Although the burly bald man Augustus had nearly been one-shot by Jiang Fei and was left coughing up blood, that didn’t mean he was weak or insignificant.
On the contrary, a master on par with the Danjin level—one who could make even the Vatican ultimately back down and call a truce—was by no means a pushover. Even if his sword style happened to be hard-countered by Jiang Fei, and his most powerful techniques looked like a joke in Jiang Fei’s eyes, he’d already learned his lesson. By fighting more cautiously in the subsequent exchanges, he wouldn’t be so easy to kill.
Especially now that he had Mikhail—a fighter of comparable strength—as his ally. All Augustus needed to do was provide support from the sidelines without clashing head-on with Jiang Fei, and his threat level multiplied!
His flexible sword was like a viper hiding in the shadows, waiting for the perfect moment. Whenever Jiang Fei launched a fierce assault on the Vatican ascetic Mikhail, Augustus would suddenly strike from the flank. Every time, he achieved surprising results, forcing Jiang Fei to break off his attack and defend himself.
And when Jiang Fei grew frustrated and tried to set Mikhail aside to deal with the bald man first, Mikhail would tenaciously cling to him, refusing to let go. The two had formed an astonishing rapport, their coordination seamless, their combined lethality soaring—leaving Jiang Fei utterly helpless.
In a one-on-one fight, Jiang Fei could defeat and eventually kill either of them. But now, working together, they were slowly pushing him onto the back foot, completely suppressing him!
“I knew that if I didn’t take that bald bastard out in one shot, finishing him off later would be a pain. And now he’s giving me a huge headache. Damn it—his flexible sword is a nightmare to deal with when he uses it for sneak attacks.” Jiang Fei gripped his longsword, sword-qi radiating around him, but he couldn’t find an opening to break their coordination.
“And this Vatican ascetic—tough as nails too. Not only does he have that weird energy, but his defense is insane, like a turtle shell! No wonder my cheap master Xuanji Zi once ran into an ascetic and had his robe nicked by accident—these guys are no joke!” Jiang Fei cursed inwardly.
What he couldn’t figure out was why this man—clearly a high-ranking figure in the Vatican with extraordinary power—would take orders from a killer organization like the Heavenly Net to come after him.
The Vatican held an exalted position in the Western world. They were seen as God’s representatives on Earth, sacred and inviolable in the eyes of the masses—the embodiment of justice, saviors of the suffering—
Of course, that image had plenty of camouflage. Things that appear sacred on the surface often hide all sorts of dirty secrets behind the scenes.
But even so, organizations like that tend to have their own bottom lines. In certain respects, they still maintain some semblance of principles. No matter how far they might have fallen, it seemed unlikely they’d stoop to collaborating with the Heavenly Net!
Jiang Fei couldn’t make sense of it. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. He desperately wanted to take one of them out first, but he simply couldn’t find a way.
Boom-boom-boom!
The hotel’s lavish suite was now a complete wreck—every piece of furniture destroyed beyond recognition. The scene was no less devastating than the aftermath of a real anti-tank rocket explosion.
Jiang Fei delivered another heavy chop that sent Mikhail staggering back several steps—but the very next moment, the ever-roaming Augustus found his opening. His flexible sword lashed out and coiled across Jiang Fei’s back.
Rip—— A large chunk of fabric was torn from Jiang Fei’s back, along with his skin. Blood welled from the gash. Fortunately, he spun around just in time to defend himself, so the wound wasn’t deep—just superficial flesh damage, nothing serious.
Having landed a hit, Augustus knew better than to press his advantage. His swordplay was completely countered by Jiang Fei, and charging in recklessly would be suicide. So he wisely retreated to Mikhail’s side, and only then did the two attack together again.
Though shock still lingered in Augustus and Mikhail’s eyes—amazed that Jiang Fei could hold his own against their combined assault—there was also excitement.
Because the situation was now clear: together, they were indeed a little stronger than Jiang Fei. They could suppress him.
Even if Jiang Fei could hold out for a while, given enough time, they would surely cut him down!
“Let’s see how much longer you can last!” Augustus, who’d nearly been one-shot, finally regained some of his swagger and arrogance, recapturing a sliver of his “Devil” persona.
What had just happened was a nightmare—the most humiliating moment of his life.
In all his years of countless battles, he’d never been crushed so thoroughly. It was a massive loss of face.
That humiliation could only be washed away with Jiang Fei’s blood!
So today, he was determined to join forces with the ascetic Mikhail and kill Jiang Fei.
Jiang Fei, though wounded, had been biding his time, watching for any flaw in their coordination. After all, two people working together wasn’t the same as a single fighter’s true strength—mistakes could happen.
If a mistake appeared, that would be Jiang Fei’s chance—take out one of them, or severely wound one—and then the outcome would be his to decide.
Unfortunately, experts on par with the Danjin level weren’t ordinary people. Their grasp of the battlefield was impeccable. They didn’t get complacent just because they’d drawn blood. They remained steady, methodical, step by step, foiling Jiang Fei’s plans again and again, leaving him no opening to counterattack.
Eventually, Jiang Fei took another sword wound in one of their classic coordinated moves. Worse, the two island nation S-rank assassins he’d sent flying earlier—Monkey and Shadow—were now dead. Monkey had been crushed by a stray swing of Mikhail’s cane while unable to move. Only Shadow remained, and Jiang Fei was starting to get restless.
While fighting with everything he had, Jiang Fei kept racking his brain for a solution.
After a long moment, his eyes shifted. He glanced at the floor-to-ceiling window not far away, and at the still-living assassin Shadow lying near it—and suddenly, an idea struck him.
Jiang Fei’s attacks grew noticeably weaker. He shifted to a more defensive stance, and little by little, his body began moving toward the corner by the window, toward the last surviving assassin—the shadow ninja.
That ninja had been crippled by Jiang Fei earlier, his wrists severed. He was still completely immobile, with zero combat capability. Watching the three true masters tear into each other, he couldn’t even run—all he could do was watch helplessly as his comrade got caught in the crossfire.
And who could say he wouldn’t be the next victim of a stray blast?
If that happened, he’d surely follow his partner to the grave.
Right now, he was on the verge of tears, his mind nearly shattered.
When he noticed the trio’s battle inexplicably shifting closer and closer to his corner by the window, his terror multiplied.
In the end, he just closed his eyes, unable to watch any longer, ready to accept his fate.
And then———
Suddenly, a large hand grabbed his shoulder, hoisting his limp body up like a sack.
The next thing he heard was a sharp crunch—the sound of shattering glass. He felt himself not only lifted but also plummeting downward in free fall!
Sensing the weightless terror and the rush of wind in his ears, Shadow opened his eyes in panic to see what was happening. And sure enough—he was being thrown out of the room, out the window!
But he wasn’t jumping alone—someone was dragging him along!
That someone, of course, was Jiang Fei.
The ninja assassin was petrified. He hadn’t been caught in the blast and killed, but was he going to be thrown off the building to his death instead?
Even if this mysterious young Chinese powerhouse was outmatched and had to flee out the window, couldn’t he just jump by himself? Why drag him along to die too?!
Keep in mind, they were on the fifth floor—four stories up. At about three meters per floor, that was a full twelve meters!
Twelve meters might not sound like much, but when you’re actually up there, it’s pretty damn high.
If he could still move and fight, a fall from this height would only leave him severely injured, not dead. But right now, he couldn’t move at all—falling from this height was certain death.
“Is this Chinese kid afraid that after jumping, he’ll be too hurt to run, so he’s using me as a cushion to absorb the impact?” Shadow thought in terror, feeling his life was over.
But soon, he realized things weren’t as he’d imagined. He was still being held by Jiang Fei, and after falling for a moment, he suddenly felt himself being lifted—not continuing to plummet straight down, but gliding forward!
Jumping from the fifth floor—only twelve meters—was no problem for Jiang Fei at all.
His Qinggong technique, the Wudang Ladder Cloud Step, when mastered, could launch him ten meters straight up from the ground. Going down was even easier—what was twelve meters?
It was like jumping off a two-meter wall. As long as you know how to absorb the impact, you won’t get hurt—almost anyone can do it.
But how many people can jump two meters up from the ground?
Forget two meters—even a one-meter vertical leap is decent. Most people can’t even manage one meter!
Using the mid-air maneuvering of the Ladder Cloud Step, Jiang Fei had no trouble at all jumping from the fifth floor, even with an extra burden in tow. He could land without injury.
Mikhail and Augustus, deep in the heat of battle, never expected Jiang Fei to play by a different rulebook—grabbing an assassin, slashing through the window with his sword, and leaping out!
Five stories up was no obstacle for Jiang Fei with his Wudang Ladder Cloud Step, but for most others—even Danjin-level experts—it was a problem.
But so what? They hesitated only a moment, then almost simultaneously came to the same conclusion—chase!
They exchanged a glance, read each other’s intent, gritted their teeth, and prepared to jump out the window right after him!
But just as they leaped out, countless shards of broken glass—fragments Jiang Fei had shattered moments ago—suddenly seemed to come alive, controlled by some unseen force. They transformed into razor-sharp daggers, converging into a “sword dragon” that surged toward them in a dense, overwhelming torrent!
“What the hell?!” Both Mikhail and Augustus’s eyes went wide with shock.
They hadn’t accounted for this.
A true Eastern sword master, one who’d reached the pinnacle of the sword, could manipulate external objects—turning everything into a weapon and forming their own sword domain.
With the right materials, the lethality was immense.
Back on Mount Emei’s Golden Summit, Yanagisawa and Jiang Fei had used harmless snowflakes to form massive sword dragons. Glass shards were far more dangerous. Under Jiang Fei’s control, forming them into a sword dragon wasn’t difficult.
Even while mid-air and executing the Ladder Cloud Step, he could spare enough focus to pull it off.
It didn’t need to be deadly—just enough to hold off Mikhail and Augustus for a moment!
And sure enough—the two Danjin-level masters, just beginning their descent, saw the dense swarm of glass shards hurtling toward them. They immediately abandoned the pursuit, instead bracing against the hotel wall, grabbing onto a protruding windowsill for footing, and swinging their weapons to block the razor-sharp fragments.
If they’d kept chasing, they’d have had to use their Qinggong mid-air, leaving little energy to defend themselves—and might well have been pierced by those shards.
Meanwhile, Jiang Fei, still holding the ninja assassin, traced a graceful arc through the air, gliding far away and landing swiftly. By the time Mikhail and Augustus finished fending off the glass shards, jumped down again, and scanned for Jiang Fei—he was already gone.
“Damn it!”
Both the “Devil” Augustus and the Vatican ascetic Mikhail wore expressions of pure fury. They’d even cursed out loud.
The two of them had attacked together—and still failed. Their quarry had escaped.
Glancing at the stunned onlookers below, who stood frozen in disbelief—some even wondering if this was a movie shoot—the two didn’t linger. They slipped away swiftly as well.
