Chapter 12  : A Clear Difference in Strength

“No, I heard that you killed him effortlessly. I wanted to challenge you to prove a point: it was not our sect’s fist technique that was inferior; it was he who was not good enough!” Lin Sheng said as he looked at Lu Xuan in utter seriousness.

 “I see!” Lu Xuan nodded. “That’s only natural. There are no invincible martial arts, only invincible practitioners!”

 The Lin Sheng standing in front of him was leagues above Poison Scorpion. While Poison Scorpion had only just managed to reach the stage of HuaJin, Lin Sheng was already almost as strong as a Baodan Grandmaster.

 In normal circumstances, this seemingly small gap between the levels may have been unbridgeable in some warrior’s lifetimes. However, now that the world was undergoing such a drastic change, the reawakening of Spiritual Qi significantly lessened the difficulty of overcoming that power gap.

 The upcoming spiritual renaissance would soon lead to a period where many began to power through their cultivation stages, achieving tremendous increases in strengths in that short span.

Lu Xuan then shook his head. “While you may be stronger than Poison Scorpion, you are no match for me. You are still young. Why don’t you go back and train for a few years more? It will do you much good!”

 Both Ling Huang and Ling Fei felt that Lu Xuan’s words were a little awkward. After all, no matter how they saw it, Lu Xuan was the younger one. He would, at most, be a few years over 20, while Lin Sheng, on the other hand, was approaching his thirties.

 Despite that, Lu Xuan was educating Lin Sheng like an experienced elder who had seen it all.

 “We need to fight before you could say if I am a match for you or not!”

 A smear of brilliance flashed past Lin Sheng’s orbs as he made his move within a split second. Almost instantly, he pounced out like a ferocious tiger; balling his five fingers a fist of steel, Lin Sheng brought his punch down at Lu Xuan like a fierce tiger pouncing on its prey.

 Lin Sheng’s punch tore through the air, igniting a resounding airblast that thundered like exploding firecrackers.

 That was a punch of lightning speed, like a stab from a heavy spear—swift, accurate, and ruthless. One could not execute a move like that without religiously practicing for at least ten years.

 Lin Sheng pulled no punches and poured everything he had into the attack. He knew that his opponent was no weakling. If Ling Fei were telling the truth, someone who could kill Poison Scorpion that quickly was guaranteed to be a formidable opponent.

 Lu Xuan was composed and unrattled. He reached out and, with a slight grab, caught Lin Sheng’s incoming punch without making any sound or movement.

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 As for Lin Sheng, he tried to struggle to free himself the moment he saw how Lu Xuan had locked his fist. Realizing that he could not break away from his grip, Lin Sheng snorted and twirled around. Like cracking a whip, he picked up his long leg and launched a flying kick at Lu Xuan’s skull.

 It was a deadly move. The force he exerted through the kick was enough to send an ordinary man’s head rolling.

 Lu Xuan easily caught that whip-like leg coming for him with a simple raise of his free hand.

 It was almost soundless.

 After two of his attacks were blocked, Lin Sheng did not give up. Instead, he continued to throw punches at Lu Xian after he released both his fist and leg.

 Every punch was as imposing and powerful as the sweep of a heavy spear.

 The Fist Technique of Lin Sheng’s sect seemed to be of spear-borne origin. Seemingly evolved from spear techniques, his punches carried the gravitas of the battlefield.

 As time passed, Spirit Qi would continue to reawaken. These fist techniques would be able to erupt with even greater might, propelling them to a status beyond simple martial arts.

 Of course, these techniques were still worlds apart from what Lu Xuan was learning.

 For ten full minutes, Lu Xuan had allowed Lin Sheng to come at him any way he wanted. With the simplest of moves, he could already block all of Lin Sheng’s attacks.

 By this point in time, even the non-warrior father and daughter, Ling Huang ad Ling Fei, could tell that Lu Xuan was far, far superior to Lin Sheng in terms of strength.

 Otherwise, how could he steadily take all of Lin Sheng’s attacks without even flinching?

 More time passed, and Lin Sheng finally stopped. He could not help but pant heavily. The series of attacks he hurled at Lu Xuan had exhausted a massive chunk of his stamina.

 In comparison, Lu Xuan took his time. Not a single hitch in breath and not a single drop of sweat. He had not exerted himself at all.

 The difference in strength was clear as night and day!

 “I truly am no match for you!” Lin Sheng’s voice was still icy, albeit tinged with some bitterness.

 Out of the many quick attacks he launched, not once had he managed even to scrape Lu Xuan. It was as if all of his attacks were just him harmlessly scratching on Lu Xuan’s back.

 They were useless.

 That, itself, was a colossal defeat to Lin Sheng.

 Freshly graduated from his sect, Ling brimmed with confidence at first, believing that he was strong enough to be a somebody, at least, he would be one of the top warriors of the younger generation.

 Aside from those old monsters from the previous generation, he should have been invincible.

 Even the Poison Scorpion, his Senior Brother of sorts, was nothing in his eyes.

 Who would have thought that he would meet such a freak here? Lu Xuan may have been quite a few years younger, but he still was way stronger.

 “You are very strong. Facing you was like facing my Master!” Lin Sheng conceded. As proud as he was, Lin Sheng was a man who could accept defeat.

 “If my guess is accurate, you must also be at level five. I’d say a Baodan Grandmaster!” Lin Sheng said to Lu Xuan. His eyes shone with some traces of disbelief.

 He remembered that he began to learn and train in martial arts when he was three. He spent more time than he could remember training and practicing every day. It was due to all the hard work, struggles, and his talent in martial arts that he broke through to become a HuaJin Master.

 However, Lu Xuan was already a Baodan Grandmaster despite being so much younger. He couldn’t be that fast even if he started cultivating when he was still in his mother’s womb.

 “If we use your standards, I guess it’s somewhere there!”

 Lu Xuan nodded.

 “Your standards? Aren’t you a warrior, Mr. Lu?” Ling Huang, who was standing at the side, asked in slight curiosity.

 Lu Xuan chuckled, “Warriors are a subset of cultivators, but not all cultivators are warriors. Would you understand if I put it that way?”

 Ling Huang nodded. He understood the concept but knew nothing more concrete, as he too had not seen any other types of cultivators.

 “No need to be disheartened. My way of cultivation is different from yours. You should not apply your assumptions and experiences to me!” Lu Xuan did not feel much animosity towards Lin Sheng. After all, Lin Sheng was just a martial art fanatic. His greatest pursuit was to practice martial arts.

 “Thank you, Mr. Lu, for going easy on me. However, once I had another breakthrough, I will look you up and rechallenge you!” said Lin Sheng.

 “Sure!” Lu Xuan replied.

 Ling Huang took in all that from the side, and could hardly mask the astonishment he felt in his heart. When he heard of Lu Xuan from his daughter, he simply thought of him as slightly stronger than most.

 Unlike his clueless daughter, Ling Huang knew a lot more than the common man, such as matters of the martial world.

 He only managed to hire Lin Sheng after pulling all sorts of strings, all to prevent people like Poison Scorpion from coming at them again.

 He was also well aware of how strong Lin Sheng truly was. He had even seen Lin Sheng fight. None of his bodyguards could go up against Lin Sheng for more than a round or two, not even when they attacked all at once.

 He had thought that Lin Sheng’s strength was scary. Never would he have thought that Lu Xuan’s prowess would be even more terrifying!