Normally, someone at the Fifth Tier should have been able to deal with a Fourth Tier youth in three moves.
That was especially true when he had originally been an Eighth Tier assassin, with far more combat experience than an ordinary Fifth Tier assassin.
Not to mention that Huo Yuhao had just been through a fierce battle.
But after more than a dozen exchanges, he had not even touched the hem of Huo Yuhao's clothes. The boy's reactions were absurdly fast, as though he knew what move the old man would make before he made it.
What frustrated him even more was that Huo Yuhao did not meet his attacks head-on. Instead, he neutralized, redirected, and used their force with perfect timing.
When his hand chopped down like a blade, Huo Yuhao merely brushed it aside with his arm, and the force slipped away.
When he threw a punch, Huo Yuhao shifted slightly, and the wind from the blow swept past him.
Faced with this, the white-robed elder grew more anxious as the fight went on.
His moves grew faster, and before he knew it, he was putting more power behind them.
He went from the strength of the early Fifth Tier to the middle Fifth Tier, then the peak of the Fifth Tier.
Even as the elder changed, Huo Yuhao could still keep up. His spiritual power was like an invisible net, encompassing the elder's every movement, allowing him to predict and react in advance.
Faced with this, the elder's face flushed red.
In all his years, he had never been so humiliated.
Against a child of eight or nine, he had used Fifth Tier strength and still failed to take him down after more than a dozen moves.
If word got out, how could he show his old face?
After several more exchanges, the white-robed elder finally could not bear it any longer.
His aura surged, and his Spiritual Energy fluctuations leaped from the Fifth Tier to the Sixth Tier.
This time, Huo Yuhao could no longer hold out.
The gap between the Sixth Tier and the Fifth Tier was not something spiritual power could bridge.
The elder's speed suddenly doubled. Huo Yuhao's reactions remained precise, but his body could not move fast enough to keep up.
The elder's hand chopped at him from an unbelievable angle. Huo Yuhao judged it correctly and got his arm in place to block, but the elder's strength blasted through his defense, and the hand struck the back of his head.
Huo Yuhao's vision went black, and he passed out.
Seeing Huo Yuhao fall, the white-robed elder let out a long breath.
He stood where he was, looking at his hands with a complicated expression.
He had failed to take down a Fourth Tier boy with Fifth Tier strength and had ultimately needed the Sixth Tier to knock him out.
If word of this got out-
Forget it. He would not think about it.
Just then, Cai'er ran over.
She crouched beside Huo Yuhao and reached out to check his breathing, then turned and glared at the white-robed elder.
A dangerous aura churned in her purple eyes, and the surrounding air seemed to congeal, cold and oppressive.
The white-robed elder's expression changed drastically. In an instant, he came to Cai'er's side and picked her up.
"Cai'er, don't be angry. The kid isn't hurt. I only knocked him out."
His tone softened at once, making him seem like a completely different person from the elder who had angrily berated Huo Yuhao just moments ago.
"If I really hurt him after he saved you, wouldn't that make me an ungrateful wretch? Besides, if I didn't knock him out, it would have been hard for the two of us to leave."
Cai'er's emotions gradually settled.
She struggled, trying to get down from the elder's arms.
Just then, the white-robed elder's expression changed.
His Spiritual Energy perception caught a powerful aura approaching rapidly.
The aura was exceptionally sharp, carrying an almost tangible pressure as it sped toward them from the direction of Odin Town.
"Someone's coming, and they're powerful. Let's go."
Before Cai'er could react, his figure flashed, and he vanished into the depths of the forest with her in his arms.
The air gradually grew quiet. Although Huo Yuhao lay on the ground, his spiritual power was still observing his surroundings.
Inside his Sea of Consciousness, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm asked in confusion:
"Yuhao, you should have been able to block that move. Why did you let him knock you out?"
"Brother Sky Dream, you don't understand."
Huo Yuhao smiled faintly and explained, "The longer we fought, the more I would have revealed, and that old man would have gradually stopped holding back his strength. If I couldn't hold out later, I might really have gotten hurt.
"Getting knocked out now also let him save face. We're bound to cross paths again.
"He's an Eighth Tier assassin and a high-ranking member of the Assassin Temple. Given the relationship between the Knight Temple and the Assassin Temple, we'll definitely have a chance to meet again. If he throws his seniority around then, it'll be troublesome."
"Besides, Long Haochen had already reached Odin Town before I passed out. Long Xingyu must have known what was happening here.
"At his speed, it wouldn't take him long to get here."
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's head ached at his words, and he could not help complaining:
"Ah, you humans have too many twists and turns in your social dealings. I really don't understand them."
"As for Long Xingyu, he did set out while you were unconscious. After that old man sensed Long Xingyu's aura, he ran off with the little girl."
"Mm, as long as they got away safely. The old man said Cai'er is a genius of the Assassin Temple, so we should have a chance to meet again."
"Yuhao, kid, don't tell me you've taken a fancy to her?"
"Brother Sky Dream, what are you saying? I just saw a reflection of myself in her. If I can, I'll help her."
"Shh, that's enough. Long Xingyu is here."
In the forest, not long after the white-robed elder left with Sheng Cai'er, a figure appeared among the trees.
It was Long Xingyu. He had been hiding in the Odin Sub-Temple, thinking about how to teach his son by marriage to cultivate in the future, when he suddenly "saw" Long Haochen rush back with news that members of the Demon Clan had appeared. That was why he had hurried over at once.
After sensing the auras in the area, Long Xingyu examined the battlefield carefully, and his brows knitted.
"Not only is there the aura of the Demon Clan, but there's also an assassin's aura and a powerful, dangerous aura. What happened here?"
Long Xingyu glanced in the direction the white-robed elder and Sheng Cai'er had gone. After some thought, he decided not to pursue them.
He then looked at Huo Yuhao, who lay on the ground. A trace of dissatisfaction appeared on his face, and then he vanished from the spot with Huo Yuhao.
In the cave where Huo Yuhao rested.
After setting him on the ground, Long Xingyu pinched the philtrum beneath Huo Yuhao's nose hard.
Feeling the pain, Huo Yuhao opened his eyes, looking somewhat dazed.
When he saw Long Xingyu in front of him, he hurriedly got up and bowed:
"Thank you, Uncle Long. Sorry for the trouble!"
"All right."
In a rare gesture, Long Xingyu personally helped Huo Yuhao up and asked:
"Tell me, what exactly happened?"
"Yes!"
Huo Yuhao promptly recounted everything that had happened, concealing only his fight with the white-robed elder.
As for why he had passed out, he simply said that after dealing with the members of the Demon Clan, he had somehow been ambushed without even seeing the enemy.
After hearing Huo Yuhao out, Long Xingyu thought for a moment and said:
"Yuhao, the person who attacked you was probably an expert from the Assassin Temple. They're very fast, and you had used up a lot of Internal Spiritual Power, so it's perfectly normal that you didn't notice them.
"You dealt with so many Fourth Tier Wolf Demons on your own and defeated a Fifth Tier Wolf Demon above your own level. There's little more I can teach you about combat experience."
Hearing this, Huo Yuhao raised his head and looked at Long Xingyu.
From what he knew of Long Xingyu, what he said next would be what he really wanted to say.
"There are no high-rank magical beasts left near Odin Town, but there's still one near Haoyue City. That place is just right for your cultivation."