Chapter 68 - 68: Encountering Meng Hongfei Again
Perhaps it was due to his good mood, Lu Yun felt the sunlight on the back mountain to be extremely bright and warm. He moved with his steps, running liberally and unbounded, sprinting across.
After passing through dense forests and crossing valleys, Lu Yun arrived at a small lake.
Without any hesitation, he dashed forward without stopping.
One foot landed on the surface of the lake, creating ripples that spread outwards, and the next step followed, creating more waves that rippled away.
Just like that, Lu Yun ran at lightning speed across the lake surface.
If someone had seen this, they would be incredibly astonished that someone could tread on the water as if it were flat ground.
Only martial artists at the Transforming Origin Realm and above could achieve this.
Transforming Origin Realm martial artists have their True Qi transformed into True Origin, allowing them to control their bodies to a microscopic level, making it easy to tread on waves.
As for Lu Yun, he was only at the peak of the Meridian Passage Realm, and his current realm was two levels away from the Transforming Origin Realm.
Landing securely on the water’s opposite side, Lu Yun turned back to look, surprise filling his face as he’d unconsciously treaded across several dozen feet wide of the lake surface – it was simply incredible.
Before, he had heard of powerful individuals using a single reed to cross a river.
Now, without the aid of anything else, he could traverse several dozen feet of the lake surface.
Wouldn’t that mean that now, he was even more formidable than those legendary reed-crossing individuals?
Lu Yun shook his head slightly.
Crossing rivers with a single reed was a story from the previous world’s novels.
In this fantastical world he now occupied, according to his current understanding of it, once martial artists reached a certain stage of cultivation, they wouldn’t exactly be able to soar on clouds or leap through the fog, but traveling through the sky or underground wouldn’t be difficult.
The two simply couldn’t compare whatsoever.
“Although the Gale Thunder Flash Step is important, my foundation is still aggressive aura and saber technique!”
Lu Yun scanned the surroundings, preparing to find a comfortable place to boost his Pure Yang Aura and Seven Kill Saber Technique.
Just then, his ears suddenly twitched, and he faintly heard the sound of fighting in the distance, seemingly coming from the east side of the lake.
“Could it be that my luck is simply exploding, and 1 happened to encounter a legendary treasure-snatching murder?”
There was a glint in Lu Yun’s eyes as he quietly sneaked towards the direction the sounds were coming from.
“Hehe, let’s see if 1 can fish in troubled waters.”
Lu Yun hid himself in a large tree, gently pushing aside the dense foliage in front of him, his shining eyes spinning around.
Fighting at the lakeside in the distance, two figures moved quickly, their swords and sabers clashing, creating a loud ringing noise. The powerful fighting fluctuations made the lake surface turbulent and churning.
Lu Yun’s vision had greatly improved when he entered the Enter Martial Realm, so he could clearly see even a mosquito a few hundred meters away.
However, the two fighting individuals were extraordinarily fast, and coupled with the constant roaring of the air, even Lu Yun with his excellent eyesight couldn’t make out their appearance for a while, only able to see the two shades, one purple, and one white, flickering constantly.
Nevertheless, judging from their figures, the two were not very old, most likely around sixteen or seventeen years old.
But their strength was extremely formidable.
From far away, Lu Yun could sense the strong auras emanating from them.
“Crescent Moon Cold Frost Slash!”
The white figure suddenly shouted. His sword light was like a crescent moon cutting across the sky, as if from a cold winter, sprinkling icy snowflake-like light. In a flash, the temperature plummeted.
The powerful waves that were originally stirred up on the lake surface suddenly solidified into clawed ice cones, whistling towards that distant purple figure.
“Startling Swan Annihilation Slash!”
The purple-robed youth showed no fear whatsoever, wielding his saber with both hands. As the saber light burst forth, he slashed horizontally, the Startling Swan blade sweeping like a green dragon rising out of the sea. It conjured a fierce gale, carrying the invincible momentum of destroying everything, shattering the incoming ice cones.
As their swords and sabers collided, the metallic clash echoed loudly, producing countless sparks as the sound pierced through the gold and cracked the stones.
At the same time, the powerful saber Qi and sword Qi overflowed, causing the nearby lakeside vegetation to be reduced to splinters.
After the two released their strongest strike, their figures flew apart.
The distance between the purple-robed youth and Lu Yun’s hiding place closed instantly.
“Huh? It’s him!”
Upon seeing the handsome face of the purple-robed youth, Lu Yun finally recognized him.
The purple-robed youth was none other than Meng Hongfei, who had presided over the assessments in Cloud Water County back then.
Although several months had passed since then, that decisive saber strike that killed a Transforming Origin Realm expert was still vivid in his memory.
“Who’s there? Show yourself!”
A chilly glint flashed in Meng Hongfei’s eyes as he casually swung out a saber strike, sending out a several-feet-long saber light with powerful force towards the tree where Lu Yun was hiding.
Boom!
The tree crashed down, with the saber light continuing to push forward, cutting a long and deep ravine into the ground.
Seeing the neat cut and the several-feet-deep ravine on the ground, Lu Yun couldn’t help but gasp.
“That was close!”
If his reaction had been any slower, he would have met the same fate as the tree.
Whoosh!
Meng Hongfei’s figure flashed, landing in front of Lu Yun. He spoke coldly, “Who are you? Why are you spying on our duel?”
Caught red-handed, all Lu Yun could do was chuckle embarrassedly.
“This junior brother has quite the skill, actually dodging that strike just now. It seems like it won’t be long before the Star Palace gains yet another talented individual.” The white-robed youth appeared beside Meng Hongfei at some point, looking at Lu Yun with interest, completely unconcerned about the previous encounter.
This time, Lu Yun took a closer look at this youth, who was similarly talented in swordsmanship as Meng Hongfei.
Dressed in snow-white garments, with slender sword-like eyebrows, his eyes were as calm as a spring stream, feeling as gentle and refreshing as a breeze. With a slight smirk on his lips, the youth appeared carefree and flirtatious.
Unlike Xiao Chen, this young martial artist didn’t have the cold severity that the former possessed. The smile hanging on his lips made him more approachable.
“My apologies to the two senior brothers. While I was practicing my movement technique, I accidentally wandered into this area and was attracted by the noise of your fight. I never intended to pry on your duel in secret,” Lu Yun apologized with a clenched fist.
“It’s not a big deal. Brother Meng and I were dueling here just so we wouldn’t be interrupted by others. Since you happened to come across us by accident, it can’t be blamed on you,” the white-robed youth said with a wave of his hand and a smile.
Meng Hongfei carefully examined Lu Yun, and slowly, the cold expression on his face began to fade. He spoke hesitantly, “Are you Junior Brother Lu Yun?”
“Indeed, I am Lu Yun.”
Lu Yun smiled and said, “I didn’t expect that after such a long time, Brother Meng would still remember me. 1 am truly honored.”
This was not flattery on Lu Yun’s part. After entering the Martial Academy, his strength had rapidly increased, causing his height to grow considerably and for much of the childishness to fade from his face. If someone wasn’t familiar with him, they might not recognize him at all.
Meng Hongfei spoke with curiosity, “Back in Cloud Water County, 1 predicted that you would make a name for yourself after entering the Martial Academy. But I never thought that not only would you make a name for yourself, but you’d also soar to the skies.”
“Haha, Brother Meng is joking,” Lu Yun replied modestly, without the slightest hint of pride.
“So you are Lu Yun, and you even know Brother Meng?”
The white-robed youth, standing off to the side, seemed quite amazed.
Apparently, he had also heard of Lu Yun’s reputation during this time..