"Clang!" Jake was hit and took several steps back, the items in his hand falling to the ground with a clatter. Jake rubbed his chest, which was faintly aching, and looked warily at the person before him.
He's skilled! In the game world, Jake had encountered humanoid monsters before, like the bandits. However, those bandits were nowhere near the level of the person in front of him. This person was on a completely different level. He was much more formidable than those bandits.
Unbeknownst to Jake, while he was on guard, the person facing him was in shock. Although he hadn't used his full strength in that strike, he had employed at least seven layers of power. Even a Master of Excellence with some proficiency in martial arts would be injured under such a strike, let alone an ordinary person like Jake. And yet, Jake was unscathed, which was incomprehensible. How was it possible? Did Jake also possess advanced skills? But Carlton had clearly said he was an ordinary person. What was going on?
"Who are you? Why are you attacking me?" Jake questioned.
However, the person was still puzzling over Jake's lack of injury and completely ignored Jake's question. Jake remained alert. As expected, the person merely hesitated briefly before launching another attack. This time, his assault was fiercer, his strikes more forceful, and the palm winds even more ferocious.
"You really think I'm easy to bully?" Jake's patience was running thin. Anyone would be angered by a sudden attack.
When Jake had been hit earlier, one reason was that the person wasn't ordinary, and another was that Jake hadn't been prepared. But now it was different. He had been watchful all along, and as soon as the person moved, he had detected it and responded immediately.
Without taking out his Blackstone Longsword, Jake only had the two points of agility from his Cloudstream Boots and three points from his own attributes. That made a total of five agility points. Compared to an average person, his agility was several times faster, but in the face of this person, he had barely managed to dodge his own body. This was due to his quick detection of the person's movement and his immediate reaction. Otherwise, he might have been hit again.
"Indeed, there are experts in the real world too. There's still a gap between me and those true experts!" Jake thought to himself. The arrogance he had felt earlier was diminished significantly.
After narrowly dodging the person's attack, Jake struck out with a palm of his own, hitting the person squarely in the abdomen. Jake had a base strength of three points, plus two points from the Cloudstream Boots, ten points from the Golden Rat Clothes, and fifty points from the Plain Silk Pants. His current strength reached a terrifying sixty-five points. Even without a helmet, Blackstone Longsword, or Chainmail and Plain Silk Wristguards, his strength was still formidable.
"Clang!" The person had initially dismissed the blow from Jake. He believed that, with his initial-stage Dark Energy Master strength, getting hit by Jake wouldn't have any impact.
However, that wasn't the case. At the moment of impact, the person felt as if he had been struck by a heavy hammer. His internal organs shook, as though they were glass bottles on the verge of shattering. The blood vessels in his body seemed to break instantly, and his blood momentarily stagnated. He felt dizzy and on the brink of fainting.
Following that, the person realized he was uncontrollably lifted into the air. He flew at least five or six meters before falling heavily to the ground. Although he managed not to pass out, he clearly felt that at least three of his bones were broken. This seemingly ordinary strike actually possessed such immense power! The person stared at Jake in shock, his face pale and bloodless.
Jake didn't sympathize with the person. He walked step by step toward him until he stood beside him, then spoke again, "Who are you? Who sent you?" However, the person, Wade, just stared at Jake in shock and didn't show any intention of answering.
"If you don't speak, do you think I won't find out?" Jake said calmly, "Your name is Wade, and you just used the Skybreaking Palm, right?"
"How do you know?" Wade, almost involuntarily, asked.
"Never mind how I know. If you don't reveal the person behind you, then the one losing a hand and a leg today might be you!" Jake said coolly, releasing the chilling aura of someone who had killed before.
Jake knew Wade's name because he had used the Appraisal skill. Although he knew Wade's name, his techniques, and even his level of cultivation, he couldn't discover the person behind Wade.
Jake was certain there was someone else involved because he didn't recognize Wade, and there was no conflict between them. It was evident that someone had hired Wade to specifically target him.
Feeling the killing intent radiating from Jake and seeing his expression, Wade knew that Jake wasn't joking. He was truly capable of taking such actions.
"What can you do by knowing? Carlton is the one who sent me," Wade replied, a hint of arrogance returning to his face. "I admit that you're formidable. I underestimated you before. But if you oppose Carlton, you'll end up in pieces!"
"Carlton?" Jake didn't take Wade's threat seriously. Instead, he questioned back.
"Correct," Wade didn't deny it. "Carlton's strength is beyond your imagination as an ordinary person. I advise you, if you don't want to die, apologize to Carlton immediately. Otherwise, your fate will be miserable."
"Oh, can Carlton represent the whole family?" Jake asked rhetorically.
"This…" Wade hesitated. After all, Carlton was just a member of the younger generation of the family. He couldn't represent the entire family. "Whether Carlton can represent the family or not, if you offend him, your fate won't be good!"
Seeing Wade's expression, Jake breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that what Dirk had said was correct. Carlton was just one member of the younger generation of the family and couldn't represent the entire family. While offending Carlton was dangerous, it was still better than offending the entire family.
Of course, more importantly, Carlton had already developed enmity towards him. Even if Jake explained, Carlton wouldn't believe him. Therefore, the conflict between them couldn't be resolved. Unless Jake was willing to cut off a hand and a leg, which was clearly impossible.