The expert with fire affinity was a little surprised, he had just seen his comrade dispatched, and his own fireball dodged relatively easily.
The battle had literally just started and they were already down a man. This kid had some skill.
Taking no chances, he immediately activated his fire armor, retrieving a sword with purple-fire billowing on its blade from his space ring.
This time he had pulled out all the stops. This was his rank 3 spirit sword.
One has to know that local clans like the Lou clan could only have access to mostly rank 1 and rank 2 spirit weapons. Sects would have anywhere from rank 1 to rank 5 spirit weapons, only people working for the royal family would have weapons above rank 5.
This expert too had his lower face masked ninja style, he had white hair spilling out the hood of his robes, meaning he was older and probably more experienced than the wind element expert that just died.
The yellow armor of licking fire around his upper body gave off a blistering heat, not as much as the fireball, but this heat could keep even 2nd layer xiantian experts from engaging in close combat with him.
Too bad he was piss out of luck today, Hartley had just appeared out of nowhere and was already engaging him at close quarters.
Hartley knew that time wasn't on his side, the other experts could pop up at any time, forcing him to leave Zhi Ruo unguarded for the moment. He was worried she might be attacked in her vulnerable state.
Oh lord what would he do if she got hurt, he didn't even want to think about it.
He had to take them down as quick as possible and get her somewhere safe, his heart was really nervous, though he would never let it show on his face.
He still had state of focus active and this guy wasn't going to win any speed contests, still he remained cautious, feeling a dangerous vibe from that purple sword.
The heat of the opponent armor was more than bearable with his xiantian physical body, he did not need to use blue star essence as an armor. Hartley applied his 10x gravity field in 15 meter radius, immediately entrapping the expert.
The man's movements became labored, as if he was wading through waist deep mud.
Hartley wasted no time, pushing off with his left foot, the concrete floor exploded under his feet, small concrete pebbles went flying out in all directions. Leaving a 3 inch deep impression of his foot stamped into the floor.
He appeared beside the expert on the man's left, keeping away from the dangerous sword.
Hartley slashed out viciously with his red short sword, trying to cut the man clean through at the waist with one move.
Obviously struggling with his movement and balance, multiple streams of sweat beaded down the elderly man's forehead, evaporating with a hiss as it fell onto his armor.
He was still an experienced 3rd layer xiantian though, quickly switching his sword to his left hand, he made a back handed slash.
Both swords collided with a clang.
Sparks bloomed, Hartley was pushed back three steps, his left hand numb and his spirit sword vibrating out of control.
"Not bad," the old man said with a fleeting grin, finding confidence in their first exchange, internally thinking he held the advantage in weaponry.
Hartley said nothing, quickly glimpsing back in Zhi Ruo's direction, just to check if she was still ok.
Hartley then immediately changed his approach, applying 10x gravity to his black blade in his right hand.
Not shying away from the man's purple sword anymore, he positioned himself for a full frontal assault. The opponent only had one sword, he was going to overwhelm him with numbers.
Hartley again pounced forward towards the opponent that was handicapped by his gravity field, he slashed diagonally from low-left to high-right with his inferior spirit weapon in his left hand, forcing the opponent to defend the strike, this was his new battle plan.
Harley wanted the man to commit to defense. The 3rd layer xiantian did exactly as expected of anyone in that situation, he slashed downwards to meet the short sword coming upwards.
Again, the two swords collided with a shower of red and purple sparks, this time Hartley was prepared. Exerting all the strength combined from his physical body and the blue star essence, he would not allow himself to be pushed back even an inch.
The clash was a draw, both men stood at their same position, robes fluttering like they were in the middle of a storm.
Immediately without respite, Hartley transitioned to an overhead strike with the long back blade in his right hand.
Chopping downwards,
the black blade came with the pressure of a mountain falling from the sky, the opponent's feet sank 3 inches deep into the concrete, spiderweb cracks extending around his feet, as if he was standing on thin ice.
The fire element expert quickly recovered his from his parry, pushing his sword in a horizontal position up to meet the black blade coming down, suspiciously thinking that the black sword looked normal, but why was it giving off such pressure?
He instinctively had a bad feeling, still he was confident in warding off this strike.
Now he was beginning to think of escapes routes, and when were those bastards going to step in and help him.
BOOOOM!!!
The two swords collided, sounding like a crack of thunder.
Both swords shattered like glass thrown against a rock, accompanied by a magnificent explosion of pyrotechnics, lighting up the whole second floor in a soothing purple glow.
The expert staggered back, shock etched on his face, puking out a mouthful of blood with a scream of disbelief.
Hartley would not let him off, tossing away the useless hilt of his long sword, he was already transitioning to his third strike, he slashed diagonally from low-right to high-left with his short sword imbued with zero gravity.
Fwoosh! The lightning-fast strike went through armor, sinew, and bones like it was paper.
The triangular shaped upper half of his body with the head attached, flew up like a kite with broken strings, splattering blood everywhere. The separated body made a sputtering sound like the gearbox of an old truck, blood gushing out in pulses.
The lower half of his body stumbled back 2 steps and then dropped with a thud.
This time Hartley didn't even try and escape the falling blood, He allowed himself to be baptized in the blood of those who ruined his first date, and he had ruin their lives in return.
That kill only took Hartley three clashes with the opponent.
He had adapted to the situation and changed tactics mid-fight, achieving an efficient victory.
Application of skills was a key part of any battle, but he had also sacrificed his black blade in the process, he quickly retrieved one of his throwing knives, rushing back to the center of the room.
This was when the last three xiantians finally made their move.