A plain blue martial robe fluttered from the shadows surrounding Ji Wuye and the Emei sect disciples, the coarse fabric rippling like a azure banner in the stilled air. Eyes narrowed, glaring daggers at Ji Wuye as jians hissed from their sheaths, the steel tips pointed squarely at him.
The figures descending to encircle Ji Wuye and the Emei disciples were none other than the Wudang sect.
"That evil art... You're just like Junior Brother Du Chen, Brother Ji," a gruff voice accused, the speaker was Shi He, shorter than Ji Wuye but powerfully built, his broad shoulders tensed and rugged features twisted in a scowl beneath neatly trimmed faded hair. As Senior disciple he currently led the Wudang delegation at this gathering.
"Heh," A mocking snort echoed from beside him, followed by a cold remark laced with disdain. "Those with features as perfect as yours always hide such disgusting and vile techniques beneath. No wonder you and Du Chen are blessed with such vile luck."
The speaker was Lu Shui, whose delicate facial features masked a toned, muscular physique. His long raven hair whipped in an unseen breeze as he leveled an accusing glare at Ji Wuye.
"Injuring your own Martial Siblings..." Another Wudang disciple shook his head slowly, dark eyes sweeping over the unconscious forms of the Kunlun sect's Official Disciples strewn about like broken dolls. "That's not the Kunlun I know."
"We are not here to interfere or overstep our bounds as guests," intoned yet another disciple, voice tight but respectful as part of their group assisted the grievously injured Elder Sister Xing Shufen to the Kunlun infirmary.
"But this..." The disciple's gaze hardened as he faced Ji Wuye once more. "This is not the path nor conduct of one who claims to walk the righteous way."
By now, every Wudang disciple had their jians drawn and leveled at Ji Wuye, the faint azure glow of their Qi rippling along the blades' keen edges.
"Lower your weapon, Ji Wuye of Kunlun!" Shi He's gruff command rang out like a judge's gavel. "Or else, don't blame us for what happens next!"
As if responding to the threat, the faint bluish Qi enveloping the Wudang disciples' blades shuddered and began to shift hue. Sword auras, now radiated from the steel in a kaleidoscope of elemental colors - ruby red for fire, emerald green for wood, shimmering like candlelight on water.
The clash of energies detonated in the air with the force of a thunderclap, the invisible shockwaves forcing onlookers to stagger back lest they be bowled over.
"This isn't just a spar anymore! Get Lu'er back home!" A panicked shout cut through the chaos as a young couple fled, the husband hauling his wide-eyed wife away from the maelstrom. Even their bodies shimmered with the pale blue glow of a rudimentary defensive art.
Yet one ancient figure remained utterly unperturbed amid the whirlwind. Cai Guanting, a wizened elder who still clung defiantly to life, watched the unfolding events with eyes blazing a brilliant golden hue - mark of some esoteric skill. His reedy voice rasped with undisguised awe. "This is the first time I've ever seen Kunlun show such ferocity! I will bear witness to the birth of this demon!"
...
As the common folk were hastily ushered to safety by the guests, Ji Wuye himself remained a solitary figure at the eye of the storm. Unfazed, his crimson eyes calmly appraised the chaos swirling around him, missing nothing.
"Hmm..." A soft hum, edged with dark amusement, passed his lips as he, scanning the Wudang disciples before shifting his gaze toward his Senior Sisters, only to realize they had already been escorted away to a location beyond his sight.
Dismissing his concerns over his Big and Senior Sisters' well-being for now, Ji Wuye refocused on the lethal problem at hand - the bristling cohort of Wudang martial artists encircling him.
'Evil art, demon...' The mocking nicknames they'd branded him with echoed in his mind, prompting a quiet chuckle.
"Before we begin, Brothers, may i-" he addressed them, words instantly rebuffed by a renewed swell of outrage and curses.
"We can talk once you put down your jian!" Shi He growled, his expression a granite mask betraying no willingness to negotiate.
Yet when Ji Wuye didn't so much as twitch toward unsheathing his blade, the Wudang leader's scowl deepened into a rictus sneer. With a disgusted shake of his head, he let out a weary sigh. "Then you leave me no choice, Brother Ji!"
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The moment the challenge left Shi He's lips, Ji Wuye's crimson eyes flared to life, irises blazing like twin rubies set in ivory masks.
A transparent screen flickered into existence before him, arcane runes crawling across its glossy surface before shrinking and fading from sight, leaving only an afterimage seared into his vision.
Time itself seemed to stutter, the world around Ji Wuye slowing to a viscous crawl.
He could make out every minute detail now with preternatural clarity - the individual water droplets freezing in mid-air; the ominous creak of a floorboard as one disciple shifted his weight; the widening of a martial artis's nostrils as they drew in a steadying breath before attacking.
Through this dilated continuum, Ji Wuye clearly saw the first Wudang strike unfold.
One disciple surged forward, jian whipping through an intricate pattern as dark silver light coalesced along the blade's edge.
Mid-swing, the metallic aura rippled, extending outward to form hundreds of razor-sharp needles suspended in the leaden air.
In the next sluggish moment, the disciple's arm blurred, needles hissing forward in a torrential wave headed straight for Ji Wuye's body.
'A Metal Sword Aura,' he catalogued inwardly, analyzing the deadly technique even as it played out in slow motion before his eyes.
While Ji Wuye had an encyclopedic knowledge of Kunlun's martial arts, this was his first encounter with the Wudang's martial art in this time line.
Thus, his Quick Adaptation afforded him temporal dilation to react, but it couldn't predict their distinct moves and patterns unless he had prior exposure.
However...
'This buys me more than enough time,' Ji Wuye mused, gaze already shifting to track the next Wudang disciple's maneuvers.
This disciple had already buried his blade into the sprawling wooden platform beneath their feet.
In Ji Wuye's slowed field of vision, he keenly observed the fractal pattern creeping outward from the strike's impact point, spiderwebbing cracks slowly radiating along the floorboards toward his position.
'A trap,' he surmised, glancing down to confirm the localized fractures only extended beneath his feet, forming an unstable zone primed to collapse and swallow him.
As realization dawned, Ji Wuye's crimson eyes flicked up once more, rapidly scanning the remaining Wudang disciples.
To his surprise, the rest were frozen in a bizarre collective stillness, bodies tense but unmoving, like sculptural archers mid-draw...or wolves waiting for the alpha's signal to pounce.
'So, they're holding back. That makes sense,' Ji Wuye mused, dark amusement quirking his lips as he studied the frozen tableau.
Indeed, the rest of the Wudang disciples refrained from pressing their attack, their once kaleidoscopic auras of clashing elemental energies fading to a uniform azure shimmer. Their eyes, however, blazed with untempered fury rather than true killing intent, betraying the leashed restraint underpinning their provocative stances.
'Naive fools,' he inwardly scoffed.
In the next viscous heartbeat, the ephemeral stasis shattered. Time snapped back to its relentless flow with a nearly audible pop.
SWOOSH!
The hundred razor-edged needles, previously suspended in dilated stillness, now hissed through the air in a blurred fusillade. The slender metallics glinted like silver moonbeams under the midday sun's glare as they converged on Ji Wuye's unmoving form.
BANG!
The aging wooden platform exploded in a maelstrom of pale splinters as the trap triggered. The collapsing floorboards disintegrated in a ever-widening circle, shrapnel spraying outward as the gaping maw formed a shallow pit beneath Ji Wuye's feet.
The destruction revealed the courtyard's true marble surface hidden below, now obscured by roiling clouds of choking dust kicked up from the rubble.
"Now!" Shi He's bellow cut through the chaos like a sword-stroke. Without a shred of hesitation, the burly Wudang leader leapt forward, descending on the obscured epicenter surrounded by his Junior Brothers.
Yet their righteous assault was destined for brutal reversal.
Just before their shoes could find purchase amidst the debris...
BANG!
An invisible shockwave detonated outward, the localized force hurling the Wudang disciples—those who had used their Sword Auras to trigger the elemental attacks and spring the trap—backwards like carelessly tossed ragdolls.
A chorus of pained cries was abruptly silenced as they slammed into the courtyard's upper level with sickening finality.
Their disbelieving brethren could only pull up short, paralyzed midair by the shocking reversal and sudden loss of their vanguard.
The swirling dust cleared in an instant, banished by that same unseen force to reveal Ji Wuye's solitary figure. Utterly unharmed and exuding an aura of dauntless poise, he calmly surveyed the devastation from the pit's epicenter.
His jian, gripped in a reversed hand, angled downward in a gesture of casual indifference that somehow amplified the implicit threat. The mocking curve of his lips completed the insouciant facade as crimson irises lasered in on his remaining,suspended foes with an edge of dark promise.
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…
A kaleidoscopic flurry of notifications exploded across Ji Wuye's vision, translucent panes jostling for space until they nearly obscured his peripheral sight entirely.
'What a bountiful harvest,' Ji Wuye mused, one ruby eye flicking briefly toward the swarming deluge. A ghost of a smile played across his lips as he swiftly processed the streams of information.
The Wudang disciples' strikes had registered as magical assaults. As such, he'd needed only hold his blade steady and rely on his Deflecting Blows skill to unerringly parry and scatter the hundred razor-edged needles hissing his way.
But Ji Wuye hadn't stopped there. No, he had ensured his Feline Reflexes were engaged as well.
In a blurred, sinuous display of unnatural agility, he flowed amidst the steel rain with leonine grace. Sword clenched in a reverse grip, he would flow inhumanly close to each spiraling projectile, loosing the blade for but a hairsbreadth of an eyeblink before snapping rigid once more. An explosive kinetic pulse would detonate outward, obliterating the needle at the spatial nadir with surgical precision.
Over and over he repeated this lethal cycle - a continuous loop of flowing deflection, minute relaxation, and perfectly modulated destruction. Until at last the final needle pinged harmlessly off his blade's flat and clattered to the marbled floor.
Each needle represented an individual attack, which resulted in the cascade of proficiency increases reflected in the notifications
Of course, Ji Wuye coolly realized, none of this would have been possible without his incredible speed, which was thanks to the newly acquired stats and the Unbreakable Vajra.
His movements had utterly outpaced the needles' killing velocity, rendering their metal tips as sluggish and unthreatening as a spring zephyr.
Yet the greatest prize was still to come...
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A final notification flashed in solitary importance, its contents causing Ji Wuye's smoldering eyes to glint with undisguised satisfaction. One long, slow breath escaped his lips as the faint curve of amusement grew more pronounced.
However, his attention quickly shifted upward, locking onto the Wudang disciples standing on the elevated wooden platform.
Their eyes were wide with astonishment, brows furrowed as they stared down at him, jaws slackened in disbelief.
"How is this possible...?" one of the disciples muttered.
Another disciple, a young man with a buzz cut, swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing. "He didn't even move..." he whispered.