Chapter 35: Divine Judgment
The rumbling within the Front Guard Village continued unabated. It was Iwell, who had escaped her cage. Not only had she broken free, but she had also retrieved her war scythe. All of this, of course, was accomplished with the secret assistance of Bubu Wang.
Although Iwell had successfully escaped, she couldn't possibly contend with several dozen Tianba clan members. So, as soon as she broke free, she charged toward the outskirts of the Front Guard Village.
Just over forty minutes ago, Iwell had charged out of the Front Guard Village once. Now she was trying to do it again. The Tianba clan couldn't tolerate this, so even some of their lower-combat-power members grabbed their bows and arrows to pursue her.
There were over 200 Tianba clan members in the Front Guard Village. Among them, 63 had mastered the 'Drowning' or 'Infiltration' abilities. The rest hadn't mastered these two abilities, but they were no pushovers either. Their technique abilities were all at the Master level, ranging from Lv.35 to Lv.48.
Iwell drew a massive amount of aggro. Before long, she charged out of the Front Guard Village. Judging by her stumbling steps, she had narrowly avoided being permanently trapped there.
In the past, the Tianba clan's pursuit might have ended there. But Iwell's two trips in and out of the Front Guard Village seemed like nothing short of provocation.
Compared to the Tianba clan, the Old Duke standing before a certain pavilion was far more concerned about Iwell's life or death. This was originally part of his plan. If Iwell couldn't escape, that was fine. But if she did, the Old Duke would have to consider whether to flee. It was easy to imagine just how much Iwell hated him now.
On the east side of the Front Guard Village, an arrow whistled into the dense forest.
A long blade pierced through flesh, stabbing through the throat of a Tianba clan member.
The Tianba clan member with his throat pierced glared angrily. With one hand, he reached for an arrow from the quiver at his waist. This was a motion he had repeated countless times, making it exceptionally practiced.
On the verge of death, this Tianba clan member raised his right arm high, the arrow in his hand stabbing toward Su Xiao's head.
*Bang!*
The dying Tianba clan member was kicked away by Su Xiao. Mid-air, he turned into a corpse.
The corpse hit the ground. By now, four Tianba clan corpses lay near Su Xiao. Only two Tianba clan members were still alive.
Su Xiao took half a step forward, his long blade slashing diagonally.
*Clang!*
The blade edge struck an incoming arrow, splitting it in two. The two halves of the arrow flew past either side of Su Xiao, disappearing into the forest behind him.
Su Xiao had chosen to act, using the commotion caused by Iwell. This was also why he had Bubu Wang help Iwell escape.
Su Xiao looked at the two Tianba clan members ahead of him. He raised his hand and grabbed the arrow lodged in his shoulder. When fighting the Tianba clan, getting hit by arrows was unavoidable. As long as he wasn't struck by multiple arrows in a short time, Su Xiao's vitality could handle it.
Just as Su Xiao made a move to pull the arrow from his shoulder, the two Tianba clan members, who were over ten meters away, immediately leaped backward.
Through initial combat, Su Xiao discovered that these Tianba clan members with the 'Drowning' ability liked to leap backward and shoot arrows. This had several advantages: it created distance and made the horizontal flight path of the arrows harder to track.
*Bang! Bang!*
Two arrows came flying head-on. Su Xiao was about to slash forward with his blade when he immediately sensed something was wrong. These two arrows were too close together.
*Boom!*
The two arrows collided mid-flight. Fragments of the shattered arrows scattered everywhere.
Su Xiao extended one hand forward. A layer of crystal spread across his palm. The shattered arrow fragments slammed into the crystal layer, producing a series of dull thuds.
The two Tianba clan members landed. Both stepped forward with their left feet, standing upright.
Seeing this, Su Xiao immediately charged forward. Just moments ago, five Tianba clan members had assumed this same stance, followed by a storm of arrows. Su Xiao had endured the barrage to kill three of them, taking four arrows in the process.
*Bang, bang, bang...*
The bowstrings between the fingers of the two Tianba clan members vibrated into blurs. Just two people, yet they fired dozens of arrows in an extremely short time.
Arrows flew toward Su Xiao, passing through his body without obstruction. In his spatial penetration state, the arrows couldn't harm him at all.
The moment the spatial penetration state ended, Su Xiao abruptly stopped.
'Blade Path: Azure Demon.'
*Zheng!*
A blue-green blade aura shot out, sweeping directly across the face of one Tianba clan member. The fingers drawing his bowstring lost their strength, and he collapsed to the ground.
This full-power barrage ability of the Tianba clan was terrifying, but it wasn't without risk. When using this move, they had to concentrate all their internal energy into their arms, legs, and waist, leaving their heads extremely vulnerable.
Of the six Tianba clan members, only one remained. In this situation, most enemies would choose to flee or let out a roar.
But this Tianba clan member did neither. He knew that even a moment's distraction could mean being slain by the blade grandmaster before him.
*Boom!*
Mud splattered beneath Su Xiao's feet as he lunged directly at the last Tianba clan member. At a time like this, a straightforward assault was all that was needed; anything else was a waste of time.
After a dangerous but not overly spectacular battle, Su Xiao's long blade swept across the throat of the last Tianba clan member.
Blood, tinged with a hint of azure, splattered onto the ground. Su Xiao leaned against a wooden wall. After confirming there were no other Tianba clan members nearby, he breathed a sigh of relief.
The Tianba clan was tougher to deal with than expected, but not as insurmountable as imagined.
The Tianba clan fought using technique abilities. To deal with such enemies, one first had to get used to their fighting style. Once accustomed and their weaknesses identified, handling them became much easier.
In Su Xiao's view, the most troublesome aspect of the 'Drowning' Tianba clan members wasn't their terrifying attack power, but their predictive arrows, coordination, and mid-air archery skills.
That said, fighting the Tianba clan was also interesting. It wasn't a clash of energy, but a contest of technique. For either side, a single moment of carelessness could lead to utter ruin. This was the experience of fighting a technique powerhouse—life and death decided in an instant.
High risk came with high reward. Su Xiao looked at the six Tianba clan corpses. Killing Tianba clan members didn't drop treasure chests, but instead dropped an exquisite cloth pouch.
[You have obtained Soul Coin Pouch x5.]
[Tip: This Soul Coin Pouch can randomly yield 1 to 10 Soul Coins (Seventh Rank).]
[Tip: Because the Hunter has obtained a Soul Coin Pouch, the special reward mechanism for the Divine Kingdom region has been activated.]
[The Hunter can use Soul Coins (Seventh Rank) to exchange for items from the following list.]