Roadside Robbery?

After leaving the Beautiful Spring Courtyard, Li Ping'an began making his way back to the sect.

He had been out for a full day and night. It was morning now, and he wondered whether Steward He would scold him when he returned.

But when he weighed the spirit stones at his waist, Li Ping'an felt satisfied again.

Including the two hundred spirit stones Nan Zhi had given him, Li Ping'an now had roughly over two hundred and forty spirit stones on him. That was a huge fortune.

Still, once he returned to the sect, he had to hide them well.

After all, the sect was no safer than the outside world. If anything, the outside was even safer, because there were simply too many people in the sect who wanted him dead.

Especially that Steward Wang. Who knew what new tricks that fellow would come up with after a day had passed?

But after a night of battle, his cultivation had improved significantly. He had now reached the peak of the eighth level of the Body Tempering Realm, only a single step away from the ninth level.

Through the Heaven-Tempering Hammer's absorption of toxins, he felt his entire body brimming with strength.

All things considered, his overall combat power was far beyond that of an ordinary Body Tempering Realm cultivator. He even had the illusion that, without using spells, he could fight cultivators at the first or second level of the Qi Refining Realm.

At that thought, Li Ping'an's spirits soared. Humming a little tune, he headed up the mountain.

Suddenly, a rustling came from the bushes ahead, and a masked burly man abruptly leaped out.

"Stop right there, old man!"

What?

Li Ping'an was startled. A burly man had suddenly jumped out here to rob him on the road.

The masked burly man drew a steel blade from his waist and pointed it gleamingly at Li Ping'an.

"Old man, this road was opened by me, this tree was planted by me. If you want to pass through here, heh heh, leave behind your toll!"

He really was a highway robber!

Li Ping'an was greatly startled by this sudden scene. He had not expected to encounter a bandit cultivator on the road back to the sect.

But judging from this man's cultivation, he seemed about equal to Li Ping'an, also at the eighth level of the Body Tempering Realm.

Where did a cultivator who had not even reached the Qi Refining Realm get the courage to rob travelers?

"Old man, if you know what's good for you, hand over all the money on you. Otherwise, you'll be in for a nasty time, got it?"

The masked burly man struck the ground with his steel blade, sending sparks flying as he spoke viciously. He looked as though he wanted to swallow Li Ping'an whole.

An ordinary person truly might have been cowed by his imposing manner, but who was Li Ping'an?

He had forged iron in the sect for sixty years. His temperament was far steadier than most, not to mention that his cultivation had advanced rapidly lately and he had learned the Heaven-Forging Battle Fist.

He had long ceased to take such a petty thief seriously.

"Just in time!"

Li Ping'an muttered to himself.

"I've cultivated for so many days. How much has my strength improved? How powerful is this Heaven-Forging Battle Fist, exactly? You'll do nicely for a test!"

The masked robber had no idea what Li Ping'an was muttering about. Impatiently, he waved the steel blade in his hand.

"Hey, old man, I'm talking to you! Are you deaf? If you don't hand over the money, I'll chop you in two with one stroke, believe it or not?"

"Damn it, I don't know what you were dawdling around the market for, you old bastard. You made me squat in this place for a whole day and night. I'm really pissed off now, let me tell you!"

It turned out that this masked robber was the burly man who had seen Li Ping'an spend a full hundred spirit stones on a cultivation technique in the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion yesterday.

When he saw Li Ping'an leave leisurely after buying the technique, he had assumed Li Ping'an was heading back to the sect.

So he had specifically found a remote little path along the only route back, one that hardly anyone ever used, and laid an ambush in advance.

Yet he had never expected the ambush to last a full day and night. This damned old bastard was so old, yet he still ran off to the Beautiful Spring Courtyard to enjoy himself. Damn him to hell!

The masked burly man made up his mind. Once the old bastard handed over his money, he would chop him down with one slash.

Yet Li Ping'an did not budge and merely continued muttering to himself.

"What? You damned old man, you really refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit. Looks like if I don't show you what I'm capable of, you won't know the might of Wang San of the Greenwood!"

Wang San announced his name, swung his steel blade, and hacked mercilessly at Li Ping'an.

Watching the steel blade chop toward him, Li Ping'an did not panic in the slightest. He silently ran through the fist technique he had long practiced to perfection, then sidestepped and dodged the slash.

The steel blade howled past his ear. Li Ping'an seized the burly man's arm and then drove a fist into his armpit.

"Ow!"

The punch was immensely powerful. The burly man was sent flying outright, rolling several meters across the ground.

The burly man scrambled to his feet in a miserable state, unable to believe it.

Li Ping'an himself was equally incredulous. He looked at his fist in surprise.

He had not expected such tremendous power from such a casual strike.

He could clearly feel spiritual power coursing rapidly and endlessly through the meridians in his limbs and bones.

So this was the benefit of having a higher cultivation. Even an ordinary fist technique could display such remarkable power.

"Damn it!"

After suffering a loss, the masked burly man was not afraid but enraged.

That damned old man had caught him off guard and made him suffer such a huge loss.

Damn it, I'll tear you into ten thousand pieces!

The burly man charged again with his blade in hand.

This time, after that earlier strike, Li Ping'an's confidence had greatly swelled. His eyes were as calm as still water, and his face was tranquil, without the slightest fear. He carried himself with the bearing of a grandmaster.

A series of clanging blows rang out.

Then the steel blade fell to the ground. The masked burly man had been beaten until his nose was bruised and his face swollen. His eye sockets had puffed up black and blue like a pair of panda eyes, blood seeped from the corner of his mouth, and several teeth had been knocked out.

"Ow, ow! Sir, please stop! Sir, I was wrong! Sir, spare me!"

The burly man begged without pause.

He had never imagined that Li Ping'an could fight so well, or that his fists carried such terrifying force. One punch was enough to leave him dizzy and disoriented.

He simply could not withstand it!

No matter how the burly man begged, Li Ping'an's fists did not stop.

Because he had not finished his battle fist routine yet!

He had to complete the entire set and carefully feel it out. This was a rare opportunity for real combat, and he had to seize it.

"Huff! Ha! Hey!"

The more Li Ping'an fought, the more exhilarated he became, while the burly man's screams grew ever shriller, startling countless birds into flight from the forest.

Only after several breaths did Li Ping'an slowly let out a breath and assume a finishing stance.

The burly man had long since been beaten to within an inch of his life. He was barely breathing, with more air going in than coming out.

"Young people these days are truly too weak."

Li Ping'an stroked his grizzled beard, then skillfully walked over and stripped the burly man clean. At his waist, he found a small money pouch containing several dozen spirit stones.

"Young man, you're quite wealthy. Today, I can be said to have upheld justice and eliminated evil."

Li Ping'an smiled faintly, kicked the burly man into the grass like kicking a dead dog, then hummed a tune as he headed into the sect.