When Ken saw that the library was guarded by a hundred Nascent Soul cultivators ranging from the low phase to the peak phase, he started forming a plan to get past them and enter the place.
As soon as he saw the approaching guards, an idea hatched in his mind, and he carried it right away. By killing the 3 guards but leaving one alive, he allowed him to call for help and pull everyone's attention to him.
While both the guard who called for help and the guards hearing this call thought Ken failed, they fell into his trap. The guard was acting as a messenger for him.
He then stepped into the water and ran toward the center, making the cultivators from the Infinite Wisdom Sect think he was trying to force his way with a straight charge while dodging incoming attacks and maneuvering between their techniques.
Even as chaos ensued around him, he kept track of his surroundings. Aware of everyone's positioning in his vicinity, he manipulated them to chase after him while always leaving one open spot for himself to run off to.
This way, he managed to pull more and more chasers, drawing additional cultivators to the growing mess. Although he was forced to retreat to the other side of the canal, it was all part of his plan; it wasn't a setback, he simply lured them there.
"Kid, remove your mask, and let us see your face before we kill you."
One of the cultivators said with a smug voice. They were over 50 Nascent Soul cultivators besieging a single Core Formation cultivator, it was unthinkable that he would survive the ordeal.
"Haha, we should capture him alive! It might be the same masked kid who killed the cultivators from the Four Seasons Sect; we can make easy money by selling him."
However, Ken had other plans on his mind.
'Now.'
Ken grinned slyly beneath his mask and summoned an object he won as a reward before. It was the Escape Token, and it allowed him to teleport anywhere in the secret realm.
Ken didn't know what the library looked like from the inside, so he couldn't teleport directly inside, but he could see the area around the entrance with his eyes. Now that their defenses were spread thin as over half of them joined the chase, there was only a single peak Nascent Soul cultivator guarding the door, while the others were away.
"Something is wrong!"
A shout was heard, and in the next moment, Ken disappeared from the encirclement with a flash of light. He just had to channel his Qi into the token while concentrating on the place he wanted to teleport to. If he didn't have a specific place in mind, he'd be teleported away randomly.
Ken appeared 1 meter away from the library, his body facing the peak Nascent Soul cultivator directly.
'Mind-Poisoning Domain – Paralyzing Mode.'
'Snake Thrust.'
Ken thrust his sword in a complicated twist, and his surprised opponent tried to flare his aura to burden Ken with the pressure of facing a cultivator from a higher stage, but his pressure was swallowed by Ken's threatening bloodlust.
The boy used his soul to perform the Domain for a short moment, making his enemy's movements sluggish as he lost control of his body for a moment because of the intense menacing sensation.
The cultivator felt the air thickening and he saw himself get stabbed, sliced and killed multiple times by an ethereal figure of the masked kid in front of him.
The guard was a full stage higher than Ken, and he could resist the illusion that terrorized his mind and flooded it with fear. He reacted as well as he could in an attempt to block the flexible sword, but as a cultivator from the Infinite Wisdom Sect, fighting wasn't his forte.
He used his saber to protect himself with a technique of his own, but all his saber met was a phantom sword. Before he understood what happened, two large holes were opened in his chest, piercing his heart and lungs.
'Being subjected to two illusions simultaneously is truly hard to counter. Anyway, I have plenty of time until they come here. They probably didn't even notice I'm here-'
"HE IS NEXT TO THE ENTRANCE, HE IS GOING INSIDE!"
Someone bellowed at the top of their lungs. While everyone was confused, there was one guard that glanced toward the entrance and bore witness to the short exchange that happened there.
'I guess they did notice now. But it's too late, the closest person would take three seconds to reach my location.'
For cultivators in their stage, three seconds were more than enough to cross a single meter.
He walked to the door and turned around to look at his chasers. He raised his mask slightly with his hand, just enough to show his mouth, and flashed a big smile at the auburn robes wearing disciples before walking inside.
The last thing those disciples saw was the childish grin with one still missing canine tooth due to Ken's natural growth process. If he remained behind for a moment, he'd see nearly a hundred cultivators looking in his direction with dumbfounded expressions.
"He is the Devil's Heir. There can't be two powerful children wearing masks that use a flexible sword. I can see why the Four Seasons Sect hates him."
Someone mumbled, earning everyone's spiteful gazes for voicing the obvious. Each of those characteristics was unique and combined, only one person could fit the description.
---------
"Welcome to the Library of Eternal Wisdom."
Ken heard the familiar voice that has been following him throughout his whole trip in the secret realm.
"I have two tokens, any chance I'm eligible to skip two challenges now?"
"Indeed, you may enter the final challenge right away. Let me warn you, Elder Galen has high standards, and you will have to pass a difficult test of craftsmanship."
"Oh."
Ken answered with a single syllable; he was confident when it came to studying.
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