Mountain Crossing Wind

Because of the death of Gu Duozhi, the top-ranked disciple on the Earth Ranking, the main peak of the Qi Yun Sect was in an uproar, and as True Disciples were dispatched in all directions, Ye Zhen had already arrived at Qingniu Mountain, only a hundred miles away from Wuan Commandery.

Dusk was approaching, but Ye Zhen was in no hurry to continue his journey; instead, he was engaged in a battle with a Three-Eyed Demonic Wolf.

The Three-Eyed Demonic Wolf was a Human-tier Mid Grade Monster Beast. It was vicious by nature, possessed immense strength, and was extremely fast. Most importantly, it could fire a beam of cyan light from the third eye on its forehead, which would either kill or severely injure anyone it struck.

However, relying on his incredibly agile Snake-Wandering Steps, Ye Zhen was more than capable of handling the Three-Eyed Demonic Wolf with ease.

Suddenly, the Three-Eyed Demonic Wolf lunged like a tiger, its front claws glowing with layers of cyan light as it pounced toward Ye Zhen with ferocious intensity.

Watching the wolf spring forward, Ye Zhen did not rush to dodge. As it drew near, he sidestepped to its flank and unleashed a fierce punch.

Inch Step Collapse Fist!

Bang!

Ye Zhen's fist slammed heavily into the wolf's abdomen. A visible ripple of force radiated from the point of impact, and the Three-Eyed Demonic Wolf, still mid-air, let out a pained howl. It fell to the ground, trembling all over, while fragments of its internal organs gushed out from its gaping maw.

Having killed the Three-Eyed Demonic Wolf with a single punch, Ye Zhen stared thoughtfully at the Mirage Dragon Pearl on his chest, placed his hand on the wolf's head, and waited quietly.

To Ye Zhen's disappointment, the scene he had hoped for did not occur. No matter how he channeled the Mirage Dragon Pearl, the corpse of the Three-Eyed Demonic Wolf showed no change at all.

"Still not working?"

This Three-Eyed Demonic Wolf was already the fifth Monster Beast Ye Zhen had killed on this journey, yet none of them had triggered the outcome he expected—none of them had been drained of all their essence, energy, and spirit by the Mirage Dragon Pearl like that Phantom Snake King had been!

The reason Ye Zhen held such expectations was due to an idea he had formed long ago.

Back at the mountain behind the sect, by leveraging the power of Fairy Caiyi, Ye Zhen had finished off that Phantom Snake King. Afterward, the Mirage Dragon Pearl underwent a mysterious transformation, absorbing all the blood essence, energy, and spirit of the snake. This not only significantly boosted Ye Zhen's cultivation but also left a phantom image of the Phantom Snake King within the first layer of the pearl's space.

Because of this phantom image, Ye Zhen possessed astonishing talent when practicing snake-related martial arts; after just a few attempts, he could reach the pinnacle of mastery.

Therefore, Ye Zhen had been thinking that if he killed other Monster Beasts and the Mirage Dragon Pearl absorbed their essence, his cultivation would not only skyrocket, but learning the martial arts of those species would also become incredibly easy.

Driven by this thought, Ye Zhen had been searching for Monster Beasts on his way home, killing them whenever he had the chance to test his hypothesis.

Yet, even though this Three-Eyed Demonic Wolf was the fifth one he had personally slain, no matter how he activated it, the Mirage Dragon Pearl dormant on his chest remained completely motionless.

"It seems the secret of this Mirage Dragon Pearl is not as simple as I imagined!" With a light sigh, Ye Zhen began to process the Three-Eyed Demonic Wolf; the beast's fur and even its teeth were highly valuable items.

Indeed, having killed his way here, the bundle on Ye Zhen's back was already half a person tall, and he intended to sell it once he reached Wuan Commandery.

"The Mountain Crossing Wind are here..."

"Kill..."

"Help..."

Suddenly, Ye Zhen's ears pricked up. Carried on the wind were faint cries for help and the sounds of slaughter.

His gaze sharpened. Ye Zhen stopped what he was doing, identified the direction by the wind, leaped onto his Silver-Horned Horse, and spurred it toward the source of the cries.

Qingniu Mountain was home to a gang of bandits known as the Mountain Crossing Wind. A year and a half ago, when Ye Zhen's father had sent him across the mountain, they had been forced to wait at the foot of the mountain for two days, gathering a group of nearly two hundred people before they dared to cross together.

Even with a group of two hundred, which made the Mountain Crossing Wind slightly cautious, the bandits had still demanded a toll of ten silver coins per person for safe passage.

Ever since then, Ye Zhen had harbored a deep hatred for the Mountain Crossing Wind. He had not expected that after more than a year, the local authorities still hadn't wiped them out!

Half a quarter of an hour later, Ye Zhen arrived at a forest halfway up the mountain, guided by the sounds. The extremely bloody scene before him made his eyes widen in fury, and his blood began to boil with uncontrollable rage.

Clearly, this was a merchant caravan, along with a group of commoners who had attached themselves to the caravan in hopes of crossing the mountain safely.

However, at this moment, most of the commoners were already lying in pools of blood. The caravan's guards and porters had suffered heavy casualties, leaving only four martial artists, who appeared to be at the Blood Refining Stage Four or Five, desperately protecting an elderly man who looked like a merchant under the heavy siege of the bandits.

As for the other commoners, if they were even a second too slow to dodge, they would be decapitated by the bandits. The forest was littered with severed limbs and arms.

In just this brief moment, two more heads of women and children had been sent flying into the air.

"Stop!"

With a roar, Ye Zhen, his blood surging, charged forward like an arrow. Without a second thought, he unleashed his full strength without reservation.

In the blink of an eye, Ye Zhen performed three consecutive Snake Springing Grass maneuvers, covering a distance of 120 meters. With a slash of his hand, he appeared before a bandit who was swinging a blade at a farmer. Before the bandit could even cry out, his throat was crushed by Ye Zhen, and his body slumped backward.

Snap! Snap! Snap!

In the forest, Ye Zhen's figure moved like a ghost. With every palm strike, a bandit's throat was crushed; with every punch, a bandit's chest instantly caved in; with every slap, a bandit's head was smashed like a rotten watermelon.

For a time, Ye Zhen moved as if in an empty field, with no one able to withstand even a single blow from him.

"Third Master, look! A tough nut has arrived!" The miserable deaths of so many bandits caught the attention of the elite bandits who were besieging the caravan guards.

"A tough nut? Where? Leave him to me!" The bearded Third Master roared with arrogant confidence, pointing his long spear at Ye Zhen.

The moment the Third Master's spear pointed at Ye Zhen, he suddenly shuddered. "Pure cyan True Essence? Oh my god, a practitioner of the True Essence Realm?"

With a cry of alarm, the Third Master dropped his spear and turned to run, pouring every bit of his faint, pale-cyan True Essence into his legs.

However, Ye Zhen, having already locked onto him, would never let him leave alive!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Ye Zhen, disregarding the exhaustion of his stamina, continuously used Snake Springing Grass. In an instant, he caught up to the fleeing Third Master and unleashed a punch that sent the man's body flying over ten meters away.

After a few twitches, the Third Master breathed his last.

With the Third Master dead, the few remaining bandits cried out in terror and scattered in all directions like frightened beasts.

However, Ye Zhen did not let a single one of these fleeing bandits escape, even if it meant exhausting himself to continue using Snake Springing Grass.

When the last bandit on the scene was run through the heart by a long saber Ye Zhen had picked up, Ye Zhen slowly knelt down. He placed a hand on a small head that had yet to fully mature, gently closing eyes that refused to shut even in death. Ye Zhen's expression was icy cold.

This was the head of a boy not yet ten years old, still wearing his hair in a topknot, but now severed from his body. His eyes, filled with innocence, were wide open and etched with terror.

To kill even a child who posed no threat—these bandits deserved to die a thousand deaths!

"Many thanks to the young hero for saving our lives!"

"Thank you, young hero!"

With the bandits dead, the survivors immediately bowed to thank Ye Zhen. The sound of heads striking the ground was incessant, but even more frequent were the cries for help.

"Young hero, I beg you, please save my new bride! She was just snatched away by these god-forsaken Mountain Crossing Wind bandits."

"Young hero, save my wife! Our child is only five; how will we manage without her..."

"Young hero, I beg you to avenge my father, please!" A boy with a face full of tears kowtowed to Ye Zhen repeatedly.

As the crowd knelt in a sea of people, the elderly man who looked like a merchant, previously protected by the caravan guards, scrambled over to Ye Zhen. He hugged Ye Zhen's thigh and wailed, "Young hero, please save my daughter. My poor girl is only sixteen; if she's dragged into that bandit den, how will she ever live again?"

"Young hero, I'll pay ten thousand gold—no, half of my, He Bancheng's, entire fortune! As long as you can save my daughter, it's all yours! I was blessed with her in my old age..."

"Enough!"

Ye Zhen's angry shout stunned the wailing crowd into silence. In truth, even if these people hadn't begged him, Ye Zhen, burning with rage, would have stormed the bandit stronghold regardless.

It was just that these people were too noisy; he needed them to tell him which direction to go.

"In which direction is the Mountain Crossing Wind stronghold?"

"Follow this small path straight ahead. Once you cross the ridge, you'll find their stronghold. I've paid them protection money before, so I recognize the way," the old man said urgently.

"How many men does Mountain Crossing Wind have? Who is their strongest?" Ye Zhen did not act immediately, choosing to inquire carefully. One could not be reckless when storming a bandit's lair.

"There are about one or two hundred warriors, but the leader of Mountain Crossing Wind, Hu Hai, is said to have reached the True Essence Realm. Over the past year, government troops have besieged them three times and failed every time. I heard that in the most recent attempt, even the Commandery Guard Captain was wounded!" a caravan guard said.

Even the Commandery Guard Captain was wounded?

Hearing this, Ye Zhen's heart gave a sudden jolt. To be able to wound the Commandery Guard Captain and withstand three sieges by government troops meant the strength of Mountain Crossing Wind could not be underestimated.

Seeing Ye Zhen adopt a cautious stance, the merchant He Bancheng said anxiously, "Young hero, don't listen to his nonsense. The government troops failed all three times only because the Mountain Crossing Wind lair is located on a ridge called Half-Step Many, which is easy to defend and hard to attack."

"By the way, young hero, you must be extremely careful when passing that Half-Step Many ridge! The ridge is only a meter wide; if they fire a volley of crossbow bolts from the gate opposite, it is extremely difficult to dodge."

"Half-Step Many?"

"Wait here!"

With a cold snort, Ye Zhen headed toward the location of the Mountain Crossing Wind lair. As he passed the Bearded Third Boss, whom he had killed with a single punch, Ye Zhen paused for a moment, hoisted the corpse of the Third Boss, and continued toward the bandit den.

*************

ps: Young ones, do you want to play the hero alongside Ye Zhen and wipe out the bandits?

You do?

Then smash those recommendation votes over here!

What? The bandits have treasure?

Hmph, they may have treasure, but we have Sanjiang votes!