Chapter 471: Cultivators Gathering Against a Barbarian

In all his long life, Wan Fei had never visited visited Deadwaste. Never thought about it, never imagined that it could contain any challenge or advancement worth of him. It had barely entered into his mind, more a metaphor for weakness than a truly existing place.

Now it seemed as though it might be the death of him.

Because the locals were too coordinated, he had no choice but to hide within the wilderness and protect the young master while trying to solve their conundrum. The strictest interpretation of duty would require them to eradicate all of the dryads in the region, but he suspected that if he brought the young master back intact, no one would particularly care about the details. Even that would prove difficult, because he couldn't sustain higher flight across the massive ocean. And though his speed was superior to the barbarian's in the air, he doubted his stamina was equal, and to fly would be to reveal his location.

It was a difficult problem unlike any he had faced. So far he had collected two other Earth Souls who could protect the young master, which left him free to investigate and consider further. Even still, it was difficult to come to a solution...

"This is intolerable!" Yul Wei Ren threw down his cup and, when it didn't shatter on the grass, stomped on it. "Wasting my time with the Verdant River sect was at least a vacation, but this shithole is beneath me!"

"Young master, please be patient," one of the Earth Souls said. "We must be cautious here."

"Just because of one barbarian? Absurd! I could tear apart most of their so-called warriors with my bare hands!"

Though he said nothing, Wan Fei was privately not so confident of that. Yul Wei Ren was incredibly lax in his cultivation and especially martial arts training, relying on waving a hand and throwing qi techniques. The mana cultivators here, though weak in absolute terms, were well-trained. One could well kill the young master... which was another reason they needed to be so cautious.

"Hey, Grandpa Wanwan! Why can't you just beat that bastard?"

Wan Fei took a deep breath and thought about loyalties to old friends before he answered. "He has the strength of a Sky Soul, young master. I cannot-"

"I thought you were supposed to be strong! My father told me you could protect me from anyone, but you turned out to be worthless!"

"I am sorry, young master, but your father would not want me to let you come to any harm. Please wait a while longer, then we can steal one of their ships."

Of course Yul Wei Ren began to whine about how the airship dock was right in front of them, they should just take it, and so forth. Wan Fei turned away, letting one of the Earth Souls explain how they needed to wait to make sure the barbarian was nowhere nearby. There was always the chance that these airships, the only ones in the area, were some sort of trap.

It took half a day, but suddenly a shockwave boomed on the horizon. The barbarian was moving again... away from them, further south. His movements were becoming more precise, no doubt drawing on information from his local allies, so another Earth Soul was likely dead. That was an acceptable sacrifice, if it let them escape this place.

"Go," Wan Fei commanded. "Take the fastest ship, to the east."

"That one? It's tiny!" Yul Wei Ren continued to whine, but the Earth Souls obeyed the command and they all rushed into the shipyard.

The first two guards who were in their way tried to stand against them, rather bravely, and died instantly. Wan Fei stomped his foot and released a shockwave, sending all of the others tumbling without taking their lives. He had intended to cause enough internal damage to disable them, but even weak warriors were surprisingly durable here.

"What are you doing?" Yul Wei Ren groused. "Just kill them!"

"We need workers to prepare the ship, young master. Please wait while we arrange your ride."

After the guards were subdued, the workers obeyed his commands to prepare the fastest ship. They were capable of obedience... but he was surprised at the looks they shot him. It was as if, despite the undeniable difference in power, they truly didn't believe that he was any better than them. Some were beaten for their insolence, one of them to death, but the survivors only seemed to look disgusted at him.

They quickly destroyed the useless supplies, leaving the ship capable of taking to the sky. No sign anyone had noticed, and there was only one aging airship, drifting in their direction. It wouldn't even arrive before they had departed. Honestly, the greatest barrier to their departure might be to convince the young master to get on board... he was chasing down a particularly shapely woman among the workers, wasting all of their time.

Well, at least they had plenty, since their scouting...

Another shockwave echoed very close by.

Too late, Wan Fei realized that the barbarian was here. He had been certain the previous sighting was the monstrous man, yet now he streaked out of the clunky airship. His speed was such that he was on them in an instant.

Yet instead of attacking Wan Fei while he was unprepared, which would have been the strategically correct choice, the barbarian struck at the young master. Not even to kill him - which would have been rational - but merely knocking him aside and carrying the woman to a safe distance. To save the life of a peasant at the cost of every military objective...

Then both Earth Souls slumped to the ground, revealing dark spikes buried in their backs.

Wan Fei sighed and leapt to defend the young master, striking at the barbarian's back. The man turned with troubling speed, deflecting his attacks more easily than before. It was disturbing how he was still growing stronger, as if he was nowhere close to his limits... and even more disturbing how quickly he seemed to be adapting. The techniques of Cloudspire should have been too refined for barbarians, but clearly not in this case.

The two of them struck one another with powerful blows and skidded back, neither yet injured. Yul Wei Ren shouted insults from his hiding place, but Wan Fei ignored him. More than the battle, he wanted to understand this madness...

"Why didn't you kill the young master earlier?" he asked.

"If I did," the barbarian said, "would you surrender?"

"No. My duty would command that I kill you. To do any less than bring back your head would be to sign my own death warrant."

"There you go."

"This is nonsense... why would you value my life? If you had managed a sneak attack on me, no one else could stand against you."

The barbarian watched him with those unnerving eyes, then tilted his head to the side. "I have a question for you: why didn't you kill everyone in your way here?"

"That..." Wan Fei shifted, more uncomfortable than he expected, no longer able to voice what he now knew was an excuse. "There was no reason to kill them. They are not involved with this and we only needed their ship."

"It seems to me that the 'young master' there has never had a single solitary thought in his life," the barbarian said. "He truly believes that because he was fortunate enough to stumble onto some power, he's better than other people. But you, you seem different to me. You actually have some value as a human being, so why serve him?"

"I already answered these questions! Do you think that by repeating them, you will somehow convince me?"

The barbarian shrugged indifferently, but as he did so, his body began to transform for combat. "Figure out what matters to you soon. I respect you, but I've killed enemies I respected before."

Wan Fei struck, trying to take back the initiative, but to his surprise he found his blows ineffective. The very first time he fought, this barbarian had broken into C rank, and his Physique had only improved since then. Worse, his bodily transformation was not merely random, he grew armor and spikes specifically to counter his techniques. Palm strikes were almost totally useless against him now, and more techniques would soon become disadvantaged.

For the first time in years, Wan Fei felt a flicker of real fear. He had faced many opponents stronger than he was, not least the great patriarchs, but this was the first time he felt that he might be facing one who was truly superior. On impulse he broke away, dissolving into his higher flight technique.

Most could never have pulled off the maneuver, but he broke off his flight beside Yul Wei Ren, grabbed him, and drew him into the technique. He did it all at the highest possible speed he could, hoping to avoid the attack he knew was coming, because the barbarian was reacting to flight techniques faster and faster each time.

Instead, as he streamed away, he only saw the large man watching him silently. Somehow that was worse.