Kill at Will

Jiang Ding glanced at the swarm of arrows flying toward him.

They had not reached supersonic speed, so they could be dodged. Moreover, the bandits' movements had been far too obvious, giving him ample time to anticipate them.

He tapped the ground with his foot, circulating his inner force through a particular complex pattern. His figure swept past like a shadow, evading most of the crossbow bolts.

Step Sword Form!

A few bolts were unavoidable. Jiang Ding drew his sword, and a flash of sword light passed through the air. Amid the sword shadows, the bolts shattered into several pieces.

"Fire! Keep firing!"

Zhou Kun felt a chill run down his spine and roared repeatedly.

That kind of speed.

It far surpassed every opponent he had encountered over the years. He had never even heard of such a thing. If they faced each other alone, he would not even have time to react!

The bandits hurriedly cranked their crossbows, but it was already too late.

Jiang Ding charged directly into the dense formation. In an instant, seven or eight spears stabbed toward him. Several capable bandits trained in the Ground-Sweeping Saber rolled along the ground, their gleaming blades slashing fiercely at his legs.

"Those who block me, die!"

Jiang Ding spoke softly, yet his voice reached everyone's ears with perfect clarity.

With a sweep of his sword, seven or eight spear shafts snapped and flew away. He took a step back, then swung his sword again.

Pfft!

Four heads rolled up from the ground, blood spraying several inches high and staining the dirt red.

Before the bandits behind them could react, Jiang Ding rushed forward again. His blade, flecked with pale light, danced through the air. The throats of seven or eight spear-wielding bandits turned cold, and their bodies crumpled limply to the ground.

Too fast!

In only two breaths, with one retreat and one advance, eleven or twelve formidable bandits had already died. One-sixth of their force was gone.

The remaining bandits halted, staring in terror at the youth in blue robes and the sword shadows fading one after another behind him.

Jiang Ding paid them no mind. He simply cut his way into their ranks. Sometimes advancing, sometimes retreating, his movements were ghostly, his sword light dancing among them as strings of bloody blossoms burst forth again and again.

Vibrant lives withered away.

No matter how the leaders tried to encircle or flank him, they could never surround him from all sides. They could only watch as that single streak of sword light reaped their men.

"He's not human!"

"A ghost! The ghosts of those children have come back for revenge..."

Many bandits lost their nerve and retreated again and again. Their soaring morale, built upon grief and fury, rapidly collapsed, and the dense formation began to fall into disorder.

"Come with me!"

Zhou Kun knew he could not allow this to continue. He gave a low shout, gripping a pair of heavy octagonal copper hammers. Under the cover of the forest of spears around him, he lunged forward, his twin hammers smashing down in succession.

Cloak Eight Hammers!

Jiang Ding severed seven or eight spears with one slash. Just as he was about to sweep the tip of his sword across their throats, two pairs of watermelon-sized octagonal copper hammers descended, blocking his blade with precise technique.

Clang!

As sword and hammers collided, Jiang Ding borrowed the force to retreat. Yet the pair of copper hammers pursued him relentlessly, forcing him to raise his sword in defense and retreat step by step.

"Second Chief is mighty!"

The surrounding bandits were greatly encouraged. They desperately thrust out waves of spears to obstruct him and cover the flanks, while the two Inner Qi Realm chiefs occasionally launched surprise attacks.

Jiang Ding was forced back continuously and soon reached the edge of the cliff.

"Kill him! Avenge the Chief!"

Zhou Kun roared excitedly. The Cloak Eight Hammers crashed down in an unbroken chain, one hammer after another, growing ever more fluid and forceful. Under the pressure of this powerful enemy, his hammer technique, long stalled at a bottleneck, seemed on the verge of a breakthrough.

Jiang Ding frowned.

If it had only been Zhou Kun's pair of copper hammers, he could have taken Zhou Kun's life with a single sword strike after falling back slightly. The man was full of openings.

But with the dozens of nearby bandits constantly thrusting their spears, and the two chiefs occasionally covering for him, every opening vanished. Together, they had become an opponent far more terrifying than Lu Jingtian and Yang Dongsheng combined.

As Jiang Ding retreated, one of his steps found empty air.

"Kill!"

A fierce gleam burst from Zhou Kun's eyes. With a mad roar, he gathered all his inner force and vitality into both hammers. The hammer light upon them nearly became tangible as they smashed down upon that handsome head like Mount Tai collapsing overhead!

The other chiefs and bandits roared at the same time. Sabers, spears, swords, and halberds all unleashed their strongest strikes.

Yet the distorted, halted movement they had expected from someone stepping into empty air never came.

Jiang Ding shifted his footwork lightly, as nimble as a bird in flight, and drifted down the cliff. The copper hammers and all the other weapons struck nothing but air.

"Fire arrows!"

Zhou Kun and the two chiefs' expressions changed drastically.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

More than ten bandit leaders ordered their bowmen to loose their arrows at once, the arrows swooping down like a swarm of locusts.

But the youth in blue tapped his toes against the cliff face. The sheer precipice seemed as flat as level ground beneath his feet. He stepped upon cypress branches and protruding rocks, his figure flashing several times as he evaded most of the arrows, while the rest were easily knocked aside.

After a few more breaths, he rounded a bend in the cliff and vanished from sight.

The bandits nocked their arrows and fired again, but could only shoot into a patch of tangled brush.

"Useless trash!"

Zhou Kun was beside himself with rage. His pair of copper hammers smashed viciously against the rocks, sparks flying everywhere. A massive boulder over ten feet wide shattered and tumbled down the cliff. His eyes were slightly red. "After letting that bastard escape, how can I face Uncle Lu in the underworld?"

"That bastard was too cunning, Second Chief. You need not blame yourself too much..."

Tiger Descending the Mountain Lang Yi and Scorpion-Tailed Tiger Xu Erniang hurriedly tried to console him.

"Ah!"

A scream interrupted them.

The three spun around abruptly and saw a spear-wielding bandit with an arrow through his chest. His face was filled with terror as he collapsed weakly, blood soaking into the ground.

"Ah!"

"Save me!"

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Arrows kept flying in. These bandits below the Inner Qi Realm had no ability to resist, and screams rose one after another.

At a bend in the cliff, Jiang Ding calmly drew his bow and loosed an arrow.

His aim was not very good. He had clearly aimed at one person, yet the arrow veered several meters away. This was only a short distance of sixty or seventy meters; if he brought this to school for a lesson, people would laugh themselves to death.

It could not be helped. Cold weapons were already niche enough, and bows had no audience at all.

Fortunately, that did not affect his accuracy.

The bandits were packed together in a dense formation, one huge cluster. It was difficult to miss even if he tried.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Every arrow that flew took the life of a bandit. Some leaders skilled in archery led their men in returning fire, only to despair when they discovered that their opponent merely had to press himself against the cliff face to evade every arrow.

Even when they occasionally hit him, he could casually knock the arrows aside with a swing of his sword.

The feeling of being able only to take blows without any power to strike back was utterly despairing, and their morale crumbled at once.

"Don't panic! Raise the shields! Get behind me!"

Zhou Kun knocked away an arrow flying toward him with one hammer. A trace of fear appeared on his face as he shouted.

His words had some effect. The bandits gathered behind the saber-and-shield men, who raised their round shields one after another to form a wall before them.

Jiang Ding remained calm. He shifted to another position and drew his bow to the full moon.

Whoosh!

An arrow far faster than the previous ones slammed into the shield wall, pierced through a round shield, and nailed a saber-and-shield bandit behind it to death.

The formation fell silent for a moment.

"Run!"

"If we stay, we'll all die!"

The dense formation collapsed with a roar. The bandits fled madly in every direction. Zhou Kun and the other two chiefs cut down several men, but it was useless. Before long, only a few lonely figures remained.

The expressions of Zhou Kun and the other two suddenly changed. They hurried toward the direction with the most people, trying to blend in with the crowd.

Their steps abruptly stopped, and despair appeared on their faces.

"Don't..."

At some point, a youth in blue had appeared among the fleeing crowd. Moving against the flow of people, sword in hand, he walked toward them.