The 3rd layer xiantian expert with fire affinity was a little surprised to see his comrade dispatched and his fireball dodged so easily.

The battle had literally just started and they were already down a man. This kid had some skill, taking no chances he activated his fire armor and a sword with purple-fire billowing on its blade appeared in his hand,

This time he had pulled out all the stops. This was his rank 3 spirit sword, One has to know that local clans like the Lou clan could only have access to mostly rank 1 and rank 2 spirit weapons, Sects would have anywhere from rank 1 to rank 5 spirit weapons and only people working for the royal family would have weapons above rank 5.

This expert too had his lower face masked ninja style but he had white hair spilling out the hood of his robes meaning he was older and more experienced than the wind element expert that just died.

The yellow armor of licking fire around his upper body gave off a blistering heat, not as much as the fireball he had just casted but this heat could keep even 2nd layer xiantian experts from engaging in close combat with him...Too bad he was piss out of luck today because Hartley had just appeared out of nowhere and was already engaging him at close quarters.

Hartley knowing that time wasn't on his side as the other experts could pop up at any time, forcing him to leave Zhi Ruo unguarded for the moment, he was worried she might be attacked in her vulnerable state, oh lord what would he do if she got hurt, he didn't even want to think about it.

He had to take them down as quick as possible and get her somewhere safe, his heart was really nervous though he would never let it show on his face.

He still had state of focus active and this guy wasn't going to win any speed contests, but he could still feel a dangerous vibe from that blasted purple sword, the heat of the opponent armor was more than bearable with his xiantian physical body he did not need to use blue star essence as an armor. he applied his 10x gravity field in 15 meter radius this time entrapping the expert, the expert's movements became labored like he was wading through waist deep mud. Hartley pushed off with his left foot, the concrete floor exploded with small concrete pebbles flying out in all directions, there was a 3 inch deep impression of his foot left behind on the floor, he appeared beside The expert on the left side away from the dangerous sword.

Hartley slashed out with his red short sword trying to cut him at the waist with one move. Even though the expert was struggling with his movement and sweat was rolling down his forehead and evaporating as soon as it fell in the direction of his armor, he was still an experienced 3rd layer xiantian, he quickly switched his sword to his left hand and made a back handed slash, the swords collided with a clang and a shower of sparks bloomed, Hartley was pushed back three steps, his left hand numb and spirit sword was vibrating out of control.

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Hartley quickly changed his plan and applied 10x gravity on his black blade in his right hand.

He positioned himself for a full frontal assault, the opponent only had one sword, he was going to overwhelm him with numbers, Hartley again pounced forward towards the opponent handicapped by his gravity field, he slashed diagonally from low-left to high-right with his the short red spirit blade in his left hand making the opponent defend, this was his plan.

Harley wanted him to commit to defense. The 3rd layer xiantian did exactly as expected and slashed downwards to meet the short sword coming upwards, again the two swords collided with a shower of red and purple sparks, but this time Hartley was prepared and exerted all the strength combined from his physical body and the blue star essence within his body, he would not allow himself to be pushed back even an inch, the clash was a draw and both stood at their same position but now there was a overhead strike chopping downwards from Hartley's black blade in his right hand.

The Black blade was falling down with the pressure of a mountain falling from the sky and the opponent's feet sank 3 inches deep into the concrete as spiderweb cracks danced around his feet.

The fire element expert quickly recovered his strength and pushed his sword in a horizontal position up to meet the black blade coming down, the fire element expert was thinking that the black blade sword looked like a normal sword from the mortal world but why was it giving off such pressure he had a bad feeling, but was still confident he would ward of this strike, he was now thinking of his escapes routes and when were those bastards going to step in and help him.

BOOOOM!!! The two swords collided and both shattered like glass thrown against a rock, with a magnificent show of pyrotechnics that lighted up the whole second floor in a soothing purple glow.

The expert stepped back and puked out a mouthful of blood as he screamed out in disbelief, but Hartley would not let him off, again he slashed diagonally from low-right to high-left with his short sword imbued with zero gravity , Fwoosh! it went through armor, tissue and bone like it was paper.

The triangular shaped upper half of his body with the head attached flew up like a kite with broken strings, splattering blood everywhere, the separated body made a sputtering sound like the gearbox of an old eighteen wheeler truck as blood gushed out in pulses, the lower half of his body stumbled back 2 steps and then dropped with a thud.

This time Hartley didn't even try and escape the falling blood, He allowed himself to be baptized in the blood of those who ruined his first date, and he would ruin their lives in return....That kill only took Hartley 2 clashes with the opponent.

He had adapted to the situation and changed tactics mid-fight and achieved victory, application of skills was key part of any battle, but he had also lost his black blade in the process, he quickly retrieved one of his throwing knives in his right hand and rushed back to the center of the room when the last three xiantians finally made their move.