Ashes Of Heaven Book 1 : Solar Calamity

*Clink* *screech*

Instead of sinking into Xuhan's back, the tip of the dagger encountered a solid block of metallic elements.

Han Xuhan felt a sharp pang of pain searing through his back as his assailant's weapon slipped, only managing to leave a shallow slash on his left.

Less than half a second later, Shen Kai crashed into his back as well, unable to maintain balance due to the surprising development.

Han Xuhan's body pretty much flew forward due to the incredible force behind the collision.

But Shen Kai's surprise lasted for only half a second. His body was tilted at an awkward angle. In mid-air, it's extremely difficult for one to change their posture without preparation. But Shen Kai somehow managed to twist his body away from Xuhan like a flying worm, trying to avoid any type of retaliation from Xuhan.

However, he was overestimating Xuhan's capability.

Han Xuhan never managed to attack him back.

In fact, he was busy skidding forward in such an exaggerated manner that it could fit the scene of a rabbit getting hit by a warhammer. His body traversed at least ten meters, spun 180° in the air, barely avoided the edge of the underground tunnel, and hit a thick tree with a loud *SMACK*

By then, Shen Kai had recovered from his surprise, steady as ever back on his feet. Without any hesitation, he leaped forward with superhuman strength and landed right in front of Xuhan's crumpled figure.

"What did you put on your back, kid?"

Xuhan groaned and tried to sit up. He had hidden his knife sets in the numerous small pockets on the back of his robe. Getting stabbed in the back through the heart is a very common way of dying in stories, after all!

Han Xuhan made sure that the area behind his heart and lungs was mostly covered by double-layered leather with knives sheathed inside. Who knew it would actually save his life so soon?

However, he hadn't foreseen that his first opponent would be so incredibly powerful. Many outer court disciples he knew had reached the fourth layer of the physique transformation realm a long time ago. He was certain that none of them could burst out with such strength and agility.

Shen Kai had definitely lied about his cultivation level! He had to be much stronger, maybe even stronger than Mu Ran!

Xuhan, with his early second-layer cultivation level, was no different from a child fighting an adult. This wasn't even a fight, but more like a butcher subduing a chicken. Even if he attacked Shen Kai with all of his strength, he wouldn't be able to leave any serious injuries on him unless Shen Kai welcomed his attack without putting up any sort of defense at all.

"Damn, brother Shen, you're so strong! We have no grievances between us! Have I offended you somehow? I had eyes but I couldn't see mountain Tai! Please have mercy!"

The situation here was much different from the time he had faced Xiao Wang. At that time, he was certain that no righteous organization like the Crimson Snow sect would shelter a truly evil, malicious elder. Elder Shen's hands had been forced by Mu Ran already. The man would do his best to save him whether he wanted to or not. Besides, there wasn't any way he could have fought Xiao Wang anyway.

But now, he had plans, defensive measures, but no overpowered elder to save his butt...he would have to desperately put up a fight.

Shen Kai was stunned for the second time. He had never expected Xuhan to be so weak, to begin with. On top of that, Xuhan looked like he was about to cry while begging him to spare his life.

What kind of sniveling brat did the Crimson Snow sect send here?

Shen Kai's eyes narrowed into slits. He knew how the Crimson Snow sect operated. They wouldn't even select a coward like this if he wasn't some sort of cultivation genius. But Han Xuhan seemed useless from every point of view...except, he had somehow survived an assassination attempt by somebody much more powerful than him. But that could be attributed to luck, right?

Han Xuhan, meanwhile, was stammering with a painful expression on his face as he slowly inched backward. His body ached terribly. He couldn't even muster up enough strength to sit up properly.

Despite the pleadings for mercy coming out of his mouth in a frenzy, Xuhan's nerves had become calmer. Before Shen Kai had revealed his murderous intention, the enemy in his mind was something he was unfamiliar with. The unknown is always much scarier compared to enemies who had revealed themselves and their abilities. Granted, Xuhan was aware that his enemy was much stronger than he had anticipated, but it didn't mean he would just lie down and wait for death.

Shen Kai snorted at Xuhan's pleadings. Even he realized that the beggings resembled veiled insults. Smiling thinly, he advanced toward Xuhan's retreating form.

"Hey, look at you! Not so high and mighty now, eh? Where did all that pomp and eloquence go?"

Shen Kai naturally wasn't willing to waste his time mocking his weak opponent. But he felt that this guy was a bit of a weirdo. Shen Kai was experienced when it came to life and death battles. He knew when to hold back and when to advance swiftly.

Shen Kai was confident that this kid had some secret cards to play. The aim of his verbal abuse was to stir up Han Xuhan's anger and make him eager to retaliate. An eager warrior is a dead warrior when the final outcome is either life or death. And cocky youths like Xuhan were always prone to getting riled up in a verbal battle.

However, the scene he imagined didn't happen. Xuhan simply kept begging for mercy while backing up. What irked Shen Kai even more was that all of Xuhan's pleadings sounded like they had been taken out of a cheap soap opera written by someone who has never been in an actual fight.

"Big brother Shen Kai, you're a dragon among men. You're a real man! How can you hit and bully weaklings like me? Please spare this shrimp's life and you'll definitely accumulate great positive karma, enough to push even a fucking dungworm to the celestial realm! Even if you cripple my cultivation, I'm fine with that! Just don't kill me. Killing me will bring great bad karma to you-"

"Okay, shut the fuck up."

Shen Kai had had enough of this crap. Time was running out.

His original cultivation level was at the sixth layer of the physique transformation realm, yet he had to listen to the crap this trash kept spewing; it felt insulting.

He knew almost no righteous cultivator whose pride could fall so low. Was this guy a dimwit?

If he had any trump cards, he should have played them before degrading himself like this. Besides, what can a cultivator at the second layer of the physique transformation realm do to him?

The most concerning issue was that Mu Ran was waiting for them on the other side of the portal. That guy, despite his low cultivation level, was a difficult opponent to handle. Shen Kai's instinct told him that taking care of Mu Ran wouldn't be as easy as Han Xuhan. He had to finish up the work on this side as fast as possible lest Mu Ran should suspect something.

The distance between Xuhan and Shen Kai was barely seven steps. As Shen Kai stepped forward and raised his dagger like a reaper about to harvest a life, the dirt underneath his feet felt slightly uneven. Looking down from the corner of his eyes, Shen Kai saw a roughly made shoe under his feet, barely visible in the dim moonlight.

Without further hesitation, Shen Kai's body leaned forward and his right hand swung in a fluid motion. But before the dagger had reached Xuhan's throat, Shen Kai noticed a cunning smirk replacing Xuhan's pleading expression.

Shen Kai felt his nerves tighten and his hair straightening into needles. He instantly took a couple of steps back, his reaction instinctive from past battle experience.

Nothing happened.

Shen Kai waited another two seconds, standing still with his nerves strained. The moment he perceived a threat, he was going to move with every bit of explosive strength he could muster.

Still nothing.

Damned brat! It was a feint!

Shen Kai's anger reached an immeasurable peak as he growled and rushed forward again at Han Xuhan. The infuriating kid scurried back with a pale expression.

BOOM!

With an unexpected, subdued exploding sound, Shen Kai felt a tremendous gravitational force pushing him in a tall arc like an arrow. Something had exploded behind him!

Han Xuhan had been trying to buy time for this move! He had been tricked!

About fifteen feet away, Han Xuhan suddenly stopped scampering backward and pulled out two small knives from his robes in a practiced motion.

Without stopping his motion, without any preparation or aiming, he threw both knives at Shen Kai's unprotected face. The Whole process was beautifully synchronized with the sound of the explosion.

Even after suffering such a blow, Shen Kai recovered his bearing in mid-air in less than half a second. He didn't dwell on the source of the explosion. He didn't need to, in such a precarious moment. Instead, he pushed his arms in front of his face and shielded his eyes from the first knife, which was already halfway on its trajectory.

The reflexes and agility of a cultivator at the sixth layer of the physique transformation realm were far beyond what such weaklings could crack through.

But what hit his palm was the butt of the knife, really softly at that too. The impression Shen Kai got from that impact was that...the attacker had never practiced throwing knives in his life.

Damn it! Another false move!

Shen Kai removed his hands from his face and...saw the other knife flying toward his heart. Instinctively, he pulled his hands to form a shield over his chest, knowing full well that it wasn't even a threat.

What if the first throw had been an intentional blunder?

Within these two seconds since the explosion, Shen Kai's mind had become a mess.

Adding to his chagrin, the second knife also hit his hand...and rebounded off like a twig. By then, Han Xuhan had brought out two axes from his waist-buckles and leaped forward at Shen Kai's stumbling figure.

Shen Kai could do nothing but to numbly stagger toward the kid due to the inertia. His feet were already touching the ground, skidding forward and digging shallow ditches. The residual gravitational force of the explosion had still not fully receded. What sort of terrible weapon was this?!

The axes held above Han Xuhan's head looked like two small guillotines waiting for his neck to fall under them. His hands were still clutched over his chest, and he knew he wouldn't be able to pull them back to use his dagger to block the swing of either axe.

How did this happen? Shen Kai briefly wondered. This scene was totally opposite to the situation that had been under his control barely five seconds ago.