Uter VS Potin

Minos was still hidden in a corner, keeping his body low and using others to block him, his body hidden in the crowd.

With his recent breakthroughs, he wasn't actually much weaker then an Inner Heaven Cultivator, but without Nux, he didn't dare take any risks.

After all, no matter how strong he was, a single Nux bullet could end his life immediately, and besides, he gained absolutely nothing from fighting that man.

Instead, he waited patiently, still wanting to find a chance to enter that staircase and explore, not wanting to miss out on its potential mysteries.

"Until I hear an answer, I'll kill you all one by one." The man laughed sadistically, not one to make false threats.

"I know who it was, it was him! I saw him, I swear!" One man couldn't help but shout as he pointed towards another man, the fear and pressure breaking him.

"Oh? Come here and tell me everything you know." The man said, looking towards the other man that was pointed towards.

"It wasn't me, I swear to the heavens!" The man pleaded, never having expected he'd be made a scapegoat out of nowhere.

"You know what I hate? Liars, so let's play a little game to discover which one of you is lying." The man laughed, before using his Nux to pull the two men towards him.

"This game is simple, it's called 'Limbless.' Here's how you play. Everytime I ask a question, you answer, and if I'm not satisfied, I'll rip off one limb until you're nothing but a stump."

"Let's start with you, what's your name?" He asked, a soft smile on his face, completely contradictory to the sadistic nature of the game.

"Uhh-uhh!" The man froze, fear making him freeze, unable to even answer such a simple question.

"Ahh, I'm afraid your times up, so that's an automatic point lost, or should I say limb lost!" The man said with a laugh, before slowly tugging the man's arm off, making sure to maximize the pain as he did so.

Everyone watched in shock and terror as the bald-headed man patiently tore the other man's arm off, making the process as slow and tedious as possible, clearing taking some sort of joy out of such torture.

The other man's scream echoed through the temple, sending chills down the spines of everyone watching.

"Alright, that's enough." Another man finally said, making his way out of the crowd.

Compared to the bald-headed man, this person was clearly much younger, seemingly only in his twenties.

His appearance was also much more delicate, like a prince from a fairytale, facing off against the brutish villain who captured the princess.

Of course there was no princess here, but that was the feeling everyone got as they saw him facing off against the bald-headed man.

"Hmm, you look somewhat familiar… Ahh, I know! You must be Potin of the Myriad Mountain Sect!" The bald man exclaimed, though even then he didn't seem afraid.

"And you must be Uter of the Bloody Bandits…" Potin responded.

"To think such a talented young man knows my name, I'm flattered." Uter laughed, not at all slowing down his torment of the other man.

"Since you know my name, then you must know that I won't allow you to continue this pointless torture, so put down that man before I force you to." Potin said, drawing his sword from its sheath.

"Force me? Ahahaha, I'd love to see you try." Uter said with a crazy laugh, as he proceeded to speed up, ripping every limb off the man under the horror of the crowd.

"You bastard!" Potin screamed out in rage, not expecting Uter to be so arrogant.

Seeing Potin shooting towards him, Uter tossed the second man backwards, his skull shattering as it smashed into the temple walls, blood slowly dripping down his headless body.

Minos had seen a lot over his years, but even he was appalled by Uter's cruel methods, hoping Potin could win this battle.

He was even willing to help if necessary, after all, as long as someone like Uter was hanging above his head, it would be impossible to truly explore the new underground space properly.

Of course, even then, there was still the question of Lilia and that old man, the old man in particular.

Lilia was still young, so Minos estimated her strength was probably at the lower Inner Heaven, middle at most.

But that old man was different, and Minos had a feeling he was much stronger, likely at the peak of Inner Heaven.

Fortunately, the old man didn't seem like the brutal type, nor was he really interested in Minos, so as long as he could enter the underground before the two of them and build some distance, he should be fine.

With his thoughts figured out, Minos focused back on the battle, which had reached a stalemate by this point.

It seemed Uter and Potin were about the same strength, unfortunately, Potin seemed to lack the cruelty and fighting experience Uter had.

Uter would constantly attack Potin's delicate areas, not forgetting to taunt Potin while doing so, driving him into a rage.

"Do you have no honor!?" Potin shouted, as he blocked another stab aimed at his crotch.

"What's honor, can I eat it?" Uter replied mockingly, continuing his attacks unceasingly.

Minos was a bit worried that Potin would fall into Uter's rhythm, which would eventually spell his end, but fortunately, it seemed he thought too little of Potin.

Instead of getting angrier, Potin's temper actually started to mellow down, seemingly getting used to Uter's methods.

With another attack, the two split apart, creating some distance, but rather than attacking like normally, Potin took a deep breath, before proceeding to rub his palm across his sword.

Suddenly, the sword began flickering with sparks of lightning, reminding Minos of the Thunder Blade skill he had pillaged from the Thousand Split Sword Sect treasury.

Minos wasn't sure if it was the same skill, but based on appearance alone, it seemed likely.

"Thunder Blade? To think one of the heirs of the Myriad Mountain Sect would be reduced to using such a common-place skill." Uter mocked.

With Uter's words, Minos confirmed that it really was the same skill, and by the looks of it, it seemed to be nothing special.

"It's not about the skill, but rather the user." Potin smiled gently before whispering something under his breath, his sudden calmness scaring Uter.

Seeing Potin completely still as he whispered something, Uter's heart dropped, his instinct screaming at him that something bad was about to happen.

Raising his finger, he prepared for a second, before shooting out a Fire Bullet, clearly different from the normal Nux Bullet he had used before, and clearly much stronger.

Even though Minos was at a distance, he could feel the intense heat emanating from the Fire Bullet, enough to melt through a normal human's flesh like nothing upon impact.

"Too late..." Potin said calmly, his hair shooting up into the air as sparks of lightning traveled across the surface of his flesh.

Looking at the Fire Bullet, that was only a few inches from his face, he just grinned, before stepping to the side, his body moving instantly, as if he was made of light.

The same moment, he launched forward, his sword raised above his head as he prepared to end Uter in a single move.

His speed was so incredibly fast, that Uter only barely managed to react just as the sword was about to slice him in two.

"Aptus!" He shouted, his flesh suddenly becoming dark as coal, with a metallic glimmer, his new durability being obvious from a single glance.

Potin's sword landed on Uter's flesh, but rather than tearing through it immediately, he instead struggled, using all his strength to push his sword deeper.

"Hahaha, give up you fool, my Aptus makes my skin indestructible." Uter cackled loudly, before shooting his dark hands towards Potin's throat.

But with Potin's incredibly speed, how could such an attack land? With a swift movement, Potin immediately appeared behind Uter, launching another attack.

Again however, his attack failed, just causing sparks to shoot off in all directions as Uter's flesh took the attack unaffected.

"Attack his armpit!" Minos suddenly shouted, changing his voice just enough to be unrecognizable.

He had been paying close attention the entire fight and noticed that Uter's armpits hadn't changed colors, making him guess that his Aptus didn't affect that spot.

Potin hadn't noticed due to the Uter's arms purposely blocking the area, but Uter clearly hadn't taken the spectators into mind.

Shocked by the sudden shout, Uter immediately went to lower his arms, his action being a clear sign of his weakness.

Potin didn't take the voice's words at face value at first, but seeing Uter's response, he instantly knew that voice was saying the truth.

Uter was completely unaware that his actions had instead spelled his death rather than saved him, giving Potin the information he needed to end the battle. The speed difference between the two was simply too large, and by the time Uter had gone to block, Potin's attack was already completed.

Swinging his sword from below, it cut into Uter's armpit, traveling into the flesh unimpeded, before coming out from Uter's shoulder.

Looking on with their breath held, the crowd watched as Uter's arm slid off his body, before slamming onto the floor, leaving behind a cut as smooth as a mirror.