Chapter 2878: Chapter 2878
"Enough talk, let’s fight first! Since they’re bandits, there’s no need to hold back!"
Ye Liuyun exchanged a quick word with Li Daoyuan before charging straight at the bandit leader.
"You’d rather die than hand over your valuables?"
The bandit leader was genuinely surprised. He hadn’t expected these people to dare fight back.
Ye Liuyun, with only the aura of a sixth-level Dominator, actually rushed at him. The bandit leader assumed Ye Liuyun was inexperienced and couldn’t even gauge his true strength.
To intimidate him, the bandit leader immediately unleashed his oppressive aura, hoping to make Ye Liuyun realize the futility of challenging him.
Yet, Ye Liuyun didn’t even flinch. The moment he closed in, he threw a devastating punch.
"What?!"
The bandit leader gasped in shock. Not only had his aura failed to suppress Ye Liuyun, but the quality of the energy in that punch was no weaker than his own!
Panicking, he hastily channeled his own energy and countered with a punch of his own.
**BOOM!**
The collision of their energies sent shockwaves rippling outward, knocking nearby bandits off their feet.
Meanwhile, Ye Tiandao unsheathed his battle blade and lunged at another bandit. With a single slash, thousands of phantom blades materialized, swarming the man like a deadly tide. In an instant, he was obliterated—not even a scrap of flesh remained.
"You’re insane! You dare kill us?!" the remaining bandits shrieked, clearly unprepared for such ruthless brutality.
"Kill them! Slaughter them all!" the bandit leader roared mid-battle with Ye Liuyun, urging his men to attack.
Li Daoyuan, however, remained motionless, standing guard to support the other two. When a few bandits rushed at him, he casually swatted them away with a single palm strike. Their bodies shattered midair, lifeless before they even hit the ground.
Ye Liuyun was locked in a fierce battle with the bandit leader, their clash so evenly matched that the other bandits began to suspect he was concealing his true cultivation level with some treasure.
Meanwhile, Ye Tiandao cut down one bandit after another without hesitation, her blade merciless. Seeing the tide turn against them, the remaining outlaws attempted to flee—only for Li Daoyuan to swiftly intercept and herd them back, leaving them at the mercy of Ye Tiandao’s deadly strikes.
Before long, only Ye Liuyun and the bandit leader remained standing amidst the carnage.
It was clear that Ye Liuyun was using the fight as practice, relying solely on his physical strength and profound energy. The bandit leader grew increasingly unnerved with each exchange. He was certain Ye Liuyun’s aura was only at the sixth level of the Dominator Realm, yet the quality of his profound energy was unnaturally refined, and his physique was so formidable that even the leader’s full-force attacks couldn’t land a meaningful blow.
As the battle dragged on, the bandit leader realized his own energy reserves were dwindling fast. Worse, two other formidable fighters—one a powerhouse, the other a master of blade intent—were watching like predators, waiting for an opening. He couldn’t afford to exhaust himself completely.
*If his combat strength is this overwhelming, his divine soul must be his weak point!*
Seizing the opportunity, the leader unleashed his divine soul, sending it surging into Ye Liuyun’s consciousness.
"Dammit! I wasn’t done yet!"
Frustrated, Ye Liuyun snarled and obliterated the bandit leader’s physical body with a single punch.
As for the leader’s divine soul? The Ten Thousand Gods Token was already devouring it.
The artifact’s power had clearly grown stronger—within moments, it nearly finished dissolving the soul of a Unity Realm expert.
Acting quickly, Ye Liuyun rifled through the bandit’s memories, searching for any useful information.
To his surprise, he discovered that the leader’s Interspatial Ring held a captive—a young woman named Qin Mengxi, the sole daughter of the Qin family’s patriarch, a major local power.
Qin Mengxi had originally come to these mountains to train. But during her expedition, she and her entourage—elderly guardians and personal guards—had encountered a pack of savage beasts. In the chaos, the elders and warriors sacrificed themselves to ensure her escape, only to be devoured by the monstrous creatures.
She had encountered these bandits and was taken hostage by them, held for ransom as leverage to extort resources from the Qin family.
However, since these bandits were outsiders with no backing from any local power, they were surprisingly honorable. They hadn’t harmed Qin Mengxi and were simply waiting for her family to deliver the demanded resources.
Ye Liuyun immediately released her. With a sweep of his golden eyes, he detected the presence of Buddhist Light energy within her—though, surprisingly, hers seemed weaker than his. Her cultivation level was only at the fifth stage of the Dominator Realm.
“The bandits who kidnapped you are already dead. You’re free to go,” Ye Liuyun told her bluntly.
“Huh? You killed them all?” Qin Mengxi looked stunned, but the sight of the mangled corpses and the metallic scent of blood in the air convinced her.
“That’s... too cruel!”
She wrinkled her nose in clear distaste, as if blaming them for their actions.
Ye Liuyun was speechless. This woman’s reaction was completely unexpected. Not only did she not thank them, but she actually had the nerve to scold them.
Still, her words made one thing obvious—she had no real-world experience.
“They were bandits!” Tian Dao snapped, defending Ye Liuyun.
“Bandits are still people! If you could defeat them, why did you have to kill them?” Qin Mengxi shot back.
Tian Dao fell silent. Even she could tell now—this woman was utterly naïve, ignorant of the ruthlessness of the martial world.
“Just go,” Ye Liuyun waved dismissively, not wanting to waste any more time on her.
The woman scanned her surroundings with her divine sense, then immediately turned back to Ye Liuyun. “You’re just going to leave me here? No way! My cultivation is too low—if you abandon me, I’ll get eaten by wild beasts!”
“What, you expect us to escort you home now?” Tian Dao retorted, exasperated.
Qin Mengxi retorted with righteous indignation, "Oh really? My family was supposed to send resources to get me back. But you killed the bandits and just left me here!
If I get eaten by savage beasts, your ’rescue’ would’ve done more harm than good! Honestly, I’d have been safer with the bandits!"
Ye Tiandao was utterly speechless.
Ye Liuyun couldn’t help but laugh in exasperation.
"First time I’ve seen someone admit they’re weak—and still sound so self-righteous about it!"
Qin Mengxi muttered under her breath, "Of course I’m weak—otherwise, how could I have been captured in the first place? If you’re gonna save someone, do it properly! Half-hearted rescues are worse than doing nothing!"
Ye Liuyun couldn’t be bothered to argue. Since they were heading out of the mountains toward the city anyway, one more person tagging along made little difference.
"Fine, you can come with us," he said. "We’re going to the city too."
Only then did Qin Mengxi finally say, "Well, thank you for saving me, then! My family promised those resources to the bandits, but I’ll make sure they’re given to you as thanks instead."
Ye Liuyun and Ye Tiandao exchanged amused glances.
So this woman didn’t consider their earlier actions a proper rescue—only now, after Ye Liuyun agreed to take her along, did she express gratitude and offer the promised resources. Clearly, she came from a wealthy family that could afford such generosity.
On reflection, though, they had to admit her logic made some sense. Leaving someone half-rescued in dangerous territory could indeed be worse than not helping at all.
It was just her attitude that caught them off guard. Instead of admitting her own weakness and begging for their protection, she’d boldly scolded them for their incomplete rescue—as if it were their duty to see her safely home.
