Chapter 114: The Library, Reading Room

"Hey! Lu Sheng!"

"Someone has challenged you; a formal letter of challenge has been sent!"

Inside the Martial Repository, in a library filled with books, Lu Sheng—who had been staring intently at a bookshelf—slowly regained his senses at the sound of Luo Liheng’s booming voice.

Feeling a surge of irritation, Lu Sheng was about to rebuke him when someone else stepped in first, admonishing:

"Silence is strictly forbidden in the repository!"

"Luo Liheng, if you continue to shout or engage in any unruly behavior—"

"I will throw you out and ban you from entering this library ever again!"

Turning his head, Lu Sheng saw an elderly man with white hair and beard clutching Luo Liheng, looking thoroughly displeased. It was clear that this elder of the Martial Repository was well-acquainted with Luo Liheng.

"Yes! Yes!"

With a cheeky grin, Luo Liheng placated the old man while still whispering to Lu Sheng:

"Lu Yunfeng! It’s Lu Yunfeng!"

"He has invited you to a duel at the Martial Arena. The time is for you to decide!"

"Lu Yunfeng?" Before Lu Sheng could even grasp who this person was, the white-haired elder exclaimed in surprise, lowering his voice to add:

"Lu Yunfeng wants to challenge him?"

Glancing at the people moving about nearby, the elder led Lu Sheng and Luo Liheng into a side reading room before transmitting his voice directly to Lu Sheng:

"Kid, who are you? Why would Lu Yunfeng want to challenge you?"

"He is ranked forty-first on the Earth Ranking. Even I might not be able to defeat him—why would someone like that challenge you?"

As a former member of the Earth Ranking, the elder understood the prowess of the forty-first-ranked fighter. Having once held the thirty-seventh spot, he knew that only during his prime in his fifties could he have claimed to be a match for such a person. Now, at seventy or eighty years old, while his opponent was on the rise, a confrontation would almost certainly end in his defeat. Naturally, he was astonished to hear that Lu Yunfeng wanted to challenge this young man.

"Who are you?"

Irritated by the elder’s repeated interruptions, Lu Sheng frowned and asked for his identity. If his instincts were correct, this kind-looking old man with the white beard had been watching him for a long time, yet it seemed he did not actually know who Lu Sheng was.

"I am Lu Hongyuan. You must be new here, right?"

"The rule of the repository is that one may not read books here for extended periods!"

Stepping into the reading room, Lu Hongyuan closed the door and explained with a smile. When Lu Sheng had first entered, he had noticed this remarkably handsome but unfamiliar face. In particular, when he saw Lu Sheng staring fixedly at a book, seemingly lost in it, he had secretly gathered his internal energy, prepared to react. There had been many cases in the repository where martial artists became so obsessed with a manual that they inadvertently practiced the techniques within, causing destruction. If that happened, as a fourth-rank repository editor, it would be his duty to throw Lu Sheng out.

"I just didn't expect you to be so powerful!"

"If you had started practicing martial arts while in a trance, I might not have been able to throw you out!" Lu Hongyuan said, shaking his head as he stroked his beard. Had he known Lu Sheng possessed such strength, he would have warned him earlier instead of letting him potentially lose himself in the text.

"So that’s how it is!"

Hearing the explanation, Lu Sheng laughed. He scanned the reading room and, observing the mysterious patterns on the walls, immediately understood its secret:

"So, the entire repository is covered by a formation, but this reading room is outside of it. Even if it were destroyed, the main structure would remain unharmed."

"What a clever design! Brilliant!"

"But aren't you worried that someone might fall through if they break it?"

"Fall through?" Luo Liheng chimed in with a chuckle, "Then let them fall. Anyone capable of shattering the reading room is a Martial Master. The library is only fifty or sixty feet high; falling wouldn't kill them."

"Besides, after falling once or twice, they’ll learn their lesson and won't damage the place again!"

"Fair enough! That is a reasonable justification." Considering the height of the building, Lu Sheng could only agree with Luo Liheng. At a height of fifty or sixty feet, it was impossible for a Martial Master to be killed by a fall. In fact, even at a hundred or a hundred and twenty feet, a Martial Master who knew a few techniques could jump down safely. Take the city walls of Yujing, for example—though they were twelve stories high and made of slick white jade, making it difficult for Martial Masters to climb up, it was hard to stop them from jumping down when the defensive formations were inactive. Many nights, people would slip past the patrols and sneak out of the city.

"Thank you for your trouble, Elder Hongyuan. It was my ignorance of the rules."

Lu Sheng thanked him sincerely. A moment ago, he had suspected the old man of having ulterior motives, but it seemed he had misunderstood.

Waving his hand, Lu Hongyuan didn't mind and turned to Lu Sheng:

"Young man, who exactly are you? And why would Lu Yunfeng challenge you?"

"'The Lonely Peak Stands Tall, the Clouds Fly Over the Land.' Lu Yunfeng and Lu Yunfei are both equally renowned as the most outstanding members of the thirty-sixth generation of the Great Jing Lu clan. He wouldn't just challenge anyone, would he?"

"The Lonely Peak Stands Tall, the Clouds Fly Over the Land!" Hearing this, Lu Sheng finally grasped the weight of Lu Yunfeng’s name, but he asked in confusion:

"Wasn't Lu Yunfei considered the most outstanding of the young generation of the Great Jing Lu clan?"

"Why is there a Lu Yunfeng, and why does he seem even more famous than Lu Yunfei?"

"Ignorant!" Luo Liheng mocked him before proudly explaining:

"Lu Yunfeng is thirty-three this year. Three years ago, he reached as high as third on the Prodigy Ranking!"

"Now, he is ranked forty-first on the Earth Ranking."

"Naturally, someone with higher strength and a longer-standing reputation is more famous than Lu Yunfei!"

"So, he dropped off the Prodigy Ranking three years ago!" Lu Sheng realized. "No wonder I had never heard of him."

Most of his knowledge of the young talents in the martial world came from the Prodigy Rankings he had seen in the Western Regions over the last two years. Naturally, he had never heard of a young man who had dropped off the list three years prior. It was only after defeating Lu Yunfei that he realized that to be the undisputed number one of the young generation of the Great Jing Lu clan, he would have to defeat this man as well.

Thinking this over, Lu Sheng asked again:

"Are there any other members of the Great Jing Lu clan on the Earth Ranking?"

"I wouldn't want to defeat this one only to have another young talent pop up!"

"There are others on the Earth Ranking, of course!" This time, Lu Hongyuan spoke before Luo Liheng could interject:

"But among the thirty-sixth 'Yun' generation, Lu Yunfeng is the highest-ranked."

"Defeat him, and you will be the undisputed number one of the Yun generation!"

As he spoke, he reminded Lu Sheng:

"However, there is one thing you must note: his uncle, Lu Anshi, currently ranks third on the Earth Ranking."

"He is the most powerful person in the Great Jing Lu clan below the Martial Ancestor level."

"He is also one who may become a Martial Ancestor and vie for the throne of the next Emperor!"