An arrow darted towards him, it's speed was beyond the human eyes could follow. Thanks to Gin's perfect state of mind and soul energy that could detect anything within a 20-meter radius.
He evaded the attack by ducking his head at the last second, barely missing the arrow that whizzed past, over his head.
Followed by the second, then third, fourth and more arrows showered upon him. In a span of a few seconds, twenty-four arrows were fired but none made their target.
All the twenty-four white-cloaked figures looked at Gin as if they were looking at the monster. A person can evade one or two arrows, but all 24 of them...no human can do that.
All of them were Seal Opening stage practitioners who opened one to three hidden seals, but their target is just a Physique Enrichment stage kid.
Gin could still feel the blood boiling inside him and the strange white energy from the magical symbol elevated his combat ability to another level.
Without wasting any time, he sped towards the left mountain range where the arrows came from.
--
At the end of the Ice valley,
A silver-haired man, decked in grey fur clothes was reclining in a wooden chair, enjoying the hot coffee while a firepit kept his body warm from the cold weather.
He witnessed everything that happened through his high-tech binocular. Even though he may seem like a carefree person who came for a vacation, he's not.
He's the boss of the top criminal group called Backfire; Proficient in the arts of hunting and killing. He's the one Silver Dragon domain hired to finish off Gin.
At the same time, he's also a well-known Ranker. Many in the Ranker division know him as Captain Gris, leader of the Ranker group that has a good reputation for completing missions with a high success rate.
Assassination is just a side business and hobby for him that he does behind the Human Union's eye for high pay, like now. Aside from that, he's just your regular man.
Seeing Gin evade all the arrows didn't alarm him anyway as even he can do that. To accomplish this, one just needs to be faster than the arrows fired at them.
"Tsk...I should have known when they paid so much for such a simple mission." Gris chuckled.
The information he got from the source only stated the target's strength may rival practitioners who opened a single hidden seal.
But after seeing Gin's quick movements, Gris knew the target's strength isn't as simple as it seems.
"Switch to close combat! All at once." Gris commanded via his communication bracelet, sipping his coffee.
---
Gin soon spotted the twelve figures covered in a snow-white outfit and masks. Apart from their eyes, nothing could be discerned about their appearance.
With his current strength, he can fight normal cultivators who opened three hidden seals. If he gives it all, he can fight on equal grounds with someone who opened four hidden seals.
Out of the twelve figures, seven opened a single hidden seal, three opened two hidden seals and the last two have already opened three hidden seals.
It's going to be a tough fight if he wants to kill them all before the other group that's speeding towards him from the right mountain range.
The twelve formed a formation and clashed directly with Gin. He left the weaker ones and targeted the strong.
Skilfully eluding the energy incorporated attacks, his fist struck the head of the person who opened two hidden seals.
'Bang!'
Unlike the Physique Enrichment stage practitioners, Seal opening stage practitioners can incorporate their essence energy into their weapons and can also perform Elemental based skills.
Like creating fire and water out of thin air, using the earth beneath the feet to their advantage, and so on. Elemental attacks demand high consumption of elemental energy that's distinct from essence energy coursing through everyone.
Elemental energy can't be absorbed directly, it can only be refined from the essence energy present in one's body. After cleansing, it can be stored inside the opened hidden seal.
So, the elemental attack comes at a cost. They are like trump cards that are saved for last.
After killing three people who opened two hidden seals, Gin switched his target to the two who opened three hidden seals.
But this time, a wooden staff appeared in his hand. The golden-brownish mortal grade weapon gave a threatening 'swish' sound as Gin skillfully maneuvered it.
Whirling the weapon around his head in breakneck speed, he smashed it against the head of the person who opened three hidden seals.
His opponent tried to block the attack by placing his double-edged sword horizontally over his head. He wanted to use the sharpness of his blade to chop off the staff. Naive.
"Boom!"
Powerless to stop the momentum of Gin's attack, his hands sank while the sharp edge of the blade smoothly cleaved his head into two. In a sense, his life ended with his own hands.
Gin used everything in his attack, it would be a real surprise, had the opponent blocked the strike.
He was practicing his staff technique—108 stances of wooden staff— for more than three months and honed his combat skills by sparring with Reyna whenever she's free.
He's not the same person as before, everything about him has changed for the best.
As he was busy finishing the opponent, a sword stabbed his back. The sharp tip of the blade was only able to penetrate his skin and was stopped by Gin's firm muscles.
"How?" The attacker is another man who opened three hidden seals. He was dumbstruck when the sword infused with his essence energy fail to pierce the Physique Enrichment kid.
What answered him, is a skull-cracking blow that practically dented the left side of his face. He perished with his eyes wide open, blood oozing from the orifices; eyes, ears, and mouth.
Within a few seconds, Gin killed all the twelve members present in the left mountain range. His entire body is stained with skin-deep sword wounds.
If he wanted, he could have evaded the sword strikes but he wants to leave the impression that he gave it all, to the person commanding them.
He noticed the wireless device in all the person's ears, it means they are listening and obeying someone's command. And the person directing them isn't among them.
Thanks to the strange energy that raised his combat ability to nearly threefold. It's the only reason he was able to kill all of them without suffering any heavy injuries.
If not for that, he'd have been in a tough fight. He doesn't know how long the strange energy will last, so he has to end the fight soon.
Wasting no time, he picked the silver-colored bow and few metal-headed arrows left by the group he just killed.
He wasn't a bow user, but good eyesight, extraordinary perception, and brute force are more than enough to handle it well.
Nocking the arrow, he aimed at the human figures who were rushing towards him from the right mountain range.
They will reach his position within two to three seconds, but that short interval of time is enough for Gin to take some of them out.
The rushing group's strength is identical to the group he killed.
"Watch out for his arrow!" Shouted the man, who opened three hidden seals and has good eyesight.
Pulling the bowstring to its maximum, Gin released the arrow.
'Swish!'
The arrow shot from the bow like a fired bullet and pierced the eye of the man at the front. It didn't stop the momentum of the arrow, it came out from the back of his head and lodged itself on the ice rock behind the group.
'Swoosh!' 'Swoosh!' 'Swoosh!'
Even before the group could react, a second arrow took another man's life. Followed by third and fourth.
His four arrows claimed the lives of three who opened two hidden seals while the last one blocked the arrow by the swing of his sword; the one who shouted to watch out for his arrows.
Tossing away the bow in his hand, Gin took out his wooden staff and blocked the horizontal swing of the blade and evaded the knife thrown at his neck by stepping back.
These two reached his position first and they are also the strongest of the group with three hidden seals opened.
Within no time, another seven arrived and besieged him. Suddenly, Gin felt something creep up his legs and soon noticed wood vines twining around his legs.
The vines aren't particularly strong but Gin couldn't exert any strength as his legs were lightly bound. If not for his wooden staff's support, he may have fallen flat on his face.
His opponents didn't provide him any chance of escape. Before he could get rid of the vines, a torrent of attacks descended upon him.
He really was in a perilous situation. If he doesn't do something, he may very well be heavily injured.
Bending his knees, Gin sprang up avoiding most of the strikes but a crystal blade formed of ice made its way to his left shoulder.
Clearly, the attacker has been anticipating his move.