Chapter 22: Wind and Clouds Rising

As soon as Lu Fan stepped onto the third floor of the Wulian Tower, his expression turned happy, "A hundred times gravity, five times Origin Qi—these cultivation conditions are not bad!"

Everyone around looked at him strangely, thinking, *Is this kid crazy! *

Compared to the second floor of the Wulian Tower, the Origin Qi here was actually half as weak, but the gravity hadn't decreased at all, and the difficulty had doubled. Yet someone said it was not bad—he must be a madman.

Lu Fan was trembling, sweat pouring down like rain, but his face was flushed, and he couldn't help humming a little tune, feeling at ease.

The other students, however, were completely different.

Except for the three middle Tendon Refining Realm experts—Wang Wu and the others—everyone looked ugly, struggling to resist the burden of gravity, and even taking a step was incredibly difficult.

Xiao Ling'er was an exception; with her Earth Origin Power protecting her outside, she was completely fearless of the hundred times gravity.

However, with the heaven and earth Origin Qi weakened by half, she wasn't having an easy time either, and the rune tool in her hand was also consuming her True Qi significantly.

"Hmph! With just this little ability, it seems the rumors are not false—just relying on the power of a profound artifact, a wine-bag and rice-sack!"

Nie Xing snorted coldly, thinking Lu Fan was doing this on purpose to show off, having no real ability, and he was very disdainful.

Lu Fan smiled slightly, without any anger, just scanned them slightly, then lifted his feet slowly and moved forward unhurriedly.

"He is..."

Liu Yang's expression changed; he hadn't expected Lu Fan to still have the ability to walk.

Nie Xing also frowned, thinking Lu Fan was coming over to settle scores with him, a smile appearing at the corner of his mouth, thinking: *You're delivering yourself to your death; if I kill you, the Academy won't be able to find any fault with me. *

Ling Yao frowned, preparing to stop him, but saw Lu Fan brush past Nie Xing. It seemed the other party was just air, completely ignored by Lu Fan.

"What is he doing? Could it be..."

"No way! This kid is asking for death; he hasn't even reached the Tendon Refining Realm, and he can barely stand here, yet he wants to enter the forbidden room for cultivation!"

All the students were stunned, seeing him leave one footprint after another, as if he had just come out of a pool, leaving footprints all over the floor.

"Stop!" Ling Yao shouted coldly, her eyebrows filled with anger, "Little brat, I let you in, but that doesn't mean you can go find death. Stay on the side!"

Lu Fan's face was flushed red, and his entire body was drenched.

He stopped his footsteps, took a heavy breath, and said nonchalantly: "Didn't Yue Ruxue tell you! A thousand hammerings and a hundred temperings, martial arts become steel—the greater the pressure, the greater the motivation!"

He couldn't even speak clearly, yet his tone was so arrogant, and he still had the air of lecturing people, making Ling Yao grit her silver teeth.

He took another breath and said, "I think the forbidden room is more suitable for me!"

As soon as the words fell, he continued to lift his pace. It was clearly only a distance of ten or so feet, but it felt like ten thousand miles, difficult to move forward.

"Martial arts become steel!" Ling Yao sighed slightly and then sighed again, "You haven't recovered from your serious injuries; can you hold on?"

The people around were horrified, especially Xiao Ling'er, whose eyes were filled with brilliance. Seeing Nie Xing's anger to the extreme, he had already sentenced Lu Fan to death in his heart.

"Hmph! What are you looking at? You three, hurry up and go in. Even a Gathering Essence Realm Martial Warrior is ahead of you three—no wonder you haven't made any progress in half a year!"

Ling Yao snorted, and everyone fell silent, focusing all their energy, no longer caring about Lu Fan, and cultivating with all their might.

Lu Fan finally stepped into the forbidden room, profound light appeared, and the inside and outside were isolated!

"Slap—"

The Lu Fan who had just had an unyielding spine and iron bones a moment ago sat slumped on the ground, the corner of his mouth mocking himself slightly:

"A mere hundred times gravity actually makes me, Lu Fan, unable to handle it. If those enemies knew, they would definitely laugh to death!"

He shook his head slightly and stopped thinking about it. He felt his surroundings, his expression flickering, feeling somewhat unbelievable.

"A hundred times gravity, weak Origin boundary. This place is indeed not bad!"

The so-called weak Origin boundary was a closed space that slowly weakened the heaven and earth Origin Qi until it was exhausted.

Being in it, at first, there was nothing. As the heaven and earth Origin Qi weakened, the martial artist's pressure would become greater and greater.

Especially in this environment of a hundred times gravity, he would gradually feel the feeling of suffocation.

From a Gathering Essence Realm Martial Warrior to an ordinary mortal, every bit of True Qi in his body would be squeezed dry. The pain involved was hard to put into words.

Thinking of this, Lu Fan's expression suddenly became solemn, and he struggled to climb up again. Trembling, his pace dancing, he actually started a set of boxing techniques.

This boxing technique was ordinary, but in this environment, it was incredibly strenuous. Every punch and palm required endless energy. His skin and flesh cracked, oozing beads of blood, and in a short while, Ye Lu Fan had become a bloody person...

In another forbidden room, Wang Wu rested her chin on her hand, absent-minded, completely different from her usual proud appearance, clearly thinking about other things.

In front of her were rune papers, chaotic and disorganized, the rune seals on them not yet dry.

"Suppressing the Martial Dao for half a year and putting all my energy into the Rune Dao—it really didn't let me down!"

She smiled slightly, her bright eyes flowing, and the entire forbidden room suddenly gained a trace of vitality, "Father finally promised to give me a chance; the Innate Soul Crystal should be arriving soon, right!"

Shanjin Town, Rune Master Guild.

Several powerful figures stood in the hall, and the surrounding rune masters were all solemn. In the center of the crowd was a round boy—it was Han Zhen.

"Kid, tell the truth, what exactly is strange about that Lu Fan!"

Li Qingshan's face was gloomy as water. If it weren't for the public, he would have used all kinds of torture methods. How could this kind of boy compete with him?

"I don't know!" Han Zhen was sweating profusely, shivering constantly. It wasn't that he was timid, but the aura of the people around him was too strong.

Especially this middle-aged man in the green shirt, even President Zu Qing Tan was respectful to him; how could he handle this?

"Not familiar? Hmph! You're quite good at acting." A young man in a black robe snorted coldly, his cold gaze like thorns, scaring Han Zhen into softening.

"Lu Fan enrolled three years ago and had the most contact with you. The first year, he had a conflict with a student over a blood essence grass and was beaten half to death; you were the one who carried him back, right!"

"The second year, he was too poor to pay tuition. You took out two hundred gold coins, saying they were sent by his family, while you chewed on white steamed buns for half a year."

"This year, Lu Fan had some kind of adventure and his strength advanced by leaps and bounds, and he immediately came to help you. You made a scene at the Rune Master Guild, and you tell me you're not familiar? Do you think I'll believe you?"

The young man in the black robe sneered until the end. Lu Fan, that little beast, actually had someone who cared about him—it seemed he hadn't "taken care" of him for two years, letting that kid take advantage of the loophole.

"You, you, you... how do you know?" Han Zhen was stunned. How did others know these things? Even Lu Fan didn't know some of them.

"Hmph! Han Zhen, tell the truth, and I can let you go!"

Li Qingshan nodded at the young man in the black robe, then softened his tone toward Han Zhen.

Han Zhen was confused, suspicious. Suddenly, a flash of inspiration hit him, and he immediately understood.

"Who are you to the Lu family?"

He stared fixedly at the young man in the black robe, trying to see through him.

The young man in the black robe frowned, slightly surprised, and said: "Hmph! You kid are quite sharp. I am his big brother!"

As soon as these words fell, Han Zhen shook his head, "Impossible, his big brother Lu Tian is in Tiangang City, a fifth-tier mercenary.

His second brother Lu Sheng is in the Black Water Empire, managing the Ye family's business. You are his cousin Lu Ran! You bastard..."

Lu Fan and Han Zhen had talked about his situation, and Han Zhen knew it very clearly, and naturally knew about Lu Ran's usual behavior.

"Bang!"

Lu Ran's eyes narrowed, murderous intent appearing, and he threw a punch, instantly sending Han Zhen flying, crashing into the gate of the Rune Master Guild.

"Puff," Han Zhen spat out a mouthful of blood, feeling all his bones broken, but the hatred in his eyes didn't diminish at all.

If eyes could kill, Lu Ran would have died hundreds of times, been cut into a thousand pieces, and torn apart by five horses.

"Master, it seems this kid's relationship with Lu Fan is not simple; take him away!"

Lu Ran flicked his sleeves and snorted coldly.

Li Qingshan smiled slightly and looked at Lu Ran a few more times, "Hehe, when I heard Lu Fan was a disciple of your Ye family, I had some scruples. Now it seems, there's no need!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he waved his large sleeve, turning into a whirlwind, and was about to roll up Han Zhen.

Just at this moment, a short, fat old man flashed in front of Han Zhen, shattering the spiritual whirlwind.

"Wait! Li Qingshan, you only said you wanted to ask a few questions, you didn't say you wanted to take someone from my Shanjin Town Rune Master Guild!"

Zu Qing Tan looked cold, extremely displeased with Li Qingshan and the others. He had endured until now, and he couldn't endure anymore.

Li Qingshan frowned, his face darkening, "President Zu, you lost the art refining crystal furnace, and I wanted to help you get it back, but you were evasive.

I want to take this kid, and you actually have an opinion? Since when did he become a member of your guild?"

Everyone present was horrified, especially the rune masters of the Shanjin Town guild, all puzzled. Zu Qing Tan was known as Zu the Skinner, taking a layer of skin off everything that passed, never doing anything without profit.

He was not only the first rune master of Shanjin Town but also the first merchant. A ten-out-of-ten unscrupulous merchant.

Yet now, for the sake of a boy, he was offending a fourth-tier Great Rune Master—was he senile, was he crazy?

Zu Qing Tan glared, puffed out his beard, and said, "Don't you worry about the art refining crystal furnace!"

He said it decisively, seeming to have made up his mind, and then looked at Han Zhen, "This is the spirit mine contract, kid, hurry up and sign it!"

Han Zhen was slightly stunned, bewildered. A golden, glowing leather contract floated in front of him.

His brain was a mess, but he could clearly see the words "monopoly" and "exclusive supply," and he couldn't hold back his excitement. He touched the blood at the corner of his mouth and slapped his hand on it.

"Hehe! He is a partner merchant of the Rune Master Guild; according to our guild's contract spirit, he is under our guild's protection!"

Zu Qing Tan shook the contract in his hand, feeling extremely proud.

Li Qingshan was furious to the extreme, looking ferocious. He was a dignified fourth-tier Great Rune Master, yet he couldn't take down a boy. And the resistance came from Zu Qing Tan—past grievances and old hatreds all surfaced.

"Hmph! Zu Qing Tan, I'll remember today's events. You want to protect this kid, fine. Let's see if you can protect Lu Fan!" As soon as he finished speaking, he looked at Lu Ran and left with a flick of his sleeve.

Built a QQ group, everyone can communicate, group number: 982495531 ===== CHAPTER 23 =====

I have set up a QQ group for everyone to communicate. The group number is: 982495531.