Chapter 18 Slightest of Margins

Lu Tianzi frowned as he watched the new demon approach.

He thought that he had already launched his attack at the best possible opportunity. After all, any longer and the demons might have realised that something was amiss. They would then put up their guard, and striking any time after that would become much more difficult.

However, now Lu Tianzi realised that he was still too impatient.

He had not even considered the possibility that while he was hiding in wait, the other party could have someone doing the same!

Thankfully, the other party wasted his advantage by not taking the chance to launch an ambush attack on him. But similarly, due to his impatience, Lu Tianzi had also lost the chance to ambush the strongest member of the demon party.

The question now was, what cultivation realm was his opponent at?

If the opponent had already stepped into the Essence Condensation realm, then Lu Tianzi would not stand a chance!

In that case, there was no other choice but to make a run for it.

"Weren't you very domineering just now? What happened to you now?" the demon sneered as he saw the hesitation on Lu Tianzi's face. "Have you finally realised what kind of situation you have landed yourself in? Let me, Nanhong Wuze, show you what happens to those who bite off more than they can chew!"

"You sure talk a lot of crap for someone who can only depend on his higher cultivation realm to have any chance of winning!" Lu Tianzi retorted.

"What did you say?" the demon Nanhong Wuze's eyes narrowed. "Looks like you have a sharp tongue at least! Let's see if you can get out of here with your mouth alone!"

Nanhong Wuze unsheathed out his sabre as he spoke. The sabre was as long as Lu Tianzi's sword, with similar patterns carved into the hilt. From that, it was obvious that the weapons were born of the same blacksmith. In fact, after taking a closer look, Lu Tianzi realised that all the other demons had weapons that bore the same carvings.

With a sudden eruption of speed, Nanhong Wuze charged towards Lu Tianzi with his sabre raised menacingly by his side.

"Die!"

Nanhong Wuze shouted out in rage as he slashed down with all his might. He activated the Slaughter Essence within him, causing his strength to rise to a completely different level. This was the full power attack of a Peak Essence Building realm martial artist!

Lu Tianzi was obviously not going to just stand there waiting to be struck.

Driving the Spiritual Essence within his inner world, Lu Tianzi pierced his sword forward with all his might. Boosted by the strength of his enhanced body, his attack had also far surpassed the limits of ordinary martial artists at the Advanced Essence Building realm!

Bang-!

Rather than a sword against a sabre, the heavy impact of the clash sounded more like two iron rods being smashed together! The powerful impact sent out a shockwave that rustled the trees and cleared away fallen leaves.

Lu Tianzi was forced back a few steps, but eventually managed to steady himself by piercing his sword into the ground. The muscles on his arms felt a little strained from that clash, but that was all there was to it!

Unlike Essence Building realm martial artists, martial artists at the Essence Condensation realm were able to freely utilise the energy within their body, even materialising it into phantoms during their attacks. The power behind such attacks would be of a completely different scale!

If Nanhong Wuze were an Essence Condensation realm martial artist, there was no way that Lu Tianzi would have gotten off so lightly from that clash. So with that one move, Lu Tianzi had at least confirmed that Nanhong Wuze was still at the Peak Essence Building realm.

Since that was the case, then he still had a shot at victory!

Unlike Lu Tianzi who felt a sense of excitement surging through his body, Nanhong Wuze was not feeling too thrilled at the moment.

Being at Peak Essence Building realm, his full powered strike actually only forced an Advanced Essence Building realm martial artist back by a few steps?

How was that possible?!

Just what kind of tricks did that brat pull?

It had to be known that every boundary within a cultivation realm was a high step forward! For a martial artist to defeat someone of a higher cultivation realm was not impossible, but it was still extremely difficult!

On top of that, even if a martial artist was able to defeat someone of a higher cultivation realm, this victory would have to be obtained through a complete outclass in terms of combat skills. In a direct competition of strength, the one with a lower cultivation realm should have been completely blown away every single time, without exceptions!

However, this human martial artist was actually able to directly withstand his strike!

Nanhong Wuze was slightly bewildered by the outcome, but he was not given any time to think. This time, Lu Tianzi was the one to take the initiative and charge at him!

Grabbing the sword hilt tightly with his right hand, Lu Tianzi slashed at him from the side. Seeing this, Nanhong Wuze naturally swung his sabre up to match his attack.

Bang-!

Another powerful collision!

But at this time, Lu Tianzi borrowed the powerful impact from the clash to spin around on the spot, his left hand dexterously releasing a cloud of powder that completely enveloped Nanhong Wuze!

This was naturally the Bone Numbing Powder that Lu Tianzi had worked so hard on concocting the night before.

"What?!" Nanhong Wuze's pupils widened in shock as he hurriedly drew back!

No matter what it was, Nanhong Wuze knew that he definitely should not stay in the cloud of powder that lingered in the air!

However, what Nanhong Wuze did not know was that he had already inhaled some of the Bone Numbing Powder, and that alone meant that it was only a matter of time before the poison took effect.

Of course, not inhaling anymore of the poison definitely prevented the situation from getting worse, so Nanhong Wuze's decision was definitely a wise choice.

Seeing the development of the battle, not just Nanhong Wuze, but even the other two demons standing at the side exclaimed in rage.

"That bastard! Is he using poison?"

"How despicable! Let us help as well!"

The two demons no longer cared about Nanhong Wuze's earlier orders, valiantly jumping down from the horse carriage to stand between him and Lu Tianzi.

This time, Nanhong Wuze did not stop them. He knew just as well that the situation was getting trickier than he imagined.

However, thanks to the cloud of powder that had yet to disperse, the two demons dared not carelessly approach. In fact, even without it, they would not have done so. They had already personally witnessed the strength of the other party, and were not nearly foolish enough to charge to their deaths.

But while leading the attack was impossible, they could definitely strike from the side while Lu Tianzi was engaged with Nanhong Wuze!

Seeing that the two other demons were intending to join the fray, Lu Tianzi tightened his grip on his sword in nervousness.

He truly did not have too much confidence fighting all three of them at the same time. With the addition of those two, he would have to constantly divert part of his attention to look out for the positions of the other two demons.

Just that fact alone meant that the fight ahead would grow exceedingly difficult, not to mention he still had to fend off their attacks!

Thankfully, he had already successfully afflicted Nanhong Wuze with the Bone Numbing Powder.

Lu Tianzi had no idea how large of an impact the Bone Numbing Powder would have on a demon of this level, but he could only hope that it would not be too insignificant!

By now, the cloud of powder had dispersed with the wind, and Nanhong Wuze immediately rushed at him once again. At his side, the other two demons kept pace and moved towards Lu Tianzi's sides.

"Petty tricks!" Nanhong Wuze slashed down with his sabre, and Lu Tianzi immediately retreat.

Swing by swing, Nanhong Wuze pressed on, suppressing Lu Tianzi into taking purely evasive measures. He was light on his feet, making quick and calculated steps as he carefully skirted around the demons.

Lu Tianzi had no other options.

If Lu Tianzi were to block any of Nanhong Wuze's attacks, he was likely to be thrown off balance, giving the other two demons an opportunity to strike.

"Stop running like a pussy and fight back!" Nanhong Wuze taunted.

"Don't you like using that powder of yours? Why don't you do it now? Or is that all you brought along?" one of the demons on the side mocked.

Lu Tianzi simply did not have the spare time and energy to respond to him.

But while Lu Tianzi appeared to be completely suppressed under the continuous attacks of Nanhong Wuze, his eyes were constantly scanning his opponents, desperately searching for an opportunity of his own.

Since he was solely focused on dodging, it was relatively easier for him not to reveal any openings.

However, the same could not be said of his opponents.

They had to position themselves in a certain formation with Nanhong Wuze in front and the other two demons slightly behind and by the side. As Lu Tianzi turned, the demons had to respond by maintaining such a formation while turning as well.

Such an arrangement meant that it was more likely for the demons to reveal an opening rather than for him. And after being patient for so long, Lu Tianzi's eyes finally lit up in excitement!

An opening!

Since he caught sight of the opening, Lu Tianzi was definitely not going to let it pass easily!

From taking quick and light steps, Lu Tianzi's movements suddenly made a 180 degrees change as he dug his heel into the ground, pivoting with his feet, before erupting forth with his top speed!

This sudden change shocked all of his opponents, but only for a moment.

After Lu Tianzi's explosive entrance earlier, all of them now had their guards up against him.

He had killed one of their companions in 3 seconds!

How would they dare to get careless after seeing that?

However, even though they were on guard against him, each of them was still only looking out for themselves.

Lu Tianzi's sword stabbed forward so quickly that it was impossible to avoid. However, his target was not Nanhong Wuze, but one of the other two demons!

All along, Nanhong Wuze had not bothered about the formation they were in, solely aiming to suppress Lu Tianzi with his sabre. Thus, this burden of staying in formation fell onto the other two demons.

But when even the core of the formation was not helping out, how would the other two demons be able to do so without revealing any openings?

One of the demons quickly fell behind, and that was when Lu Tianzi chose to strike!

At this moment, the demon who fell behind was only ever so slightly out of position. It was by the slightest of margins, one that most people would not be able to even notice.

However, Lu Tianzi was born with an unnaturally high martial talent. This small margin was amplified countless times in his eyes, allowing him to accurately grasp the exact timing to attack!

With Lu Tianzi timing his attack to perfection, both of the demon's companions ended up being just out of reach to help him!

"You bastard!" Nanhong Wuze shouted in rage as he immediately realised his mistake with the formation.

"Don't even think about it!" the targeted demon shouted in rage as he brought up his sword to block.

Lu Tianzi's sword did not even slow down by much as it blew away his target's guard, immediately swinging down for a second strike.

Stab-!

His sword struck the demon squarely on the forehead, continuing downwards as it drew a line right through the middle of the demon's face, dividing it into two!

While Lu Tianzi was unable to completely pierce through the demon's head, the blade still went deep enough to cut through the brain and split the head open on one side.

Deep red blood spurt out of the gap that was running down the middle of the demon's face, coupled with a mixture of white and grey. These were parts of the brain that had been severed from the whole, flushed out of the demon's skull by the spurting blood.

With this, there was no longer any hope for the demon to survive!

But Lu Tianzi did not stay in place after dealing the killing blow. He finally created an opportunity, so why would he stop with just this?

Unless it was a completely emotionless creature, anyone would be shocked at seeing his companion unexpectedly die from a sudden turnaround, especially when they had been holding the absolute advantage.

Nanhong Wuze was no exception. Even though it was only for half a second, Nanhong Wuze was still dumbfounded by the sudden death of his companion.

And at this moment, Lu Tianzi took the chance to swiftly make his move, charging straight towards the other remaining demon!