I had already expected that this might indeed happen, but it seem that the girl in front of me seemed to be more than just frustrated about whatever that Song Wei did before, she seemed to be enraged .
As for trying to reason with her, well, something inside me seemed to be quite certain that my tries would end up being wasted, but even though that was what I thought and somewhat believe, I still said :
" I'm someone who happened to be here when that Song Wei came, so there shouldn't be any need for you to be so guarded against me .
As I suspected, my words didn't seem to get to her, she squinted her auburn eyes that matched her auburn hair and said angrily :
Whether you are to be trusted or not and whether you are actually telling the truth or not, that doesn't matter to me currently, all I'm still waiting for, is for you to come clear with your identity, who are you ? .
Seeing that there was no point in continuing this conversation, the bad premonition in my heart had become quite strong, I understood that even if I were to give a made-up name, the girl in front of me won't still believe me, she had already sat up her mind and was suspicious about me .
I shook my head and the next second the sword that was merely pointed at me, actually flew from the girl's hand and was heading towards me while cutting through the air .
Seeing this, I first thought that this girl had Mental Energy as well, but being still using my enhanced senses, I was able to clearly see that her Blood Qi was being used as the driving force of that sword, she was merely throwing the sword at me using her Blood Qi .
Grasping this, I used the sword in my arm to repel the incoming sword with quite ease, at least that should have been the case, but the girl's sword was actually carrying some strange but familiar power that on the second that we clashed appeared .
Sharp Blood Qi, this was indeed the Sharp Blood Qi that I sensed from Senior Brother, that same energy was what tried to invade my body, the second I clashed with the incoming sword, but the second they were in my body, it was directly neutralized by the Panel, but it was still a bit surprising .
So I ended up taking a few step backwards in try of getting away from that sword, one more thing about the method she was using, it was far inferior to the Mental Strength way of doing things, the sword after it was parried directly fell to the floor, no longer moving .
Unlike with Mental Strength where I can even use my connection with the sword to make it turn in the air and attack from all kind of difficult to handle angles, after I parried the sword of the girl donning a half mask and who was in the first layer of Organ Quenching Realm, I still didn't plan to go on the offensive just yet .
I didn't want to create more troubles for myself that was the first reason, the second reason was because I didn't think that the girl was actually trying to kill me just now, the sword trajectory was aiming for my shoulder, the sword would at most injure me slightly, whether it was because she wanted to interrogate me or this being an act of mercy, I didn't know nor I cared .
The main reason was that I was able to see that the girl was just frustrated at the loss of her comrades, so she was currently impulsive and unable to judge things correctly, so even though she attacked me first, which should have given me the right to defend myself in any way I deem necessary, I still believed that this situation could be dealt with peaceful, at least that was what I hoped .
I don't know whether your silence is because you are indeed guilty or something else, but I still able to see that you have some skills .
Senior sister, should we do it together ? .
No, I will deal with him myself, no one is allowed to interfere with our fight, even though no one is around to witness this small fight, but I still don't want anyone to think that we at Green Sword Villa bully others with our numbers .
I also want to release some of my pent-up frustration with this fight .
The girl didn't seem to be troubled in the slightest by me parrying her sword, her comrades from behind here seemed to be willing to help her in dealing with me, but she refused their help and instead said confidently that she wanted to deal with me herself .
I had no clue about what does the name Green Sword Villa present, but it was clear that this was the faction they were belonging to, I felt a bit offended hearing her words about using me to release some of her frustration, but I dealt with this as nothing but a mere childish provocation .
If we took about confidence, I had confidence that I could beat all of the people here with 8 slashes, using Retribution with the Life-Severing attack of course, but without using this move, I'm not sure about how long would it take, but it still shouldn't take that long time .
I didn't say anything in return, just kept staring at them with red-eyes that was currently gleaming like two red lanterns through the empty sockets of the mask I wore, some of them seemed to be quite alarmed by my appearance, they were nervous just by looking at me .
Just as I was staring at them, the sword that was beside me on the ground seemed to be coming back to life, it directly flaw towards the hands of that girl and she once again held it with ease and pointed at me .
I didn't know how the sword did that, but my eyes gleamed at this kind of scene, it was just too much of a stimulation, but just as I was marveling at what I just saw, the girl in front of me moved, her speed was actually faster than anyone that I had seen before, excluding the unknown fallen Evil Tigers member .
But my eyesight was still able to see her like a storming wind, coming directly towards me without any hesitation, she thrusted her sword forward aiming for my chest, it seem that she was now more serious about dealing with me, this attack would result in a severe injury at least .
Sidestepping to the right, allowed me to evade her strike, but without stopping, using the momentum she gathered directly in her lower body, she twisted her waist and unleased a second strke, a reversed vertical slash that shoud slash me from the waist to the shoulder, again I sidestepped to the left this time, barely evading the second strike, this strike was faster than the previous one .
I didn't know if this was only my imagination playing tricks on me, but I actually began to think that it didn't concern the way she just used, but maybe this was another unique secret method or something like this which allowed her sword attacks to get stronger, or it might be more accurate to say that the power of her attacks were being superimposed .
I didn't get that much time to dwell on it, I saw that her sword coming at me again but this time, my neck was the target, the speed in which the sword was coming at me with this time was much faster than before, it seem that what was being superimposed was not the strength of the attacks, it was the speed, the power increase was just extra effect .
Even though the sword came at me from a weird angle that left barely any space to evade, I was still more than capable of forcing my body to react and move in time, this should have been impossible back in my old world, but I was no longer in my old world nor was my current self the one back then as well .
I should have been able to evade, but already thinking about how to solve this situation as quickly as possible, I chose that the best way to defend was to attack, instead of evading, I allowed the blade that was like a lurking snake approach my neck, while I began urging my Blood Qi and used Gliding Swallow right before the sword cut my throat .
Appearing behind the girl, my sword was already aimed at her neck, she who still believed that I was still in front of her stopped her attack barely before the blade sank into my neck, she even now had a more relaxed expression on her face, not one befitting the still uncertain current situation of the battle, that was how confident she was .
But soon the situation changed, the content expression on her face also turned to bewilderment, then she felt horrified after becoming more conscious of what was actually happening, even though she slashed at my neck and stopped her attack just barely before it land, the opponent has already moved from in front of her, all that she was seeing was nothing but a mirage .
Left after her opponent, me moved fast enough amidst her attack, now I was currently behind her holding a sword that was a few inches away from where her heart should be, a simple thrust of my sword forward could end her life here and now .
That what terrified her, the realization only downed on her after she saw the afterimage disappearing and sensed the threatening feeling coming from her backside, after she seemed to realize her situation, she sheathed her sword slowly and raised her hand and said :
I yield, sorry for doubting you earlier .
Seeing how casual her words were, I looked a bit strangely at her, wondering if that was all, but I still lowered my blade and said :
" Miss is so serious, I just hope that you succeed in avenging your fallen comrades .
As I said this, the smile faded again and due to picking a bit further distance away from her other present comrades, it took them some time to know who won, but when they finally approached us, they saw the two bowing respectfully to one another and thought that the conflict had been resolved .
This might sound a bit late at this point but I'm Chu Ji Xi, might you introduce yourself to us as well ? .
" I'm sorry, but it's a bit inconvenient for me to do that at the moment, still, I'm pleased to make your acquaintance .
The other comrades of her began to look weirdly at what was going on here, the girl feeling their relentless and bewildered expressions, cleared the confusion up and said that she had lost in the duel just now, the guys were astonished at this happening and some of them began to look at me as if I was some kind of a Monster .
The girl coughed out loud, a bit embarrassed at her loss, I couldn't help but say :
" Miss Chu's swordsmanship was an eye-opening, I believe that the number of people who can withstand a few moves could be rounded up on one hand, she also showed me some restraint just now, otherwise I'm not sure to be capable of wining today .
Hearing my praising words, the girl didn't look happy at all, instead it actually drove her to become a bit more mad, I saw that she turned her head away from both me and her comrades and said :
What are you babbling about, do you think I'm a sore loser or something like that, a loss is a loss, just wait for me to practice a bit more, then we would fight again and see who might be able to win this time .
It wasn't my intention to taunt her or anything like that, but since she already spoke out about her determination like that, I thought that it was better for me to accept it silently and nod my head .
Seeing that there was no serious business to tend to here, I turned around and moved to the deepest part of the cave again, the place that was currently filled with rocks and was completely blocked, they followed me as well, I didn't think much of it and just continued my earlier contemplation about how to solve the issue in front of me .
I could use the Punch in the Solid Rock Fist Technique, but the problem was the existence of other people around me, who might be able to link seeing me execute this attack with the Dojo behind me, there are not so many people whom I had met and saw having red-eyes, so I might get find out instantly and easily too .
I could use Retribution Sword and the secret technique to pave the way forward, but there was also possiblity of me getting misunderstood as a villain again, the girl from before gave the situation a rest, but sensing the resentment energy might make her doubtful again, all in all it didn't seem worth it for me to take such a huge risk .
I still have Thunderclap Fist, it had been used only a few times since I had acquired it, but most of the situations didn't require it, but now I could try using it again, it should allow me to pave the way as well, but not as fast as the other two methods, but it was safest solution at least .
I also could try and use brute force, but this was the method with the slowest speed in breaking through, just as I was still contemplating in my mind, I heard the girl named Ji Xi gave instructions to her fellow disciples and order them to start breaking through .
I saw that all kinds of attack was being launched at the pile of rocks in front of me in a weird order, then saw some of the rocks under these relentless attacks crumble, the situation couldn't become any better than this for me, I was still trying to find a way that could allow me to break through the blockage in front of me, when they began to do this .
Still, just so that they don't think that I have bad intentions, I still joined them and used Wind-Chaser in my hand like a pickaxe and started to hack the rocks as well, the sword was quite dangerously sharp, this was the first time I actually used it properly and was finally able to see why it was valued so much by the Gu Family .
As I hacked one rock after the other, I began to hear a few gasps at the speed which I'm working with, I hearing those gasps, couldn't help but wonder about how would the Gu Family would react if they were to know about their precious sword being used in such a way .
It took no more than half stick of incense and we were already done, the path was opened up again, not wanting to waste my breath with meaningless words, not to mention the fact that I began hearing footsteps entering in this area, I directly began to delve deeper into the cave, I vowed in my heart that if I met that Song Wei later, I would gave that girl a chance to pay respects to her fallen comrades by killing him .
This was my token of gratitude for her help this time, it seem that she too thought of the same thing as me, we both began to use our footwork arts almost at the same time, but my Crouching Tiger taking advantage of the terrain helped in propelling me far further ahead of her, I was able to see that she didn't like this in the slightest, but there was little that she can do to prevent this from happening .
Reaching deeper into the cave, the eerie green glow was getting brighter and brighter, I wasn't sure of whether my absorption of the green wisps of energy before was the reason, but I did sense that the wind didn't exert much pressure on me as before, the air resistance decreased by quite the margin as well, just like a fish in the sea, I was now able to move more freely than before .
Heading forward, I didn't saw any cyclones or any wisps of green energy anymore, which made me quite baffled, I couldn't help but wonder if the guys who went in deeper before me were responsible for this, but then shook my head at the whole thought of absorbing the green wisps of energy going forward, in fact I to some extent felt relieved that this was the case .
I had already broke through to the 6th Layer of Flesh Tempering and even though I hadn't spend much time to consolidate my realm after each sudden breakthrough, I still feel that my foundation is as stable as ever thanks to the Panel and there must be also some contribution to this from the dire situations I kept finding myself in these past few days .
My senses allowed me not to fall at a disadvantage even when fighting against more experienced opponent than me, but also allowed me to gain insights during battle and make acute judgment on how to move and attack precisely .
The increase in Blood Qi also allowed me to continue enhancing my eyes and other senses more and more, I can't help but wonder where would the limit be, thinking of my current Blood Qi consumption, I directly withdraw another recovery pill from my pouch and swallowed it directly after sensing a dangerous aura coming from the spacious cave that I saw currently in front me, WAIT WHAT IS THAT ? .