Chapter 104 - 78 : Warning ? (1)

Chapter 104: Chapter 78 : Warning ? (1)

Steel scraped against steel, the harsh sound echoing through the dry ravine. A man stumbled backward, his right hand falling into the dust with the weapon still clenched in it. Blood poured from the severed wrist, quickly darkening the sleeve of his robe as he grabbed the wound with his remaining hand, his face twisting with shock and pain.

"Wait..."

His voice cracked as he stared at the scene before him. Ethan stood several steps away, the short dao hanging loosely in his hand, while five bodies lay scattered across the dusty ground. One had fallen beside a boulder, another lay face-down near the slope, and three more were sprawled farther behind them, their weapons still lying within reach. None of them moved.

The remaining cultivator’s gaze moved from one body to another before settling on Ethan. His chest rose and fell heavily, each breath growing more strained as the reality of what had happened finally sank in.

"You..."

His eyes widened as he looked at Ethan again.

"You’re not an Early Qi Refining cultivator."

Ethan’s expression remained unchanged, but the cultivator’s grip tightened around his weapon. His eyes flicked toward the bodies scattered across the ravine, then to his injured companion clutching his severed wrist, before returning to Ethan. Whatever uncertainty remained in his mind was quickly replaced by desperation. He raised his weapon and attacked.

The blade came down hard, carrying Qi through its edge. Ethan shifted to the side, and the weapon passed close enough to stir the fabric of his robe. Before the cultivator could recover, Ethan’s short dao flashed across the gap between them. Their weapons collided with a sharp ring, and the impact knocked the man’s blade aside. A cut opened across his shoulder, forcing him to stagger backward.

Ethan followed without giving him time to recover. The cultivator swung again, but Ethan slipped past the attack and struck from another angle. The man barely managed to block, his weapon shuddering in his hands from the impact. He had expected a difficult fight after realizing Ethan’s cultivation was higher than the notice claimed, but he had not expected such a difference. Ethan was simply too fast. Every time the man thought he had found an opening, Ethan was already moving, leaving his attacks to meet nothing but air.

Another exchange left a fresh cut across his robe. Then another forced him back several steps. His arms began to tremble, and his breathing grew rough as he struggled to keep up.

Ethan could have ended the fight already, but there was no need to do so yet. He kept the pressure controlled, allowing the man to retreat whenever he needed to while making sure each exchange showed just how much faster and stronger he was.

His attention remained on the fight, but part of his mind was elsewhere. Far beyond the immediate battlefield, hidden among a cluster of trees, another presence remained perfectly still.

Ethan had known about him from the beginning.

A Peak Body Tempering cultivator.

He had no intention of letting the man realize that his hiding place had already been discovered. So Ethan continued the fight at a measured pace, slipping past another attack before his dao met the man’s weapon with a sharp clang. The cultivator stumbled back, struggling to regain his footing, and Ethan followed without rushing. He could end the fight whenever he wanted.

Not yet.

Meanwhile, the man hidden among the trees pressed his back against the rough trunk, keeping himself concealed behind the leaves as he watched the fight below. A few hours earlier, the eight of them had been following the reaction of the tracking talisman, moving along the road with their leader at the front. Their group had seemed more than enough for the task: their leader was an Early Qi Refining cultivator, and the other seven were at the Body Tempering realm. The reward had made the risk seem reasonable. One hundred and fifty spirit stones was not something they could easily ignore, especially when the notice had described their target as an Early Qi Refining cultivator.

He had been the one left farther behind to watch their rear and the surrounding area. It had been part of their usual preparation, something they had gone through almost as a matter of routine, without seriously expecting anything to go wrong. If someone approached from behind, he would alert the others. If he noticed anything suspicious, he could warn them or leave to find help. At the time, none of it had seemed particularly important.

Now, that simple precaution was the only reason he was still alive.

His gaze remained fixed on the fight below. Their leader was still standing, still fighting, but every exchange drove him farther back. The weapon in his hands shook with each clash, struggling to keep up as the blood demon moved around him with frightening speed.

The hidden cultivator’s fingers tightened against the rough bark.

This shouldn’t be happening.

His eyes could barely follow the two figures as another exchange unfolded below. Their leader barely managed to defend against the incoming strike before being forced back again.

The notice said Early Qi Refining.

Their leader was an Early Qi Refining cultivator. If the bounty notice was accurate, this fight should never have reached this point. The other six should have been the ones surrounding the target while their leader dealt with him.

Instead, five of them were already dead, and their leader was struggling just to stay alive.

His throat tightened.

Then what exactly are we fighting?

He had seen Early Qi Refining cultivators fight before, and what he was watching now was nothing like what he knew. The man’s speed was too fast, his balance too steady, and even the way he handled the dao was different. There was no wasted movement, no hesitation, and none of the desperate struggle he would have expected from someone being pressed by an opponent of the same realm. The so called blood demon seemed to know exactly how much strength to use, never giving more than necessary as he moved around their leader.

The hidden cultivator’s stomach tightened as he watched the fight. The notice had said Early Qi Refining, but the scene before him was becoming harder to reconcile with that claim. His heartbeat quickened as a thought slowly took shape.

Mid Qi Refining?

If that was true, then their group had never stood a chance.

His eyes remained fixed on the blood demon as another exchange unfolded below.

And if he was even stronger...

He didn’t let himself finish the thought as his attention turns back to the battle again.

The wounded cultivator stumbled again, barely keeping his weapon raised as he struggled against Ethan. His movements had lost the sharpness they once carried, and every exchange left him a little more exposed.

Ethan saw it clearly.

There was no need to prolong this fight.

The cultivator swung wildly, and Ethan slipped past the strike. The man’s blade struck stone with a sharp clang, leaving him open for an instant.

Ethan moved.

His figure seemed to blur as everything around him slowed. The man’s movements became sluggish in Ethan’s eyes, his raised weapon almost motionless as Ethan passed him.

The short dao swept across his throat.

Ethan was already several steps beyond him before the cultivator’s mind could register what had happened. He blinked, still facing the direction Ethan had moved from, his expression filled with confusion.

A thin line of blood appeared across his throat.

For a moment, it remained there, almost as though the wound had yet to realize what had happened. Then it opened, and blood began to spill down the front of his robe.

His eyes widened. He raised a trembling hand toward his neck, but his body had already begun to give out. His knees buckled, and he collapsed into the grass.

Ethan stood still, the short dao hanging loosely at his side as the fallen cultivator lay in the grass behind him. The air settled around him, carrying only the faint rustle of leaves and the sound of blood dripping onto the ground.

Somewhere among the trees, the presence he had been aware of throughout the fight was already moving away, its vitality growing more distant with each passing moment.

Ethan didn’t turn to look.

He already knew the man had left. There was no reason to keep the act going anymore. The thought came naturally as Ethan looked over the bodies. A corpse couldn’t talk. A survivor could, and that was exactly what he needed.

Seven bodies now lay behind him, and none of the attackers would be leaving this place alive. Only one had been deliberately allowed to escape. Ethan’s attention settled on the trees as the man’s presence continued to fade into the distance. Ethan let his gaze settle back on the bodies.

Good.

The man had seen enough. Whatever he told the others, the story would travel ahead of him, carrying more than just the truth of what had happened.

It would carry a warning.