Chapter 26- Lackeys

"Urgh."

Maxwell was about to break through to stage 10 and unblock his heart meridians. It was the most dangerous meridian to unblock as a single error could kill him. It was also very painful as impurities were being dispelled from his heart, allowing it to function with extreme efficiency.

Sweat dripped down his face as time passed. He continued to groan in pain as the impurities were being expelled and the meridians were being cleared. He broke through with a burst of qi from his heart.

Maxwell woke up from his state of meditation after the successful breakthrough. He took a few seconds to reorient his senses. His heart could now be strengthened with qi, allowing him to pump his blood faster while in battle and to also calm himself when required. This also prevented him from getting any regular heart problems.

'Arion, I just came out of closed-door cultivation, how long has it been?' Maxwell contacted Arion with the mental link from their contract and got an immediate response.

'It has been a week. You broke through rather quickly.'

'Even if that was fast, reaching stage 20 will take a long time.'

'Good luck in reaching stage 20. You also have some visitors.' He said the words visitors with sarcasm.

'Do I? Let me go greet them.'

Maxwell walked out and saw that his Spiritual Herbs were slightly shriveled up and the soil was dry and cracked.

'Oh, I forgot to put a formation to spray water.'

Maxwell exited his home and saw 2 very huge cultivators with burly arms waiting. They were visibly very annoyed of waiting.

"How can I help you?" Maxwell asked while looking up at their towering figures.

They tried intimidating him with a grimacing smile that gave them a look of a crazed killer. Maxwell remained calm and waited for their answer silently while staring into the eyes of the taller one.

"Our boss wants to see you. Follow us."

"Who's your boss?"

"You will see when you meet him."

Maxwell was led to the main town area, to the grandest restaurant there. He was taken to a private room. The two goons knocked on the door and announced their presence to the people inside. They were let in. Maxwell came face to face with a boy his age who had cultivation that was mostly acquired through consuming pills. His aura was fluctuating a lot, showing that he had over relied on pills. He didn't even acknowledge Maxwell's presence and continued to eat the food he was being fed by a girl that sat on his lap.

"What are you two here for?" He was annoyed at their interruption.

"Boss, we got the person you wanted."

"Who? Oh, him."

He looked up Maxwell up and down and seemed dissatisfied at his appearance.

"You're the Inner disciple with a Space affinity?"

"Yes, I am."

"Join my group as my subordinate."

"I already announced I wouldn't be joining any groups."

"You have no choice." He replied angrily while signaling his goons.

His goons grabbed Maxwell by his arms and restrained him.

'Who is this arrogant fellow?'

He got up from his chair after pushing away the girl on his lap and walked forward while preparing his fists.

"Are you sure you want to say no?"

"Who are you anyways?"

"How dare you! I'm the son of the Sect Leader, I can get you expelled at any moment."

"I don't think the sect leader would like it if you hurt me."

"What's so special about space affinity, all I see is a wimp. He won't punish me."

He threw a punch at Maxwell's gut. The moment it was about to land Maxwell disappeared.

"Huh?"

They were confused at how he disappeared, and they tried to find him to no avail. Maxwell was already long gone since he didn't want to cause any drama. He wandered around the town without any goal in mind. He just planned for his future actions. He soon realized that he was being tailed.

'There's 10 of them, some are on the roofs, 3 are disguised as vendors and the rest are blending in the crowd.'

Maxwell took them to a secluded area, away from any other people. He was immediately surrounded by them.

"Which sect sent you?"

"We never reveal our employers. You just need to die under our blades."

They all brandished blades with a brass cross guard. They walked forward synchronously as a group. Maxwell brought out his decoy spear and brandished it calmly. He watched carefully for them to make the first strike, any wrong move from Maxwell would leave him open to multiple attacks from many of them.

He slashed around himself with his spear, making them keep some distance between each other. 2 of them charged at Maxwell at once, slashing at his neck. He deflected their attacks with his spear creating a loud clang of metal, nearly knocking his opponents off balance. Their blades weren't low quality, but they all looked the same.

'Why aren't they using their qi to attack?'

They weren't being overly aggressive as an assassin should be, as if they were holding him down. Maxwell thought about this and came to the conclusion that they weren't delaying him but they were trying to hold him in place for someone else.

Maxwell attempted to use Instant Transmission to get behind them and strike them. As soon as he tried using it he came in contact with a barrier restricting him.

"How do you like our 10-point trap formation?" A voice came from the shadows of a nearby tree.

"It's terrible. There are 3 weaknesses I can point out immediately."

"We won't be frightened by your bluffs. This is our ultimate technique to capture our targets. As long as you cooperate, we won't have to hurt anyone else."

"I'm not bluffing," Maxwell confidently stated while striking one of them repeatedly. He changed to Dragon Devouring Spear 3rd stance and attacked him. The sight of the nearly formed dragon frightened the one he was attacking and caused him to freeze.

This led to the qi supply being suddenly stopped and the formation collapsing.

"See, it's terrible."

"Dragon? It looks different from our information. You have a lot of tricks up your sleeves. Of course none of them will work with me here. I'm too strong for you to handle."

Maxwell let out a long yawn.

"Stop monologuing and show your supposed strength."

Maxwell appeared between each of the 10 assassins and killed them. Some died with a spear through their head, some through decapitation and others through a blow at their heart.

The assassin in the shadows seemed indifferent at the death of his comrades.

"You just helped me keep more of the commission earnings to myself."

"Then how about you thank me by f***ing off."

"I have never failed an assassination ever and it won't happen now. Your abilities still haven't scared me."

The assassin stepped out of the shadows with a bright red Blade, slightly longer than the others. He was dressed in all black and in the day it stood out a lot.

"Why would you dress in black, it's not even night." Maxwell let out a long sigh.

The assassin didn't respond and slashed at Maxwell. He was at the third stage of Core Formation Realm, and he was weak compared to Maxwell's previously defeated opponents.

They clashed back and forth multiple times with no clear victor. The assassin realized he would not be an easy moment. Maxwell had an excellent defense with no openings.

After a few minutes of continuous exchange, the assassin pulled out a paper talisman. He threw it on Maxwell with a short incantation and it disappeared. Hands appeared from the ground and held Maxwell in place. He struggled to no avail. He was being held tightly by the mud arms.

The assassin brought out a nice long rope to tie Maxwell with. He went to strike Maxwell on the head with the back of his blade to knock him out. Before he could do this, Maxwell appeared behind him and tried to end his life. He dodged the spear strike and turned to counter attack.

'I can't use dragon devouring spear if he keeps attacking, I need a few seconds to use it.'

Maxwell disarmed his opponent after twisting the blade around and causing it to fall out of the assassin's hand.

"How?!"

The assassin was extremely alarmed. He had never been defeated even if he fought one on one against his target. His target was 14 years old and he was still in Foundation Establishment stage, how did he lose?

"You're weak." Maxwell commented while ending it with a sharp stab through the assassin's heart. The assassin's life flashed through his mind as his consciousness faded permanently.

"Now what do I do? There are 11 corpses here." Maxwell scratched his head and finally decided to leave them to be found by the Disciplinary Hall who patrolled the sect for rule breakers.

He hurried away from the fight scene after making sure that he left no evidence that could point to him.