The True Lord has arrived

Chapter 21 Transformation!

"Hahaha, kid, you've come here looking for death, haven't you?!"

The footsteps were hurried, kicking up dust as they stomped on the ground.

The leader of the bandits rushed towards Zhou Yan. He was a man much stronger than Zhou Yan, probably in his thirties, with broad shoulders, and he was holding a thick-backed knife. He swung it around and slashed at Zhou Yan.

Zhou Yan gripped the knife.

Subconsciously, I already pointed my fingers together, ready to unleash the [Karmic Fire and Hunger Flames].

But he paused.

He knew perfectly well why he was there: to hone his swordsmanship. If he used magic, even if Shen Cangming didn't know, he himself understood that it would just be opportunistic.

The only person you can't deceive is yourself.

"It's okay to lie to others, but don't lie to yourself."

"Are you still going to back down now?"

He took a small, shallow breath, confronting the true, hidden weakness within himself, and made his choice. Between the fear of magic and the terror of facing hand-to-hand combat, he hesitated for only a single breath.

He gripped the knife tightly and charged forward.

The man opposite him swung his knife at him.

The sound of the blade cutting through the air was somewhat jarring.

Zhou Yan felt his body tense up instinctively. This was different from the sneak attack in the Hungry Ghost Den, and different from a group fight. When faced with a knife, everyone has the instinct to dodge.

The feeling of proficiency with the sword during practice gave him the urge to raise it for defense.

Zhou Yan looked at the bloodshot eyes of the man opposite him and heard his own heartbeat.

He thought of Wang Chun, and of the marketplace, but a colder voice emerged from within: Pei Xuanbao's eyes, the words "originally a commoner," and a pale, sharp blade of energy.

A multitude of distracting thoughts, like wildfire, burned in my mind.

Biological instinct, the swordsman's defensive impulse.

Zhou Yan gritted his teeth.

He shattered these chaotic thoughts with a single action.

Take a step forward to face the blade!
Snapped!
In this fierce battle, the simplest step shattered the past peace and tranquility, and a tragic and chilling aura of swordsmen rose up, causing a ripple in Shen Cangming's eyes.

He knew that the transformation was already complete.

Knives and swords are different; the most important thing about them is bravery.

The courage of a fully armed cavalryman wielding a long-handled sword at the enemy is no more noble than the courage of a commoner holding a hoe to protect his land. In the eyes of the border troops, the courage of both sides deserves the same respect.

To confront one's own fears and to wield a blade against a powerful foe is courage.

Just like in previous training, Zhou Yan ripped through the air with his blade and slashed horizontally.

"cut!!!"

The blade was sharp and powerful, and this horizontal slash was extremely well executed. The opponent seemed not to have expected that such an ordinary young man would have such ruthless swordsmanship. Caught off guard, he retreated. Shen Cangming stared intently at this exchange, thinking to himself, "That's how it is."

'Use a single move to create an opening, then use a steady cycle of knife techniques to expand your advantage.'

'Don't be afraid, take half a step forward.'

He didn't speak. Speaking during such a focused battle would disrupt Zhou Yan's rhythm, but even so, the best course of action subconsciously surfaced in his mind.

Zhou Yan stepped forward!
Shen Cangming thought to himself, 'Raise my sword and strike again!'

Zhou Yan raised his knife and brought it down heavily. His opponent had just changed his move and was already slow to defend. This heavy blow caused him to lose control of the knife, causing the center of gravity to shift and leaving the man wide open.

Zhou Yan exhaled, his instinctive combat intuition kicking in. Seeing the opponent's blade shift, he didn't follow the training method of slashing and repeating the movements, but instead slashed again, followed by a stepping motion to seize the opponent's space.

After only three or five moves, the bandit man opposite him lost his grip on the knife, and it slipped from his hand. In that instant, Shen Cangming's training of Zhou Yan left him no room for thought or hesitation. He gripped the knife and slashed down hard.

The blade, which Shen Cangming had honed and refined many times, slashed into the opponent's shoulder. At the moment of contact, Zhou Yan's muscles and bones erupted with power, the blade piercing the skin and muscles, and then instantly slicing down!
"Ahhhhh!!"

A short, sharp scream.

After the explosive movement, blood splattered on Zhou Yan's shoulder and face, and he was breathing heavily.

Shen Cangming gripped the hilt of the knife to prevent Zhou Yan from making any mistakes due to his unfamiliarity with wielding a knife for the first time.

Other bandits also rushed up.

Zhou Yan looked up and inhaled.

The approaching bandits obscured the view and the light.

Shen Cangming pressed his fingers against the hilt of his sword, the blade flashing a tiny inch of light as he spurred his warhorse forward.

The sound of swords clashing rang out!

The horizontal arc of light tore through the front, causing Shen Cangming to pause in his movements.

The string pendant at Zhou Yan's waist made a deep sound, then the boy's movements suddenly became rapid and sharp, gleaming coldly in the sunlight, with a steely gleam as the blade tore ahead, gaining the upper hand.

The attacking bandits bled profusely and fell to the ground screaming.

Zhou Yan lowered his shoulders and rammed forward, using the bandit he had slashed and was bleeding profusely as a shield to block the blow.

It has nothing to do with hesitation or weakness.

When Zhou Yan set foot here, he knew that pity did not belong to these people.

Hesitation will not cross his mind.

Timidity and hesitation should have been addressed before climbing the mountain. To still have such emotions after climbing the mountain is simply too frivolous.

Zhou Yan's swordsmanship gradually unfolded as he advanced step by step. After gaining an initial advantage through his swordsmanship, a sense of confidence would immediately arise within the martial artist, a confidence that would surge forth amidst the smell of blood and the clash of swords. In this state, the martial artist would unleash power far greater than usual.

But soon, Zhou Yan was injured.

After Zhou Yan was injured, Shen Cangming's mount clearly sensed its master's tense state of mind. The warhorse shook its head and saw that after being injured, Zhou Yan first grimaced in pain, and then seemed to become furious.

It seems that it was after realizing that his desired no-damage speedrun had failed.

There was absolutely no reservation left.

The moves gradually became more expansive, powerful, heavy, and fast.

With the power of a hungry ghost, he devoured a large amount of meat. In addition, the border army's stance training rapidly improved his physique, and Zhou Yan's strength already exceeded that of an ordinary adult. Furthermore, Shen Cangming only taught him two sword techniques, and when using these two sword techniques, he was comparable to a skilled swordsman.

The gang of thugs quickly realized that this guy only knew two moves.

Then they understood something else.

They most likely won't survive those two blows, one horizontal and one vertical.

Seeing his brothers lying at the feet of this young man, the last bandit trembled. They had no fighting spirit like regular soldiers. Seeing this fierce man, their mentality began to collapse. They turned around and howled to find their leader.

Pushing open the door, I saw that the bosses had died even more horribly.

The bandits turned pale and wanted to leave, but they heard a voice. When they turned around, they saw a young man dressed in brown clothes walking over, holding a knife in one hand. There were many bloodstains on his sleeves and clothes, and blood was still dripping from the knife.

The boy's breathing seemed a little rapid, and his hands were trembling slightly.

However, this doesn't seem to be fear, but rather the excitement that some people feel when they enter a fighting state. In this state, their attacks are heavier than usual, and their eyes are clear and bright.

As Zhou Yan walked over step by step, the sharp, piercing aura emanating from him almost suffocated the bandits.

"Found you."

Zhou Yan raised his sword, gripping part of the hilt with his left hand and the other part with his right. He breathed deeply, his muscles and blood converging as if he were contemplating whether to slash horizontally or chop heavily.

when!
There was a crisp sound.

The knives in the hands of the bandits in front fell to the ground with a series of clattering sounds.

Then he slowly bent forward, knelt down with a thud, and murmured, "Master..."

The other bandit kowtowed frantically, repeatedly.

He bumped his head so hard it left an afterimage.

"Grandpa, spare me! Grandpa, spare me!"

"???"

Zhou Yan's movements faltered.

ended……

Shen Cangming loosened his grip on the horizontal sword.

Far exceeded expectations!

Zhou Yan's performance has surpassed that of the vast majority of border troops on their first battlefield experience.

Shen Cangming slowly exhaled.

This man, who had fought his way through mountains of corpses and seas of blood, found that his temples were damp with sweat. He was just watching Zhou Yan personally train, but he was even more tense than when he first went to the battlefield.

Driving the warhorse forward to finish off Zhou Yan and prevent any unforeseen circumstances, one of the men was bleeding heavily but was still trying to sneak out when he was kicked by the big black horse and immediately passed out.

Shen Cangming saw Zhou Yan tie up several bandits.

Seeing the blood seeping through his clothes, Zhou Yan only felt the pain after the intense tension and excitement of the battle had subsided. His face twitched, and besides the pain, he also felt an extremely intense sense of exhaustion.

There's a similar feeling to when your arms twitch involuntarily after doing too much physical labor.

Real combat is an extremely physically demanding activity.

Novices, when in a state of extreme excitement, often overexert themselves and don't know how to conserve their energy. After winning, their bodies will enter a state of fatigue.

He took a breath, rummaged through the bundle on the black horse's back, and found two cornbread buns. He stuffed them into his mouth and ate them in no time. Only then did he activate the Hungry Ghost Jade Talisman, using the power of the hungry ghost to quickly digest the food.

A warm current flowed through my body.

The physical strength was quickly restored, and the pain from the wound subsided.

I'm still a little hungry.

Zhou Yan licked his lips, staring at the black horse's ration of soybean dregs cakes. The black horse's ears twitched, keenly sensing the guy's ill intentions, so it turned to the side and used its rear to push the guy out.

Zhou Yan said, "I didn't eat any of yours."

The big black horse snorted rudely and rolled its eyes at him.

It seems to be saying, "It's just that I haven't eaten yet."

Zhou Yan swallowed hard and had no choice but to continue searching for any leftover food. When he saw Shen Cangming, he said, "Uncle Shen..." Shen Cangming placed his left hand on the top of Zhou Yan's head and rubbed it vigorously.

The cold, resolute man's voice softened:
"well done."

Zhou Yan grinned: "Hey, Uncle Shen, you can compliment people too."

Shen Cangming pressed his head to make sure his injury wasn't too serious. He then told Zhou Yan to reach out and took out some medicine he had prepared earlier from his lower back. He applied the medicine to Zhou Yan's wound and said, "After we win, we'll search for the spoils of war."

"Go and search the mountain bandits' stash of goods."

“And…” Shen Cangming paused, then continued without changing his expression:
"Rescue."

(End of this chapter)