Yet Lin Fan maintained the traveling speed of the early Bright Force realm, pressing on without pause toward the Azure Elixir Sect.
On his way back, Lin Fan stopped at some markets and similar places along his route to buy a few novel trinkets and local delicacies, intending to bring them back as gifts for the people in the courtyard.
Halfway there, the sounds of fighting suddenly came from more than ten li away. Lin Fan raised his brows slightly, then turned and headed in that direction.
The sounds came from a small town.
The town gate, more than ten feet tall, had already been mostly shattered. Broken timbers lay scattered in heaps on either side of the gateway, while vicious saber and sword marks remained on the walls.
Meanwhile, the clash of weapons and cries of battle continued to ring out within the town, mingled with the terrified screams and sobs of the townspeople. Many were fleeing through the gate one after another, clutching bundles or having had no time to bring anything at all, then running blindly away in panic.
A thought flashed through Lin Fan's mind, and he instantly guessed the reason. It had to be small groups of cavalry and warriors sent by the Wei Kingdom, taking advantage of the spreading border war to slip into this town to plunder and harass it.
He turned aside, no longer continuing his journey, and with a light leap, silently entered the town through its ruined gate.
Dust swirled over the streets, and blood slowly flowed through the cracks between the stone paving slabs. At an open intersection ahead, seven or eight Bone Tempering realm warriors from the Wei Kingdom wielded long sabers, surrounding and hunting down the town's only three remaining local Bone Tempering realm cultivators.
Facing enemies