Clash

Mu Yu reduced the whisk to strings with his sword and sent Zhang Zhong reeling back and into the ground. Before Zhang Zhong could make another move, Mu Yu already had his sword tip at Zhang Zhong's throat.

Zhang Zhong's brain couldn't keep up with what happened. After all, it only took a single move and against a kid, no less. He was thoroughly embarrassed. He cried, "Shifu, help me!"

"I'll acknowledge you have some skill, brat. Together!"

Once the bearded man waved a hand, the others mounted an assault on Mu Yu with their prized weapons. The difficulty level hadn't been turned up. Mu Yu split his sword and launched one at the weapons. Using a single hand, he used Dustfallen Swordplay's techniques, effortlessly deflecting all of the weapons.

Next, a large axe came down from above. Mu Yu underestimated the bearded man. He intercepted it using his sword in the air, and the impact almost overwhelmed him. He proceeded to kick Zhang Zhong away, then sent his other sword into the air. He utilised Roiling Qi and Falling Dust as his technique of choice and enhanced his counter with a trace amount of spiritual energy to defuse the bearded man's output. He leapt up as he countered and slipped the axe to position himself to go on the offence. Suddenly, a veil of red mist forced Mu Yu to abruptly stop and retreat out of caution. He promptly held his breath, but the woman's mist had gotten to him somewhat, inducing a dizzy sensation.

Mu Yu's lack of experience in actual combat showed. Despite his considerably superior skill, he didn't have a significant advantage over them. Moreover, the woman caught him with her poison mist due to his negligence. Luckily, he was skilled enough to defuse the poison with a single breath. Before he had time to act, the bearded man swung again. Mu Yu vaulted up and met the axe with his sword, generating sparks. Mu Yu discharged spiritual energy to blast the Qi Refinement Realm helpers away.

The enemy leader speculated Mu Yu was one of the brilliant disciples from Green Pine Sect or Jiuhua Sect because of the youth's skills. To avoid one of those big sects hunting them, he deemed silencing Mu Yu the best course of action, a sentiment the woman he commanded to kill Mu Yu shared. They obviously had plenty of experience killing people if they resided at the valley. As long as everything went to plan, they could cover their tracks.

The bearded man took out a silver net from his sleeve, expanding it once summoned. Mu Yu used Dustfallen Stance to vault up and dodge the net. The woman had a whip ready and attacked Mu Yu right away, but he agilely cut it with his sword and drove her back with a blast of sword qi to her chest.

The woman bled from her mouth because personal artefacts were linked to one's life. Her whip was forged from special willow iron. Its value and quality were supposed to be premium quality. Her leader quickly supported her on her legs. "He's sword is an authentic artefact. Be careful!"

After several clashes with Mu Yu's sword, the man's axe was damaged. Nevertheless, he was lucky it was still usable. It was worth more than the whip, at the end of the day.

"Is your whip made from cotton?"

Mu Yu was oblivious to the fact Shadow Splitting Sword was more valuable than many other weapons in the world of cultivation. He never cared about its origins since they never hurt each other when sparring back home.

"Brother Shu, kill him and compensate me with his flying sword!" thundered the woman, stamping her feet.

The leader snapped his finger nail between his teeth. He carried his blood into his giant axe via his spiritual energy. The Qi Condensation Realm cultivators backed off. Mu Yu couldn't kid around any longer upon seeing the axe enlarge. Qi's blood and essence was the root of a cultivator. They imbued qi into bodies to temporarily bolster the power of their weapons using their blood and essence at the cost of self-inflicted damage. The damage to one's cultivation foundation as a result took a prolonged period to recover from. In worst case scenarios, the cultivator's cultivation could plateau. Due to the ramifications, Feng Haochen warned Mu Yu to not resort to it unless he was cornered.

Mu Yu could detect the enhanced aura that levelled the playing field. He churned his own spiritual energy. Anxiety began to get a grip on him. He needed to keep a level head to analyse his opponent as when practicing Dustfallen Mental Cultivation.

"Die!" brayed the bearded man.

The axe dragged the air along its trajectory. Mu Yu summoned three flying swords around him and countered with three different techniques at once, gradually forming a spiritual energy barrier in front. He sent a sword on the attack, slipping the axe to target the man.

The clash ripped the landscape and created a crater in the earth. Mu Yu lost control of two swords that vanished as a consequence. Nevertheless, he knocked the axe away and the wielder to the grown. Mu Yu drew blood from the man's leg with a swing of sword qi. Though Mu Yu's heart rate was up, he was unscathed. The cut on his leg led to the man's output dropping enough for Mu Yu to score the victory.

Mu Yu suddenly felt an imposing aura incarcerate him. He never would mistake the aura for it was identical to Uncle An and Cheng Yan's when they sparred. Uncle An would restrain them with his Golden Core Realm aura when he was enraged.

"Who's running rampant in my valley?" fumed an elder in teal clothing, voice booming throughout the valley.

Mu Yu suddenly saw the Golden Core Realm elder in front of him, hands placed behind his back. The eyes of the tiger on Mu Yu rustled him.

Zhang Zhong and company dropped to their knees. The bearded man and woman bowed. "Welcome, Valley Master!"

Mu Yu cursed under his breath.

"You couldn't put a brat in his place when there are so many of you? Maybe I should stop feeding you!"

The group buried their heads.

The elder scanned Mu Yu. "I hope you're ready to pay."