"Yes? Yes, I am fine." Qin Weiqi nodded his head while looking at the attacker's dead body in disbelief. "Thank you for saving us."
"Good. My name is Leo, a mercenary from Hallowed Insects. This is my service to introduce myself. If you need a fighter or warrior, just contact me in the future." He smoothly handed him his new business card.
Perplexed, Qin Weiqi took it and read the contents written on it.
"Well then, please leave this area soon and drink an antidote. This smoke has a poison mixed into it. I have to go."
After saying that, Leo headed toward where the rest of the attackers were located.
Qin Weiqi stared at the business card in his hand before commanding his bodyguard.
"Let's leave! One of you call Mu Eunbi and send an antidote to her. She must be affected by the poison more than anyone else due to her injuries."
"Yes!"
At the same time one of the bodyguards moved to call Mu Eunbi back, Leo confronted 3 men on the spectator area. They were wearing Nokrim's cloak with a forest symbol on their chest, giving away their identity as well as telling everyone they weren't sent by Tang Clan or Qin City Lord.
"You're from Nokrim?" Leo asked while pointing his sword at them. "What are you doing here?"
No one answered. For a bandit, they were pretty quiet. Leo smirked as the Nanites inside his body became active. It allowed him to move at a speed faster than them as he aimed at their heart.
Three men were cut down into four pieces each at the same time. It was a gruesome sight but it was better to be safe than sorry. He swung his Photon Sword to get rid of the blood sticking on the blade.
'They aren't from Nokrim at all.' He analyzed the corpses on the ground after they took off their disguise and found that their skin color was darker than natives. 'Is this how you set up a trap? Making these attackers pretend that they are from Nokrim and create a reason to go to war.'
He felt bad for the victims to get involved in this damned plan involving Tang Clan's internal strife. The victims were innocents who got pulled into this war between factions after all.
Looking around, Leo tried to find a certain someone. The man who was hiding among Nokrim, a strong assassin who originally killed Qin Weiqi. Since earlier, that man was still hiding among the spectators but made no move at all.
From what he knew, that assassin was just an outsider that somehow joined Nokrim because of money or something. He didn't care about Murim at all. This was just a job to him and nothing more.
'I wish I could capture him to get a favor from Qin City Lord, but Qin Weiqi had left the area. Still, why is that assassin still here?' He asked in his mind when suddenly he felt someone staring at him.
A shiver ran down his spine as he looked for the origin of the feeling. There, behind one of the spectator's seats, sat a man with a calm face who wore a gray robe. Leo immediately noticed that his clothes were different from Nokrim's cloak and other martial artists as well.
Forget the assassin, he felt this man was dangerous.
"That's fantastic swordsmanship, young man. I wonder if you can show it to me once more." The mysterious man smiled slightly, "Will you entertain me?"
Leo remained silent while watching the man carefully. He seemed ordinary despite the strange feeling he was emitting, but he had learned from his experience to never underestimate anyone or anything.
In Murim, a hidden master could appear in many shapes and forms. This man could be one of them for all he knew.
Pulling off his hood, an unkempt long hair flowed out of the man's head as his beard wiggled from the sudden movement. The smile on his face looked friendlier than the neighborhood grandma who always gave sweets. His movement was smooth.
Even the movement when he unsheathed his long sword and stabbed it into the ground was beautiful.
"A nice sword you have there." He said, glancing at the Photon Sword Leo was holding, "Strange but sharp. Will you do me a favor and give it to me if you lose the duel?"
Leo didn't answer. Instead, he merely placed his sword on his guard position while glancing around, checking if there was someone else around or behind him. Now, he recognized the man.
"Wandering Sword Saint."
'What's happening?' He gritted his teeth in anger while letting his Nanites flow in his body. 'This is different from the novel... Why is this crazy Wandering Sword Saint here?'
In the original novel, Wandering Sword Saint was mentioned to be a neutral party that took no side in Murim's war and didn't care about it at all. He was a traveler who had been wandering around the world for decades or more without having a place to call home.
Even so, he was strong.
"I am honored that you know me." The old man smiled gently while pulling the sword out of the ground, "I would like to say it's good to meet you too, but..."
A sudden slash appeared in front of Leo, cutting everything in its path including the seats in the way. He immediately raised his Photon Sword and blocked the slash while using his right leg to strike at the man's waist.
A fierce clash occurred with a strong gust of wind, scattering the green gas into the sky and clearing up the view for people nearby to see it.
Boom!
They were blown away from each other after their clash ended while their feet dug up the ground, creating a huge crater below their feet. Leo's hands felt numb from blocking the strike head-on with his sword. It was much stronger than any enemies he had faced so far in this world.
"What are you doing here? I thought you didn't take part in Murim's interest?" Leo asked with a slight frown, "How come you are here?"
"I am here for nothing. I was just bored and wanted to take a walk when I heard about a tournament. Once in a while, watching young martial artists showing their potential is enough to warm my heart." He answered while laughing softly.
"And because I saw your sword, I became interested in it. Nowhere in my plan did I know I would meet a martial artist like you."
Slowly, white Qi enveloped the man. It took the form of a dragon, coiling around the man's body like a serpent. The appearance of such a thing meant that this man was beyond the level of any 6 Stars martial artist Leo had ever known. This was something that only a martial artist at 7 Stars level could do.
One of Leo's problems in this world was that he was unable to feel Qi unlike other martial artists. He couldn't really 'feel' where his opponent was or how strong they were at first glance.
Not only that, the techniques all martial artists used to cleave ground and mountain was also unavailable to him. He had to use weapons or other methods instead of those arts because they required Qi usage to activate.
That was why he felt frustrated whenever he met a strong opponent like this so suddenly even though he was confident in his strength and ability. He wasn't a fighter but a mercenary. Preparation was his strength as well as his weapon, but he knew that could only take him so far when his enemy was too strong.
Like this person in front of him right now.
"Tell me your name, young man. I am known as the Wandering Sword Saint, but you can call me Xiao Ah Tian." The old man looked at him with interest shining in his eyes.
Lowering his sword slightly, Leo moved his left hand behind his back. He looked at the Wandering Sword Saint through his goggles.
"Leo from Hallowed Insect Mercenary."
A low click could be heard from behind him.
"Nice to meet you!"
While shouting, he threw something round into the air at a very fast speed. It flew straight toward Xiao Ah Tian who raised his eyebrows in surprise and disappeared in front of Leo's eyes.
Swoosh!
He swung his sword horizontally, cutting the round object in half. However, that was a mistake.
Boom!