Bandit Suppression

The Yellow Wind Mountains stretched endlessly, with Yellow Wind Ridge entrenched deep within their heart. The mountain paths were rugged, the passes treacherous—an ideal bandit stronghold, easy to defend and hard to attack.

Zhou Xiong led five hundred elite border troops at full speed for three days before finally arriving at the foot of Yellow Wind Ridge.

"Enter."

Without the slightest hesitation, Zhou Xiong ordered the army into the mountains, utterly disregarding the bandits.

As they ventured deeper into the mountains, not a single bird or beast could be seen in the forest. The silence was unnaturally deep.

"Full army, stay alert. Beware of an ambush."

A veteran of countless battles, Zhou Xiong spotted something amiss at once. He raised a hand to halt the troops and barked the order.

"Peeep, peeep-peep-peep..."

The moment his words fell, piercing whistles rang out from all around them.

"Boom! Rumble..."

Then boulders and logs came crashing down the mountain path, while a rain of arrows shot from the dense forests on either side, aimed directly at the border troops below.

"Kill! Slaughter every last one of these Imperial Court lapdogs!"

Battle cries shook the heavens as densely packed bandits sprang out from behind the woods and cliffs, numbering well over a thousand.

The man at their head was none other than the bandit chief, Lin Xuan. Clad in leather armor and wielding a mountain-cleaving axe, he had a savage and violent gaze.

Several bandit leaders followed behind him, each one fierce-faced and vicious, looking down upon the border troops from above.

These bandits had occupied this place for years. Familiar with the terrain and long prepared, they launched a surprise attack using the lay of the land to their advantage, catching the border troops completely off guard.

"Pfft!"

"Ah!"

"Urgh!"

"..."

Some soldiers had no time to dodge and were struck by arrows and falling stones, collapsing on the spot.

"The bandits are vicious. Everyone, be careful."

Seeing how disciplined the bandits were, Zhou Xiong frowned deeply, his heart sinking to the bottom.

"How could ordinary bandits possess so many arrows? Could someone be backing them?"

Arrows, bows, crossbows, and armor were all items forbidden from circulation by the Imperial Court.

Yet the bandits of the Yellow Wind Mountains possessed bows, crossbows, and arrows. This was far from ordinary.

Though Zhou Xiong was filled with doubts, battle had already erupted. He could only suppress his questions and focus on dealing with the bandits before him.

"Form a shield wall! Hold the formation! Counterattack with me!"

With an angry roar, Zhou Xiong leaped up with saber in hand, forcibly knocking aside the arrows flying toward him. He led the troops charging toward the mountain pass, intending to seize the high ground.

"Stop them! Kill them all! Leave none alive!"

The bandits held fast using the terrain, sending down a ceaseless barrage of arrows and flying stones. The border troops charged several times, only to be pinned beneath the mountain path, unable to break through for the moment.

Every bandit had a ferocious gleam in his eyes, as if they bore an irreconcilable hatred toward the border troops.

Most of these bandits had once been ordinary citizens, driven into a corner by the Imperial Court's crushing taxes and levies until they had no choice but to become outlaws.

Their hatred for the Imperial Court could not be dissolved. Their eyes were bloodshot as they attacked with lethal intent.

Amid the chaos, Li Xuancang's gaze was sharp as a blade, and he quickly saw the key point of the battle.

On the left stood a steep cliff face, a weak point in the bandits' defenses. If he led men up from the flank and circled behind them, he could disrupt their ambush formation and tear open a breach.

"Everyone, follow me and strike from the flank."

Li Xuancang made his decision at once. Ignoring the steepness of the mountain path, he took the lead and began climbing the cliff to the left.

His body was powerful and his strength astonishing. Gripping cracks in the rock with hands and feet, he moved as nimbly as an ape and rapidly climbed upward, several soldiers under his command following close behind.

The bandits quickly noticed Li Xuancang and bent over the edge to stop him. Boulders and logs came pouring down.

A massive boulder smashed toward Li Xuancang. He gripped the sheer cliff face tightly with one hand while swinging his spear at the stone with the other.

Bang!

The instant spear and stone collided, Li Xuancang erupted with all his strength and sent the boulder's downward path flying aside.

His spear plunged into a crack in the cliff. Borrowing the force, he vaulted upward and became the first to reach the bandits' rear position.

"Kill!"

The moment he landed, he launched a fierce assault. His spear swept out with immense brute force, instantly smashing two bandits into the air.

At this point, Li Xuancang's combat strength had already surpassed that of most Late Body Tempering Stage cultivators. His physique, endurance, and speed far exceeded those of others at the same level; ordinary bandits could not withstand a single blow from him.

"Imperial Court lapdog, die!"

A bandit leader at the Early Body Tempering Stage saw this and charged at Li Xuancang with a saber in hand, roaring as he sought to cut him down.

"Pfft!"

Li Xuancang shifted aside to evade the blade, seized the opponent's saber with one hand, and wrenched it away with a twist of his wrist. Then he thrust his spear through the man's heart, killing him instantly.

Standing alone against the oncoming tide, Li Xuancang held firm over that tiny patch of ground, allowing the men behind him to climb the cliff safely.

"Kill him, quickly!"

The bandits' eyes nearly split with rage. Great numbers of them surged toward him.

Bang!

"Ah!"

Boom!

"..."

Li Xuancang possessed boundless strength. With spear in hand, he alone guarded the cliff's edge, buying the soldiers climbing up behind him a place to stand.

"Hahaha! Good! Go up the cliff!"

Zhou Xiong noticed Li Xuancang and was overjoyed. He hurriedly ordered the other soldiers to break through by climbing the cliff face.

More and more soldiers climbed up, completely disrupting the bandits' rear deployment. Their once-dense ambush formation instantly fell apart.

With support behind him, Li Xuancang became like a god of slaughter, charging back and forth through the bandit ranks. Wherever his spearpoint passed, bandits fell one after another. No one could stop him.

"The flank has fallen! The government troops have climbed up!"

The bandits panicked, and their formation descended into utter chaos.

"Kill!"

Seeing this, Zhou Xiong seized the opportunity and led the main force in a full assault, determined to break through the pass in one stroke.

Caught between attacks from front and rear, the bandits collapsed in an instant.

Cries and pleas for mercy rose everywhere. Their former ferocity vanished without a trace as they threw away their armor and weapons and fled in all directions.

"We can't hold them! Retreat, quickly!"

"The Imperial Court lapdogs are too vicious! Run!"

"Chief, retreat!"

"..."

Most of these bandits were ordinary citizens. They were no match for the Imperial Court's Battle Soldiers.

Once they lost the advantage of the terrain, they were utterly defeated, with no power to fight back.

Seeing that the tide had turned against him, Lin Xuan gritted his teeth and gave the order.

"Retreat into the depths of the mountains!"

They intended to use the mountains' environment to escape. The bandits knew the Yellow Wind Mountains like the backs of their hands and could easily get away.

"Do not let the bandit chief escape! Kill!"

Lin Xuan wanted to break out, but how could Zhou Xiong let him have his way? He rushed to Lin Xuan's side first and tangled with him relentlessly, preventing him from getting away.

"Damn it!"

Lin Xuan had dared to rob Imperial Court supplies, so he was no easy opponent. His Blood Condensation Realm cultivation struck fear into men's hearts.

But his opponent was Zhou Xiong, who suppressed him at every turn.

"Stop them! Don't let a single one escape!"

"It's time to win merit and make a name for yourselves! Kill!"

"These are all military merits! I'm going to kill to my heart's content!"

"..."

The Battle Soldiers were wildly excited, roaring as they launched their attack.

In their eyes, these bandits were walking military merits, opportunities that came only by chance. How could they possibly let them go so easily?

Li Xuancang was also slaughtering without restraint, seeking to accumulate more military merits and make his promotion to Centurion an ironclad certainty.