective gasp rippled through the onlookers.

"Ugh..." The force of that kick was truly formidable. Lu Zhe felt as though his right ribs had been struck by a heavy sledgehammer, and it even felt as if his bones had cracked.

Gritting his teeth, Lu Zhe pushed himself up from the ground. As he shook his shoulder, a wave of intense pain surged into his heart. Suppressing the agony with sheer willpower, Lu Zhe reached behind his back and untied the meteorite-iron staff wrapped in black cloth.

A fine weapon was a fine weapon indeed. Once the binding black cloth was unwrapped, the gleaming body of the Meteorite-Iron Staff shone brilliantly under the sunlight.

"Whoa..." Exclamations of wonder broke out among the crowd.

Lu Zhe gave the staff a fierce sweep in front of him, producing a few soft whooshing sounds through the air, which prompted another wave of admiration from the spectators.

"To think you possess such a fine treasure! Hand it over to your Grandfather Sun as a tribute, and your grandfather will be magnanimous enough to spare your life," the big man said, seemingly captivated by the staff. The bloodshot rage in his eyes faded slightly, and the murderous aura around him receded.

"Hmph! You want my iron staff? You'll have to see if you have the ability to take it," Lu Zhe said in an ice-cold voice.

"Court death!" roared the brute, bringing his saber down toward Lu Zhe once more.

This time, Lu Zhe neither dodged nor evaded. Gripping the Meteorite-Iron Staff tightly in his right hand, he circulated his inner vital energy at high speed, directing the spiritual power to surge endlessly into his palm. Through the vital pores of his hand, he channeled the spiritual energy outward, coating the entire length of the staff.

Watching the big man draw closer, watching the deadly blade approach, Lu Zhe could even feel the chilling iron and the stench of blood radiating from the weapon. Then, taking a deep breath, he lashed out with the staff like lightning!

"Rising Sun Hundred-Refinements Staff: Break!"

The Meteorite-Iron Staff landed squarely on the brute's abdomen. The big man's eyes instantly bulged out of their sockets, and the saber flew from his grip, embedding itself deep into a nearby tree with a sharp thud—with seven parts of the blade buried in the wood!

"Whoa...!" The gasps of astonishment from the onlookers were the loudest yet. Every single pair of eyes widened to twice their size as the iron staff struck the man's stomach.

A mouthful of saliva mixed with streaks of blood spewed from the big man's lips, and his bulging eyes rolled upward. Subsequently, the nearly seven-foot-tall brute rolled his eyes and collapsed flat onto his back with a heavy thud, stirring up a flurry of dust from the ground with the force of his fall.

"Ugh..." Lu Zhe planted the iron staff into the ground for support. Having concentrated so intensely earlier that he had momentarily forgotten his pain, the excruciating agony rushed back the instant he relaxed. His legs trembled uncontrollably as if they no longer belonged to him; had it not been for sheer stubbornness, he would surely have rushed over to deliver a few kicks of frustration to the fallen brute.

Just as Lu Zhe's knees buckled and he was about to collapse onto the ground, a sturdy, powerful arm caught and supported him.

The old physician looked at Lu Zhe with a smile and praised, "Not bad at all. You defeated someone of your own cultivation level on your very first use of the Rising Sun Staff Technique."

Lu Zhe smiled weakly. Supported by the old physician, he stood up unsteadily, pulled the Meteorite-Iron Staff from the ground, wrapped it back in the black cloth, and then, with the physician's aid, stepped through the gates into the Floating Cloud Nation.