Sensing Ba Lv's odd reaction, Yanran turned her head and saw Ba Lvluo Cang's expressionless face and those unblinking eyes locked dead on the fight in the arena, and she immediately understood what the girl beside her was worrying about.

Yanran reached out and patted Ba Lvti's hand lightly a few times. Ba Lv turned her head back in a daze, and Yanran smiled at her, leaning close to her ear to murmur comfortingly: "It's fine, don't worry. My teacher is very powerful."

Yanran's relaxed tone let Ba Lvti ease up a little. After all, they were master and disciple; Yanran definitely understood her teacher.

At this moment, the few people in the field started to change.

Facing the five men slowly circling like Bao Country around him, Jiang Cheng lost his patience.

These cowards, if he didn't move first, they'd probably keep circling him forever. Since they refused to make the first move, then he would.

Jiang Cheng, who had been standing still, suddenly burst forward. The opponent in front of him was indeed a battle-hardened veteran; the long sword in that man's hand still pointed straight at Bao Country, without any reaction at all.

At the same time, the two enemies behind Jiang Cheng instead stepped forward a pace, but they still didn't attack.

Interesting, Jiang Cheng thought. These five bastards really do have some skill.

Seeing that the enemy in front of him wasn't fooled by his feint, Jiang Cheng simply swung his sword up from below in a ruthless cut aimed straight at the man's body. At the same time, his left hand blasted out a powerful shockwave toward the two enemies behind him.

The two long swords clashed, yet not a sound rang out.

Jiang Cheng's figure flickered; his feet tapped a string of broken steps on the ground, deftly slipping past the other enemies' attacks. By the time he stopped, he had already broken free of the five-man encirclement.

Now all five enemies were in front of Jiang Cheng.

They started to circle again, trying to surround Jiang Cheng in a Bao Country once more.

There was no way Jiang Cheng would give them a second chance.

His body surged up, leaping into midair, and the long sword in his hand chopped straight down toward one of the enemies.

The power crammed into that strike made his opponent's guts go cold. He knew he could never block this sword, so he didn't even think—he sprang sideways at once. At the same time, his comrades rushed in, ready to seize the chance to strike Jiang Cheng as he landed.

Jiang Cheng spun and dropped from the air, his long sword whipping about like a silver ribbon, forcing all his opponents back.

Pressing the advantage without mercy, his left hand fired a shockwave into the ground just in front of an enemy. The violent force shattered the floor, sending countless shards of stone spraying into the air and causing immense disruption to the foes.

Just as one enemy raised his hand to bat away the flying rubble, he was shocked to find that his opponent's long sword had already slipped silently through the curtain of stone, thrusting straight at his throat.

Facing opponents who had chosen to turtle up on defense, Jiang Cheng took the initiative. After the initial probing, he unleashed his true offensive.

His left hand thrust down toward the ground; stones flew up, raining over one enemy and obscuring the view of the foe in front of that man. In the instant the man blanked out, Ye Su's long sword had already pierced through the scattering fragments, silently stabbing toward his throat. The enemy, sensing danger, hurriedly swung up his own long sword, trying to block Jiang Cheng's attack.

Although the method he chose to deal with Jiang Cheng's attack wasn't wrong, he had still forgotten the tremendous gap in strength between himself and his opponent.

The long sword in his hand failed to block that fatal strike. Jiang Cheng's blade skimmed past his sword and drove into his throat without the slightest resistance.

Without the slightest pause, Jiang Cheng pulled his sword free from the man's body, bringing out a spray of blood, and slid with the momentum toward the enemy behind him.

Seeing a comrade so easily slain by the enemy before their eyes, the minds of the men attacking Jiang Cheng all wavered for an instant.

Even with the advantage of heaven, earth, and numbers on their side, even though they were many against one, they had a companion skewered in just a few exchanges. How could they not be shaken?

When experts fight, their minds cannot ripple in the slightest, or they'll hand the opponent an opening.

Jiang Cheng now exploited that very opening. His long sword stabbed toward the enemy behind him even as he slipped away from the blades thrusting at his ribs from the left and right. His left foot snapped out sideways, forcing yet another enemy's attack back. At that moment, the enemy behind him realized just how bad his situation was.

Though he still had comrades around him, in truth he was now alone, facing this overwhelming opponent. His companions had all been forced away and were in no position to help.

That realization nearly scared the soul out of him, and the terror of impending death drove him into a frenzy of attacks.

"Yaaah!" the enemy howled, wildly hacking down at Jiang Cheng again and again. His eyes were bloodshot, his long sword howling like the wind. He knew very clearly that if he could just push his opponent back in this flurry, his comrades would close in and he could win a chance to breathe.

There was nothing wrong with his plan—but when your skill is inferior, a mad offense only opens more flaws.

Jiang Cheng knocked aside the crazed sword strikes raining down on him, then formed a knife-hand with his left palm and drove it straight into the man's body.

The searing pain tearing through his flesh filled the enemy with disbelief. He slowly lowered his head, just in time to see Jiang Cheng's hand withdrawing from his torso.

"No—" the man screamed. He staggered back, reaching out, trying to clamp his hand over the wound that was pouring blood.

Jiang Cheng no longer spared him a glance. Without even turning his head, he reversed his grip and flung his long sword backward.

The sword light flashed faster than lightning and buried itself in another enemy's body.

The man toppled to the ground, the long sword still sticking out of his corpse, quivering slightly.

In the blink of an eye, three of the five enemies had been slain by Jiang Cheng. The top leader of the Black Group could no longer sit still. He sprang forward, about to join the siege on Jiang Cheng.

Jiang Cheng was still in the midst of battle, but every move inside and outside the arena was within his sight. The moment that top leader tensed to leap, Jiang Cheng understood his intent.

He sneered coldly in his heart, and his figure suddenly accelerated as if he took just one step to arrive right in front of his target.

Confronted with this sudden attack, the enemy's guts turned to water. His comrades had been cut down one after another by this man before his eyes. His heart had long since been in turmoil, even harboring thoughts of fleeing—he had simply been hesitating.

As a powerhouse, Jiang Cheng's senses were razor sharp. The fear in this man's eyes, the slight falter in his step, the faint tremble in the long sword gripped in his hand—he had noticed all of it. How could he possibly let such a chance slip by? So he locked this man in as his next kill.

The top leader of the Black Exhaust Group was already airborne.