Pre-battle Dance

"No way, he's going to hold off the bandits alone?"

Among the city guards, Jin Baobei, covered in dust and disguised as a scruffy young man, was mixed in with the crowd.

Upon seeing Ye Kang, Jin Baobei's eyes widened, her face filled with disbelief.

Ever since Ye Kang left last time, he hadn't returned to the inn.

Jin Baobei waited and waited for him, but he never showed up. Then she heard the news of the bandit attack. To save her own life, she had no choice but to sneak into the volunteer militia defending the city, hoping to assess the situation and find an escape route.

As soon as she got in, she saw Ye Kang ride out of the city alone on his horse.

"Although the Six Mansions Cave Lords are only super-class, the six of them working together are no weaker than Innate. He's being far too overconfident."

Jin Baobei frowned, but didn't say anything more. She decided to watch and see.

Compared to her, everyone else was just left with questions.

"What does Lord Ye want to do?"

"Could he be planning to repel the bandits by himself?"

Everyone looked astonished, especially Lin Hanzhi, who desperately wanted to rush down and call Ye Kang back.

But Lin Baichuan stopped her.

"No need to rush, let's see what Lord Ye intends to do."

"But Father..."

"His strength is immense. Even if he can't win, he can still protect himself. If you go, you'll only be a burden."

Hearing this, Lin Hanzhi finally stopped, only clenching her fists in worry.

Meanwhile.

The bandits, seeing Ye Kang approaching them alone on his horse, were also filled with questions.

"Boss, what's that guy doing? Coming here to die alone?"

"That's not right. I think this person clearly sees we can't be defeated and is coming to surrender."

"Makes sense, Boss. Should we accept his surrender?"

Several leaders looked towards the main leader in the center.

The latter let out a cold snort.

"We said we'd slaughter the city, so not a single one will be left alive. Archers, fire!"

With a command, a bandit immediately drew his bow.

An arrow was shot out, and in the next second, a faint pink sword energy, thin as a thread, instantly struck, slicing the arrow in half and simultaneously piercing the bandit's forehead.

This scene made all six leaders flinch.

"A master!"

"Killing someone from this distance, what kind of martial arts technique is this?"

The big leader of Liuhe Mountain also narrowed his eyes and called out loudly, "Who goes there!"

Ye Kang stopped his horse and took a deep breath.

He began to show off before the battle.

With a cold expression, he declared, "Ye Kang of the Imperial City Department, here to send you scum to your deaths."

His booming voice made everyone's jaws drop.

A moment later, the bandits erupted in laughter.

The six leaders laughed until they were bent over.

"Did you hear that? He said to send us to our deaths, hahaha!"

"I thought he was a coward, but he's actually an idiot!"

"Boss, leave this guy to me. I'll use him to raise the flag!"

With a loud shout, the bandits raised a huge apricot-yellow banner inscribed with the four words "Act on behalf of Heaven."

The Mengzhou city guards saw this banner and their faces twitched with anger.

Shameless!

A bunch of bandits who robbed, plundered, and killed innocent people dared to claim they were acting on behalf of Heaven!

However, the bandits didn't feel anything was wrong. Instead, they became energized, shouting and cheering.

The big leader said, "Fifth Brother, go cut him down."

"Yes, Brother!"

A scrawny man with disheveled hair rode out.

He held two short spears and said sharply, "I am the Fifth Lord of the Six Mansions Cave Lords. How dare a running dog of the Imperial Court block me?"

Seeing someone cooperating with his showboating, Ye Kang's heart rejoiced.

He quickly took out a copper coin and said playfully, "I hate it when people point their spearheads at me. I'll bet you a copper coin, believe it or not, I'll make you see your own brains?"

As soon as he said this, the whole field was stunned.

Lord Ye has gone mad!

They were in the middle of a battle, and he started gambling with copper coins?

The mountain bandits were completely clueless.

Old Fifth's face sank.

"You arrogant fool, I'll kill you first!"

Just then.

Whoosh!

Hundred Flowers Sword Finger shot through the air, bypassed Old Fifth, and spun back to stab him from behind.

The sword qi pierced through the back of his head and out through his forehead, a drop of yellow and white matter emerging and falling into Old Fifth's eye.

The next second, Old Fifth fell straight off his horse.

Seeing this, Ye Kang took out the copper coin and blew on it by his mouth, saying leisurely, "You owe me a copper coin."

"Old Fifth!"

A roar sounded, and the remaining few Leaders rushed out in fury, brandishing their sabers and pointing them at Ye Kang.

"How dare you, you brat!"

All of this happened too quickly. Ye Kang's near-instantaneous kill left both friend and foe in a state of shock.

Of course, the morale of the defending army received a huge boost, and everyone stared at Ye Kang with fervor.

"Lord Ye is so powerful!"

"This gamble with copper coins was too insulting, it's mockery towards the mountain bandits!"

In an instant, the defending army, whose morale had been low, straightened their backs.

Meanwhile, the Six Harmonies Mountain side was much more chaotic. They were mountain bandits from various strongholds to begin with, and their unity was lacking. This incident immediately made many bandit leaders consider fleeing.

Seeing this scene, the Grand Leader of Six Harmonies Mountain's face was extremely grim.

He immediately raised his voice and roared, "You ignorant whelp, do you know that we Six Mansions Cave Lords practice the Six Harmonies Technique? If we join forces, we can slay Innate experts! You are bound to die today!"

Whoosh whoosh whoosh!

Ye Kang wasted no words and sent out Hundred Flowers Sword Finger again.

This time, several of them were prepared. They stirred their True Qi and used various methods to block the Hundred Flowers Sword Finger.

But it was useless.

The Hundred Flowers Sword Finger, propelled by Ye Kang's Innate realm, broke through their defenses as easily as slicing tofu.

Swish swish swish swish!

Hundred Flowers Sword Qi instantly pierced through one head after another.

In just a moment, the leaders who had been so mighty moments ago all fell.

They didn't even have time to leave a last word.

The Six Harmonies Technique practiced by the Six Mansions Cave Lords was indeed good; they could fight Innate experts when united, but they unfortunately encountered the unscrupulous Ye Kang.

Hundred Flowers Sword Finger was like a sniper rifle, breaking through targets individually, impossible to guard against, and giving no chance to unite.

One could only say, Lord, times have changed.

With the Six Mansions Cave Lords dead, the defending army erupted in cheers.

"The bandit leaders are dead! Lord Ye is invincible!"

"What Six Mansions Cave Lords? They're just like clay chickens and pottery dogs before Lord Ye!"

The deafening cheers made the mountain bandits' hearts pound. The leaders of the various strongholds looked at each other, all dumbfounded.

"What the hell! Weren't the Six Mansions Cave Lords supposed to be very powerful? How did they disappear in an instant!"

"Bah! Six shameless scoundrels, tricking us into thinking Mengzhou City was a done deal and dragging us all into this!"

"Fellow leaders, are we fighting or not?"

The mountain bandits descended into chaos, losing their composure.

Ye Kang seized the opportunity and slowly rode his horse forward.

"Scum, I'll say this only once: retreat or die!"

Before the mountain bandits could react, Hundred Flowers Sword Qi shot out again. Swish swish swish swish, the bandits in the front row were all headshotted.

It was like a neatly arranged row of watermelons, exploding one after another.

The impact of this scene was too great; the mountain bandits were all terrified and retreated frantically.

Those behind them didn't know what had happened and were knocked down by the horses in front before they could retreat.

The already chaotic bandit formation descended into utter disarray.

A bandit leader quickly shouted.

"Damn it, don't panic! What are you afraid of! He's just one person, let's go together..."

Before he could finish speaking, sword energy had already pierced his head.

As the corpse fell, countless bandits screamed in terror.

"Wicked path! This person is from a wicked path! Such evil martial arts!"

At this point, no matter how the bandit leaders shouted, the bandits no longer listened, only caring about fleeing backward, causing countless stampedes.

Ye Kang continued to shout, "A bunch of cowards, daring to attack an Imperial Court state city, causing rebellion and defying authority, deserve death! Today, I, Ye Kang, alone will defend this city, and those who block me die!"

Ye Kang secretly unleashed Vajra Fury Intent, transforming boundless rage into a fiery Buddhist chant, causing his words to spread in all directions. Everyone was utterly shaken by this thunderous declaration.

The mountain bandits were scared out of their wits, while the defending soldiers were filled with excitement.

"Lord Ye! A hero of our time!"

"What are you all waiting for! The bandit army's morale is broken, it's time to attack, charge with me!"

The defending general drew his sword and roared. Instantly, countless soldiers rushed out of the city gates, and numerous martial artists flew directly from the city walls, charging towards the bandits with immense force.

At this, the mountain bandits lost all will to fight, completely collapsing, and all fled backward.

The various bandit leaders, who were already harboring their own intentions, saw the situation turn unfavorable and led their men, scrambling to escape.

This opponent was too tough, not worth dying for!

The battlefield situation instantly reversed, turning from a one-sided slaughter into another one-sided slaughter.

Meanwhile, Ye Kang, astride his warhorse, remained standing still, his figure seeming to have grown taller.

That phrase, "alone will defend this city," caused both Lin Hanzhi and Jin Baobei's eyes to glaze over, their hearts skipping a beat.

The two women flew out simultaneously, heading towards Ye Kang.

At this moment, Ye Kang, unable to pay attention to the battlefield situation, was frantically calling out to the system.

"System bro! The enemy retreated, the mission should be complete now!"