Hidden Blade

"Oof!"

"Aagh!"

Two members of the Execution Squad cried out in pain as a heavy iron rod smacked them between the eyes, sending them crashing down to the forest floor.

Ryker stuck his tongue out at them, briefly, before leaping off again, traversing through the canopy of trees.

Their game of cat and mouse had been going on for a few minutes now, with him staying just out of their reach until a few of them got too far ahead, at which point he turned around and gave them a few smacks, utilizing the long reach of the staff to strike them before they could close the distance.

The Fierce Yaksha Cudgel Technique was actually quite a high level technique, since it was part of the beginner's package. It dictated a qi flow pattern that maximised the strengths of the staff, namely flexibility. Its agile qi flow made it a great technique for unleashing a variety of attacks and mixing up opponents.

The same went for the Sturdy Iron Cudgel that came along with it; although it had no distinguishing features, the material it was made out of rivaled artifacts that would be categorized as divine grade on this continent, or even higher.

The pursuers actively chasing him became fewer and fewer, unable to withstand the constant barrage of strikes. They couldn't even sense when he was about to attack, since the mana he used concealed his qi flow from their senses.

When the people chasing him dropped to five, he decided to finally stop running, stopping at a large clearing near the border to the eastern region.

His pursuers ran out and stood at the opposite end of the clearing, panting roughly and huddling together to try and put up some form of defense. They were no longer confident in their chances, and some of them even had the thought to flee.

There would be no question that they would have no more place in the sect, and would be punished harshly for ruining this important mission. But still, it was better than gambling their lives!

They tightened the grips on their weapons with grim faces, all of them debating internally whether to flee or stand firm, when Ryker started to speak, resting his staff leisurely on his shoulder.

"Only five left, huh?" he said, carefully scrutinizing them, "Well, I won't make it hard on you. Just give me your storage rings, and you're free to go!"

They all looked at each other, wondering what they should do.

"I-if we fail here, they'll strip us of everything we have, anyway. I say we give him our stuff and run," one of them said, the nervous woman whom Chen Liwei had been chewing out earlier.

"Damn it, stand and fight! Have you no pride?" Jinhai, who was acting as their leader, shouted.

"If anyone dares to retreat, I'll personally kill them, myself!"

The rest of them gulped at that, seeing as Jinhai was the strongest of them, and they all anxiously crept forward to confront Ryker. He hadn't been aiming for any lethal strikes, since they started, so perhaps it was better to risk fighting him?

But who could say what he would do once he had taken them all out...

"You got guts, kid, but you're a million years too early!" Ryker said with a grin, ignoring the fact that they were most likely decades older than he was.

He bounced in place a few times before kicking off with the Profound Wind Walking Technique, instantly appearing in front of the huddled remnants of the Execution Squad.

Panicked, they all lashed out at him with their weapons, but he had already leapt over them with a somersault, taking out Jinhai, who was in the back, with a heavy swing to the back of his head.

Jinhai grunted in pain briefly before knocking out, cold.

Before they could retaliate, he charged into them, ramming a man wielding a large saber to the ground as the rest of them swung their weapons down on his body.

He relied on the strength of his physical body to resist their attacks and swung his staff again, trading injury for injury as he caught another one of them in the side with a heavy blow.

Their attacks, on the other hand, caused little more than some cuts on his skin, except where they hit his jacket.

Swinging his staff in a circle around him to make some space, he quickly leapt at the man he had knocked down and swung his staff down in an arc, catching him with a strike to the head before he could defend himself.

The saber-wielding expert went down with a groan, crumpling like a sack of rice-wheat.

Sensing an incoming attack, he turned and back stepped to avoid the sword of one of the remaining squad members, landing in a crouch and holding himself up with his staff.

"Only three of you left. Sure you don't feel like giving up?" he said as he rose to his feet, slinging his staff over his shoulders and draping his arms over it.

The three remaining Execution Squad members hesitated for a moment, looking at the knocked out Jinhai. These three were just ordinary disciples of average talent, and it wasn't like they had any particular attachments to the sect.

They gave each other a look, nodding in unspoken agreement.

"W-we surrender," the nervous woman said, dropping her sword to the ground, with the other two following suit.

"Smart move," Ryker said, nodding, "Now cough up the rings!"

The Execution Squad pulled their storage rings off of their fingers and handed them to Ryker, who was standing over them intimidatingly like a schoolyard bully.

It would be a bit more intimidating if he wasn't grinning like a fool, but they had seen enough of his strength to be frightened, nonetheless. The three of them were on the weaker side, after all, only being in the late stage of the Golden Core realm.

"Good. Well, I got a lot more to collect before heading back, so... Later!

After taking the storage rings off of Jinhai and the other expert he had knocked out, he waved the Golden Core experts goodbye and leapt back into the forest, backtracking the way he came.

The three of them just looked at each other and sighed. Although they had kept their lives, they were definitely in big trouble, now.

"I should've just stayed home with my parents," the nervous woman lamented with a sob.

The other two simply nodded in agreement.

--

Ryker's trek back through the woods was fairly uneventful. With all of the strong experts running about, wild demonic beasts had given the area a wide berth, leaving this part of the forest mostly empty.

A few of the cultivators on his way back were still conscious, but they were quickly taken care of with a swift strike from his staff and mercilessly looted.

Not even the Soul Wandering experts were able to escape, having become too saturated with mana from Ryker's attacks to utilize their qi sufficiently.

"Nice, these guys had a lot of good stuff on them!"

Ryker had just finished looting the body of Jiayi, looking through the storage rings and taking count of his spoils, when an intense, pink light shone off in the distance above the trees, reminding Ryker that Luo Shuchang was still having a battle of his own.

"Hm, guess I should probably check up on him, huh?" Ryker mused. Putting the storage rings in his bag, he leapt away towards the flashing lights.

--

At the Crimson Viper King's lair...

Luo Shuchang channeled his qi into a powerful finishing blow, sword qi swirling around his raised sword like a whirlwind.

Time seemed to slow down for the charging Chen Liwei, who had immediately turned to flee once he felt that chilling sensation of death. However, he couldn't seem to muster any speed, and the attack fell before he could even get out of Luo Shuchang's line of sight.

"Falling Plum Blossoms," Luo Shuchang chanted softly, bringing down his sword in a gentle arc. Contrary to the slow fall of the sword, however, pink sword qi began to rain down from above him, shooting towards the ground like bolts of lightning.

Chen Liwei paled and ran even faster, but he couldn't outrun the streaks of sword qi shooting towards him.

'What kind of technique is this?!' Chen Liwei thought to himself frantically as he shielded himself with his arms while he ran. The rain of sword qi tore into his flesh, but he couldn't see any paths of escape, the rain following his movements with no issue.

Eventually, he roared and pulled out a small jade talisman, crushing it in his hands. A small bubble of blue qi surrounded him when he did, neutralizing the sword qi raining down on him for the moment.

'Damn it, I only have a few moments before this protection talisman wears off! I have to finish this brat off before then!' Chen Liwei thought to himself, grimly. He wasn't able to outrun whatever technique was being used, so all he could do was attempt to crush Luo Shuchang!

He turned and rushed towards Luo Shuchang, who was concentrating on maintaining the Falling Plum Blossoms technique. Although his body was currently being ravaged by Luo Shuchang's sword qi, he still had enough vitality to make one last attack.

Luo Shuchang noted Chen Liwei's desperate charge with narrowed eyes, exhaling as he prepared his true attack. As he expected, Chen Liwei's trump card was a protective talisman, so this next attack had to be refined to the extreme to have a chance at penetrating it.

Although the sword in front of him was being used to channel the Falling Plum Blossoms, his true death blow would come from the dagger he was holding behind his back!