John sighed at the turn of events. He took out his greatsword and said to the man.
"I don't care about the arrangement you have going on here. I have no plans on interfering with that. I only want you to return the girl. I'll even give you the missing money. Why won't you accept?"
The scar faced man laughed loudly before responding. "You don't get it do you. We'll kill you, take all your belongings, and then still collect our tribute from the village. Your proposition has no value to us. Kill him!"
"I don't want to kill you," said John as he prepared for their attack.
The scar faced man laughed loudly once more. "You're only an early Mist Creation level cultivator, and you probably don't even have much fighting experience. You have no choice but to die!"
John was shocked at the man's response. "Early Mist Creation? My sphere dantian is at the middle Mist Creation realm. Can his divine sense not detect that?"
Just as John was thinking about this, one of the men charged straight towards him. John snapped out of his thoughts and watched the man approach.
"That's it? A head on attack? There's no technique involved, he's just using brute force." With John's experience in weapons training, he could easily tell that the man was just slashing out with brute force, relying on his power and cultivation to suppress John.
"He must really think I'm an easy target."
John scoffed as the man approached. John had sparred extensively with weapons since he was a child. Before he could even start cultivating, John was considered an expert when it came to combat. Not only that, his recent journey in the Skycleave Forest greatly expanded his combat experience and power. The man's attack was almost an insult to John.
The five other men were smiling sinisterly as they watched their partner attack John.
"This should be over quickly. You want to make a bet on how long the boy lasts?" asked one of the men.
"Sure, I'll give him five moves" responded another.
"Five? You think too highly of him, I say he won't last more than three moves" stated the first man.
Swish!
They were about to continue their betting discussions when they suddenly stopped. A headless corpse suddenly collapsed to the ground in front of John.
"What? What just happened?" shouted one of them men.
The scar faced man squinted his eyes as he watched John kill one of his men.
"Looks like I was mistaken. You're a lot more skilled than I gave you credit for" said the scar faced man. "All of you surround him and attack together. Don't think he's just some naive child anymore. He's quite strong."
The four men snapped out of their shock and hastily surrounded John.
While being surrounded, John looked at the blade of his greatsword. Blood trickled down the blade edge, a sign of what he had just done. He stared blankly at it for a moment.
"That was my first kill. My first human kill. Why don't I feel..fear? I should feel scared, or shocked, or disgusted. But I feel nothing...in fact, I hate to admit it, but I feel quite excited..what is wrong with me?"
John had expected his first human kill to make him feel some negative emotions, but the only thing he felt was indifference. In fact, a few seconds after he was done with his kill, a lingering sense of excitement started to build up inside of him.
Just as he was thinking about his emotions, John looked up to see all four men rapidly approaching him. Realizing that he was surrounded, John made a quick decision and channeled Qi into his feet.
Five Step Movement Technique
John utilized the first step of the five step movement technique to quickly dash through a hole in the approaching circle of men.
"Wha.."
The man he had just dashed by cried out in shock before his cry was silenced. His lifeless head fell to the ground.
"Careful, he knows a profound movement technique" shouted the scar faced man. He had thought the circle of four men would be enough to kill John. He was not expecting John to know such a profound movement technique. Even he himself didn't have a movement technique, let alone any of his men.
The three other men were seasoned veterans. Despite their comrade dying right in front of them, they quickly changed directions and dashed towards John.
Peng!
John quickly raised his sword with one hand and blocked the attack of the man who had first reached him. His free hand quickly punched out, connecting with the man's ribs.
"Gah!"
The man was sent flying backwards, several of his ribs having shattered from the force of John's punch. A fractured rib punctured his heart, causing him to die several seconds later.
John quickly utilized the first step of the Five Step Movement Technique once more, dashing forward rapidly. A sword passed by moments later where he had just been.
John dashed directly towards the man farthest from him. The man was rapidly approaching John's previous position and was unable to change his direction in time. He quickly raised his sword to block John's incoming attack.
Bang!
A loud bang sounded out as swords collided. The man was sent flying backwards dozens of yards, violently tumbling over and over. John quickly followed up his successful attack by dashing forward to the tumbling man. Before the man could right himself, he felt cold steel enter his body. His eyes turned lifeless.
John turned around and looked at the last remaining man. The man's eyes opened in shock before he quickly turned to flee.
Che!
A sword light cleaved the man in half. His lifeless body collapsed to the ground.
John squinted his eyes.
"Why did you kill your own man?" asked John.
"He was useless. He couldn't even handle a child, and even turned to flee. What use would I have for such a subordinate?" replied the scar faced man.
John stared at the man but said nothing.
The man was silent for some time before speaking out.
"Based on your movement technique, I guess you really are from the Fenix Clan. Only someone from a clan such as that would have access to such a profound movement technique. It's curious however, why are you traveling alone when you could be protected by powerful guards? Aren't you afraid of dying?"
John realized that the man was trying to get information from him. If John confirmed he was from the Fenix Clan, the man wouldn't hesitate to slaughter the entire town to cover up the fact of him killing John. The scar face man realized that even if John was from the Fenix Clan, it was too late for apologies. Either he killed John and the entire town, or his life would be over regardless.
John stared at the man but didn't respond. He wasn't about to play along with the man's game.
"It doesn't matter. Once I'm done killing you, I'll handle the rest of them anyways!" The scar face man dashed quickly towards John, his sword glowing slightly as he slashed down.