Chapter 7: Ambush on the Halfway Road

  "It's no wonder it's the nest of the poisonous spider, there are actually so many poisonous weeds! Although they're not high-level, it's still a harvest!" Zhang Hao exclaimed happily.

  "Wait, come quick, this herb seems to be Wood Lycoris!" A shout of surprise came, Zhang Hao's face filled with excitement as he stared at the ground, where a herb was swaying gently.

  "You can't be mistaken, Mu Lei Qing is a third-grade herb, and its value in town is worth a thousand gold!"

  "Absolutely no mistake, trifoliate with purplish-red color, rhizome growing inversely, these are all unique characteristics of Wood's Gentian!" Zhang Hao said with a affirmative face, and then he was about to squat down to pick the Wood's Gentian.

  "Wait, if it's really Mu Li Qing, directly picking it like this will not only destroy its medicinal properties but also risk poisoning yourself." Yang Tong intervened from the side and then put on a dense glove, he was well-prepared for this action.

  Carefully putting away the herbs, a smile appeared on Yang Tong's face, and everyone else was also delighted. As long as they could sell this Wood Spirit Leaf to the pharmacy in town, they would be able to split a considerable amount of money, even more valuable than the two Venomous Spider Heads they had killed before.

  "Alright, we've found everything we can find. Let's head back to the city!" Yang Tong exclaimed loudly, "This time out everyone has worked hard, let's go back to Zui Ming Lou and I'll treat you all to a good drink, it's on me!"

  "Haha, Brother Yang is being unusually generous this time, I must take advantage of it and make a good profit!" The others cheered and clapped, their mood was great, even Shen Cong's face showed a smile as he followed along with the group, feeling quite comfortable.

  Everyone came out of the poisonous spider's nest, and all the way they were talking and laughing. However, everyone's greatest curiosity was still on Shen Cong's body, just because Shen Cong's previous performance was too magical. Even Zhao Ming, who was proud, had nothing to say about Shen Cong's strength. Although Zhao Ming didn't think that if he fought against Shen Cong, he would be defeated like the poisonous spider, after all, humans and demons were different. But being able to solve the poisonous spider so cleanly and efficiently was still very powerful.

  Qian Min walked beside Shen Cong, having just learned that he had only been practicing for half a year. This stunned Qian Min for several seconds before she could react, as this cultivation speed was simply too fast. Qian Min had already been at the Luoshui Sect for almost two years, but her strength compared to Shen Cong's was far inferior. And people like Yang Tong were not disciples of the Luoshui Sect, but rather the Jinguang Sect, which was not a major sect and had some differences with the Luoshui Sect. Naturally, their strength and potential were even more lacking.

  "Shen Shidi, after returning to the sect, you must... what's wrong?" Qian Minzheng said as he spoke, suddenly discovering that Shen Cong had stopped in his tracks, and then Zhao Ming also came to a halt.

  The unusual behavior of the two people immediately alerted the other four, and when they stopped, the four also realized that something was wrong. The surroundings seemed too quiet, and there was a faint aura locking onto several people.

  "Heh heh, quite vigilant, to actually discover our presence!" A strange laugh echoed, a figure flashed out from the distance and stood still, casually scanning the few people. And with this figure's appearance, several more figures flashed out, a group of them.

  "It seems like they're disciples from a nearby sect, but judging by their poor skills, they must be outer sect disciples. Big brother, we're in luck this time!"

  "Coming out of the nest of the poisonous spider, it seems that the poisonous spider is dead at their hands." The bandit leader rubbed his chin, "Today I won't make things difficult for you, leave all your packages behind, men hurry and roll away, women stay behind to help us a few dissipate our desires."

  "Haha!" Those people burst out laughing and brazenly sized up Qian Min's figure, as if they were about to pounce on her and strip her bare.

  "This big brother must be joking!" Yang Tong's face didn't look good.

  "Get out! Who's joking with you! Give you some time, either obediently agree to my request, or go die directly!" The bandit leader had a cruel look on his face.

  "We are disciples of the Golden Light Sect, so please give us some face!" The bandit leader's cultivation was at the peak of the second stage of combined power, and his strength was much greater than anyone else present. The big difference between humans and low-level demon beasts is that humans can use martial arts techniques and are smarter, while low-level demon beasts only have instincts. The bandit leader was absolutely more formidable than the poisonous spider.

  So Yang Tong and others had the courage to kill the poisonous spider, but they may not have the ability to deal with the bandits, let alone there are seven robbers here, whose strength is comparable to that of Yang Tong and his men.

  "What's this 'Golden Light Sect'? What kind of crap sect is that? I've never heard of it!" The bandit leader said indifferently.

  "Zhao Ming and several others were so angry that their eyes widened."

  "I'll count to three, one, two..." Before he could finish the third count, the bandit leader suddenly vanished into thin air and reappeared in front of Yang Tong. He said he would count to three but only counted to two; the bandit leader had used this trick to deceive countless people, and Yang Tong and his companions were indeed caught off guard.

  However, Yang Tong's slow reaction didn't mean Shen Cong hadn't reacted. Although Shen Cong's combat experience might not be as rich as Yang Tong's, his life experience had taught him that there was no reason for bandits to release other people after kidnapping someone.

  The Jin Guang faction may be small, but it's not someone that this group of bandits can look down on. Now that they're looking down on them, it means they're not afraid of the Jin Guang faction taking revenge. And there's only one reason why the Jin Guang faction can't take revenge: they don't know who the killer is. If they kill everyone, then naturally no one will know who the killer is either.

  "Boom!"

  Shen suddenly appeared in front of Yang Tong and slapped his palm on the back of the bandit's knife, dissolving the attack.

  "You little brat, how dare you ruin my good deed? I'll kill you first!" The bandit leader's eyes widened, emitting a fierce and murderous aura. His large knife hung straight down, aimed at Shen Cong's body, with the intention of cutting him in two with one slash.

  Shen Cong's eyes narrowed slightly, his body didn't retreat but instead advanced, and he suddenly crashed into the bandit leader's body. His entire strength burst forth, and at the same time, one fist struck the bandit leader's chest. Seventy percent of his true energy was used for the amplitude attack, leaving only thirty percent to maintain condensation. Shen Cong's punch directly pierced through the bandit leader's leather armor, heavily striking his flesh.

  "Crack!"

  A cracking sound rang out, Shen Cong thought to advance further, but was forced back by the bandit leader's knife. Without his protective true energy, Shen Cong's body was tough, but not enough to withstand such a fierce attack, and he could only temporarily avoid its peak.

  "What a pity, the second-order combined force is indeed not easy to deal with, especially for this kind of warrior who survives on the tip of his sword!" Shen Cong felt some regret, but he didn't know how shocking this scene was in the eyes of others.

  A first-rate cultivator was defeated by a second-rate one, and the injured party was surprisingly the more powerful of the two. The extent of their injuries was not light either, which left them in shock. Yang Tong and his companions only now realized that their previous so-called high estimation had actually been a far cry from underestimating Shen Cong's combat strength.

  Bandit leader swung out a knife to force Shen Cong back, while retreating to dodge for a moment. However, as soon as his front foot moved, Shen Cong's back foot followed up. Shen Cong seemed not to need to catch his breath at all, and flashed in during the weakest moment of the bandit leader's knife light. It was still just one punch, without any fancy moves, just straightforward, but having witnessed the power of this fist, the bandit leader didn't dare let the attack land on himself, and forcibly made the weakened knife light recoil back.

  After a few moves, the bandit leader became more and more frightened. At first, he thought he was just being careless when he got injured, but after a few more moves, the bandit leader realized that this little kid was ridiculously strong. His cultivation level wasn't high, but his attacks were deadly, and his own armor seemed as fragile as paper, offering no protection at all.

  Other henchmen wanted to come and help, but were dragged down by Yang Tong and others, unable to come up to rescue, making the leader anxious like a fire, but there was no way at all.

  The knife light came again, and the bandit leader, who was already terrified, didn't have as much power in his move as before. Shen Cong seized the opportunity and suddenly slapped a palm on the back of the knife, the huge force making the bandit leader's guard directly open up, and Shen Cong leaned in with one shoulder against the bandit leader's chest.

  No!

  The terrified roar was stuck in his throat and hadn't had time to shout out, when Shen Cong's fist directly smashed the bandit leader's heart into pieces. His body flew far away, dragging on the ground for several meters before convulsing a few times and then no longer moving.

  It's not that Shen Cong's talent is so amazing, but rather the combination of his body after the anomaly and his own cultivation bursting out with tremendous power. Shen Cong also understood his true combat strength in the battle against Fei Tou. Of course, a loose cultivator like Fei Tou is different from a martial artist within a sect, after all, the techniques they cultivate are several levels apart.

  The sound of weapons kept ringing out beside him, and those bandits still didn't know that their leader was already dead. After all, among everyone here, the one with the highest cultivation was the bandit leader, so it didn't make sense for him to die so quickly.

  "Dare to fight two with one, you will die!" The two bandits surrounded Zhao Ming, making him extremely anxious. He thought these bandits were just scattered cultivators, their techniques and moves must be clumsy, he could handle the two of them. But after contact, he realized that things weren't so simple, the two bandits actually understood the way of joint attack, the power they displayed put him at a disadvantage in an instant, now it was even more perilous.

  A knife flashed by, and a wound suddenly appeared on Zhao Ming's chest, with fresh blood staining his shirt. Although Zhao Ming also fired back and hit one of the robbers' shoulders, when he wanted to counterattack, another robber rushed up to him. Exchanging injuries would undoubtedly lead to Zhao Ming's defeat, and it wasn't every time that he could seize an opportunity; most of the time, he was just getting hurt.

  "Die!"

  Zhao Ming, who had been suppressed for a long time, suddenly burst out with a dazzling shot, which directly pierced the heart of one of the robbers. However, because of this shot, Zhao Ming was unable to dodge the knife attack of another robber. It turned out that Zhao Ming would rather kill one person than be slowly worn down like this.

  The bandit's face revealed a cruel smile, and with one slash of the knife, instead of warm blood, he felt a sharp pain in his chest. He looked down to see that his heart had been pierced, and someone was standing in front of him.

  "He wasn't fighting with Lao Da, how did he end up here..." Just as this thought emerged in the mind of the hijacker, his vision was shrouded in darkness.

  "Thanks!" Zhao Ming, who had narrowly escaped, looked at Shen Cong with gratitude. He had steeled himself for the worst, only to find that he was still alive - there was no better feeling than this.

  "Kill off the remaining bandits first!" Turning his head to look at the other bandits, a hint of a smile appeared on Shen Cong's face.