Awakening the Divine Spark

Unsurprisingly, Lee’s sword was deflected without much effort and a moment later three men in late twenties or early thirties encircled Jian Wuji. They didn’t come up too close, though, as afraid he would attack first.

There was another one, a fourth attacker, but he stood further in the shadow. All Lee could discern was that the guy leaned at the side of the building and crossed hands on his chest, as if preparing to watch a show.

Outer disciples, seeing Jian Wuji was outnumbered, scattered in the darkness, and to their relief no one followed. Lee also intended to leave Jian brothers to their fate since he couldn’t help at this point, but one of the three attackers, noticing him move, said, "You should stay."

The worlds were polite, but the chilling tone clearly implied Lee would stay here forever.

"They’re just kids, let them go!" Jian Wuji said, slowly drawing his sword again.

Unfortunately, no matter how he positioned himself, he couldn’t stand between the attackers and Tianyu. The younger brother understood that he was currently a burden, but didn’t even flinch. His squinted eyes and slightly bent knees clearly indicated he intended to take at least one attack from the three elemental masters.

"You broke the rules first!" Another attacker said, pointing at his dead comrades, "None of them were elemental masters."

"If a rat comes to my home and attacks my family, you can’t expect me to stand by and watch." Jian Wuji said, "Mine or their cultivation level doesn’t matter. Besides, the bastards were elemental warriors, so I don’t give a fuck!"

Lee could praise the nicely worded insult, but was confused for the reasons of the standoff. The three, no matter how strong they were, clearly had the upper hand. And if history had taught anyone anything, one shouldn’t talk while winning – only express their condolences at the graves of their opponents.

Jian Wuji’s intentions were obvious – to waste as much time as possible in hopes help would arrive. But the attacking party didn’t make any sense.

"Elemental warriors are still commoners." The first attacker said, "You of all people should know the difference."

"If commoners will attack my brother, I’ll still protect him." Jian Wuji said, and Lee felt a slight breeze swirling around him.

The guy clearly was preparing to attack, but if Lee knew it, the attackers knew it even better. They weren’t in a rush and only snickered seeing his intention. But then a youthful voice put an end to the conversation.

The person in the shadows turned out to be a young man, clearly a teenager, judging from his voice. He said, "I’m bored. Get on with it!"

Surprisingly the three guys got all worked up. With words sorry, boss! ... on it, boss! they attacked Jian brothers at the same time. Jian Wuji barely managed to push Tianyu away to avoid him being killed in an instant.

Only now Lee realized this was the move he prepared and with his brother few yards away on the ground, Wuji finally had his hands free.

One of the attackers realized Tianyu was Wuji’s weakness, and intended to use it. Unfortunately for him, the youth guessed it and a split moment later the guy rolled on the ground roaring in pain while holding the stump on his right leg. Wuji couldn’t get a killing blow from the get go, but didn’t hesitate to cripple the opponent.

"You’re breaking the rules again!" The first attacker hissed, and attacked.

He was a fire cultivator, and the first move he used incinerated the grass within ten feet around him. Even Lee, standing over a dozen yards away, felt a wave of heat slam into his face.

This time Jian Wuji didn’t answer. After a couple of feints, he did an evasive roll, at the same time reaching out with his sword hand, and with a precise stab silencing the crippled attacker forever. Then he immediately flipped to his feet, and attacked again, forcing the two take a few steps back, creating a distance between them and Tianyu.

"Killing a disabled person is the last crime you’ll commit!" The second attacker shouted, and glowed in golden light.

Apparently he had an earth affinity, but Lee couldn’t understand what exactly he was going to do against the swift Jian Wuji. No matter how good his defenses were, sooner or later Wuji would get through them.

And Wuji thought the same. After few exchanges, he pretended to leave the earth elemental master alone and focused on the fire wielding one. The guy was good and they seemed to be equally matched. In fact, Wuji suffered a few burns, but nothing too serious.

Just when it looked like he was set on dealing with the fire cultivator first, Jian Wuji sidestepped three yards and stabbed the earth cultivator in the eye. Lee couldn’t see the move clearly, and to him it seemed that Wuji teleported – so fast he was.

The two attackers were shocked and furious. At least for a moment, because after a pause that didn’t last longer than a blink, Wuji moved again, and behind him the attacker’s head exploded, covering surroundings with brain matter. The headless corpse fell to the ground with a loud thud, infuriating the last attacker who madly began to go all out.

Unfortunately for Wuji, it was only a play. With only one attacker remaining, he got too comfortable and after a careless evasive step realized that the attacker had managed to position himself between Jian Wuji and his brother.

It was too late to curse his sibling for not running away, but similarly it was hard to blame him. Just like Lee, Tianyu watched his brother’s performance with held breath. The only problem was that the moment Wuji made a mistake, Tianyu found his neck grabbed in the attacker’s iron-tight grip.

"The two people you killed, were my brothers!" The guy hissed, "Now you’ll learn the meaning of rules!"

Wuji saw the despair on Tianyu’s face and knew his expression was probably even worse. But then the strangest thing happened.

A thin, silvery tip of a sword suddenly sprouted through attacker’s neck. He made a slight gurgling sound, but then the sword tip turned to the side, as did the attacker’s head.

Tianyu felt his feet connecting to the ground again, but the attacker lifelessly slumped down, dead.

Fascinated by the fight, neither Lee nor Jian brothers noticed the shadow from the wall disappearing and appearing behind the last attacker. No one knew why the guy killed one of his own, but from his words one could figure out that he kind of was bored.

"Alright! The warm-up is over." He said, casually kicking the last attacker’s corpse away.

To say he was a young man was a stretch – at most he was at Tianyu’s age, but both the bearing and the expression he had was as if he was an elderly around here.

Lee’s only guess was that it clearly was the attitude of a seasoned sociopath, but he had no time to analyze anything, because the next moment the guy appeared behind Tianyu, who also collapsed to the ground.

"Don’t worry." The guy said, "I don’t hurt children."

It sounded funny since it was said in his own slightly childish voice, but Jian Wuji’s expression turned grave. The part of Tianyu being safe was fine, the problem was – he instinctively knew that the guy represented deadly danger.

"I love to crush young talents." The guy said, "Let’s get to it! I suggest you go all out from the start!"