'I can't channel my Qi!' Toby realized a moment before his strike connected. The dagger hit something solid instead of soft skin and failed to pierce through it, not leaving even a single graze on Ken's skin.
"ASSASSIN!" Ken yelled loudly at the same time, and Max and Jake acted immediately. They struck the laying man with their swords without holding back, aware of his greater strength as a sixth-stage cultivator. Their goal was not to win, but to buy time for Ken to retreat and for others to help them.
'How can that be?!" The assassin's shock was easy to understand, as not many things could stop a full-force swing from someone at his stage. But that only applied to those who could control their powers.
He noticed something peculiar just then. Ken's positioning made his robes block the view from those around them, and one could only see that Toby's hand was stretched in the direction of Ken's chest, but not see the place where the chest and the dagger met.