Chapter 28: Group Fighting

Chapter 28: Group Fighting

28

Group Fighting

I

Tian Jin struck out with his sword in front of him, parrying the incoming attack from one of Du Jians subordinates, before continuing the swing with a vertical sweep, slashing at another one of the henchmen, who dodged to the side in order to avoid being cut.

He then jumped back just in time to avoid a stab from Du Jian, putting some distance between them. The henchman who had dodged to the side immediately launched himself at Tian Jin, and Tian Jin side-stepped on instinct, twisting his body as he did so to slash down at the enemys back, cutting through his robes and drawing blood. With a cry, the man dropped to the ground.

Once again, Tian Jin jumped back, and this time, neither Du Jian nor his remaining helper followed. Instead, they stood back, grim-faced. Du Jian watched him warily, whereas the other second-level redsoul had his eyes on the fallen outer disciple, who lay on the ground unmoving.

Tian Jin took in a deep breath, raising the sword in front of his body as he fell into a stance, lowering his center of gravity.

One down, two to go.

Seeing that his two opponents were hesitating, Tian Jin pushed off against the ground, propelling himself towards them. Du Jian only barely managed to raise his sword in time to block Tian Jins attack, and as he felt himself being pushed back, Tian Jin slid his sword against Du Jians, connecting the movement into a cut toward the other outer disciple, who barely managed to raise his sword in time to deflect.

Not giving either of his opponents time to breathe, Tian Jin stepped into their guard, and just as he was about to stab Du Jian, Du Jian waved his arm and a barrier of light appeared between them, and he ended up stabbing it instead.

Tian Jin easily took in the brunt of the sudden collision, taking a small step back as he reassessed the situation. After using the shield talisman, Du Jian had jumped back, the other outer disciple retreating to his side, meaning that there was now a considerable distance between them. He couldnt see them clearly through the barrier, as it was rather opaque, making their faces vague, blurry shapes, so he couldnt tell what they were thinking.

Tian Jin assessed the light barrier, focusing on where he had struck at it earlier. There was a crack on it, which meant that Du Jian had merely used a second-order red-grade talisman, not a third-one. He could easily destroy the barrier with another attack, and thatd be faster than walking around it.

Instead of making his move, however, Tian Jin took advantage of the temporary lull in the battle to glance around the clearing, checking how his teammates were faring.

A bit further back in the clearing, to his right, Duo Lan appeared to be faring well against her two opponents, holding them at bay. And to his left, Hao Zhen was that a spiritual beacon?

So he did go with that plan, after all, Tian Jin thought to himself, seeing the spiritual beacon there. Well, it seemed like things were going according to Hao Zhens plan, at least. That was good. Tian Jin wasnt particularly worried about Duo Lan, but whether Hao Zhen would be able to handle his own against a second-level cultivator was a different story. Hao Zhen had assured him that, should such a situation come, hed be able to pull his own weight, which was why Tian Jin had decided to wait in this clearing for Du Jian and his henchmen to arrive, instead of running away.

Tian Jin returned his gaze to Du Jian. In any case, he had to get this fight over with as soon as possible so that he could check on Hao Zhen. It was a pity Tian Jins spiritual skill wasnt of much use in this situation. Its primary use was nullifying spiritual attacks, and besides the barrierwhich hed only need another attack to break, so there wasnt a point in wasting his spiritual power to deal with itthere wasnt much to do.

So far, Du Jian and his ally had relied mostly on physical attacks, making little use of spiritual power. That wasnt much of a surprise. Martial arts that made use of spiritual powerof spiritual techniqueswerent really something outer disciples had access to, and even if they did, they were far more difficult to learn than purely physical martial arts. Tian Jins own fighting style, taught to him by his master, relied little on it, though that was mostly so as to conserve his spiritual stamina to use his spiritual skills.

Tian Jin tightened his grip on his sword, fully focusing on Du Jian and his helper again, before stabbing at the barrier, destroying it, and then charging at his opponents.

Ah, right, Duo Lan thought, suddenly remembering that Hao Zhen had mentioned using a spiritual beacon as a distraction in case they ended up facing a group of enemy cultivators. It was just that Hao Zhen had mentioned so many of his plans that she had ended up getting a bit lost in them.

Regardless of whether Hao Zhens plan was working, however, Duo Lan reckoned that, unlike Tian Jin, he could do with some help regardless.

Her decision made, Duo Lan started running to the red cloud of smoke, and as she did so, she took out her sound-transmission token from her spatial ring. Whats going on? she whispered, sending the message over.

Moments later, Hao Zhens voice sounded in her ears.

Hes inside the spiritual beacon.

He sounded exhausted. She wasnt really surprised. If she remembered correctly, hed need to pretty much drive himself to mental and spiritual exhaustion using Ethereal String Puppetry for his plan to work. Yeah, he could definitely use some help.

Without hesitating, Duo Lan ran into the spiritual cloud, and soon she found a bent-over form standing in the middle of it, clutching at his eyes. Duo Lan didnt think twice, driving her sword into the mans back. Then, after he fell to the ground, she once again dealt a finishing blow, putting him out of his misery.

With that, she walked out of the spiritual beacon, just in time to see Hao Zhen appear from behind a tree.

He looked unsteady, as if he could barely stay on his feet. His face was deathly pale and covered in sweat, and she noticed his entire frame was trembling. She frowned at him, wondering how many times he had used Ethereal String Puppetry to get to this state. It really was a good thing she had finished her fight so soon, as she didnt think Hao Zhen would have been able to hold on for much longer. Have you taken recovery pills?

Spiritual ones, he said, weakly, leaning against the tree for support.

Take a physical recovery one too, she said, her frown deepening. It wont help too much, but it should still make you a bit less tired.

Hao Zhen gave her a thoughtful look. The next moment, his spatial ring flashed. He then took his hand to his mouth, and she caught the glimpse of a pill before he swallowed it.

Letting out a shudder, Hao Zhen inhaled sharply. A bit more steadily, he pushed himself back against the tree and found his balance, standing on his own.

Do you think you can get away with this?

A shrill, scandalized voice resounded throughout the clearingbut still vaguely familiar. Duo Lan looked back and saw that Du Jian was sitting on the ground in front of Tian Jin, clutching at his shoulder, which appeared to be bleeding. The other helper lay on the ground beside them, probably either dead or dying.

Although she couldnt clearly see Du Jians face from where he stood, he appeared to be glaring balefully at Tian Jin.

Ah, Hao Zhens voice reached her ears, and she turned around slightly and saw that he had walked up to her side. So it begins.

She gave Hao Zhen an inquisitive glance, but he didnt seem to notice, only staring at Tian Jin and Du Jian. For a moment she considered asking him what he was talking about, deciding that it was just one of the weird stuff that Hao Zhen said every once in a while, and decided to focus on the events unfolding on the other side of the clearing.