The Beautiful Boss's Personal Bodyguard
Chapter 555 - 554

Chapter 555: 554

The person on top thrust a blade straight down with both hands, the Blade Qi was not just piercingly cold, but the killing aura within was even harder to hide. Ye Tian, merely holding an inch of sharp edge between his fingers, did not move but stared intently at Zhang Liang standing behind. He wondered if it was possible to avoid these people and land a one-strike kill. However, Zhang Liang seemed to see through Ye Tian’s thoughts; his eyes narrowed slightly, and he once again stuck a soybean-sized particle between his fingers—not a soybean, but a grain of sand that the little monk had cleaned of impurities.

This action made Ye Tian abandon the idea of a one-strike kill. People who could manipulate a grain of sand between their fingers couldn’t be that weak. One-on-one might be manageable, but did he really think the twelve men surrounding him were merely for show? Ye Tian dared not be overconfident and settled for a slow and steady fight.

A long stream of killing aura poured down from above. Ye Tian’s steps were elusive; though it seemed he did not move, he made slight shifting steps, just enough to dodge the blade stabbing from above. He took the opportunity to thrust with the sharpness between his fingers, only to be blocked by the black blade.

It was expected; otherwise, they wouldn’t dare to arrange this Array.

The Futu Array, forming a tower with men, endlessly evolving, known as the Array that grinds down immortals and drags down demons. Ye Tian had seen this described in just a few sentences in the "Heavenly Star Collection" while reading in the Great Zen Master’s little house. Although brief, its listing at the beginning of the book was enough to draw Ye Tian’s serious attention.

The assailant with the curved knife dissipated the descending momentum by scraping the blade on the ground, followed by five blades stabbing towards the middle. Ye Tian’s figure flickered, invoking the Mysterious Step Technique, and he burst out from the left side. The Futu Tower dispersed, and in an instant, ten people vanished from the spot; some hidden in the bamboo forest on the mountainside, some crouching on rooftops, and others standing quietly off to the side with blades in hand, ready to strike.

Two black-clothed men wielding blades stepped forward, dragging their steel swords on the rocks, sparking a trail of fire. In a moment, the Clear Wind Gang Qi between Ye Tian’s fingers surged from one inch to one foot, using the Panchen Finger as a sword, a first in a thousand years.

Zhang Liang’s eyes shone. Clearly, he knew what realm it meant for Gang Qi to emerge from the body, to say nothing of using it to combat the physical steel blade without being at a disadvantage. Among the Sixth Group, only a few could reach this level. It seemed the effort was well spent; no wonder the higher-ups valued this man so highly, it did make some sense after all.

Both men in the courtyard had already crossed hands with Ye Tian, and clearly, their assessment aligns with Zhang Liang at the back. For such a master, aside from a few old-timers in the group, who else could have such skill? It’s likely that even all twelve men together couldn’t beat this lad.

Death Soldiers are bound to die—battle to the death!

Two steel blades, upon command, snapped.

Two of the Twelve Earthly Branches were broken, the Futu Tower’s formation was compromised, yet Ye Tian did not dare relax in the slightest.

Now that he thought about it, that Monk wasn’t entirely compassionate in appearance after all. If his mind were simple, he wouldn’t have attracted so many people and taken his disciple to hide outside. But to say his schemes were ruthless, yet he willingly settled between these serene green mountains and scant waters. What exactly were his thoughts, Ye Tian could not yet grasp. Could it really be that there was a reason to push himself into this pit of fire? Ye Tian temporarily let it go, as the anger in his heart had not subsided, he could not yet feel at ease.

The two broken Branches, their chests struck by two punches, temporarily retreated to the back. Then two more men joined the fray, their onslaught fierce, flanking from front and back. Despite being only two, they gave the sense of an inescapable net of heaven and earth. This didn’t even account for those hidden in the bamboo forest; if one or two suddenly sprang up from time to time, with these two blades upfront and over a dozen blades covertly coordinating, it truly would be a dense death trap impossible to escape.

But why haven’t they surrounded and captured him yet?

For the first time, Ye Tian felt that the first finger of the Panchen Finger was also formidable. Previously, he could only emit two inches of the Clear Wind Gang Qi, but now it had reached a distance of one foot. The high-quality black Mystic Blade, forged from fine steel, couldn’t withstand even a single graze of the Gang Qi. Although it wasn’t completely broken, several dents were left, and after a few more strikes, fine hairline fractures began to appear.

With one blade above, and one below, the two blades coordinating in a pincer attack would surely end a life if they connected.

These two blades could not be described as anything but vicious and ruthless. The person who thought of this technique was certainly no soft touch.

Ye Tian’s body tilted sideways, narrowly passing between the two blades. As he saw his own body hovering mid-air, the two horizontal blades immediately came down in a vertical slash, and the two Assassins wearing black veils, the Earthly Branches Death Soldiers, were stunned for a moment. Suddenly feeling a chill on their backs, they realized something was wrong. As they tried to turn around, they only saw darkness before their eyes as their bodies went limp and fell.

The cycle was broken once again.

The Assassin opposite retracted his blade and placed it behind his back, standing still and silently watching Ye Tian. Suddenly, he closed his eyes, brought his palms together, and began to murmur something. In an instant, he disappeared from the spot.

Ye Tian let out a cold snort from the corner of his mouth. His feet pivoted in place, and the ground beneath, along with the dirt, was torn asunder. Zhang Liang, who had been sitting on the stone bench, narrowed his eyes and suddenly let out a shout. He stomped on the floor and propelled himself into the air. Immediately after, the stone bench he had sat on exploded into pieces, and tiny fragments flew in all directions. Ye Tian appeared beside the stone table. Although his attack was fierce, he had not forgotten to put the soybeans from the basket back in place, picking out the scattered stones and removing them one by one.

Zhang Liang stopped at a distance, his expression unchanged, his chiseled face marked with rigid lines, and commanded sternly, "Charge!"

The figures hidden in the dense bamboo no longer peeked surreptitiously; they charged like tigers out of their cages from the distant mountains, waving their blades in the air. Had one not witnessed it in person, they might have mistaken it for a film crew shooting a wire-fu scene nearby.

Three of the Twelve Earthly Branches were injured, leaving nine. This time, they did not waste their numerical advantage and began a rotational attack. However, this simple-minded approach seemed useless against Ye Tian. Before the rotation could even start, the Clear Wind Gang Qi from his hand had already injured the first two attackers. The injured stood aside, motionless, silently letting blood ooze from their wounds. Ye Tian’s mouth twitched, seemingly uninterested in this action.

Indeed, these weren’t his people. It would be best for them to bleed to death.

It wasn’t until the entire courtyard’s stone slabs were shattered that all twelve masked Earthly Branches Death Soldiers stood quietly to one side, and Ye Tian finally ceased his attacks.