C5 Do I Have the Strength?

"Hiss!"

"Lu Chen can cultivate now!?"

The onlookers gasped in shock. In a single move, he had disabled Grade Five Spirit Disciple Lin Feng!

"Yes, indeed, and he's just a Grade Four Spirit Disciple!"

"Exactly, did you see his technique? He took out Grade Five Spirit Disciple Lin Feng in an instant. Does that look like the work of a nobody!?"

"Ha, looks like Young Master Lin is about to become the stepping stone for Lu Chen's ascent!"

"Absolutely, who would've thought Vast Dragon City would produce another prodigy capable of challenging those above his grade!"

"You, you good-for-nothing, you can cultivate?" Lin Feng, wincing in pain, stared at Lu Chen incredulously. Just three days ago, he had seen Du Zheng beat Lu Chen to within an inch of his life.

"Cultivate or not, I'll still crush you!" Lu Chen said coldly, advancing toward Lin Feng as golden threads coalesced in his right hand.

But at that moment, a chilling voice echoed in Lu Chen's ear, a voice he knew all too well and loathed.

"Trash will always be trash. You beat a nobody, and now he's a genius?"

Lu Chen looked up to see the speaker, a sullen-faced youth about fifteen or sixteen years old, dressed in fine clothes, emerging from the crowd.

"It's Du Zheng, Second Young Master Du!"

"He's here too! Haha, now we've got a real spectacle. Looks like Lu Chen's brief moment in the spotlight might be short-lived!"

"Indeed, Lin Feng is no match for Second Young Master Du. He's a bona fide Grade Eight Spirit Disciple!"

"Master Du, save me! Lu Chen's trying to cripple me," Lin Feng, sprawled on the ground, pleaded as his eyes brightened at the sight of Du Zheng.

Du Zheng glanced at Lin Feng with contempt and scoffed:

"Get out of the way. You can't even handle a nobody. What a waste of my time keeping you around."

Relieved by the dismissal, Lin Feng hurried to get up, but as he started to rise, Lu Chen's foot came crashing down on him.

"Do I need your agreement to let him go? When I say I'll cripple him, that's exactly what I'll do!" No sooner had Lu Chen's words fallen than a golden glint sparked from his right hand, and he thrust it violently toward Lin Feng, who lay on the ground.

"Ah!"

Lin Feng let out a wretched scream, clutching at his eyes, now nothing but two bloody pits, as he writhed in agony on the ground.

"You!" Du Zheng hadn't anticipated Lu Chen's resolute action, and his face turned grim.

"You don't kick a dog without considering its master. Have you, a worthless nobody, suddenly learned to cultivate and forgotten how I thrashed you just three days ago?"

While speaking, Du Zheng's body brimmed with Spirit Force. With a light tap of his toes, his fists shimmered with power as he charged at Lu Chen.

"It looks like I need to give you a lesson in what a true genius is!"

"Tyrant Tiger Fist!"

"Golden Thread Inch Fist!"

Du Zheng bore down on him, but Lu Chen didn't flinch. His body roiled with Spirit Force, his right fist enveloped in golden threads, and he met Du Zheng's charge head-on.

"Bang!"

Both men were formidable, and their clash was over in the blink of an eye.

Lu Chen staggered back several steps before regaining his footing, a fine but deep gash on his right fist from which blood flowed freely.

Du Zheng had completely disrupted the Golden Thread Inch Fist, wounding Lu Chen in the process!

Meanwhile, Du Zheng stood unshaken, like a tower of iron.

"Hahaha, too weak! You couldn't even withstand a single blow from me!"

Du Zheng's eyes dripped with scorn as he gazed at Lu Chen.

"This is the gap between a talentless hack and a genius! You can't even block one punch, much less my Wind Slasher Sword!"

He laughed, gesturing to the long sword on his back that gleamed brilliantly in the sunlight.

Du Zheng's true prowess lay not in his fists, but in his swordsmanship.

"Wind Slasher Sword? A high-grade mortal weapon?"

Lu Chen was taken aback. He hadn't expected Du Zheng to possess a Spirit Treasure!

Spirit Treasures were unlike common armaments. Ordinary weapons could be easily shattered by a Spiritual Cultivator, but a Spirit Treasure was crafted from exceptional materials and possessed the innate ability to amplify the wielder's Spirit Force attacks.

Spirit Treasures are categorized into different levels: Heavenly, Earthly, Sovereign, King, and Mortal, each with their own sub-rankings of high, medium, and low.

Du Zheng clearly enjoyed favor within the Du family. Little did he know, the family possessed only two high-grade Mortal Spirit Treasures.

"You're not even worth the effort of me drawing my sword!" Du Zheng sneered at Lu Chen, then turned his contemptuous gaze to Yue Yao, saying, "Throughout history, fair maidens have always been matched with heroes. Even with your humble origins, you shouldn't waste your time on this failure. Imagine how much better it would be to become my concubine!"

"Mind your own business!" Yue Yao clutched Lu Chen's clothes and yelled, her eyes tightly shut. It was the loudest she had ever spoken, mustering all the courage she had.

Lu Chen, standing nearby, narrowed his eyes, a fleeting look of lethal intent passing through them. He was ready to kill. Du Zheng had made a grave mistake by bringing up Yue Yao again. Though Lu Chen had been reborn, the emotions and memories of this body had fused with his own. To others, it might be unclear, but his protective instincts for Yue Yao were as natural as warmth to iron that has been held close for a decade.

"What's there to boast about when a Grade Eight Spirit Disciple defeats a Grade Four? I swear, at the Moon God River Purification ceremony in half a month, I'll have my revenge for this punch!"

Currently, Du Zheng was indeed far stronger than Lu Chen, but that was only because Lu Chen had refrained from using any forbidden techniques. The cost of such techniques was far too high for him at the moment.

Moreover, with Lu Chen's rapid progress, having advanced to Grade Four in just three days, it wouldn't be long before he caught up with Du Zheng.

"Hahaha, very well!" Du Zheng let out a mocking laugh upon hearing Lu Chen's declaration.

"Little lady, after the Moon God River Purification, you'll see just how pathetic your young master really is!"

With that, Du Zheng cast a covetous glance at Yue Yao, then turned on his heel and strode away, leaving Lin Feng lying on the ground. In his eyes, Lu Chen didn't even deserve the honor of his unsheathing a sword, and the upcoming Moon God Purification would prove that all the more.

"Shopkeeper!" Lu Chen casually flicked a gold coin from his pocket to the vendor who had just sold him some clothes.

"I'll take all the clothes I selected. Please have them delivered to the Lu Mansion by tomorrow."

With that, Lu Chen took Yue Yao's hand and they departed.

He needed to enhance his strength quickly! Otherwise, he wouldn't even be able to step foot outside Vast Dragon City, let alone seek his revenge!

As Lu Chen was about to exit the market, he abruptly halted, his gaze drawn to a stall nearby.

The stall was sparse and the items looked worn, presided over by a portly old man puffing on a hookah.

Lu Chen's eyes settled on a dark green shell on the stall and he couldn't help but smile. If his memory served him right, that was it!

The Sea Flame Shell! Thriving in the depths of the ocean, it didn't nurture pearls but Sea Flames instead!

The Sea Flame, resembling a pearl, might seem unremarkable, yet to an alchemist, it was worth a fortune—literally priceless!

In his past life, Lu Chen was not just a Grade Nine Spirit Emperor but also a Seventh-Level Alchemist!

In a world where nine was the pinnacle, the alchemical journey was no different. Spanning from first to ninth level, a Seventh-Level Alchemist was on par with the Spirit King Stage. And with Lu Chen's previous status as a Grade Nine Spirit Emperor, he was revered in the alchemical circles as the Spirit Emperor Pill King.

With these thoughts, Lu Chen, holding Yue Yao's hand, approached the stall.

"Old man, how much for all these items?" Lu Chen inquired, deliberately avoiding asking the price of the shell alone, wary of the old man potentially inflating the price.

"Hmm? Some deem them worthless, others find them beyond price. I've no set figure in mind—it's entirely up to what you're willing to offer!"

The old man's response was unexpected. Lu Chen looked up, studying the old man's expression, which remained inscrutable behind the veil of smoke.