Mage's Cultivation Journey 22

Once again, Hun Chu cursed his luck that somehow led to this troubling assignment. He didn’t expect a mere observation mission to drive him to this situation; especially since it was supposed to be a chance to recover from his latest injury.

One that he received in an unfortunate ambush just a few days ago.

He bit his lips as he tried to decide what to do. The situation was complicated, with three distinct groups in hand.

The first group was the Duan Gang, a newcomer that had been active among the refugees. They were the largest one, their numbers reaching fifty, but their numbers were hard to distinguish. Hun Chu had an exceptional observation skill — the reason he had been assigned to a potentially troublesome observation mission — but actually measuring their power was difficult without seeing them in action.

But, he had seen Duan and two others fight before, and they were at Skin Refinement. Not particularly impressive ones, as they were the kind of waste that had been strengthened by excessive medicine, making them weaklings compared to others of the same rank.

He would have been confident escaping them even with their numerical superiority … if it wasn’t for his injury limiting his strength.

So, he glanced around, checking the faces of the others who had been traveling with him, their posture already showing another problem. They were not actually a team. Every single one of them worked for a different group, and even if they agreed to stand together, Hun Chu couldn’t trust them to stab him in the back.

Particularly Xiang Bi, who had been working for the Azure Blade Union. He didn’t know how many of his comrades from Iron Mountain had fallen into their hands.

Then, his gaze turned to the third figure, the one who turned his back to them all, dismissing them as inconsequential, walking away. The true wildcard, one that Hun Chu didn’t know how to read.

The mysterious steward.

Even after watching him for a week, Hun Chu didn’t know anything about him. Not even his name. The only title he seemed to have was the steward, his actions a complete mystery. He had arrived a week ago, bringing along with him a young man.

Unlike him, the young man had been easy to read. A village kid, moderately talented, but otherwise unremarkable. He was also easy to read. Hun Chu knew he had to ‘thank’ the young man for his current plight. It was the commotion he had created, facing a thug to save a girl traveling alone, forcing the man to reveal himself. If not for that, they would have never shown their face.

Ordinarily, that would have been enough for Hun Chu to write him off as inconsequential. No martial artist cowardly enough to fear fighting, going as far as to hide his abilities, would be worth anything.

But, he then went and threatened every single martial artist that dared to approach his camp. Not openly. Just by catching their arrival and waving them mockingly, no matter how hard a martial artist tried to hide their internal energy.

Including some that could easily stab Hun Chu in the back if he wished. An extraordinary man, one whom his superiors in Iron Mountain let go without contacting. The situation in Dongxi had been getting too complicated for any of the factions to try bringing a chaotic figure into the mix.

The first problem was the Liao family. They had always been overbearing, acting like they owned the town, treating the mayor assigned by the Empire as a mere figurehead, but their last move of forcing the farmers to sell their lands for next to nothing had been excessive even for them.

If that happened any other time, the leaders of Iron Mountain would have done their best to protect the farmers. Not exactly out of altruism, maybe, but to prevent the Liao family from gaining too much power. But, in this instance, they couldn’t. Not when their hands were full with Azure Blade Union, a collection of foreign martial artists that seemed determined to take over the protection business around the Western passage.

A task they had been succeeding at despite their best effort. His injury was a good example of it. Despite not having any evidence and merely being attacked in an alley by four masked figures, Hun Chu knew that the Azure Blade Union was behind it. They had already lost too many members to such cowardly attacks, most wounded, some dead.

That was the true reason for Hun Chu’s mission. Not to come into contact with the mysterious figure of hidden power, but making sure Azure Blade Union didn’t try to interact with him … or worse, anger him while being disguised as one of them.

It would be like those cowards to sacrifice the lives of their men if it meant to weaken Iron Mountain further.

If only he hadn’t refused to cooperate with Hun Chu and the others. Maybe, with his help, they could have escaped. Instead, Hun Chu had to face an unknown battle.

A shout pulled him from his musings. “No one disrespects Boss Duan! Xi Bing, Xi Yan, attack him and teach him a lesson. Show me your power.”

Hun Chu turned to Duan, his eyebrows rising in shock. He knew that Duan was stupid, but going as far as sending two Muscle Reinforcement weaklings against a master —

No, he corrected when he saw the two jump down their horses and run forward, their internal energy finally flaring in action. They were in the Skin Refinement realm as well! He turned to Duan, surprised by their strength.

How strong they truly were, if this was what remained after the raid of the Liao Family?

Watching them run, he wanted to shout to warn the mysterious steward, but he did not. Everything he had observed implied that the man was a master of martial arts. The only question, how strong. Was he merely at the Bone Forging realm, or was he strong enough to reach the Organ Refining Realm? Watching him against two Skin Refinement martial artists would be enough.

“He’s mine, brother,” one of the two that had been rushing forward declared, running even faster than the other. Hun Chu watched them, shocked by their recklessness. Did they really not realize that, for someone to ignore their obvious attack and keep their back turned to them, they had to be absolutely confident in their success?

Yet, when the one that arrived first swung his fist, aiming at the back of the head of the mysterious steward, Hun Chu found himself wondering. He hadn’t moved. The closer the attack got, the harder it would be to counter it, as even the greatest masters required to swing their limbs to generate momentum.

At the last possible moment, the man moved his head slightly, dodging the fist barely, the wind of the attack enough to disturb his hair. Yet, Hun Chu didn’t have much hope. The man still had his back against his attacker, who could follow up with half a dozen deadly attacks, free to target one of many vulnerable points —

The attacker fell to the ground, letting out a shocking cry of pain like he was tortured. “W-what happened? He was … then?” muttered someone else, his words nonsensical. Hun Chu said nothing, too busy trying to deal with his shock. While Han Chu was processing the show, he touched the second attacker, who was too shocked to even escape, and he fell down just like the first one…

That was impossible. He didn’t turn, or raise his hand. No martial artist could defeat another without even raising a hand —

Except Connate Masters, he realized with a shock. Although he didn’t know the full capabilities of a Connate Stage Martial artist, there were rumors about their capabilities. Rumors like taking down their enemies with a touch.

Could he be one?

It should be impossible. A Connate Martial artist was the peak of the martial arts, at least as far as Hun Chu was concerned. Just having one was enough to ensure the prosperity of a family for decades. Even their Iron Mountain alliance only had three such masters, and each had their own limitations, be it age or injury, that prevented them from acting freely.

What kind of family could have a servant of that realm, one that they could send away in a mission?

With a determined expression, Hun Chu turned and ran away. The situation just turned dangerous.

The leaders of the Iron Mountain Alliance had to hear about it. It might be the source of their salvation … or doom.