Tao Yong and the last one of his underlings still living, locked their perception on the new person's aura and went on their guard. Very quickly, they took their swords out of their sheath, seemingly getting ready for the battle, but it was noticeable they were no professionals.
"Who are you?" Tao Yong asked. It was still misty so he couldn't see who was their enemy.
"You must be the person who came together with that girl, right?" Tao Yong was prepared to deal with Chun Meiyi's partner, but he didn't expect to lose two of his underlings right from the beginning.
"I am, so you better back off now!" Seth worriedly said. Actually, he wasn't worried, but pretending to be.
Tao Yong relaxed for a bit, after feeling his opponent's aura. It was at the Qi Gathering initial-stage, so he instantly tought it must have been a lucky strike, that had killed that disciple under his command.
To actually defeat a cultivator that is stronger than yourself, even if just a small stage, is something easily said than done. However, even though It was super hard, it certainly wasn't something impossible.
"Ahahaha, surrender now and I could even let you join us, in the upcoming fun. What do you think about it?" Tao Yong laughed and proposed something. But in reality, he was creating a trap for the enemy.
The mist was still hindering his sight, so Tao Yong had to create a trap in order to kill him as soon as possible.
"Surrender...? Wait... What is this "fun" supposed to be?" Seth got startled by that commentary.
Tao Yong smirked and said: "Ahaha, you know what it is right!? I can tell that you will enjoy it very much." He didn't want to spoil the fun, so he avoided giving any concrete information.
What could be so enjoyable between two grown men, in such a hidden place? Seth even felt some chills thinking about what were the possibilities.
'What a creepy fellow... Better finish him off quickly.'
"I'm sorry, but I prefer having that kind of fun with willing partners of the opposite gender alright?" Seth made sure to express his tastes loud and clear, so Tao Yong wouldn't mistake any of his words.
After hearing those outrageous words, Tao Yong even started to release fume. He was so furious that he had forgotten he was in a life and death situation.
"Do you think I want to do something with you?!"
"If that is not the case then, are you perhaps doing it with him? Don't worry i won't interfere in your "fun" time." Seth pointed to the man on Tao Yong's right side.
"You!" Tao Yong got utterly furious and suddenly started attacking.
Already prepared for the situation, Seth dashed quickly in front of the last of Tao Yong's underlings and mercilessly attacked.
The enemy pointed his sword up and slashed it down at Seth's direction, trying to get away from him. His moves were very amateur and unpolished.
That disciple had panicked a bit, since the mist was still hindering his visibility. He made a single wrong movement, that gave more than enough time for Seth to approach him and deliver the last judgement.
Moving faster than his enemy and dodging to the side, with his left hand covered with Qi, Seth punched straight at the enemy's neck.
That guy had no time to even let out a scream. His head bent in an unconventional way, breaking the bones on his neck. In just a single moment, he's fate had been decided.
Tao Yong was not idling, it's just that his underlings died so fast, that he couldn't helping any of them. Not that their lives mattered for him, but it was too laborious finding others to replace them.
Still, he had enough time to channel his Qi on his blade and get it ready for a full slash.
As flames were completely engulfing his sword, he roared: "Phoenix Wing!"
He swung that blade covered with flames towards Seth, creating a wave of fire.
Phoenix Wing, was the first level of a phoenix technique taught to disciples. Still, one had to have a good talent to master it.
The wave of fire he ahd created expanded, taking the form of a wing. The scalding heat started dispelling all the mist around the area, partially revealing his enemy's silhouette.
Right after the first slash, he did a second one.
Seth dodged the first and second waves of flames, but he had to retreat to some distance away from the burning environment.
At that moment, the entire cave got clearer and they were both completely visible to each other. Tao Yong looked towards his enemy and saw a face he wasn't expecting to see.
"Seth!?" Tao Yong was surprised first, but soon he remembered his opponent had a weaker cultivation then himself and it made sense. All the tension he was feeling, died down.
"Hi there." Seth gave casual reply for the situation they were in.
"Ahaha, It's funny how a trash like you is trying to fight against me. But I'm impressed that you're alive till now. If not for that mist, I doubt any of those idiots would have been defeated by a useless cultivator like you." Tao Yong was one of the best disciples, attaining Qi Perception peak-stage Realm at fourteen and then reaching his current Qi Gathering middle-stage Realm at sixteen.
Of course, a person like him would look down on enemies with weaker cultivation than his.
Normally a practitioner that was a stage below, would probably be weaker, slower and less durable during combats. But unfortunately for Tao Yong, Seth could not be considered a normal practitioner, though he wouldn't know about that before seeing with his own eyes.
"You should be prepared Tao Yong. As you can see, your three little friends are already dead and you may be the next one." Seth calmly said.
"Do you think that I am a trash like them? They were nothing more than useless subordinates. Hah! Come! I'll make sure to end it faster and have fun with my prize."
Ignoring his commentary, Seth dashed forwards in a greater speed than before.
Noticing that his enemy was getting closer, Tao Yong brandished his burning sword at Seth's direction, trying to fry him in one go.
The ability he used was the same as before, the only difference this time, was that Seth had grasped his casting speed. As he advanced further, more waves of fire came down at him, while Tao Yong kept brandishing his sword. But Seth quickly avoided them all, moving in a strange manner and getting closer to his enemy,
Seth's speed kept increasing, till Tao Yong wasn't able to accompany him anymore. Those movements were fast and fluid, almost as if they were natural.
Tao Yong couldn't keep up with that speed even though he has been constantly going backwards, building some space for him. Suddenly, his Qi wasn't able to support building any more consecutive attacks and an opening on his constantly barrage was created.
Seth concentrated his Qi on both his legs and explosively launched himself forwards. That movement was so fast, that it gave no time for Tao Yong to react. A fist directly hit him in the chest, pushing him towards the air.
He flew all the way to the other side of the cave and only stopped roughly forty meters away, hitting hard against the wall and dropping all the way down to the floor.
Not waiting for his recovery and refusing to leave him a chance, Seth was already moving at his direction.
Tao Yong climbed back to his feet, but suddenly swayed and spat some blood on the floor.
'Impossible! How could he hurt me this badly?' He refused to believe he was taking a beating from someone weaker on cultivation than him.
Tao Yong looked at Seth, seeing how fast he was approaching and fear began spreading on his entire being. He stood up properly and started facing Seth seriously. His aura exploded forward twice as strong as before.
A greater wave of fire formed around his sword and it even left burning marks on the walls and floor. His hair wasn't affected because elemental Qi practitioners tended to develop some minor resistances to his own element. The Blazing Phoenix Sect robes were resistant towards fire as well and were able to resist the high temperatures.
Tao Yong pointed his sword forward and used it like a flamethrower, spurting flames in the whole area.
Seth was suddenly enveloped by a tide of flames, but before it could hurt him, he enveloped himself in darkness, repelling the fire and protecting his entire body.
The environment was so bright that Tao Yong wasn't able to see Seth had used darkness. The fire was unable to dispel that darkness and consecutively, it couldn't reach Seth's skin.
"Hahahaha. I told you! I'm not like them! Now you're dead, trash!" Assured of his victory, Tao Yong relaxed after bathing everything in flames. But something wasn't right and he wasn't able to notice it.
There were no cries of pain, not even one single shout. A minute passed by and those flames finally started to fade away. That attack had consumed too much of Tao Yong's accumulated Qi and he was now panting in tiredness. But suddenly, his eyes bulged after seeing a scene that he considered as impossible.
Seth was standing still, as if he was unaffected by all those flames. He had already dispelled the darkness and remained there, as if nothing had happened.
"Impossible! Impossible!" Tao Yong couldn't believe that outcome.
Not wasting any more time, with a single dash, Seth approached him. But Tao Yong forced himself to use one more ability.
"To think I would be forced to use that technique." Tao Yong disregarded his wounds and focused his Qi on his sword once again.
His Qi was already at the end, but he disregarded the fact his vitality was being used to cast another technique and quickly formed a new skill.
Raising the sword above his head, new flames appeared and they intensified themselves till a raging fire started covering both of Tao Yong's arms. He felt that paiful sensation of being burned, but it was already too late to turn back.
"Die!"
Tao Yong made a move with his arms, trying to descend the sword with full force, but before he could slash it down, something created the sound of a hard hit.
Bang!
The sound created, was the sound of a wooden sword hitting Tao Yong's head from behind.
Tao Yong fell on the floor, unconscious. His head was bleeding profusely and his sword lost its brilliance. Right behind him stood Chun Meiyi, who was disregarded by him all this time.
When he was totally distracted, she left her hiding spot and gave him a good hit on the head.
Seth looked at her, really amazed by how things turned out to be.