Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    As had the opportunity to get familiar with the techniques that Dusk used as these assassins chased him as well. They weren''t the only ones learning.


    Their name didn''te from nothing. They used a certain type of me qi that truly looked like the horizon during a sunset.


    me qi was As'' old speciality, so he was able to dissect their techniques to a level they never could have expected.


    ''They use the concept of materialization.''


    There were eight concepts associated with the Dao of Fire. They were the Concepts of Combustion, Ignition, Superheat, Materialization, Emberforging, Ethereal Alchemy, Nirvana, and Everburn.


    Of them, materialization wasn''t one that usually associated itself with directbat power. The concept of materialization defined a property of fire that allowed it to materialize as a solid object.


    Experts in this kind of style usually formed weapons and other constructs with their mes. In the teachings of Dusk, the same concept was used instead to materialize an environment.


    The atmosphere of Dusk spread. The assassins became concealed within that atmosphere. Their qi was enhanced while As'' qi was suppressed. Experience tales at m v|l e''-NovelBin


    There was no heat in the mes of Dusk. They were instead cold and foreboding, attacking the mind and qi channels more than the flesh body.


    They were difficult to deal with, but they also didn''t have insane and unavoidable destructive power. As'' dexterity was enough to get around them and y their game.


    [Cloud Steps]


    It was the perfect technique in this situation. This was exactly where [Cloud Steps] was supposed to be used.


    It didn''t provide much speed, but it took one''s movements to a new level of perplexion. Each step looked like three in opposite directions in the eyes of the enemy. With this kind of ethereal appearancebined with the natural flexibility As developed during his training sessions with ric, his body was more nimble than anyone else.


    He could twist himself impossibly, taking steps at long and short intervals with such precision that all attacks swept by him. The impact from many of therger moves the assassins used was unable to reach him, as the sudden usage of [Burst Step] supported [Cloud Steps] and brought the martial skill to a new height.


    Using abination of multiple movement techniques gave As a way to move regardless of what situation he found himself in. That diversity was precisely the reason for his sesses.


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    As attacks continued to rain down with even more frequency as As seeded in dodging and weaving, the ground under the group of seven started to crack and give way.


    With more pressure striking it with every passing minute, it truly couldn''t hold up. Its foundation and fortification shattered entirely, leading to what As had been waiting for.


    The cracks spread and became uncontroble. A great tremor spread through the cavern, and before any of the seven could move, the floor gave out from under them.


    They all fell. A few of the assassins tried to attack As in the moment, but they couldn''t reach him.


    [Lightning Shadow Steps]


    Using his most dexterous movement technique, As used the falling debris in order to propel himself closer to the ground.


    He wanted tond before the assassins. While this ce was also unknown to him, he had the entire schematic of the ruin in his head and visible to him at any time if he used [Intrinsic Foresight].


    BANG!


    His feet hit pure metal before he rolled to the side to offset some momentum. Despite falling over twenty meters into the ground, he was unharmed.


    Without a moment of rest, he activated the invisibility skill of his mask and hid himself in the shadows. By the time he turned visible again, he was already concealed from the eyes of anyone who would want to see him.


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    The assassinsnded a few secondster with the same loud crashing. They were apanied by the debris, which didn''t take them into consideration at all when they fell.


    The ruin was filled with the sounds of screams and groans. Several of the enemies had broken bones, and one had even been crushed to death by the falling rocks.


    One of them dying immediately was fortunate news, but it wasn''t the most important thing As learned from that moment.


    ''I can kill them.''


    His chances were not as close to zero as he originally believed.


    These assassins were not body cultivators. They were qi cultivators. They were far stronger to As which meant that their qi defenses were also stronger, but their bodies…


    ''...their bodies are on the same level as mine.''


    If they had reached Bone Forging, they would not have taken any damage from the fall. That could be proven by his own state as someone equivalent to a body cultivator who''d achieved Bone Forging.


    The only weakness As could exploit was their soft bodies.


    ''To reach those soft bodies, I need to wait for them to let down their guards.''


    The strategy was assassination. It was their greatest skill, but also the reason for their eventual downfall.


    ''I am not so skilled in these arts.''


    In this life, As was forced to learn how to properly conceal his presence, but assassination techniques were a different story.


    ''Hmm…''


    He made no noise. Quietly standing in a ce where they could not see him, his qi hidden to the greatest extremes he could possibly reach at his level, he watched them regroup and heal their injuries.


    They nced around, rapidly gaining knowledge about the current environment.


    The ruin was made mostly of metal. It was cylindrical in nature with a circr clearing in the center where they fell. There were three floors of the ruin that surrounded the center, however, the second and third were blocked by a denseyer of crystalline material.


    "Call the others. Make sure that he cannot escape this ruin. We will end him here," one of the assassins said to the others. He must''ve been the leader of the six.


    "Spread out and map the schematic. He cannot be more informed than us. We need to turn this ce into a grave prepared especially for him."


    It was a good thought to have. The ruin could definitely be As'' deathbed if he went into it clueless.


    However, he didn''t do that, did he?


    No. He watched the six assassins separate down the six pathways connected to the central area. As all seven of them fell prey to the darkness, the game began.


    As was hidden inside a grate in the ground. He was very aware of the fact that one of the six walked right over him, and with the other five also fading down their own corridors, he left his hiding ce with the flexibility of a snake, slithering down the hallway in chase of his prey.


    The des of his chain sickles did not glint. They were ck and matte from all the blood they''d been showered in. The assassin walked the halls looking to his front and sides. He knew that if the enemy was with him, he would be waiting in one of these ces.


    Never would he have thought that the threat was behind him in the space he''d already explored.


    The corridor continued and branched out into two different sectors filled with old and rusted machinery. It looked like this ruin was used in some sort of forging activities, but everything of value had already been cleared out.


    Time passed in silence. Assassination was slow work, after all.


    As followed the man in silence, making use of the many rooms and hidden areas in the vicinity to keep himself hidden.


    At this point, the assassin had already searched a majority of his corridor. He was starting to believe that one of his brothers was currently engaging the target.


    That was when it happened. For but an instant, he dropped his guard and withdrew his qi defenses in order to replenish himself. The chase that led them here and the battle that shattered the floor took some effort.


    He was vulnerable in a ce where he believed nobody else was present.


    However, a perfect assassin could never believe such things.


    There was indeed someone present, someone that he could not sense.


    And in that singr moment when his guard was down, that person struck with the intent of taking his life.