"Remember that you chose this path for yourself. Do not blame me for being ruthless."
Although Cao Yun was not bloodthirsty, he wasn't a pacifist either. If he had been able to resolve the situation without killing anyone, this would have been better. However, those five hunters turned bandits had made their decision. And they had chosen poorly.
Even if Cao Yun was unrivaled among the Mortal Warrior grade, he was still fighting five middle Mortal Warrior. The weakest of the group was a middle-aged woman who had recently reached the 4th-grade Mortal Warrior stage, just like Cao Yun. And the strongest fighters were a couple who were both ready to face the Lesser Tribulation. Since they were not affiliated with any major sect, they were probably anxious about that idea. If they could find a way to ensure that the tribulation ended well, they were prepared to do anything.
Thankfully, Cao Yun was not arrogant and didn't think that five bandits had no chance against him. They knew each other very well and their battle formations would be a real problem. Even a 1st-grade Spirit Warrior might not leave unscathed. In that situation, his best hope was to disrupt their battle formation first. In a fair duel against each one of them, he could kill them rather easily, even the two 6th-grade Mortal Warriors. However, he would never get a fair duel. At the very least, he had to make it a bit more fair for him.
'Sea of Blood'!
Cao Yun's iris turned completely red with blood with many small capillaries appearing all around them. The five bandits were suddenly seized with an intense fear. It was as though they had walked on a battlefield covered in blood and dismembered corpses. The images in their minds were extremely vivid and grotesque. If they had not seen their fair share of devoured carcasses, they might have even thrown up at that sight.
Although it wouldn't keep them distracted too long, it was long enough for Cao Yun to act. Since killing the strongest bandits would take him some time, he decided to focus on the weakest first. With one less enemy, their battle formations would be disrupted for good. They might have others of course, but they would be unable to use some of them with one less fighter.
The black-haired middle-aged woman was wielding a dagger-axe. It was similar to a spear so Cao Yun felt at ease with this weapon. There was no hesitation in his attack. He unleashed everything he had in the first move to kill her straight away. His Spear Aura coalesced around 'Tainted Heavenly Pillar'. All over the weapon, there was thick blood and the movement of the wind reminded the bandits of the howls and lamentations of the dead. Combined with his 'Sea of Blood', this struck a terrifying picture in their minds.
Behind Cao Yun, a single star shined, the Horn Star. In his sea of consciousness, that star was now surrounded by many other small bright dots. At that moment, Cao Yun could have seen the entire Horn Constellation. It wasn't completely formed yet as it would disappear once his attack was over. For now, it wasn't permanent but Cao Yun was getting really close to officially be the first one in generations to form a constellation of 'Azure Dragon's Seven Piercing Stars'.
'The Pillar Piercing the Sky'!
With bloody fangs, the shape of the azure dragon appeared as the winds around the spear had formed its body. The Horn Star rose in the air and shined over the battlefield. It was resonating with the body of the azure dragon. The winds had made its body and the spear had made its bloody teeth. The dagger-axe wielding woman still had enough will to try and protect herself in front of this powerful attack. Now that Cao Yun had tempered his Five Prodigious Gates, his Qi Manifestations had become much more powerful and condensed. It was almost as if a real dragon had appeared and it was as wide as the woman's trunk. With a single bite, it would tear her in half.
Using her dagger-axe, she tried to block the attack by striking the spear down with the dagger blade at the end of the pole. A fresh odor of grass surrounded her as she manifested her own martial art.
'Crouching Mantis in the Fields'!
Her dagger-axe fell on Cao Yun's spear. Unfortunately, she didn't have all of her strength because of his mental attack. The powerful winds around the spear deviated her attack and it hit the ground. Under the shock, a big piece of soil was sent flying in all directions. Then, blood dyed the ground around the small crater. Cao Yun's spear had gone through and through the woman's body. He had aimed for her Middle Dantian, where he heart was. With the strength of the blow, her chest had completely exploded, her arms and head fell to the ground soon followed by her lower half.
Instead of causing more terror for the bandits, this sight brought them back to reality. The thick odor of blood in the air woke up their instincts.
"Four Stars in the South!"
The 6th-grade Mortal Warrior man yelled out a command. Although Cao Yun didn't know this name, he could surmise what it meant. This was a command for a new battle formation. Those bandits were not idiot. With this first exchange, they had realized that they had bitten more than they could chew. However, they were also clear on the fact that it was too late. If they got distracted or even tried to run away, Cao Yun would slaughter them all. And they were right. Cao Yun had absolutely no mercy for bandits. Despite his fair warning, they had chosen war and war they would have.
Obviously, this name was not the real name of the battle formation. On the battlefield, Mortal Warriors could not talk telepathically. Thus, they chose different names for the battle formations so that the enemy couldn't discern what they were talking about. In fact, there were often several names for the same battle formation or combinations of names that would mean something entirely different. Like that, the enemy could never predict their next move. And indeed, Cao Yun was unable to know in advance what they would do. However, he had one important piece of information. That man seemed to be in charge of the battle formations, he was the one he had to kill first.
The bandits were now three men and one woman. The two weakest men were both recent 5th-grade Mortal Warriors and they looked almost the same. Clearly they were brothers or maybe even twins. On one hand, Cao Yun was facing close brothers and on the other a couple. Both of them would work very well together. And unfortunately, their battle formations were also excellent with all four combined.
One of the brothers had a shield and a pike while his brother had a trident. The battle formation man, their strategist, was wielding a bow while his lover had two meteor hammers. With their new formation, the archer was in the back, while the shield was blocking Cao Yun. Just behind the shield, the meteor hammers could still reach Cao Yun and the trident was at the ready to block the spearman if he tried to move to the sides.
All around the three fighters in front of Cao Yun, there was a Qi Manifestation that had appeared. They were surrounded by thousands of pikes and they almost looked like a metallic echidna standing in Cao Yun's way. Some of its pikes flew toward the young man as the strategist was firing his arrows. And in combination with them, the meteor hammers were striking the ground. As they were a couple, the attacks of the arrows and the hammers were timed perfectly well and aimed at the perfect spot to try and trap Cao Yun.
'The Son of Heaven's Spear and Shield'!
Since his movements were impaired by this battle formation, Cao Yun simply stopped moving altogether. Thinking of a ruse, the attacks stopped for less than a breath and then intensified. Several arrows flew toward him, as they whistled in the wind, they sounded like magpies. And the meteor hammers looked like boulders. All around Cao Yun, the scales of the Azure Dragon appeared. Two arrows were able to pierce through, slivering into the small cracks between the scales. However, they were not able to penetrate deep into Cao Yun's flesh. His muscles had been tempered with the Drop of Wrath after all. On the other hand, the boulders exploded on his scales. The ground beneath his feet was full of cracks.
Just after the attack, the scales moved along his spear and he released all the energy he had just received into a single attack. A terrifying tornado was thrown toward the makeshift echidna in front of him. Some of the tree behind them were even broken by the blow. However, the defense didn't break.
This wasn't Cao Yun's goal though. Now that they were distracted, he used 'Ashen Feather Seal'. His presence completely disappeared in the middle of the fight.
The archer who was farther in the back was the first one to notice that. Despite his best efforts, he couldn't find Cao Yun. There was only Jie Yuan cowering in fear and no trace of Cao Yun. The strategist refused to believe he had simply run away. Unfortunately, he was absolutely right. Usually, the 4th-grade Mortal Warrior woman would have completed the battle formation and ensured that the arched was safe. Now she was dead.
The next moment the arched felt Cao Yun's presence, it was too late. He saw the head of the spear covered in blood sticking out of his own neck. With a swift move, his head then fell to the ground. The poor man was not even able to scream. Thus, the rest of the group did not react fast enough. The spearman was already behind them. Right now, he had to choose his target well. And the next logical choice was to take down the man with the shield. Even one of his most powerful attacks had not been able to pierce through it. By keeping him alive, the fight would last longer, giving them more opportunities. Besides, he would have disrupted all their formations. The two brothers were probably working better together than the woman and only one of the brothers.
'Fish in the Galaxy'!
The seven stars of the Azure Dragon appeared behind Cao Yun. Right now, it was as though he was in the blackness of space. He threw his spear toward his enemy. As the spear flew through the air, it looked as though a giant fish swimming in the path formed by the light of the stars.
Sensing this attack, the woman sent her meteor hammers, the first brother tried to skewer the fish with his trident and the last bandit was moving his shield in the right direction. However, no attack seemed to be able to reach the fish. The distance between the attacks and the flying spear seemed to be way too great for them to achieve anything. Indeed, it was swimming in the stars. And when it reached the ground, the shield was not yet ready for it. However, it was still able to deviate its trajectory a little. The man behind the shield got his other shoulder completely torn apart and lost his pike. But he had still his shield even with one arm.
Now, Cao Yun had lost his weapon. This was the perfect moment to attack!
Although it was dangerous to leave the protection of the shield, they knew that waiting for their enemy's next move was worse. There was no doubt that he was way more powerful than they had initially thought. But he was no Spirit Warrior, so they still had a chance.
Contrary to them though, Cao Yun had a spatial ring. That had escaped their vigilance during the fight. After all, they were used to fighting demonic beasts and commoners. They rarely engaged any noble in battle so they were not used to fighting someone with a spatial ring. Even if Cao Yun had lost his spear, he could recall it to him easily. In the meantime though, he could simply take out another spear. And he did.
That spear was 'Mount Xuanwu Crushes All'. Such a spear was very basic apart from its weight. According to the blacksmith who had forged it, it weighed around a hundred thousand dan*. Even with Cao Yun's muscles, this was a lot and without the use of his Wei Qi, he would have probably sunk into the very ground. However, he knew exactly what to do with this spear. This was only a 2-star Human weapon, nothing much.
'The Pillar Piercing the Sky'!
Using all of his strength, Cao Yun circulated his full blood cultivation and even a bit of 'Dragon's Heart'. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to perform this attack with such a spear. The wind created by this attack was stronger than before. And the spear itself was covered in cracks. When finally Cao Yun reached the full speed of his movement, the spear literally exploded into several fragments. Each one was incredibly heavy and uncannily fast. Some even looked like falling stars going toward the remaining bandits.
A piece of 'Mount Xuanwu Crushes All' hit the shield. Its bearer didn't resist the shock. Even the shield itself was dented. And the man behind had the bones in his arm crushed. Then he let go of the shield that was sent toward him because of the collision. The man was literally crushed by his own shield. On the other hand, the woman was able to avoid all the projectiles while the trident wielding man rushed toward Cao Yun, trying to use this opportunity to kill him.
The trident reached Cao Yun's throat. At the very last moment, he moved away. The weapon was still able to draw some blood, but it didn't penetrate deep enough. Just like the wounds by the arrows, Cao Yun's injuries healed in an instant thanks to his blood cultivation.
Now that he was only facing two fighters with no defense, Cao Yun was more at ease. Those two would die in a matter of seconds.
* Approximately, 100k dan = 5,000 tons