Light suddenly flared out from beneath John's feet, catching his attention. He gazed at the ground around him, which was now littered with glowing daggers. The daggers formed a complex formation diagram, something that John had not noticed as he was too busy trying to lock onto the youth's location. Each dagger was also carved with intricate formation runes, which also began to glow.
The daggers lit up in unison, linking up and forming a formation diagram, which flared with gray light, barely noticeable within the darkness. John felt a pressure press down on his body, while ropes of gray light shot out from within the diagram, instantly locking onto his arms and legs. The ropes of light dragged him onto his knees, its power shockingly high.
As the ropes of Q latched onto his body, John felt the energy from the ropes of light burrow into several of his acupoints and into his meridians. He flared his essence Qi to resist the invasive energy, but quickly stopped as he noticed his actions were only hurting his situation.
"You noticed it that quickly?" the youth said from the shadows, "your instincts and reactions truly are monstrous."
John frowned as he heard the youths' words, which were spoken as if he were congratulating a dead man. As he flared his essence Qi, he could tell that the ropes of light and invasive energy were siphoning that Qi, reinforcing the formation even further. A self-defeated smile appeared on his face as he realized that he had been bested by the youth in their encounter.
He could tell that the ropes of light could be destroyed if a strong enough surge of Qi was used to overwhelm it, but that would also potentially harm his meridians and acupoints, which would be quite dangerous. The trap the youth had set up was beyond profound, and John had never encountered anything like it before.
"Heh, I must admit your ranking is well deserved as well," John said out loud, as the methods being used by the youth were truly shocking. Normally he would have noticed the details of the daggers, but the youths' incredibly dangerous attacks combined with his uncanny ability to blend into the darkness made it so that John focused entirely on the youth, and ignored the rest. It was a grave mistake, and John found himself on the losing end of a battle for the first time in quite a while.
'I could have ended the battle quickly if I used my full power from the start, but it seems my confidence has grown into arrogance as of late…this lesson is well appreciated.'
"You seem quite calm given the situation," the youth's voice sounded out directly in front of John, as his body finally came into view. The youth was wearing black clothes from head to toe, and only his eyes were exposed. His cultivation was in the Middle Heaven Tribulation Realm, and seemed just about ready to break through to the next minor realm at any moment.
"It's not often I'm bested in such an overwhelming fashion," John said in a self-deprecating manner. "This trap of yours is quite deadly, and I'm sure there's only a handful of youths in the Alliance who would be able to get out of it. You're quite the assassin. When your initial attack failed, you instantly set in motion your backup plan without hesitation, and without me noticing. I must say I'm impressed."
Number One's emotionless eyes stared at John, no hate or anger contained within them. John could tell that this assassination mission was just job for the youth, a testament to his assassination experience.
"You would be correct in that assumption," Number One replied as he took out a sharp sword, "there are a few youths in these lands that even I must be cautious around, but unfortunately you are not one of them. Rest assured, your death will be quick and painless."
"That's a relief," John sighed as he heard Number One's words, who prepared to unleash the severing blow to John's neck. "Before you finish the job, I have two questions I would like to ask," John asked.
"Hmm? Trying to stall for time?" Number One asked, "there's no one in the surrounding area, so no one will come to save you."
"No, not stalling, just asking," John replied calmly. His calmness sent a slight tingle of caution through Number One, but he fully had John in his trap, which had never been broken by a youth in the same realm as him, let alone one three minor realms lower.
"Alright, I suppose I can oblige your final wish. What questions do you have of me?" Number One asked.
"Firstly, how did you manage to evade my divine sense so well?" John asked, as he was curious about that. It was truly an impressive ability, as Number One was even more evasive than the Abyss-Shadow Spider.
"That I cannot say, even to a dead man," Number One replied.
"Oh well, I suppose it's some Guild Secret you cannot utter," John replied, slightly disappointed. "In that case, I'll ask my second question. Just how much information do you have on me?" John asked.
"Information?" Number One asked, wondering why a dead man would care about such a thing.
"I suppose you only know about me from the Jade Dragon List, correct?" John asked before taking in a very deep breath, as if he was tasting the fresh air one last time before his death.
Number One remained silent, but his silence was confirmation enough for John. A large smile suddenly appeared on John's face, one that sent a chill up Number One's spine, as it was not the smile of a man about to die.
Snap!
The sound of four objects snapping sounded out, as John's arms and legs were instantly freed from the bindings that restricted him. He could tell that John had managed to physically break his bindings without any Qi augmentation, something that should not be physically possible. Number One's eyes opened wide in shock, as he had never expected such a thing was possible, or that it could happen in an instant like that.
He mustered his full power to retreat, but John appeared before him in an instant, his hands reaching out and clamping onto his skull, making retreat impossible. The sword in Number One's hand slashed out, but before it could reach his opponent's body, John's large smile turned into an open maw as a deafening roar suddenly exploded out directly before Number One.
The roar sounded like that of a Dragon's, its power beyond anything Number One had heard before. His mind and soul felt like they were being crushed by the sound and pressure of the roar, while both his eardrums burst from the explosive sound. His brain seemed like it would explode at any moment, and Number One fell into a state of paralysis, unable to move a single muscle. His mind went blank for a while, and he only came back into consciousness a short while later.
His dazed gaze darted around as his blurry vision cleared up, and his eyes widened as he noticed his situation. His skull was still clamped onto by John's hand, and based on what he had seen before from his physical power, he knew John could crush his skull like a watermelon in an instant. His life was no longer in his own control, as he found himself completely at John's mercy.
"Had you done a bit more research, you would have known about my body strength as well. Unfortunately for you, the Jade Dragon List makes no mention of my bodily strength anywhere," John said to Number One with a cold smile on his face. "It seems like overconfidence defeated both of us today."
