Yu Tian dropped from above and landed before one of the men who was leaning against a tree.
The moment he landed, he thrust his sword forward.
Because of the sudden mobilization of energy, his concealment ability weakened and the man detected him. But he was simply too late, and Yu Tian’s sword stabbed through the man’s neck straight into the tree, killing him instantly.
The other two instantly realized what was happening and drew their swords, facing Yu Tian.
Yu Tian turned around and faced them, readying his sword.
The other two looked at him nervously - they hadn’t felt him coming.
One of the men noticed Yu Tian’s stance. Why did it look so strange? His expression then brightened and he whispered something to his companion. The other one looked at Yu Tian with wide eyes and then smiled.
They thought to themselves that Yu Tian wasn’t a fighter type. Seeing how they couldn’t detect him before, he was probably an assassin type. That’s why his stance looked so strange and full of openings.
If that’s the case, then it was going to be easy.
"Now that you’ve exposed yourself as an assassin, do you know what that means?" one of the men asked.
"Do tell," Yu Tian said flatly.
"It means that you’re about to die," the other one answered as he charged at Yu Tian, appearing right before him and swinging his sword, going for a neck strike. The other man also followed and swung his sword, going for the legs.
Yu Tian observed this. Because of his high mind level, he could think much faster and thus could see things much more clearly. This didn’t mean his body could do the same though, so he had to make his move quick.
He thought to himself that these two had some synergy. One went for the kill and the other for the legs in case he tried to duck.
Yu Tian gathered energy on his legs and pushed himself back with force. Before his body could collide with the tree behind him, he did a flip, his legs landing on the tree trunk and folding. He then sprang himself forward with even more force.
The man who had gone for the neck before was surprised by the move but still managed to dodge to the side, moving out of the way. The second man, on the other hand, due to being low, was much slower, delaying his dodge. He still managed to get himself together though and dodged to the side too, though not without having the sword graze his shoulder slightly.
The two groups now stood opposite each other once again. The one who had been grazed on the shoulder had an angry expression. They had been tricked - he wasn’t an assassin type at all but a combat type. He had probably used some concealment treasure to disguise as an assassin and make them let down their guard.
Even so, he was a little glad. Since he wasn’t an assassin type, it meant his weapons weren’t poisoned. He couldn’t feel anything even after being grazed by the sword, so that meant he really wasn’t an assassin.
"Let’s go all out," he said to the other man, and he nodded. They then filled qi into their weapons and charged.
Yu Tian observed their charge calmly.
He thought to himself that he had missed his chance to eliminate one of them. It looked like even when caught off guard, peak Foundation Establishment warriors were still able to react.
What surprised him even more was their composure - he was expecting them to get angry and lose their composure, making it easy to make mistakes. But instead, they became serious and even stopped their earlier provocation.
"This is going to be difficult."
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The two men charged forward.
Yu Tian’s mind calculated countless possibilities as they closed in.
The first man came in high with a diagonal slash while the second swept low, forcing Yu Tian into an uncomfortable position.
But Yu Tian wasn’t one to be cornered easily, he made his calculations and quickly found a path, he pivoted on his left foot and spun clockwise, ducking under the high strike while his blade deflected the low sweep upward, the momentum carrying him past both attackers.
As they turned to pursue, Yu Tian was already moving.
He feinted left, drawing the first man’s guard in that direction before suddenly attacking his other side. The warrior wasn’t to be underestimated though as he quickly recovered and kicked Yu Tian away.
Yu Tian intentionally let the kick hit him, using the kick’s momentum to get away from the second man’s striking range.
The first man stumbled slightly, pressing his hand to his side. A thin line of blood seeped through his fingers.
The two men exchanged worried glances but pressed their attack.
Just like before, their coordination was flawless, one striking while the other positioned for follow-up attacks. The first man thrust forward while the second circled around Yu Tian’s blind spot.
But Yu Tian saw through it all. His level three mind easily captured their movements, translating it into pure variables and placing them into a complex equation that he used to solve for the best possible path.
He sidestepped the thrust, grabbed the first man’s extended wrist, and used his momentum to spin him into his partner’s path. As they collided, Yu Tian’s blade whispered across the second man’s shoulder - another shallow cut.
The second man’s face paled. His qi was beginning to churn unnaturally within his meridians.
"It... it was poisoned after all," he gasped, feeling his energy starting to rebel against his control.
The first man was surprised by this. He looked at his own shallow cut on his side. How come he wasn’t poisoned?
He remembered that the second man also had a cut before and wasn’t poisoned.
He wondered if there was a condition where only the second cut was poisonous. Or was it a slow acting poison, did that mean that he would soon start feeling it too?
"Focus!" the first man shouted. "We end this now!"
Before his qi could completely spiral out of control, the second man gathered all his remaining energy. Both men raised their weapons high, their combined auras creating an overwhelming pressure.
They launched themselves at Yu Tian in perfect synchronization - a pincer attack with no escape route.
Yu Tian stood perfectly still, his eyes fixed on the floating numbers dancing before his vision. Dozens of percentages flickered and changed as he calculated every possible move, every angle, every timing.
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Just as their blades were about to connect with his body, Yu Tian moved.
Since he moved at the very last second, the two were unable to redirect their move in time, resulting in their attacks colliding. He took advantage of this and swung towards the second man, managing to graze his thigh before the two were thrown apart by the force of the clash.
"Three strikes and you’re out," Yu Tian said softly.
"What?" the man gasped.
He paused, his eyes widening in shock. Blood erupted from his mouth in violent coughs as Yu Tian’s final poison entered his body, tearing through his internal organs like wildfire.
"No way," he whispered before his eyes rolled back and darkness claimed him.
"One down," Yu Tian said, turning to face the remaining man who was breathing heavily.