*Bang!*
Another shockwave came as Johnson's hammer struck the ground, sending the troublesome echoes again.
'Damn, I shouldn't have been overconfident while facing fifth-stage cultivators.'
Ken cursed under his breath as he tried to disengage again after opening his eyes. Luckily, he reacted fast, and the Qi that blocked his ears deflected at least twenty percent of the echo's effect.
The fight raged on for another minute, and it was one of Ken's most embarrassing moments ever since he was born in the cultivation world.
The fight seemed one-sided, and not in Ken's favor; he'd keep dashing from place to place, crashing with a tree almost every time he used One Step to avoid the incoming hammer.
But Johnson didn't let his strike go to waste even when it missed. Instead, he'd use the strike to send another wave of disorienting echoes to create an opening for his next swing.
'I can do it!'
Ken thought as he gritted his teeth in frustration. Only now he realized why the Serene Lotus Sect deserved their rank as the number one sect of the cultivation world.
However, Ken wasn't a weakling. He was getting the hang of merging his Bloodlust Sense with his normal human senses, and he managed to avoid colliding with any tree in his last three One Step executions.
"All you can do is jump around like a scared rabbit? Is that all the infamous Devil's Heir got?"
The big man taunted him as he dashed after Ken's last escaping point. Although Ken could use his Bloodlust Qi to gain an advantage in the battle, he preferred not to; it would attract every human in a very large radius, as they might think it's a trove of BP. His token was radiating a powerful bloodlust now anyway.
"I just don't want the concert to end so early, I've been enjoying every second of it."
Ken taunted back as he dodged another hammer. While most cultivators would find it hard to adapt so quickly, Ken's intelligence and comprehension abilities allowed him to be different. He was confident now in his abilities to counter the disorienting effects by merging his six senses.
"The come and listen up close!"
"Gladly, I was just thinking it got too boring."
This time, Ken didn't step back as before but waited in place for Johnson to get closer.
'Cloud Running.'
Ken used his other movement technique, and with a twist of his body, he jumped in the air, missing the hammer's head by an inch as he waved his sword to cut off the man's shoulder.
However, Johnson wasn't a fourth-stage cultivator; he could use his Nascent Soul to execute two techniques simultaneously if he had the chance.
"AHHH!"
He screamed again, stunning Ken in mid-air and making him miss his strike. But Ken didn't forget to take into account those factors. Using his sword's flexibility, the sword moved on without his active arm movement, and it pierced through the man's shoulder, albeit it couldn't move any further without Ken's strength backing it up.
"Argh!"
Johnson grunted in pain as he almost dropped his hammer. The weakness of using a heavy weapon was the difficulty of operating it after being injured in either arm.
A pulse of Sword Qi invaded his arm, one of the signature marks of being cut by Ken. Meanwhile, the teen fell to the ground, losing his footing and rolling on his side again.
"Looks like I won."
Ken smiled at the man who was trying to fend off the foreign Qi in his muscles. He dashed forward and struck without giving him the time he needed to recuperate.
'One Step.'
'Snake Thrust.'
Johnson clenched his jaws to fight off the pain and raised his hammer to defend himself. He learned his lesson from earlier and knew that even if he shouts again, it won't stop the sword from moving forward and stabbing him after Ken already twisted his wrist.
'Shockwave!'
The hammer's shaft clanked against the ground, and a heavy shockwave spread around him. It didn't include Sound Qi as it was a pure Hammer Qi technique.
The blast sent Ken away, but it was too late. The hammer user tried to place his hammer in the sword's way, but all it met was a phantom sword while the real sword left two gaping holes in his chest.
"Huhh, it was a tiring fight. And tons of animals surround the place because of how loud that guy was."
Ken sighed as he mumbled to himself. Since he was already surrounded by so many beasts, it was time to begin his advertisement campaign and earn some marks.
"Hello, dear beasts, I have a special offer for you! Do you want to get stronger and advance to the next rank?"
----------
Ken counted his spoils as he watched the beasts leave. He even bribed them to kill the curious humans who came to check the noise, and he also absorbed those humans' marks and BP.
'438 marks, I doubled my marks.'
While Ken made it seem easy to collect the marks at high speed, the truth was anything but that. Only he could modify his Bloodline Refining Pills so easily to the unique animals in the forest, making it worthwhile for them to give up their marks for a real chance at advancing a rank in the future.
The young boy didn't notice someone was tailing him ever since he started interacting with the beasts and was waiting for him to remain alone and defenseless. He was tailed by a certain man wearing white robes, marking him as a core disciple.
The embroidery of a leaf, cloud, flower, and sun rotating around themselves showed his origins.
'The Devil's Heir who caused so many problems to my sect, huh? Good thing I spent all my BP earlier, or else it'd be hard to hide my presence from all the beasts around him.'
The man didn't think it was possible for a fourth-stage cultivator to sense him, so he was only relieved because of the many fifth-stage animals.
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