Chương 54: The Bandit Lair and the Forest Scuffle

"Hold formation! Don't let them push through!" The crowd in furs and hides, standing shoulder to shoulder, tried to maintain a shield above their heads, directing all their Qi into the artifacts they held with trembling hands. Behind them stood a huge, bald cultivator, with a strange tattoo on his scalp resembling a woman's face. His entire body was also covered in ink from head to toe. Standing behind the crowd, he shouted at the top of his lungs, spraying saliva on his men.

Waving his sword, he tried to block the techniques raining down on them like a downpour. Glancing back over his shoulder, he saw his three senior brothers entangled in a fight to the death with three young inner disciples." Leopard Bones!" Seizing the moment, the third brother, with a cry more like a shriek and wild eyes, attacked the exposed girl before him." Ah!" Seeing her opponent suddenly change tactics and try to attack while she was vulnerable, she aborted her technique, suffering a backlash.

She changed direction and raised both her swords for a block." AGH!" Screaming from the pain of the backlash and the impact she barely withstood, she allowed the momentum to carry her back, but managed to regain her footing, not taking her eyes off this third brother.

"Mili, are you alright?" Immediately, a disciple with eyes as dark as the abyss jumped up to her side, holding a sword.

"I-I'm fine, Mo Fan!" Trying to catch her breath, Mi Mili threw a glance at the first brother, the one Mo Fan had been fighting.

"You little noble rat! How dare you?! Do you even know who you're messing with?! Huh?! We are the Three Fang-Tooth Brothers!" Puffing out his chest, while not letting go of his bloodied hand, the first brother, with a face twisted in rage, stared at Mo Fan, his entire being radiating a desire to tear him to pieces.

"Sorry to disappoint, my friend! Two! Not Three Fang-Tooth Brothers! Hahaha!" From the side came loud laughter. Turning around, the first brother saw a disciple with snow-white hair smiling at him, his blue eyes never leaving him. Beyond him, he saw his second brother, more precisely, only his headless body." AAAGH! Nooo!" Realizing that one of his brothers had been killed, he let out a furious scream and charged at the blond, Shepor Dunt, completely ignoring his previous opponent.

"You will know the fear and awe instilled by the Three Fang-Tooth Brothers!" With the ground trembling, the first brother shot toward Shepor like an arrow." Phoenix Lunge!" He heard a muffled cry from the side. Throwing a glance, he saw a dark flash." Ah! N-no!" Before he could even realize the full seriousness of his mistake, the first brother suddenly felt an unnatural lightness around himself. BOOM! With a crash, the massive body of the first brother fell to the ground, creating a crater.

His severed head arced through the air, the result of Mo Fan seizing the moment and delivering a fatal, unexpected attack." Ah! First brother! Second brother! No! How?! Why?!" Seeing two of his beloved brothers die before his eyes, seeing their headless bodies, the third brother quickly, without giving these sect bastards a chance, retreated to the shield group. But Mili, who had been watching him the whole time, tried to stop him, attacking head-on with her two swords." Agh! Get away! You little bitch!"

With difficulty blocking Mili's dual sword attacks, the third brother felt a terrible weight behind each strike, realizing how physically strong this fragile-looking girl was. But luck was on his side, and he managed to reach his comrades, hiding behind the energy shield.

"W-what do we do? Third brother? H-how do we proceed?" The bald bandit ran up and began examining the exhausted third brother, who had collapsed to the ground, while trying to figure out what to do.

"H-hold the shield! We're retreating to the gap! Don't slack off! Follow me, brothers!" Pushing the bald bandit aside, the third brother, spitting in rage, ordered the remaining bandits to retreat.

"Are you alright, Mili?" Approaching the heavily breathing girl, Mo Fan asked, visible concern in his eyes.

"Plenty of time for that later, you smooth-talker, first we need to deal with the bandits! You'll have time for the rest later! Haha!" Before she could answer, Dunt walked past with a smirk, throwing in his remark before moving ahead. Hearing his jab, both Mo Fan and Mili blushed slightly. Throwing a few glances at Mo Fan, she quickly turned away and ran toward their companions. Mo Fan just scratched the back of his head and followed her. BOOM! BOOM!

"Hold together! Don't panic! We're almost there!" Encouraging his pale, trembling bandits, the third brother didn't take his eyes off the enemies. Exerting all his efforts, deflecting attacks, trying to reduce the load on their shield, they slowly but steadily advanced toward a gap in the mountain. This mountain played an important role in their small fort; it protected a huge area, leaving a frontal assault as the enemy's only option. ….

"Brother Shepor, Brother Mo! Hurry, we're lacking power!" Approaching the group of disciples, one of the inner disciples shouted to the three who had fallen behind while the rest continued to press the bandits.

"Don't overdo it. Even if we all use our most powerful techniques, it's not guaranteed we'll break their shield." Joining them, Mo Fan said quietly, afraid the enemies would hear.

"He's right. Our only option is attrition tactics. We'll keep pressing them until their Qi reserves run out. Only then can we break their defense." Dunt nodded, fully agreeing with Mo Fan.

"If only there were ten of us, as originally intended, we might have changed the course of this battle long ago..." Mili took a deep breath, shaking her head. This harmless remark of hers greatly stung all the disciples, especially Dunt.

"That little brat! Abandoned us! And an outer disciple at that! How did he have the audacity to defy us inner disciples! Once this mission is over, if he crosses my path, he'll regret it!" One of the disciples clenched his fists and looked back in the direction they had come from. Most nodded, fully agreeing with him.

Even though everyone understood that Mili's words weren't entirely accurate, and one more disciple wouldn't have changed anything, the fact that an outer disciple had dared to abandon them, ignoring their status as inner disciples, deeply displeased everyone.

"Now is not the time for this. We have more important matters." Seeing the group getting distracted, and their attacks suddenly stopping, giving the bandits a brief respite, Mo Fan quickly redirected their attention back to more important things.

"Focus fire on a single point! That way we'll deplete their shield much faster!" Seeing the group again focused on the enemy, he gave the order and stood at the base of the group, with Shepor Dunt and Mi Mili on either side. …. Just as they got a brief breather, the attacks began raining down on their shield again, but this time, the bandits realized that the tactics had changed, not in their favor.

"Damn! They're concentrating fire on a single point! Third brother, what do we do?!" The bald bandit with the sword, terrified by what was happening, began to shout, sowing even more panic around himself.

"Silence! Hold formation! And keep retreating!" Seeing more and more of his men starting to lose it, the third brother barked, unleashing the full pressure of his ninth-layer Qi Condensation.

"Even with this tactic, they won't break our shield before we reach the gap!" Hearing the third brother's words and the pressure of his cultivation, the bandits pulled themselves together. Even the bald bandit calmed down and suppressed his panic, understanding that it wouldn't help him get out of this situation. ….

"Intensify the fire! Don't spare Qi! They're up to something, they're not just retreating; they're acting deliberately!" Realizing what was happening, Dunt quickly shouted and increased his Qi output. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Hearing him and seeing how coordinated the bandits' retreat was, all the disciples understood that something was wrong.

"Look! There's a narrow cave in the wall!" One of the disciples shouted, pointing at a barely visible cave in the stone wall.

"Intensify attacks! Don't let them advance any further!" Seeing the gap, Mo Fan shouted, finally realizing what the bandits were planning, and what it could lead to if they allowed it. ….

"Third brother! Damn! Damn! They figured out our plan!" The bald bandit, seeing that their opponents had discovered the gap, gripped his sword and completely let panic take over.

"The main thing is to hold formation and constantly maintain the shield! We're almost there!" Feeling his men's morale plummeting, he understood that the slower they moved, the more mistakes they made. The third brother did the only thing left to him, realizing that even intimidation no longer worked, only encouragement remained as he tried to give them hope to hold onto.

"Understood, third brother! All together!" Hearing him, the surrounding bandits, even if not cheered up, at least gathered their thoughts, understanding what awaited them. …. For several minutes, the group of disciples sent technique after technique, wave after wave. But the energy shield continued to hold its structure, groaning under the strain as it deflected everything thrown at it.

"Damn it! Their shield held after all! What do we do?!" One of the disciples, seeing the bandits reach the gap and disappear into it, spat on the ground in fury. Realizing that they had missed such an opportunity to deal with the bandits, many shared the disciple's feelings. Everyone understood they were just a step away from completely clearing this camp. Standing still and staring into the gorge, no one wanted to retreat. Everyone was ready to continue pursuing the remaining bandits.

Everyone believed in their own strength, confident that they could finish what they started.

"How are your Qi reserves? Do you think we should pursue, or do we retreat? What's your opinion?" Stepping out from the group, Shepor Dunt turned and, looking at each of them with a serious gaze, asked. Hearing him, everyone began to nod. No one wanted to lose points and the chance to receive rewards." Um... We don't know what's inside that cave. What if it's a trap?" Mili, quietly, almost in a whisper, spoke up, stepping slightly forward.

"Even if it is, we can't leave these bandits alive. Otherwise, it will have been pointless. If we leave them alive, they can always find a new group and continue robbing and killing. All that's left in that cave are a few exhausted and beaten bandits, whom we can defeat without any problems." Throwing a glance at Mili, Mo Fan gripped his sword and stepped forward, passing by Dunt. Hearing what Mo Fan said and seeing his determined gaze, Mi Mili lowered her head slightly and nodded, agreeing with him.

"Brother Mo is partly right! We can't allow this! But we must be careful." Standing nearby, Dunt smiled, infected by Mo Fan's confidence. Taking a new, clean sword from his ring, he stood shoulder to shoulder with him. The entire group, without any hesitation, followed them. Mo Fan looked at Mi Mili, and seeing her look back, he nodded. Together, the three of them led the group. ….

'Hmm... What should I do with these remaining six days...' Having recovered his body, An spent most of his time studying, or rather, trying to study the Dao of Wood. But every attempt was essentially a failure. The only thing he managed was to slightly control the energy inside that puddle. Poking around and trying, but realizing nothing was working, he gave up and decided to conduct a cultivation cycle, without any pills.

After finishing his cultivation, he finally opened his eyes and decided to admire the rising sun on the horizon.' I think I'd better stick to the original plan and focus on finding something interesting around me.' He activated Qi Clouds for hovering between the branches. Even though he could now fly without any techniques, he decided to be careful, not knowing who or when might be watching him.

After scouting an area of about fifteen square kilometers, An found a large number of first-rank spirit plants, and even a few second rank ones." Oh! I didn't know you could find Snow Roses in this part of the outer ring!" Jumping down from the branches, he landed next to a small mound of pseudo-snow with a pure white rose growing in its center, its petals covered in ice. It looked, of course, very strange: in the middle of a colorful summer forest, a small snow mound had appeared.

Approaching and reaching out with his hand, An suddenly stopped and began to examine the rose carefully. He saw almost invisible and very faint Qi flows emanating from this plant. Wrinkling his nose, he read the information from this flow.' Damn! A goddamn illusion!

'An realized that this' rose' had a small formation on it. The moment he touched the flower, he would immediately fall under the influence of a hidden illusion. Whoosh! Whoosh! Jumping back, he saw arrows flying past his face. Having dodged all the arrows shot at him, he took a few steps back. Shifting his center of gravity to his back leg, he focused on the direction from which he had been fired upon." Hahaha! Just like a frightened water rabbit!"" Pfft! You're just too crooked! No need to make excuses!"

"Who are you calling crooked?! Huh?!" Immediately, two people came out of the forest. A woman holding a bow, her brown hair tied in a bun so it wouldn't fall into her face, she kept examining the string of her bow with her red eyes. Right behind her, a man with a dagger in each hand, with a nearly identical appearance. Both were dressed in furs and leathers, perfectly suited for moving through these forests." Haha! Little brother, look what a hare we've found! Who is this? What do you think?"

The woman, with a malicious smile, pulled back the bowstring and aimed right between An's eyes.

"Be more hospitable, little sister, or you'll scare our new friend, look, he's about to start trembling!" With the same expression, he gripped both daggers, not taking his eyes off the young man." Um... are you outlaws? Or disciples from a Sect?" Looking at them, without changing his center of gravity, An tilted his head and decided to ask in advance, to be sure." Ha, sister, did you hear that? He called us bandits!" The man spat on the ground and threw a glance at his sister.

"Bandits? Us? How dare you! We are the Free Dagger and Arrow! For calling us by that dirty, disgusting word, bandits, we'll take your head!" The sister pulled the bowstring even tighter and no longer concealed her saturated killing intent.

"Blame yourself! If you'd watched your tongue, we would have let you go unharmed, only after a small share! But as my sister said, you shouldn't have used that word! Haha!" The man's eyes lit up, his whole demeanor showing that he couldn't wait to launch himself.

"Maybe... Maybe we can still come to an agreement, and I'll pay for passage, so we can go our separate ways?" An understood what was about to happen, but he still held out hope of avoiding it all. Even though he had promised himself that he would get rid of and spit on all the norms established within him over the years of his first life, being in the moment, here and now, and understanding the inevitable, his true self still made itself known." HA!"

Releasing the bowstring, the woman fired an arrow enveloped in Qi, which immediately tore through the air and flew straight at An. But the moment she released the string, she barely saw the ground explode before he turned into a blur and disappeared from her field of vision. His speed was so high that she couldn't even track him." AGH!" Immediately, she heard a tearing scream, followed by a strange, violent crack.

Turning around, her face went pale, and she almost dropped her bow from her hands; unable to stand, she fell to her knees.

"No, no, no! B-brother! Why?! Nooo!" In the end, she couldn't hold back, and tears began to flow from her eyes. Before her on the ground lay her brother, or rather, what was left of him: only part of his torso and one arm, which he was reaching toward her, opening his mouth, trying to say something, but only blood came out each time.

"I put too much Qi into my legs, too much acceleration, I miscalculated... I almost lost control when... when I rammed through him... I thought he would block. Why didn't he block..." Standing a few meters from the mutilated body, An muttered. He was completely clean, without a single drop of blood on him thanks to his external Qi Armor membrane. He looked at what remained of the body, strong discomfort visible in his eyes, which he successfully extinguished by analyzing what had happened out loud.

"Why?! H-how dare you! Who are you?!" On her knees, her face in tears and her eyes red with rage, she raised her bow and pulled the string again. With cries from the depths of her soul, she put all her strength into that arrow and released it. Quickly tilting his head, An dodged the arrow and immediately waving his hand sent a Qi Blade straight to her forehead." Ack!" Feeling something pass through her head, the woman dropped her bow and immediately fell face-first onto the remains of her brother's body.

An was silent and just looked at the two bodies. He examined the black flows of Qi, Death Qi. How they left the bodies and dissolved into the surroundings, leaving no trace behind. He closed his eyes and exhaled.' A cultivator's body at the eighth-layer is much softer than I thought... Even the fact that he managed to subconsciously activate a shield technique at the very last moment, by the time I had already touched him... I still passed through him like butter... As strange as that sounds.'

He didn't rummage through their bodies. He only looked them over, and not finding any spatial pouches, thought that perhaps, due to their lifestyle, all their valuables were hidden somewhere in some secret cave.

Of course, he hoped for this, even though he understood it was a bit naive, he still memorized their unique Qi signature, which was still emanating from their bodies, so that if the opportunity arose, he could stumble upon their stash. Looking around, he erased all traces of his Qi and, jumping onto a tree, began to move. …. Somewhere in a huge dark room. On the walls were thousands of projections, showing groups of disciples or individuals." Hmm, what do you think about disciple number 2302?" A man asked.

"It was forced, yet excessive cruelty, a dismissive attitude toward the lives of his companions." A harsh female voice sounded from the darkness.

"He abandoned his squad within the first minutes. Loyalty to comrades is foreign to him. Besides, I can sense emotional fluctuations coming from him." A young male voice came from the same corner.

"Perhaps he doesn't feel loyalty to the Sect either... Very well, your verdict?" A monotonous voice spoke, barely above a whisper.

"Exclude disciple 2302 from the list." A loud, stern voice delivered the verdict, not even giving a chance to object. The man who had first drawn attention to disciple 2302, upon hearing the verdict, frowned and clenched his hands into fists, trying to suppress his growing anger. Immediately, on a large, separate projection, where the faces of all participants were displayed, one particular face went dark, the face of a teenager with a brand on his neck.