In an instant, Han Zongwang's four mighty generals all arrived.
Guan Dian moved like a phantom, so fast that only a faint afterimage remained where he had stood. A pair of dark Water-Splitting Daggers had appeared in his hands, and he drove them straight toward the vital points at the bamboo-hatted assassin's waist and ribs. His attack was silent, its angle vicious and cunning, his true qi soft and yielding yet immensely penetrating.
Guan Pingchao lagged half a step behind, but his attack was steadier and more seasoned. Rather than hurry into close quarters, he rubbed his palms together and thrust them forward, sending a thick, sustained surge of ocher primordial energy across the distance. Silent at first, it gave a muffled thunderclap as it drew near, sealing every avenue of retreat.
Qu Guangling followed close behind, dressed in black with a tall crown and broad sash. His gray-white eyes flashed as he fixed his gaze on the assassin in coarse gray robes. Two balls of golden light hovered before him, ready to strike at any moment.
The assassin beneath that battered bamboo hat was none other than He An in disguise.
Having landed his sword strike, He An rapidly circulated the true qi throughout his body and prepared to thrust again. But Tong Shanxiong's mountain-cleaving, rock-shattering saber was already descending upon him, while several more attacks-fierce, sinister, or ponderous-closed in around him.
"Aah..."
Han Zhan unleashed a roar like a wounded beast. The muscles in his shoulder bulged, forcibly stemming the bleeding as frost formed over the wound.
A bone-piercing chill radiated from his body, instantly freezing the moisture in the surrounding air into ice crystals. White frost coated the Azure Cloud Sword in a heartbeat. Ignoring his injury, he released the blade, curled his fingers into claws, and