Chapter 96 96 – Ken Joins The Fray
'Stab Through.'
The women used the same technique, stabbing with their swords and trying to cut through the burning petals and reach Miles' heart. Grace was a formation master while Beatrix was an alchemist, and their fighting power was relatively low. They only had their Sword Qi as an offense.
Miles was on the defensive against 2 cultivators more powerful than him, but he could survive for some time before going down. Just like Jane, he was slowly accumulating small wounds and was busy expelling foreign Qi from his body all the time.
During Miles' fight, Henry wasn't leisurely resting either. All his attacks were blocked by Ethan who kept sending his heavy club from palm to palm, shattering them all. Ethan couldn't do anything beyond stopping Henry's attacks, but his partner was almost free to attack Henry.
Brandishing his saber, Jackie dashed toward Henry, slowing down only to let Ethan cover for him whenever palms were trying to squish him against the ground.
Henry raised his legs in the air and sat in a lotus pose, hovering in the air without any support.
"Do not look for a sanctuary in anyone except yourself. Ceasing to do evil, Cultivating the good, Purifying the heart: This is the teaching of the Buddhas."
He started chanting mantras and a large translucent figure of himself appeared around him, blocking Jackie's saber attacks, and keeping the monk safe.
Out of everyone fighting, Henry was the only one that seemed like he'd win his battle eventually. They were at a stalemate right now, but the stalemate would end eventually when his enemies would be weakened enough by the poison in their systems.
Unlike Henry, Miles was getting stabbed everywhere, accumulating shallow cuts and wounds all over his body as the battle went on.
Jenny shared the same fate as Miles; every time her talismans saved her, she'd still take some damage from the resident of the attack after the talismans wore out, and her body was covered in blue bruises, making her movements painful for her.
'Good, I can see their attacking patterns.'
Ken stood by the side of the cave, ignored by everyone. He was under the effect of his Sheathed Man technique, and nobody noticed his presence. He observed the fights patiently, waiting for an opening.
He wanted to help the girls first since they were under the most pressure, so he strolled toward them. He couldn't use movement techniques since those would remove his concealment.
Amidst the chaos of the battle, he navigated skillfully, sidestepping the flying attacks that buzzed around the combatants.
Once he saw the pattern of the fights, he could predict how the fight will proceed. He walked 14 meters behind Jane and waited there. A few seconds later, Jane was hit by the shaft of the spear and was sent flying back. With a roll, she landed on her feet 2 meters behind Ken.
Trying to pressure her while she was down, Bruce dashed toward her, only slowing down to block the arrows that kept saving Jane from an early death. Jane stood up again and blocked his next thrust with her greatsword and was sent stumbling backward.
'Flash Unwind.'
It was at that moment that Ken finally acted. His flexible sword moved at an extreme speed toward Bruce's neck.
'Who is this?'
Bruce could only muster up some Spear Qi around his neck. The moment Ken saw this, he understood the rigidness of his Flash Unwind. However, his sword was flexible!
"ARGH!"
Bruce choked on his blood and tried to expel the Sword Qi from his throat, but another arrow came and pierced his back. At that moment, Ken was inspired when he understood he can integrate the flexibility of his sword into the execution of his technique.
With a twist of his wrist, the sword changed its course and drew a deep curved cut from Bruce's neck down to his chest and back to the neck from the other side.
Ken mastered the next mastery realm of Flash Unwind at that moment, the Big Success mastery realm.
'We forgot there were supposed to be five of them!'
The remaining four thought in panic. This time, Ken used all his power, and his stage as an intermediate fourth-stage cultivator was revealed to his allies for the first time. He held back and let them do all the hard work until now, but in order to win, he couldn't hold back this time.
"Go support Miles, he is under pressure."
Ken ordered the girls who just took a deep breath of relief and sent them back to battle. He knew he still had something to do at the entrance of the cave, so he sheathed his sword and waited.
Ethan panicked when he lost one of his fighters. If those girls joined to stall Grace and Beatrix, the girls might not be able to kill their opponents fast enough before the poison gets them all killed.
He clenched his teeth in anger and chose to make some sacrifices. It was better to have the weaker disciples die for them.
"All fourth-stage disciples, come inside! Hold your breath and don't take any antidote!"
He shouted fiercely and ordered the 10 peak Nascent Soul cultivators to come inside to support them. He knew they'd lose over 70% of their power instantly just from letting the poison touch their skin, but he believed they could take care of the child and the two girls before dying, letting the status quo remain.
They remained outside earlier when they saw the white smoke and figured it was meant to deal with fifth-stage cultivators, making it way too dangerous for them. But now, they got direct orders to go in.
Soon after, 10 disciples rushed inside the cave with their weapons in their hands. They instantly felt their body turn sluggish and unresponsive to their minds. Before they could adjust themselves to their new condition, Ken attacked.
'One Step.'
'Flash Unwind.'
Ken's movements were extremely fast for anyone at their stage even if they were in perfect condition, but under the poisoning, Ken's sword slashed the throats of 5 disciples that were within his reach, killing them on the spot.
'Slash – 9 in 3.'
"Enemy!"
·ƈθm They tried to react quickly, but 3 were dead before they even fought back. The two remaining enemies attacked, one with a spear and the other with a staff. Ken managed to dodge the spear but didn't have the time to completely avoid the staff, and it hit his shoulder.
'My left shoulder blade is broken.'