Chapter 210: Dragon's fury.
Chapter 210: Dragon's fury.
The man's flames burned with passion and ferocity as they developed into a ball the size of a small house and shot out toward Haru. It was a lucky break for Haru since no flame could harm him, he had nothing to worry about from the attack.
It seemed like the old man specialised in fire attacks. If that was the case then it didn't seem like it would have been that much of an impossible task for Haru to defeat him. But he was still yet to know who he was.
If they had men wearing Chinese military uniforms with them then that meant they were from the government. Or at least worked in a government sector. If so then there would be consequences if he was to fight against them. But on the other hand, he wasn't the one that attacked first. Anything that would happen after this would class as self-defence since he was attacked right off the bat without antagonising anyone.
The best situation would be to solve the matter without a fight but with the huge fireball heading toward him, that didn't seem like a realistic option for him at the moment.
As Haru pointed his finger at the huge incoming fireball a small spark shot out at lightning-fast speeds and flew toward the huge ball of fire before a large explosion took place in the sky above him. The explosion was closer to the man who was wearing the red robes and he took the impact from it directly to his face.
A wisp of smoke came from his face as the hairs singed slightly and the fabric covering his chest ripped open causing a layer of carbon to be scorched on to his chest, staining his skin black.
The man didn't quite believe what had happened. He expected that his second attack would wipe Haru out completely since he didn't use his full power before. But what was this strength? He couldn't sense Qi coming from Haru's body but there was the faint residue of Qi coming from two of his fingers where he had both the dragon emperor ring and the storage ring.
"An artefact is the source of this power!? I need to get my hands on that ring!" The man said to himself with excitement as he mistook Haru's power for the power of an artefact. For a cultivator of his level, he was stupid and blinded by greed enough to the point of letting his guard down.
He changed his position in the sky and faced his body forward toward Haru before taking off at a speed that would have been incomprehensible to Haru if not for the fact that he had ridden on the back of a dragon during an illusion.
Although he was clearly outclassed by the strength of the cultivator before him. It didn't seem to bother Haru at all. He still felt like he was more knowledgeable about cultivation to be able to stand his ground. And even if it was looking like he wouldn't be able to win the fight he would at least be able to escape.
Until suddenly the direction the man was flying in changed suddenly as his body vanished in mid-air. Haru looked around in confusion for a few seconds before feeling someone's hand on the lower half of his back.
He quickly turned to see the man standing there with a gaping smile on his face, showing off a toothy grin as Haru slowly gained a feeling similar to nauseousness as pain so great to make him shiver hit his body. Making him feel like he was on the verge of throwing up.
He had underestimated the power of the cultivator even though he knew that he was stronger. He had become so confident in his own abilities that he had forgotten that there are people out there with much more talent than he had himself.
He had been fighting enemies weaker than him for so long that he hadn't come across someone with this kind of speed and strength. And it completely crushed any sense of pride Haru had within him.
He looked down at where the pain was coming from to see that half of his body had vanished. Blood was dripping from a gaping hole the size of a pumpkin in the right side of his body. His organs had been torn apart in a flash and he was bleeding heavily.
'I was sure' Haru thought as he turned to see that there were now two of the same old man. Although one of them had a mole on his cheek.
"I was wondering when you were going to make your attack. You have been hiding in the shadows for a while now." The man without the mole on his cheek said to the other.
"Well, I thought that you wouldn't need any help against a boy but I got a little bored waiting for you." The other laughed slightly with his hand stuck firmly in between Haru's internal organs.
'Twins? No, they're not twins More like clones.' Haru thought as he looked at both of the men who looked exactly the same except a few minor details. Haru had sensed all of the people nearby but the only one worth worrying about was the old man.
But these two had the same Qi. There wasn't anything to tell the difference between them from Qi alone. It was like they had cultivated the same art together and for the same amount of time. There wasn't a single flaw in their cultivation that Haru could see through.
"What made you attack now? It thought you would have continued to hide in the shadows." The first man spoke once again addressing the one who had attacked Haru.
"Well, it looks like I have come to the same conclusion that you have. These rings hold the power to absorb flames and then allow you to use them to attack." The man said with a smile as Haru finally collapsed to the floor from blood loss. His mind was becoming fuzzy and his vision was going blurry.
He didn't even know what was happening. Why had these people ambushed him? Was it all a setup to blame the murder of the Leung family on him since he had a previous altercation with them? But that seemed a little too far fetched for him. No one but Han knew that he was planning on going to their house.
'Dod Han sell me out? No why would he? He needed me to fight in a tournament for him He wouldn't plot against me would he?' Haru thought before closing his eyes. His lungs drew in air quietly as the weakness that came with dying took over his body.
"Really though? Did you plan to kill the boy? It would be better if we took him in for questioning." The first man said.
"What is there to question? We found him at the scene of the crime amongst a pile of corpses. What more do we need from him? He killed a manifestation stage cultivator and that is a crime punishable by death. Either way he would be killed for this so is it not better to get it over with now?" The man with the sinister smile questioned.
The other man sighed with frustration like he was used to hearing things like that.
"This is why the higher-ups don't let you go outside. You convict people of crimes just so you can kill them. Did you not wonder why they sent me here. Now quickly grab those rings for me. I'm going to take them in as evidence." The first man said with a smile.
"What? No way. Do you think I am stupid enough to let you take them? You just want them for yourself. I killed him so it is only right that I get to keep the spoils, isn't it? That's the rule you came up with the last time we worked together." The man with the mole on his cheek replied, outraged by what the other man suggested.
When suddenly a flash of blue, shot past both of them. Stopping their arguing instantly as their attention changed to the man with long blue hair that was now crouching down next to Haru who was bleeding out on the floor.
"Hey what are you-" The man with the mole on his cheek began to ask with hostile intent in his voice. The man with long blue hair turned his head slightly to look at him with bright green glowing eyes that shined like headlights in the darkness.
The man bit his tongue as he looked at the bright green eyes and became terrified as a dark aura began to swirl around in the trees surrounding them. The darkness wiggled like the body of a snake before slowly climbing higher into the sky to reveal the vague shape of a dragon that was now surrounding them all like a wall of darkness.
Both the men looked at each other for comfort but the feeling of inevitable doom that surrounded them was too much. They still felt on edge even after trying to snap each other out of it.
The man then turned around and knelt back down next to Haru who was on the verge of bleeding to death when suddenly a flash of green light, similar to the one that came from his eyes surrounded Haru's body before small orbs of light gathered around the outside of his body to create a protective shell over the place he was bleeding from.
A few seconds went by before the light vanished and skin had now formed underneath and his body looked as good as new. There wasn't even the slightest sign that he might have been injured.
Haru opened his eyes to see the silhouette of a shadow peering down on him with gentle green orbs for eyes. He didn't need to guess who It was since the aura was overpowering.
"Lao, I'm sorry. I severely underestimated the situation." Haru apologised for his lack of trust in Lao. He was originally worried about Lao losing control and killing someone if they annoyed him so he left him at home. But if it wasn't for him right now. Haru might have been beyond the point of saving.
"It's okay. You don't have to worry." Lao's voice was both soothing and threatening as he turned around to face the two men that were still too frightened to move from their spots.