Chapter 178 Insufficient Strength

They hadn’t expected me to strike the moment we spoke, acting with such decisive speed. All of them hastily drew their weapons. Initially, their expressions had been relaxed, but as they realized how lightning-fast my movements were, a sudden sense of dread washed over them.

However, it was already too late. My Snow Blade had already slashed across the face of one of them. That fellow was merely at the first tier of the Spirit Blossom realm, which was completely negligible in my eyes.

Therefore, I increased my strength slightly. With just a single strike, the weapon in his hand was shattered into pieces. Following that, I threw a punch directly into his throat.

He collapsed to the ground instantly, and based on my judgment, he definitely wasn't going to survive.

I didn't linger and immediately turned to slash at the next person. By this time, they had finally assessed the situation and began to take me seriously.

Yet, what good did that do? I moved through the crowd like a god of war, cutting someone down every now and then.

There were over a dozen of them, but before I even exerted myself fully, more than half were already dead. The remaining ones stared at me with wide, terrified eyes.

"You... who on earth are you? We are people from the Seven-Color Sect, you'd better not mess around!"

The man standing right in front of me was trembling as he spoke, still foolishly attempting to use the reputation of the Seven-Color Sect to intimidate me. But I didn't buy into that nonsense at all.

"Seven-Color Sect? Trash!"

I spat on the ground in disgust, a gesture that caused the remaining men to lose all their remaining dignity. Knowing full well they couldn't defeat me, they still swung their weapons in my direction.

Since they were so utterly unappreciative of kindness, I saw no need to hold back. I stowed away my Snow Blade and began to deploy the Eight Extremities Fist.

If compared within the same tier of advancement, these fellows might have been considered quite formidable. From the way they fought, it was evident they had undergone rigorous training, and their martial arts skills were far from ordinary.

Unfortunately for them, they had crossed paths with me!

The agility and lethal efficiency of the Eight Extremities Fist ranked among the very best of all boxing styles. Dealing with so many opponents, I handled them with effortless ease.

From beginning to end, they didn't even manage to touch me—not even a corner of my clothes. Yet, I had already eliminated the vast majority of them, leaving only the very last one standing.

"Spare... spare my life, and I'll give you money!"

This man was still struggling desperately. As I drew a small dagger, he suddenly pulled a tiny sphere from his spatial ring and crushed it instantly.

That trinket certainly spelled trouble. Without hesitation, I drove my blade straight into his heart. In my view, that object was clearly a signaling device used to summon reinforcements.

A surge of stubborn defiance rose within me. I genuinely wanted to see what kind of people he could call forth; if things really went south, I could always just run away.

Right after that, I dragged all their corpses outside, found a secluded spot, and set them ablaze with a fierce fire.

Then I returned to the house, calmly took a seat, and waited for guests to arrive.

This downtime was terribly boring, so I made a phone call to Uncle Er to brief him on the situation. Uncle Er had always had absolute confidence in my strength; he simply told me to be careful and hurry back once I was done.

After giving him my word, I hung up the phone and waited quietly in stillness.

Yet this wait lasted for more than an hour. Finally, just as I was about to lose my patience, a surge of spiritual energy rapidly approached the house.

I closed my eyes and sensed it carefully. If my judgment was correct, the newcomer was likely at the second tier of the Spirit Lotus realm.

"Sigh..."

I let out a soft sigh, having expected someone of greater consequence, but it turned out to be someone even a realm lower than myself.

Turning my head to look through the window, I saw a man with unkempt hair and a wrinkled dark-blue robe, looking remarkably like a beggar.

He seemed to be only in his thirties, but his demeanor carried the withered air of a man well past fifty. In his hand, he dragging a long sword with reckless abandon.

The moment I looked at him, he spotted me as well, and immediately charged straight into the house.

Upon entering, he saw the bloodstains on the floor and instantly grasped the situation. I slowly stood up from my seat, staring fixedly at him.

"Did you kill my disciple?!"

He let out a furious roar, releasing a massive wave of spiritual energy as if consumed by rage. But I wasn't the kind of person to be frightened easily.

"That's right, they were asking for it."

In truth, I had merely been entrusted with a task, but saying this was meant purely to provoke him.

"Very well, you... excellent!"

He ruffled his hair, making it even more disorderly. Then, wielding his long sword, he lunged at me with blistering speed. Realizing I could no longer afford to be relaxed, I drew my Snow Blade once more.

His long sword surprised me slightly because it was remarkably striking. The hilt was pitch black, and the blade itself was entirely obsidian.

He moved like an assassin, his speed astonishing. The moment he closed the distance, he immediately unleashed a fierce swordsmanship technique.

Instead of holding back, I instantly shifted into the flow of the Wing Shadow Blade Technique while simultaneously channeling a bolt of the Racing Thunder Spell in my left hand.

As he lunged forward, I executed my blade technique while unleashing the spell. However, the man possessed incredible reflexes and managed to dodge the attack with ease.

"I'll make you pay the price!"

Hardly had the words left his mouth when a trace of regret crossed his features. After all, he was a tier lower than me, and my blade technique was fiercely formidable.

Consequently, he was momentarily at a loss for how to respond. Despite his solid strength, my sudden onslaught caught him completely off guard due to his overconfidence.

"Who is going to pay the price?"

I taunted him with a smirk. Gritting his yellowish teeth, he rallied and launched a counterattack.

Most swordsmanship styles relied on agile and ethereal movements, but this man was vastly different.

His swordplay was ferocious and swift, devoid of any flashy or superfluous embellishments. He went all out right from the start, which caught me somewhat off guard.

Yet, no matter how he counterattacked, he remained entirely suppressed under my relentless offensive. I couldn't help asking,

"What's your name?"

He let out a cold snort and spat out two words: "Gao Yuan!"

I nodded, preparing to bring the battle to a swift conclusion. I intensified my strength, and the speed of my blade multiplied rapidly.

Since he was already no match for me to begin with, this escalation left him utterly devoid of any room to retaliate, and numerous wounds quickly opened up across his body.

Seeing that the outcome was settled, he hastily reached into his spatial ring for a small sphere identical to the one his disciple had used, intending to crush it.

But I wasn't going to fall for the same trick twice. With a clean sweep of my blade, I severed one of his arms. Deprived of strength in an instant, he staggered backward.

Seizing the opening, I thrust my blade forward, piercing straight through his heart. And just like that, his life came to an end.

I glanced at the small sphere without touching it, opting instead to take his spatial ring and his long sword.

After closing the door behind me, I swiftly departed the scene, planning to buy some groceries before heading home.

Fortunately, the journey was uneventful, and I successfully purchased everything I needed. By the way, I bought even more delicious treats for Nangong Xi, then hailed a taxi toward Xuanfeng Mountain.

Upon returning to the mountain, I handed the ring containing the groceries to Uncle Er and chatted with him about the events of the day.

Uncle Er had long heard of the Seven-Color Sect and despised them deeply. He remarked that they were just as notorious as the Demonic Mist Sect and praised me for doing the right thing.

After chatting with the old man for a while, Uncle Er went back inside to prep the vegetables. Meanwhile, I made my way to Nangong Xi's room.

Seeing that she was still deep in meditation, I decided not to disturb her. I placed the bag of snacks on the floor and quietly withdrew from the room.