Tian Mo had no time to attack me, as more and more guards started coming from all over the town. They’d been stationed in various places, but now that it fell upon their shoulders, they were here to fight with their lives on the line. I had no fucks to give. All I wanted was to survive, but then again, not at the expense of my disciples.

That was something I could no longer deny.

I grabbed Kai and started moving; I had to move him to safety.

Annoying that I couldn’t use them as the meatshields they were supposed to be. I sighed as I looked over my shoulder.

Kai groaned in pain but I ignored it, dragging him off toward a direction that led me away from Tian Mo and everything that was going on at the moment.

A quick glance was enough to tell me the situation. A guard, a woman, If I wasn't wrong, got pinned on the ground by Tian Mo’s foot, head crushing under his weight before he grabbed a man’s throat—and yanked out anything he could get a hand on. Sharp fangs extended, Tian Mo bit into another man, sucking not only blood but injecting poison before tearing out the piece of meat, leaving blood and screams in its wake. Now relatively calmer, he slashed at another guard with his extending nails, green veins spreading on the guard’s body the moment the nails dug through his thigh and clawed away at his inner thigh. That, too, made green veins appear and spread on the man’s body. At least the visible parts.

Poison, huh. Quite dangerous from what I could see. I’d have to be careful so as to not get poisoned by him—poison had to be the last thing I’d ever want to deal with in this situation. But, well, if it actually happened, not like I had any control over stopping it. I was pretty weak, sadly.

Not weak. I was pathetic.

Guards didn’t last long; but thankfully it was enough for me to get quite a distance between us.

“Where are you going?” Tian Mo said, and my head snapped in the direction I heard his voice from. I felt his fist connecting with my cheek, sending me hurling in the distance. Kai was left skidding away from us—which was a relief.

Before I fell on the ground, I dropped a lot of water I’d stored in the Inventory just below me. Gravity latched onto it, and it fell toward the ground. I used it as a cushion against the ground, and then gasped for air, watching it seep into the ground and washing away the blood and dirt on me.

Tian Mo threw his fist, and it whipped through the air, nearing me in an instant. I ducked my head and rolled, using the trinket instantaneously, wishing for it to be enough a distraction—a twitch in his concentration—for me to survive that blow that seemed to contain his power. I had no clue if he was going easy on me, assuming me weak after my poor display of intent—at least that’s what he should think the trinket’s powers should be.

The trinket’s intent fell upon him, and although not enough at all, it made him lose concentration for a second—and that proved to be enough for me to survive the attack. The punch lost its power and momentum for a brief moment, resulting in my timely dodge.

Capitalizing on this opportunity as much as I could, I let more water out, letting it fall right on top of him, hoping the weight would be enough to put him down for a moment.

The water splashed onto him, and then onto the ground before coming and slamming right into me. Fuck. Bad idea.

He raised an eyebrow, and I was hurled back, pain exploding in my stomach. Fuck. Had he attacked with his other fist? My back slammed against the ground, and I rolled without being able to control myself. The rough ground chipped through my exposed skin, but thankfully my robes proved strong enough to save most of my skin. A hot sensation washed over the parts I got injured, and I hissed at the pain assaulting my senses later—exploding from my stomach and rippling throughout my whole body.

I groaned, and slammed my hand on the ground, trying to get up.

“You”—Tian Mo growled, propping his leg and kicking me again—“mongrel!”

I tumbled on the ground, my vision getting blurry, and my pain numbing. Blood gushed out of my mouth and I wondered where it all went wrong. How the fuck was this motherfucker here? I couldn’t grasp how. Why now? Why did they only send useless guards?

My complaints sounded ridiculous to even me, but this is just who I was.

“Why’re you weak?” Tian Mo asked. “You weren’t weak. You can’t be weak. You punched me, right here. I wasn’t weak then, but I was defeated in one punch only! Where’s that Ryujin? Where is he!” He screamed. “Who are you?!”

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Fucking hell shut up you man-child. I groaned, my mind quickly thinking of a plan.

“I’m your father,” I coughed out. “Your mother had a loose cunt. Just like you, motherfucker. You can’t even fight me on equal grounds when I’m sick and not to prime health.”

He turned red, and his anger exploded out in a scream and scrunched face. I succeeded, but there was no time to cheer yet. I’d be dead if I didn’t do something now.

“Huh? Is that it?” I asked. “So very angry… are you? Where’s the warrior in you? Are you just that? A fucking coward? Weak minded? So easily riled up? Pathetic! You’re pathetic!”

He stomped toward me, and I refrained from gulping, my hands gripping the earth below me until my knuckles turned white.

“You—you deserve a painful, slow death,” he said, eyes dark. “I will grant it.”

“Ohhhh, I’m so scared!” I cried dramatically, and then looked down at him, triggering the Trinket of the Fallen up as much as I could. A pressure fell on him, and he visibly shrunk, most likely due to being caught off guard—he was too enraged.

I looked him straight in the eyes, “Is the oh-so-great warrior afraid of good old-fashioned fights? Understandable, underhanded methods are all you, and your clan, know after all. Truly insignificant slithering!”

Tian Mo’s nostrils flared when I associated him with actual snakes. A thing about Lytharians was that they hated being compared to snakes. They considered themselves a noble race, and the snakes weak, and insignificant—so much so that associating with them is a spit in the face of their race, which, ironically, is just that: snake bastards. They used slithering among them, a slur for those pathetic weaklings. It was the usual xianxia bullshit “trash” at play, but instead of humans, it was for Lytharians.

“Huh? Does that offend you? You really have no self-control, do you?” I sneered, showing off my bloody teeth and battered lips. “Let this grandfather show you some self-control.”

“Fine,” he said with a growl, glinting teeth shining as his tongue slithered out, tasting the air before whipping back in. “You want a duel of old? You shall get it. I, Tian Mo, son of a proud Lytharian whom you have soiled with your tongue, declare upon you a battle between men. Accept, for nothing awaits but death otherwise.” He said with a straight back. “Soiling our noble race is something I mustn’t accept. Never.”

The irony in that sentence. A “noble” race resorting to cheap tricks like false accusations. Hilarious.

“Let us drop ourselves to mortals then,” I said, rising to my feet with much difficulty. “I shall let go of my power, for now. You do it, too. We fight like warriors of old, for otherwise, you’d be taking advantage of a sick man.”

He smirked. “You’re sick? How curious.”

I gritted my teeth, hoping he’d fall for it. He did seem the type. I’d essentially insulted his race, I doubted he’d take that in—he’d fall, he feared showing a bad side of his race at the moment otherwise. It would hardly matter if he wasn’t with me—me whom he considered even slightly “equal”—he had no clue that I’d lost my cultivation, after all.

I propped my hands up as I lowered into a defensive stance. Worry washed over me, my eyes wandering to Kai’s body lying on the ground, what followed my worry was hopelessness. I ached all over, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to stand a chance against this man… I just couldn’t. Yet, I still had to try at the very least.

I just had to—

A jab at my face, and I was left with hazy eyes and a groan escaping my lips. I steadied myself, eyes leveled against his, this motherfucker. He punched, I ducked, and with everything I had, punched him back. My fist struck. Sadly, nothing. He might not be using Gu, but his body was way stronger than mine—mine had been deteriorating ever since I’d lost my cultivation.

However, there was one thing I had.

Ryujin’s experience in hand-to-hand combat. I had to use them as much as I could—

A punch landed on my face and blurred my vision, but I couldn’t afford to stay disoriented. As I staggered back, I tasted blood in my mouth. I needed to turn the tide of this battle, and quickly. Somehow. Of course, without getting on his nerves so much that he killed me.

With a wry smile, I taunted him, “Not bad for a slithering; you’re still just a snake.” My words were laced with sarcasm, but I needed to provoke him into making a mistake.

His eyes blazed, shaking, and he lunged at me with surprising speed I hadn’t expected from him—he wasn’t using Gu, after all. I sidestepped his swing, narrowly avoiding his grasp. Using the momentum from his missed strike, I tapped the back of my heel to his calf. He lost balance, and I swirled around his body, delivering a swift knee to his abdomen. It connected, but the impact was like hitting a solid wall.

Gasping for breath, I retreated, keeping my eyes on him. The pain from my injuries was bearable, so I analyzed his movements, searching for any weaknesses to exploit.

Tian Mo circled me with a gruff, his movements fluid and calculated even without the use of Gu. He was a formidable opponent, and I had to find a way to level the playing field. My eyes landed on a nearby rock, the dust, and the sting in my eye—an idea formed in my mind. If I could use the environment to my advantage, I might have a chance.

As Tian Mo closed in again, I feigned exhaustion, deliberately showing drag in my steps, allowing him to believe he had the upper hand. He grinned and struck forward, right fist coming for my face. At the last moment, I dove to the side, grabbing the rock as I rolled.

I swung the rock with all the strength I could muster, aiming for his head. Tian Mo’s reflexes were lightning-fast, and he managed to block the rock. However, the actual weapon was the dust—dust that promptly got into his eyes.

I didn’t waste a second. I dashed forward, landing a series of quick jabs to his midsection. Tian Mo grunted, but he was far from defeated. A swift kick, and I was sent sprawling to the ground.

I pushed myself up, my body screaming in protest. I couldn’t afford to stay down. Tian Mo growled, pain evident on his face as he rubbed his eyes like a kid.

“My eyes!” he yelled, flailing his hands around in hopes of landing a hit on me. “MY EYES! YOU—I’LL KILL YOU!”