# Chapter 73: Prideful Battle with Lu Zhannan
"No, it is you who is challenging me."
The man's expression and eyes were filled with extreme disdain. Faced with such a look and posture, Yun Che's eyebrows raised slightly, and his gaze also turned dangerous.
Who challenged whom was naturally not the same concept. Because a challenge could only be issued by the weak to the strong—losing meant losing, and winning meant taking the strong's place. But when the strong acted towards the weak, it wasn't called a challenge, but rather bullying through power.
In just a few words, they were already at odds. And the atmosphere in the grand hall had subtly changed.
"Hehehehe." The man laughed lightly. His figure flickered, and with a few simple steps, he mysteriously crossed several dozen meters to stand before Yun Che. His narrowed eyes emitted a faint, cold light. "Since that's the case, I'll grant your wish. I have crushed countless geniuses. It seems today, I'll add one more."
"Lu... Lu Zhannan!!" When he appeared in the center of the hall, many disciples couldn't control their emotions and shouted his name.
"That person... is it Lu Lengxue from the Seven Kill Sword Pavilion?"
"That's right! It's him! Yun Che wants to fight him? This this this... the strength of these two is simply not on the same level! And this guy's nickname 'Lu Lengxue' isn't for nothing! Fighting him... doesn't Yun Che want his life anymore?!"
The hall immediately erupted in chaotic whispers, because the two people now standing opposite each other in the center of the hall had never been anticipated to cross paths in combat before. They could be said to be on two different planes... Yun Che was sixteen, while Lu Zhannan was already eighteen! After thirty, a few years' age difference wouldn't matter much, because by then, the accumulation of profound force was secondary—what mattered was talent. With enough talent, one could break through to True Xuan or Spirit Xuan; without it, one might be stuck at the bottleneck of True Xuan for life, unable to break through.
But before twenty, it was the critical period for profound force accumulation. Not to mention a whole year, even half a year could create a huge gap in profound force. For example, a sixteen-year-old at the first level of Xuan Entry was considered above-average talent among the younger generation in New Moon City, but there were still plenty of them. But a fifteen-year-old at the first level of Xuan Entry was something else entirely.
"I must say, your arrogance has successfully given me a strong urge to destroy you. Enjoy these last few seconds of having an intact body, heh..." Lu Zhannan touched his left hand with his right, and a longsword nearly four feet long appeared in his grip. The corner of his mouth curled into a sinister grin. From a state of stillness, his body suddenly exploded into motion, turning into a black phantom in the center of the hall. Amidst a howling gale, he instantly closed to within three steps of Yun Che.
"The movement technique of the Seven Kill Sword Pavilion... 'Storm and Flowing Clouds'!"
"Zheng~~~"
As Lu Zhannan moved like a storm, the longsword in his right hand suddenly emitted a heart-shaking tremor of a blade edge. The next instant, Lu Zhannan's longsword thrust out like a bolt of lightning... That sword light was like a sudden, raging flash of thunder and lightning, so fast that one could only catch a fleeting, blinding glint of cold light.
"It's 'Thunderflash'! Senior Brother Lu actually used that move right off the bat! He must want to cripple this arrogant brat in one move!" exclaimed a disciple of the Seven Kill Sword Pavilion.
"Of course. If Senior Brother Lu let this kid last three moves against him, he wouldn't be Senior Brother Lu anymore." Another disciple of the Seven Kill Sword Pavilion stated matter-of-factly.
This magnificent sword strike was incredibly fast, and the slender blade was infused with Lu Zhannan's powerful profound force. The momentum of the sword was also unimaginably strong. This strike could be called flawless. The Seven Kill Sword Pavilion was famous far and wide for its "Swift Sword," and in Lu Zhannan, the word "Swift Sword" found its perfect embodiment.
Srrrriiiip!!
"Ah!!!"
The harsh sound of tearing air rang out. Amidst the gasps of all the New Moon Mystic Palace disciples, this lightning-like sword strike directly pierced through Yun Che's figure, passing entirely through his body along with the sword...
But unfortunately, it was only an afterimage.
"He... dodged it? How is that possible?" The disciples of the Seven Kill Sword Pavilion cried out in shock. Lu Zhannan's "Thunderflash" move just now had been executed perfectly. None of the other disciples who came with him were confident they could achieve his level. The speed of that sword strike could almost be called heaven-rending and earth-shaking. Even with preparation, it would be extremely hard to avoid. And Yun Che was clearly facing a disciple of the Seven Kill Sword Pavilion for the first time, so he ought to be completely unfamiliar with their sword techniques. Without any preparation... yet he dodged it!
"He actually dodged it!" The elders of the New Moon Mystic Palace were also greatly astonished. Two of them even stood up from their seats in excitement. Not only was Yun Che's profound force incredibly thick, he also possessed strange and mysterious movement techniques, and even his reaction speed was so astonishing.
"So fast!" Yun Che's brows furrowed slightly. If he hadn't opened all his profound gates and mobilized his profound force at top speed to activate Star God Remnant Shadow, he really might not have been able to dodge this lightning-like sword strike.