As soon as the five men heard Adrian's words, they burst out into laughter. Any sense of caution that they might have had vanished as they continued to laugh mockingly at Adrian.
"F-Fellow Daoists, what's so funny?" Adrian asked as his face morphed into one of suspicion. Perfectly aligning with his current situation.
"Hehehe, we're laughing at your misfortune." One of them said in between cackles.
"Seriously, what kind of terrible luck does he have to run into us after escaping from bandits. I almost feel bad for the guy." Another replied.
As soon as he finished speaking, they all unleashed their aura's letting the demonic essence within them permeate their surroundings.
As soon as Adrian felt those sinister auras, his face turned from suspicion to shock and finally to terror. A truly Oscar-worthy performance. Whatever that is.
Without hesitation, he turned around and made a mad dash towards the other direction. The demonic cultivators merely snickered before three of them disappeared from their initial spots.
They appeared a distance away, right in the direction Adrian was 'escaping' in. He was now trapped in the middle. However, this was precisely his plan.
The three demonic cultivators simply thought that he was panicking and not paying attention to where he was going. However, when he was about a dozen meters away from them, he suddenly sped up.
In the blink of an eye, he appeared in front of the demonic cultivator in the middle.
Whoosh!
A horizontal slash from Adrian decapitated the man. With no wasted motion, Adrian swung the sword diagonally, towards the man on the right.
The man, still caught off guard, couldn't react before the sword sliced through his shoulder, all the way to his heart.
Without waiting for the body to drop to the ground, Adrian lunged towards the third demonic cultivator. However, this time he wasn't so lucky.
Just as the sword was about to pierce through his body, the man was able to dodge, avoiding the fatal attack. However, he wasn't left unscathed.
The sword pierced through his arm, and with a slight movement, it was severed. The whole area fell into silence as the scenario that had just played out shocked all those present.
This confrontation happened within the span of a few seconds, leaving the remaining two cultivators unable to offer help in time. It was just too quick.
Adrian had dispatched three demonic cultivators, all whose cultivation levels were higher than his, in the span of a few seconds. The man in the middle was at the seventh level of the Foundation Establishment realm.
Yet, he wasn't able to do anything as his head was separated from his body. The other two were both in the sixth level of the Foundation Establishment realm. Even so, they still fell victim to him.
This sudden turn of events left the others speechless and on edge.
Ahhhhh! The screams of the man who had just lost his arm brought everyone out of their daze. A frown appeared on the forehead of one of the remaining two men as he asked in a deep voice.
"Who are you?" Adrian completely ignored him as he charged towards the injured man. Not one to miss an opportunity, Adrian swiftly made his move.
"S-Stop! Don't come -" Before he could finish his sentence, Adrian was already in front of him. This time he didn't miss his target as his sword plunged straight into his heart. As Adrian slowly removed his sword from the heart of the man, he turned his attention towards the remaining two.
The man's face darkened when he saw Adrian ignoring him. A wave of anger was building up inside him. He was about to shout at him when his partner suddenly yelled out.
"Damn it. Who the hell do you think you are?" The second remaining man yelled in fury. However, there was a not-so-subtle undertone of fear in his voice.
And rightfully so. He was the weakest in the group. Being only at the fifth level of the Foundation Establishment realm, he had the least chance of survival. He had thought that since they were in the same realm, their strengths would be on the same level.
However, reality was like a slap in his face. Not to talk of himself, even his senior brothers weren't a match for this monster and were killed without even being able to muster up any defense.
He definitely didn't have a chance. However, all hope wasn't lost. Standing next to him was the leader of the group, who was at the ninth level of the Foundation Establishment realm.
That was the only reason why he was still confident enough to remain standing. Adrian's cold eyes locked onto him, and he felt as if he had plunged into an icy bath. His body shivered, and he involuntarily took a step back.
"Hmph!"
Seeing the actions of his team member, the leader let out a cold snort before unleashing his aura. Waves of demonic qi billowed out of his body, making Adrian finally turn his attention to him.
"Since you don't want to talk, I'll make you talk!" He dashed towards Adrian and in the blink of an eye, was in front of him. With a downward motion, he swung his great sword, aiming at Adrian's head.
Though he was prepared, Adrian was still caught off guard by the speed that the man displayed. He was only able to dodge, not daring to take the attack head on.
As he sidestepped, he could feel the wind graze his cheek as the sword shattered the ground where he had stood. He took a step back, trying to put some distance between them.
The leader, however, wasn't having it. He didn't let up as he closed in on him, once again swinging his sword wildly. Adrian could only dodge as he kept retreating, trying to avoid the attacks of the leader.
"Hahaha. It seems like you're nothing special after all.
Weren't you full of fighting spirit a while ago?
Come on, do something other than dodging." The leader of the demonic cultivators laughed as he taunted Adrian. He had been wary of him at the beginning, but now all that had faded away.
Seeing Adrian only able to dodge made him confident in his ability to beat him. This realization caused him to start swinging in a frenzy, trying to catch Adrian.
However, Adrian was just too nimble for him. He would mostly dodge the attacks while occasionally using his sword to parry the sword strikes.
This delicate balance continued on for about fifteen minutes. Beads of sweat were dripping from the forehead of the leader as his breathing had become erratic.