We're in trouble!
The heads of several villages wore worried expressions.
They had every reason to be anxious.
The truth was,
this was the time when rogue cultivators were at their most rampant and most dangerous!
At this time of year,
when the villages traveled to Wu Family Market to trade, they carried the harvest from half a year of cultivating their Spirit Fields, along with the spirit herbs they had gathered from the wilderness and all sorts of materials.
And so,
in the eyes of the rogue cultivators,
these merchant caravans, cobbled together from small villages traveling beyond their borders, were nothing less than walking fat sheep.
Not only was it far easier to rob these caravans than to break through a village's defenses,
the spoils were also far greater!
Given that,
it was obvious which the rogue cultivators would choose.
For this very reason,
under normal circumstances,
few rogue cultivators would risk attacking villages and robbing small cultivation clans.
But during the trading season,
nearly all the rogue cultivators came out in full force, lying in wait throughout the mountains and forests to rob caravans from the villages and share in this brief feast.
In the course of it,
even cultivators from some of the larger villages would disguise themselves, conceal their identities, and join the revelry.
It was practically a hunting season out in the wild!
And for weaklings like them,
it was undoubtedly a disaster!
Fortunately,
they weren't entirely helpless.
Perhaps because this place was remote and the cultivation world was not very prosperous,
most of the rogue cultivators who took part in the robberies
were below the seventh level of Qi Induction.
This might have been because the sixth and seventh levels of Qi Induction marked a great divide. Once cultivators reached the seventh level, they looked down on such small gains.
Or perhaps the larger cultivation powers above them kept them in check, preventing cultivators above the seventh level from acting too recklessly.
Whatever the reason,
since the rogue cultivators were mostly in the early or middle stages of Qi Induction,
it gave the small cultivation clans in their villages a chance to fight back.
Just as before,
they had relied on Shen Shiying, the garrison cultivator of Dawan Village.
With Shen Shiying as their backbone, they had strength in numbers, and they could also invoke the name of the Tiannan Shen Clan. Even when they encountered rogue cultivators on the road, they had made it through unscathed every time.
But there was one condition:
the person serving as their backbone had to be strong enough!
Back then,
Shen Shiying's cultivation had been at least in the late fifth level of Qi Induction. On top of that, he had inherited the powerful legacy of the Tiannan Shen Clan, which was enough to hold off a sixth-level Qi Induction cultivator for a while.
With their assistance, it wasn't impossible to hold on even longer.
And even if most sixth-level Qi Induction rogue cultivators could defeat them, they still couldn't kill them all in a short time.
If even one or two people escaped,
the consequences of ambushing the colossal Tiannan Shen Clan had been demonstrated firsthand by the Hu Clan back then.
Twenty years ago, the Hu Clan of Dawan Village
had been quite well-known around here.
But,
all of this depended on one thing:
the person at their center had to withstand the rogue cultivators' attack!
Shen Shiying had been one thing. At the very least, he had been a cultivator in the late fifth level of Qi Induction.
He could at least make up for the one-level gap with his techniques.
But Shen Changchuan?
The fourth level of Qi Induction,
and just a boy of sixteen or seventeen.
Could a young man like that really fight across two levels?
No way!
"Head of the Li Clan, what should we do?" someone asked in a low voice.
They might have had some competition between them,
but in this matter, their interests were aligned.
The others exchanged glances, brows furrowed, yet no one had any ideas.
"Boys are full of youthful bravado. Young Master Shen probably wants to prove himself. From the way he spoke so firmly, there's no chance of changing his mind," Guo Cheng sighed quietly.
In their minds, the one who had killed the Four Evils of He Mountain must have been an elder behind Shen Changchuan.
The man's cultivation was probably so profound that he had no interest in appearing before them or getting acquainted, so they had tacitly refrained from asking.
Now, Shen Changchuan's words
were like those of a rebellious boy who had fallen out with his elders and wanted to prove himself, to make a name for himself.
In this state of mind,
no matter how much outsiders tried to talk him out of it, it probably wouldn't help.
If they explained how dangerous the journey was, it would likely only stoke his rebellious streak and make things even more troublesome.
"Sigh, let's just let things take their course. Youngsters are impulsive. If we anger him, who knows what trouble he might cause?"
"Since that senior stepped in to deal with the Four Evils of He Mountain, he must know how dangerous this place is. Maybe he's still hidden nearby, secretly protecting us?"
"If so, then this journey may not be as dangerous as it seems," Guo Cheng said, trying to reassure himself.
"That's all we can do."
The others were uneasy, but they could only accept it helplessly.
The caravan soon set out.
One loaded wagon after another formed a long, winding line, raising clouds of dust as they headed toward Wu Family Market.
Along the way,
they encountered several groups of travelers like themselves.
Their large and small carts carried plenty of goods.
They looked like other travelers heading to Wu Family Market for the market fair.
But after the heads of the villages anxiously reminded him, Shen Changchuan readily agreed and took the initiative to keep his distance from the others.
According to the village heads,
there had been cases in the past where rogue cultivators disguised themselves as merchant caravans and asked to travel together, only to launch a sudden attack at night and nearly wipe out the entire caravan.
So unless they knew the other travelers well, it was best to keep their distance, even when they came across other merchant caravans.
Other than that,
nothing unexpected happened.
But with all the bundles and parcels, the long caravan had to climb hills and cross rivers, and the roads were treacherous,
so they made slow progress.
On the fifth day,
they were still three days away from Wu Family Market.
That was when,
out in the wilderness,
they came upon a pursuit.
A dozen or twenty men in black
were chasing an old man and a young one. The two streaked past Shen Changchuan's group, who had already taken precautions.
What was going on?!
Could it be a trap?
Shen Changchuan's vigilance shot up in an instant.
Everyone in the caravan went on guard.
The men in black pursuing the old man and the youth had spotted Shen Changchuan's group too.
The leader among them seemed to be at their head. Blue light flared in his eyes as he swept his gaze over them.
In an instant,
everyone present, Shen Changchuan included, felt as though their auras had been sensed and probed!
It seemed to be some kind of eye technique for assessing an enemy's strength.
In the space of a breath,
the leader had seen through the cultivation levels of everyone in Shen Changchuan's group.
"So you're just a bunch of nobodies!"
"Since you're here, you're not leaving!"
"Kill! Leave no one alive!"
Nearby,
the Leader of the Black-Clad Men let out a vicious laugh.
His gaze swept past the group
and fell on the several loaded wagons behind them. A glint of greed flashed deep in his eyes.
"Wait! Honored heroes, we're just passing through!" the head of the Li Clan cried out in terror.
But the men in black didn't hesitate. A pale-white glow appeared around them as they used the Light Body Technique, long blades in hand, and charged toward the group!
Well,
there was no need to agonize over it anymore.
They'd just have to fight.
I just got the news: the novel will be released on Friday. I'll post a big batch of chapters then.
Before you continue