Book 2 - Fame Spreads - Chapter 49.2

He Yiming’s voice that carried a trace of laughter sounded, carrying a magical power which actually caused He Quanxin’s completely despaired heart to throb.
He Yiming said with a faint smile, “Junior He Yiming, greets senior.”
Lu Xinwen coarsely laughed and said, “Since you’ve entered Xiantian, there is no such thing as senior and junior anymore.”
He Quanxin’s jaw dropped and eyes wide opened as he looked at his nephew with a lifeless gaze.
What did Lu Xinwen say?
He blankly looked around only to see everybody else also had the same expressions as if they had seen a ghost.
At this moment, everybody felt as if they were hearing words out of air.
He Yiming gently smiled. As its sound spread, everybody came back to life but their vision on him had completely changed.
Especially He Quanxin and He Yitian, Yuan Earnest and others who had interacted with him for quite some time, they all carried incredulous expressions on their faces; the despair in their eyes replaced with a gleam of hope.
He Yiming said in a clear voice, “May I ask brother Lu, why are you so sure that your disciples have already died?”
Lu Xinwen’s eyelids dropped as he said, “Could it be that brother He has entered Xiantian realm recently? How can you not understand even this much?”
He Yiming started and said, “I truly don’t know. Please, do tell.”
Lu Xinwen’s corner of mouth curled as he said, “We, Xiantian realm’s people, have extremely profound impressions of our closed-one’s breath. As long as we go through a region that they had been to within a short time duration, their presence couldn’t be concealed from us,” He softly sighed and said, “The small woods outside the Yuan manor contains strong odor of my three lowly disciples. This odor is so strong and so rich, that it could only have been emitted at the time of death.”
Flash of realization flickered on He Yiming’s face. Although he’d entered Xiantian realm, he’d yet to completely grasp the special abilities of Xiantian cultivators.
Lu Xinwen suddenly said, “Before I thought that brother He had left behind that odor as a challenge for my old self. Only now have I understood that it was actually a momentary carelessness on brother He’s part. If you wish to erase the traces next time, just reveal a bit of your Xiantian fist technique at that place and you can completely disrupt the air there, making it impossible for anyone to sense anything.”
He Yiming let out a bitter laugh, cursing inwardly, ‘If I had known this technique earlier, would I be before you at this moment?’
Lu Xinwen unhurriedly continued, “Brother He, I’m curious. My three disciples are not rude at all. They shouldn’t have provoked a Xiantian cultivator; brother He has entered Xiantian at such a young age. Therefore, I believe a Essence gold core and two treasured armguards might not have been enough to move you. Therefore, this old man wants know… why you decided to act and take their lives?”
He Yiming astoundedly looked at him only to see Lu Xinwen’s face quite serious, as if he couldn’t comprehend this affair at all.
Faintly nodding his head, He Yiming resolutely said, “That day, after disciple Zhuang Yuan retreated back after infiltrating Yuan manor, I followed the path taken by him and ran into your three disciples outside the woods. At first, I didn’t want to act. However, they talked about inviting you and exterminating my He family, not sparing even chickens and dogs,” Saying up to here, He Yiming paused here for a bit, “Since they were so merciless, how could I have spared their lives?”
He Quanxin and others immediately felt their blood go cold and eventually understood the crux of the matter.
They looked at Lu Xinwen with somewhat furious gazes. ‘Completely exterminating He family? If these people were not killed, would there be any justice left in this world?’
Lu Xinwen eventually let out a long sigh and said, “I understand. So this was the reason,” He chuckled and said, “Since exterminating your whole family was the desire of my disciples, then it shall be fulfilled by the means of this old man.”
A thick, almost substantial killing intent slowly soared on his body.
There was no change in He Yiming’s expression. He already knew that the enmity with this old man was irreconcilable since the moment Xiao Yifan had proposed to exterminate his whole family.
Since it was already out in open now, he would not hold his hand either.
Retreating half a step, He Yiming firmly stood. He didn’t fetch the sack behind his back, rather slowly lifted his two hands.
A mysterious hand imprint appeared on his two hands in a strange manner.
Ten fingers hooked into each other. Concealed in between fingers, where nobody’s vision could enter, his palms slightly bulged, as if the space in between them was filled with something.
Hidden Needle Imprint; the imprint he’d created out by transforming Rain Cloud Imprint. This was his first time using it in an actual battle.
He Yitian dazzlediy looking at his sixth brother. Among this group of people, only he’d witnessed Lin Taoli’s imprint technique.
Although he’d no way of knowing the transformations within, the outer shell looked hardly any different. He also knew that He family had no special techniques that had any connection to imprints.
Therefore he was actually somewhat curious, ‘Could Lin Taoli have imparted his clan’s imprint technique to sixth brother?’
But that Lin Taoli doesn’t seem that foolish….
As soon as He Yiming assumed the posture of Hidden Needle Imprint, his entire being seemed to have disappeared.
Although they could see his body with their eyes, in their perception, he’d ceased to exist.
In comparison to the strong vitality on Lu Xinwen’s body, He Yiming seemed to have turned into a blank rock without any life force whatsoever.
Their breath stuck in their throats, and indescribable emotions filled their heart.
Each of every one of them knew that today’s conclusion would rely on the battle between these two. Although the winning side would gain a lot, the losing side might not even be able to preserve their lives.
Although they had not entered the field themselves, the anxiety and concern in their hearts was far above that of the two Xiantian cultivators in the field.
Suddenly, Lu Xinwen’s body faintly flickered. He stepped out, and as everybody felt a blur before their eyes, he’d already arrived three steps away from He Yiming.
Nobody had been capable to discern how he’d moved. As if he’d suddenly disappeared and reappeared. They blinked their eyes, confirming if they hadn’t seen wrong. A few cowardly ones even wondered inwardly if this person was actually one of the demons and ghosts mentioned in the legends. Otherwise, how could he cause them to feel as if they were hallucinating.
However, right at this moment, He Yiming also moved.
His hand slightly moved. Each and every person could see a strand of golden light flickering.
Merely a flicker, not even long enough for a wink.
Lu Xinwen’s figure trembled in a strange manner, and he retreated with an inconceivable speed.
If nobody could see when he’d advanced, when he retreated, everybody clearly saw a series of after images.
Starting from three meters before He Yiming, a series of Lu Xinwen’s could be seen retreating, going up to twenty meters away from He Yiming. He then raised one palm and placed it before his chest.
A golden radiance flickered at the centre of his palm, then disappeared without a trace.
After catching this golden light, Lu Xinwen’s figure seemed to pause a bit, then changed directions one more time. This time his movements were even quicker as he spiraled around He Yiming.
In the eyes of the spectators, this old man’s figure had already disappeared. They were apparently seeing a wisp of mist, quickly circling on the field. As of this moment, Even He Quanxin, a tenth layer expert, was absolutely unable to make any sense, just like ordinary people.
His face was extremely unsightly. He’d heard He Wude saying that the difference between Houtian experts and Xiantian experts was simply inconceivable. In the eyes of a Xiantian cultivator, even a tenth layer Houtian cultivator merely amounted to a fly that was somewhat bigger in size.
Although he’d heard this so many times that even the skin of his earlobes had hardened, he still harbored suspicions.
However, at this moment, he’d wholeheartedly accepted it.
The two individuals fighting at the centre of the ground, be it He Yiming or Lu Xinwen, either one of them could easily take his life at any time.
At this moment, his only happiness lied in the fact that He Yiming had actually become a Xiantian cultivator, and his prayer was only that He Yiming could win this battle and also to escape if his strength happened to be insufficient.
He Yiming was still young. As long as he lived, there was no need to worry about revenge in the future.
Everybody outside the ground had their own thoughts, but the two individuals in the center of the ground had all their attentions focused on the opponent.
As if wind was under his feet, Lu Xinwen’s figure had turned into a dense cloud, a wisp of mist.
This wisp of mist and cloud was constantly circling around He Yiming, and with every circle, it seemed as if the air was concentrating somewhat, increasing the pressure inside the circle to some degree.
He Yiming could feel a whirlpool like energy gradually originating and constantly squeezing in on him.
Water-type technique, moreover Xiantian water-type technique.
At this moment, He Yiming had understood the attribute of the Xiantian technique cultivated by Lu Xinwen.
Confronting the power that was pressing in on him from every direction, He Yiming’s figure stood steady as a mountain. His ten fingers altered at a lightning fast speed; strands of Xiantian True Qi constantly were emitted from the center of his palms one after another.
Every time the hidden needle of the Hidden Needle Imprint was unleashed, as if poking a big hole in the layer of surrounding clouds, it immediately created an opening in that seemingly heavenly pressuring power, rendering it incapable of constituting further pressure on him.
The speed at which He Yiming had unleashed the hidden needles was evidently out of Lu Xinwen’s expectations. With a long hiss, the old man suddenly stopped and instantly retreated a few tens of steps.
Only at this moment did everybody clearly see that he was holding another white-colored dress. It was actually this white dress that was fluttering amidst his exceedingly fast movements which emanated a feeling of mist and cloud.
However, at this moment, this dress was already full of holes, torn to an extent that it would no longer suffice….