บท 55: Return to Huang City (2)

The man was a lot taller than Kai, but despite their height difference, Kai still exuded a heavy presence and didn't back down as their eyes met.

"The coward finally shows his face, come outside!" yelled the guard as he lead his men out. Kai felt like crushing every bone in his body right then and there, but he held himself back. He was curious as to what lead to their sudden hostility. He doubted that what he did back on the road would elicit such a drastic response. After all, no rational thinking person would blame him for what he did...right?.

Ryu, Mina, and Old Lao quickly left the table and followed Kai out of the building. They were furious at how the man had spoken to Kai. Mina especially was fuming as she walked out of the Inn with her fists clenched tightly.

Kai stood by the entrance. His robe that covered his entire upper body fluttered in the afternoon wind as the men surrounded him in a semi-circle. Behind him, Ryu, Mina, and Old Lao stood nervously. Curious onlookers had also started to gather around to see what was going on. Fights within the border outposts were not uncommon.

"My lady, we brought them as you requested", said the tall man who Kai now pegged as the leader of the guards. He was speaking to a veiled woman who was wearing a luxurious-looking dress. Behind her were a group of what Kai assumed to be maids-servants.

"Well done Shi, now...now chop off one of his arms. This world doesn't need cowards like him", said the woman. Her voice was cold and distant as if she was talking about something completely unrelated to her.

"As you command", responded the leader of the guards. He pulled the massive Horse Chopper that was on his back and brandished it towards Kai.

Kai had already used [Qi Detection] and found that the man was only a [Mortal Grade-4] Body cultivator. This wasn't a level that Kai had to worry about anymore. Because of this, Kai was relatively nonchalant throughout the entire exchange.

"Lady who is a frog living at the bottom of a well...Are you doing this because I didn't help you earlier?". Kai said while trying to hold back the laughter.

"F...F...Frog?!...Did you just call me a frog?!!. Shi, cut out his filthy tongue!", yelled the veiled woman with hatred.

This exchange had proved to Kai yet again that you can't ever judge a situation at face value. He was now more curious as to who the masked attackers were. Could they have been assassins sent to kill this annoying lady?.

The man named Shi didn't waste any more time and brought his blade down fast, aiming at Kai's neck. Before the blade could even get close, a shadow jumped out from behind Kai and knocked the blade up, causing the man to stumble backward.

Kai hadn't moved at all and he whistled in surprise. He had not expected Mina to be able to deflect that attack. Mina then landed on the ground in front of Kai holding a medium-sized hammer in each hand. The hammers each had a sharp pointed pick on one end and a flat end on the other.

These were the [Grade-2][Frost-Saber-Tooth][Pick-Hammers] which were some of the spoils that Kai had kept from the man-hunter raid. They were only [Grade-2] so didn't catch his attention, but Mina had taken a liking to them, so Kai had let her keep them.

During their travels, Kai had injected both Ryu and Mina with some Qi and allowed them to practice their Qi enhancement. As usual, Mina had picked it up relatively quickly, but that wasn't all.

Mina's [Divine Yin Physique] was naturally at [Mortal Grade-3], but with the full-body Qi-enhancement, Kai estimated that she could exert strength at the early stages of [Mortal-Grade-4].

This was impressive when considering that she was only at the 1st Level of Qi Condensation. She still wasn't able to do Super-Enhancements on individual body parts as he could, but Kai felt that this was also just a matter of time.

He inspected her Qi once more and decided to let her fight. She seemed eager and it would be good practice so Kai didn't mind.

[Mortal Grade-3]

[Sub-Core-1] [Mina] [Qi 6/32]

[Manuals]

>[Modified-Dragon Subduing Law]

The man named Shi was surprised by the sudden appearance of the silver-haired girl. He hadn't put all his strength into that swing but someone that small shouldn't have been able to stop him.

He felt angry but also became a lot more cautious. He swung his blade at her again, but this time used all his strength. The swing sounded as if it was cutting through the air as Mina quickly crouched down. She launched herself forward with her hammers crossed in front of her.

Her fast movement and low stance helped her dodge the attack as she closed in. She stabbed one of the picks into his legs, but his armor was too thick and only penetrated his skin.

The man yelled in rage as he tried to knee her away, but Mina was able to use the force of the knee attack to launch herself up into the air. She flipped over him and brought the second pick down onto his shoulder.

The pick penetrated the space between the shoulder armor. Mina was unable to pull it out so she had to abandon her second pick as the man's large hand quickly came for her neck.

The man turned towards Mina in fury as he pulled the pick-hammer out of his shoulder, spurting out some blood along with it. His eyes turned red as he shifted towards Mina with increased speed. He started to swing his Horse Chopper wildly as well, leaving no gaps due to his fierce attacks. The swings were undoubtedly powerful and one hit would likely mean death for her. Mina could no longer get close to him, but at the same time, the man couldn't land any hits on her either since she was still a lot faster.

"What's going on here...she's moving too fast. Is it possible that she is also a [Grade-4] body cultivator?..." The man thought to himself as he continuously swung the Horse Chopper.

The veiled woman had been haughty the entire time, but as the battle raged on, she started to become nervous. "Shi, what are you doing...finish her already!".

Kai looked over at her and gave a sinister smile. "Just watch the fight frog lady. I think you'll be surprised by the outcome". Kai knew that Mina wasn't in the best condition was clearly overexerting herself, but he still didn't have the heart to stop her when she was trying her best right now. She was also making visible progress as the battle went on so Kai decided to treat this as part of her training

As the battle raged on, the large man named Shi seemed to be getting tired as his swings gradually lost their strength. Mina took full advantage of his slower pace and started using hit-and-run tactics. She would find an opening where she could leave small cuts with her pick before jumping out of reach again. Shi was slowly becoming a bloody mess which terrified and also infuriated the veiled woman.

"The rest of you, what are you waiting for? go and help him!". The veiled woman yelled at the rest of the guards when she saw that Shi was starting to lose. Everyone, including the onlookers, had all just been watching the fight with astonished looks on their faces. The other guards who were all at [Mortal Grade-3] and knew how strong their leader was, so the fact that he was getting pushed around by the silver-haired girl shook their current worldview.

Before they could move, Kai gave a stern warning with a calm but audible tone. "Anyone who gets involved in this fight dies..."

The men who were about to jump in unconsciously stopped moving and stared at Kai in fear. They couldn't see his face behind the hood, but they could see his smile that made their blood turn cold. he also exuded a pressure that they were unfamiliar with, which made them cautious.

"You bastards, are you rebelling?!. Wait until I tell my father about this. You'll all have your heads chopped off!"

The guards looked back at the veiled woman with defeated expressions and knew they had no choice but to follow her orders. The closest guard ran towards Mina with his spear at the ready, but before he could even close to her, his head exploded. The headless corpse fell to the ground with a thud carried by the previous momentum of his movement.

Everyone at the scene was stunned silent by the sudden death, with some of the more squeamish onlookers screaming in horror or fainting. Even Ryu and Lao Ren who were standing behind Kai felt a chill run down their spines when they saw this. Nobody knew what had happened, so everyone looked at Kai who still hadn't moved an inch.