Chapter 153: Meeting Force with Force

Lu Tianhong unleashed his full strength, and a golden blade shadow surged straight toward Tian Heng.

Tian Heng watched the golden blade shadow approach without dodging.

"Could it be that I've succeeded?" Tian Heng thought to himself.

The disciples of the Lu family also stared intently at the martial arts arena.

"Grandfather, Second Uncle, you must not fail!" Lu Hai prayed inwardly.

"You have some capability, and judging by this offensive, it has the power of the ninth stage of the Innate Realm. Unfortunately, it is useless against me," Tian Heng said.

Suddenly, the hair on Lu Tianhong's arms stood on end. Danger! This was a martial artist's intuition, an instinct that had saved Lu Tianhong's life many times over!

Without a second thought, Lu Tianhong slammed his foot heavily onto the ground, causing cracks to spiderweb across the arena floor as he violently leaped backward.

A flash of golden light crossed Tian Heng's eyes as he stared at the retreating Lu Tianhong. In an instant, Tian Heng lashed out with a kick, moving several times faster than Lu Tianhong.

"Hmph, your reaction time is acceptable for a junior, but you still cannot escape!"

Golden light flashed in Tian Heng's hand, transforming into a round, golden scorching sun that left his grasp and hurtled forward fiercely.

The golden blade shadow shattered the moment it met the golden scorching sun, vanishing into nothingness.

The golden sun turned into a golden afterimage, catching up to Lu Tianhong in the blink of an eye. The golden glow magnified continuously within Lu Tianhong's pupils. With a grave expression, Lu Tianhong held his Xuanjin Blade horizontally across his chest and slashed fiercely toward the golden sun.

"Bang!"

A tyrannical burst of golden light flashed, and Lu Tianhong was sent flying instantly.

"Puff!"

Suspended in mid-air, Lu Tianhong spat out a mouthful of blood and flew several zhang before crashing heavily onto the ground.

"Hong'er!"

"Second Uncle!"

"Patriarch!"

Cries rang out one after another.

Lu Hai rushed directly to Lu Tianhong's side and helped him up.

Wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth with difficulty, Lu Tianhong said, "Lu Hai, I told you to take the clan members and leave. Why won't you listen? Has your Second Uncle's word lost its weight?"

Lu Tianhong's voice was somewhat weak.

Had it not been for Lu Tianhong's preemptive retreat just now, the outcome would have been far worse than merely coughing up some blood.

The gap in strength between Lu Tianhong and Tian Heng was vast. Tian Heng's full-strength attack was something even the old Patriarch of the Lu family, operating in the state of human and blade as one, would have to handle with the utmost care. Had Lu Tianhong been even a fraction of a second slower, severe injury would have been inevitable.

"Second Uncle, if I had just left like that, not only would Father blame me, but I would also live in remorse. And what about our cousin, Lu Han? How would you expect me to explain it to him? Should I tell him I fled from battle and abandoned my own Second Uncle?" Lu Hai said stubbornly.

"You... Suit yourself!" Lu Tianhong thought about it; if he were in the same situation, he probably would have made the exact same choice as Lu Hai.

Lu Tianhong felt a wave of emotion. Lu辉 (Lu Hui) was his eldest brother's biological son, his own nephew. Yet now, his eldest brother had sought to overthrow the Lu family, and his nephew Lu Hui had brought his master to make the Lu family flow with rivers of blood. At this final, critical hour, Lu Hai—whom his third brother had picked up by the roadside more than a decade ago—was still guarding the Lu family.

Tian Heng let out a cold snort, clearly unsatisfied with his own attack. He had intended to deal Lu Tianhong a crippling blow even if he couldn't kill him outright, but he hadn't expected Lu Tianhong to execute such a frantic retreat beforehand, drastically reducing the power of his strike.

"Grandson Lu Hai, take your Second Uncle and go! Go!" The old Patriarch of the Lu family cried out in a moment of despair.

"When all is said and done, this stems from my initial indulgence toward the eldest. If only I had... well, there's no use dwelling on it now!" the old Patriarch thought to himself.

Back then, the old Patriarch was well aware that Lu Tianlin had plotted against Lu Tianhong and Meng Wan'er. It was precisely because of that incident that Lu Tianlin was stripped of his position as Young Sect Master, though the matter was kept under wraps. Never had he expected that Lu Tianlin would refuse to repent and would commit such a rebellious act. Following Lu Tianlin's death, his son Lu Hui brought his master and threatened to turn the Lu family into a bloodbath. This drove the old Patriarch to shoulder the blame for the disaster.

"Hmph, your turn!" Tian Heng glanced at the old Patriarch and sneered.

Tian Heng morphed into a blur and charged straight at the old Patriarch.

The old Patriarch's expression shifted drastically. With a sudden movement, he sidestepped just as a figure arrived. A piercingly sharp golden profound energy slashed across the exact spot where the old Patriarch had been standing, leaving a gash several feet deep.

"Consider yourself lucky to dodge so fast!"

Seeing his attack miss, the golden radiance enveloping Tian Heng grew even more dazzling, making him look like a blazing golden sun. With his palms crackling with golden profound energy, he lunged toward the old Patriarch—targeting the old Patriarch's already injured left shoulder!

Seeing that Tian Heng's palm strike was about to connect with the old Patriarch's shoulder, Lu Tianhong and every member of the Lu family felt their hearts leap into their throats. A hit here would undoubtedly compound their existing injuries with fresh disaster.

Suddenly, a crisp, clear blade chime rang out. The old Patriarch's figure flashed violently, and a streak of golden blade radiance flickered into existence, swiftly carrying him out of Tian Heng's attack range.

At this sight, Lu Tianhong and the others breathed a collective sigh of relief. A look of astonishment crossed Tian Heng's face. Entering the state of human and blade as one was no simple feat; it required the perfect fusion of mental willpower and soul power. At the Profound Monarch realm, while their soul power might not be overwhelmingly powerful, it was by no means weak. Mental willpower, however, was different. Some people could control it innately, whereas certain Earth Monarch experts struggled for a lifetime without ever perceiving it—a matter entirely dependent on innate talent and life experience.

Furthermore, deploying mental willpower was exceptionally draining and could not be sustained for long. Tian Heng had assumed the old Patriarch was no longer capable of executing the technique, only for the old Patriarch to forcefully tear himself out of the attack radius using the fusion of human and blade.

"Since that's how it is, get down!" Tian Heng had lost his patience for playing games.

With a flick of his wrist, Tian Heng directed all the golden radiance on his back to converge upon his hands. His fingers danced through hand seals like a butterfly flitting among flowers, and the golden profound energy between his hands grew increasingly dense, until it looked as though he were holding two miniature golden suns.

Seeing Tian Heng form the hand seals, Lu Hui—standing behind him—flashed a look of intense excitement. This was the Profound-tier low-grade martial skill, Golden Light Palm, that Tian Heng had imparted to him before entering closed-door cultivation.

Only, the speed at which Tian Heng formed these hand seals was immeasurably faster than Lu Hui's.

Two golden palm prints coalesced in Tian Heng's hands. Giving the old Patriarch no time to prepare, Tian Heng leaped forward and thrust both hands outward, sending two gigantic golden palm prints hurtling toward the old Patriarch with terrifying speed.

"Golden Light Palm!"

With a sharp roar from Tian Heng, the palm prints swelled to ten meters in width, their golden light searingly blinding to the eyes as they closed in on the old Patriarch instantly.

Tian Heng's aura had locked onto the old Patriarch. Knowing he could not outrun such speed, a fierce look flashed in the old Patriarch's eyes as he let out a low shout.

"Great Spirit Golden Blade!"

A profound energy golden blade more than ten meters in length materialized behind the old Patriarch. Under the watchful eyes of Lu Tianhong and the numerous Lu family disciples, the sun-like palm prints and the golden blade radiance violently collided!

"Bang!"

A tremendous crash echoed throughout Maple Leaf City, causing the martial arts arena of the City Lord's Mansion to shudder as stone fragments from the ground blasted in all directions.

Everyone watched as the two figures in the arena were swallowed by a blinding explosion of dual lights.

"Boom!"

They saw the golden blade radiance growing progressively weaker. Although the golden palm print had dimmed somewhat, it still pressed forward relentlessly toward the old Patriarch!