In the distance.
Chen Changming saw what happened and frowned slightly.
That bow was definitely a treasure, but it consumed too much energy. Even the Four Seas Merchant Alliance couldn't use it more than a few times.
The young man didn't rush. He waited in silence.
After the time it took an incense stick to burn, the battle's outcome had become clear. The Four Seas Merchant Alliance, with superior numbers, had completely suppressed the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion.
People on both sides kept getting wounded and killed. Their combined numbers had dwindled from forty or fifty to just over twenty.
"Everyone, give it everything you've got! Kill every last one of them!"
Li Changfeng shouted.
The man who had been fighting him earlier was already dead. Li Changfeng drew his bow again and shot at a man from the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion who had reached Qi Cultivation Level 10.
Boom!
The arrow struck the man like lightning and blasted one of his legs to pieces, greatly weakening his fighting ability.
Two men seized the chance to attack him from either side. After a fierce assault, they finally killed him.
By now, every top fighter from the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion had fallen.
Only five or six of their people remained. They had no will to fight, and as they fled, the Four Seas Merchant Alliance members joined forces to kill them.
Twelve people from the Four Seas Merchant Alliance remained.
Nearly all twelve were injured, though some were hurt more badly than others.
"Thanks for all your hard work."
Li Changfeng swallowed a pill and cried excitedly, "Now hurry and gather the spirit herbs. Remember to dig them up by the roots. Don't damage a single one..."
The others answered and pulled out their herb spades, getting to work.
Li Changfeng stayed where he was, bow in hand, keeping watch.
"Need a hand?"
Chen Changming walked over.
He silently gauged the distance. He was now a little over four hundred meters from Li Changfeng, just within range of Spirit Finger Flick.
When Li Changfeng saw that it was Chen Changming, he laughed. "So it's Fellow Daoist Chen. Aren't you afraid of getting killed?"
In his eyes, this Lingxiao Sect disciple was far too weak to pose any threat.
"I'm only good at watering plants. Surely the Four Seas Merchant Alliance will need someone like me in the future?"
Chen Changming smiled.
Li Changfeng thought for a moment, then nodded. "Fellow Daoist Chen, your Cloud Rain Art is exceptional. The Four Seas Merchant Alliance really does need specialists like you."
Chen Changming shrugged with a smile.
Everything was unfolding according to his plan. The Four Seas Merchant Alliance would surely extend an olive branch to someone like him.
The distance between them narrowed bit by bit.
When Li Changfeng was only fifty meters away, Chen Changming raised his hand as if no one else were there and suddenly unleashed Spirit Finger Flick.
Sss! Sss! Sss! Sss!
His ten fingers flicked through the air in quick succession. Thick beams of light howled forth, and in an instant, more than thirty of them shot in every direction.
Their primary target was Li Changfeng.
That bow of his was far too powerful. Chen Changming had to take him out first.
"You!"
Li Changfeng got out only one word before dazzling beams of light engulfed him.
He was riddled with holes and died on the spot.
The others fared no better. More than half of them were killed by Spirit Finger Flick before they could even react.
The remaining four or five had been farther away, so they were able to dodge in time with their movement techniques.
"Kill!"
Their eyes bloodshot, the few survivors charged at Chen Changming with their swords.
"Just what I wanted!"
The young man snarled, a murderous glint rising in his eyes. Now that he'd loosed the arrow, there was no turning back. No matter what, he had to kill all five of them.
Fortunately, all five were wounded, and the strongest among them had only reached Qi Cultivation Level 7.
Chen Changming raised both hands and unleashed Spirit Finger Flick.
This time, every single attack was aimed at the man with the lowest cultivation.
He had reached Qi Cultivation Level 5 and was wounded across the chest and right arm.
Sss! Sss!
The unbroken stream of beams nearly sealed off every path of escape. With nowhere left to dodge, the man had no choice but to fight back. He swept out a blaze of sword light, forming a curtain in an attempt to block them.
Boom! Boom!
Seven or eight powerful beams slammed into the wall of light, sending him flying in an instant.
Chen Changming had now reached Qi Cultivation Level 4, and four rounds of reinforcement from the Evergreen Art had made Spirit Finger Flick more powerful as well.
Sss! Sss!
As the man was thrown backward, several beams struck him. In an instant, they riddled him with holes too.
There was no helping it. Chen Changming's Spirit Finger Flick was incredibly fast, coming out as soon as he raised his hand, and its attacks were so dense that anyone who failed to hold their guard was easily killed.
"Die!"
The other four charged in, leaping high as terrifying sword strikes crashed down like a vast sea.
Ready for them, Chen Changming's whole body took on a golden sheen—and then he vanished in a sudden, uncanny blur.
No one had imagined that a young man at Qi Cultivation Level 4 could move so strangely. By the time they realized it, it was already too late.
Boom!
Chen Changming suddenly appeared behind a man at Qi Cultivation Level 6. Several blasts of Spirit Finger Flick punched straight through his back, killing him on the spot.
Another had fallen.
The other three reacted and immediately threw everything they had at him.
Chen Changming raised his hand and fired several blasts of Spirit Finger Flick, retreating as he attacked. Relying on the incredible speed of Dragon Glide Step, he repeatedly slipped through the three men's encirclement.
One sword strike swept across his right arm, but it didn't even break the skin.
That put Chen Changming even more at ease.
These men had no chance of hurting him.
"How can a Lingxiao Sect disciple know body-refinement techniques?!"
The man at Qi Cultivation Level 7 stared at him in terror.
Chen Changming was far too powerful. His movement was uncanny, his Spirit Finger Flick impossible to defend against, and his formidable body-refinement technique made him impossible to wound.
Hearing the man's shocked exclamation, Chen Changming gave a cold laugh and suddenly drew the Purple Lightning Sword.
He didn't know what grade the sword was, but it was unquestionably powerful, imbued with the force of thunder and lightning.
Rumble...
As Chen Changming dodged, he also used the Lingxiao Sword Technique alongside Spirit Finger Flick. Lightning crackled through his sword light, making his attacks even more terrifying. Even with his lower cultivation, he was now giving the three men trouble.
However...
His cultivation was lower, after all. He couldn't defeat all three in a direct fight, but fortunately, they couldn't hurt him either.
First, all three were injured, which weakened their fighting ability. Second, Chen Changming pushed Dragon Glide Step to its limits and dodged most of their attacks. The few that did land were stopped by his golden skin.
To kill all three, I need to wear down their spiritual energy or land a surprise attack...
He plotted in secret as he fought.
The three Four Seas Merchant Alliance members grew more and more alarmed. They couldn't win, while their opponent kept launching surprise attacks from every angle. He was extremely difficult to defend against, and if one of those beams struck them, they would die without a doubt.
After all, they were cultivators with weak bodies.
After the time it took an incense stick to burn, Chen Changming's surprise attack landed. First, Spirit Finger Flick shattered one man's arm. Then the Purple Lightning Sword severed his head.
With only two left, Chen Changming breathed a sigh of relief. The pressure on him eased considerably.
"Run!"
Seeing that things had gone badly, the man at Qi Cultivation Level 7 realized that if they kept fighting, both of them would die. He immediately turned and fled.
How could Chen Changming let either of them escape?
He raised his hand and unleashed a frenzied barrage of Spirit Finger Flick at the man at Qi Cultivation Level 6.
Boom! Boom!
Fifty or sixty blasts of Spirit Finger Flick struck in succession, blowing the man to pieces.
"What kind of technique is that? How can it be so powerful?"
When the man at Qi Cultivation Level 7 saw his companion fall, his legs nearly gave way in terror.
It could be unleashed instantly from more than three hundred meters away!
If he ran and left his back exposed, he would only be running toward his death!