Purple Thistle Continent.
Near Black Stone Settlement.
A clear sky.
The blazing sun hung high.
Purple mist drifted across the wilderness.
Lei Wen wore a black, close-fitting battle outfit and carried an ordinary-looking longsword as he followed behind Xiao in the squad.
Today was a routine patrol.
Their patrol zone was Black Wind Valley, a thousand miles beyond the settlement's outskirts.
The terrain here was rugged, with strange rocks and steep peaks. Bandits often appeared here.
"Stay alert!"
Xiao's cold voice came from ahead.
"A small squad from the neighboring settlement was ambushed here last month. Three Middle Gods died."
"If those bastards dare show themselves, I'll slaughter them first!"
Xiao cursed as he vigilantly swept the surroundings with his divine sense.
Lei Wen kept his head lowered, his expression calm.
Yet the immense power of his divine sense had already silently spread out.
"Kill!"
Just as the squad entered the depths of the valley.
The cliffs on both sides suddenly exploded.
Dozens of Divine Power beams in various colors poured down like a violent storm.
"Enemy attack!"
"Defend!"
Xiao reacted swiftly.
He immediately raised an earth-gray Divine Power barrier.
But the others were not so lucky.
The two Middle Gods walking at the very front did not even have time to cry out before they were blasted into fragments by countless wind blades.
Godheads scattered, and corpses fell.
"Kill!"
Shouts shook the heavens.
A group of raggedly dressed but fierce-looking bandits emerged from behind the rocks.
There were more than fifty of them.
Their leader was a bald, muscular man, bare-chested and covered in hideous beast-head tattoos.
He was a Middle God.
But judging from the vicious aura around him, he was clearly someone who had spent years killing and looting.
"You dogs from Black Stone Settlement, leave behind