Chapter 26: Falling Leaves Saber Intent
Falling leaves swirled, dancing in the air without scattering.
Lu Changfeng felt the bald Saber Master’s Saber Technique becoming less and less of a threat.
By the end, it was as if a child were playfully swinging a long stick in front of him.
It was full of openings, full of flaws.
The long saber in Lu Changfeng’s hand grew ever lighter.
In a certain moment, a surging Saber Intent naturally emanated from within Lu Changfeng’s body.
SWISH!
The bald Saber Master’s long saber was instantly sent flying by a swirling force.
The force of the blow tore open the webbing of the bald Saber Master’s hand, and he was struck with inexplicable horror. A flash of saber light was already upon him, and he felt a slight chill on his neck.
The world spun around him.
PLOP. His head fell into the lake.
"Saber Intent! Retainer Lu is truly a dazzling talent! To condense Saber Intent in his early thirties!"
"Saber Intent!" Shangguan Zheng and Liu An exchanged a glance, seeing the shock in each other’s eyes.
Liu An, in particular, possessed a Low-Grade Talent for Swordsmanship. Now in his forties, he had only barely managed to cultivate one type of Swordsmanship to the Perfection Realm.
After his Swordsmanship stagnated, he began practicing a completely new style to find inspiration, but he had absolutely no clue how to condense Sword Intent.
And now, Lu Changfeng had condensed Saber Intent right before his eyes!
He felt nothing but envy, jealousy, and hate.
Retainer Mo Tian’s immediate exclamation helped everyone understand why Lu Changfeng had suddenly defeated the bald Saber Master, despite them having exchanged hundreds of moves just moments before.
’So it was Saber Intent...’
Everyone present came from a distinguished background, so they naturally knew what Saber Intent was.
It was a Martial Arts True Intent that could only be comprehended after cultivating a Martial Art to the level of Mastery!
Judging by the Wang Family Retainer’s tone, this Retainer Lu seemed to have comprehended Saber Intent just now, during the battle. What enviable luck!
"Old Hu!" Tong Zhan was the only one on the scene to let out a low cry. However, since he had ordered his man to cut off Lu Changfeng’s arm first, there was nothing he could do now that his subordinate had been beheaded in return.
It was just the death of a Retainer, after all. After his initial shock, Tong Zhan waved his hand dismissively, ordering a servant to toss Old Hu’s headless body into the lake.
Lu Changfeng sighed internally. ’If you’re going to be a hired hand, just do your job. Why throw your life away for it?’
"Retainer Lu, your Talent in Saber Technique is truly admirable! I am deeply impressed! Thank you so much for taking action!" Wang Yue’s eyes darted. She naturally knew what Lu Changfeng comprehending Saber Intent meant and spoke up to show her goodwill.
"You flatter me, Sixth Miss. I only did what I was supposed to do," Lu Changfeng replied, neither servile nor overbearing.
His response made Wang Yue like this young Retainer even more.
Under everyone’s gaze, Lu Changfeng retreated behind Wang Yue, resuming his role as a Retainer.
Lu Changfeng opened his interface. As expected, he had comprehended Saber Intent.
Name: Lu Changfeng
Root Bone: Upper A Class
Talent: High-Grade Talent [Swordsman], High-Grade Talent [Flying Swallow], High-Grade Talent [Fist Martial Arts], High-Grade Talent [Saber Extremity], Low-Grade Palm Technique Talent.
Realm: Blood Forging Sixth Layer
Blood Forging Technique: [Le Mountain Angry Vajra] Perfection
Martial Arts: [Gale Swordsmanship] Perfection, [Blood Burst Step] Perfection, [Antelope Leaping Skill] Perfection, [Falling Leaves Saber Technique] Perfection.
Martial Arts Insights: Gale Sword Intent (Basic Sword Intent) (Swordsmanship power increased by 50%), Falling Leaves Saber Intent (Basic Saber Intent) (Saber Technique power increased by 55%)
Copy Interval: 16 days. ’Even though they are both Basic True Intents, the Falling Leaves Saber Intent is five percent more powerful than the Gale Sword Intent.’
’It seems that the power of a True Intent depends on the Martial Art used to condense it.’
’If I were to condense a True Intent from a Tendon Transformation Realm Martial Art, it probably wouldn’t be just a Basic True Intent.’
Lu Changfeng was lost in thought.
Everyone’s gazes gradually shifted away from Lu Changfeng.
Condensing Saber Intent was certainly astonishing, but Lu Changfeng was merely in the Blood Forging Realm. He hadn’t reached a level where he could influence the power structure of the Inner City.
Thus, after their initial amazement, the disciples of the various families naturally calmed down.
The pleasure boat sailed to the center of the lake.
Drawn in by the scenery, everyone sat down to drink tea, chat, and enjoy the view. The atmosphere gradually relaxed.
Tong Zhan’s provocation had been soundly slapped down by Wang Yue, making her the undisputed center of attention for this boat trip.
Tong Zhan himself stood to one side, his face ashen. In the end, he simply made an excuse about having family matters to attend to.
He had the boatman lower a small boat and returned to shore early with his subordinates.
With the troublemaking Tong Zhan gone, the atmosphere on the pleasure boat became much more cheerful.
Lu Changfeng remained hidden to one side, and the attention he had drawn from condensing Saber Intent quickly dissipated.
Lu Changfeng began to covertly observe the Ye Family’s third young master, Ye Sheng.
He coveted the High-Grade Talent Ye Sheng possessed.
Moreover, a High-Grade Talent meant that if Lu Changfeng wanted to upgrade it further, the number of copies required would be greatly reduced.
Choosing to copy and fuse Ye Sheng’s Talent might be the fastest way for Lu Changfeng to currently strengthen his hidden trump cards.
This Ye Sheng’s Root Bone was Lower A Class. He was well-regarded in the Ye Family, but not to the same extent as Tong Zhan was in his.
The Ye Family had other disciples with better Root Bones than Ye Sheng.
’It seems Ye Sheng must be hiding his [Dark Assault] Talent. Otherwise, his status in the Ye Family would be even higher than it is now.’
According to Lu Changfeng’s interface, Talents were rarer than Root Bones.
Among ordinary people, you could always find someone with a B Class+ Root Bone in a thousand, or a Lower A Class in ten thousand.
But Talents were almost never seen among ordinary people.
Not to mention Ye Sheng’s High-Grade Talent—it was the first one Lu Changfeng had seen in anyone other than himself.
And even his own High-Grade Talents had all been created by the fusion function of his copy interface.
This made Ye Sheng’s Talent seem all the more precious.
Lu Changfeng thought of many ways to strike up a conversation with Ye Sheng, but he rejected them one by one.
Just as the pleasure boat was about to return to shore, Ye Sheng took the initiative and approached Lu Changfeng.
"Retainer Lu, your talent for Saber Technique is truly admirable. Martial Artists who have condensed Saber Intent are few and far between in Feng City. In the future, you will be one of Feng City’s top Saber Masters."
Lu Changfeng cupped his fists. "Young Master Ye, you praise me too much. Feng City is full of hidden masters. A humble Retainer such as myself wouldn’t dare to be arrogant."
As the two spoke face-to-face, Lu Changfeng noticed that Ye Sheng’s palms were covered in calluses. His index and middle fingers, in particular, looked unusually thick.
’This kid has definitely discovered his own Talent for the way of Hidden Weapons and has cultivated it to a proficient level, keeping it as a trump card!’
One was a family disciple, the other a family Retainer; they didn’t have many topics for small talk.
After exchanging a few pleasantries, they had nothing more to say.
But Lu Changfeng was satisfied. ’We’ve met. Once we’re more familiar with each other, there will be plenty of opportunities to copy him.’
The pleasure boat docked as dusk fell. Against the backdrop of the evening glow, Fengtian Lake looked like a ruby.
The party began to head back to the city. Before nightfall, Lu Changfeng’s group had escorted Wang Yue back to the Wang Family Mansion in the Inner City.
The retainer mission was over. Lu Changfeng and the others returned to the Retainer Hall.
Lu Changfeng could clearly feel that the other three Retainers’ attitudes toward him had improved significantly.
Even Mo Tian, who was in the Tendon Transformation Realm, politely bid Lu Changfeng farewell before they parted ways.
A Martial Artist who had condensed Saber Intent was indeed rare. Their Combat Power was undeniably crushing against those of the same level, and it wasn’t impossible for them to fight above their Realm.