As the two, Wu Long and Butler Bang, were walking through the rainy streets, they soon came through a rather busy street where Wu Long stopped and the old butler followed suit.

“Haha, whose dogs are these I wonder?”

He lightly chuckled as he looked at the busy street, but as soon as his words ended the whole street froze as the people on it all turned to look at the two.

“If Young Master allows this old servant to make a foolish guess, these must be natives, as the operation is too large-scale”

Butler Bang calmly responded while his slightly turbid eyes surveyed the people surrounding them.

“I agree, must be those gardeners”

Wu Long nodded and then chuckled again as the passers-by-turned-would-be-assailants all rushed to them.

Wu Long’s left hand slightly turned and a saber appeared in it, one of the many weapons he ‘inherited’ on his way. His right hand came behind his back as he turned and made a slash, sending Saber Qi at the approaching attackers. Butler Bang followed him with the umbrella, sometimes slightly throwing it into the air as it swirled being spun by the threads as he dispatched opponents as well all the while keeping the rain from touching Wu Long.

As they finished, Wu Long looked at the street that was now filled with puddles of rain and blood, littered with corpses and body parts while the two’s clothes were still as dry and clean as when they left the inn.

“Hmm, I told them not to bother since I didn’t come for their flowers. Haa~ some people don’t listen to the good advice and choose wrong all on their own. A pity”

He shrugged, and went on his way as Butler Bang wryly smiled.

Wu Long arrived back at the inn, and as he came into the inner courtyard he saw the roofed terrace his women were still seated on, talking and discussing their new understandings.

He looked at the peaceful scene as he came along the open corridor to the terrace, with the rain still covering the garden to his side.

As he came up, Luo Mingyu excitedly stood up and he noticed that in the short time he was away she had advanced to the 2nd level of Foundation Building Realm as she likely made another breakthrough in her comprehension of the Dao.

“Congratulations”

He tenderly smiled at her and she blushed while smiling back.

“Thank you… and, um… I think it is time to start perceiving intents”

“You want to start now?”

He double-checked, and seeing her not immediately doubting the decision when he asked, nodded since he needed to make sure she had reasonable confidence, and it was not a spurt of a moment decision due to the breakthrough.

He came out into the inner courtyard, but as Butler Bang wanted to approach while taking out the umbrella he stashed into the spatial ring Wu Long waved his hand to stop him.

His finger ran across the spatial ring and a sheathed sword appeared in front of him that he grabbed with his right hand this time. There was weakness in the grip and a pang of pain that intensified the longer he used his right hand, but he simply grabbed the hilt with his left hand and came to a spot not far from the terrace as he turned.

Luo Mingyu sat in a traditional style on the wooden flooring near the edge of the terrace, facing him.

Her elegant manner of sitting, being raised as a noble daughter was highlighting her graceful figure and beauty. Her charming purple eyes were intently looking at him as he looked up at the sky raining water droplets and closed his eyes. The droplets collected into small streams as they trickled down his face, as the sound of rain filled his hearing, the air filled with the distinct fragrance of a rainy day filling his lungs. The water moved and combined in infinite patterns on his skin, dripping from his chin to the ground along with the rest of the raindrops.

If he was simply using his sword intent in combat he would not need any special preparations, but as he wanted her to perceive the intricacies and truly comprehend it, he was going to do more than just use it. He brought his mind into a tranquil state, his Soul Sea perfectly still.

Then, a droplet fell onto the surface with a clear splashing sound, creating ripples across the mirror-like surface of the Soul Sea, and then another one fell in the distance from it, followed by another, eventually, the surface of the Soul Sea was sizzling with raindrops falling on to it.

Luo Mingyu’s eyes widened as did the eyes of the beauties that sat not far behind her, and Butler Bang’s eyes shone with a light of astonishment as they looked at Wu Long, who seemed to blend and merge with the world, in perfect harmony. The Spiritual Qi in the air around him became slightly agitated, resonating with his own. None of them except Ye Ling saw such a phenomenon ever in their lives and even she lost words when she saw him, her mind becoming blank.

‘This is…impossible… how?’

She thought inwardly as he was doing something that was technically not possible.

“Ready?”

He asked once more, giving Luo Mingyu the sign that he was about to begin. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she was adjusting her mind, and as she exhaled her eyes flew open with tranquil decisiveness in them.

Wu Long increased the grip on the sword as he started slowly unsheathing it, and the whole courtyard became slightly discolored. The monotone and yet irregular sound of the rain abruptly stopped, and yet the raindrops were clearly falling to the ground creating a strange dissonance of perception.

His face that was raised, thus now wet with the rainwater lowered and his eyes flew open and an extremely sharp aura rose around him. The raindrops that fell into this discolored world started to split in half, the split part being perfectly flat as if it was not liquid but a solid object cleanly cut in two, and only after a moment did the liquid shape take its droplet form.

Purple flames rose in Luo Mingyu’s eyes as she looked at this scene and felt an incredibly sharp sword point right between her eyebrows. Her pupils dilated as she felt an immediate danger to her life, her instincts screaming at her that she was going to get cut in two the next moment, yet her face remained tranquil as her trust in him was unmoved.

His sword moved slowly and yet the next moment she noticed it already finished a motion and the droplets of rain in front of him that were already smaller were split in half as a thin line of water created an elegant arc in front of him.

He definitely moved the sword, but to the ones looking it looked as if the rain water bent on its own as his sword just followed. As if the droplets parted of their own will, giving way for the sword to pass.

He then moved the sword again as his left leg took a step forward, which looked more like his feet glided over. As his posture changed the raindrops fell in a different order as if slightly swirling around him.

Even though the motion of the sword looked the same, taking the same amount of time there were two lines of water instead of one, but both were connected in a graceful arc to his side. At this time, the first line he drew had not yet dissipated.

He then made a third motion and three lines of water appeared in front of him, creating a beautiful pattern, each stroke of which was connected to the last and yet became its own. .

“S-Stop!!!”

Ye Ling’s eyes widened and she finally said as he smiled and sheathed the sword.

The discoloration disappeared and the sound of rain abruptly came down on them as if they suddenly appeared in the middle of rain.

“You really! Must you be always so reckless?!”

Ye Ling said as the others looked at her with slight confusion but then when they looked back at Wu Long they noticed that he was paler than usual, and there was a light trace of blood in the corner of his lips.

Wu Long wryly smiled as he had indeed overdone it. To show Luo Mingyu all the intricacies of his Sword Intent, what he showed was far more than he could currently use, in fact, it was the level of Sword Intent he would not be able to use in combat not only in Nine Mortal Realms but in the next Great Realm of Seven Profound Realms as well.

However, it was not like he did it on a whim, as that was indeed when Sword Intent became more discernable, more palpable. He knew that it was risky, but it was also his determination to help Luo Mingyu.

While Wu Long had many character flaws that he recognized, such as following his vices, being greedy and selfish, there was one thing he learned recently about himself. And that was that he would never compromise on giving the best to his beauties once they became his women.

Not to mention, he was not much worried as Ye Ling was with him, so he could afford to be not in top shape for short amounts of time, which is why he was able to take such risks as with the Heavenly Punishment and just now.

Wu Long looked at Luo Mingyu and smiled as he saw that his effort was not in vain, as she was in a deep meditative state, a light halo of purple Spiritual Qi around her as her eyes closed.

Ye Ling also saw that and sighed with a defeated expression as she shook her head, still looking at him with slightly rebuking eyes as he approached and hugged her.