In broad daylight, On a smooth muddy highway, a carriage accompanied by seven warrior guards clad in bronze armors and a man in black attire traveled on the pathway as they headed for the Sky Yun Region. Before the carriage were two men, one mounted a stout horse pulling the cart while the other steadily walked; this person walking had his hands in his pockets as he matched the pacing speed of the traveling group. The warrior holding the long spear peeked at the man walking once in a while as he expressed shocked emotions.
'We have been traveling for an hour now, and this man doesn't even seem tired. But more importantly, how come his footsteps don't leave a trace? his steps don't even raise the dust around; it's as if he isn't walking on the ground but in the air.'
The stout warrior guard thought as he steadily paced his horse, the speed of the traveling party not seeming fast nor slow.
"So, are big sisters actual fairies?"
"..., You can say that."
The little girl's voice sounded inside the carriage as she asked Athena's group. Athena and her two wife sisters sat opposite the girl and her maids with crossed legs as they admired the innocent, charming expression of the little girl, while Anna answered the little girl's question. The inside of the carriage was big enough to accommodate the six females; two wide seats were facing each other, on one side were the little girl and her two maids, while the three goddesses occupied the opposite seat and without being congested.
The maids had slightly embarrassed faces as they closed their eyes while maintaining smiles; although the leading guard was the one who suggested the group join them, there little Miss has been the most enthusiastic as she has been talking with these three ladies for almost an hour now. But despite her countless random questions, the ladies patiently answered as they weren't even bored by their little Miss' constant pestering.
"So, what's your name?"
"I am Yun Lan, the daughter-"
"Ehem! young Miss, I think you already answered the question the fairies asked."
Athena casually asked, but before the little girl could finish her sentence, one of her maids interrupted with a cough as she reminded their little Miss while still maintaining her smile. Athena and her two wife sisters smiled as they didn't ask any further, they were merely enjoying the trip, but the little girl spoke again as she gazed at the snow bunny on Anna's shoulders, her eyes brilliantly shining as she asked.
"Is the bunny also a fairy?"
"..., you can also say that; you want to hold it?"
"Yes!"
The little girl, whose name is Yun Lan, cheered as she stretched her little arms; Anna let the bunny jump from her shoulders as it steadily walked towards Yun Lan, Yun Lan happily embracing the bunny as she hugged its smooth fur, "So soft," she gently exclaimed while rubbing her tiny child face on the bunny. The bunny's soft fur emitted Qi as it entered the little girl. The three goddesses watched Yun Lan carefully caressing the bunny's fur as she stroked its head down, but in the views of the three ladies was the description of what was happening.
[Beast: Fate Devouring Bunny; Made from the essence of Goddess Anastasia, the 'Fate Devouring Bunny' can devour the fate of anything with a glance; but can also bless anything with 'Heaven Protecting Fate,' making the blessed target never struggle with anything]
Outside the carriage, Patrick and the leading guard led the party as they entered a valley path; the leading guard noticed the silence as he spoke, his hands slightly scratching the back of his head as if to clear the awkwardness.
"My name is Bu Jan, the leading guard of the Yun Family. May I please know fellow cultivator's name?"
"Just call me Patrick." Patrick casually replied as he walked.
'Hmm? Patrick? I have lived in the Sky Yun Region my whole life; I have never heard of a family with that name before. Maybe these people are from a different region? I think that should be-'
BOOM!
A booming sound echoed in front of the party as it interrupted the leading guard's thinking; his horse panicked as it raised its front hooves, almost throwing the leading guard off its back. The booming dust cleared as it revealed a blocked pathway; a stone wall raised from the ground as it blocked the road. Seeing the blocked path, the leading guard instinctively jumped from his horse, doing a backflip as he landed closer to the carriage, screaming after.
"We are being ambushed; surround the carriage, protect the little Miss!"
With the alarming scream, the other six bronze-wearing armor guards at the back demounted their horses as they surrounded the carriage, their swords unsheathed as they held serious murdering expressions. Inside the carriage, Athena calmly tapped her left pinky on her crossed legs as from within the carriage, it appeared like it was moving and everything was fine, even though the party was experiencing an ambush. Little Yun Lan and her two maids didn't even notice anything as everything appeared fine to them, with little Yun Lan childishly stroking the bunny's fur.
"Show yourselves."
The leading guard, Bu Jan, stood before the carriage with his long spear, his facial expression completely different from the previously awkward-looking man as his eyes shifted left and right trying to discern the location of the ambushers; but noticing that he couldn't detect anything, he shouted with Qi boosting his voice as his words echoed in the valley.
"Are you going to keep hiding like timid rats, or will you show your pathetic selves?"
".....!"
"Your travel speed is quite slow for a party escorting an important individual, but I must say, thanks for making things easier for us."
The next moment, a cold male voice sounded in front of the group, alerting Bu Jan and his guards as they looked towards the direction where the voice echoed from; they watched as twelve men flashed and appeared in the distance. In the distance, twelve men stood clad in black uniforms with face masks; their bodies radiated with red killing auras as they stared at Bu Jan's group with sharp cold eyes. In the hands of the twelve assassins were blades coated with red Qi; from within the twelve assassins, one stepped forward as if he was the leader as he glared at the carriage, speaking after.
"Give us the little girl, and we will leave your corpses intact."
"Why talk with our mouths when our fists could do better," "Protect the carriage; leave these twelve to me!"
Bu Jan replied to the masked leader with a dominating tone; he slightly turned his head to his left and spoke to the other guards. Then, he slowly began walking towards the twelve assassins as he casually began spinning his long spear; after four steps, Bu Jan stood sideways, pointing his long spear at the twelve assassins as he spoke, "All of you, attack together!"
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
Without hesitation, eleven shadowy figures launched at Bu Jan as their initial acceleration caused a crater in the earth behind them, leaving only their leader as he calmly stood with arms folded on his chest.
Bu Jan, seeing the enemies closing the distance, flashed from his spot as he appeared between them, heavily swinging his spear as it generated a massive force that scattered the clustered attacking assassins. The eleven masked figures saw the incoming spear attack from Bu Jan as they distanced themselves from it, landing in a scattered formation; they again launched at Bu Jan at fast speeds, but suddenly, Bu Jan's hand appeared behind the head of one of the assassins, heavily smashing it into the earth as it created a small crater. Holding to the pinned-down assassin, Bu Jan impaled his spear into the assassin's head as it pierced the ground, killing the assassin.
"One down, eleven more to go."
Bu Jan stood over the dead assassin's corpse, looking at the remaining surrounding assassins as he spoke. Dash! Dashing at the closest assassin, Bu Jan swung his spear; the assassin barely dodged the attack as the swinging force of the spear cut through the coated red blade, severing his blocking arms after. The other nine attacking assassins realized Bu Jan's strength as one shouted, "True Immortal fourth-stage?" But while the others were in shock of his strength, Bu Jan pointed his spear at the assassin with severed arms as he spoke, "Spear Qi blast," SHOO! Qi balled on the tip of Bu Jan's spear as it blasted the head of the assassin, his headless body falling the next moment.
In the distance, the assassin leader stood with two blades on his back as he observed the fight. He slowly unfolded his arms as he saw two among his finest assassins get killed in less than a minute; frowning, he sent Qi messages to the remaining as the group nodded after. The next moment, the remaining nine shadowy figures simultaneously made hand signs as they planted them on the earth; a second later, the ground made a trembling sound as multiple animals made from earth launched at Bu Jan. Swinging his spear, Bu Jan destroyed several of the earth animals as he again launched at another assassin.
"I don't think so."
Before Bu Jan could reach the closest assassin, the leading assassin spoke as he flashed before Bu Jan, sending one of his blades as it intercepted Bu Jan's spear attack. Bu Jan blocked the incoming blade using his spear as the force sent him back while causing him to spit blood, standing meters away from the leading assassin; Bu Jan squinted his eyes as they widened the next moment.
'True Immortal eight-stage? Just who has the resources to hire an eight-stage True Immortal. I have used eighty percent of my Qi blocking that attack; I won't be able to hold them long enough for the young Miss to escape. And my 'Lion Soaring Spear' won't survive against his Qi coated blades, looks like I have to sacrifice my life and hope the others deliver the little Miss safely.'
"Since you gave my wives a ride, it's only appropriate I return the favor."
But just when Bu Jan finished his thought, he heard the familiar voice of the man they had been traveling with all along; he turned his head as he saw the man walk closer to him. He assumed a shocked expression as he realized that this man had been standing here the entire time and he was only now seeing him; wiping the blood off his lips, Bu Jan saw the man standing meters from him as the man looked towards the ten assassins.
Patrick had seen how the fight would end; Bu Jan would die, and the little girl would be abducted, of course, while the assassins won't leave a trace behind. He interrupted with his speech as Bu Jan turned to him, coming closer to Bu Jan; Patrick stood two meters from him as he spoke.
"I will be borrowing your spear for a sec."
Patrick spoke as the spear in Bu Jan's hand intensely vibrated; Bu Jan released his hands as the spear flew to Patrick. Patrick held the vibrating spear as he walked towards the ten assassins, Grace's voice sounding after.
"Detected that Master is holding a trash-grade spear, upgrading spear to god-level; 'Lion Soaring Spear' upgraded to god-level."
[Item: Lion Soaring Spear (Upgraded); A spear forged by the blacksmith of the Sky Yun City; sturdy enough to assist the wielder attack using their Qi]
[Upgraded Version: Space Lion Severing Spear; Capable of severing the space with a swing without interceptions; lion spirit added to the spear, can absorb the kinetic energy of all attacks when blocking, which is transferred to the wielder as energy replenishment]
Patrick walked as he stood a few meters from the ten shadowy figures. The leading assassin smirked as he spoke.
"You think your intervention will change anything? funny, it's just another dead body to clean up."
"ATTACK!"