Phantom Step

"Be careful! He seems to have a powerful movement technique!" One of the cultivators cautioned, their eyes widening in apprehension.

As he heard the warning, Tie Zhu couldn't help but smile inwardly. He knew that what he had used was not truly the Phantom Step, but rather a rough imitation. He had spent most of his recent training focusing on the rift splitting technique, which he was currently the most familiar with. However, he had also dedicated some time to studying the Phantom Step and Overlord Lightning Formation Technique.

Despite his familiarity with the concepts of the Phantom Step, executing the technique was an entirely different matter. It required an immense amount of control over his body and mind to execute, as the movements were so precise that even the slightest misstep would result in failure and harm his cultivation.

The Phantom Step technique was divided into seven stages, and mastering each stage was a daunting task. To achieve the first stage of the technique, one had to control their spiritual essence in both his physical body as well as simultaneously manipulate the surrounding spatial Qi to shorten the distance to his target. This manipulation of spatial Qi would allowed them to almost appear as if he was teleporting to his intended destination.

Unfortunately for Tie Zhu, currently he was only able to barely control the spiritual essence within his body. With every step he took, Tie Zhu focused on the intricate balance between his spiritual essence feeling it flow within his meridians and acupoints as he controlled his movements. It was like a dance, each step precise and deliberate, with no room for error. He moved so quickly that he was almost a blur, leaving afterimages behind him.

As he approached the knife-wielding gangsters, Tie Zhu's body shifted and blurred, moving over twenty times his normal speed. He could see every detail of his opponents' movements, anticipating their attacks and dodging with ease. He moved with a fluidity that was almost supernatural, his body seemingly defying the laws of physics as he twisted and turned in mid-air.

Without giving his opponents any time to react, Tie Zhu delivered swift blows to two of the knife wielding thugs stomach, sending them crashing into the wall. He moved on to the last thug, grabbing him by the arm and swinging him in a circle before throwing him at one of the cultivators using centripetal force.

"Ahhhhh, Save me!!" The man screamed. As his body flew across the room towards the cultivator, Tie Zhu once again used his Phantom Step to appear behind the cultivator who had previously caused his vision to blur before delivering a powerful blow that sent him flying into the other man already in mid-air.

The two crashed into each other with a loud bang, as they before they collapsed to the ground with a solid thud. Tie Zhu did not know whether they were unconscious or even alive, however that was not his current concern as there were two remaining cultivators, who were nervously eying Tie Zhu who finally appeared to have come to a stop.

Seeing that an opportunity had presented itself, the fire cultivator yelled out, "Huo Qiang" (Fire Spear), conjuring up spear-like blasts of flames that hurled towards Tie Zhu with deadly precision. The wind cultivator was quick to follow suit, shouting out "Feng Shou" (Wind Hand) as he made a gesture with his hand. Suddenly, a gust of wind enveloped the fire spears, greatly enhancing their speed and ferocity as they darted towards Tie Zhu's location.

The fire spears appeared as fiery red bolts that crackled with intense heat and blazed a trail through the air. The wind, on the other hand, swirled around the spears, increasing their speed and causing them to hiss menacingly like snakes. As the spears closed in, the heat became so intense that the air around them shimmered and twisted.

With a deafening boom, the place where Tie Zhu had been standing was completely destroyed, the stone beneath it melted from the intense heat. The force of the attack sent shards of rock and debris flying in all directions, filling the air with a choking dust. But Tie Zhu was already on the move, his body blurred as he employed the phantom step technique to dodge the deadly attack.

Tie Zhu moved with such speed and precision that he seemed to flicker in and out of existence, like a ghostly apparition that could appear and disappear at will. His movements were fluid and graceful, as if he was one with the wind and the shadows. The fire spears, propelled by the fire cultivator's powerful technique, flew past Tie Zhu, missing him by mere inches.

Without giving them a moment's respite, Tie Zhu appeared next to the two cultivators in a blur of motion. He struck with lightning speed, delivering a swift blow that sent the fire cultivator crashing into the wall. The other cultivator was sent flying towards the door of the room where Tao Xuefeng was being held, his body hitting it with a loud thud, completely destroying the door.

However contrary to what Tie Zhu expected, there were no angry shouts or any shock. Instead a man in his late fifties with a grizzled appearance walked to the collapsed cultivator before kicking him away as if he were trash. Tie Zhu immediately identified this man as the head of the operation.

"Useless, you all together couldn't even handle a baby like him?" He spat at the body before turning his gaze to Tie Zhu. In fact from the moment Tie Zhu had arrived in the living room, Xu Tianming had already noticed it, however he had expected that Tie Zhu would easily be dealt with. His underlings were all veterans and had years of experience however he was disappointed to see that they had all failed to even take care of a young kid who at the third step of Qi Gathering.

"Hey boy, that's a lot of damage you caused there, how do you expect to pay that back?" came a sarcastic sneer from the the man. Xu Tianming's eyes scanned the room, taking in the damage that Tie Zhu had caused. The walls were charred, with deep cracks in the stone from where the cultivators' attacks had landed. Several pieces of furniture had been completely destroyed, with debris scattered across the floor.

But Tie Zhu was not concerned with the damage he had caused or Xu Tianming. His focus was on the bruised and battered figure of Tao Xuefeng, who was lying on the floor behind the group of cultivators. Tie Zhu's eyes narrowed, his fists clenching at his sides. "What did you do to her?" he demanded, his voice low and dangerous.