A bat made of ice and a sword covered in gold- that is what's in between me and the Ninja. My stance is simple and something that I've copied from one of the Palm Strike technique's various forms. The Ninja looked a lot more professional with his straight torso, bent waist, and legs that were spread in a runner's form. He looked ready to spring at any moment. Compared to me, he seemed professional, his clothes were intact too, while mine had a hole in the chest covered in crimson-red ice.

Well, it does look cool though. I looked down and yep, the star-shaped ice in my chest made me look like a rugged badass that's been in way too many fights and had been crippled at one point because he pushed himself too far- And that's exactly what happened. I had a grin on my face when I thought of that.

Cultivating is fun, and fighting as a literal superhuman is pretty addicting. I can see why most cultivators like to do theatrics. Speaking of which... I looked left and saw both the disciple and the bandit just standing right next to each other, staring at both me and my enemy like we were the most fascinating thing in the world.

Before I can even think of insulting them both though, the ninja took the opportunity and was suddenly upon me-

I moved my body left and away from the sword swing that tried to slice me in half then I took a step forward and swung my bat in close quarters. The Ninja pushed me away and then followed it with a swing. I raised my bat and blocked, only to wince when a dull ring thrummed down my weapon and into my arms. I felt the surface of my skin crack and my muscles shatter.

Fuck. Guess the after effects are still there, then. Since blocking isn't an option, I jumped away as far as I could and just glared at the Ninja.

He jumped and is suddenly right next to me the next moment. With his sword heading straight for my neck and looking to cleave me, I grit my teeth and blocked. Pain crawled down my arm but the Ninja isn't done yet; I felt him push more Qi into his sword and watched as the edge cut through the ice, splitting it apart like paper, vibrations rang through both weapons with each layer of ice that got cut, it ran down to my hand and I swear I heard an actual crack at point.

I would've loved to see where that sound came from but I was too busy trying to stay awake through the pain. All the while the blade continued to cut. It only stopped when it met the club hidden inside.

I gasped in relief and pushed myself away from the Ninja using the little bit of clarity that I got from that small window of respite. "Fuck that hurt."

The Ninja was onto me the next moment and I didn't even bother holding my Qi back at this point, I pushed like never before and my weapon started to grow longer, spikes started to form on its surface, with more growing as I gave the weapon more Qi.

Sparks flew when our weapons clashed. He pulled back and I followed, then we both swung- more sparks, a loud clang. We did the exchange again and I intercepted his sword with my bat. I was focused on defense for now because I wanted to wait for my bat to grow big and long before I went on the offensive.

Just a bit more. It was currently around 5 feet, a bit more and it'll reach six, then I'll start to fight back.

Our weapons clashed again and another wave of vibrations went down my arm and further broke it. I didn't feel any pain though, probably because the ice that I'm producing with my Qi made me feel numb.

We continued exchanging swings and with me on the backhand, I got slowly pushed until my bat grew long enough that its reach is far beyond my opponent's sword.

I backed away and gave him a full-toothed grin, then I ran forward and started wildly swinging while keeping my distance.

I had no techniques, little to no knowledge on how to fight, and I didn't know how to control the pace of a battle. But what I did have though is my Qi and using that, I created a small tornado of frost around me that sapped away the body heat of the Ninja. It is the main reason why I can keep up with him even with my broken and sluggish arms.

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It didn't take long for me to land a hit on his bicep. That caused him to back off and now? Well, we're staring at each other while circling around like two tigers ready for a fight.

We continued like that until his eyes looked somewhere to my right and then-

-He rushed me.

Cautious, I moved away but he did it again and I continued running. We went on like that for a while, just running in circles until another Ninja came after me way before the Sect Disciple that I helped did.

I internally cursed at the sight of two Ninjas going after me (with both of them trying to lock me in a pincer as we run around.) and while I did, I thought that whatever is going through the minds of regular cultivators, it probably isn't normal because I can just see the two of them standing there, watching.

The hair on my back stood up and I raised my bat, it blocked a dagger perfectly but then came another Ninja from that direction. I stared at him, he stared back. This one looked much thinner but wore the same clothes, and on his back is an honest to god katana.

I exhaled heavily and poured Qi into my legs and just put everything I have into running.

And the next thing I know, I'm suddenly running around the place, weaving from one hut to the next while trying to both escape the Ninjas and ambush them with surprise attacks whenever I think they don't know where I am.

I stopped right next to a stone wall and held my breath, then I waited and listened to the quick footsteps all around me. The sounds were slowly getting closer. When I thought they were close enough, I exhaled to try and attract the Ninja's attention, then I went into a swinging stance and focused entirely on what's in front of me- the spot where I think the Ninja is gonna go through.

The footsteps got close and I swung my bat-

I was met by a dagger to the collarbone and a sword bearing down on my head- I took the dagger and let it stab me while I raised my bat to block the sword. My weapon rang and it went down to cause cracks in my arm.

"Gotcha," I grinned and pushed the sword away and swung down. Pulled by the forces of gravity, my bat headed straight toward the ninja's head. He narrowly avoided it but a spike managed to dig deep into his collar.

I didn't waste a moment and fed more Qi into my weapon. I felt the ice grow and the ninja in front of me started to squirm, blood started to pour down his chest until it stopped because of the liquid getting frozen in place.

When I saw the ninja's movement start to slow down, I pulled my bat out and blocked a dagger using my arm, then, while I'm only holding with one hand, I swung the bat downward and the ninja yelled.

I raised my bat then let it fall, I aimed for the head this time.

A loud clang, then I got pushed back. Two other ninjas appeared where I was just am. I glared at them and the three Ninjas returned the favor.

Then I ran. I don't know where and I didn't care. I can't fight all three of them head on, not when I'm already having a hard time fighting one of them. I'm not even that much of a fighter to begin with, I'm more of an opportunity taker kind of guy, one that would gladly stab someone in the back or throw a sucker punch. The moment that shit gets confrontational though? I'm out.

I don't know why I'm starting to like fighting face to face right now. I thought while staring at the ground, it only just occurred to me that I can probably use the dirt all around me for something.

I saw another hut and ran even faster. When I passed, I turned a corner and bent down before scooping up a palmful of dirt, then with dirt slipping out between my fingers, I went back out and threw it all in the ninjas' faces. When I saw their eyes widen, I grinned. The dirt hit, they flinched, and I was on them not even a second later.

I grabbed the hilt of my bat with both hands and pushed as much Qi as I could into it, then I swung.

Blood spewed out like a fountain and I was surprised at how easy it was for my bat to go through the head of the Ninja. "That's what you get for exposing your eyes!" I yelled and went for another swing.

It got blocked by the sword of a Ninja who pulled his mask over his eyes. Even with cover though, I felt the glare he shot me.

I turned backwards and started running.

And it was then that two more of the fuckers arrived. They moved in front of me and blocked my path, I noticed that their eyes were already covered. The two newcomers looked fierce with their stances, one of them carried a dagger, which he held in a reverse grip while the other had a bow staff. A dagger flew our way and the latter hit it with his staff and redirected it at me.

It hit me in the thighs and now I had three knives buried deep in my body.

Sighing, I prepared to release another blizzard when a spear made of wood came out of nowhere and struck the dagger holding Ninja. It got easily blocked but that throw seemed to have been done as a distraction so that the thrower and her friends can move in and join the fray. The girl, who I still don't know the name of, tilted her neck and looked down on me with her sharp eye, "you're lucky that I decided to help." was all she said before charging and causing hell to break loose.