"It's you..."
Fear gripped Yun Qiang's heart as he recognized the man in front of him. The man had long black hair, a vicious light flashed in his black eyes as he locked his gaze on Yun Qiang.
A vicious and cruel smile bloomed on his face as he drew his blade.
"We met again. Congratulations on your promotion!"
His mocking tone both enraged and scared Yun Qiang. He still remembered what had happened the last time they met.
"Tian Lao..." Yun Qiang's expression contorted into one of rage.
He took a step forward.
"You will pay for what you did!"
He took a step, pointing his spear forward as if challenging Tian Lao to a fight.
However, with his free hand he sent a secret signal to his team.
'Retreat'
Suddenly, Yun Qiang and Tian Lao charged each other. Spear and sword collided with each other. The screeching sounds of metal filled the air.
While their weapons were locked in a contest of strength, Tian Lao spoke again. His mocking grin taunting Yun Qiang with each word.
"You know. I will give you the same deal I gave Voss. Duel me alone. while you are alive I won't give chase to your subordinates."
Yun Qiang's face darkened.
"So you can poison me like you did to him?"
"Not a chance!"
With a surge of strength, he pushed Tian Lao backwards, before advancing, launching again at him.
"Now!"
"Now!"
Both Yun Qiang and Tian Lao screamed at the same time. Their respective groups started instantly moving. Yun Qiang's group escaped while Tian Lao's gave chase to them.
Both groups' reactions were too fast for it to be an improvised order, it was clear that both leaders had already thought about doing this beforehand.
Respect briefly flashed in Tian Lao's eyes. He deflected Yun Qiang's spear, purposely locking it in place with his sword handle.
"Not bad, but being smart won't help you!"
Using Yun Qiang's spear as a lever, Tian Lao moved him to the side before hitting his torso with a Qi-infused palm strike, forcing Yun Qiang to stumble backwards.
However, Tian Lao's assault was far from over. Just as Yun Qiang was about to regain his balance, Tian Lao launched a series of vicious thrusts and cuts. Each strike was done with extreme precision, deliberately targeting non-vital areas of Yun Qiang's body to maximize his pain while minimizing lethality.
Suddenly, the ground let out a dark gold glow, and a sphere started forming around the battlefield, covering the sky in just a few breaths.
Yun Qiang's pupils shrank. In panic, he gazed at his comrades. They had formed a semi-circle formation at the edge of the battlefield, evidently they hadn't managed to escape the barrier.
His mind was overcome with surprise.
"You even set up an array to prevent our escape?!"
Tian Lao let out a small huff, before striking Yun Qiang with another series of attacks.
"I don't have to explain anything to you!"
Yun Qiang rolled out of the way, trying his best to stabilize his footing while distancing himself from Tian Lao. However, Tian Lao had stopped playing around and followed up with a quick thrust aimed at Yun Qiang's heart.
Instinctively, Yun Qiang tried to dodge, however, he was too slow and only managed to shift his position.
"Ahhh!"
Pain blinded his senses as Tian Lao's sword perforated his shoulder, pinning him on the ground.
Like a caged beast, Yun Qiang tried to struggle, erratically moving while throwing kicks and punches at Tian Lao. However, Tian Lao had seen this situation countless times and was completely unfazed by him. With a smooth motion, he pushed his sword deeper into the ground, forcing the blade further through Yun Qiang's shoulder until it was dangerously close to severing his arm.
Yun Qiang let out another pained scream, he could feel his energy leaving him, the edges of his field of vision were already dark.
Tired, he tried moving again. Suddenly, the pressure pinning him down disappeared. Excitement took hold of his mind as he moved to the right.
However, his excitement soon turned into dread as Tian Lao's sword came down once again. This time he couldn't dodge.
When Tian Lao's blade penetrated his heart, Yun Qiang saw the last two months of his life flash before him. Voss's death, his arrival at the Rainy Fort, the time spent teaching his subordinates how to cultivate, his fight with Lee Sheng.
In a quick blur, all of it passed before him. He had improved a lot from his self from a year ago. However, it wasn't enough.
Then darkness came.
Sun blocked an incoming hit, blood sputtering from his mouth as he still went flying. He started coughing blood, his eyes wandering around the battlefield as his opponent waited for him to move.
He didn't see hope for this battle, their enemies were all Foundation realm cultivators.
This damned barrier!
Rage spilled from his eyes as he glared at the dark gold barrier.
A kick in the stomach sent him tumbling against the barrier that delimited the battlefield.
"Fight, or you will end up like him"
The speaker, a man dressed in brown leather, pointed at a nearby corpse.
Sun knew who he was. It was Dav, a thin shy boy. The man dressed in leather had killed him before their group was able to leave. Before that damned barrier appeared.
Sun cursed himself, it was his responsibility to lead these men out of here but he still failed.
He got up, blood still trickling out of his mouth. Then he directly charged the man in leather.
The man smirked, leisurely dodging the charge before hitting Sun with the handle of his axe, sending Sun to the ground.
A similar scene unfolded around them. Alivar was getting repeatedly kicked on the ground, Brent was paralyzed on the ground, leaving Aru to desperately deflect the incoming hits with his body.
However, none of them were dying, Tian Lao's subordinates played with them, extracting pleasure from their pained looks.
A cold voice entered Sun's ears, sending shivers to his spine.
"Don't waste time and kill all of them"
He looked at the speaker.
Tian Lao was walking towards them, with one hand he held his sword, with the other he held a body.
When Sun saw the body, tears flowed out his eyes and desperation gripped his heart.
Yun Qiang was dead.