"I-I don't..."
Chu Yuan took a step back, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out. The humiliation of his cowardly reaction in front of everyone was a blow stronger than any punch.
Huyan Lanruo let out a crystalline laugh. "It seems Brother Chu Yuan suddenly lost interest in tests. What a shame."
With the power dynamic clearly established, Chen Linjian ended the party, and finally gave the signal to depart.
The group left Glory City, a caravan of young nobles and their personal protectors, venturing beyond the safe walls of Glory City.
The group walked for approximately five hours, without rest. The journey took them through landscapes of wild beauty.
"This is..."
Long Chen was walking alone in the rear, absorbing the world's energy, when suddenly his senses picked up a disturbance not too far away.
With his heightened senses, he immediately recognized them.
Three presences, with Silver-Rank auras, moved in the shadows of the forest. The murderous intent leaking from them was a putrid stench, similar to what demon beasts carried on their bodies.
Long Chen stopped and immediately remembered the events that would accompany this arc, and recalled Shen Yue's action towards his subordinate. This immediately led him to the conclusion.
"Sacred Family assassins. Target: Nie Li. Looks like I'll have a chance to repay a little for the technique you gave me." He smiled, more excited by the fight than truly to repay any favor.
Taking advantage of a moment of distraction from the group, he opened a spatial rift behind a thick tree and disappeared.
Woosh!~
The instant Long Chen emerged from the spatial rift, the three hooded figures turned as one.
First they were surprised, before a dry, harsh laugh, like stones dragging, escaped from beneath one of the hooded men.
"Well, well. A lost Bronze-Rank brat," said the central figure. "Didn't your mother tell you not to wander far from the pack?" He provoked.
"Don't waste time! Let's just finish this brat," said the one on the left, his voice impatient. "A mere Bronze Rank, one single blow from me and he'll know hell."
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!~
The three advanced simultaneously, the sound of their robes swaying with the movement clearly audible.
They expected a scream, dread, perhaps a pathetic plea coming from Long Chen. But what they didn't expect was to see a bored smile on Long Chen's face.
"Ridiculous!"
Long Chen didn't move an inch.
When the first aggressor arrived, his fist enveloped in dark energy whistling through the air, Long Chen simply raised his hand.
Bang!~
The impact was null. Before the man could process it, Long Chen's fingers closed around his fist.
Crack!~
A sickening, gruesome, wet sound echoed, an unmistakable sound of bones being crushed.
Before the man could process and scream in pain, Long Chen's knee came up with disconcerting force, kicking him precisely below the chin. The first man's body was launched high into the air before falling to the ground with the heavy sound of flesh and bone hitting stone, motionless.
Everything happened in less than a second.
The other two stopped, their attack aborted by surprise. Confidence gave way to a deadly caution.
"Damn it! Let's attack together, this brat isn't common!" shouted the one on the right, his voice now tense.
Swoosh!~ Swoosh!~
They attacked again, a whirlwind of black cloaks. But for them, it was like fighting a ghost made of steel. Every blow they threw only cut through the air, accompanied by the frustrating sound of the wind from their own movements.
Bang!~
With each mistake, an explosive pain. A nauseating sound of cartilage snapping echoed as Long Chen's elbow met one's nose.
The side kick to the other was more muffled, a deep thud that made the man double over like a shrimp, a choked gasp escaping as he spat blood onto the ground with a wet splutter.
In less than thirty seconds, the two were on their knees, the only sound being their harsh, ragged breaths, besides the unconscious fear in their eyes.
"Who the hell is this brat? How can he have such a strong body?"
Long Chen remained still, the silence around him more menacing than any scream, without answering the question.
"Coward! You're just a brat with some brute strength!" one of them growled. "Face the power of our Demon Spirits if you dare!"
Hu-Long!~
A low hum, like that of a thousand distant insects, began to fill the air. The ominous black energy leaking from them crackled softly as a silver aura glowed on their robes. Their auras began to grow, bringing a terrifying power.
Long Chen sighed, the sound cutting through the rising hum with pure disdain. He finally raised his gaze, and for the first time, a light gleamed in his eyes.
"Took you long enough," he murmured.
The next instant, a deep, hypnotic purple light erupted from his left pupil, and the world plunged into absolute silence.
[Soul Paralysis Eye]
The hum ceased. The energy stopped.
*What!? What is this? Why can't I move?*
Terror on the faces of the two men was frozen. They were perfectly conscious, but locked in a prison of silence and panic. Their bodies immobilized, as if no longer under their control.
This was terrifying!
Long Chen walked slowly, the sound of his own calm footsteps echoing in the forced stillness.
"Summon your Demon Spirits? For what? To die a little stronger?" he scoffed, his low voice clearly resonating. "The truth is, your soul strength is as pathetic as your bodies. Weak trash shouldn't try to act like an assassin."
As he walked, a snow-white sword materialized in his hand.
Swoosh!~
With a single swing of the sword, the two heads rolled on the ground, the blood that should have flowed was instantly frozen by the Wind and Snow patterns on the sword.
The purple light in Long Chen's eyes faded. The paralysis was gone. Sound seemed to return to the world with the fall of the two bodies, which toppled forward with the wet thud of cloth and flesh hitting stone, followed by the sound of ice breaking and blood beginning to pool.
Long Chen looked at the three corpses. The entire "fight" hadn't lasted even a minute. He turned, the sole of his boot scraping the stone one last time.
"What a waste of time." With his soul force, he made one more swing of the sword towards the unconscious man, finishing the job.
The job was done. But seeing the fallen bodies and the blood staining the vegetation, a discomfort churned in his stomach.
Killing humans was, in a way... disgusting. He took a deep breath, forcing the nausea back down. 'I need to get used to this. Hesitation in this world is a luxury I can't afford.'
He sighed.
He quickly plundered the bodies, finding little of value. With a final gesture, he opened a rift to a distant cliff and tossed the corpses, cleaning the scene. Immediately after, another rift took him back to his position at the rear of the group. Everything, from disappearing, fighting, and reappearing took less than two minutes.
He continued walking as if nothing had happened. However, a soft, curious voice reached his ears.
"You vanished for an instant," said Huyan Lanruo, who had slowed her pace to walk beside him. "Did you drop something?"
Long Chen looked at her in surprise, not expecting her to be so close, but offered a serene smile. "Just stopped to tie my shoelace."
"Oh!?"
She smiled back, a slow, intrigued smile. Her eyes glinted knowingly as she leaned a little closer, her voice a conspiratorial whisper.
"Funny," she murmured, "your shoelace must have a very peculiar scent. A mixture of iron and... blood."
She winked at him and then quickened her pace, returning to the front of the group, leaving Long Chen perplexed.