*Boom!*

Jake's attack met with the crossed arms of the senior, the older man among the masked men.

The senior tanked his punch as if it was nothing and even managed to push him back.

With clear teamwork, the junior pointed his index finger at Jake as the senior distracted him.

[Spirit Essence] began flowing into the finger. One could even hear melodious voices as the energy entered the finger.

Under the power of the [Spirit Essence], the junior's finger pulsated as it glowed brighter and brighter in different shades of blue.

After what seemed like the brightest it could become, the junior whispered to himself, "[Finger Gun]"

*Wee!*

Following his words, a ray of bullet-shaped energy dashed through the air, whistling past every obstacle.

It followed the trajectory set for it as it enjoyed the taste of freedom.

Despite fighting the senior, Jake kept one of his eyes on the lookout, 'Hmmm…?'

His senses tingled as he noticed a rapid object rocket towards him.

In less than the blink of an eye, without thinking, Jake ducked.

*Bang!*

He looked at the scar left behind when the object had met with the tunnel floor and was relieved he didn't take his chances because there was currently a very deep finger hole in the ground.

His senses tingled again as he saw multiple of the [Finger Guns] coming his way.

He tried to duck this time, but the arrangement of the trajectory of the attacks made sure it could still get him even after he ducked.

One could deduct the intelligence behind the attack as each [Finger Gun] considered every potential move Jake could make.

It was like the checkmate move in the game of chess.

This was a cruel move. It demanded a sacrifice and Jake gave it that, a sacrifice!

Perhaps due to his belief in his junior, the senior had stayed about five(5) feet away from Jake. He thought it was a done deal, but it was actually far from that!

Jake sprinted to him like a horse. Still under the effect of the surprise, Jake grabbed the senior like a dead body and before the attacks could reach him, he used the senior's body to block it.

*Pa!* *Pa!*

Two attacks hit the senior and pierced through his skin as Jake's hand was already dipped in blood.

Using the opportunity, Jake pressed on the pressure point of the senior and used him as a shield to move closer to the junior who had a ranged attack technique.

However, he underestimated the rate of recovery of the senior!

In an instant dose of karma, the senior spun both of them. This time, he ended up at the back, while Jake's back was facing the junior.

*Pa!* *Pa!*

It came as no surprise that Jake was hit!

Jake ignored his pain as he skittered his way to the junior. He had to take the damn bastard out.

Contrary to many people's thoughts, ranged fighters were one of the worst to battle against. Especially, in a large environment. It could be even worse if the ranged fighter possessed someone or something that could support them, just like in the current scenario.

Without the interference of the junior, Jake reckoned that he would have a 70-30 odds of winning the fight.

So, currently, still in his cultivation combat state, Jake increased his absorption of [Spirit Essence] as he moved closer to the junior.

The junior's technique was currently charging as he had just used it on Jake. This made it the best moment for Jake to attack.

Following the principle of his sword technique, Jake blitzed away, surpassing the speed of the masked men.

Like a bolt of lightning, he arrived at the location of the masked men. Using his right hand like a sword, he chopped at the neck of the junior.

The attack was blocked at the dying minute, but it managed to deal substantial damage to the junior's arms which he used to block the sword-like attack.

Following the failure of his attack, Jake threw a flip and kicked whoever was behind him.

This time, his right leg acted as his sword as it found its way to the side abdomen of the senior. While he was running, Jake had always known the senior was chasing after him to protect his junior.

Coincidentally, Jake's right leg got stuck in the body of the senior. His leg had managed to cut deep inside the side abdomen, but also, ironically, it rooted inside like an ax in a log of wood.

Jake sighed at this sight as he noticed he was doomed.

In the next moment, another beautiful display of teamwork occurred.

The injured senior held on to Jake's right leg, refusing to let it go, while the junior brought out a dagger from his clothes, stabbed him at his front, and used the dagger to slam him to the ground.

It was only after that the senior let go of Jake's leg, which had become a bit bent due to the attack.

Feeling the pain of being pierced again, Jake could not ignore the pain.

He gritted his teeth as he suddenly drags out the dagger, and the next thing that the senior saw was the dagger lodged into the chest region of the junior, very close to the heart.

Bending his head, while on the ground, Jake sighed, 'What a pity?! A little bit more and it could have hit the heart.'

The same thought occurred in the heads of the masked men.

The junior shivered as he just escaped a near-death experience, while the senior eyed Jake dangerously.

Deciding he was too dangerous, the senior rubbed on him [Spatial ring] and a glaive appeared.

He held the glaive with great familiarity and addressed his junior, "Hold him down."

Hearing this and not waiting to see what plans the senior had for him, Jake flipped up.

The reason he had stayed down long was that he was healing his injury. Even the dagger he threw was meant as a means to provide more time for him.

However, he was too late. The junior used his strong hand to yank Jake back down.

He pressed down his weight on Jake, while also forcing him down on his knees.

To prevent any shenanigans, the junior stepped on Jake's leg and stretched out his right arm.

"Nice," praised the senior upon seeing this.

The senior channeled his [Spirit Essence] into his weapon for the first time and it glowed up red like a phoenix, highlighting the delicate carvings on the glaive.

*Sheesh!*

The glaive vibrated as it releasing sounds similar to a lit matchstick.

After a while, a red flame ignited on the blade part of the glaive. The light of the flame illuminated the tunnel.

Seeing this, Jake's eyes faltered for a second, 'The power of elements.'

In the tournament, he had seen glimpses of elemental power in the techniques of some participants.

However, this was different, the intensity of the flame was real and could not be compared with the measly hot [Spirit Essence] that Dean Forst produced.

Jake could have sworn that he saw through the senior's mask and that he was smiling as he walked closer to Jake.

The senior held his glaive and pointed his fiery blade at the beautiful skin of Jake's stretched arm.

The closer the blade got to Jake's skin, the more Jake understood how hot the flame on the blade was.

By now, he already had an idea of what the senior wanted to do.

'Sh*t!' Jake cursed.

In a swift move, the senior cruelly dug the blade into Jake's skin with the fire burning on top. His skin parted ways like how butter does in the presence of a hot knife.

'Ahhhh, Don't scream. Don't scream,' chanted Jake.

He had already devised a plan, but if he screamed, or made any noise, it would eject him from his current state, which made it easy for him to absorb energy and fight at the same time.

The pain was excruciating to Jake. Due to his skin melting, the blade came in contact with his bone and that was where the true terror began.

Jake's senses were sharper than the average cultivator, so, of course, he would feel pain clearer than the average cultivation.

Therefore, what he felt now was akin to digging out one's heart while they were still alive.

However, the pain also made it possible for him to amass energy subtly.

Before the fiery blade could actually puncture Jake's whitish bones, he acted!

Stacking up [Spirit Essence] on his body beyond his physical limits, Jake freed himself from the junior.

Feeling the temporary burst of strength, he stretched his hand toward the junior and cracked his second and final egg.

Knowing his strength couldn't last long, he distanced himself from the group, but the senior caught up to him as his speed had already begun to diminish.

Using his last strength, Jake roundhouse-kicked the senior, but his frail leg was firmly caught.

He tried to free himself. However, his torn muscle, worn-out strength, and bleeding body held him down.

The senior once again chuckled at Jake.

His glaive had fallen from his grasp during Jake's last attempt, so he had to make do with his hands.

The senior raised up his hand above Jake's right leg. He powered it up with energy.

*Whew*

And like a chopping knife, his hand descended at Jake's leg and broke it!

Jake's expression betrayed him despite him not making any sound. He fell down and hugged his broken leg.

A moment later, he went silent.

His right's purple eyes dimmed but became brighter in the next second. However, this time, it wasn't the same!

Jake's iconic icy stare donned back on his face, combined with the appearance of the [Akashic Eye].

One could tell from his indifferent expression that he was looking for blood!