38 Headed back (1/2)
In thetwilight of dusk, which was like the perfect state between day and night, not quite dark and not quite daylight.A high yellow flame was still licking and spitting in the trees to the left of the main road,burningtimber collapsed amidst the intense heat of the inferno.The scent of burnt meat wafted through the air like a jovial family picnic, Qin LI and Lou Tai stopped ten meters in front of Hartley forming a triangular formation.
The scar faced man appeared in the middle of theroad with another 3rd layer xiantian to his left. He casually took slow steps towards the trio from the Lou clan. He had a angry anxious sneer on his face, ”You don't know what you've gotten yourselves into” he said with a shout ”now you can come back with me willingly or die here, thenmy friend here willcapture those merchants”
Hartley responded ”that's not going to happen. Who are you and what do you want?”
”Who I am doesn't matter and I want to complete my mission which means none of you can leave, now come with me, I won't ask again.” Scowled the man.
Hartley had no time for deluded people, the man was outnumbered and still acting like he had the upper hand, again the whistle blew twice and Lou Tai unleashed another fireball.
”Fools! not one of you shall leave here with an intact body!” said the angry scar faced man, his skin turned the color of the dirt he was standing on, his right foot stomped down and a brown earth wall two meters wide and five meters high quickly roseup in front of him, the fireball thundered into the earth wall with a loud explosion and a flash of light. The earth wall shook but stood firm, it then silkily fell back to the floor like sand through a hour glass and disappeared.
Hartley moved forward leaving a blurred blue line and his robes flapping behind him, The expert to the left of the scar face man made a move towards Qin Li, Qin Li slashed out his battle axe with an overhead strikesending a lightning quick green wind blade slicing at the man as he retreated a couple steps.
Lou Tai quickly engaged the scar face man with his long sword, his body with an armor of yellow fire from waist to neck. The scar face man retrieved a huge hammer and took up his battle stance, he held the handle of the hammer with his right hand over his left hand as the hammer leaned diagonally in front of his right shoulder, Lou Tai casted a fireball and rushed in behind it...
The man attacking Qin Li was a 3rd layer water element xiantian, he effortlessly sidestepped the wind blade, his robes fluttered as he advanced pass the residual gusts of wind, his moves flowed like liquid as he feinted right then left and attacked from the right crouched with a low upward strike from his short sword.
Qin Li had reacted to the opponents prior feints so he was off balance stumbling backwards facing the short sword strike, he pushed his speed to the limit, his axe glowed green as he slammed down his axe diagonally from high right to low left to intercept the smooth strike. As soon as the axe made contact with the short sword, the man rotated his sword in a quick circle, with a clang the axe was parried to the side leaving Qin Li wide open, the man then followed with a smooth and quick left handed fist glowingbright white into the chest of Qin Li, sending him tumbling across the dirt as he cried out.
Qin Li flew pass Hartley who was making his forward towards the scar face man and struck up a cloud of dust as he wailed by, tumbling and rolling. Hartley's primary target was the scar face man but now he had to switch targets because Qin Li was obviously over matched....
Qin Li came to a stop behind Hartley, he then struggled to one knee and shook his head to shake off the pain, his left shoulder was dislocated,he punched it with his right fistwith a loudgrunt through his nostrils, his shoulder popped back into place with a bone wrenching sound,the pain shot through him like a bolt of lightning. Qin Li screamed through clenched teeth as sweat washed over his face. He needed both hands to rejoin the fight, his battle axe was not a one handed weapon. He got up and fought through a dizzy spell and stumbled around disoriented for a few seconds before regaining clarity.
A deafening explosion sounded out as the hammer of the scar face man dug a deep pit into the road sending fist sized pieces of clay out like lethal munitions, Lou Tai was struck on his armor in several places but the clay just melted away without doing much harm. Earth elementals usually did not have high attack power but this guy was breaking the conventional rules. The only saving grace for Lou Tai was that the man's movement speed and attack speed weren't exceptional and could be manged if he was careful.