Can't reason with them?

"Young master, you're amazing! You reached the fifth layer of body tempering just three days after joining, and I'm only at the first!"

"Young master, could you teach me?"

"Young master..."

Ying Huaixu: "..."

Seeing Ying Huaixu remain silent, Ye Ningshuang felt a little dejected.

Actually, Ying Huaixu didn't want to stay silent either.

The problem was, he'd already been burned once.

And that had only been a game, so it hadn't really mattered.

But this wasn't a game now.

If he really developed feelings for her, only to go through that shit all over again?

Yet Ying Huaixu's behavior angered the other two disciples.

They desperately wanted to talk to Ye Ningshuang, but she wouldn't give them the time of day.

Now Ye Ningshuang was talking to him, and he actually dared to ignore their goddess?

One of them was about to tell Ying Huaixu off.

But just then, Ying Huaixu dismounted.

Shing!

His sword left its sheath.

He moved like a phantom.

With a lift of his hand and a fall of his sword, several burly men's heads went flying.

Ying Huaixu's sudden attack caught everyone off guard.

After killing them, Ying Huaixu simply sheathed his sword.

In truth, killing these men had been an entirely instinctive reaction.

As their party passed through, Ying Huaixu had seen red exclamation marks flashing above these men's heads.

That was as good as displaying their health bars.

Although this was the real world now and there were no health bars, the exclamation marks hadn't disappeared.

Ying Huaixu's display also stunned the other two disciples into submission.

They swallowed the words they'd been about to say.

He Xiuyuan, meanwhile, frowned as he went to examine the corpses.

He didn't like Ying Huaixu suddenly attacking and killing people either.

But whatever happened, he wanted to investigate the circumstances before passing judgment.

After investigating the dead men's identities, He Xiuyuan couldn't help smiling.

"These men were bandits guilty of all sorts of atrocities. Their bundles contain plenty of things that don't belong to them!"

At that point, He Xiuyuan looked curiously at Ying Huaixu.

"Did you know from the start?"

Ying Huaixu shook his head. "No. I sensed killing intent. These men wanted to kill us."

He Xiuyuan was rather shocked.

He hadn't sensed any killing intent himself.

Of course, he wasn't doubting Ying Huaixu's ability. He was simply marveling at how terrifyingly keen Ying Huaixu's spiritual perception was.

Although this wasn't Ye Ningshuang's first time seeing dead people,

her face still turned rather pale when she looked at these corpses.

But the matter wasn't over yet.

After Ying Huaixu killed these men, the bandits lying in ambush nearby immediately came rushing over.

The furious bandits blocked their party's path.

"Fuck, you've got some nerve! You actually dared to lay hands on our men from Black Dragon Mountain?"

A burly man stepped out of the crowd, carrying a heavy chopping saber as he glared menacingly at Ying Huaixu and the others.

His murderous intent grew especially strong when he looked at Ying Huaixu.

Because Ying Huaixu was very handsome.

He was all the more jealous of men who were better-looking than him.

And Ying Huaixu's unruffled expression made him want to tear his face apart even more.

Ying Huaixu was about to attack when He Xiuyuan suddenly stopped him.

"Let me try reasoning with them first!"

Ying Huaixu: "..."

Although he said nothing, Ying Huaixu still stepped aside.

He Xiuyuan grew even fonder of Ying Huaixu.

Ying Huaixu was very courteous, after all, and wasn't some bloodthirsty killer.

He Xiuyuan stood in front of Ying Huaixu and the others, straightened his clothes, then said, "Gentlemen, do you see our clothing? We are disciples of the Divine Firmament Sword Sect, out here on a mission from our sect!"

"The men my junior brother killed earlier met their fate because they showed murderous intent toward him!"

"How about we let the matter rest here? That would be better than needlessly throwing away your lives!"

Hearing that they belonged to the Divine Firmament Sword Sect, the burly man instinctively took a step back.

But seeing how accommodating this man was, he began to doubt him.

After all, if they really belonged to the Divine Firmament Sword Sect, how could they be so easy to talk to?

When disciples of the Divine Firmament Sword Sect saw evildoers, they killed them outright. They offered death, not deliverance!

Real disciples of the Divine Firmament Sword Sect wouldn't waste words on them.

As for those clothes...

They did seem to be the Divine Firmament Sword Sect's disciple uniforms.

The burly man hesitated.

Just then, one of the bandit's underlings suddenly spoke to his boss.

"Boss, look at that woman..."

The bandit looked at Ye Ningshuang and instantly lost his head.

"Even if you belong to an immortal sect, you can't slaughter innocents! Does being an immortal mean you can lord it over everyone and disregard our mortal lives?"

"If you want to settle this, that's fine. You can leave, but the woman stays!"

He Xiuyuan: "!!!"

Had he heard that wrong?

Or had the Divine Firmament Sword Sect's name lost its weight these days?

Mere bandits actually dared to make such a demand?

He Xiuyuan's face instantly darkened.

"Can't reason with you?"

The bandit smiled. "I've already offered a solution!"

Squelch!

The bandit leader's head instantly went flying.

Even after it landed, his head still wore a bewildered look and the smile he hadn't quite managed to wipe away.

The other bandits froze on the spot.

Before they could react, a flash of sword light suddenly spread outward from He Xiuyuan.

The sword light swept through the bandits.

Everyone it touched was cut clean in half at the waist.

"Ah... no..."

"Spare us, immortal master..."

In an instant, the scene became a living hell.

"Heeheehee, so this is a righteous sect? Look at this... tsk, tsk, tsk. What a hellish slaughter!"

At some point, a figure had appeared atop a large tree.

He wore a snow-white smiling mask and held a Projection Stone in his hand.

He Xiuyuan frowned at the sight of him.

"You're from the Thousand Mechanisms Sect?"

The figure chuckled.

"That's right. If you don't want what just happened to spread across the world, buy this... hmm?"

Before the man from the Thousand Mechanisms Sect could finish, Ying Huaixu's sword suddenly flew toward him.

He tilted his head slightly, and Ying Huaixu's sword plunged straight into the tree trunk.

Whoosh!

Ying Huaixu instantly appeared on the tree trunk, pulled his sword free, and slashed viciously at the man!

The man from the Thousand Mechanisms Sect hurriedly snapped out of his terror and whipped out the Thousand Mechanisms Umbrella to block.

Clang!

An explosive crash rang out.

Ying Huaixu's single strike sent the man from the Thousand Mechanisms Sect flying, and he crashed heavily to the ground.

The man from the Thousand Mechanisms Sect was stunned.

"How is this possible? I'm at the seventh layer of body tempering! And what the hell is that movement technique of his? How is he so fast?"

Meanwhile, Ying Huaixu walked toward him step by step, sword in hand, his face showing nothing but a desire to kill him.

"W-wait! You can have this thing! I don't want it anymore!"

Throwing down the Projection Stone in his hand, the man forcibly activated his movement technique and fled like mad.

But Ying Huaixu was even faster.

He appeared at the man's side almost instantaneously.

Squelch!

The sword flashed, and his head fell to the ground.

"Ding! Side mission completed. Reward: 2,000 experience!"