NOVEL SIMPLE Vs Bandit Leader
The Bandit leader, in anger, throws out all sense of reason and charges at Brax intending to kill him.
The power difference between Brax and the bandit leader is a lot, but Brax doesn't underestimate him. Until now, he has only dealt with weaklings who couldn't match his speed and strength.
But this bandit leader seems a little capable, managing to dodge two of his fatal strikes.
Brax also understands that he is no sword master. The only reason he has had any success with sword till now is because of his speed.
Now he wants to see how much his superior strength will help him against a skilled swordsman.
Brax finds the incoming attack slow, even though the bandit leader is the strongest opponent he has faced until now.
He immediately jumps to the side and avoids the sword slash, but the bandit leader is persistent in his assault.
He immediately plants his foot on the ground and does a sharp turn swinging his sword horizontally to catch Brax with it. Brax doesn't bother dodging and just uses the sword in his hand to block it.
Brax feels the energy transfer from the sword to his hand. 'Interesting, his physical strength is much greater than what a normal cultivator at his level should have. Looks like those muscles are not just a gimmick.
Realizing that having bigger muscles might increase his physical strength a notch, Brax starts to think about how he can implement muscle-building into his practice.
From what he has learned till now, muscle size seems to hold no value in this world as a cultivator in a higher stage can easily overpower the ones below them, so muscle building is not given much priority.
But Brax is different. He won't rule out any possibilities to make a better vessel for himself.
As his thoughts run wild, he keeps moving around or blocking the bandit leader's strikes simultaneously, as he can easily multitask.
The bandit leader starts getting frustrated with his futile attempts to harm Brax.
"Who the fuck are you?" the bandit leader growls. He sees that Brax is just a 7th-stage Qi condensation realm cultivator, so he wonders how this young man is easily deflecting his every move.
He suspects Brax to not be who he is pretending to be. The bandit leader believes that Brax is hiding his true strength. How could a lowly 7th-stage Qi condensation cultivator fight him on equal footing?
"AARRRGGGGGG" The bandit leader shouts and increases the power behind every strike of his while Brax just dodges or blocks it with his sword, whichever he finds convenient.
As these exchanges take place, Brax is learning everything he is experiencing.
The bandit leader in front of him is a seven-foot brute who specializes in a single-edge big sword. This type of sword is particularly good at cutting because of its heavy weight, and during combat, it can easily overwhelm an opponent's defense with sheer power.
Brax observes that the bandit leader's swings are very heavy-footed and all his strength is derived from his legs to swing his weapon with incredible power. Every step of his is digging into the ground before his sword is swung.
And the bandit leader's efforts are bearing fruits. Though Brax is a much more powerful cultivator, the sword in his hand is ordinary. The only reason it can withstand all these heavy swings is because Brax is infusing Qi into it.
But now its structural rigidity is diminishing.
Brax blocks another swing and the sword in his hand finally gives up, shattering right in the middle. But Brax has no time to think about his broken weapon because a sword thrust is instantly hurled at him.
'This guy is well adept at his swordsmanship, but it looks like it is still not enough to make up for the power gap between us,' Brax thinks and instantly applies his boxing movements to dodge the sword thrust and close the gap. And with his right hand already cocked and infused with dense Qi energy, he lands a vicious body uppercut to the bandit leader's spleen which is right under his left rib.
The sound of something breaking is instantly heard as the lowest left rib shatters from the punch while also bursting his spleen.
"KKRRGGGGGG" The bandit leader chokes up from the pain and gets down on his knee, holding onto the left side of his rib.
"Yo... you ba..bastard," he grumbles and gets back to his feet, trying to ignore the pain.
"I will end you..." he says, wrapping all his fingers around his sword handle tightly and bringing it behind his body.
His front foot plants into the ground, his arm muscles bulge, and his veins pop up as if they are about to burst. Brax immediately notices the bandit leader channeling all his Qi energy into his sword.
"Heaven Splitting Crescent Moon!!" he shouts and swings his sword. Brax's eyes widen, not out of fear but excitement.
Brax is not suicidal. He doesn't plan to take this attack head-on, as he can sense the power coming from it. He knows that he will be heavily injured if he takes it head-on. The reason for his excitement is that this move is clearly an advance-level sword skill.
Unlike a traditional advanced-level skill that has complex movements, this one is a simple swing, but its essence lies in its power and requires no mastery over the move.
This skill's concept is simple. To dump all the body's Qi into one attack to kill even a stronger cultivator with one move. But of course, the side effect of this move is very predictable. The user will be drained and exhausted, leaving him vulnerable if the opponent survives.
Too bad for the bandit, Brax sees this move coming from a mile away.
With him having nothing at his disposal to counter this move, he has only one solution. Lie down.
Brax using his legs, slams his back into the ground at incredible speed causing his long hair to be left hanging. As the devastating crescent-shaped slash appears right above Brax's eyes, he sees the curved Qi blade cut his hair and then carry on to devastate an entire hundred meters of plant life.
The cut hair falls straight on his face.
"It was getting annoying, anyway. Long hair is such a hassle," Brax murmurs and gets back to his feet to see the bandit leader on his knee, panting heavily while barely keeping himself up with his sword.
The bandit leader's eyes widen with horror as he sees Brax unscathed. It was his sure kill move. He could heavily injure or even kill a cultivator four stages above him with this move, but he has failed. Now death awaits him, as he cannot move.
He is paralyzed from putting all his Qi energy into that move.
"You can die now," Brax says walking up to the bandit with a dagger in his hand. He presses its edge on the bandit leader's neck and severs his head clean from his body.