......
At that mont, Cao Zi’ang finally realized sothing was wrong, but Lu Ding's attack was too decisive. He went straight for the kill—or at least, that's what Cao Zi’ang thought.
It was too late.
The slashes coming from all directions enveloped him, shredding his half-baked General’s Armor Technique, slicing through both the technique and his flesh.
Two seconds passed.
Lu Ding lowered his arms. Cao Zi’ang, who had been standing just a mont ago, was now scattered across the ground, leaving behind a striking trail of crimson.
"2-8..."
Indeed, it was the 2-8 split—888 slashes in two seconds.
But at least, Cao Zi’ang didn’t die for nothing.
His death served as a test for Lu Ding, confirming just how much General’s Armor enhanced his defense.
The result? Not bad.
But just not bad. The real takeaway?
It looked aweso.
Below, the crowd had been silent ever since Cao Zi’ang activated General’s Armor.
Now, they suddenly began to wonder—were they overthinking things?
Was it possible that Cao Zi’ang had just given up, knowing that his entire family had been captured? That he found life aningless and voluntarily challenged Lu Ding to a life-and-death duel?
Because otherwise—why the hell would he dare?!
A perfected General’s Armor Technique ant that even if you stood still and let people hack at you, most wouldn't even be able to leave a mark.
This was no joke.
General’s Armor was useful, but hard to master. Anyone who achieved perfection in it was an absolute nace.
Not to ntion, Lu Ding had already made a na for himself with his raw physical strength. Adding a perfected General’s Armor on top of that?
That was like giving wings to a tiger.
Bai Hen had watched the whole thing unfold, his eyes full of admiration.
Yes!
This was exactly the kind of person worthy of being his friend.
Only by befriending soone with skill, talent, and culture could they improve together, learn from one another, and grow side by side.
The only flaw, in Bai Hen’s opinion, was that Lu Ding was too low-key.
With such strength and talent, how could he still be provoked by this kind of clown?
"...He’s still too tolerant," Bai Hen murmured.
"Grandma was right. Truly strong people never bother with aningless displays. That’s what real power looks like."
"Lu Investigator, look this way!"
A female voice called out.
Click.
Ji Yanshuang pressed the cara shutter.
Lu Ding was frozen in ti at that very mont—shot from a low angle in a triangular composition.
At the center, he stood clad in Four Beasts Warring Armor, gleaming black.
To his left, the sky churned with rolling clouds, blotting out the sun.
To his right, the sky was clear, a perfect blue.
Sunlight fell across his face—one side illuminated, the other shadowed.
Stray hairs lifted by the wind, frozen in ti by the cara.
Ji Yanshuang covered her mouth in surprise.
She hadn’t expected this.
She had co here out of concern, then felt joy at Lu Ding’s victory, wanting to capture his mont of glory.
She never imagined the shot would co out with such an incredible atmosphere.
Lu Ding was a bit puzzled by Ji Yanshuang’s presence, but he didn’t go over to her.
They were nothing more than passing acquaintances—there was nothing much to say.
More importantly, he had other things to do.
He had made a decision.
Aside from not leaving behind Cao Yutang’s corpse last ti, everything else he had vowed to do, he had carried out.
And this ti—he had sworn to tear Wen Ruchu’s mouth apart.
Lu Ding shot toward the crowd, straight at Wen Ruchu.
Seeing Lu Ding, armored and flying toward him, Wen Ruchu froze.
Why was he coming for him?!
He hadn’t provoked Lu Ding—at least, not in his mind.
To him, a few words here and there didn’t count as provocation.
But if Lu Ding weren’t so overwhelmingly strong, if he weren’t so aggressive, then maybe he would have been tricked into playing along with Cao Zi’ang’s good cop-bad cop routine.
Wen Ruchu turned to run.
He didn’t know why Lu Ding was after him, but running was always a good idea.
No way he could take Lu Ding in a fight.
Hell, he couldn’t even beat Cao Zi’ang. Otherwise, why would he have always stuck by him?
But the mont he turned—
Bai Hen stood in front of him, arms crossed. "Where do you think you’re going?"
And behind him, Lu Ding’s voice rang out.
"You sure like playing peacemaker, don’t you?"
Wen Ruchu turned back and forth before finally looking at Lu Ding, his face full of innocence, still wearing that ever-gentle smile.
On the surface, there was no sign of panic.
"Lu Ding, is there so kind of misunderstanding between us?"
"You said the sa thing earlier—about you and Cao Zi’ang. And now that I’ve settled things with him, it’s ti to clear things up between us."
Cao Zi’ang had been scattered across the ground.
Was he next?
Wen Ruchu took a step back. "Lu… Lu Ding, we didn’t sign a life-and-death pact. Killing would get you in real trouble—it’s not just a simple confinent sentence."
Smack.
A pair of hands reached from behind, pinning him down.
A cold, eerie surge of spiritual energy invaded his body, locking him in place.
Bai Hen’s voice whispered into his ear, "Just don’t move."
Lu Ding stepped forward and grabbed his mouth.
Yan Feifan squeezed through the crowd, handed over a short blade—the sa one he had used to chop off Ma Qi’s hand last ti.
"Lu bro, this guy’s mouth is filthy. Use the knife."
Good idea.
Lu Ding flipped the knife in his hand, blade dancing in a flourish—
In a blink, the short blade had returned to its sheath.
Drip.
Blood hit the ground.
Bai Hen let go.
Wen Ruchu clutched his mouth, blood seeping between his fingers. He looked at Lu Ding, his eyes full of fear and confusion.
But there wasn’t a trace of hatred.
He had always been talented, so he understood one thing—
For Lu Ding to have gained such terrifying combat power in such a short ti since joining the 749 Bureau...
This was a monster beyond his reach.
Fighting him? He wasn’t qualified.
It would only lead to his own destruction.
"Good. I like that look in your eyes," Lu Ding said.
"You’re smart. So next ti, don’t go sticking your nose in other people’s business—especially when you don’t understand the situation.
"Otherwise, next ti, it won’t just be your mouth that gets ruined.
"Understood?"
Wen Ruchu finally realized why this had happened.
So this was what they ant by "trouble cos from the mouth."
He nodded without speaking, then fled as fast as he could.
Lu Ding deactivated General’s Armor and walked off.
He was going to bed.
After more than 20 hours, everything was finally settled.
Three days later was the Ghost Festival.
He needed to rest up.
Only after Lu Ding left did the murmurs completely erupt.
Soone sighed.
"This year’s four monstrous rookies—Bai Hen, the One Who Walks Through the Cycle of Death, Tantai Xianyue, the Jade Guanyin, Wen Ruchu, the Gentle Immortal Official, and Lu Ding, the Corpse-Shattering Taishui. We all thought Lu Ding was the weakest, but… he just one-shot Cao Zi’ang?"
"Wen Ruchu was so overwheld by his aura just now that he wanted to run without a fight. Bai Hen is his close friend. And the veteran investigator, Cao Zi’ang, the Soul-Reaping ssenger, is now just another ghost in his hands. Maybe we should stop aiming for the top three in this Year-One Combat Trials?"
"Yeah... If you run into Lu Ding, you don’t dare fight him because you don’t know if he’ll one-shot you. You can’t beat Bai Hen. The only one you might stand a chance against is Tantai Xianyue, so third place is still up for grabs."
"Fight Tantai Xianyue? That doesn’t sound very realistic either…"
"It’s better than trying to take first or second from those two monsters, right?"
"You’ve got a point. Let’s focus on analyzing Tantai Xianyue and take third from her!"
"Yeah, no way I’m fighting Lu Ding or Bai Hen. But Tantai Xianyue? I might have the guts to try."
At this mont, Tantai Xianyue was still completely unaware that a wave of people dedicated to studying her combat style and technique weaknesses was about to descend upon her.
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