Sand Bandits Run Rampant, Enforcing Justice on Heaven's Behalf

White Light City lay in the heart of Blue Orchid Continent, where water and grass were plentiful. It relied on underground water sources to nourish countless living beings.

After White Light City divided into inner and outer districts, the people who had lived on Blue Orchid Continent for countless generations began making their lives beyond the city walls.

They lived nomadic lives dependent on the water and grass, and White Light City merely watched without intervening.

But in turn, sand bandits began running rampant outside the city, treating human lives like blades of grass, with lives as cheap as sand.

As time passed, the chaos outside the city began threatening public security within it and the transport of goods. White Light City had no choice but to intervene.

Yet compared to the entirety of Blue Orchid Continent, White Light City was far too small. In many dark corners beyond its reach, sand bandits could neither be killed clean nor driven away completely!

Thus, there were many bounty notices for sand bandit leaders in the outer city!

Whoever killed the rampant sand bandits outside the city could carry their heads to the Outer City Security Bureau to claim the reward.

Thus emerged a profession devoted to hunting sand bandits—bandit hunters!

A group that made its living specifically by hunting the sand bandits of Blue Orchid Continent.

That day, outside White Light City, Wang Xuance, dressed in a black robe, rode out alone in search of sand bandits.

There was no other reason. One sand bandit head was worth five taels of silver, while certain leaders could fetch as much as twenty or even thirty taels.

For one who practiced martial arts, "the poor pursue scholarship, the rich pursue martial arts." To walk far on the martial path, one needed sufficient logistical support.

And although he had joined the army and was preparing to partake of the ruler's stipend,

he first had to "fill his belly." That was the real priority.

After parting with Chen Linger from the Medicine King Shop yesterday, he had spent all his True Martial Qi to deduce the progress of his martial arts.

The two Vermilion Summer Fruits were meant to help him successfully open the Jiuwei Acupoint. With his inferior aptitude, opening an acupoint within a hundred days was no different from climbing to the heavens.

As long as he obtained True Martial Qi, not only could Wang Xuance smoothly step into the Three-Knock Blood Pass, but he could also obtain silver to support his martial cultivation.

"Phew~~"

"I'll only search within a hundred li outside the city. I shouldn't run into any sand bandits who've stepped into the Martial Practitioner realm!"

As for leaving the city to "suppress bandits," Wang Xuance naturally felt it was somewhat risky. One careless mistake, and he would lose his life.

But he only had three days of leave. Without anything that could earn him True Martial Qi in a short time, he could hardly go knocking down martial halls!

The thought merely passed through the youth's mind before he tossed it aside.

Knocking down martial halls could indeed earn True Martial Qi. After all, whether he lost or won, he would gain something. It seemed that either outcome benefited him, but the reality was nowhere near so peaceful.

Knocking down a martial hall was, by nature, an act of cutting off someone's livelihood and humiliating their reputation. From what he knew, every master of the six martial halls in the outer city was an expert above the Fetal Breath Realm!

Such an existence could turn him into a pile of flesh with a single punch.

"Forget it. Fortunately, my fist art has already entered the gate. As long as my luck isn't terrible and I don't run into a Martial Practitioner in the Fetal Breath Realm, I'm invincible beneath the Three-Knock Blood Pass!"

"Above the Three-Knock Blood Pass, running is the wiser choice!"

"As for those at the Three-Knock Blood Pass, preserving my life is no problem, though injuring them would be difficult!"

The sky was high and the clouds pale, while the Golden Crow melted gold.

The skies over the entire Western Desert were shrouded in a layer of golden radiance. Beneath that brilliant, mysterious light, Wang Xuance gazed at the lush green water grass and could not help marveling at the splendor of this world.

A surge of heroic spirit rose in his heart, and he swung himself onto his horse before galloping away.

Thanks to White Light City's prestige, within three hundred li of the city, most sand bandits were merely lone wolves of little strength.

There were no gangs traveling in packs and gathering into a menace. Wang Xuance moved between several patches of water grass and encountered only a few blind fools who wished to kill him and steal his horse, yet every one of them was knocked over with a single punch.

The force of his fists could now shatter a stubborn stone. How could flesh and blood possibly withstand it?

But even if he killed such petty thieves, they only gave him one or two wisps of True Martial Qi. It was pitifully little.

It was not until the final day, on his way back to the city, that Wang Xuance encountered three masked figures blocking the road ahead.

The three wore black armor over padded mail, and every inch of them gave off the aura of desperate outlaws.

Their eyes were incomparably cold, like ghosts crawling out of a fog, greedily staring at the horse beneath him.

"Heh heh, I've finally run into a few who are the real deal!"

Seated atop his horse, Wang Xuance swept his gaze over the three and sneered.

"What is it, gentlemen? Want to eat prison food? You dare stand so boldly before me?"

"Big Brother, I told you so. This kid's from the city army. Look at that horse under him—strong bones, sturdy tendons, brimming with vitality. It's clearly bred by the army's stables!"

"Heh heh, it'll fetch at least ten taels of silver on the black market!"

"Not bad, not bad. We didn't follow you in secret all this way for nothing. Heh heh, don't worry, us three brothers will give you a quick death!"

The next instant, a gale swept before him, and his face immediately burned with searing pain.

Wang Xuance fiercely slapped the horse with his right arm. His body flipped backward through the air, his sleeve sweeping out to wrap around the black shadows shooting toward the Zhongfu Acupoint and Zhongting Acupoint.

On closer inspection, they were two diamond-shaped spikes as thick as thumbs, glittering with poisonous light beneath the sun!

"Good, very good!"

Wang Xuance crushed them into an iron ball and flung it aside, then looked toward the man who had attacked.

The three had originally stood side by side, but they had now formed a triangular encirclement around him.

The one who had fired the hidden weapons had come from the left.

Swish! Swish!

The three each shook out a long spear, eight feet in length, made from tough, hard white waxwood soaked in tung oil. Four blood grooves had been carved into each spearhead, covered in crimson barbs.

At the sight, Wang Xuance could not help frowning. That style of spearhead was something only the army's elite light cavalry could use. With one in each of their hands, these three were no ordinary sand bandits.

"Hmph! You're only at the Two-Knock Blood Pass, yet you thought you were something special, imitating others by collecting heads for bounty money!"

"Kill him, then skin him alive!"

Whoosh!

A point of cold light arrived first, followed by a spear that emerged like a swimming dragon.

Three spears lunged at his vital points from three directions. Their angles were so vicious that it was clear these men had done plenty of killing and plundering.

Wang Xuance adjusted his breathing and exhaled. A stream of white air poured from his mouth as his arms turned and swung, while the airflow around his body began spinning at high speed.

Dispersing Clouds, Scattering Snow!

The second stance of Vajra Fist, the most defensive and protective fist frame.

The three spearheads, originally stabbing straight toward his vital points, seemed to be disturbed and diverted apart. The three exchanged glances, then swept their ape-like arms out fiercely and swung their shafts sideways.

Having broken through their opening killing move, how could the youth possibly give them another chance to unleash a killing blow?

The moment he made his move, Wang Xuance already knew that two of them were at the Two-Knock Blood Pass, while the remaining one was only at the One-Knock Blood Pass. He was merely exceptionally strong and could not be underestimated.

As the old saying went, squeeze the soft persimmon first. The instant Wang Xuance punched through their offensive, his spine quivered and he took one step forward, charging straight at the One-Knock Blood Pass fighter!

Boom!

His punch was like a cannon, drilling through veins and hammering bones.

His fist force smashed toward the man's head. The man was indeed unusually brave and powerful; even when a Two-Knock Blood Pass fighter closed in on him, he remained unafraid in the face of danger.

With a move of Flower-Waving Back Spear, he used the spear's edge to force Wang Xuance back. But unfortunately for him, the one who had closed in was Wang Xuance!

Weituo Presents the Pestle!

His arm extended like a pendulum hammer, and fist force had already enveloped the space around them both. His Flower-Waving Back Spear was utterly useless—the spear shaft and its wielder were hammered apart together!

Bang!

The shaft broke, and the man died. Without the slightest effort, Wang Xuance smashed his head to pieces on the spot.

Wang Xuance shook his arm, splattering yellow-and-white matter across the ground with a splat.

His robe rose without wind as he calmly looked at the stunned expressions of the two men behind him.

"The first!"

[True Martial Qi +60!]

[True Martial Qi +60!]