Strike First If You Can

He hid within the dense canopy, looking down at the Martial Masters searching separately below as though they were a pack of rabbits scurrying blindly through the grass.

He drew another two iron arrows from his quiver and aimed at the two closest men.

With two sharp whooshes, the arrows flew out and struck left and right at the same time. The two Martial Masters fell at once!

One had his neck pierced, clutching his throat as he collapsed into the bushes; the other had his back pierced and sprawled over a moss-covered rock.

Only five remained.

Wang Batian's expression darkened.

He had charged at the front, yet the men behind him had fallen one after another.

He and his five remaining subordinates gathered in the dense forest, standing back to back with their blade tips pointed outward. None of them dared search around so brazenly as before.

Feng Chen understood. The bow's usefulness had probably reached its limit.

Below, Wang Batian and his five remaining subordinates had already huddled tightly together, backs pressed together and blade tips aimed outward. They hid behind a cluster of jagged rocks, and no one dared show their head again.

Still, Feng Chen did not put away his bow. He remained crouched on the branch with the horn bow in hand, holding his breath as he stared at those shrinking turtles!

As long as anyone showed even the slightest bit of themselves, he could still use his bow to take down one or two more.

The current situation favored him. He could keep the stalemate going and wear down these men's courage.

Below, Wang Batian and his five subordinates hid behind a massive boulder.

A scar-faced Martial Master gripped his saber hilt tightly, turned toward Wang Batian, and asked in a low voice, "Instructor Wang, what do we do?"

"That thief's archery is too accurate. We can't charge him, and we can't hide from him either. We can't keep dragging this out."

Wang Batian gritted his teeth, the flesh on his cheeks twitching.

He glanced through a crack in the rocks toward the crown of the old camphor tree above. He saw only dense branches and leaves swaying gently under the sunlight, without a trace of anyone.

After several breaths of silence, he lowered his voice until it was deep and heavy. "Your realms are too low. You can't evade his arrows. That thief's archery is at least at Minor Mastery. You Body Tempering, First Heaven cultivators are nothing but living targets before him."

"Listen to me now. You all retreat first and return to report today's events to the martial hall exactly as they happened. Tell the hall master that I, Wang Batian, will remain here and personally deal with this thief."

"I can handle him alone. You would only get in my way if you stayed."

"Understood, Instructor Wang."

The remaining five exchanged looks. Each saw a complicated expression in the others' eyes—relief, yet relief they did not dare reveal.

Earlier, every one of them had wanted nothing more than to tear the sneak-attacking thief into ten thousand pieces. Those killed had been fellow disciples they spent every day with.

But now, they had clearly seen that the man hidden in the tree was simply not someone they could deal with.

With their strength, staying would only drag Wang Batian down. They might even lose their lives.

The five nodded together at Wang Batian, bent low with hands clenched around their saber hilts, and began cautiously retreating toward the back mountain under the cover of rocks.

Standing in the tree canopy, Feng Chen took in every detail from above.

When he saw the five Martial Masters dart out from behind the blue stone and race toward the forest behind them with their bodies hunched low, he knew Wang Batian intended to send his subordinates away and fight him one-on-one.

The corner of his mouth curled slightly as he raised his hand and fired another two iron arrows in succession.

The twang of the bowstring was crisp and deadly.

This time, the other side was prepared. They kept changing direction as they ran, using trees and rocks for cover. One man suddenly threw himself aside and avoided a vital spot, but the other was not so fortunate!

An iron arrow plunged into his back. He let out a muffled groan and pitched forward. After struggling twice, he went still.

Another one fell.

The remaining four ran even faster, practically using both hands and feet as they rolled and crawled through the scattered rocks.

Feng Chen leaped onto another tree and fired two more arrows, which howled after the retreating figures.

One arrow pierced a man's shoulder, and he screamed as he continued running; another struck the back of a different man's head, sending him crashing to the ground.

In the end, only two men successfully escaped the forest.

Feng Chen watched the two retreating figures and sighed softly.

Two had escaped, but that was within his expectations.

The enemy had scattered in all directions. With only one man and one bow, no matter how accurate he was, he could not possibly kill every target in such a short time.

So be it. He would deal with the man before him first.

At that moment, Wang Batian's fleshy face had turned a livid shade of blue.

Watching his subordinates get shot down one after another, the fury in his heart had long since overwhelmed all reason.

He sprang from behind the blue stone, gripping his heavy saber. With one kick of his feet, he charged furiously toward the old camphor tree where Feng Chen had hidden. Every step he took on the mountain rocks shattered several stone chips. He raised his head toward the canopy and roared, "You damned thief! Let's see if I don't chop you to death!"

Feng Chen stored his bow in his Spatial Ring, flipped down from the old camphor tree, and activated the Perfection-level Meteor Step the instant his toes touched the ground. He became a blurred gray shadow and silently darted into the thick grass nearby.

Ten breaths later, Wang Batian arrived beneath the old camphor tree.

He looked around but saw no trace of the figure in gray short robes. The pent-up fire in his chest exploded.

He gripped the saber hilt with both hands, poured his blood and qi into his arms, and slashed at the old camphor tree where Feng Chen had just hidden.

The saber light carried tyrannical force as it struck the thick trunk. With a thunderous boom,

the old camphor tree, so thick that two people could barely wrap their arms around it, was actually chopped down in one stroke. Its trunk crashed sideways against the rocks beside it, and branches and leaves rustled down all over the ground.

"Thief! If you have the guts, come out and face me!"

Wang Batian stood beside the fallen tree, his chest heaving violently as his bloodshot eyes swept the surroundings. His roar echoed back and forth through the dense forest, startling flocks of birds into flight.

Feng Chen was hidden in a thick patch of bushes less than twenty paces away.

Through gaps in the leaves, he watched Wang Batian's face twisted with rage and instead smiled.

Before dealing with this man, he first had to sound out his true strength!

His realm was already confirmed: Body Tempering, Third Heaven, the same as his own.

When opponents of the same realm fought, who seized the initiative often decided victory or defeat.

He intended to try a sneak attack first and see whether he could inflict some damage on this old man in advance.

Against an enemy, one should use every means at one's disposal. If he could strike first, why stand there and fight head-on?

He took out his bow from the Spatial Ring, nocked two iron arrows, and aimed at Wang Batian, who was looking around in every direction.

The distance was extremely close, less than twenty paces. At such a distance, Perfection-level archery was almost guaranteed to hit.

Holding his breath, he released his fingers. With two whooshes, the arrows shot out in succession, nearly grazing the bush leaves as they flew, cutting two sharp black lines through the air.

Wang Batian's reaction was truly fast. Almost the instant he heard the bowstring, he twisted aside and swung his saber.

The long saber precisely knocked away the first arrow, but the second followed immediately behind it. It was already too late to block it with his blade, so he could only jerk his head aside!

The arrowhead grazed past his left ear, carving a shallow bloody groove across the rim. Blood ran down from the base of his ear.

"Is sneaking attacks all you know? Gutless rat!" After knocking away the second arrow, Wang Batian staggered half a step, steadied himself, and roared. His voice was even more violent than before.

Seeing this, Feng Chen sighed faintly.

No Martial Artist who reached Body Tempering, Third Heaven was simple!

The moment he fired the two arrows, he stored the horn bow in his Spatial Ring, drew a refined iron saber with his right hand, and instantly activated the Perfection-level Meteor Step. He shot directly out from the other side of the bushes.

He was so fast that even the bush leaves only trembled slightly.

Whoosh!

This slash went straight for Wang Batian's neck. The blade drew a snowy-white arc beneath the sunlight and chopped down with a sharp whistle.