The First Mission
A boulder rolled down the hillside.
Boom!
The road was blocked off at both ends.
Three wagons loaded with medicinal herbs stopped in the middle of the canyon.
Six masked figures rushed out of the bushes.
Soul Rings appeared beneath two of them.
One was a rank-nineteen Soul Master.
The other was a rank-twenty-one Soul Grandmaster.
The remaining four had no Soul Rings, but all carried weapons.
The academy teacher escorting them changed expression slightly.
"They knew the convoy's route in advance."
Ordinary bandits rarely dared attack a Soul Master Academy's medicinal herb convoy.
Not only had the attackers chosen the right place for their ambush,
they also knew the escort would not be too strong.
"I'll handle the two Soul Masters."
The escorting teacher released his Long-Horned Deer Martial Soul.
Two Yellow Soul Rings rose.
"Guard the wagons."
"Don't pursue them."
Dong Jian immediately stepped in front of the first wagon.
Li Man, however, did not stand behind him.
She walked to the center of the three wagons.
Her Yellow Soul Ring lit up.
"Green Bamboo Binding Formation!"
Four bamboo projections appeared at the four corners of the convoy.
Bamboo vines linked the wheels to the cargo racks.
They formed a temporary defensive line.
"Take out that girl first!"
The bandits clearly knew that control-type Soul Masters posed a greater threat.
Two knife-wielders circled around Dong Jian from the side.
They headed straight for Li Man.
The first leaped over a bamboo vine.
His blade chopped down from above.
Li Man raised her Green Jade Bamboo to block.
Clang!
The blade struck the bamboo.
Her arm dipped slightly.
But the bamboo did not break.
The second man attacked from behind.
Li Man did not turn around.
A bamboo projection suddenly bent beneath her feet.
She used its rebound to move sideways.
The two knives collided.
Dong Jian had already charged up to them.
Bear Astral Energy Body Protection!
Black-and-white astral Qi covered his body.
He did not attack directly.
Instead, he knocked the first bandit aside with his shoulder.
Then he grabbed the second man's wrist.
Circular Force Redirection.
The force of the man's own charge was redirected toward the side of a wagon.
Thud!
He fell headlong into the mud.
"Don't pursue."
Li Man reminded him again.
Dong Jian was about to follow up with a punch, but stopped immediately when he heard her.
There were still enemies on both sides of the canyon.
If they left the formation's range, the wagons would be exposed.
A third bandit threw a knife.
He aimed at a wooden crate loaded with medicine.
He wanted to destroy the cargo first.
Li Man turned her wrist.
The first bamboo projection bent swiftly.
Crack!
The bamboo sprang back.
It blocked the flying knife.
A second bamboo vine coiled toward the bandit's ankle.
He slashed it apart with his knife.
But his movement had already slowed for an instant.
Dong Jian used the green bamboo to propel himself forward.
His shoulder did not strike the man's chest.
Instead, it stopped in front of his chin.
The bandit immediately dropped his weapon.
"I surrender!"
"Tie him up."
Li Man controlled a bamboo vine to bind his hands.
She did not trust him completely just because he had surrendered.
On the other side,
the academy teacher faced both Soul Masters at once.
The rank-nineteen Soul Master's Martial Soul was a Black-Backed Dog.
He was extremely fast.
The rank-twenty-one Soul Grandmaster used a short axe.
His First Soul Skill enhanced his strength.
His Second Soul Skill could release a blade-shaped current of air from his axe.
The escorting teacher's Soul Power Level was higher.
But he needed to keep the attacks from reaching the wagons.
For the moment, he could not win quickly.
"Let's deal with the ordinary men first,"
Dong Jian said.
"We can't let them interfere with the teacher."
"The two on the left are yours,"
Li Man replied.
"I'll handle the ones on the right."
She left the center of the wagons of her own accord.
But she did not release the Green Bamboo Binding Formation.
The four bamboo projections continued to protect the wheels through the bamboo vines.
When the two bandits on the right saw her approach, they immediately attacked her from front and back.
Li Man attacked the one in front first.
Her Green Jade Bamboo stabbed toward his wrist.
The bandit dodged to the side.
A long saber was already chopping toward her shoulder from behind.
Li Man suddenly made the third bamboo projection spring back.
The bamboo vine did not bind the bandit.
Instead, it caught her belt and pulled her half a step backward.
The blade brushed her clothes and missed.
Her Green Jade Bamboo swept backward with the motion.
Thud!
It struck her attacker squarely in the knee.
He fell to his knees.
Li Man turned and kicked the long saber away.
The tip of her bamboo stopped at his throat.
The bandit in front charged again.
She had no time to pull back the bamboo pole.
The fourth bamboo projection rose from the ground.
It bent.
Then sprang back.
The bamboo projection itself lashed the bandit across the abdomen.
The blow sent him staggering backward.
Li Man finally turned around.
Her Green Jade Bamboo struck his shoulder hollow and wrist in quick succession.
A second blade fell to the ground.
Both men were incapacitated.
She had not relied on Dong Jian to rescue her.
In her hands, the Green Bamboo Binding Formation was more than a binding Soul Skill.
Every bamboo projection could serve as a fulcrum for attack, movement, and defense.
On the other side,
Dong Jian deliberately took attacks from a wooden club and a short knife.
Ripples spread continuously across his Bear Astral Energy Body Protection.
The impacts accumulated bit by bit.
The fourth bandit thought Dong Jian could only defend.
He thrust his knife at Dong Jian's abdomen with all his strength.
Dong Jian's body suddenly became lighter.
He slid to the side.
The impacts accumulated in his astral Qi concentrated in his shoulder.
Mountain-Leaning Collision!
Boom!
The bandit was sent flying.
His back slammed into the mountainside.
His weapon flew from his hand.
All the remaining ordinary bandits had been subdued.
Li Man returned to the center of the formation.
"Support the teacher."
She did not release the bamboo formation.
The wagons still needed protection.
She only controlled two bamboo vines, extending them to the edge of the battlefield.
The Black-Backed Dog Soul Master moved swiftly around the escorting teacher.
Li Man's bamboo projection suddenly appeared where he was about to land.
He was forced to leap.
Dong Jian had already used the rebound of another bamboo projection to charge toward him.
With Bear Astral Energy Body Protection, he struck the man head-on in the waist and abdomen.
The Black-Backed Dog Soul Master fell from midair.
The academy teacher seized the opportunity.
The First Soul Skill activated.
A phantom set of antlers sent the Soul Master flying out of the battlefield.
Only the level-twenty-one short-axe Soul Grandmaster remained.
He saw all his companions fall and immediately prepared to flee.
His Second Soul Ring lit up.
A current of air from the axe blade slashed toward the carriages.
This forced everyone to come to their rescue.
The four bamboo shadows of Li Man's Green Bamboo Binding Formation bent at once.
They formed a crossed barrier.
Boom!
Two bamboo shadows were severed.
Li Man's face went deathly pale.
Her Soul Power suffered a backlash.
But the medicinal herb convoy was undamaged.
The escort teacher had already caught up to the short-axe Soul Master.
The Second Soul Skill struck him in the back.
The battle was over.
The canyon fell quiet again.
Dong Jian immediately went to Li Man's side.
"Are you badly hurt?"
"I used up too much Soul Power."
"I'll recover after resting for a while."
Li Man didn't try to act tough.
She dismissed the remaining bamboo shadows and leaned against a carriage to steady her breathing.
The escort teacher finished checking all the enemies.
But his expression grew more and more grim.
"They're not ordinary bandits."
A detailed map of the convoy's route hung at one masked man's waist.
It even marked the departure time and the escort teacher's level.
"Did someone inside the academy leak the information?"
Dong Jian asked.
"Not necessarily."
"It could have come from the herb farm, the convoy, or the academy."
The escort teacher put the map away.
"The academy will investigate this."
Dong Jian didn't investigate on his own.
He walked over to the Black-Backed Dog Soul Master.
Several abnormal black veins had appeared on the man's arm.
They were similar to what had appeared on Zhou Qian after he used the Fusion Potion.
Li Man saw them too.
The two exchanged a glance.
Neither mentioned the Return to One Society there and then.
They were only at levels eleven and twelve right now.
Knowing a clue didn't mean they had to dig deeper immediately.
Li Man cut a small piece from the bloodstained hem of his clothes and handed it to the escort teacher.
"There may be something wrong with this man's blood."
"Don't touch it directly."
The mission continued.
The medicinal herbs were delivered safely to the northern herb farm.
On the return trip, the academy teacher gave his formal assessment:
"Dong Jian is suited to handling pressure head-on."
"Li Man can control the battlefield as a whole."
"But your greatest strength isn't your Soul Skills."
"It's that you're willing to listen to each other's judgment."
In a real fight,
it didn't matter who was stronger.
Insisting on your own judgment at the wrong time was what could most easily make the team fall apart.
After they returned to the academy,
their mission rewards and practical combat points were distributed.
Dong Jian's Soul Power moved closer to level twelve.
After Li Man recovered, she also discovered that her control over the Green Bamboo Binding Formation had become steadier.
But the piece of cloth bearing the black blood, on the second day after it was sent to the academy infirmary-
suddenly disappeared.