Chapter 13, Progress and Growth

The setting sun cast a slanting glow, a gentle breeze blew, and the leaves on the trees swayed.

The battle in the forest was still going on.

At this moment, there were already over a dozen corpses lying on the ground.

These corpses were, of course, all horse bandits.

However, at this moment, the condition of Lu Tianhu and Lu Liangpeng was not very good. Both of them had several wounds on their bodies.

"I didn't expect to have a chance to fight side by side with you one day," Lu Liangpeng said coldly.

"Haha, I believe there will be plenty of such opportunities in the future. But there's one condition. You have to pass the test and enter the Martial Academy with me," Lu Tianhu laughed, not caring at all about his injuries.

"I'm a bit impressed by your courage, being able to joke around even at death's door."

At this moment, the horse bandit had already dismounted. Each swing of his ring saber produced a crisp metallic collision sound.

He pressed closer step by step, his offense highly rhythmic and oppressive, gradually expanding his advantage. Lu Liangpeng and Lu Tianhu could only be broken through defensively.

"Could it be that the village head and the others are really going to stand by and let us die here?" Although Lu Liangpeng still seemed relaxed on the surface, a sense of fear was brewing in his heart.

No wonder, after all, they were not yet martial artists, and they were just under thirteen years old. It was normal to be intimidated when facing such an experienced martial artist.

However, once fear sets in, the moves they make are bound to reveal flaws, which were easily captured by the horse bandit. Another cut was made on Lu Liangpeng's body.

"There's less than half a month left before the Martial Academy examination. If their injuries are too severe, I'm afraid it will affect their chances of entering the Martial Academy," Lu Cang said worriedly.

Lu Cangsheng nodded, "It's okay. The training effect is almost there. You can go and stretch your muscles a bit."

"Yes, Village Head!"

Just as Lu Tianhu and Lu Liangpeng were in danger, they suddenly saw Lu Cang appear out of nowhere.

He held the saber with both hands and strode forward.

"Not good, this guy is also a martial artist!?"

As a martial artist in the early stage of entering the martial realm, the horse bandit felt a sense of crisis from Lu Cang, who suddenly appeared.

But his movement was still a bit slow. As soon as he turned around, he felt a gust of wind coming from a saber, followed by an intense pain in his waist.

"His speed is so fast. He's at least at the same level as the boss. I'm no match for him. I have to escape quickly!"

The horse bandit was in a panic. He endured the severe pain coming from his waist and fled toward the direction of the bald man.

Knowing he was no match for his opponent, the horse bandit ran away as fast as he could. In the blink of an eye, he had already escaped several tens of meters away.

But how could Lu Cang let him succeed? With a sudden leap, his right foot stepped on the trunk of a tree. He used the tree to propel himself forward, catching up to the horse bandit and slashing at him with a fierce swipe of his saber.

Splash.

A long wound was ripped open on the back of the horse bandit, blood gushing out, the injury bone-deep.

At this moment, the horse bandit finally lost his fighting power and fell into a pool of blood.

"Fuck, the kid has got some moves!" The bald man saw Lu Cang suddenly make his move, revealing at least the strength of a late-entry martial artist. He didn't dare to stay any longer, pulling on the reins and galloping away.

"Today I'll teach you another lesson. When dealing with enemies, cut off the roots to prevent future troubles!"

At this moment, Lu Cangsheng suddenly left the carriage and appeared in front of the bald man, blocking his way.

"You are very unlucky. Not only did you become a negative example, you will also lose your life!"

Lu Cangsheng's eyes were cold, his thick true Qi suddenly circulating. He took a step forward, and his palms struck out together.

The powerful true Qi emanated from his seemingly frail body, and a surging force roared and surged.

At this moment, the sturdy bald man seemed like a tiny boat in the face of this terrifying storm. Before he could even feel terror, he was blasted away by the overwhelming force.

"You're a master of Meridian Passage Realm..." The bald man spat out a mouthful of blood. Before dying, his eyes were filled with disbelief.

"If you don't completely eliminate the roots when cutting the grass, it will grow back when the spring breeze blows. For the sake of Spirit Creek Village, I hope you learn your lesson in your next life!" Lu Cangsheng returned to his gentle old man's demeanor, letting out a long sigh.

Immediately after, he glanced back at Lu Yun's direction and urged, "Kid, the sun is about to set. Finish the battle quickly, otherwise, we'll have to spend the night outdoors!"

"Boss!"

The bandit who was fighting Lu Yun had just seen his comrades fall in a pool of blood, and now witnessed their boss be killed by an old man in a single move, which caused his soul to be greatly frightened. He lost his footing in advancing and retreating, gradually becoming disoriented.

"Good opportunity." Lu Yun seized the opportunity to catch the enemy off-guard, concentrating speed and strength, working hard to perform the move "Sweeping Away a Thousand Mountains."

Dada dada.

The bandit's head rolled off, dying with his eyes wide open.

"How does it feel to kill someone?" Lu Cang came over at this time, watching the three teenagers with great interest and smiling.

"Nothing much, no special feeling." Lu Liangpeng blurted out bluntly.

Lu Tianhu shook his head slightly, his face somewhat pale, "If I don't kill them, they'll kill me. Under the choice of either me dying or they dying, even if I feel uncomfortable, I can only make the right choice."

Lu Cang nodded slightly, then turned his questioning gaze to Lu Yun.

"Who knows how many souls have been lost in the hands of these bandits? In my eyes, they're not much different from wild beasts. Slaughtering wild beasts doesn't carry much psychological burden for me."

Lu Yun wiped the blood off his blade, then casually cleaned up the battlefield.

"You all did very well, especially this kid, Lu Yun. He's very suited to be a martial artist!" Lu Cang's face was full of smiles, unspeakably satisfied.

"I remember when you were their age, even killing a chicken made you shake. In that respect, you were far worse than them." Lu Cangsheng walked over and teased.

Seeing the growth of the three teenagers, he was genuinely happy.

"Haha, Old Village Head, don't remind me of my past embarrassments!" Lu Cang said with his mouth, but his heart held no grudges.

"Alright, let's get ready to go." Then, Lu Cangsheng paused and ordered, "We shouldn't stay here for long. Clean up the battlefield quickly and continue on our way."

Lu Liangpeng and Lu Tianhu both suffered minor injuries and went back to the carriage to apply medicine. Only Lu Yun and Lu Cang were left to clean up the battlefield.

After a simple cleanup, Lu Yun obtained scattered silver from the bodies of the bandits, totaling seventy-five taels.

Then, he found a yellowed book on the bald-headed big man's body. It was a third-rate martial arts secret manual called the Gale Saber Technique.

Having already cultivated the Breaking Wind Saber Technique, Lu Yun was naturally uninterested in this and handed it over to Lu Cangsheng.

As for the horses of the bandits, they were frightened and had already run away without a trace.

In this way, Lu Yun and the others set out again.

[Name]:Lu Yun

[Force]:Spirit Creek Village

[Martial Arts]:Breaking Wind Saber Technique Perfection, (Third-rate martial arts, cannot be promoted), Mix Origin Technique Small Achievement (3%)

[Innate Talent]:Level 5

[Martial Arts]:Entry Level Enter Martial Realm

[Energy Points]:0.1

"Sure enough, killing people won't yield energy points." Lu Yun secretly thought as he put away the attribute panel.

Ever since discovering the attribute panel, after a long period of summarization, he found that there were only two ways to acquire energy points.

One was to automatically obtain them. If he received enough nutrients from the outside world every day, one energy point would be accumulated every ten days.

The other way was by swallowing spiritual objects, like Blood Ginseng. By swallowing it, the medicinal power contained within could be transformed into energy points.

Moreover, with the promotion of martial arts level or tier, the effect of energy points would decrease.

For example, when the third-rate martial arts Breaking Wind Saber Technique was just learned, one energy point could increase progress by 30%.

After reaching a small accomplishment, one energy point could only increase progress by 20%.

After great accomplishment, one energy point could only increase progress by about 10%.

The energy points needed to upgrade higher-ranked martial arts and the promotion of Mix Origin Technique would be even greater.