Chapter 44: Acquiring The Metal Piece

　　Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

　　Currently, the eyes of the mutated Black-scaled Monitor Lizard were narrowed into slits. It was almost asleep. Otherwise, it would not just have sat there indifferently throughout their intense battle.

　　Moreover, there was no entrance on the wall next to the Black-scaled Monitor Lizard. There was nowhere to run.

　　“Lu Ming, you have no escape route.”

　　Duanmu Jue and the rest closed in slowly. If they were not being apprehensive of the Black-scaled Monitor Lizard, they would have already attacked him.

　　“Is that so? Are you guys that confident?”

　　At this stage, Lu Ming actually beamed. How could he still smile?

　　However, soon enough, Duanmu Jue, Yin Kai, and the rest understood why.

　　Lu Ming turned around abruptly and dashed towards the mutated Black-scaled Monitor Lizard. The sword light whistled through the air, ruthlessly piercing towards the Black-scaled Monitor Lizard.

　　“Lu Ming, what are you doing?”

　　“Stop!”

　　“Stop right now. You’re asking for it!”

　　Duanmu Jue and the rest changed their tones quickly, each of them yelling in fury.

　　Even so, Lu Ming’s sword light did not stop.

　　Pffft!

　　The longsword viciously stabbed the mutated Black-scaled Monitor Lizard’s body.

　　Roar!

　　As the longsword penetrated its body, the mutated Black-scaled Monitor Lizard gave an incensed howl and its eyes flew open.

　　“One more slash!” Lu Ming pulled out the longsword, drawing a gush of blood. Then he stabbed once more.

　　This time, the Black-scaled Monitor Lizard was fully awake. It roared in rage and swiped its massive claw at him.

　　Lu Ming used the Dragon Serpent Steps to dodge the Black-scaled Monitor Lizard’s attack. After that, he ran towards Duanmu Jue, Yin Kai, and the rest.

　　Roar!

　　The mutated Black-scaled Monitor Lizard bellowed deafeningly as it scampered madly towards Lu Ming.

　　“Lu Ming!” Duanmu Jue, Yin Kai, and the rest all cried out in anger, but they could only turn around and flee helplessly.

　　The strongest of them was only on the Fourth Grade Master Realm. Even with all their strength combined, it was not enough to kill the mutated Black-scaled Monitor Lizard.

　　“Why are you guys running? Weren’t you about to kill me?” Lu Ming’s taunting voice rang out. Duanmu Jue and the rest nearly coughed up blood in rage. They silently vowed to never forgive Lu Ming.

　　Like birds startled by an arrow, they dared not linger in this cavern. Each of them rushed towards a cave entrance.

　　“Hahaha, bye-bye!” Lu Ming stepped off the ground firmly and sprang into the air. He immediately landed at an entrance ten meters above the ground and hurriedly raced away.

　　After running helter-skelter, he covered over a kilometer of the tunnel in a single sprint. Only then did Lu Ming sit down to rest.

　　He thought of something and took out the point-worthy metal piece. This metal piece was made of a different material compared to the other point-worthy metal pieces. It was dark golden and very solid.

　　On its surface were two large golden words: “Five Hundred”.

　　With these 500 points, in addition to his previous 124 points, Lu Ming had 624 points in total.

　　‘624 points…is that enough or not?’ Lu Ming started to ponder silently.

　　It was hard to say. For instance, Duanmu Jue, Yin Kai, and the rest had gathered so many people. Some of them had only kept ten points and gave the remaining point-worthy metal pieces to Duanmu Jue and the rest. In that case, it was hard to estimate how many points they had, so collecting five or six hundred points was a possibility.

　　‘There are still two more days. Perhaps I can rustle up some points from the Duanmu Family or Yin Kai’s group.’ A smirk tugged at Lu Ming’s lips.

　　Just then, frenzied footsteps sounded behind him. They were very agile. In the blink of an eye, a few figures appeared before Lu Ming.

　　“Duanmu Jue!”

　　Lu Ming sized them up. The center one amongst the trio was Duanmu Jue. The other two beside him were genius apprentices of the White Tiger Hall with their cultivation levels at the Third Grade Master Realm.

　　Upon seeing Lu Ming, Duanmu Jue did not seem surprised as he broke out into a humorless smile. “Lu Ming, you’re here indeed. How are you going to run now?”

　　“How did you find me?” Lu Ming asked in astonishment.

　　“Hehe, I might as well tell you. My blood meridian is the Keen Spirit Hound. With me around, you can’t escape,” a short youth beside Duanmu Jue spoke up.

　　“So, you’ve got a dog’s nose!” Lu Ming realized the truth.

　　“Lu Ming, I didn’t hunt you down, yet you dared to seize my point-worthy metal piece. You’ve got some guts. Now, hand over the metal piece and I’ll go easy on you,” Duanmu Jue said.

　　Lu Ming smirked. “Does everyone from the Duanmu Family have such blind confidence? I truly wonder how you guys became the number one family in the White Tiger Hall.”

　　“Are you saying you won’t hand it over? I’ll show you how my Duanmu Family became the number one family. Flying Tiger Sword! Kill!”

　　With that, Duanmu Jue pounced at Lu Ming. Sword Qi surged out, and there was a faint tiger’s roar.

　　Clang!

　　Lu Ming drew his sword to return the strike.

　　Clang! Clang!

　　Both their longswords clashed furiously.

　　The space in the cave tunnel was narrow, so there was not much room for fighting poses. They could only fight directly face to face with brute force.

　　Their swords collided a few times. Lu Ming felt his arm getting tired, and he involuntarily took three steps back. Meanwhile, Duanmu Jue’s body was only heaving slightly.

　　‘A Fourth Grade Master has such powerful strength. My current strength can’t match his at all!’ Lu Ming thought to himself.

　　“Your sword technique isn’t bad, but it’s a shame you’re too weak. Die then! Flying Tiger Pounce!” Duanmu Jue grinned coldly and sent his blade slicing towards Lu Ming.

　　Lu Ming had the impression that a ferocious tiger was lunging at him.

　　The Flying Tiger Sword Technique was a Superior Yellow Level technique. Duanmu Jue had already cultivated it to the Third Stage, and his moves were quick and ruthless.

　　‘Since I’m no match in terms of strength, I’ll use speed then!’ Lu Ming focused his concentration, fully immersed in the Lustrous Sword Technique.

　　Swoosh swoosh!

　　One sword light after another lashed out, striking towards Duanmu Jue’s vital points. Its speed was definitely much faster than Duanmu Jue’s.

　　Duanmu Jue could only give up attacking and use his strength to block Lu Ming’s sword light.

　　“So what if your sword technique is fast? If force won’t work, I’ll attack until you can’t hold your sword!” Duanmu Jue weaved his longsword in an impenetrable pattern, clashing incessantly against Lu Ming’s longsword.

　　Waves of powerful Essential Qi kept flowing out, battering against Lu Ming.

　　“Is that so? What if I speed up?”

　　Now, a faint smirk appeared on Lu Ming’s mouth. His blade flashed and his technique became even swifter. Like the flow of a river, the sword light cascaded unendingly towards Duanmu Jue.

　　His Lustrous Sword Technique had just broken through.

　　Before this, his Lustrous Sword Technique had been stuck at the Fourth Stage and he had been unable to break through.

　　Nevertheless, in this fight against Duanmu Jue, the Lustrous Sword Technique broke through to the Fifth Stage to achieve Perfect Divine-like Usage in one move.

　　Duanmu Jue’s expression changed. Just now, he could barely maintain his defense. Currently, he discovered that he could not withstand this barrage of assaults at all.

　　Swoosh!

　　Lu Ming’s glinting sword light instantly penetrated his defense, slashing towards his chest.

　　“Retreat, retreat, retreat!” Duanmu Jue was startled and withdrew frantically. Even so, he was a little too late.

　　Slash!

　　Lu Ming’s sword light immediately left a deep bloody gash across his chest.

　　Duanmu Jue was drenched in cold sweat. If he had not retreated quickly enough, he would have been dead already.

　　“Attack! Attack together and kill him!” Duanmu Jue roared in anger.

　　“Kill!”

　　As the other two youths and Duanmu Jue charged at Lu Ming together, their three spiritual weapons erupted with formidable Sword Qi.