Ambush in the Mountains

Almost all the money earned from these medicinal herbs had already been allocated, so Shen Fan began his return journey.

Although it was still early, he hadn't trained yet today, so even if there were more gains to be made, he didn't plan to stay.

Through the dense mountain forest, a nimble figure continuously darted, each push-off leaving a small pit in the hard ground.

This showed just how terrifying Shen Fan's leg strength had become.

Because he hadn't practiced a Light Body Cultivation Method, Shen Fan could only rely on brute force to travel, but even so, his speed far exceeded what ordinary people could imagine.

In just half an hour, he had covered several hundred kilometers, and judging by his breathing, he was still very steady.

Seeing that he was about to leave the Black Dragon Mountain Range, Shen Fan's mind began to relax.

But suddenly, he keenly detected what sounded like someone calling for help not far away.

Driven by curiosity, he quietly crept closer.

What came into view was someone committing murder!

Five burly men in black masks were surrounding and killing several Martial Artists.

Shen Fan recognized at a glance that these besieged Martial Artists were disciples of their Ox Demon Martial Arts School, and one of them had even mocked him for practicing a Health Cultivation Method.

Now these disciples were struggling on all sides, looking very ragged.

Although he wasn't close to them, Shen Fan thought, since they were fellow disciples from the same school, should he lend a hand?

Moreover, these men's auras weren't very strong; in his perception, they posed no sense of threat at all, meaning their strength definitely didn't surpass his!

This gave Shen Fan the courage to stay.

If he had sensed danger, Shen Fan would probably have run off long ago—school ties weren't worth more than his own life.

These burly men had clearly come prepared, each carrying weapons and possessing considerable skill. Looking closely, there were actually two Bone Forging experts, while the other three were at the Muscle Refining level.

Their opponents, Shen Fan's fellow disciples, were just a few rookies at the Skin Refining and Muscle Refining levels.

What should have been a fight resolved in an instant had been dragged out this long because of the masked men's twisted amusement.

"Big Brother, should we keep playing? What if these Brats' companions show up? That'll be trouble!" one black-clad man said in a muffled voice.

The "Big Brother" standing behind, who had been watching the show, glanced at him and then chuckled lightly: "The point is to attract people over. Otherwise, making the brothers search one by one—that's too much trouble."

"Relax, Third Brother, I've already checked. This time, the strongest disciple among our targets is only at the same realm as me. If things go south, we can still retreat cleanly!"

"And Second Brother and I are both Bone Forging Martial Artists. Together, we can even take on someone of the same realm, so don't worry!"

As the leader, he naturally had the boldness of a Big Brother.

Seeing his Big Brother like this, Third Brother shook his head and said nothing more, instead joining the fray himself, wanting to end this farce quickly.

"Big Brother, Third Brother is still that cautious. But that's fine—caution never hurts," another masked man said calmly and objectively.

With another Muscle Refining Martial Artist joining in, the Ox Demon Martial Arts School disciples couldn't hold out at all. In just a few breaths, several fell under the enemies' long blades.

Before Bone Forging, ordinary blades were still very lethal to Martial Artists!

Shen Fan hesitated for a moment but ultimately decided to watch.

Although he had the ability to save these people, doing so would inevitably expose his strength. A tall tree catches the wind—once he gained a reputation, endless trouble would follow!

Saving people came with such great risk, so forget it!

After all, Shen Fan's relationship with these disciples wasn't that deep.

He didn't even have strong feelings for the Ox Demon Martial Arts School. He had worked there as a menial Apprentice for over a year before becoming a Disciple, and the school had never treated him specially.

Getting to where he was now had cost him a tremendous amount of effort.

Between Shen Fan and the school, it was more of a transactional relationship.

Of course, he still owed a debt of gratitude for the teachings. When necessary, Shen Fan would do his part for the school.

As Shen Fan remained silent, the disciples were quickly slaughtered. Their wide-open eyes before death showed how unwilling they were!

Shen Fan watched the scene in silence, a flicker of regret passing through his mind, but he quickly snuffed it out. To cultivate his Longevity Martial Path, he couldn't afford to get entangled in karma.

Because karma brought disputes, and once caught up in them, he would lose control of his own fate.

Though it was a bit cruel, a bit cold-blooded, in a world where human life was as cheap as grass, sticking to his bottom line and not harming others was already good enough. As for saving the world and rescuing the masses from suffering, Shen Fan figured that wasn't something someone like him could do!

Involuntarily, Shen Fan let out a sigh.

But suddenly, the leading masked man turned his head toward where Shen Fan was hiding and barked, "Who's there? Come out now!"

"Found me?" Shen Fan felt a mix of self-mockery and faint delight.

"Now, I have to act. And I need to root out the weeds!"

Glancing imperceptibly at the mangled corpses, Shen Fan strolled out slowly.

His gaze fixed on these men, he said in a calm tone, "You're unlucky. Because I'm in a bad mood, you're done for!"

"What? Did I hear that right? Big Brother, is this kid crazy, daring to talk to us like that?!!"

The leading Big Brother chimed in, "Kid, you're the unlucky one!"

As a Bone Forging Martial Artist, he had that confidence.

"You don't look old, so you must've just started not long ago, right? Skin Refining? Or Muscle Refining?"

"Ah, whatever. Since Old Man found you, then die!"

The leading Big Brother hadn't even finished speaking, just as he was about to charge out and butcher this kid, he suddenly felt his vision go dark—and then saw his own body still standing where he'd been.

And why was the world in front of him starting to spin?

Oh, so I'm dead!

In that final moment, this Bone Forging realm Big Brother understood what had happened to him.

He wanted to shout a warning to his brothers—this guy's got something wrong, run.

But unfortunately, he didn't get that chance, because the moment his head hit the ground, Shen Fan struck again, his nimble hands flitting like butterflies through flowers.

In an instant, several heads were plucked clean off.

Even that other Bone Forging Martial Artist was no exception.

Thousand Mechanisms Hand, a thousand transformations—truly living up to its name!

In this battle, relying on his blood vitality far surpassing those of the same realm and the powerful traits of Bone Forging, Shen Fan eliminated these enemies without breaking a sweat.

It had to be said, Shen Fan's strength had already far exceeded his own Realm.

And what's more, he could still grow even faster—that was the truly terrifying part.