Chronicles of Daoist Fan - Chapter 105

I rooted my legs to the ground and held my sword firmly, taking in the sight of around seven to eight practitioners moving around the courtyard. They all wore shady robes and were at the Viscera Purifying stage.

It seemed Qin Mao wasn’t here and the most powerful of them was at the Peak of Viscera Purifying.

”That’s him. Zui Fan!”

”So the girl isn’t here but the prey actually came… Our luck is good today, I should have brought more to ambush him.”

The rank 9 practitioner took out his daggers. All of these practitioners didn’t have many weapons with them, meaning they had gone through a tight check to enter this area. However, their leader had still managed to slip in two daggers for himself.

I was kind of surprised that no Meridian Opening practitioner had come. Then again, they were the big heads and would immediately be recognized by the guards.

”Where are those bitches?” One long-nosed practitioner asked, showcasing his muscles. He was also at Viscera Purifying fifth rank like me but his confidence was as if he could crush me like an ant.

”Kaur, stop.” The rank nine practitioner stopped him, carefully examining me. He was the shortest in this group of criminals but every lackey had their heads low around him, except for one.

”This boy is dangerous.” His eyes judged accurately, focusing on my long red sword.

”Fourth boss, no matter how strong this twat is, he ain’t gonna win against the eight of us.” Another lackey came beside the rank 9 practitioners. His large frame contrasted against his fourth boss.

”Should I go check on him, Chey?” A rank 8 man said. Only he had called this ‘fourth boss’ by his name, Chey.

I paid special attention to these practitioners’ movements and body sizes. These were killers, robbers, gamblers, rapists, and everything else a typical jack-of-all-bad-trades criminal would be. However, they weren’t military men. They tried circling me at their boss’s command but were pitifully bad at it.

Their formation was loose and I could slip away anytime if I chose to not fight. Thinking about the worst that could happen, I was expecting at least 20 armed criminals to ambush me.

I wanted to bring someone with me to this courtyard but Ling’er was busy and I didn’t have anyone else I could command. Even so, Feng Yi was staying here and I had to come.

She had gone somewhere at the moment, thankfully. I wouldn’t like someone playing the hostage game with me.

”Hah!” Someone came from the rear left, stretching his arms at me. It was a predictable martial arts technique.

The man was cautious as I swung my sword. Being weaponless made this fight disadvantageous to them but they were superior in number. More came from the front and right. Their positions were random and I could see the flaws in their attacks.

”Hua!”

”Victorious leap!”

I bent my body, put my sword on the ground, cleanly somersaulting backward as I picked my sword. I then blocked the daggers aimed at my back and attacked with a tempo.

This move had no name but it fell under the foundational movements for martial arts. I had incorporated my sword techniques in that, performing this stance.

I suddenly rotated my right foot and ducked, dodging two vicious fists aiming for my chest. One of the practitioners cried as I cut open a long wound on his thigh. The other criminals took his position and I had to dodge again.

‘There!’ I felt the deadly daggers with my spirit sense.

Clang!

A crisp metallic sound rang out in the courtyard as I instinctively blocked that dagger attack. A numbing vibration entered my body and I became stiff for a moment.

One of the surrounding practitioners took advantage of the effect caused by his boss’s effort. He was, however, a little wary and only managed to disorientate me after heavily tackling my body.

I felt my world spin but quickly stabilized myself and ran out of their flawed encirclement. The practitioner called Kaur wasn’t as confident as he was after this. However, he was the person closest to me and he had to attack.

”Ahhh! Charging Lion Strike!” Although the name sounded laughable, the force behind Kaur’s body at the moment was not to be underestimated.

I waved my sword, heavily rotating it to counter Kaur’s strike but he wouldn’t be using his body against a sharp weapon if he didn’t have anything else up his sleeve.

Indeed, the moment I used my sword, he changed directions and revealed that he was only a distraction. The true attack was a fatal kick of the rank 8 practitioner from behind. And, I was kinda aware of that already.

I bent my upper body and suddenly pointed my sword backward. As I was rotating it, there was a greater force when I struck behind me without looking.

The rank 8 practitioner was caught off guard. He immediately retracted his foot but couldn’t stop his body from approaching me.

”Aaaaaaaa!” As I had foreseen, my red sword pierced his stomach, crimson blood staining its edges.

I pulled out as soon as I noticed Chey running towards me with a furious glare, only to chop the head of my dying opponent.

”No- you… really have done it now! Everyone, kill him!” Boiling rage shadowed this fourth boss’s face as he ordered the other practitioners.

He again used his ”Victorious Leap” moment technique to close distances between us. Reaching me before the other lackeys could even move, he used a frightening amount of strength to push me back with his dagger blows.

Tong! Tang! Ti-ting! Ting! Tonnnng!

Perhaps the most fascinating thing about my sword other than the increase in strength it gave during a fight was its vibration. Yes, this thing vibrated when it was hit by more than 300 kilograms of force.

At the moment, our blows had already exceeded the mark of 600 kilograms. My red sword vibrated so much that my hands were going numb. I was straining my body to keep myself safe from Chey’s extreme dagger swipes.

However, it wasn’t just me who was affected by these vibrations. The sword actually helped me block 1/4th of my opponent’s force which came with his attacks.

The sounds of our grunting, weapons clashing mixed with that of our robes flapping and feet stomping on the ground. This was intense and dangerous even for watchers.

Lower ranked Viscera Purifying practitioners would not be able to participate in our battle at all as every attack could kill them on spot.

”What the hell? He’s keeping up with the boss!?” Those lackeys rubbed their eyes in disbelief.

However, it was only a tough front I had put up. Even with all my advanced senses and increase in strength due to wielding The Piercer, I was still suppressed by Chey.

His every attack sent me backward and I was only narrowly blocking those daggers from damaging my ribcage or cutting my neck. Nevertheless, I kept myself from getting hurt and that was not just impressive but also annoying for a rank 9 practitioner such as him.

Even though he was faster than me, stronger than me, and had a clear advantage of four whole ranks, I still stood. I may be pushed back, sweating, and out of breath but the fact that not a drop of my blood was spilled made my opponent doubt himself.

My reflexes were extraordinary, to say the least, and I seemed to predict his every move as if I had personally taught him. Brute force didn’t work here as I was an expert at dodging as well. This fight was making me push the limits of my body while it was making Chey push the limits of his mind.

Just what the hell was I? These were some grandmaster level counter techniques! He also knew that my weapon was assisting me but even so, he should have already made me eat dust by now.

Clang! He suddenly stopped attacking and backed away.

I huffed and puffed while holding my sword in an alert position. My whole body felt like I had run a hundred miles while carrying a whole craoca on my back. I was drenched in my own sweat from head to toe and felt horribly fatigued. Yet, my senses remained active.

I wanted to test myself and had found my answer. I could barely defeat a rank 8 Viscera Purifying practitioner at my best state. The earlier one died because he was careless and didn’t expect that I would sense his attack from behind, underestimating me too much.

A practitioner such as Chey wasn’t out of my league but I still wasn’t there yet. I could only protect myself.

”He’s tired now and won’t be able to dodge like that.” Chey passed his daggers to a nearby rank 6 practitioner and motioned the other men.

They wouldn’t be able to join the fight if me and him fought but who said only he could defeat me? These weren’t just low-brained mobs but actual criminals who had survived here under the watch of the city guards. Of course, they would be intelligent.

‘Yeah, I guess it’s time for a tactical retreat.’ My whole body was heavy and I could pass out any time. Trying to fight six men around the same rank as I was foolishness. That word didn’t exist in my dictionary.

”Fuck yourselves.” I showed them my middle finger and entered the house. They followed me inside, thinking I would maybe try to hide or bring out some new weapon.

Chey shouted and informed them that I was about to escape, but he was a tad bit too late. I leaped out of the courtyard and he was already outside to block me.

However, this was it. I had many ways I could go and he couldn’t chase me in the city without being seen by the guards.

The men shouted amongst themselves and leaped over the walls but I had already made my escape by then.. I only hoped Feng Yi wouldn’t return until they left.