Chapter 7: Connate Expert Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios The voice was still resonating and the figure that was as fast as a ghost swooshed and appeared right before him. Su Zimo took a careful look. He was a middle-aged man. His cheeks were gaunt but he had eagle-like sharp eyes. He merely pointed his toes on the ground and he covered the distance in no time, standing right in front of him. Su Zimo was shocked. The middle-aged man was much stronger than the crowd in the courtyard in terms of his movement technique and aura! Connate Expert! “Buzz!” The middle-aged man hid his hand behind his back. He suddenly stretched out his hand and it was accompanied by a clear buzzing sound of the sword. A cold longsword stabbed towards Su Zimo’s face. The tip of the sword trembled like a flexible poisonous snake, giving out tongue-lashing sounds. It was disturbing. The sword had yet to reach him, but a gush of cold air blew against his face. Su Zimo felt slight pain on his face. Su Zimo realized that given the strength and toughness of his skin right now, he could never stop this sword! The power of the Connate Expert was enough to threaten his life. After all, Su Zimo barely had any fighting experience. He lost his focus just now and missed the chance to make the first strike. Even if Su Zimo executed Bovine’s Moon-gazing to withstand the force from the sword, his head would already be pierced through by his sword. Retreat! Su Zimo had no time to think. He executed Plow Heaven Stride and retreated quickly. “Humph!” The middle-aged man sneered loudly, increasing his speed and his sword followed Su Zimo right on his heels. There was no way that Su Zimo could escape from his advancing sword. The tip of the sword was within distances of Su Zimo’s face. The situation was very dangerous for Su Zimo! Su Zimo could only see the glitter of the sword in front of him. His eyes hurt and he could not help but shed tears. Right then, there was a look of malice in the middle-aged man’s eyes. “Oh no, there is the wall right behind me!” Su Zimo’s heart sank. The courtyard of the Shen family’s residence might be spacious, but there was a boundary as well. Both parties were advancing and retreating in a superior speed and in the blink of an eye, Su Zimo had been forced to retreat to the wall. There was no way to retreat! Even if Su Zimo used brute force to break the wall, there would be a moment of delay. The middle-aged man was able to slash Su Zimo with his sword in that single moment! “Stop!” A figure suddenly barged in from the door, carrying a steel saber in his hand. The figure yelled and charged aggressively towards the middle-aged man. “It’s Uncle Liu.” Although Su Zimo could not afford the slightest distraction to check the person who arrived, he could tell from the voice the identity of the person. The middle-aged man took a glance and sneered. Liu Yu was only a Postnatal Perfected. Even if he was a Connate Expert, he would not be able to save Su Zimo. There was only a stone’s throw distance away between the long sword and Su Zimo! “It’s too late, he will die for sure!” The middle-aged man snarled lightly. His expression turned cold as he charged forward with his sword. In this moment of life and death, Su Zimo suddenly calmed down, there was not the least bit of panic in his eyes. He was unexpectedly calm and his senses became sharper than usual. Su Zimo knew very well that he was the only one who was capable of saving himself. Faced with the advancing sword, Su Zimo closed his eyes instead and the scene of cattle grazing grass in the cultivation field flashed in his mind. Su Zimo raised his palm automatically and rested it on the body of the advancing sword. Wrap, hit, pull! Bovine-tongued Saber, the most powerful style among the Tri Bovine Style! Pa! A crisp sound that was as loud as thunder resonated in the courtyard of Shen family’s residence. The next moment, everyone froze on the spot. There were confusion, doubt, and disbelief in their eyes. The long sword in the middle-aged man’s hands was shattered into multiple fragments, he was left with nothing but the hilt of the sword. The fragments scattered onto the ground. There was a strange brilliance about them. The middle-aged man opened his mouth, his pupil constricted suddenly, as he looked at Su Zimo who was not far from him. He did not advance, instead he retreated a few steps and looked wary. Su Zimo opened his eyes, panting slightly. He looked somewhat confused. Had he survived? Moments ago, Su Zimo finally realized what death felt like. Until now, Su Zimo still felt that everything was surreal. There was a breeze in the air. Su Zimo’s back was drenched in perspiration. He was so terrified that he broke out in cold sweats. “Hurry, let’s go!” Right then, Su Zimo could hear Liu Yu’s voice by his ear. Liu Yu pulled him by the arm and he automatically followed Liu Yu to run out of Shen family’s residence. Apart from everyone present in the Shen family’s residence, Su Zimo himself was unable to recover himself. He was in a state of confusion as he hung his head and ran with Uncle Liu. Along the way, Liu Yu kept looking at Su Zimo. Before this, not long after Su Zimo left Su family’s residence, Uncle Zheng told him that Second Young Master looked odd. He was worried that he might go to the Shen family’s residence to demand an explanation, and he ordered Liu Yu to protect him. By the time he reached Shen family’s residence, he already saw the middle-aged man attacking Su Zimo. Liu Yu had good eyesight, he could tell that the man was a Connate Expert. He did not understand why Su Zimo, a feeble scholar provoked a Connate Expert? The situation was critical and he had no time to think. All he could do was to make the first move to save Su Zimo. However, the scene that Liu Yu saw thereafter was a huge shock to him. Liu Yu’s eyes kept lingering on Su Zimo’s palm. He had lots of doubts and he wondered what was going on. “Could it be that Second Young Master put on an armor-like glove? But even so, how much power would he need to shatter the long sword of the Connate Expert to pieces?” The most puzzling thing was that he could not tell that Su Zimo had been practicing martial arts. In fact, he seemed thinner than before. “Weird.” Liu Yu had an idea and decided to test Su Zimo. He released his grip on Su Zimo, and increased his speed. Su Zimo hung his head, looking absent-minded. He seemed to be deep in his thoughts, but he followed right behind Liu Yu automatically. Liu Yu and Su Zimo reached Su family’s residence in no time. There were beads of perspiration on Liu Yu’s forehead and he was breathing heavily, but he could not hide the surprise in his eyes. He sped up thrice consecutively on the way back. To the end he had already reached his limit, but Su Zimo was still following closely behind. The most scary thing was that Su Zimo was breathing like usual, and he did not seem as if he was tired or exhausted. It was obvious that he still had a lot of energy! Su Zimo had finally recovered himself upon reaching Su family’s residence. Actually, Su Zimo was just as shocked as everyone. Although Su Zimo could tell more or less that The Mystic Classic of the Twelve Demon Kings of the Great Wilderness was extraordinary, he did not expect that he would have such power after cultivating for merely three months. Su Zimo looked at his palm. There was no injuries. Success! Su Zimo had mastered Bovine-tongued Saber during the life and death moment just now. Su Zimo was overjoyed and thought of sharing the news with Die Yue later and to show off to her. But then, Su Zimo seemed to sense something and he looked up to see that Liu Yu was staring at him with an odd expression. “What is wrong, Uncle Liu?” Su Zimo asked. Liu Yu said in a low voice, “Nothing, go on in. You should rest in your room, I will look for you later.” Su Zimo nodded. Liu Yu sent Su Zimo away and went directly to Uncle Zheng’s room, telling everything that he saw at Shen family’s residence to him. Everyone in the room was surprised. If not for the fact that it was Liu Yu who told them, no one would believe it. “Could it be that Second Young Master is a Connate Expert?” Yuchi Huo asked. Liu Yu shook his head. “People who practiced martial arts would have significant changes in their physique. For instance, the temple will bulge and the knuckles will be bigger. There will be calluses on the hands and one will have a strong physique. But I don’t see these changes in Second Young Master. He does not have any calluses and he has long fingers. It doesn’t seem as if he has used a weapon before.” Uncle Zheng also said, “Second Young Master has spent all his time on studying, he didn’t have the chance to practice martial arts. It’s impossible that we not know about it. What’s more, one would need to practice for 10 years before one can advance to a Connate. And we are referring to those who are gifted and cultivated and practiced the mental cultivation method and internal power. Second Young Master is still so young.” Liu Yu thought about it and said, “On the way back, I deliberately tested Second Young Master and I can be certain that his movement technique is faster and above me!” Ah! Everyone was shocked. As the leader of the Su family guards, although Liu Yu was not well-versed in movement technique, he ranked the top ten in terms of his speed. Uncle Zheng frowned and asked, “Did Second Young Master cultivate some superb qinggong?” There were superior qinggong in the pugilistic society that were similar to “chasing toad in eight steps”. After cultivation, one was as light as the swallow and it could indeed increase the speed of one’s movement technique. “Unlikely.” Liu Yu shook his head and said, “Second Young Master merely kept up with me without using any martial arts. He did not use any clever moves.” Everyone was puzzled. Liu Yu said in a low voice, “If I am correct, the middle-aged man is Tang Mingjun, he is known as the “Soul Reaping Sword”. He is an early-stage Connate Expert.” “This does not make sense. Why will a Connate Expert attack Second Young Master? Won’t it be a disgrace to him?” Uncle Zheng frowned slightly. What Uncle Zheng meant was that if the person wanted to kill Second Young Master, he could send anyone who had practiced martial arts. There was no need for a Connate Expert to do it? Actually, Liu Yu arrived too late in time, he did not see that Su Zimo had killed three people consecutively. By the time he arrived, Su Zimo was in a dangerous situation. Liu Yu had yet to take in the surroundings around him and he brought Su Zimo to flee from Shen family’s residence. No one present would have known that it was not that Tang Mingjun, the “Soul Reaping Sword” wanted to attack Su Zimo, in fact, he was forced to do it. “Oh no!” Right then, one of the Su family guards pushed the door open, looking alarmed and panic. “There are many people outside. They look aggressive, saying that they want Second Young Master to pay a life for a life.” “Don’t panic, who are these people?” Liu Yu asked in a deep voice. “They are from Zhao family and Lee family. Shen Nan from the Shen family also brought many people with him!” The Su family guard swallowed with difficulty before he replied, breathing heavily. “A life for a life?” Uncle Zheng spoke softly, deep in his thoughts. If according to what Liu Yu said, Su Zimo did not kill anyone in the Shen family, why would they demand him to pay a life for a life? “Damn, this is a clear provocation. How could Second Young Master kill someone? I will go out to meet them!” Yuchi Huo was riled up. He stood up and dashed outside. “Wait!” Uncle Zheng coughed before he said softly, “Help me out.” “Mr Zheng, you must not move about so as not to aggravate your injuries.” Liu Yu hurried to stop him. Uncle Zheng shook his head. His attitude was firm. “He who comes is surely ill-intentioned. Now that Young Master is not around, I have to take a look no matter what.” The few of them from the Su family went out to take a look and their hearts sank. There were hundreds of people outside the residence. All of them looked menacing and most of them were Postnatal pugilistic experts. Three of them were early-stage Connate Experts. Tang Mingjun was one of them. Given Su family’s manpower and capabilities now, if they did not deal with this properly, all of them might end up dead!