"They are here. If you don't leave now, you won't have a chance later," Ye Bufan said.
Upon hearing this, Huangfu Yujia pondered for a moment and then bowed to Ye Bufan with clasped fists.
"Remember what you promised me, protect the Chu family," Ye Bufan told Huangfu Yujia. The latter nodded heavily and disappeared from Ye Bufan's sight.
As soon as Huangfu Yujia left, a figure landed on top of the pavilion.
"Ye Bufan, today is your death..." m..oΓg
Before the other party could finish speaking, Ye Bufan's remnant sword had already slit open a wound on their throat. The person, unable to comprehend why, looked at Ye Bufan in terror and fell from the pavilion roof.
"Since you're here, come out," Ye Bufan announced to the surroundings, his voice spreading outwards.
Two breaths later, several figures appeared beside Ye Bufan.
"Six people," Ye Bufan stated calmly.
The six people exchanged glances, and the leader said, "Brothers, let's attack together. Even if we can't defeat him, we can wear him down."
As the words fell, the six men simultaneously drew their weapons and attacked Ye Bufan.
Ye Bufan waved his right hand upwards, and the remnant sword, carrying purple sword energy, shot into the sky, transforming into a purple line.
In the next second, the six men froze for a moment. Then, almost simultaneously, they let out earth-shattering screams as Ye Bufan severed the hands that held their weapons with the remnant sword.
"A few Martial Venerables, daring to conspire to take my life, are truly deluded," Ye Bufan snorted coldly. The purple sword energy of the remnant sword, now a purple thread, weaved through these people. Wherever it passed, a person instantly fell.
Six Martial Venerables, perished!
Ye Bufan sat back down in the pavilion. He recalled what Lin Xiaoyao had told him about the Jianghu bounty order. Lin Xiaoyao had said that for cultivators, such orders were like child's play. Lin Xiaoyao himself had once faced tens of thousands of cultivators without batting an eye.
Half an hour later, another group of experts rapidly approached the pavilion where Ye Bufan was.
Ye Bufan paid them no mind. The newcomers paused slightly upon seeing the six corpses in front of the pavilion. They were all of Martial Venerable strength, and there were more of them, perhaps twenty in total.
"Brothers, with the Jianghu bounty order issued, this is not only a good time to earn money but also an opportunity to test our sword formation," someone in the crowd shouted, bolstering their courage.
"Form the array!" Each of them, holding a long sword, arranged themselves into a formation outside the pavilion. The faint sword energy radiating from each person was amplified little by little within the sword formation.
Finally, the man at the core of the sword formation tossed his slightly aged bronze sword into the air. The bronze sword soared upwards, enveloped by sword energy, transforming into a colossal blade.
Sword energy scattered in all directions, splitting the nearest trees in half.
Ye Bufan dispersed his true qi to protect himself, but the pavilion he was in was not so fortunate. The one at the formation's core, leading the others, thrust his sword fingers towards Ye Bufan.
The pavilion instantly shattered into pieces. Ye Bufan looked at the sword formation, a flicker of interest igniting within him.
Ye Bufan stepped onto his remnant sword and ascended into the sky.
"Since you all excel with the sword, I shall fight sword with sword."
Ye Bufan formed a sword seal with one hand, and an invisible sword instantly appeared before him.
"Charge!" A powerful sword intent emanated from Ye Bufan, instantly amplifying the sword energy. The invisible long sword surged towards their sword formation, clashing with their bronze sword.
"Clang—" The bronze sword let out a ringing cry. The middle-aged man at the formation's core inwardly cried out in alarm, feeling an overwhelming urge to submit to Ye Bufan.
"What is happening?"
The bronze sword broke free from the control of the man at the formation's core, soaring into the sky and then shattering into countless pieces that fell to the ground.
"We have lost," the middle-aged man said, bowing to Ye Bufan with clasped fists.
"Whoosh—" As the man bent over, several poisoned needles shot out from his back.
"Despicable!" Ye Bufan was enraged. The goodwill he had initially felt for them due to the sword duel vanished in an instant.
Ye Bufan stomped his right foot on the ground, and his true qi directly repelled the poisoned needles, sending them back the way they came.
"Ah—"
One of the poisoned needles pierced directly into the forehead of the man at the formation's core. A black mass began to spread outwards from his forehead.
The remaining poisoned needles landed on the men closest to him, who promptly fell to the ground and died.
"Illusionary Sound Demonic Eyes!"
These people's cultivation was low. Ye Bufan had lost all interest in fighting; it was no longer engaging. He used his Illusionary Sound Demonic Eyes and let them perish on their own.
The pavilion had been destroyed, and Ye Bufan had nowhere to rest. He found a large tree and sat down, awaiting the arrival of the next wave of assailants.
"Whoosh—Whoosh—Whoosh—"
As soon as he sat down, several arrows shot towards Ye Bufan from the distant mountain forest. Ye Bufan didn't even look, merely waved his hand, and the arrows fell to the ground.
Three minutes later, another whistling sound broke through the air. This arrow reached Ye Bufan's face. Ye Bufan flicked his finger, and the arrow instantly turned to dust.
The hidden archer, after shooting one arrow, would relocate to find the best attack position and opportunity.
When he appeared at his next location, he found that Ye Bufan had already vanished from his original spot.
"Are you looking for me?" Ye Bufan's voice sounded from behind him. The archer reacted quickly, drawing a gun and firing several shots at Ye Bufan.
However, the bullets halted in mid-air before reaching Ye Bufan.
"Die!"
Ye Bufan, like an emissary of the underworld, pronounced the archer's death. Ye Bufan extended his palm towards his original position, and the arrows the archer had fired earlier rapidly flew towards him.
With a downward sweep of his right hand, these arrows rained down from the sky, piercing the archer's body, one after another.
"You... you're not human!" Terror filled the archer's eyes. Ye Bufan's abilities far surpassed his understanding, making these events seem impossible.
After dealing with the archer, Ye Bufan took a deep breath, surveyed the surroundings, and said, "I didn't expect so many people to be hiding in the shadows. Playing hide-and-seek?"
With that, Ye Bufan flew on his sword, his spiritual sense instantly expanding. Every blade of grass, every tree, even insects were within his perception.
He rapidly traversed the surrounding mountains and forests. In no time, a person would fly up from the ground wherever he passed.
Ye Bufan swung his sword fingers, slaying these people one by one, and finally arrived at the edge of a cliff.