His eyes slowly, painfully, cracked open. The world was a swimming, nauseating blur, the dappled sunlight through the canopy a dizzying kaleidoscope of green and gold.

  What the hell happened..? Was it a dream..?

  He slowly pushed himself into a sitting position, the movement sending a fresh wave of agony through his skull.

  "I could have sworn… that I was surrounded by bandits…"

  He turned his head to the left, his vision gradually sharpening as the indistinct silhouettes around him resolved into a terrifying, undeniable reality.

  less than a half-dozen men in grey cloaks stood in a loose circle, their faces grim, their hands resting on the hilts of their weapons. "N-No…"

  Smack.

  A hand, hard and calloused, connected with the back of his head, sending a starburst of fresh pain through his skull and snapping his focus into sharp, terrifying clarity.

  A bandit, his aura pulsing with the dense, formidable power of a Body Tempering Realm Stage 2 expert, loomed over him.

  "Tch, you fell asleep earlier," the man sneered, a cruel grin splitting his face. "Why not stay that way for a little bit longer?"

  He straightened up, walking over to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with his leader. "What should we do now, boss?"

  Hao Yu was deep in thought.

  I didn't expect this… His calm, yellow eyes were fixed on the three figures who had just emerged from the dense bushes, a trail of freshly slain Jaded-Vipers in their wake.

  His three men instinctively took up fighting positions, forming a protective line. It isn't that disadvantageous… I have three Body Tempering Realms with me… but they do too.

  "A bandit within these forests," a powerfully built youth grinned, his own aura blazing at the 5th Stage of the Body Tempering Realm.

  "Perhaps we're nearing their camp." He took a confident step forward, his gaze sweeping over the bandits with contempt.

  "We'll put you out of your miseries today, you vile pests!" he yelled, balling his hand into a fist so tight a faint drop of blood welled in his palm.

  "Calm down," another disciple chimed in, his own Stage 3 aura a more controlled, steady presence.

  "Can't you see? That grey-haired old man is at the Meridian Opening Realm."

  The brazen disciple’s confidence didn't waver, but his guard snapped up, a new, wary respect in his eyes.

  "Tch! A mere bandit scum like you managed to break through to such a realm?!"

  The question was a mixture of shock and profound offense. How can this be? he thought, his mind racing.

  Why would someone with that potential walk the path of a bandit? He may be old, but with his talent, he could reach the level of a junior elder in thirty or forty years! Most of our junior elders are ancient! His gaze hardened.

  Though, his talents cannot compare to the young prodigies like Junior Elder Pia Xin, or Su Mingzhe and Han Jue. Still, he could have lived a great life within any sect! He scoffed aloud.

  "Heh, so what?! The men behind him are stages behind us! Not even one of them precedes us!"

  "A mere bandit scum?" The words, dripping with youthful arrogance, seemed to hang in the air. Hao Yu finally broke his silence, his voice a low, calm rumble.

  He integrated his hands, rubbing his chin, the rough texture of his gray stubble a familiar anchor.

  "We may be bandits, but we're not 'mere' at all." His gaze, no longer just analytical, turned cold, filled with a deep, ancient hatred.

  "You sect fiends are the people I hate the most.

  This could be troublesome, Hao Yu thought, his calm yellow eyes betraying none of the furious calculations happening behind them.

  Sect disciples always have tricks up their sleeves. Even if they have noted me as someone deadly, they won't hesitate to cut me down.

  He glanced at his three most trusted men, their Body Tempering auras a solid, if outmatched, wall beside him.

  They were loyal. They were his. Shall I take the gamble and clash against them now?

  His men, however, felt no such need for caution.

  The bald bandit beside him took a swaggering step forward, letting out a harsh, ugly laugh.

  "Heh, you little shits think you're so high and mighty! I'll gladly pound your bodies into minced meat right after!"

  He stuck out his tongue, a crude, leering gesture. "KAKAKA! And then we'll roast and feast upon your bodies!"

  Laughter, rough and guttural, erupted from the other two bandits.

  The Inner Disciples grit their teeth, their faces flushing with a mixture of outrage and caution.

  I will not have my pride broken! the Stage 5 disciple fumed internally. But I still must stay cautious.

  We can't just face them head on. Who knows what tricks that bastard can do?!

  His gaze locked with Hao Yu’s, a silent battle of critical assessment playing out across the tense clearing.

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  "GAHAHAHA what?! Did your tongues get burned just no—"

  The bandit’s taunt was cut off by the sharp whistle of an object tearing through the air.

  A small rock, hurled with incredible speed, shot towards his face.

  Before it could connect, Hao Yu’s hand struck out like a serpent, shattering the pebble into a puff of fine dust.

  His eyes, now cold and sharp, glared at the perpetrator.

  "I didn't know bandits were all bark," a new voice drawled, dripping with an arrogant amusement.

  A young man, no older than nineteen, stepped out from the shadows of the ancient trees, his long, dark-blue hair flowing in the slight breeze.

  His green eyes, sharp and piercing, were fixed solely on Hao Yu. "If you're going to speak such words, then back them up."

  He moved with an effortless confidence, his green robes parting as he stepped onto the swampy grass floor.

  "You must be the leader." His gaze flickered to the three Body Tempering bandits.

  "If you have three men of that caliber beside you, I have no doubt you have a massive camp nearby, or possibly…" The Inner Disciple’s hand went to the hilt of his sword.

  With a whisper of steel, he unsheathed the blade, its polished surface glinting as he pointed it towards the captured, unconscious Outer Disciple.

  "You've gone out of your way to hunt this one down. I wonder why? Leaving your camp for such a measly target… perhaps you needed him? To interrogate him for information?"

  The man stood with a pressure so immense, a palpable weight in the air, that the three bandits instinctively took a half-step back. He was at the absolute pinnacle of the Body Tempering Realm.

  "B-Brother Wei Tiexuan!" the Stage 3 disciple hissed, his voice a low, urgent warning. "Don't provoke them too brashly! Can't you see we're not exactly at an advantage?"

  Wei Tiexuan didn't even glance at him. He looked the bandits straight in the eye, a slow, predatory smile spreading across his face.

  "So what?" he said, his voice ringing with an unshakeable, terrifying confidence.

  "They're the ones who are misfortunate today, not us. They either die today or die later. We face no consequences that are remotely close to death!"

  Hao Yu’s yellow eyes narrowed to slits. I will not take such disrespect lightly. I will cut off each and every one of your heads.

  "Your insolence is commendable," he said, his voice a low, dangerous rumble that cut through his men's cackling.

  "I would seize each and every one of you to be humiliated back at my camp, but you have made me form a true contempt for you brats."

  That long-haired brat is very smart, he thought, his gaze flickering to Wei Tiexuan.

  I shouldn't reveal much more. I shall refrain from speaking further.

  He glanced at the unconscious Outer Disciple, the initial reason for this entire confrontation.

  I was going to interrogate this brat painfully, gather information, but this confirms something.

  The sect's operation isn't widespread, since these disciples, who are clearly a higher rank, know nothing of the mission I theorized.

  Maybe it isn't a huge wipeout. A cold knot of a different kind of fear tightened in his gut.

  But that doesn't explain the many camps that have fallen. It isn't the full picture. Or could it be that… we're losing, one by one, to small brats like this one?!

  "Enough thinking, old geezer."

  Hao Yu’s eyes widened as Wei Tiexuan cut through his train of thought. "I think it's about time I cut off each and every one of your men's heads.

  You'll be the last." Xuan lunged forward, a blur of motion, his blade a silver streak aimed at the bald bandit.

  "K-Kh… Don't underestimate me, bastard!" The bandit shot his fist out, a crude but powerful block.

  He was met by a flash of steel that was impossibly fast. His hand, which had been a formidable weapon just a moment ago, was cleanly severed at the wrist.

  W-WHAT?! Impossible! I'm at Body Tempering Realm Stage 2! I can't be this easily cut!

  "Tch! You dare attack first?!" Another bandit roared, leaping to aid his comrade, but the brazen Stage 5 disciple was already there, a solid wall blocking his path.

  "GET OUT OF THE WAY!" The bandit sprang forward, his hands clasped into a single, massive hammer, meeting the disciple’s open palms.

  "Tsk, tsk! You think you can contest with me?!" The disciple grunted, the impact sending a tremor up his arms, but he held his ground, his superior stage allowing him to knock the bandit a step back.

  Hao Yu took a single, deliberate step forward, and the air around his hands began to shimmer and distort, a visible, potent aura of Qi radiating from him.

  "As expected of the Meridian Opening Realm!" the third disciple yelled out, his own hands already moving.

  "Roots of terror!" He slapped a talisman to the ground, pouring his Qi into it.

  The saturated earth churned, and four thick, gnarled wooden roots erupted, shooting towards Hao Yu like living spears.

  Using tricks, as I've expected. Gladly, they can only use talismans, Hao Yu thought with contempt.

  "What an inconvenience." He evaded with a fluid sidestep, reeling his hand back and shattering one of the roots aimed for his heart with a single, contemptuous slap.

  "I've got your back, boss!" The third bandit joined in, roaring as he shattered the rest of the roots with a flurry of powerful, bare-fisted strikes.

  "Hiyah! Just normal wooden roots!"

  "Damn it, I thought I caught him off guard with that!" the Inner Disciple cursed, leaping away to create distance.

  The bandit pressed his advantage, his fist pulsing with Qi as he lunged, only to slam into an invisible, shimmering barrier that erupted just before the disciple’s chest.

  The barrier shattered, breaking the momentum of his punch. "W-What?! You cowa—"

  His insult was cut off as the Inner Disciple’s fist, no longer needing to defend, was already buried deep in the bandit's chest.

  His other hand flew out, slapping a small, inscribed paper slip onto the man. "Brace yourself for the next life, scum!" The Inner Disciple folded his hands into a seal, activating the talisman.

  "Damn it!" the bandit screamed, his eyes widening in terror as the paper flared with a blinding light, engulfing him in a fiery explosion.

  Hao Yu grit his teeth, the smell of burnt flesh and ozone stinging his nostrils. He grabbed the unconscious Outer Disciple, slinging him over his shoulder.

  "They have too many tricks! I will flee now, they won't catch up to me! Hear me, my brethren, flee while you can!"

  He leaped into the trees, his movements precise and impossibly fast.

  Wei Tiexuan's eyes narrowed, preparing to give chase, but a hulking shape crashed against him.

  "Not so fast, little shit!" It was the bald bandit, his arm a bloody stump, his face a mask of suicidal desperation.

  Xuan was knocked back a few feet by the sheer, reckless force of the impact.

  Tsk! A low-level scum like you isn't my opponent. The blade dropped from Xuan's hands as he took a measured step towards the bandit.

  "Oh?! You better pick up your blade, because you're going to need it!" the bandit roared, crashing his feet against the ground as he lunged, his remaining fist aimed like a cannonball.

  Xuan dodged with an almost disdainful ease, sliding across the wet ground as if it were ice.

  His own fist connected with the bandit’s side, the impact a deep, concussive boom that sent a shockwave through the man's body, hurling him against a tree and shattering the thick bark.

  "Kuhk!" I… lost… with one… punch..? The bandit's head dropped, and he slumped unconscious.

  The brazen disciple finished him off without a word, smashing his foot down on the man's skull and creating a small crater in the earth.

  "Hmph! Scum like you deserve far worse! But we don't have the luxury to dilly-dally!"

  The talisman user walked towards them, his gaze on the spot where Hao Yu had vanished.

  "Other than that old geezer, one of them escaped. Should we go after them?"

  "No," Xuan’s voice came in quick and decisive. "We already have one captive."

  He pointed at the smoking, twitching form of the bandit who had been caught in the explosion.

  "O-Oh! He didn't die from that, huh? We can apprehend him and force out information." The talisman user took a step forward, his arms crossed.

  "Not so fast. We should focus on exterminating the Jaded-Vipers first. We can't even guarantee that they'll confess."

  Wei Tiexuan nodded. "You may be right. They willingly gave their lives for their boss.

  Their bond runs deep. They aren't just those measly bandit scums; they're smarter."

  "Smarter or not, they're still scum in the end," the brazen disciple integrated with a grim smile.

  He looked at Xuan, a newfound respect in his eyes.

  I'm glad he's with our group. To think that what he said was truth… we didn't suffer any consequences. His insight runs deep.