Swish! Swish! Swish!
Wei Fang's heart tightened as he heard the familiar sound. A cold sweat formed at his back, and even the warm pool of blood felt cold on his cheek.
Then he heard the sound of flesh being penetrated, making him show a relieved expression, which then morphed into an expression of shock and horror as he watched a knife point emerge from Wang Ren's back. Luckily, it was stopped centimeters away from him.
But it was not time to be relaxed yet; the enemy was on the way, and looking at the force of the knife and how they attacked from a distance, it was likely that the enemy was someone at the late stage of Qi condensation.
Wei Fang was in despair as he realized his strength was too low and the enemy would likely arrive at his location not long after hearing his shouts.
If he were making a loud noise now or showing his back to the forest, a flying knife would likey embedded in his body.
The only thing he could do now was fake a death. But he must make sure that it won't arouse suspicions.
Holding his urge to vomit due to the smell of blood, he used his hand to spread the pool of blood as wide as possible.
Then, he pulled the three knives that were impalled on Wang Ren's body before changing its position so the knife wound on its chest wouldn't be visible.
He impaled one of the knives in the gap between his arms and body before gripping it tightly, while the other two knives were thrown to the ground after he layered them with blood, making it look like someone's last ditch attempt in desperation.
He did all of it with only his head lifted slightly, afraid that the enemy in the forest would spot him.
After everything was finished, he lay again on the ground, hoping everything would work fine.
***
Everyone in the camp had already awoken as a result of Wei Fang's shout. The first one was the one guard from whom Wei Fang felt the most pressure.
Without thinking further, he arrived at the location where the shouts were heard, only to see two corpses lying close to one another and two flying knives lying on the ground near them.
He shook his head in regret. He was still too late. As he moved closer to the two corpses, wanting to check if there was a possibility one of them was still alive, his attention was immediately drawn to a twelve-cloaked individual who suddenly emerged from the forest.
Not long after, the rest of the guard team arrived, one after another.
"How dare you attack someone from the Azure Cloud Sect?" The guard captain, who just arrived, immediately shouted towards the cloaked men. But his face went pale immediately.
This time was different from when the cloaked figures wanted to ambush the five people; it was a full confrontation, so their cultivation was not hidden.
Three were at level 9, six at level 8, and the rest were at level 7 Qi condensation.
Just as the guard team started to panic and despair at the difference in power and number of people, a voice was heard.
"So, you are the ones that kept intercepting the delivery of foundation establishment pills?" The guard who arrived first said this, startling everyone.
Together with his voice, his cultivation also began to rise. Like the dam that finally broke, it rose fast from level 8 to level 9, and then finally stopped at the first-level Foundation Establishment realm.
Everyone gaped at the sudden turnover, especially the guard team; it was like their savior had finally come.
As the two sides were focusing on one another, no one paid attention to the corpses on the side.
Wei Fang's disguise could be considered crude; it was okay if no one looked at him carefully, but it would become obvious instantly if one looked at him closely.
At this time, he could only hope no one was paying attention to him.
Even though he didn't know what happened around him, waking up now would only expose him to more danger as his cultivation level was too low. So he continued waiting.
"Foundation Establishment Realm!!" Someone blurted it out instinctively. But no one said anything, as they were also startled.
"Attack!" The foundation establishment guard shouted as he slashed his sword forward. Sword energy attack flying to the three people with the highest level among the cloaked figures.
"I'll handle the three level 9 Qi Condensation realms; you all handle the rest!" Without waiting for a response, he already jumped forward, attacking the three people who were caught off guard by his slash before.
They hurriedly conjured a spiritual shield with their qi, only for it to be broken almost immediately.
But it gave them enough time to use their weapon to block the slash.
But before they could regain their bearings, the foundation establishment guard was already upon them.
The captain hurriedly blocked the attack of the guard and backed off a few steps as a result.
The guard wanted to finish off the captain as he was trying to chase after him.
But how could the other level 9 cloaked figures let him be? It would spell trouble for them if the captain died.
One of them used an axe and branded it towards the guard, while the other threw a flying knife.
The guard didn't have a choice but to stop his chase; he avoided the knife and used his sword to block the axe.
The captain also didn't miss his chance; he attacked the guard immediately after he regained his footing, making the guard back off.
"So this is the power of the foundation establishment cultivator. It's not that great." The captain mocked.
"Heh, do you think this is the extent of my power? I just want to check if there is someone who is also hiding their cultivation among you, but it seems there's none, so I don't need to hold back anymore." The guard sneered, "Let me tell you the difference between Qi condensation and foundation establishment cultivators."
The guard attacked immediately; his speed was several times faster than before, and his target was the one who was using a throwing knife.
The one using a knife was caught off guard; he couldn't avoid it and could only use his knife to block the attack, then his eyes widened in shock.
The knife he used to block was split in two, and before he could react, the sword had already slashed his head into two.
"Magic weapon!" The captain shouted in shock.
"Retreat!" He shouted hurriedly.
If it was just a normal foundation establishment cultivator, they still had a chance because their average cultivation base was higher than the guard.
As long as they could stall the foundation establishment guard for some time, the other would finish their opponent and then help them.
But if the guard had a magic weapon, it would be a different story.
Just stalling someone at the foundation establishment was already stretch for them; if there was the addition of a magic weapon, they didn't have any chance at all.
The other cloaked figures also realized the situation they were in; without the command from the captain, they already had the thought of running away.
They were just a group that assembled together hurriedly; they didn't have that many coordinations, let alone chemistry and comradeship.
As soon as they spotted their enemy had someone at the foundation establishment realm in their rank, some already had the thought of escaping.
As soon as someone was killed, they fled immediately, catching the guard team off guard and letting four of the cloaked figures escape easily.
The rest of the guard team immediately learned their lesson and began to surround the rest of the enemy, leaving the two cloaked figures facing the foundation establishment senior.
They didn't want any of the cloaked figures to escape anymore.