The sun dipped below the horizon, and Hanyuan finally lowered his spear, his muscles humming with a satisfied fatigue. He made his way back to the main manor, where the lanterns were already lit. Upon entering, he found that his mother had anticipated his return; a steaming bath filled with aromatic herbs was already waiting for him.
Hanyuan stepped into the large wooden tub, feeling the heat sink into his bones and the tension drain from his mind. For thirty minutes, he sat in perfect silence, letting the scent of dried lilies and spirit moss clear his thoughts. When he finally emerged and donned a set of fresh white silk robes, he felt completely revitalized.
He entered the dining hall to find his father already seated. A moment later, his mother walked in, and Hanyuan almost paused mid step. The Skin Rejuvenate Pill had worked even better than he had hoped. Her skin carried a translucent, jade like glow, the fine lines around her eyes had vanished, and she looked easily a decade younger. She carried herself with a renewed vibrance, a brilliant smile lighting up her face.
"Hanyuan, this gift... I feel like I've been born anew," she beamed, placing a bowl of Spirit Rice before him.
They ate heartily,roasted Spirit Beast meat seasoned with mountain peppers and bowls of clear spring water. The conversation was light and happy, filled with laughter that hadn't echoed in this hall for a year.
When the meal ended, Hanyuan retreated to his childhood room. It was exactly as he had left it,simple, clean, and silent. He sat cross legged on the floor and entered a state of deep meditation. As he began his cycles, the ambient Qi of the room rushed into his body with a gushing sound, filling his expanded meridians and settling into the vortex of his Dantian.
At this rate, I'll reach the Mortal Core realm in 6-8 months without the help of a pill, Hanyuan calculated, his brow furrowing slightly. But that is still too long. And between my gifts and the shop, I'm running dangerously low on spirit stones.
He needed a shortcut to hain wealth.
Memory surfaced of a report he had overheard at the city gate. The Purple Blood Bandit Group had been expanding their territory in the surrounding forests. They were notorious for extorting passing merchants and looting small villages, hoarding a massive amount of money in their hidden camp. Rumor had it that their leader was an expert at the Early Mortal Core stage.
The next morning, Hanyuan walked toward the outskirts of the estate to Elder Wei's small house. He found the old man in the backyard, his figure a blur of motion as he practiced the first forms of the Azure Wind Spear Art. The air around him hissed with the sound of a gathering gale.
"Elder Wei," Hanyuan called out, offering a respectful bow.
The Elder stopped, his spear tip vibrating with residual wind Qi. He looked at Hanyuan with a sharp, appreciative eye. "I was just testing the flow of this new manual. It is... profound. My understanding of the wind is shifting every hour."
"Elder, I have a proposal," Hanyuan said, his gaze turning serious. "The Purple Blood Bandit Group has grown too bold in our forests. They have a treasury filled with stolen stones, and their leader is at the Early Mortal Core stage. I want to wipe them out. If you come with me, you can take on the Leader,it will be the perfect chance to test the Azure Wind Spear Art in a real life and death struggle. I will handle the rest of them."
Elder Wei lowered his spear, pondering the request. He wasn't a greedy man, but he knew the Bai Clan could use the resources, and more importantly, he felt the debt he owed Hanyuan for the Spirit-grade manual.
"The Purple Blood group, eh?" Wei muttered, a fierce glint appearing in his eyes. "They've been a thorn in the city's side for too long."
He gripped his spear tightly, the wind swirling around his feet. "Prepare yourself, Hanyuan. We leave within the hour.
One hour later, the dense foliage of the southern forest swallowed the two figures. Hanyuan and Elder Wei moved in absolute silence, ghosts drifting through the undergrowth. After thirty minutes of tracking the scent of woodsmoke and the faint, discordant vibrations of unruly Qi, they reached a jagged limestone cliff. Hidden beneath the spreading canopies of ancient, gargantuan trees was the hideout of the Purple Blood Bandit Group,a sprawling mess of tents and crude wooden fortifications.
"The moment you rush in and draw their attention, their formation will break," Elder Wei whispered, his hand tightening on his spear. "I will sense the Boss's aura and end him before he can rally them. Go."
Hanyuan didn't need to be told twice. He stepped into the clearing, the Cold Cloud Spear held low.
"Stop! Who goes..!"
Sou!
The bandit sentry's warning was cut short as Hanyuan's spear hissed through the air. Moving like a coiling serpent, the blue tip struck with blinding speed, punching a clean hole through the man's skull before he could even draw his blade.
"Intruder! Kill him!"
Five bandits, all between the 5th and 7th Layer of Qi Refining, roared as they charged from the front. They brandished rusted sabers and notched axes, their faces twisted in greed.
"Silver Crescent Horizon!"
Hanyuan didn't even slow his pace. He swept his spear in a violent horizontal arc. A massive wave of freezing white Qi erupted from the shaft. The impact was thunderous. All five bandits were lifted off their feet, their chests carved open and frost bitten. They were catapulted five meters back, crashing into the dirt with the sound of snapping bone.
A shadow loomed behind Hanyuan, a saber whistling toward his neck. Without turning, Hanyuan rotated the shaft of his spear, using the end of the spear to parry the blade with a sharp Clang! He spun on his heel, using the momentum to thrust.
Hiss!
The Cold Cloud Spear impaled the bandit through the heart, the blue metal exiting his back. Hanyuan retracted the weapon with a wet squelch and wiped a spray of blood from the shaft.
Suddenly, the air in the camp distorted. Two terrifying Mortal Core auras collided near the main pavilion. A storm of wind and purple Qi erupted as Elder Wei engaged the Bandit Leader.
In the chaos, a massive figure emerged from the smoke,a bandit with barrel like shoulders and a double bitted axe. He radiated a suffocating pressure, the Peak of the 9th Layer. Seeing the massacre of his men, he lunged toward the fight between the masters.
Sou!
Hanyuan blurred, appearing directly in the man's path. "I am your opponent," Hanyuan said, his obsidian eyes sparking with light.
The bandit let out a raspy, mocking laugh. "A brat? You're still a hundred years too early to stand in my way, whelp!"
The man swung his axe in a wide, crushing arc.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
They clashed three times in less than a breath. The shockwaves from the impact sent tremors through Hanyuan's boots, forcing both combatants to take five steps apart. A thin trail of blood ran down the bandit's side where the spear had grazed his waist, but Hanyuan hadn't escaped unscathed,a shallow cut marked his right shoulder, the white silk of his robe turning red.
"Star-Point Piercer!" Hanyuan roared, pouring his lightning and frost Qi into a single, focused lunge.
The bandit roared a technique of his own, his axe glowing with a muddy, dark-red aura.
BOOM!
The collision of the two Peak 9th layer techniques created a vacuum of energy. The surrounding bandits were sent tumbling, unable to even breathe near the center of the storm. For a moment, the axe's sheer mass managed to breach the focus of Hanyuan's spear tip, the heavy blade whistling toward Hanyuan's throat.
Hanyuan snapped his spine backward, his waist bending at an impossible angle as the axe head missed his skin by a hair's breadth. As the bandit followed through with his swing, overextending his reach, Hanyuan launched a devastating roundhouse kick.
CRUNCH!
The bandit tried to parry with his left forearm, but the force of Hanyuan's leg was too great. The bone snapped with a sickening sound.
Dazed and clutching his broken arm, the bandit stumbled back. He didn't see Hanyuan reach back. With a grunt of exertion, Hanyuan threw the Cold Cloud Spear like a massive, blue white javelin.
SQUELCH!
The spear moved too fast for the injured man to react. It punched through his reinforced leather armor and his chest, the force carrying him backward until the spear pinned his body three feet high against a massive ancient oak tree.
The bandit's eyes bulged, his boots dangling off the ground. "T-to die... to this brat..." he muttered, blood pouring from his mouth, before his head slumped forward.