Between their mismatched clothes, lack of discipline, and failure to even draw their weapons as they ambushed him, it was easy for Bai Qi to determine that the cultivators surrounding him were not officials or members of a power.

And between the mention of the [Dongpo Clan], their response to his taunt, and the initial words of the middle-aged 7th level Warrior Lord, it was not hard to guess that this was just some petty revenge from the nobleman who had been humiliated before the gates of the city—the one who turned out to be the heir of the current City Lord.

As Bai Qi thought, he muttered the last words aloud, even adding an insult at the end. "...really? As I don't have a backing that your master fears, he released the dogs without thinking that, as dogs, they can't compare to a person?"

Bai Qi wanted an incident, and an incident fell on his lap. While openly fighting against the heir of an established clan and city ruler wasn't something he could currently do, just killing some rogues that attacked him was a different story. Thus, he didn't hesitate to offend them. Neither did he hesitate to show off a heaven-defying prowess of a level, not sure of how much rumors about his true strength had spread. Not that there was a need to keep any secrecy. After all, Bai Qi's current trump card was his mind power. Something that he wouldn't reveal openly until most of the dangerous situations.

***

Compared to dogs, either Dai Zhenya or the other six would feel anger rising, and they would be in their right, no matter if they were - truly - dogs for Dongpo Qingqiu. And yet, neither of them found something to say to Bai Qi, as just a moment before, a single release from his aura had already forced them to step back, or even worse, for the weaker trio, to pathetically fly away and crash against the walls of the surrounding buildings.

Still, even if they had been forced back, the seven of them considered themselves strong cultivators, especially Dai Zhenya, who 15 years ago was a star of the [Dai Clan]. A clan that ruled over a far more prosperous city, [Supporting Wing of the West], and was far more powerful than the [Dongpo] one he was now serving. If not for a few missteps and his stagnant cultivation, Dai Zhenya wouldn't even look at such an idiot who couldn't even reach the Warrior Lord by himself.

"So, you think you can insult us, calling us dogs?" Dai Zhenya sneered as he looked over the three pushed-back Warrior Lords, sending a short qi-transmission as he unleashed his weapon, [Bloodteeth Whip].

_______

While Bai Qi was a foreigner on this plane, and he had not yet understood or learned more than the general situation, even he had once heard of weapons akin to the [Bloodteeth Whip]. After all, since some 100 years ago, every weapon or armor marked with the [Blood] character had become a cautionary tale about how a weapon could both make and destroy a genius.

The [Blood] armaments themselves weren't even high-tier, the best just barely scraping the middle-quality of the Earth-tier treasures. Still, they were the weapons created by the cultivators of an evil sect from years ago called the [Bloody Teeth] which took influence from the inheritance of a 5th step [Refining] path master that had created his own method of cultivation, basing all of it on the weapons and armor one refined from the deceased or defeated.

While any part of a living being could be used, for some reason, the [Blood Serpent Forgemaster], Xue Jinlong's method worked to the utmost with the victim's teeth, thus his method not only receiving the name of [Bloody Teeth] but even giving birth to a sect to follow it that shared the same name.

While the sect never reached a level to significantly affect the plane or even a single region and was destroyed by just a few 4-th and 3rd-tiered or equivalent powers from the [Great Forest] and [Ten Families] regions, it still became the tale of how the work of a genius refiner that wasn't found guilty of anything but using beasts or willing, dying, cultivators to refine better weapons for the betterment of his plane became the indirect founder of a dangerous cult after someone had found that living and cruelly killed cultivators teeth would not only work for the process but also give a far better result.

The story also revealed how one's path could be corrupted by their followers, whether with or without justification. The tale warned that even a righteous path, with just a simple twist, could harm innocent people. While the method itself wasn't evil, it could easily be twisted and became a way to create dozens of weapons that were truly evil after a few processes.

From bounding the deceased soul to the weapon to stealing part of the latter's cultivation by using parts of the latter's body, the [Bloody Teeth] sect had not only experimented wildly but actually improved the original method, as, different from the creator, they cared nothing about except for the result.

In fact, even one of the most famous, or infamous, lost Earth-tier treasures spoken about in the trade halls, called the [Teethed Soft Blood Armor], was something developed via the twisted method of the [Blood Serpent Forgemaster] by the sect he had never founded or envisioned.

_______

As Dai Zhenya summoned his weapon from the [Storage Ring] on his left hand and sensed the latter's aura, Bai Qi even felt a bit of worry. He recalled that the mix of leather, iron, and human teeth could only mean a weapon of the [Blood] series—a piece of information he had acquired while buying materials in [Shoumen] from the talkative clerk who had attended him.

Thankfully for Bai Qi, the [Bloodteeth Whip] was just a simple weapon created by a disciple of the [Bloody Teeth] sect, and even if it had been enough for Dai Zhenya to commit the highest crime against one's clan, killing one's kin, even forming an inner demon inside him that had prevented any advancement of his cultivation, was just a lowest-tier Earth weapon without any exceptional qualities but it's teethed bite and a single coupled martial skill. A skill that Dai Zhenya used right away as he summoned the whip.

The irregularly white-edged whip was just some nine feet long, half of it made from a kind of reddish metal while the other made from the skin of a [Scarlet Bonewolf], adding a hint of chaos to the already horrific weapon, but as Dai Zhenya swung it while releasing over a third of his qi-reserve, the whip suddenly elongated, the spiked, teethed head rushing towards Bai Qi at lightning speed and reached him instantly, as if the distance between the two combatants wasn't over thirty feet but they were standing just one near another!

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As if this attack was a signal, the pushed-back but still-standing Warrior Lords from Dai Zhenya released weapons and added their own attacks to the latter's.

"Die!" The 5th level Warrior Lord whose aura Bai Qi had shattered the first summoned a short sword and threw it at the latter while releasing nearly half of his qi into a martial skill he called out loudly, "[Swordstrike Torrent]!"

The martial skill that the man was using was a trump card, which was capable of finishing the battle. However, this skill required a significant amount of qi and infusion of aura in the departing aura. It was evident that the man was giving his all. After all, if his attack was blocked, he would be left without a weapon momentarily.

Meanwhile, another of the remaining opponents, a 4th level Warrior Lord, lunged forward with a pair of sleek and deadly daggers infused with the essence of darkness, unleashing the [Shadowstrike Dagger]. The daggers whirled through the air with deadly precision. Each strike aimed at vital points on Bai Qi's body meant to exploit weaknesses and leave him vulnerable to a barrage of follow-up attacks. This martial skill was a cunning and devious assault that relied on stealth and timing, allowing the cultivator to strike swiftly and decisively from a medium range with deadly accuracy. With two martial skills already flying towards Bai Qi, the somewhat petite man, just around 5 feet tall and skinny to the extreme, was sure of scoring a hit.

Simultaneously, the last remaining standing opponent, a peak 2nd level Warrior Lord brandished a simple-looking spear crackling with electrical energy, unleashing the [Thunderbolt Spear] technique to unleash a barrage of lightning-infused strikes from a medium range. With a powerful thrust, bolts of lightning hurtled through the air toward Bai Qi, each strike carrying the force of a thunderclap. The electrifying assault meant to leave Bai Qi stunned and disoriented, open for the attacks that would arrive after, as the [Thunderbolt Spear] technique was not only one of the most disruptive spirit techniques but also one of the quickest ones.

***

*Swoosh* *Swoosh* *Swoosh* *Cracle*

With a whip, a short sword, a pair of daggers, and even a lighting bolt approaching him in the span of a single breath, Bai Qi showed none of the expected panic. In fact, he showed no emotion at all.

While it was clear from their fully powered attacks that neither of his attackers was weak, in fact, Dai Zhenya could be counted even as a genius, his strength being significantly above a 7th level Warrior Lord, neither of them was an opponent for Bai Qi, not after his gains in the [Delicate Forest Palace] sanctum and his late fights.

Still, Bai Qi had only released an aura comparable to a peaked genius of the 7th level Warrior Realm, and he didn't plan to utilize anything else, apprehensive and wary of any observers. Thus, in place of mobilizing the full power of his aura to crush the incoming attacks or even calling the glaive he inherited just some days ago, his only intact weapon at the moment, he ignored all of the attacks until the last moment before releasing a roar infused with a small amount of [White Tiger] essence.

*ROAR*

This roar felt even short to the technique stemming from the connection between him and the Bai sisters, and while usually, this [Divine Beast] skill should have been a card to hide, he had already used it to the maximum on the [Pride Island]. Thus, between revealing something he wasn't sure others knew about, like his peak-clas Earth-tier grade weapon, he went with something that even a low-level local power as the forgotten and lost branch of the [Sima Great Family] in the city had already learned about. Even making it so the rumors and news would only be proven to a lesser expect. Still, even weakened, it was enough.

*BOOM*

The thunder spear technique's projectile exploded without any warning, simply by being reached by the first soundwave.

*Clang*

The short sword aiming at his glabella was flung away by the same first wave as if it wasn't a spirit-tier weapon under the influence of a martial skill but just some common rock.

*Whoosh* *Crash*

While both Dai Zhenya cultivation, martial skill, and weapon were far above the others, it still was forced away from Bai Qi, deviating an entire five inches and hitting the stone pavement of the city, shattering not one but a dozen of the reinforced [Unchipping Rock] pieces used in most of the low-class cities of the plane. Not that Dai Zhenya was weak, or that Bai Qi's methods were above him, no, it was simply that a martial skill could never compare to even a small amount of the actual divine essence.

Heavens, if Bai Qi used his genuine [White Tiger] roar at his full, current strength, it would even somewhat wound Emperors. Well, if the latter found themselves in a moment of being absolutely defenseless. Like if they were either dead or detained, as Warrior Emperors lived and breathed by the Qi, with no real moment of unpreparedness except for the previous two cases.

*Swoosh* *Swoosh*

As a concealed skill, the two daggers, under the influence of the [Shadowstrike Dagger] skill, managed to avoid the obvious threat - the roar - and even got so close as to touch Bai Qi's aura cover. Still, before the caster of the skill and owner of the weapons could notice it, Bai Qi's aura's cover suddenly transformed, forming two whip-arm-like constructs covered in lightning wisps, stopping the spirit-tier weapons a moment they could even attempt to inflict some harm.

*Swoosh* *Swoosh* *BOOM*

Furthermore, before anyone could react, not even a Warrior King observing the situation, Bai Qi took over the daggers, banishing all of the owner's inscriptions and soul imprint with a powerful release of lightning, after which they were sent flying away with a speed even superior to the [Shadowstrike Dagger] one, and accompanied by a thunderclap.

*Splatter*

Zhang Wei, as the 4th level Warrior Lord accompanying Dai Zhenya was called, hadn't even suppressed the inner turmoil inside his soul and mind caused by the sudden severance from his bound weapons when one of his [Shadowsteel Daggers] penetrated his head just half an inch from his glabella.

But Bai Qi had sent two daggers out, and so, before Zhang Wei, who wasn't even aware of his death, dropped to the ground, one of the three weakest members of the group, the ones sent crashing against the nearby buildings and had just started to stand up, had by chance or misfortune, stood up just in the path of the second dagger.

*Splatter* *Thump* *Thump*

"So, all of your threats just amount to this? Not even seven dogs can deal with an actual cultivator. Oh, sorry, five, as two dogs are already dead." Bai Qi had retaliated against the dagger user by both instinct and conviction. After all, someone who used such methods to kill should be killed in turn as well. He had not expected to actually land a second hit or kill the 1st level Warrior Lord that posed him no threat from the start, but it happened. And so Bai Qi used the fact to not only continue his arrogant manner but also to glare at the surviving members of the group that had attempted to ambush him.

Not that he felt anything for the death of a man that had come to attack him and in a group, but he was still somewhat inwardly dumbfounded at such development. Not that he failed to use it.