Chapter 58: Fading Moon and Gentle Ripples

Luo Ze asked An Luo and Shuize to leave, and Uncle Guang also tactfully withdrew, leaving only the old man and Lu Yun in the hall.

"The reason I tested you was simply to see why you deserved to take the quota meant for Luo'er."

Luo Ze looked at Lu Yun. "You probably don't know that after Yuan Mo ascended the throne, he proclaimed throughout the Baiyuan Kingdom that he would dedicate the nation's resources in the future to nurture the most promising seed. Originally, this quota belonged to An Luo. After all, back then nobody knew where you had gone, and Yuan Mo dared not make a unilateral decision, so he discussed it with me..."

Lu Yun understood immediately, a profound shock welling up inside him.

Sure enough, Luo Ze continued, "It was Luo'er himself who went to Yuan Mo and said that you, Lu Yun, definitely possess far greater potential than he does. Therefore, rather than wasting numerous resources on him—a bottomless pit destined to consume them—that quota should be reserved for you, Lu Yun."

Just as Lu Yun was about to speak, he saw Luo Ze wave his hand.

"I am telling you this not to have you thank Luo'er on his behalf, but simply to let you know that Luo'er genuinely regards you as a brother. In this desolate world, that is both very easy and extremely rare."

Lu Yun took a deep breath, recalling the young man who had just been sitting on a rock eating steamed buns with him.

Luo Ze's very first words had been to warn him that Changxing Road was dangerous.

Although Lu Yun had maintained his composure on the outside, he was deeply moved within.

He cherished this first friend he had made in a foreign land.

So Lu Yun stood up immediately, bowed to Luo Ze, and said, "Elder, An Luo treats me as a friend, and I feel the same way. If he encounters danger in the future, I, Lu Yun, will absolutely not sit idly by."

"I know, since you have already come here."

Luo Ze also stood up, stepping aside to avoid Lu Yun's bow.

"Testing you was meant to make you see the difficulties and retreat. Now it seems you truly have the confidence and foundation. Then stay here."

The old man waved his hand and said, "Walk with me."

Lu Yun complied, following Luo Ze out of the estate.

They strolled along the street, and Luo Ze looked up at the three bright moons in the night sky, letting out a sigh.

"Yuan Mo wants a different desolate wilderness, and I support that. But he is a bit too radical. He doesn't know that no matter how the wilderness changes, those three moons will always remain there."

Lu Yun suddenly spoke up, "They will change."

The old man let out an "oh" and looked at Lu Yun with keen interest.

"You say so?"

Lu Yun nodded. "I say so."

Luo Ze smiled and then pointed north toward the Anluo Palace in the distance.

"Would you like to go have a look over there?"

Lu Yun nodded. "Since the senior invites me, I naturally accept."

Luo Ze flicked his sleeve, and in the next instant, with a flash before Lu Yun's eyes, he found himself standing atop a palace within the Anluo Palace grounds.

Under the bright moonlight, Luo Ze said, "Draw your sword."

Lu Yun asked no further questions. He simply drew the accompanying moon sword from his waist and thrust it forward.

Beneath the bright moon, a gentle sword light originated from beneath Lu Yun's feet, extending all the way to the palace gates in a straight, brilliant line that radiated light in the night.

Inside the Anluo Palace, maids and guards cried out in alarm.

The rightmost moon in the night sky suddenly flared with brilliant light.

"Hold nothing back. Use your full strength."

Luo Ze patted Lu Yun on the shoulder. "Although I am with one foot already in the grave, I can still handle a matter of this size."

Soon, Lu Yun could no longer hear those chaotic noises, and the world seemed to fall quiet all at once.

With a serious look in his eyes, Lu Yun uttered a single word in a low, deep voice.

"Fall!"

The next moment, that luminous 'straight line' abruptly became intensely brilliant.

Luo Ze could see that the sword mark left by Lu Yun's thrust sank three inches deep in a single instant.

"Not bad, but still not enough! Lu Yun, unleash your full power and stop holding back!" Luo Ze shouted angrily, "Do you look down on this old man?!"

Lu Yun let out a breath and uttered another word, his tone much lighter this time.

"Moon."

With a single sword stroke of falling moon, the brightest full moon in the sky actually plummeted heavily downward. In the blink of an eye, the entire Anluo Palace was ground into dust by the descending moon.

A massive crater appeared before the eyes of Luo Ze and Lu Yun.

Beneath their feet, the remaining palace structure could not bear the burden and collapsed with a deafening crash after holding out for only a moment.

Luo Ze laughed heartily and waved his arm grandly, restoring everything to its original state.

The chaotic sounds returned to their ears, and Lu Yun felt a momentary daze, as if he had just had a dream.

The massive crater had not appeared, and the palace beneath his feet had not collapsed.

Lu Yun breathed a sigh of relief.

As expected of a senior in the Immortal Realm!

"That move is called Falling Moon, right? Heh, interesting. There's another move you used when fighting that purple-armored warrior, what is it called?" Luo Ze asked with a smile.

"Ripples."

Lu Yun put away his sword with some embarrassment.

When he was practicing swordsmanship in the Ten Thousand Great Mountains, the old blind man had merely curled his lip when seeing him execute these two moves, making Lu Yun feel that his sword techniques were unworthy of being displayed in polite company.

"Falling Moon, Ripples... Not bad, hmm, very good! You are indeed much, much stronger than Luo'er!"

With that, Luo Ze pointed at the sword at Lu Yun's waist.

"Don't put it away in such a hurry. I'll teach you a few moves. Otherwise, why would I have called you out in the middle of the night just to let you catch a cold? Eccentric as I am, I'm not a fool."

Hearing this, Lu Yun felt a surge of excitement.

Aside from Dong Sanren, having an Immortal Realm expert guide his cultivation was something he had never experienced before.

Seeing Lu Yun grip the Accompanying Moon sword once more, Luo Ze said, "Your Falling Moon sword intent is not bad, but your execution of this move probably focuses too much on the sword qi."

Lu Yun nodded, "Just as Senior says."

Luo Ze nodded in agreement, "Yet, where your move falls short is precisely in the sword qi."

Lu Yun was stunned; he never could have imagined such a flaw.

"Deliver that sword strike again, but I want you to truly bring the moon down with a single stroke. Can you do it?" Luo Ze asked with a smile.

Lu Yun shook his head and explained, "My original intention for this sword technique was—"

"Do not overthink it. You wanted to achieve a surprise effect, but that ended up limiting the true power of this sword strike. If you don't believe me, you can try."

Luo Ze stepped behind Lu Yun and raised Lu Yun's arm.

"I cannot imitate your sword intent for the moment, but sword qi is not difficult. However, your sword is somewhat special. Later, when I swing the sword, you must cooperate with me a little."

Lu Yun agreed with a nod. As his arm was slowly lifted by Luo Ze, he finally thrust the sword forward.

A single sword strike to bring down the moon.

Lu Yun's eyes widened in disbelief.

...

A Jin was nearly eighty years old this year and served as An Luo's personal bodyguard.

He was a fairly young fellow with ordinary looks, yet possessed a pleasing personality.

A Jin had always been confident in his own strength, though he also knew his limits.

Still, A Jin figured that with his cultivation realm, dealing with assassins around the seventh realm within the Anluo Palace should certainly be sufficient.

Until this very night.

After entertaining those annoying four siblings of the Lei family, A Jin kept watch as usual before the uninhabited royal manor's gate.

Originally, he had planned to take advantage of the time to diligently cultivate, thinking that perhaps in this lifetime he might even manage to step into the eighth realm. But in the dead of night, he suddenly saw a streak of sword light.

What kind of sword light was that?

A Jin could not describe it. He only felt that the sword strike seemed very weak at first, yet in the next instant, amidst a sudden blur, that streak of sword light grew intensely brilliant.

A Jin hurriedly ran toward the sword light, his pupils contracting sharply.

Three... three inches...

The young A Jin looked up into the distance, his hands trembling slightly.

Just how far away was that?

Before he even had time to investigate, another sword strike cleaved downward, heading straight for A Jin.

At that moment, A Jin thought of his childhood.

On that night, the moon had been just as bright as it was tonight.

Little A Jin had fantasized back then about how wonderful it would be if he could go play on the moon.

A Jin would never have imagined that this wish would come true when he was over seventy years old.

However, it was somewhat different from his dreams; reality was that the moon was coming to find him instead.

A bright full moon came crashing down thunderously. A Jin felt that he would surely die here, and he closed his eyes before he even had time to feel sorrow.

Yet after a moment, A Jin opened his eyes, looked at his undamaged hands, and muttered in disbelief, "I'm not dead?"

A Jin raised his head, wanting to see if the moon in the sky really lacked one.

Unfortunately, most unfortunately...

That full moon was once again crashing down right toward his face.