But… would there really be no conflict?
Lilliana doubted it. Considering Luo Hao's temperament.
According to the information Lilliana had gathered, it was said that Luo Hao's direct disciple, Lu Yinghua, even suffered from a severe phobia of women due to her upbringing.
Especially after the plane landed at Jiulong Airport and they disembarked.
Lilliana saw the crowd—about a hundred elders dressed in black martial arts uniforms with the character "Luo" embroidered on their chests—and her expression twisted slightly.
This is what they call no conflict?
Lilliana felt that the entire Holy Cult of the Five Mountains had been mobilized.
At that moment, Aslan, stepping out of the plane's cabin and standing on the stairs, looked at the line of black-clad figures below, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly.
(Lilli was right. This isn't going as smoothly as expected. I came with sincere intentions.)
Sighing inwardly, Aslan spoke with a slightly mocking tone.
"Wow, is this to welcome me?"
At that moment, from the crowd, Lu Yinghua, dressed in tight black clothing, stepped forward and clasped his hands.
"The entire Holy Cult of the Five Mountains greets King Arthur!"
"The entire Holy Cult of the Five Mountains greets King Arthur!"
Over a hundred elders shouted in unison with spirited voices.
A mysterious formation instantly linked them all. Faintly, a giant white tiger with black stripes roared in the sky, its bellow shaking the earth.
It was as if an indescribable divine power spread around.
(A battle formation?)
Aslan raised an eyebrow, slightly surprised, then narrowed his eyes and looked at Lu Yinghua below.
"Somewhat interesting."
As expected of vast and rich China. This was already comparable to an ordinary subordinate god.
Of course, he meant subordinate gods summoned through The Great Ritual of the Old Covenant—like the Second and Third Disciples summoned by the Monkey God.
But this was already impressive, at least reaching the level of a god.
"Is this what you planned to intimidate me with?"
Aslan said with slight displeasure. The visit letter he sent shouldn't have had any issues.
He had come sincerely to invite Luo Hao to jointly deal with the Monkey God issue.
Hearing this, Lu Yinghua kept his hands clasped, bowed, and said, "Yinghua wouldn't dare!"
"But if King Arthur intends to attack Master, then as her disciple, Yinghua can only stand in your way."
"Though I don't know if you've misunderstood something."
The corner of Aslan's mouth curled slightly. His gaze shifted from Lu Yinghua to an eagle circling in the sky.
"But Luo Hao, aren't you going to come out and explain?"
Below, Lu Yinghua, hearing Aslan's words, nearly instinctively stumbled to the ground.
At that moment, the eagle circling in the sky suddenly froze, then swooped down, pinning Lu Yinghua to the concrete.
The entire area fell silent. Then, the elders in martial arts uniforms knelt on one knee, bowing their heads.
The eagle standing on Lu Yinghua flapped its wings and spoke in a human voice.
"Interesting. You can see through my transformation art. It seems you're not incompetent."
At that moment, the eagle's form shifted, and in the blink of an eye, it transformed into a beautiful woman in white Hanfu, her hair styled in three braids.
After revealing herself, the woman furrowed her brow and said in a cold tone, "State your name, King Arthur. I, Luo Hao, do not kill nameless people."
"Arthur Pendragon."
The voice sounded softly in her ear.
Luo Hao's pupils contracted slightly. She turned to her right, seeing a face very close, leaning on her shoulder.
The dense aura around her collapsed in that instant.
At that moment, the corner of Aslan's mouth curled up bit by bit, and he chuckled softly.
"That's my name. So, what's yours?"
The air froze at that moment.
Aslan, almost pressed against Luo Hao, narrowed his eyes slightly, looking at the lotus-shaped hair accessory in his hand and his left hand, which was restrained.
The back of his left hand was blocked by a slender, jade-like elbow, stopping Aslan's next move.
And the source of that elbow—Aslan raised his head and looked at Luo Hao with slight surprise.
"You actually managed to block it, huh? But too bad, I still got it."
Aslan grinned, waving the lotus-shaped hair accessory in his hand.
The elders kneeling on one knee trembled. Their spiritual senses felt Aslan's action toward Luo Hao, but they didn't dare move an inch.
This is flirting, right? It's definitely flirting, isn't it? The first move of the attack was taking The Ruler of the Martial Realm's hair accessory.
But what shocked them more was that their Ruler of the Martial Realm had lost in martial arts and failed to block Aslan's attack.
This time it was a hair accessory, but next time, would it be… her life?
Instantly, dark clouds shrouded their hearts.
Hearing those words, Luo Hao's brows furrowed, and she said with a tone mixed with disgust, "You cheated! I clearly blocked it!"
The moment Aslan got close and reached for her hair accessory with his mischievous hand, she met it with a powerful elbow.
But somehow, the hair accessory still ended up in Aslan's hand.
Was this a Divine Authority? But there was no magical power.
Luo Hao frowned.
Hearing this, Aslan laughed and said in a teasing tone, "Don't be so full of yourself. If you really blocked it, your hair accessory wouldn't be in my hand. Your martial arts aren't refined enough, yet you dare to talk big."
Of course, the above was just a joke.
In truth, Luo Hao did block it, but Aslan had integrated his Boundary Authority into every aspect of his movements.
He even reached the level of acting before arriving, reversing cause and effect.
He unconsciously used his Boundary Authority to take the hair accessory first, then launched the attack.
This was also why Scathach disliked him. After all, Aslan's fighting style was already set—shock and transformation through space, integrating spatial control into his instincts in every technique.
Though his physique was strong and his talent exceptional, making him good material, he had been "carved wrong" by himself. His tricks were one cheat after another.
Scathach was very responsible, and her teachings greatly helped Aslan, especially in teaching him how to reduce hidden spatial fluctuations and integrate his Boundary Authority into every instinctive move.
This made his attacks even stranger.
By the end of his training, even Scathach couldn't avoid some of Aslan's cheating tricks.
This cause-and-effect reversal trick was learned that way. In the end, Scathach refused to acknowledge herself as Aslan's teacher.
She didn't want Aslan to ruin her reputation as a mentor of heroes.
"…"
Remarkably, Luo Hao didn't argue but furrowed her brow, staring at Aslan, practically writing "dissatisfaction" on her face.
(Trouble, trouble… Master is really angry now.)
Lu Yinghua beside her bowed his head in fear. He didn't dare imagine what Aslan would face next.
The Martial King was mocked for her unrefined martial arts—Lu Yinghua couldn't even fathom how furious Luo Hao must be.
Would this airport still be intact later? Luckily, he had arranged for the airport staff to be evacuated.
"Hah, then let me show you what unrefined martial arts look like!"
At that moment, a loud rumble, like exploding thunder, echoed.
A sharp, fierce wind blew.
Lilliana was almost blown away, but thankfully Athena beside her pulled her back.
She stabilized herself, opened her eyes, and looked into the air.
Clearly, Aslan and Luo Hao had clashed.
However, aside from white airwaves and sudden booming sounds in the air, no figures were visible.
"Ho, impressive martial arts, unexpectedly far better than mine."
But hearing Aslan's praise, Luo Hao's face darkened further. She felt his words were mocking her.
She had given her all, but her movements kept faltering. No matter what technique she used, it was easily neutralized by her opponent.
And Aslan was only using one hand.
This made the supremely arrogant Ruler of the Martial Realm utterly furious.
Even if she lost in martial arts to someone else, she would only feel there was someone to carry on her legacy. But against a cheating opponent like this, she only felt anger.
Rather than say she was clashing with her opponent, it was more like she was being toyed with.
After a brief exchange, Luo Hao's figure appeared not far from Lu Yinghua, glaring at Aslan with a grim and ugly expression.
"No, your technique is wrong."
"What's wrong with it?"
Aslan looked at Luo Hao with a smile that wasn't quite a smile. At the same time, another lotus-shaped hair accessory appeared in his hand.
"It's just wrong!"
Luo Hao furrowed her brow. She couldn't explain what was wrong, but her instincts told her.
That duel with Aslan just now was definitely off.
Godspeed? Divine Foot Strength? Lightweight Art? Shadowless Art? No, it wasn't any of those.
"If it's wrong, just say it."
Aslan scratched his ear. This was his first real close-combat fight with someone other than Scathach, and also his first time testing his combat tactics.
So far, he had hidden his spatial fluctuations quite well. At least Luo Hao hadn't noticed anything unusual.
"You can't be unreasonable, can you?"
If Luo Hao could actually identify the anomaly, Aslan might be able to refine it further.
Through subtle spatial distortions and folds, Luo Hao couldn't sense anything unusual. In her eyes, whether it was line of sight, aura, or distance, nothing seemed off.
But in reality, through spatial interference at a certain level, the place Luo Hao attacked was always his left hand.
Of course, it could also be Luo Hao herself, but that would be easily noticed.
Aslan hadn't mastered a technique like Kyoka Suigetsu.
"Hmph, why should I argue with a heretic demon?"
Luo Hao paused here, took a slight breath, and let out two nasal sounds.
"Heng! Ha!"
The heavy sound turned into a shockwave, instantly flipping a nearby plane. Even the elders behind Luo Hao, stabilizing their stances, staggered.
At that moment, behind Luo Hao, two vajra emerged from the void.
They were two vajra over six meters tall, with bulging muscles, golden in color, glaring sharply with furrowed brows.
"Are those General Heng and Ha you killed?"
Luo Hao didn't answer, standing aside with cold eyes, silent as stone.
Instead, the newly appeared General Heng and Ha swung palms larger than Aslan's head, aiming straight at him.
The palm winds from General Heng and Ha swept the atmosphere, but strangely made no sound, instead condensing the air in their palms, multiplying their power.
"No, aren't you being too hasty?"
Aslan's eyes gleamed, and he laughed. Then he reached out, swapping Lilliana's sword, Il Maestro, into his hand.
"Lilli, watch closely. I'll show you what the pinnacle of swordsmanship looks like!"
"Secret Technique—Tsubame Gaeshi!"
Instantly, as if countless sword lights flashed simultaneously, they formed an airtight giant net, enveloping Luo Hao.
"This is the ultimate secret technique that transcends time and space, layering countless swords!"
Lilliana's eyes widened, stunned as she watched the countless sword lights Aslan unleashed in a single motion.
Is… this really swordsmanship a human can use?
The corner of Athena's mouth twitched. She looked at Lilliana with resignation and whispered, "This man isn't using swordsmanship at all. Don't let him mislead you."
Hearing this, Lilliana froze for a moment. For some reason, she felt Aslan wasn't entirely reliable either.
Athena had never heard of anyone cutting multi-dimensional folding phenomena with a sword.
Even if it were possible, it wasn't something Aslan could achieve.
Rather than calling it swordsmanship, it was more like Aslan forcibly creating such a phenomenon and expressing it through a sword.