Amidst the rubble of what was formerly a majestic stone castle, two people stood eight meters apart as the remaining half of the structure slowly crumbled around them.
"Who are you?" after the dust settled the red hair man couldn't help but to ask this question with wide eyes. The kid across from him didn't look more than 20 years old. All the powerhouses he knew had long since grown a full head of white hair, this was simply unbelievable and went against all logic he had come to understand.
"I'm just a average citizen of Aidonia, I'm no one special" Hartley answered as he flicked a few pieces of pebbles off of his black robe.
"Not bad, not bad, to think a genius like you have surfaced from Aidonia, it's the closest thing to a miracle I have seen on the Aldora continent in my lifetime. It's a pity this is where your journey shall end."
The red hair man also casually stroked a few pieces of rock from his white robe, before continuing with a smile.
"The world is a harsh place where even a genius can fall, the best anyone can do is achieve their own potential, but not many are destined to achieve even that."
"Isn't it a bit early to be speaking about endings? Haven't I got my whole life ahead of me?" Hartley replied while returning the man's smile.
"And that's exactly why you are going to die at my hands today, if you are given time you might surpass everyone who has ever lived on this continent and be a constant threat to the interests of my country." The man returned Hartley's smile as if he wasn't talking about cold blooded murder and just having a friendly conversation.
"I see." Hartley put on a face of contemplation. "If your country's interest involves weaseling us out of what is rightfully ours, then that is going to be a big problem."
From their first exchange Hartley was pushed backed five steps and the red hair man three.
Even though the red hair man had an advantage in pure brute strength Hartley was feeling very optimistic about his chances in this fight, he thought he might even be able to win without his time domain.
A very exotic sheathed sword suddenly appeared in the man's hand, with a click and a shing the blade slid free from its scabbard. The black scabbard adorned with a plethora of gemstones fell to the ground and imprinted itself in the soft mud. A one-handed silver sword about one and a half meter long appeared, glinting brightly even in the absence of sunlight.
***
Commander Genk groaned as he rolled his massive frame in the mud trying to get back to his feet, his soaked robe saturated with mud stuck to his skin as he watched Hartley and the red hair man square off in the ruined castle. The two seem to be having a conversation which he couldn't hear, what he could hear clearly was the ambient sounds of the rain pattering against the earth, he could also hear panicked voices all around, the army surrounding the castle came to the aid of the screaming injured elites strewn in the mud around the castle grounds.
As the grogginess cleared from his head, his gruff voice barked orders at the men running around frantically.
"Get the injured and fall back, prepare to retreat from the area as quick as possible."
That exchange between Hartley and the red hair man had told him all that he needed to know about the situation his men were in. As an experienced soldier he had seen top-notch experts do battle, the destructive forces emitted from their battles was deadly to the common soldiers.
With a serious face he glanced at Hartley and the red hair expert, knowing that If those two started a fully blown battle it was going to be life threatening for all the soldiers below the 8th layer in the xiantian realm.
A thickening crowd of Aidonia's soldiers gathered and streamed towards and beyond the walls, Anguo Chen composed himself and went to help Commander Genk escort the last of the retreating soldiers to safety.
Suddenly there was a humongous bang which flattened the standing half of the stone castle, throwing the men off their feet as the earth rattled underneath them.
Even the hardiest of the soldiers were scared witless, they staggered back to their feet drenched in mud and made a beeline for the main gate.
Shouts of frantic panic echoed out among the ranks, they left a chaotic pattern of muddy footprints behind them as they scrambled forward.
The silver sword in the hand of the red hair man glowed red, etched lines on the blade formed circular patterns that ran all the way along the blade, the red hair man then dashed at Hartley leaving stable life-like after images behind him, he made a quick horizontal slash in a berserk fashion.
Hartley's pair of blue elemental swords appeared and stretched out in his hands like a light saber from star wars, with his jaw clenched and a determined look on his face, he took a single step forward and met the red hair man with a inverted upward slash of his own.
The long sword in Hartley's right hand met the glowing red sword and an almighty explosion was created, sparks sprang out and up into the rainy skies, the unstable structure was flattened around them in a millisecond.
A visible wave rippled in the air between the two men, both men were pushed back four or five steps and a chaotic spectrum of black energy erupted out of the ripples, shaking the earth violently before disappearing again into nothingness.
A genuine look of surprise was etched across the red hair man's face this time, in their first exchange he hadn't used his full strength, but this time he did, and he was even assisted by his rank 6 spirit weapon, still the youth wasn't vanquished.
Hartley felt a pang of numbness run up his arm but it was nothing he couldn't deal with, he was inwardly impressed with himself, the last time he faced off with someone of this power, he was smacked down in the street after just one exchange.
"Good, good very good, you truly are special" the red hair man talked as a bright red aura surged out of his body, making his robe flutter ceaselessly, evaporating every single raindrop that fell in a fifteen meter radius.
The man took three small steps before jumping ten meters high and slashing down at Hartley with lightning speed, his sword now resembled a molten piece of iron, it glowed a glaring red, increasing the temperature of the surroundings producing a thick fog around the two.
With concentration on his face, Hartley didn't dare to take this strike head on, ice-blue mist crawled and twirled over his body, he took a step forward and blinked out of existence. The red hair man's sword landed on the spot formerly occupied by Hartley.
A gigantic explosion occurred, debris from the stone castle and a massive chunk of the surrounding earth, went rising towards the heavens, the strike could be heard and felt miles away, the earth quivered and shook violently.
The strike left a crater one hundred meters in diameter and ten meters deep, with the red hair man stood in the middle of the destruction, there wasn't even any evidence that a castle used to stand where the man was.
Hartley flickered back into existence behind the red hair man, he stepped out of the twirling ice-blue mist with a dull glow. He immediately slashed with his short elemental sword in his left hand, aiming the man's waist.
Without turning, the red hair man twisted his body at an awkward angle, vanishing from the spot.
Hartley's blade went through an after-image of the man which wriggled away like smoke.
The red hair man had a startled look mingled with a hint of alarm on his face, the youth had stepped into a spatial crack and avoided his attack with consummate ease.
One had to know that stepping into a a spatial crack exerted mind numbing pain and pressure on the physical body, anyone below the saint realm could literally explode by stepping into a spatial crack on a whim, yet the youth stepped in and out of a space crack looking none the worse for wear.
This was serious, he wasn't sure if even he himself could step in and out of a spatial crack so nonchalantly. He had to rely on his speed as a 9th layer xiantian and maneuvered himself five meters to the left to avoid the potent attack from his back.
The glowing sword came speeding back at Hartley from the left, the red hair man bared his teeth in a snarl as he put absolutely everything he had into his sword strike, rocks as big as melons were whipped up and tossed around tornado-style. The two clashed in the middle of the huge crater, ignoring the unrelenting pouring rain, just then there was another crack of thunder from the heavens.
Hartley used advanced minute movement technique, coupled with his advanced state of focus and slipped pass the glaring red sword that radiated heat like a mini-sun, suddenly 100x gravity slammed down onto the crater, fresh astonishment blossomed on the man's face, he stumbled back in shock.
The debris that were being whipped around were forced back down into the ground, bringing with it an explosion of dirt, rocks and mud splashing everywhere like a hand grenade was detonated.
The red hair man rocked back onto his heels, losing his balance for a split-second, a blue flash came fizzing at him, it was a strike quicker than any he had ever seen before.
Under the restriction of Hartley's gravity field the man clumsily got his sword up to block the strike with another explosion of multi-colored sparks.
Hartley moved ghost-like to his right, his movements seemingly unhindered under the influence of such a strong gravitational force, an overhead chop with his long sword came down like mountains falling from heaven.
The blue flash cut through the gloom of the rainy evening, the red hair man clumsily tried to evade the strike.
***
Commander Haiyuan stood about five hundred meters away, soaked in the rain watching the battle keenly.
Water droplets spooled on his eyelashes then fell towards the floor, streaks of water clumped in his hair racing down his face.
Surprisingly the youth was holding his own against his subordinate, he couldn't help but be nervous. It was unthinkable that one of the strongest below the saint realm from Sasko could fall to a no-name youth on the soil of this small affiliate country, but reality was crueler than fiction, he was witnessing the undeniable reality with his own two eyes.
All of a sudden the battle that seemed evenly matched took a drastic turn, the red hair man started to stumble and the youth was launching a vicious series of strikes, suddenly there was a scream of pain, the red hair man was missing an arm, the limb was sent flying away and out of sight in the gloomy evening.
Commander Haiyun stood in gaping shock, looking at the sight of blood gushing out of the jagged stump left as Kan Jin's right arm.
With a somber and nervous face the commander said "Chang Lee prepare to get us out of here."
"Yes sir" the quiet middle age man dressed in black replied, Chang Lee was commander Haiyuan's final trump card, even though he was only in the 8th layer of the xiantian realm, he had an affinity to space so he could travel through spatial cracks carrying another person with him for a moderate distance.
The commander has always kept this man close by his side, he was a last resort and it was time to use his last resort.
***
"Ahhh!"
After failing to evade the strike, the red hair man's right arm went flying away, his sword still gripped in the severed hand as he shrieked in disbelief, watching his arm and sword disappearing from sight.
Hartely's battle with this red hair man had given him vital experience in dealing people in the 9th layer, it was time to end this now.
As the man backed away with widened nervous eyes, preparing to run for his life, the color bled from the world.
***
The next thing commander Haiyuan saw was the youth appearing next to Kan Jin like a phantom and beheading him mercilessly.
By pure coincidence there was crack of thunder, a long streak of lightning crawled across the skies, brightening the day with a flash of white.
It was like the heavens were signalling the end of the battle.
The scarlet head rolled over the rugged soil of the man-made crater, spewing blood that was quickly washed into the earth by the incessant rain.
"It's time to go now!" the soaked commander shouted frantically at the man next to him.