“You don’t need to dirty your hand, brother Jianyu,” the older Extolite said. “I will be enough for this arrogant young man.”
The middle-aged man eyed the older man before shrugging. “Very well. I’ll let you handle him. Exercise caution though, he did beat the chief.”
“I’m much stronger than the chief,” the old man said, pulling out a spear from his storage bag. He turned toward Alex, his head proud and upright. He looked down on Alex.
Alex grabbed his sword tightly, staring at the old man, trying to discern just how strong he was. Extolites were supposed to be very strong, so he needed to be ready.
Green aura surrounded the old man and he charged. His figure turned illusory, seemingly hiding within the wind. Alex took no chances.
His sword immediately burned with bright white light as he sent out a slash full of Sword Qi. The old man entered the range of Alex’s attack right as it happened and was struck in the chest by the strong attack.
Instantly, the man was thrown backward.
He spun through the air, landing some distance away. He slowly stood up, looking down at his chest where his robes had been cut away, and a faint red line appeared as dribbles of blood spilled out.
It was a flesh wound at best, and yet nothing could have angered the old man more.
“I told you to be cautious,” the middle-aged man reminded the old man, who took a moment to calm his rage and nodded.
Meanwhile, Alex’s eyes were wide in astonishment. He had known that his Spirit Qi would be weakened when it left the 3-meter range around him, which was why he had waited until the old man had entered his range.
And yet, even that attack had only left a thin line along his chest? How was the old man alive, let alone not cut in half? Just how strong was his physical body?
“I underestimated you,” the old man said. “That won’t happen twice.”
He charged again, his figure enveloped in greenish energy. He didn’t turn invisible this time around, just faster than normal.
Alex’s sword filled with Sword Qi again as he prepared to attack the man, but he was very cautious this time, staying outside the range of where his Sword Qi could reach.
The old man jumped around Alex at an exceptional speed, trying to disorient him, but Alex kept his cool.
Alex spun, swinging the sword just in time to block the incoming spear stab. He felt the force of the spear, carrying tons of weight behind it. If Alex himself hadn’t been physically strong, he would have likely had his bones shatter from that force.
‘How strong,’ he thought. ‘How are they this much stronger than a regular person?’
At first, he wondered if this was the result of the so-called Elixir, but that couldn’t be possible since Elixir wasn’t something they should have their hands on.
As Alex retaliated with his own attack, he wondered if they had just happened to eat high-quality meat from childhood, which had ended up making them much stronger than regular people.
However, that felt wrong as well. If that were to be all they needed, Xichen wouldn’t have had such trouble at all. And anyone could become Extolites with minimal training.
‘No, something else. Something only these people have,’ he thought and an answer came to him. ‘A unique physique?’
That was the only thing Alex could see as being the reasonable truth. These men had a unique physique. The physique perhaps wasn’t all that great, but it was just good enough to make them stand out from the others and get stronger faster.
‘How many people are there that would exceed in life if they only had a chance to cultivate in higher-grade Qi,’ Alex thought, but so was life. Where one was born was an important variable on how far one could go.
Besides, now was not the time for Alex to think of such things.
His retaliation was stopped by the old man, whose spear moved in a dozen different directions before coming from one singular side.
Alex’s sword burned white, but that was not the end of it. He added more Intent, causing the Sword Qi to spill out of the sword, becoming Sword Aura.
He swung with that attack that did not stop.
The old man struck the attack aside, but the Sword Qi, albeit weakened outside of Alex’s sphere of influence, regained their momentum and went back for the old man.
The old man fought back the attack and was ready just in time as Alex arrived. He stabbed Alex with his spear, while Alex swung his sword.
The two attacks clashed, striking the people individually instead of each other.
Both of them were blown backward, and yet neither took a moment to stop.
The old man flipped in the air and launched forward the moment he landed, while Alex simply pushed against air itself, and charged back.
Neither man gave a single thought to their injuries and attacked one more time.
The old man was certain he would win, but this time, Alex went a step above.
The Sword Domain formed around him in his small sphere like bright white pinpricks of light that zipped around. What he showcased was an incredible sight for all who saw.
As the two arrived next to each other again, they attacked.
The old man placed the power of his physical body into the attack, while Alex put his physical body and his Sword Domain into the attack.
The moment they clashed, the victor was decided.
The several Sword Qi within the Sword Domain destroyed the old man’s spear and directly attacked his body. This time, they were strong enough to fling the old man far away, leaving a trail of blood droplets through the air.
A small crater formed where the two clashed, and Alex landed in the center.
Taking a deep breath as he glared at the middle-aged man, daring him to fight him next.