A Small Profit

"Ah!!"

A scream like a slaughtered pig rang out.

It was the One-Eyed Bandit Leader, whose waist had been blasted apart by Wu Dao. Blood gushed like a fountain as he collapsed onto the bridge, howling in agony.

Thud!

The ground shook violently.

Wu Dao's magnificent Physique tore through the air, crossing dozens of meters in an instant as if teleporting, appearing before the wailing One-Eyed Bandit Leader.

The overwhelming pressure, akin to a prehistoric beast, was as deep and suffocating as an abyss. It instantly silenced the bandit leader's screams; he endured the excruciating pain to kneel and kowtow, begging for mercy.

"Spare me, hero! I am willing to offer all my wealth, please let me go..."

The One-Eyed Bandit Leader kowtowed like a pestle in Wu Dao's shadow, not even daring to look up.

If I kill you, isn't your money mine anyway?

Wu Dao found it amusing. He clamped his iron-like, fan-sized palm onto the bandit leader's head, feeling the taut, trembling scalp beneath, and asked indifferently, "What does Skull-Crushing Hand mean? Do you know me?"

"This..."

The One-Eyed Bandit Leader trembled incessantly. He paused, seemingly confused as to why Wu Dao would ask a question he already knew the answer to, but feeling the sudden increase in pressure on his head, he hurriedly replied:

"You flatter me, hero. How could wretches like us be worthy of knowing you?

The reason we have heard of your name is that word has been spreading through the underworld lately about a Cocoon-Breaking Expert who acts for justice, specializing in killing highwaymen. Furthermore, you leave no survivors, crushing their skulls to death.

Since we didn't know your name, we could only refer to you as the Skull-Crushing Hand Black Pupil based on your unusual eyes, so..."

So that was it.

After his confusion was cleared, Wu Dao's face twitched, feeling quite speechless.

Acting for justice and specializing in killing bandits?

Isn't this slandering an innocent man out of thin air?

In reality, he was just traveling. Who knew he would run into so many things that didn't know the meaning of death?

He had always upheld the principle of fairness and justice.

Since you want my life.

"If I don't take your life, wouldn't that be disrespectful to you?"

As for the Skull-Crushing Hand...

Isn't smashing a head the fastest and most efficient way to kill an enemy? People make it sound like I have some sort of peculiar hobby.

Seeing that Wu Dao did not immediately fly into a rage, the One-Eyed Bandit Leader thought he had been granted a reprieve and secretly breathed a sigh of relief, pleading, "This was my own ignorance, failing to recognize a great hero. If you spare me this once, I will surely reward you handsomely in the future."

Hm?

Hearing this, Wu Dao looked at the One-Eyed Bandit Leader with a surprised expression, then sighed helplessly.

"Why does everyone always think a light, airy apology can offset all their mistakes and failures?

Since you placed the life of your prey on one side of the scale while hunting, you should have the awareness that you must pay an equal price on the other side.

But you..."

As he spoke, Wu Dao's iron-like hand patted the One-Eyed Bandit Leader's head lightly, producing a thud-thud sound like tapping on a watermelon.

"You are truly too rude. You lack reverence for nature and do not respect your own life. For someone who doesn't even respect their own life, how can they ever change?

Only death.

Only by seeing your own brains.

Will you learn your lesson and change.

Therefore.

If I don't kill you, I would be ruining you, denying you the chance to change.

Do you think I'm right?"

"I..."

"Nothing to say? Since you agree, then be on your way."

"Wait, I am one of Elder Qin's men! You can't—"

Bang!

Wu Dao couldn't be bothered to listen to his nonsense. With a flick of his finger, the "Raw Melon Head" exploded instantly, red and white pulp splattering everywhere.

Elder Qin...

Wu Dao wiped the filth splattered on his hands, ruminating on these two words as he tilted his head to glance at the summit of a distant mountain.

Just now.

With his micro-level perception.

He had been able to sense a faint, lingering gaze spying from the mountaintop; he presumed it was the "overseer" of this group of bandits.

After he killed the one-eyed bandit.

That spying gaze had vanished.

Combined with his previous speculations.

If his guess was correct.

That so-called Elder Qin was likely a member of the Council of Elders within the White Whale Martial Arts Hall.

This group of bandits.

Were most likely tools raised by him to "cook on the side."

Otherwise.

A mere Divine Strength Realm practitioner would not dare to compete with the White Whale Martial Arts Hall for resources.

But it didn't matter.

Offended or not, it was done.

He understood the internal structure of the White Whale Martial Arts Hall well enough.

It was generally divided into two factions.

The new generation was led by the Chief Hall Master Qi Canghai.

As for the martial artists from the Giant Whale Sect who had survived the catastrophe, most of them followed the old guard of the Giant Whale Sect—that is, the current Council of Elders.

Although the two sides were at odds with each other.

On the surface.

The White Whale Martial Arts Hall still operated under the will of Qi Canghai; after all, in this world, might makes right.

Conspiracies, schemes, and petty squabbles.

All appeared pale and insignificant in the face of absolute power.

And as the only Innate expert in the White Whale Martial Arts Hall, Qi Canghai, who was in the prime of his life, possessed the strength to suppress everyone within the hall.

It was nothing more than a matter of picking a side.

It wasn't worth mentioning.

After dealing with the One-Eyed Bandit Leader, Wu Dao searched his body and found several thousand taels in silver banknotes, then returned to the bridgehead.

Under the gaze of those filled with awe and admiration, he also scavenged quite a few banknotes from the corpses of the other bandits.

All in all.

It actually amounted to no less than five or six thousand taels.

One could only imagine how many people this group of bandits had harmed during this period.

But in the end, it all benefited Wu Dao.

He stuffed it all into his own private treasury.

Money is a bastard.

But without money, you're nothing.

After reaching the Heroic Realm, the cultivation of the Stealing Heavenly Secrets Breathing Technique began to turn into a money-burning machine, requiring a large amount of precious medicinal herbs for nourishment every day.

However, the precious resources of this world.

Most of them were monopolized by the Three Great Factions.

Not to mention anything further away.

Just looking at the territory of Guangqing Prefecture alone.

Wu Dao had passed through many cities over the past few days, and he had basically seen no medicinal herbs worthy of being called precious on the market.

After making inquiries.

The final destination for all of them was the Three Great Factions.

For the time being, he did not have the confidence to go head-to-head with the Three Great Factions.

Therefore.

For the coming period, he would have to be self-sufficient and honestly spend money to buy medicine.

Fortunately.

Along this journey.

Many people could not bear to see him suffer in poverty, so they charitably donated a large sum of banknotes to him, totaling nearly twenty thousand taels of silver by now.

The purchasing power of silver in this world was quite strong; ordinary people could not scrape together even ten taels of silver even if they sold everything they owned. He would not have to worry about money for the foreseeable future.

After finishing the collection of silver.

Wu Dao tightened the bulging bundle, which was filled with banknotes, and prepared to leave.

As for the group of merchants with ashen expressions.

Who were looking at him with pleading eyes, he ignored them entirely.

Does a tiger, having eaten a wolf, spit out the mutton the wolf had consumed to return it to the sheep?

There is no such logic.

However, as he was leaving.

Wu Dao cast another glance at two middle-aged men in the crowd who possessed distinctly different temperaments.

These two.

One in green, one in black.

Both carried a long spear on their backs, with the crimson spearheads exposed.

They had appeared just as this matter was coming to an end.

In Wu Dao's perception, they were as conspicuous as a furnace torch in the dead of night.

Their strength was formidable.

Judging solely by their spirit and energy, they were at least equivalent to martial artists who had undergone a Second Rebirth, and they were the type standing at the peak of that level.

But this was only an outward appearance.

It was impossible to know their exact level of strength.

Wu Dao's current spiritual perception could only sense the harmony of heaven and earth, as subtle as the rumbling of thunder.

He had not yet reached the level of Internal Vision to observe external objects and discern the true depths of others; if he could, he would have done so.

Prying into others' privacy for no reason.

This was an absolute taboo in the martial arts world and a great insult to one's character.

He saw no need to act recklessly, provoking everyone he met for no reason, or to spend his days filled with bitterness and hostility, shouting for blood.

He really could not muster much interest in things that yielded no profit.

Of course, if others provoked him first or threatened his interests, that would be a different story.