Beyond the Mountain Gate, the World Was Vast

"I'm only keeping it safe for him for now."

Ning Rongrong sat on the edge of the bed, her fingers still resting on the sword tassel inside her robes.

Beyond the mountain gate.

Li Zhexian had already traveled several li.

The mountain road was full of potholes, and he hoisted his cloth bundle higher onto his shoulder. The small wine flask at his waist bumped against the hem of his robe, and it still held half a flask of wine. The rations Chen Xin had prepared for him were tightly wrapped, but the two steamed buns had gone completely cold.

Li Zhexian stopped and turned to look back.

The sect's gatehouse still rose above the mountain forest, its spire faintly visible, but he could no longer hear the gatekeeping disciples talking.

After standing there for a while.

Li Zhexian settled the cloth bundle on his back again.

"Should I keep going?"

A line of white text appeared in his sea of consciousness.

"The host has left the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's safe zone."

"What changed?"

"The shield has over 999,999,960,000 points remaining."

"What's the progress on breaking the shield?"

"0.0000004 percent."

Li Zhexian stared at the string of numbers for a long time.

"Are you suggesting I find something else to do?"

"The host is advised to prioritize finding targets that deal high damage."

"You already said that. What's nearby?"

"There is a Ten-Year Soul Beast two li to the west, a band of robbers to the southeast, and low-level Soul Masters on the main road."

"How much damage can a Ten-Year Soul Beast deal?"

"Estimated damage is relatively low."

"How much can the robbers deal?"

"The damage dealt by an individual target cannot be determined."

"What about the low-level Soul Masters?"

"Most fall short of the host's current requirements."

Li Zhexian took a drink of water. It tasted of the waterskin's leather.

He wrinkled his nose.

"Aren't there any Titled Douluo on the map?"

"No Titled Douluo have been detected nearby."

"Then make the map bigger."

"The host has insufficient permissions."

"You certainly know when to save yourself some work."

He put away his waterskin and continued along the main road.

Half a li later, shouting came from up ahead.

"Leave the goods, and you can go!"

"Good sirs, the cart is carrying medicinal herbs. Even if we sold them, we wouldn't have enough to pay for the cart!"

"Cut the nonsense!"

Li Zhexian pushed aside the grass at the roadside.

A gray-canopied cart stood sideways beside the road. Five robbers surrounded it, while a young woman holding a short wooden stick stood in their way beside the cart. Her face was smeared with dirt, and her sleeve had been torn. A younger worker hid beside the wheel, clutching a broken bamboo basket.

"Put the stick down."

The robber leader pointed his saber at the young woman.

"With that little bit of strength, you'd be wasting your effort swatting mosquitoes."

The young woman gripped the stick even tighter.

"I can't hand over the medicinal herbs on the cart."

"Is that for you to decide?"

"I'm responsible for guarding the caravan's cart."

"Then bring out the person in charge."

"He's already hurt."

The robber leader cursed, then turned his head toward Li Zhexian.

"Where did you come from, brat?"

"I'm passing through."

"If you're passing through, get out of here."

"Did your family build this road?"

The robber rested his saber on his shoulder.

"You've got a sword at your waist, so you're planning to meddle?"

"I wasn't planning to meddle."

"Then why haven't you left?"

"I wanted to ask which of you hits the hardest."

The robbers looked at one another.

Even the young woman stood there stunned.

The robber leader lowered his saber.

"Has your brain stopped working?"

"Is that question so hard to answer?"

"You want a beating?"

"Preferably one that gets some results."

The robbers began to laugh.

"Hand over your money and wine, and I'll let you have a taste of the back of my saber."

Li Zhexian shifted his cloth bundle farther behind him.

"I won't hand over my silver, and you can't have the wine either."

"Then enough nonsense. Put your sword on the ground."

Li Zhexian looked at the young woman.

"Get behind the cart."

"Can you beat them?"

"I don't know yet."

"If you don't even know, why did you dare come over?"

"I came over to ask about that."

The young woman still hadn't moved.

The robber took two steps forward, spinning the saber hilt once in his palm.

"Did you hear me?"

"Point the edge outward and use the back of the blade on me."

The robber's hand stopped.

"Now you're making demands?"

The back of the saber slammed into Li Zhexian's shoulder.

His body swayed, and a line of white text immediately appeared in his sea of consciousness.

"Attacked. Damage: 27 points. White prize pool triggered."

A ball of white light dropped at his feet.

Li Zhexian bent down and picked it up. A hemostatic pill appeared in his hand.

"Twenty-seven points."

The robber raised his saber again.

"What did you just say?"

"You hit too lightly."

"I'll show you whether it was light!"

"Don't use the edge yet."

The smile vanished from the robber's face.

"What exactly are you trying to do?"

"See how much damage you can deal when you hit someone with all your strength."

A robber beside him held his saber crosswise in front of his chest.

"Is there something wrong with this brat?"

"Take his sword first."

The young woman poked her head out from behind the cart.

"Stop provoking them!"

"I'm not provoking them."

"You just said he hit too lightly."

"That's a fact."

The robber leader cursed, swung his saber, and slashed at him.

Li Zhexian raised his scabbard and blocked the blade.

When the two weapons collided, the impact numbed the robber's hand between his thumb and forefinger. He lowered his head and examined his palm.

"Aren't you a level-ten Soul Master?"

"How do you know?"

"You don't have any Soul Rings, and there were no Soul Power fluctuations when you walked."

"You're quite observant."

"Cut the nonsense!"

The blade swept at him again.

Li Zhexian stepped forward and pressed his scabbard against the man's wrist. The robber leader was shoved against the cartwheel, his waist striking it hard enough to make him double over in pain.

Two other robbers lunged at him from either side.

The young woman swung her stick, striking one of them right behind the knee. He dropped to the ground, and the saber in his hand plunged into the dirt.

Li Zhexian struck the other man's shoulder with his scabbard.

The man's arm went numb, and his weapon fell into the grass nearby.

The two remaining robbers turned and fled.

Clutching his wrist, the robber leader staggered back into the woods.

"Just you wait! Our boss won't let you off!"

"Does your boss hit harder than you?"

"What on earth is in your head?"

"Wine and swords."

The question made the robber stumble, and he scrambled away on hands and knees.

Li Zhexian retrieved the hemostatic pill from the grass and held it out to the young woman.

"You've scraped your hand."

The young woman didn't take it.

"That's yours."

"I don't need it."

"Why did you let him hit you just now?"

"To test his strength, so he wouldn't test it on someone else."

The young woman looked at him for a while.

"Who are you?"

"Li Zhexian."

"I'm Ye Lan, a worker with the White Heron Caravan."

Ye Lan pointed at the gray-canopied cart behind her.

"There are medicinal herbs in the cart. If you need any, you can take some."

"I don't lack medicinal herbs."

"Then what do you lack?"

Li Zhexian touched the small wine flask at his waist.

"Someone who can hit really hard."

Ye Lan looked at him without speaking for a long time.

The worker behind the cart stuck his head out.

"Sister Lan, the person in charge has woken up."

"Help him up first. Don't put any pressure on his leg."

Ye Lan answered, then turned back to Li Zhexian.

Li Zhexian had already turned to leave.

Ye Lan hurried two steps after him.

"Where are you going?"

"Forward."

"There's mountain forest ahead. The path will be hard to travel."

"The people on the main road all hit too lightly."

"At least take some rations. There are still some flatbreads in the carriage."

"No need. I have steamed buns."

Li Zhexian slung the cloth bundle over his shoulder and continued on his way.

Ye Lan stood beside the carriage and called after him:

"Li Zhexian, the next time you run into them, don't let anyone hit you again!"

"I'll decide next time."

White text appeared in his sea of consciousness again.

"Abnormal energy fluctuations detected in the forest ahead."

"Is it a Soul Beast?"

"Suspected Hundred-Year Soul Beast. Its attack power is far higher than that of ordinary targets."

Li Zhexian unfastened the Azure Lotus Sword and rested it on his shoulder.

"Now that's something more worth saying."

He walked into the woods.

After he had gone a hundred paces, a roar came from deep within the canopy.

Flocks of birds flew from the branches, and the leaves began to shake with them.

Two points of scarlet light appeared behind the canopy.