Chapter 220: Chapter 131: Mountain Bandits (2)
"I’ll take my leave. Once everything is prepared, I will come back to inform you two junior brothers."
After the falling-out, Li Qiang didn’t linger. He quickly rose and departed.
Sun Tao felt rather ashamed, but he couldn’t very well explain the situation with Xiao Hua. Bracing himself, he, along with Jiang Ping and Zhang Yong, saw Li Qiang out of the courtyard.
When the three of them returned, Xu Yang had already gone back to his room to cultivate.
Sun Tao sighed. "Senior Brother Li Qiang went a bit too far. Junior Brother Xu and I... we have our reasons..."
Zhang Yong said, "What reasons can’t be spoken of? Senior Brother Li Qiang is a man of heroic spirit. Although he came to us for help, this is beneficial for us too.
We don’t have any backing. If we want to achieve anything on the Martial Dao, we’ll have to go to the Yunling Mountain Range sooner or later."
It wasn’t that he couldn’t see the danger, but a trip to the Yunling Mountain Range was inevitable. Being led by an expert at Gang Qi Great Success with experience there was far better than plunging in headfirst, knowing nothing.
Sun Tao shook his head. "I can’t say. If I could, I would have explained. You guys are following Senior Brother Li Qiang, so be careful. Even an expert at Gang Qi Great Success isn’t completely safe in the Yunling Mountain Range."
...
In his room, Xu Yang’s body glowed with a faint golden light. Under the nourishment and tempering of his Gang Qi, his body’s toughness and power slowly increased.
Two hours later, his entire body was burning hot, and only then did he stop his cultivation of the Golden Gang Skill.
After a short rest, he began practicing the Pure Essence Gold-Splitting Finger.
[Pure Essence Gold-Splitting Finger·Minor Achievement (826/3000)]
After nearly two months of cultivation, his Pure Essence Gold-Splitting Finger had long since reached the Minor Achievement Realm. With a single finger, he could easily pierce through gold and iron.
Ten days later, Jiang Ping and Zhang Yong left the Purple Sun Sect with Li Qiang.
Xu Yang only heard about it from Sun Tao upon returning from outside. In addition to the two of them, Li Qiang had also recruited another helper, though it was someone Xu Yang didn’t know.
Xu Yang could tell that Sun Tao was also eager to go with them.
It wasn’t to help Li Qiang, but because his own cultivation had stalled, preventing him from reaching Gang Qi Minor Achievement. If he didn’t go to the Yunling Mountain Range to test himself and gain experience, he didn’t know when he would ever break through.
In fact, ever since the Outer Sect’s Grand Competition ended, many disciples from their year had already left the Purple Sun Sect to temper themselves in the Yunling Mountain Range.
For most of them, the contribution points from Sect tasks were simply too few. Even if they worked themselves to death for a whole month, they still wouldn’t earn enough to buy a single Guiyuan Pill.
Without risking their lives, it might take them five or six years to reach Gang Qi Great Success—if they could reach it at all.
If they really took five or six years to reach Gang Qi Great Success, none of the Inner Sect Elders would take them as apprentices. They wouldn’t be able to become Inner Sect Disciples even if they met the cultivation requirement.
Risking their lives was their only hope for success.
"Someone did a count a few days ago," Sun Tao said with a sigh. "Of the Dragon Ascending Disciples from our year, only two hundred ninety-some are still alive. Fewer than three hundred."
Xu Yang was shocked. "That many have died already?"
In just one year, over sixty of the Dragon Ascending Disciples from their intake had already died.
At this rate, by the time the three-year term was up, less than half of the original three hundred sixty would be left—perhaps even fewer.
As more people ventured into the Yunling Mountain Range as Treasure Hunters, the death toll would only continue to climb.
Sun Tao nodded. "I heard the disciples from Qingyuan County have suffered the most casualties. Kong Yu, Ji Jincheng, Han Xing..."
Sun Tao reeled off a string of names.
’Xu Yang was left speechless. He had killed most of the dead from Qingyuan County himself. As for the rest, they had basically all joined the Sharp Wind Hall.’
"Is Xu Yang here?" a voice called from outside.
Xu Yang and Sun Tao exchanged a glance, their expressions shifting slightly.
It was Xiao Hua’s voice.
Xu Yang shot Sun Tao a look, then walked into the courtyard and cupped his fists. "Greetings, Steward Xiao. To what do I owe the pleasure?"
Xiao Hua was all smiles. "Good news! A group of foolish, blind thieves robbed the family of one of Elder Li Yang’s disciples. Elder Li Yang has ordered the Outer Sect to dispatch an expert to handle it, and the very first person I thought of was you, Xu Yang."
"Don’t say I never look out for you. This is a fantastic opportunity! If you can just take care of this band of foolish thieves, then when your three years in the Outer Sect are up, Elder Li Yang is bound to take you as his disciple. This is a chance to make a name for yourself in front of an Elder!"
’Xu Yang’s heart sank. Anyone who dared to rob the family of an Inner Sect Disciple, no matter how foolish, must possess a certain degree of strength.’
’If this were really such a great opportunity, it would never have fallen to me.’
’That bastard Xiao Hua finally couldn’t hold back any longer.’
"A matter of this importance... I’m afraid this disciple is not capable of handling it. I wouldn’t want to delay Elder Li Yang’s important business. If I were to fail, it would be Elder Li Yang who loses face."
Although he knew it was useless to refuse, Xu Yang had to try.
Xiao Hua’s eyes narrowed, and he said with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes, "This mission was assigned by the Task Hall, and the matter has already been reported to Elder Li Yang. Are you sure you want me to tell Elder Li Yang that you refuse to do this for him?"
"I went to great trouble to secure this for you, out of respect for your master. Don’t be ungrateful."
"Plenty of people would kill for a chance to get noticed by Elder Li Yang, but they never get the opportunity."
’He wasn’t the least bit afraid Xu Yang would refuse. Daring to do so would be a slight to Elder Li Yang’s prestige. After that, Xiao Hua wouldn’t even have to lift a finger; there would be plenty of others eager to deal with Xu Yang for him.’
’And if he accepted the mission and failed, shaming Elder Li Yang in the process, Xu Yang would still face dire consequences.’
"Since it is so, this disciple will do his utmost to try," Xu Yang said, forcing a look of gratitude onto his face.
’He could tell from Xiao Hua’s tone that this Elder Li Yang was not good-tempered. A simple refusal wouldn’t be the end of the matter.’
’Besides, that bastard Xiao Hua had invoked the Task Hall, which meant it was not something he could refuse.’
"Just follow the information on here to complete the mission. When you’re done, come find me at the Task Hall to close it out."
Xiao Hua tossed a piece of paper over to him, then turned and left.
Xu Yang opened it. The gist was that bandits on Qingfeng Ridge had robbed the cargo of a family belonging to one of Elder Li Yang’s disciples. He was to go to Cyan Yang City, find the family, and help them resolve the issue.
As a city situated deep within the Yunling Mountain Range, Cyan Yang City was where most Treasure Hunters sold their finds.
As a result, large quantities of Cultivation Resources were transported out of Cyan Yang City every day, heading for the surrounding counties and the Commandery City.
Consequently, bandits specializing in robbing passing merchant caravans had appeared along the major transport routes.
Of course, these groups generally only dared to rob smaller powers or families who didn’t pay them a cut.
’Logically, since this family had a member who was an Inner Sect Disciple of the Purple Sun Sect, not to mention connections to Elder Li Yang, no one should have dared to make a move against them.’
’Could Xiao Hua have colluded with the bandits to force me out of the Purple Sun Sect?’
Of course, his speculation wasn’t necessarily correct.
’Since the family already had an expert in the Inner Sect, why bother assigning the task to the Outer Sect? Couldn’t that Inner Sect Disciple just march to Qingfeng Ridge and eliminate the bandits himself? Wouldn’t that be a perfect opportunity to establish his family’s might?’
"That old dog Xiao Hua deserves to be sliced into a thousand pieces!" Sun Tao snarled, his eyes practically splitting with rage.
He had been hiding in the courtyard and had overheard the entire conversation between Xu Yang and Xiao Hua. He’d nearly stormed out to curse at the Steward several times.
It wasn’t enough that he had harmed Lin Wei; now he wanted to hunt them all down and kill them.
He didn’t know how dangerous the mission was, but since Xiao Hua was the one sending Xu Yang, it was bound to be fraught with peril.
"Junior Brother Xu, I’ll go with you," Sun Tao said in a low voice. "Two people can watch out for each other. Even if we can’t complete the mission, we can at least make it back alive."
Xu Yang shook his head. "Senior Brother, you don’t need to accompany me. I’ll go down the mountain and assess the situation first. If I can handle it, I will. If I can’t, I’ll just wash my hands of it."
"I don’t believe Elder Li Yang would personally come after me and kill me over something so trivial."
The note from Xiao Hua gave no information about the strength of the Qingfeng Ridge bandits, so he had no idea about the mission’s specifics.
’However, no matter how much Xiao Hua wanted him dead, he couldn’t possibly send a Martial Artist at Gang Qi Minor Achievement to kill a group of bandits led by experts at Gang Qi Great Success or the Marrow Cleansing realm.’
’Xiao Hua was merely an Outer Sect Steward. He could abuse his authority to pull some petty strings, but that was the extent of his power.’
’He was, after all, a renowned Ten Heroes Genius. Xiao Hua wouldn’t dare to be too blatant.’
’His greatest worry had always been that Xiao Hua would personally try to kill him. As long as Xiao Hua didn’t act himself, he had nothing to fear.’
’Therefore, he guessed that the strongest member of the Qingfeng Ridge bandits was probably at Gang Qi Minor Achievement, and their only advantage was their numbers.’
’Of course, if this was a trap set up by Xiao Hua and the bandits, then there might be a hidden Martial Artist at Gang Qi Great Success lying in wait.’
’But as long as no Marrow Cleansing experts showed up, he was now confident he could face any opponent at the Gang Qi Great Success realm.’
