His quarry fled into the wilderness, leading Wu Jian on a high speed chase until he finally caught up with them in a forest clearing. The hooded figure turned back to face him as he drew near, withdrawing an array disk from within the folds of their robes.

The air hummed with power as Qi was injected into it, causing the array disk to tremble with barely contained might. It built up for a moment, before bursting out from the disk in a pulse that passed through everything. When the invisible wall of energy reached the edges of the clearing, it froze and solidified, sealing them in.

The disk turned to dust as three more hooded figures entered the clearing, auras so restrained that Wu Jian could barely sense their presence, let alone cultivation base. However, they had to be extremely strong for their cultivation stage to have such a level of control over their Qi.

"You should've just accepted our offer."

The first of the figures said, pulling back their hood to reveal the Nascent Soul elder who had retrieved the Core Formation Stage cultivator.

"But unfortunately, you have forced us to act."

The second figure said, shaking off their outer robes to reveal a tall, lithe woman in battle robes. She flicked her blonde hair over her shoulders and regarded the Wu Patriarch with cold, yellow eyes.

The third figure remained silent, choosing to keep their appearance covered, whilst the one who had pulled out the sealing array disk shook of their outer robes and revealed themselves to be a petite, doll like woman. She stared at him with an impassive expression, seemingly holding no malice towards him.

"Are you not worried about losing face? Showing up to attack a small sized clan unprovoked, and bringing along four Nascent Soul elders no less."

Wu Jian asked, his enemies' auras blaring out as soon as he mentioned their realm. It was suffocating being under the pressure of so much power, over 2000 years of accumulated cultivation and insights all pressing down on him at once. A lesser man would've felt his knees buckle there and then, but the Wu Patriarch stood strong and concentrated his own aura in a protective shield around him. His Qi moved and, as it did, so did the world around him. He drew upon his connection with the area, the mountain where he had lived most of his life not far away, the wilderness where he was forged into a warrior by his father all around him, and used it to aid his actions. At least during this fight, the world was on his side.

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Dozens of beams of light shot out from each of the Gao elders, coming into contact with a sphere of water that Wu Jian formed around himself. The beams refracted as they passed through the liquid barrier, missing their intended target but scorching the earth wherever they landed. Their attacks had seemed sluggish, almost like they were moving through mud instead of air, and this gave the Wu Patriarch time to defend against their superior cultivation bases: 2 Mid Nascent Soul and 2 Late.

He went on the counter offensive, utilising the already created water to shoot blasts of water powered by the Dao Shard of Rapids. 3 of the 4 dodged whilst the middle aged, refined man created a square of solid light in front of him to absorb the blow. Then, copying the Wu Clan Head's technique, he formed the solid light into arrows which whistled through the air towards his adversary. The other three were not idle during this time, the tall woman creating bindings of light to root the Wu Clansmen to the ground, and the doll like woman blanketed him with a wide ranged, glass like light that seemed to weaken him and his Qi. The hooded figure leapt backwards into the trees, disappearing from everybody's senses entirely. Wu Jian made a mental note to be wary of his immediate surroundings, fearing a sneak attack by the hooded elder.

He found himself unable to create water, the glass like light making his Qi shatter every time he did, so instead he ripped the water from the nearby trees and plant life, managing to form a sizeable whirlpool around himself that caught all of the arrows within its current. They were them broken down, dissipating into motes of light as they were destroyed. His Dao Shard of Clouds then began to pull water from the air above them, growing the whirlpool bit by bit as his connection with the area aided him.

The Gao cultivators threw out attack after attack at the whirlpool, their whittling down of it only just beating its rate of growth. The glass like light continued to shatter any Qi he attempted to create water with so instead he reached below as well, pulling water up from the ground like a tree's roots. The shackles binding his feet had been destroyed but he chose to remain still anyways, his entire concentration focused upon maintaining the growing mass of water flowing around him. Then, when it reached the maximum volume that he could control, he exerted his willpower and Qi in one final heave. The whole whirlpool was drawn towards him, condensing into an inch thick membranes over his robes and skin. So much was it, that he could only direct its force outwards when it exploded from his loss of control.

Sharp needles of water burst outwards, with him at the centre, piercing through several locations on each of his ambushers. He was just about to follow up his attack and capitalise on their moment of weakness, when he felt a terrifying omen of death and a presence loom at his side. He barely had time to shift his body before the assassin's dagger pierced his chest, cutting open his right lung. In response, he drew his words and struck in one smooth motion, scoring a shallow gash in the robed figure's side before they retreated back to the shadows.

'What are they waiting for?'

Wu Jian thought to himself.

'I can't sustain fighting like this for much longer, sooner or later they will wear me down or get a lucky strike against me.'

His train of thought continued as he reached out to the minds watching his battle with his divine sense.

"Aid me, as per your contract to the clan."

He spoke to them telepathically.

"We shall if there is an opportunity."

They replied, causing Wu Jian to sight.

"Then I guess that is all I can ask."