Chapter 68.2: Divine Strength and the Profound Gate of Life and Death! (II)

Back at the Prefectural Yamen in Nanyang City, Li Mu looked utterly exhausted. His eyes were bloodshot, his expression drawn. He had tossed and turned the entire night, unable to sleep. Even when dawn broke, his mind remained stuck on the Thirteen Riders of the Great Desert.

"Is there still no word from Great Hero Zhuang, the one who accepted the Call for Heroes last night?" Li Mu asked, his voice tight with anxiety.

A yamen officer on night duty quickly replied, "No, my lord, there is still no news from Great Hero Zhuang."

Li Mu's heart sank. Based on past experience, the longer these heroes took to return, the slimmer the hope became. After all, someone truly powerful would have eliminated the Thirteen Riders in a short time.

The yamen officers nearby exchanged uneasy glances, but none dared to speak. They, too, held little hope.

If formidable martial artists in the jianghu such as the Seven Brothers of Cloud Mountain, the One-Armed Hero, and Shen Ying had all failed to eliminate the Thirteen Riders, how could some unknown martial artist possibly succeed?

Li Mu's eyes widened as he suddenly caught sight of something unexpected. It was Zhuang Shisan, slowly making his way through the yamen gates. Without a word, he tossed a cloth-wrapped bundle onto the ground before everyone.

With a clatter, the bundle fell open, revealing a row of sabers. Judging by their design, they were unmistakably the sabers of the Thirteen Riders.

"Are those... Are those the sabers of the Thirteen Riders of the Great Desert? Great Hero Zhuang, you actually managed to kill them?" asked Li Mu, barely able to contain his excitement.

"Indeed, I have killed them," Lu Changsheng replied calmly. "If you do not believe me, Lord Li, feel free to send your men to the mountain stronghold. If you do, send lots of men, for there are many corpses left there, and they ought to be burned quickly."

"I believe you. Of course I believe you!" Li Mu exclaimed. "The sabers of the Thirteen Riders are unmistakable. Anyone could recognize them at a glance!

Hahaha!

I thank you on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of people living in Nanyang Prefecture!"

Li Mu bowed deeply before Lu Changsheng, his gratitude overflowing.

"Lord Li, now that I have eliminated the Thirteen Riders, I would like to claim my reward."

Truth be told, the gold mattered little to him. It was the Divine Strength Realm martial art he was really after.

"Of course! The thirteen sabers are clear proof. With proof, the reward will be granted without question." Li Mu turned to his men. "Bring the chest from my room!"

A moment later, yamen officers carried in a large wooden chest.

Li Mu opened the chest, and a golden glow burst forth. The chest was filled to the brim with a thousand taels of gold, worth ten thousand in silver and weighing nearly a hundred jin.[1] Impressive as the sight was, Lu Changsheng’s eyes were drawn not to the wealth, but to the martial art manual.

Realizing that, Li Mu lifted the manual and handed it to Lu Changsheng with a smile. "Along with the thousand taels of gold."

Lu Changsheng nodded and took the manual, flipping through it briefly. It was indeed a Divine Strength Realm martial art, titled

Raging Waves Divine Strength Art

. Satisfied, he tucked it away.

"Couldn't I receive the ten thousand taels in silver notes instead?" he asked Li Mu. "Carrying gold is far too troublesome."

"Of course." Li Mu immediately ordered men to fetch the silver notes.

With the reward secured, Lu Changsheng stepped out of the yamen.

Once Lu Changsheng was gone, a nearby yamen officer hesitated before asking quietly, "My Lord, did Great Hero Zhuang really kill the Thirteen Riders?"

"

Hmph!

The sabers of the Thirteen Riders are right here. There is no mistaking them," Li Mu argued. "But you are right to be cautious. Send men to the stronghold at once. If their bodies are there, bring them all back and make it known to everyone. I want the entire city of Nanyang to witness this victory."

A calculating gleam flickered in Li Mu's eyes. With the Thirteen Riders dead, the crisis that had weighed so heavily on him was finally gone. In fact, he could turn this into a major achievement, allowing him to remind the wealthy merchants that safety came with a price.

This notion filled Li Mu with immense satisfaction. Still, one question still gnawed at him: Who exactly was this Zhuang Shisan?

While Li Mu puzzled over the matter, Zhuang Shisan himself had already returned to Miaoshou Garden. After a quick change of clothes, he was once again the unassuming Physician Lu.

He took out

Raging Waves Divine Strength Art

, the martial art he had just received from the Prefectural Yamen. The name itself didn't strike him as particularly inspiring, so he was unsure how good it truly was.

He opened the manual and proceeded to examine it carefully. It did not appear to be an especially profound Divine Strength Realm martial art, appearing to be similar to

Layered Peaks Divine Strength Art

. However, this manual included unusually detailed annotations. It seemed like a senior martial art expert had added their own explanations throughout.

Lu Changsheng flipped through the pages carefully, and he noticed the annotations were remarkably thorough. It seemed that the Raging Waves Divine Strength Art required the practitioner to sense the Profound Gate of Life and Death.

The manual even offered a method for that: one had to summon their rage and let it swell until it reached its absolute peak. Only at the height of that fury would the Profound Gate reveal itself. It was slightly different from the approach described in

Layered Peaks Divine Strength Art

. Regardless, reaching such an extreme state of rage was no simple task.

Fortunately for Lu Changsheng, he had no need to attempt that, for he had already sensed the Profound Gate of Life and Death.

Once the Raging Waves Divine Strength Art breaks through the Profound Gate of Life and Death, divine strength naturally arises, granting the practitioner the strength of ten cauldrons...

𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

When Lu Changsheng read this line, his eyes narrowed.

There it is again. The strength of ten cauldrons...

He quickly took out the

Celestial Treasure-Refinement Secret Technique

he had found on the Thirteen Riders. It clearly stated that after entering the Divine Strength Realm, refining a single rare treasure would grant an additional ten cauldrons of strength.

So stepping into the Divine Strength Realm grants ten cauldrons of strength by default. And if Celestial Treasure-Refinement reaches the seventh layer, I could gain another seventy cauldrons. This is truly a top-tier secret technique!

A glint of excitement flashed through Lu Changsheng's eyes. He had truly stumbled upon something extraordinary.

He kept reading. The annotations even explained what

ten cauldrons of strength

actually meant. For the average martial artist, lifting one cauldron was already the absolute peak of physical strength, equal to a thousand jun. But those who crossed the Profound Gate of Life and Death and entered the Divine Strength Realm stood far beyond such limits. Having undergone a fundamental transformation, even the weakest Divine Strength martial artists possessed ten cauldrons of strength.

Of course, whether it was one cauldron or ten cauldrons, such figures were merely conceptual comparisons. No matter how talented an ordinary person was, lifting one cauldron was the human limit. However, the fact that the Divine Strength martial artists started at ten cauldrons by default set them worlds apart from ordinary martial artists.

Lu Changsheng closed the

Raging Waves Divine Strength Art

. He could already sense the Profound Gate of Life and Death within his mind, and he had returned to the safety of Miaoshou Garden. All that remained was choosing which Divine Strength Art to use for his breakthrough.

The difference between the two arts wasn't huge. Once he ascended to the Divine Strength Realm, divine strength would come naturally anyway.

"The Raging Waves Divine Strength Art focuses on explosive strength, while the Layered Peaks Divine Strength Art strengthens every aspect of the body," he murmured to himself.

After thinking it over, Lu Changsheng decided to follow the path of the Layered Peaks Divine Strength Art. After all, the body was the foundation of everything.

With the decision made, he opened the

Layered Peaks Divine Strength Art

once more, studying the technique again and again, committing every crucial detail to memory. When he was fully prepared, Lu Changsheng drew a deep breath, letting every distraction fall away.

He closed his eyes.

Let's begin.

1. A hundred jin is around 50 kilograms ☜