Chapter 8: Ambush in the Dense Forest

  A nimble mercenary seized the initiative, rushing to Rega's front and slamming his hammer into Rega's forehead. The hammer imbued with the fluctuations of fourth-order Dou Qi triggered a destructive force like a whirlwind, causing even the surrounding trees to shake along with it.

  Lei Ga dodged to the side, just avoiding the nail-spiked hammer's fierce attack. At the same time, Cang Yue's sword shot out, ruthlessly stabbing towards his opponent's heart.

  The mercenary couldn't stop his momentum and in a state of panic, he rolled on the ground several times before barely managing to steady himself.

  Lei Ga Ben wanted to take advantage of the situation and launch a counterattack, but more mercenaries came swarming in like a swarm of flies, so he could only temporarily let go of the previous mercenary and use his Cang Hu sword to parry the weapons coming from other directions.

  The mediocre long sword of the mercenary maiden came slashing from her side, but was skillfully parried by Lega. Their fighting strength was evenly matched, and neither warrior's swordsmanship had the upper hand.

  But after several confrontations, the mother-in-law and other more than a dozen mercenaries not only failed to gain an advantage in numbers, but were instead caught off guard by the Cang Hua sword.

  The Niangniang tone condensed all the Dou Qi in his body onto the Pingyong Changjian, and from top to bottom, the Chao Lei pressed down with great force, causing even the thick powder on his own face to fall off.

  But the mediocre long sword was no match for the Cang Yu Sword. The more he used force, the faster the sword broke into two pieces. The broken sword tip rose high and brushed against his cheek, scaring the effeminate voice to scream and quickly retreat from the battlefield.

  Ryuga concentrated all his aura on the Cang Yue sword, aiming at the stunned mercenaries' empty space. A simple sweep of the sword immediately cut down three burly men to the ground, killing them instantly. The aura inside their bodies was continuously absorbed by the Cang Yue sword through the wounds, transforming into Ryuga's attacking power in an instant.

  Although the absorption is only temporary, and the absorbed Dou Qi effect is only a tenth of the original opponent's, this snowball-like effect will not stop once it starts, unless the battle ends. The psychological impact it produces is even more astonishing, causing other mercenaries to panic. The originally cautious crowd now only has anxiety and regret in their hearts.

  The cyan halberd was cutting down enemy after enemy, its body flashing with dazzling light like breathing, and the sword body became scorching hot like the sun, making it difficult for the mercenaries on the scene to breathe, sweating profusely. As Rega fought more bravely, their numbers dwindled, and the remaining few mercenaries only wanted to throw away their weapons and escape.

  Lei Ga didn't want to let any of them go, once the news of the Cang Hu sword was leaked out, he would have to face not just ordinary bandits and mercenaries, but possibly even heroic-level enemies - with his current abilities, it was impossible for him to survive in front of a hero.

  Moreover, these bandit mercenaries all had bloodstained hands, not a single one was clean. It's as if they should all die to avenge the girl who hanged herself from the tree for justice.

  The cyan halberd cut through the air, and in an instant, several red lights flashed by. Those mercenaries who tried to escape were all beheaded. The entire forest path was littered with corpses, blood flowing like a river, and the originally muddy road became even more difficult to traverse.

  After a moment, only two people were left on the scene. One was Rega, who held the Cangjian Sword, and the other was Nangnangqiang, who was stunned.

  His mediocre sword was broken by his own fierce aura, and he had planned to wait for someone to die before picking up a handy weapon and re-entering the battle. However, just as he waited, the scene underwent a thorough transformation - from the bandit mercenaries' planned ambush to Rega's one-sided slaughter.

  The young man in front of him, swinging the black sword, had no hesitation in his dark eyes. This killing intent would make even a top-notch hero wary. If he grew up, the consequences would be...

  It's very scary.

  Lei Ga walked up to Niangniangqiang with his sword, and only then did she come back to her senses from her deep thought. He threw away the broken sword and fell to his knees in the muddy ground filled with blood, trembling as he begged for mercy: "Young master! I'm the one who helped you kill Deke, you can't repay kindness with enmity!"

  "One hill's badger."

  Lei Ga mercilessly placed the Qing Lian sword on Nang Nang's trembling neck, "You're just like them, all of you are here to rob me of my Qing Lian sword."

  The scorching sword body made the muscles on Nangnang's neck burst open, he let out a loud roar, and rolled out of Rega's attack range in a very ungraceful posture. Then, he quickly took out a bottle of purple medicine from his close-fitting bag.

  "Little brother, what I'm holding is a potent elixir. If I drink it, my fighting spirit will temporarily increase! Don't force me to go down with you!" He knew that the elixir's effect couldn't compare to the Azure Sword, but if he could just hold on for a little while longer, things would take a new turn.

  "Potent medicine?"

  Lei Ga slightly furrowed his brow, "Bought from Xie Pu?"

  The girl sneered coldly, "I knew you might be tough to deal with, so I spent all my money to buy this bottle of the only strong potion in Crow Ridge!"

  As soon as he heard the word "unique", Leiga couldn't help but let out a deep sigh, and said with pity: "I dare to bet that each of these mercenaries has a bottle of blue medicine on them, and some have even taken it ahead of time."

  "This is impossible!" The eunuch shrieked in a shrill voice: "The Strong and Resilient Medicine is so precious, even in the main city's large pharmacies it's hard to buy, Old Crow just happened to have one bottle, how could everyone have one?! Hmph, when I drink it down, you'll know the consequences!" As he spoke, he tilted his head back and gulped gulp gulp drank the entire bottle of medicine.

  Lei Ga put down the Cang Hua sword and asked in a rich and sonorous voice: "How is it?"

  "Uh..."

  The young lady pouted and smacked her lips, "The taste is strange, a bit like the Emperor's Smile wine that has been diluted with water..." He clenched his fist, but his inner energy didn't increase at all.

  "My god! That scoundrel!" The effeminate man finally understood, and with a loud crash, he smashed the bottle to the ground, trampling it fiercely with his foot.

  A faint smile spread across Lega's lips, the antidote that Shibo sold to him tasted bad but was genuine, while the strong medicine he sold to the bandit mercenaries was completely fake. He couldn't help but think, what was this cunning old man after, was it just for money or was he secretly helping him?

  "Big sister——"

  Lei Ga slowly raised the Cang Hui sword above his head, "You have one chance to defend yourself."

  The girl's body trembled, and she stammered: "I, I don't want to die!"

  "The plea is invalid."

  Lei Ga was about to kill, when suddenly he heard a sound of bowstrings being tightened coming from the depths of the dense forest. Immediately after, a rain of arrows filled with four-stage Dou Qi shot towards him from all directions. He hastily withdrew his Cang Hu sword and cut down the long arrows that were shooting towards him at his feet.

  "Hahaha!"

  The miraculously surviving sissy let out a wild and arrogant laugh, saying: "Young brother, you didn't think so, but actually we had laid an ambush long ago. Red Luo Lan, that noble lady..."

  Before her words had even faded away, a pale blue ice-elemental flying needle suddenly shot through the chest of Nang Nang Qiang.

  The young master's eyes widened in shock as he stared blankly into the distance, muttering: "Lord Red Roland, you..."

  Another flying needle shot out and exploded the frozen Nangong's body into fragments.

  Lei Ga took a deep breath in reverse, following the direction of the flying thorn's shot, and looked towards the depths of the dense forest.

  A dozen or so bandits armed with longbows were ambushing from a hundred meters away, which was precisely the extreme range that his fourth-stage Dou Qi could not detect.

  A beautiful figure slowly emerged from the dense forest, her entire body draped in a long robe embroidered with red lily patterns. Her face was covered by a triangular mask that extended from the high bridge of her nose to the back of her ears, blocking most of her features. Her eyes were like the moon, and her eyebrows were like paintings, but they were filled with a stern and murderous intent.

  She had a strange black broadsword slung behind her back, its wide blade as black and shiny as ink. From afar, the giant sword looked like a hill, making her figure appear exceptionally slender. Yet her steps were as light as a dance, each step bringing a sense of beauty that was pleasing to the eye.

  However, what was shocking and breathtaking was that her entire body was shrouded in a thick layer of crimson aura, the edges of which were already faintly glowing with an orange light. From afar, it looked like a burning flame.

  Before the 10th level, Dou Qi only existed in red. Once it broke through the red and upgraded to orange, it meant that she had officially become a hero. It was clear that this woman's strength had already reached the 10th level, and she was about to break through to become an apprentice-level hero.

  "Red Magnolia..."

  The name flowed out of Lega's mouth like a flowing cloud and running water, and the Qinghe sword in his hand also tightened slightly.

  Hong Luo Lan walked out of the dense forest, her eyes coldly scanning the corpse under Le Ga's feet. "Le Ga..."

  Lei Ga was slightly stunned, he didn't expect a woman who made his heart skip a beat to have a voice that flowed like a gentle stream in his heart. Judging from the tone of her voice, Hong Luo Lan's age should be similar to his.

  "You killed many of my men," said Red Pimpernel.

  Lei Ga responded calmly: "One of them was killed by you yourself."

  Hong Luolan snorted with laughter, "I killed Nang Nangqiang because I didn't want your Cang Yuelian sword to absorb any more Dou Qi."

  Leiga only realized now that with Hong Luolan's strength approaching that of a Hero, why would she go to such great lengths to ambush a mere 4th rank warrior. The reason she had arranged for Nangong Lian to lead a group of mercenaries as bait was simply to observe the power and effects of the Canghui Sword. If Leiga could be defeated by Nangong Lian, then everything would be fine, but if not, she could also use the characteristics displayed by the Canghui Sword to turn the tables.

  Lei Ga shook his head and sighed, saying: "In order to observe the effect of the Cang Ji sword, you are willing to watch your subordinates being killed with your own eyes. You really are as ruthless as the rumors say."

  Hong Luolan said faintly, "One achievement will be accomplished, and all bones will wither. What's more, you yourself have said that evil thugs, robbers, and criminals are all deserving of death."