Seeing how he was surrounded by enemies on all fronts, Hua Yan decided to plan his strike on the side which had the least number of people.
This was precisely the area to his immediate left. He swept his feet off the ground and began to move.
Since he had no cultivation base to speak of, the two guards that saw him running over to them did not really call for help or take Hua Yan's charge seriously. They simply raised their fists up and planned to capture Hua Yan in a single stroke.
As for the guards on the other sides, they were even less inclined to make a move. The reason for this was because they believed that this matter would be wrapped up in a matter of seconds anyway, since Hua Yan was rushing to his death by challenging the guards in such a direct and straightforward fashion.
Let alone beating two of the guards, no one watching thought that Hua Yan could beat even a single guard. Hence, the guards' lack of response towards Hua Yan's movements was highly warranted.
Though these men were all trained to never underestimate their opponents, they could not bring themselves to think of Hua Yan as an opponent. In their eyes, he was a weakling. He was trash that could not even cultivate.
Besides, the numbers were in their favour. Even if the other party had more in numbers, they still had a stronger overall strength. Furthermore, even if Hua Yan managed to miraculously defeat them all, they were still in the Hua Clan.
Even if there were 10,000 Hua Yan's, he wouldn't be able to get out of this place alive.
The guards did not even think this far. To them, Hua Yan was as good as captured now that they had spotted him.
Gwaaaaahhhh!!!
Everyone's thoughts were interrupted by the painful screaming of a man. At first, they thought it was Hua Yan, but only after looking towards the direction of the voice did they notice that it was in fact a guard.
Just moments ago, this guard was facing Hua Yan's direct assault. He had used the power of his cultivation base to bulk up certain portions of his body to resist against Hua Yan's flimsy knife. And thought this action had caused him to become faster and stronger, the blinding white light that suddenly erupted from Hua Yan's blade had startled him and essentially made him defenceless.
It seemed to numb him and rob him of his mental faculties. He could only watch as his paralyzed body was pierced through by the knife.
Had the knife been in someone else's hand, there was no way that it would cause anything more than a scratch on the guard's skin. Since it was in Hua Yan's grasp, however, he used his understanding of blades to unleash it's potential, causing the guard to suffer a great defeat.
Moreover, Hua Yan was rather ruthless in his choosing of a spot to attack. He actually had the decisiveness to launch an attack under the waist, in a very delicate area…
The guard that was standing next to the one that was now profusely bleeding from the legs was scared stiffless. He thought Hua Yan was just a rat that had walked into a trap. Never in his wildest dreams did he expect that this rat could bite back. And in such a sensitive area as well…
The guard shivered just thinking about it. The other guards that were watching were also baffled, but since they didn't witness the attack from up close like the two guards near Hua Yan did, they were quicker to master their shock and pull out their weapons.
"You evil thing!" one of them screamed out, almost as if it was he that had taken the hit himself, "You actually dared to hit a man in such a spot!"
"Vile, venemous snake! If I don't kill you today, I will change my surname!"
"Chop that rebel into pieces!"
"I'll make you wish you were never born!"
Soon, all the guards were rushing towards Hua Yan while shouting vulgarities. They had their sharp weapons pointed at him and they would be on him any second, ready to tear away all his flesh.
Hua Yan knew that neither his speed nor strength could be matched up with theirs. Individually, maybe he would have stood a chance. But if they all came together at once, he would only have to put his life on the line and resort to some petty tricks to barely get out of this alive.
He threw his knife towards the baffled guard that was standing next to him. The guard, not expecting the attack, could only dodge after having his ear cut off.
As he was screaming out in pain, Hua Yan made use of a gap in his defences to slip through and reach the first guard that he had attacked.
This guard was in a sorry state and looked like he was on the verge of death. Though his injury wasn't fatal, he looked like he was begging for someone to kill him and end his suffering. The weapon that he once held by the sheath on his waist was claimed by Hua Yan.
Shiiiing!
As Hua Yan drew out the blade, he took a moment to admire it.
It was just an ordinary longsword, but it was much better than his previous weapon. Not to mention, this was his first time using a proper sword.
In the past, when he encountered bandits and the like outside of the forest, rarely did he take their weapons. The reason for this was because most of their weapons were of abysmal quality and were very poorly maintained. After getting into a brawl with Hua Yan, most of their weapons would actually break.
This had a lot to do with Hua Yan's lack of control of his monstrous power. In addition, it also had to do with the exhausted durability of the weapons the bandits usually wielded. As such, he just stuck with his knife, instead of salvaging their worn out weapons.
In this situation, however, he would be an idiot not to take the fallen guard's weapon. Since the guards were stationed within the Hua Clan, which no one dared to look down on, their swords were actually in excellent condition. They did not really have much of a need to use these blades, because they were able to solve most conflicts with words alone.
This was the influence of the power that backed them. Even if people wanted to continue to fight some more, they would be weary of the guards' identity. Few people would court death like Hua Yan and force the guards to draw their weapons.
But Hua Yan knew that he had no other choice but to offend the guards. If not, he would end up dying!
In usual times, Hua Yan would not even be able to hold this sword because of how precious it was compared to his own life, but now was different.
Since the guards were coming after his life anyway, he might as well help himself to the goods they had to offer.
Clutching his sword by the hilt, he took a quick moment to familiarize himself with its weight distribution before turning around to let out a massive swing at the incoming guards.
Ziiiiiip!
As the sword cut through the air, arcs of light followed its trajectory. The guard's' skin that it touched, which were supposed to be as hard as stone, actually melted into the sword, allowing the weapon to pass through their bodies with ease.
As their screams of absolute terror escaped their lips, Hua Yan felt the sword in his hands cracking. He had used way too much power in that strike!
But even though he felt a little drained and his new sword looked like it had just been completely brutalized, the results spoke for themselves.
He had wasted 5 guards with a random move!