Hollow Dragon Sect

Volume 1

Chapter 1: Ambush

It was a foggy night and a man was running through the forest. The man was nimble and he hardly produced a disturbance in the fog. He stopped behind a tree just before a clearing. He panted and hid behind the tree to observe the people in the clearing.

The clearing was filled with lots of people, ranging from women and children to even able-bodied men. Some of these people were bound with chains while others dressed in armor and uniform led them towards a building while cursing loudly at them.

“Move it you fools, move it” One man dressed in a black tunic with red sleeves swung a whip at the people in chains. The whip cracked and the people hit began to howl in pain while some bound young men dressed in tattered, bloodied light green cloaks glared at him and clenched their teeth.

Besides the prisoners being escorted were two young men dressed in black leather armor, the symbol of a ruby gold dragon eating its tail on their armor glowed in the dark.

One of the young men yawned and said.

“I wish the boss didn’t make us do boring work like this. I wish we were fighting in the frontlines.”

“Huh, you want to be fighting in the frontlines? With experts who have surpassed the Demon gate there. Are you mad? We are just common disciples, we would get killed out there. Besides, this is not such a bad posting. Prisoner transport pays a lot for spirit stones and pills. I wouldn’t want to go anywhere else.” The second man berated him.

“Well, I did not join the Hollow Dragon Sect to transport a bunch of women and children. Well, forget about it, the war is already over. We trampled those Ethereal River fools. I heard from one of my friends that was part of the vanguard that it was a breeze. Our Hollows and Sect Elders swept through their sect in a single day. They just called us in to assist in the takeover of Ethereal River’s territory.” The other man lamented.

The two men sighed, they pitied the Ethereal River sect. They stood no chance against their Hollow Dragon Sect. 

“Hey, you fool, what are you doing spacing out like that?!” The man with the whip shouted at them, jolting them into action as they apologized profusely.

“I swear he gets more aggressive every day.” They continued their conversation as they harassed their prisoners. 

‘So those two are common disciples huh? From their presence, they are most likely past the knight gate and their boss with the whip is at the Great Knight stage plus there are ten other disciples dressed in common disciple attire in the front. I don’t see Xiao Ming in the crowd, I still have to get a closer look to be sure. Damn Hollow Dragon bastards, I will kill you all tonight. I Jiao Xuan swear it.’ The man behind the tree was filled with rage and bloodlust.

He moved sneakily towards the crowd under the cover of the night to ambush the captors.

“Hey, have you seen Senior- brother Vasha before?” One of the young men from before asked.

“Huh, yes? Just yesterday actually, he was covered in blood from an earlier battle.” The other one answered.

“He is cool, isn’t he? He is just like us, he started from a common disciple and within three years moved up the rank to become one of the most famous Inner sect disciples.”

“I guess, but I still think it’s a rumor. Some say he has a treasure though, that’s why he moved up the ranks so quickly. I would love to get my hands on it, become an Inner Sect disciple, and have a harem of beautiful wives, Muahaha.” 

Whoosh. The disciple that initially posed the question stood in shock as he looked at the head of his best friend flying off his body.

“What the…?” Before he could finish his sentence, a sword had sliced off his head from his upper jaw.

The young man’s body fell to the ground with a thud. Jiao Xuan turned around and dashed toward another knight-class disciple and decapitated him before he could react.

There was a shrill cry as the prisoners just saw someone decapitated in front of them.

“Fuck!” Jiao Xuan cursed but it was too late, the guards had already been alerted, especially the one holding the whip, who was in the Great Knight stage.

Jiao Xuan ran toward the prisoners and cut off some of their chains but before he could continue, there was a roar.

“YOU!!!” The supervising Great Knight roared and dashed toward Jiao Xuan, whip in hand. 

He swung the whip at Jiao Xuan which he dodged with ease, but in the process, caused it to land on a few prisoners. The prisoners howled in pain as the whip ripped off their flesh and even shattered the skulls of those without cultivation. 

“No!” Jiao Xuan screamed.

“Humph, you must be a disciple of the Ethereal River Sect, right? Probably an inner disciple since you’re in the Great knight realm. I thought we had taken care of all of you. Oh well, this is an opportunity to take care of the rat that slipped past.” The Great Knight guard said as he continued swinging his whip at Jiao Xuan.

Sometimes, he dodged, sometimes he blocked with his saber but when the Great Knight saw the ease with which he avoided his attacks, he grew furious and began to target the prisoners.

‘The bastard is attacking innocent people. Shit, I don’t have time to fight this guy and defend the prisoners. I need to take care of this quickly, more guards are already running towards here. I have no choice but to showcase that.’ Jiao Xuan made up his mind, he got into a sword-drawing stance.

The Great Knight immediately tensed up before sneering. The air was tense as the prisoners closely watched the fight from a few meters away.

“Hahahaha, die rat! Blistering Whip Dance.” The guard’s whip began a bizarre dance as it moved toward Jiao Xuan. To the eyes of those without skill, it was as if the whip was in different places at once and was about to surround Jiao Xuan.

But Jiao Xuan was not scared, he took a step forward while un-sheeting his saber in one move.

Clang Whoosh Shiing. With quick movements, he deflected the oncoming whips, shattering the afterimages, dashed toward the knight, and swung his saber.

“Eh, how did you? When did you?” The Great Knight looked at his whip which was already in pieces.

Spurt. The guard fell on his knees while clutching his bleeding neck.

“You, you’re not a Great Knight.” The guard fell face flat on the ground, bleeding to death.

“Senior brother Yan!!!” The disciples of the Hollow Dragon Sect called out in despair.

‘Shit, I did not want to utilize strength above the Human Gate realm. That’s one trump card gone. Well, let’s just finish these remaining guards and free the remaining prisoners.’ Jiao Xuan thought before looking at the remaining guards, killing intent leaking out. He dashed towards them as they scrambled to put up their swords in defense.

When he was done killing the last of the guards, he found the keys on them, and then he walked toward the prisoners to free them. He freed one or two prisoners and gave the keys to them to free the rest.

Jiao Xuan walked towards a bunch of young men dressed in the uniform of The Ethereal River Sect. Their clothes were stained with dirt, blood, and sweat and they looked haggard. Most of them were in the knight and warrior stage with only one or two at the Great Knight stage.

“Who among you has seen Xiao Ming?” He asked the disciples.

“Who are you? You are so strong? Are you Senior Brother John Brie? Your clothes, they are those of outer sect disciples, when was there ever such a powerful outer disciple?” They immediately bombarded him with questions, instantly causing Jiao Xuan to become irritated.

“I asked who has seen Xiao Ming, I do not care for any of your questions.” Jiao Xuan shouted at them.

“Enough!” A voice said it belonged to one of the Great-Knight disciples.

He walked to the front of the crowd and said. “You must be Junior Brother Jiao Xuan. It is me, Yun Kai. I could not believe my eyes but it is you. How did you escape?”

“Yun Kai, have you seen Xiao Ming?” Jiao Xuan immediately demanded without any hint of politeness.

Yun Kai sighed, if they were still within the sect, an ordinary outer disciple like Jiao Xuan would not dare to talk to him in such a manner but the sect was gone so he did not care.

“Xiao Ming is not here. She and the rest of the female disciples and some female peasants were taken away. I think they are meant to be gifts to the Inner Sect disciples of the Hollow Dragon Sect.” Yun Kai answered.

“What!!? How long ago and where did they take them?” Jiao Xuan shouted, his face was pale and his expression was scary.

“About an hour ago, they took them to that large pavilion about two kilometers away. I fear for what has happened to them.” Yun Kai answered with a clenched fist.

Jiao Xuan turned around to dash in the direction of the pavilion. Yun Kai moved to stop him.

“Wait, I know how you feel right now! But you can’t just charge into there, according to what I heard, there are three Inner Sect disciples there. They are all monsters that have all surpassed the Human Gate and broken through the Beast Gate. They are Nobles, they are not people you can take on, talk-less alone. Even though you defeated a Great Knight just now, Noble Beasts are on another completely different level, Junior Brother Jiao Xuan.” Yun Kai tried to persuade him against going.

“Get out of my way.” Jiao Xuan said while giving off a beastly killing intent, causing a shiver to run up Yun Kai’s spine. He moved out of the way in fear.

“I am going to kill them all today. Their cultivation means nothing to me.” Jiao Xuan said and dashed off with a such speed that the ground cracked underneath his feet.

‘Impossible, no one under the Beast Gate is that fast. Junior Brother Jiao Xuan, don't tell me, you’ve already surpassed that gate.’ Yun Kai thought as he stared off into the distance at Jiao Xuan.

‘What the hell did he encounter in the past two months that made him go from a lowly Knight to a man who has broken through the beast gate?’ 

Jiao Xuan was running through the forest, he could already see the silhouette of the pavilion, and he would reach there in under a minute with his current speed. 

  “Xiao Ming is waiting for me. Hollow Dragon Bastards wait for me, I will have your guts pulled out of your stomachs before the end of the day I promise it.” Jiao Xuan had a determined expression on his face as he dashed toward the pavilion.