Comprehending Myriad Techniques as Woodcutter

The other three fell silent. Lin Cheng sighed and said with difficulty,

"Sister, we can’t save Master Xie... We should just focus on saving ourselves!"

Lin Zhen knew it wasn’t realistic; she was just voicing her thoughts.

She bit her lip, her beautiful eyes welling with tears as she stared, unblinking, at Xie Yuan below.

Lin Zhen was watching Xie Yuan, and Huang Zifeng was watching Lin Zhen. Seeing her expression, his heart felt like it was being torn to pieces.

He was about to say something when he saw Lin Zhen’s eyes go wide. Her expression froze, as if she had just witnessed something unbelievable.

Huang Zifeng quickly turned his head and saw Xie Yuan raise his long saber. With a single movement, he vanished from where he stood.

The next moment, he crashed into a group of oncoming bandits from the Qi and Blood Metamorphosis Realm. His saber flashed, sending a great spray of blood into the air!

Xie Yuan moved so fast his opponents had no time to react. In the first clash, one man was decapitated, and two more had their chests burst open in a spray of blood!

"AHH!"

A bloodcurdling scream tore through the night. The bandits froze for a second, only then realizing Xie Yuan had charged into their midst!

"Xie Yuan, you’re courting death!"

They quickly surrounded Xie Yuan, their long sabers whistling through the air as they ruthlessly chopped down!

Seeing several Martial Artists from the Qi and Blood Metamorphosis Realm attacking with their full might, their blades raining down chaotically, Xie Yuan’s eyes glinted. He didn’t meet them head-on.

With a single shuffle of his feet, he became a blur. Before they could even see how he moved, he had slipped out of their encirclement and appeared behind one of the men.

Before the man could react, his eyes froze. He slowly looked down at the tip of a saber protruding from his chest and collapsed.

"Xie Yuan, how dare you!"

The leader of this bandit squad roared in fury. Twisting his long saber, he brought it down on Xie Yuan’s head with astonishing force!

Xie Yuan’s expression tensed. Seeing the incredible speed of the attack, he swung his own saber up to parry. With a loud CLANG, he deflected the blow and immediately created distance, refusing to clash head-on.

The leader’s arm went numb. He couldn’t help but shake it out, his expression changing slightly.

’Such immense strength!’

’If he weren’t worried about being surrounded, I probably wouldn’t stand a chance against him!’

The leader grew cautious. He no longer dared to charge rashly, instead only striking out when he saw an opening. This left Xie Yuan temporarily unable to get to the leader, who was surrounded by his men.

’These bandits are as cunning as they say!’ Xie Yuan thought.

More and more bandits were gathering. A quick count revealed a dozen or so men, all masters of the Qi Blood First Transformation Realm. Xie Yuan grew more alert. He couldn’t afford to get trapped in an encirclement with this many people; that would be a huge problem.

Before the enemy could close the circle, his form blurred. With a push of his feet, he slipped through a gap in their ranks before they could react and broke into a sprint.

Seeing that Xie Yuan had somehow slipped away again, the bandits roared and gave chase.

They were all masters of the Qi Blood First Transformation Realm and were by no means slow. But compared to Xie Yuan, who was using the Cloud Dragon Step, they were completely outmatched!

If Xie Yuan hadn’t been deliberately slowing down, he would have lost them in moments.

’But that wouldn’t accomplish my goal...’

He glanced back. The pursuing enemies were now strung out in a ragged line. ’It’s about time,’ he thought, his eyes flashing.

Xie Yuan suddenly stopped in his tracks. He spun around like a bolt of lightning and charged back toward the foremost pursuers. After a flurry of wild slashes that killed one and wounded another, he retreated like the wind and resumed his sprint.

Seeing him brazenly turn back to kill them, the bandits were enraged. They gritted their teeth and pushed harder, and soon their formation was once again in disarray.

Xie Yuan repeated the tactic. His Cloud Dragon Step was like lightning as he doubled back, killed two more men, and then gracefully vanished once again.

’This guy... his Body Technique and saber skills are just too damn strong!’

One of the leaders felt his eye twitch. A deep sense of dread toward Xie Yuan washed over him, and he yelled an order:

"Everyone, stick together! Don’t get picked off!"

The men stopped running haphazardly and instead formed a loose arc, keeping close to one another.

Xie Yuan saw the bandits had reacted so quickly that his tactic was no longer effective. He raised an eyebrow, his mind racing.

’This tactic won’t work anymore... It’d be easy to lose them, but I’m afraid they’ll just go back for Lin Zhen’s group. But there’s no way for me to pick them off one by one now...’

He hummed in thought and glanced up the dune, only to see the four of them leisurely swinging their swords while watching him.

’...Is someone waving? Is that Lin Zhen?’

Xie Yuan froze for a second, then cursed inwardly.

’What are those idiots doing? Is this a fan meet-and-greet? If they’d just hurry up and break through, I wouldn’t have to waste my time running circles down here!’

On the sand dune, the four of them stared, mesmerized. Below, Xie Yuan moved like a phantom dragon, weaving in and out of the bandits of the Qi Blood First Transformation Realm, killing at will. They had completely forgotten they were in the middle of their own battle.

Luckily, their four-person Sword Array was formidable enough that the enemy couldn’t break through, which allowed them the luxury of being distracted.

Lin Zhen had been staring blankly, her eyes shining with a dazed light. But when she saw Xie Yuan look up, she couldn’t resist waving enthusiastically at him from within the enemy’s encirclement. The surrounding bandits’ eyes twitched; they felt utterly disrespected.

Her gaze held admiration and something more. Her eyes sparkled as she sighed in a low voice,

"Master Xie is incredible!"

Lin Cheng also murmured,

"I never expected... I never expected Master Xie to still be this strong after reaching the Qi Blood First Transformation Realm! No, he’s even stronger than before!"

Pei Yu, who was seeing Xie Yuan for the first time, nodded slowly, his voice filled with emotion.

"No wonder they call him an unparalleled monster. He’s cutting down bandits of the same Qi and Blood Metamorphosis Realm like they’re nothing, moving completely unopposed! Damn it, that’s what a true Martial Artist should be!"

Huang Zifeng remained silent, but his expression was a maelstrom of emotions that words could not capture: shock mingled with confusion, admiration laced with defiance.

The display below the dune was affecting the morale of those on top. While the group from the Sword Sect was invigorated, the other bandits watched their leaders being torn apart, suffering casualties even worse than their own. A shiver went through them. Their thoughts shifted from, ’It’d be nice to be down there,’ to, ’Let the leaders go first.’