One minute pa.s.sed.

Two minutes pa.s.sed.

Four.

Six.

Nine.

The a.s.sa.s.sin standing atop the tree began to feel antsy. What was happening in there? Why was it taking so long to kill the boy?

Ten minutes pa.s.sed.

Ten-and-half

Eleven…

a.s.sa.s.sin One felt something was very wrong. He picked up his bow once again and notched his steel arrows. His gazed intently at the whirlpool far below.

At twelve minutes, the walls of the whirlpool shook as if something made impact with it.

At fourteen minutes, grey plumes of smoke emerged from the top of the whirlpool.

a.s.sa.s.sin One relaxed.

[They must be burning the kid's body right now.]

The whirlpool fell and a.s.sa.s.sin One smirked.

[That was too easy.]

At that moment.

A young man with cold eyes appeared in the cold night; his dark eyes seemed to stare into the depths of the a.s.sa.s.sin's soul.

[I-Impossible!]

a.s.sa.s.sin One was shaken to the core. However, he did not show it.

The a.s.sa.s.sin tightened his grip on the bow.

"Little kid… you've been hiding your skills quite deeply… Despite your cultivation of the 4th level of Qi Distillation, the effectiveness of your skills is equivalent to that of someone in the 5th level. Whatever your little secret is, I will find out once I have your corpse at my feet!" The white-masked man said sharply.

The two opponents faced each other coldly.

____

[Back at the camp.]

Delphine and Ryan started feeling worried when Van did not reappear after some time had pa.s.sed.

Delphine put down her skewer of hare-meat. Ryan looked into the snowy night, worrying.

Blackie was standing at full alert. His intelligent eyes stared into the night as his ears swivelled back and forth. At that moment, a faint b.l.o.o.d.y scent drifted over the wind.

"Arroooooooo

The giant wolf howled, startling the two humans besides the campfire.

Blackie shot off into the darkness.

Delphine and Ryan exchanged glances. Delphine immediately ran after the wolf.

Ryan grabbed Van's battle axe from the fireside but was stunned by its sheer weight. Helplessly, he could only give up his task and grab the two harpoons instead.

A moment later, the camp was completely empty.

______

Van stared up at the bone-white mask of the a.s.sa.s.sin perched atop the tree. Anger was clear in his tone as he spoke, "Who sent you? Was it the Blood Crow Gang's Boss?"

He only had one enemy in Dragon City that had already tried to kill him once – and that was the mastermind behind the Blood Crow Gang, the young man with the curly hair and crazed eyes!

The a.s.sa.s.sin's eyes were hidden by the shadows created by the eye-holes of the mask, "Hahaha… what is the point of knowing? You will not survive the next five minutes!"

The a.s.sa.s.sin's body warped in a strange and unnatural way. His arms grew grotesquely, and his eyes bulged out.

The a.s.sa.s.sin lifted his bow high up into the air and pointed it at the s.p.a.ce between Van's brows.

SHUA!

An arrow shot with deadly strength flew towards Van at breakneck speed.

Van moved quickly.

[The a.s.sa.s.sin has a transformation skill that increases his strength and the accuracy of his arrows!]

As Van dodged, he noticed that the figure atop the tree had disappeared.

[Where did he go?]

A cold breeze ruffled the back of Van's robes. He immediately activated Scattering Smoke Steps. The world turned grey.

Within the smoky world, Van turned.

He saw hideous mask of the last a.s.sa.s.sin just behind him.

[In less than a second, the a.s.sa.s.sin teleported to a different tree several hundred metres away. How terrifying!]

Van realised that the enemy had a high tier movement skill just like him.

[His arrows are also fired with super-strength and immense accuracy. Some of them can home in on my position whenever I reappear for a moment.]

Van felt cold. If it were someone else in the 4th level of Qi Distillation, they would have died tragically underneath this a.s.sa.s.sin's arrow a long time ago.

[Despite hitting the arrow several times with me 'Searing Snake Strikes,' the a.s.sa.s.sin's arrow was able to pierce five centimeters into my skin. If I enter the Copper Buddha State, I should be able to reduce the damage to less than two centimeters. However, the a.s.sa.s.sin has yet to show their full strength.]

[If they simply keep attacking me with their homing arrows, then the moment 'Scattering Smoke Steps' makes me appear for a second too long… that is the moment I die!]

'Scattering Smoke Steps' was a skill based on the idea of absolute evasion. When Van used it, it seemed to his enemies as if he appeared and reappeared in random places within a 20x20 meter area. The duration of time he spent in those random places were totally random.

Shua! Shua! Shua!

The a.s.sa.s.sin sent arrow after arrow. The homing arrows chased Van's hazy figure around. Despite the fact that the arrows were unable to directly hurt Van, the a.s.sa.s.sin had a light smile on their face.

Shua! Shua! Shua!

More arrows were released. They joined the fray. It appeared as if Van was surrounded by a cloud of metallic arrows.

Van was getting fl.u.s.tered. As the fight continued, he realized that he was bleeding more and more from the arrow wound he had previously sustained.

[I am quickly losing vitality and spiritual power… If I keep using Scattering Smoke Steps, I can only keep dodging. The homing arrows will acc.u.mulate around me and I will die the moment I exit the movement skill.]

Van counted the arrows that chased him like murderous bees. There were ten of them.

Van's eyes flashed.

[I gamble my life on this one chance!]

Van's hazy figure disappeared.

The a.s.sa.s.sin coldly kept shooting his homing arrows.

[His qi reserves cannot match up to a 6th level Qi Distillation cultivators. Once his movement skill cannot be maintained, my arrows will tear him to b.l.o.o.d.y shreds!]

Van's body reappeared a about ten metres closer to the a.s.sa.s.sin.

In the next instant, he was gone again. The arrows following him changed direction.

The a.s.sa.s.sin shot another arrow lazily.

Van's body reappeared. He was only visible for a millisecond before he faded once more, like a ghost.

The a.s.sa.s.sin began to feel a sense of disquiet.

[That brat… he is moving closer towards me!]

[Hmph! What does he think he can achieve? I will stand my ground… the moment he tries to attack me will give my arrows the time to hit their target!]

The a.s.sa.s.sin stayed in his position and nocked another arrow. This time, the a.s.sa.s.sin channelled the spiritual power within himself.

Van reappeared.

The a.s.sa.s.sin's eyes sharpened, [Silent Killing Shot!]

The arrow that flew out of the bow was qualitatively different from the rest. A grey flame surrounded its tip. The aura that it gave off was small and contained but was filled with murderous delight!

Snap!

The a.s.sa.s.sin whirled around. The snapping noise had come from somewhere very close behind them.

[Don't tell me. The brat moved so close so quickly?]

Teng!

The a.s.sa.s.sin immediately used their own movement skill. He reappeared about twenty metres away from his previous spot. He peered at the spot where he heard the snapping sound.

"Gotcha," a young man voice floated through the air.

The a.s.sa.s.sin felt a strong sense of danger. The voice was way too close!

[f.u.c.k. He threw the rock to make me think he was behind me. I fell for his trap!]

Van smirked. The a.s.sa.s.sin had instinctively moved away from the snapping sound– and straight towards Van!

Of course, the snapping sound was created by Van throwing a rock. In fact, it was one of the small mystery objects Van had purchased during the Lantern Festival that he had yet to sell.

Van snickered, "Falling for such an elementary trick. How stupid!"

Van immediately exited 'Scattering Smoke Steps.'

Weng!

Intense copper light radiated outwards from Van's body, making him appear as if he were a mini copper-coloured sun. It lit the dark night.

The a.s.sa.s.sin cursed.

[This is 100% not Copper Knight Wall. It should not be able to give off this kind of intense light!]

Ting! Ting! Ting!

With the Copper Buddha state fully exerted, Van felt three of the a.s.sa.s.sin's arrows sink two centimetres into his metal-like skin. Although it was shallow, it still hurt like a b.i.t.c.h. Blood spurted out from his body.

Van gritted his teeth.

[There are still nine more!]

Ting! Ting! Ting!

Three more arrows inserted themselves into Van's glowing torso. Light dribbled out.

"….Hee-hee," The a.s.sa.s.sin suddenly laughed.

Van ignored him. He began to circulate the spiritual power within his body.

[I will knock him off the tree with 'Tide Swallows the Earth' and then hit him with 'Flaming Bull Fists' for maximum damage!]

The a.s.sa.s.sin saw him preparing to attack and laughed again, "Have you still not noticed…? Hee-hee!"

At that moment, Van sensed that something was very wrong.

[s.h.i.+t. One of the arrows is not the same as the rest!]

Van finally realised that one of the arrows was surrounded by a grey flame. This arrow radiated the aura of an a.s.sured, deadly killer.

BANG!

It hit Van's copper-skin with immense impact. Instantly, it sunk over ten centimetres into Van's chest. Blood burst out of his wound like a geyser.

Cough!

Van's flew back from the impact and coughed out blood. The red droplets splattered all over the white snow, making a brilliant contrast.

The a.s.sa.s.sin floated closer. They pressed a booted foot against Van's bleeding chest and drew another arrow. This one was also surrounded by subtle grey flames.

Van saw the a.s.sa.s.sin's mouth move in slow motion. Van could only watch helplessly. His life was bleeding out of him… this a.s.sa.s.sin's skill had some effect that caused unstoppable bleeding!

"Silent."

Their teeth flashed.

"Killing."

Van's head felt fuzzy. The arrow just then was only a centimetre away from his heart. If the a.s.sa.s.sin aimed the next arrow right on top of the first one, it would force the first arrow straight into his heart. He would die right there!

"Shot!"

The a.s.sa.s.sin released the grey-flamed arrow.

Van struggled to wriggle out of the way, but the blood loss made him extremely weak. The copper glow faded from his skin.

"Heehee!" The a.s.sa.s.sin cawed, "GO TO h.e.l.l!"

The arrow was only tens of centimetres from Van's face. Van's eyes drifted shut. He had lost too much blood.

A wolf's howl split the night.

WENG!

A s.h.i.+mmering blue-green s.h.i.+eld appeared in mid-air.

TENG!

Van's eyes snapped open.

[What?!]

The blue-green s.h.i.+eld shattered into countless pieces.

[The s.h.i.+eld…the s.h.i.+eld just reduced the speed and power of the arrow by 30%.]

Van's eyes grew bright, [There is a chance!]

Van mustered the last dregs of his consciousness.

[Thousand Saints Sacrifice – Copper Buddha State!]

Weng!

A flickering copper glow once again emanated from Van's body.

Roaring, Van s.n.a.t.c.hed the grey-flamed arrow from the air and stabbed it into the a.s.sa.s.sin's foot.

The a.s.sa.s.sin stumbled back in shock.

A ma.s.sive snarling shadow leapt through the air. Blackie latched onto the a.s.sa.s.sin's ankle and bit through his Achille's Heel!

Surprised, the a.s.sa.s.sin shrieked in pain and fell to the ground. The tendon was destroyed – he could no longer walk with that leg!

The a.s.sa.s.sin's eyes grew red. He drew out a dagger with glowing red symbols on it and stabbed at Blackie.

"Tide Swallows the Earth!"

A ma.s.sive wave crashed into the a.s.sa.s.sin and sent him stumbling backwards.

The a.s.sa.s.sin's eyes became more crazed. He pulled out a purple pill from his pocket and put it into his mouth.

"Don't let him swallow the pill!" Van heard Delphine scream, "Once he eats it, he will be enter a berserk mode and be twice as strong for fifteen minutes!"

"f.u.c.k!" Van shouted.

The pill was already halfway down the b.a.s.t.a.r.d's throat!