Chapter 42: Blood on the Path

Chapter 42: Blood on the Path

He should have been able to see it coming, but the Topaz boy was just as angry as he remembered, if not more so. And ignoring all strategy, decorum, or anything, he just charged at Paike. Paike couldn’t do anything but step forward to meet him.

Behind him, he felt qi rise as the others prepared techniques to meet the advance of the Fang clan. The four Ruby cultivators had also moved to attack his team. Whereas the Topaz member of the Fang clan charged like an enraged bull, the others engaged in a more cautious way.

However, as they got close, they began to produce weapons, which immediately changed the nature of the conflict. The Topaz cultivator pulled out a sword, while one of the Late Ruby cultivators unwrapped the chain from his waist and began to spin it around. Two others pulled out knives, and the last one, something that looked more like a club than a staff.

A bunch of brutes they were, rather than elegant cultivators, but that didn’t mean that they were not dangerous. Having partial stage advantages at least in every fight was a huge deal. It was impossible to overstate how much of an edge that gave them. Ninety nine times out of hundred a Middle Ruby should win against an Early Ruby. A Late Ruby shouldn’t have to even try, maybe they would lose 1 in a thousand.

Even more so against what essentially were newly awakened cultivators, newly awakened children. What he took away from this was that it was just a matter of time. Their only hope was an elder would intervene, especially now that weapons were involved. How could he stall them? Could he do anything to do so?

Paike was much taller than all of them, and his martial arts training as a mortal had left him brawnier than most cultivators, especially wider in the shoulders. However, their advantage in physical cultivation and an extra year of training in the sect negated a lot of his advantages against people in his own class. His staff would help, but he was the only one armed.

“What do you want?” Paike called, ready to hand over any sort of cultivation resources, because this wasn’t going to be a simple sparring session. Drawing weapons wasn’t against sect rules, but the way they were handling them sure made it seem like they weren’t going to abide by the rules for much longer.

Unfortunately, he didn’t get an answer. The charge continued. Paike risked a single glance back and to his relief he realized that his team was not as unarmed as he feared. Zhang Shuying was the most obvious, holding a bow and darting to get range. Liming had whips of water flowing behind her and Mi Lixain’s Lute was strumming. Paike could feel the music invigorating him slightly and upping his reaction speed. His sister’s familiar qi wove around him as well, spurring on his movements.

Gaun Li was the most surprising. He held a pair of knives. Paike would have to ask where he had gotten them, when he was sparing earlier Paike had advised him to find a pair. How had he done it so quickly?

Then the Topaz cultivator was on him. Paike had to use his extensive martial arts training to sway and tap, step, and pivot away from a downward strike that would have split him from collarbone to hip. The end of his staff swung up in a counter strike that he quickly had to abort.

The Topaz cultivator was fast, far faster than Paike. It was only because he telegraphed his moves that Paike was able to dodge the next three incoming strikes. The cultivator was using some sort of art to enhance the speed of his blows and the fluidity, but it was locking him into predetermined combos, combos that Paike found extremely familiar, and he moved as if he had done them thousands of times in training. Half step. Back. Turn. Twist. A slight duck and dodge. The staff raised to deflect.

Stolen novel; please report.

And then the critical moment came. As the boy went up onto his toes, in the final move of Heron Wades Through the Rushes, Paike reached forward, grabbing the wrist of his free arm and spinning himself behind the man.

Using one arm he spun his staff across the Topaz cultivator’s throat and behind his own neck. He heard a gurgle as he applied pressure, using his height to bend back slightly and lift the other cultivator off of his feet by his neck.