Evil Samurai In Cultivation World

Similar to the city of Josenheim and the city of Dawsbury that was sprawling with life even in early mornings, the main street of Soderberg City was extremely crowded, with all types of people roaming around the city. But of course, the reasons were different for these people.

While the city of Soderberg looked dazzling with all sorts of splendid store fronts that were teeming with groups of people present in every corner, it also had a reputation for crime and theft. Soderberg city was double the population of Dawsbury city, but the cost of living in the city was extremely huge, and with the environment highly favouring the wealthy lifestyle people, the division between the poor and the rich began to get wider and wider, leading to the emergence of various criminal clans. To a normal person who wanted to afford living in the better parts of Soderberg, turning to these clans was the key in order to gain money, power and respect.

The wealthy lived in the luxurious mansions while the streets, local businesses and land all fell into the hands of these crime syndicates.

As Claude moved through the crowded streets, he was also keeping an eye on his surroundings. Senior Beldon had warned him that the criminal clans who are essentially running the streets usually kept an eye on newcomers, probably to figure out whether the newcomer was a threat to the clan or not.

"Well, well, well… I guess Senior Beldon was right. Although this is simply way too quick…" Claude muttered to himself and he kept walking as a sinister smile appeared on his face.

Although faint, Claude could sense through the fluctuations in the spiritual energy, the presence of about a dozen people with suspicious auras in close range of him.

As Claude moved forward, he was also studying the people who were following him and quickly realized that these men were extremely agile and their movements were perfectly orchestrated in order to keep their target oblivious to their tailing. He also realized that no matter what he did, where he moved, or how fast he was walking, these men were somehow always keeping up with him, focusing on maintaining the same distance between them at all times. 

And it wasn't because they were fast either. They were simply too knowledgeable about the city and its various pathways, utilising each and every alleyway, backdoor and secret passages to make sure that they did their best to tail Claude without creating any problems.

Even Claude was impressed by their technique and thought to himself,

'Trying to make up for any disadvantage in speed by utilising their understanding of the city to the maximum... Clever fellows, these people!'

However, he obviously wasn't going to let these people do whatever they wanted. He hadn't come here just to hang around; he was here to look into the Azure Lion Clan and their connection with the person called Elizabeth. And that meant that he couldn't leave any loose threads.

'It's a good thing I've covered my face with my scarf. I wouldn't want these people to know my face!' Claude clutched the scarf that was wrapped around his neck and made sure that his face was fully covered.

Whoosh!

As soon as Claude reached a corner, he immediately turned, pressed down his feet and in an instant, his speed increased exponentially and he moved as fast as lightning. The difference in speed was so vast and so quick that it even caught the people following him off guard, and by the time it took them to recover from the shock, he had already created a huge gap between them.

"Dammit! He figured out that we were following him!" One of the figures who were tailing him cursed out as he grit his teeth, and the dozen men immediately increased their speed, hoping to catch up to their target before they lost him.

Claude looked back and saw the group springing into action, moving in his direction with the objective of catching up to him. Claude muttered to himself indifferently, "No matter how much you know the surroundings, no matter how hard you've memorized these pathways, in front of absolute speed, you're all bound to lose."

BAM!

Claude implemented the floating footsteps technique, and with a loud boom, his speed increased yet again, and he shot forward much to the surprise of his opponents.

"What the hell? How fast is this person?" The group of people who were following him were amazed by their target's speed. Although this wasn't the first time someone has spotted them, he was definitely the one with the fastest speed.

"Not only that, but as a newcomer, he shouldn't be too familiar with the infrastructure, and yet he's able to maneuver through the streets so easily while keeping his speed consistent as well. Are we sure he's a newcomer?" One of the figures asked, curious about his target's origins. Another figure shook their head and replied, "The list has never been wrong, so he's definitely a newcomer. As to why he's able to move so easily, only god would know the real reason.."

WHAM!

Claude rushed forward without stopping, moving through the pathway with ease, as if he had done this countless times. 

'I'm pretty sure they're wondering how I'm able to move through an unfamiliar city so easily,' Claude let out a chuckle, as he flipped sideways against a tight corner and turned his direction in an instant without reducing his speed for even a single second. 'If only it was that simple..'

In actuality, Claude didn't know about the infrastructure of the town, nor was he a sorcerer who could see the pathway in his mind. He was simply agile and a quick decision maker. 

In his previous life, Claude, who didn't have any cultivation powers, had to make do with his skills and techniques to fight against enemies. That included people who were physically stronger than him. One way to hold your own against someone who was stronger than you in a close range fight was to make sure that he was quicker than him. And he didn't mean just the speed of his attacks.

Claude trained himself to not only be quicker in swinging his katana, but quicker in making decisions as well. According to Claude, the faster you make decisions, the more time you're saving for your attacks. But of course, making decisions so quickly wasn't so easy, and oftentimes, he had to make educated guesses and make decisions according to those guesses. This meant that to make decisions as early and quickly as possible, Claude had to anticipate what's about to happen, and make the decision according to that guess, instead of waiting for it to happen and then acting accordingly.

This meant that he had to utilize his brain at all times to think, analyse and formulate his plan, and that required hard work and an unwavering dedication to the craft at all times.

This way of thinking had carried over to his new life as well, and although it had been a mixed bag since his reincarnation, especially since the power difference in this world is simply too vast that even guessing isn't quick enough when you have too low of a cultivation, but he was able to get a hang of it eventually.

Add to that the mind of a cultivator is much more advanced and fast-processing than a normal human mind, it essentially meant that Claude's quick thinking abilities became even quicker.

Whoosh!

After a few minutes of zooming through the city, Claude realized that the group of people weren't following him anymore, and he immediately turned around and darted off into a dark alleyway as he hid in the darkness.

'Did I lose them?' Claude waited in the shadows, and after a minute or two of no sightings of the people following him, he let out a sigh and walked out.

However, just as he took a step forward, his eyes immediately widened with surprise and he skipped backwards in an instant, as a figure came crashing down from the sky and to the spot right in front of Claude, causing dust and debris to fly off.

'To think they kept up with me… I really underestimated them..' Claude let out a bitter smile as multiple men appeared from the sky and stuck to the sides of the buildings that were on either sides of the alleyway, staring at Claude as if they were staring at their prey.

The man who had landed in front of Claude screamed at him. "Come here!" He rushed forward, heading towards Claude, cursing as he tried to kick him. 

Whoosh!

As the enemy's kick, which seemed to be reinforced by a strengthening technique, was fast approaching Claude, he instantly flipped to the sides, evading the kick with little effort, and without wasting any time, clenched his fist and punched forward, aiming for the enemy's stomach.

Ideally speaking, the stomach might not be the best spot to land the hit, but as he was turned to the side and his enemy was in the middle of retracting his leg, Claude was perfectly in range of his stomach, and he decided to use it to his advantage.

BAM!

Claude's fist shot forward, and the fist which was reinforced by body strengthening techniques, collided with the opponent's body, bursting through his stomach and organs and came out though the other side before he pulled his blood covered hand backwards. Claude heard a grunt as his opponent swiveled and fell backward, as a spray of blood squirted from his stomach.