Twenty minutes into his journey, the familiar rhythm of his own footsteps was joined by a subtle, discordant note.

  It wasn't a sound his ears could consciously parse, but a whisper of displaced Qi, a faint scrape of a boot on gravel where there should have been only the soft crunch of his own.

  A prickle of killing intent, amateurish but undeniable, brushed against the edges of his sharpened spiritual senses. Three of them. Tailing him with all the subtlety of a lumbering boar.

  Why now? he wondered, his outward demeanor remaining placid, his stride unbroken.

  He feigned an oblivious hum, his eyes scanning the path ahead as if lost in thought.

  Revenge is a dish best served in the shadows, I suppose.

  The road between the sect and the town was a notorious grey zone, a hunter’s ground for settling scores.

  But who held a grudge so deep? Disciples from other sects? Unlikely. He was a nobody, an insignificant Outer Disciple not worth the trouble of an inter-sect assassination.

  He had no visible treasures, having instinctively shifted his new pouch of Spirit Stones into the vast, silent ocean of his Soul Sea the moment he left the sect gates.

  That left only one conclusion. Fellow disciples. The number three clicked into place with sickening certainty. Qi Sensing Realm, Stage 3… It had to be them.

  The air behind him exploded with a sudden rush of murderous energy.

  "DIE!"

  A blade whistled through the air, aimed for his spine. Bi Kan didn't turn. He simply dropped, his body coiling and then springing forward, a low, acrobatic leap that carried him out of the strike's path.

  The sword slammed into the earth where he had been standing a split second before, biting deep into the dirt with a jarring thud. He landed lightly on his feet and slowly turned, his face a mask of cold disappointment.

  "So, it is you three."

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  The leader of the trio, his face contorted in a snarl of frustration, wrenched his blade free.

  "Tch, you got lucky!"

  he spat, his two lackeys fanning out to flank him. They wore heavy brass knuckles, their intent radiating from them in ugly, brutish waves. They were here to kill.

  "You truly intend to see this through, then?"

  Bi Kan’s voice was devoid of emotion.

  "I merely corrected your misguided actions at the market. I gave you a chance to walk the right path."

  "Shut your trap, you self-righteous bastard!" the leader roared, his fury overriding his meager skill. He swung his blade wildly, a series of clumsy, telegraphed slashes that Bi Kan sidestepped with an almost contemptuous ease.

  The boy’s footwork was abysmal, his swings all arm and no body. He was an brawler who had been handed a sword.

  "You need to be better than that,"

  Bi Kan stated, his voice a flat, cutting line. As the leader overextended on another furious swing, Bi Kan saw his opening.

  He spun, his leg whipping out in a sharp, rising kick. The sole of his boot connected solidly with the flat of the blade, the impact echoing with a sharp clang.

  The sword flew from the disciple's numb fingers, spinning end over end before clattering onto the road.

  The leader stared at his empty hand in shock, stumbling back a step. Bi Kan surged forward, aiming to end the confrontation, but a flicker of movement to his left drew his attention.

  One of the lackeys had closed the distance, his brass-knuckled fist driving forward like a piston, aimed squarely for Bi Kan's kidney.

  "Hngh!" Bi Kan twisted, bringing his forearms up in a desperate block.

  The impact was brutal, a jarring shock that radiated up to his shoulder. He leaped back, cradling his arm, a deep, angry bruise already blooming on his skin beneath his robes.

  "Hahh… hahh…" he panted, the initial confidence of his superior skill tempered by the harsh reality of numbers.

  "Fighting a trio is harder than I thought." The thought, unbidden, slithered into his mind. The black blade. He could summon it from his Soul Sea. One swing, just one, and these fools would be nothing but bisected corpses on the road.

  The ancient wolf spirit was silent within him, a vast, sleeping titan, but he could almost feel its detached, ancient judgment. No.

  He dismissed the thought with a scowl. I will not reveal my greatest weapon for vermin like these. That time will come, but not today. I will persevere!

  His eyes darted to the leader's fallen sword. With a sudden burst of speed, he leaped, snatching it from the ground and settling into a low, defensive stance.

  "Time for some swinging action."

  The trio put up their guards, a flicker of uncertainty in their eyes. The leader was now unarmed, facing a boy who was clearly his superior in combat.

  But Bi Kan's face, once composed, had gone stern, the last vestiges of pity or reason extinguished.

  "I will kill every last one of you,"

  he said, his voice a low, chilling whisper that carried across the tense silence.

  "I tried to steer you onto the right path, to save you from your own foolishness. But you chose this. You steeled yourselves to kill me over a petty grudge."

  He raised the iron blade, its edge catching the afternoon sun. "I assure you, your deaths will not be painless."