A grey blur of motion, Hao Yu moved through the forest canopy with the silent grace of a predator, the unconscious form of the Outer Disciple slung over his shoulder like a sack of grain.

  He paused on a thick, moss-covered branch, turning his head to glance back over the path he had forged.

  Hm, they don't seem to be following.

  The profound quiet of the deep woods was undisturbed by pursuing auras, no ripples of Qi betraying a hidden chase.

  It’s not that I couldn't outrun them, but I sense nothing. Good.

  With a final, decisive leap, he dropped from the high trees.

  He landed with a heavy CRASH!, his boots sinking deep into the grassy floor, the impact creating a small crater of displaced earth that sent a tremor through the ground.

  The sudden disturbance stirred the forest's unseen inhabitants.

  From the deeper shadows, a flock of spectral crows took flight, their wings beating a silent, eerie rhythm as they circled, leaving a trail of shadow-like feathers in their wake.

  "Huh. Lower-tier spectral crows," Hao Yu grunted, his expression hardening as he dropped the disciple to the ground.

  "I must kill them before they get any ideas."

  As if summoned by his words, one of the crows shot from the flock, a streaking bullet of shadow and malice.

  Hao Yu’s hand was a blur, moving with an impossible speed that intercepted the crow mid-flight.

  The impact was a wet, concussive thud as he smashed the creature, sending its broken form crashing to the forest floor and creating another, smaller crater.

  "Hmph. They could contest with Qi Sensing Realm Stage 3 or 4 brats, but no more."

  More crows descended, a whirlwind of dark feathers and burning embers for eyes. Hao Yu moved through the forest, a whirlwind of his own.

  He snatched a fist-sized stone from a creek bed and hurled it with the force of a catapult, its trajectory a straight, predictable line that pulped another crow in a burst of black feathers.

  "They're quite fast," he noted, his mind a calm engine of analysis even in the heat of battle, "but their path is too direct."

  A flicker of movement in his periphery, a shadow diving for his eye from a blind spot. He didn't turn.

  His hand shot out without a moment's hesitation, clamping around the creature's head and crushing it with a wet, final crunch.

  "Don't be too hasty, little crow," he said, his voice a low, dangerous rumble. "I'm not that senile yet."

  The remaining crows circled high above, their ghostly caws echoing in the tense air, waiting for an opening that would never come.

  They are relentless, Hao Yu realized, a flicker of annoyance in his cold, yellow eyes.

  They might remember me, whisper rumors of my presence to their brethren.

  I could even come across higher tiers of these spectral crows, and I can't kill them so easily if they have the high ground.

  Their goal is to tire me out.

  With a final, decisive grunt, he grabbed the disciple again and disappeared back into the forest, a grey streak leaping through the trees.

  "I was foolish to attack them," he muttered to himself.

  "I didn't think there'd be so many camping around here." He traveled for another hour, his powerful legs eating up the distance, until a new shape rose from the treeline—a jagged scar of dark wood and sharpened logs.

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  "Heh, just my luck. I've finally come across it!" He grinned, his gaze settling on the towering fortress.

  "You were always so bad at giving directions, Hao Fu!"

  "Hey, did you notice that?" a bandit guard asked, leaning against the rough wood of the fortress gate.

  His gaze swept over the muddy, sprawling grounds. "Fewer and fewer slaves seem to be coming through our forces. I heard that the auctions have grown slower."

  His companion rubbed his chin, his own expression grim. "Yeah, I think it has something to do with the disciple situation.

  Those guys we took in, the ones who fled their own camps… they keep saying there's a group going around, wiping out camps and such."

  A harsh, ugly laugh came from the first bandit. "Have they lost their pair?! A mere group is something we fight against all the time! Why not teach them a lesson?"

  The other bandit shot him a sharp glare. "Don't be so reckless. That 'mere group' you’re saying we should kill… they managed to take down the Captain."

  The name landed with the weight of a physical blow. The first bandit’s jaw dropped, and beads of sweat formed on his forehead.

  "Is this real? Wasn't that guy… in the Body Tempering Realm? H-How..?"

  Nodding, the second bandit let out a long sigh. "Like I've said, they might be disciples from a sect or some sort."

  Gritting his teeth, the first bandit stared out into the oppressive forest. "T-Then, if a sect is hunting us down… wouldn't we be fucked? Shouldn't we flee?"

  His companion smacked his own face against his palm. "No, we don't know for certain yet. Right now, we don't have enough information."

  "But you did say they took down the Captain! That's dangerous enough as is!

  As Hao Yu and his men bickered, a tangible weight descended upon the fortress gates, a pressure so immense it seemed to suck the very air from their lungs.

  Their petty argument died in their throats. With a synchronized, sharp clang of steel, the two guards straightened their backs, their large blades unsheathed and held at the ready, their expressions shifting from irritation to a focused, deadly vigilance.

  "Who goes there?!" the first guard roared, his voice a powerful shout that echoed across the muddy grounds.

  As Peak Qi Sensing Realm experts, they were the undisputed kings of this gate, and their pride would not allow any trespass. "Tch! Reveal yourself before being slaught—"

  His threat was choked off as heavy, deliberate footsteps approached from the darkness.

  The pressure intensified, morphing from a simple warning into the undeniable, overwhelming aura of a Meridian Opening Realm expert. "Calm yourselves, brethren," a familiar voice rumbled from the shadows. "It is me, Hao Yu."

  His eyes, glowing with a faint, potent Qi, were the first things to emerge from the gloom.

  The guards' bravado instantly evaporated, replaced by a wave of pure, instinctual terror. They dropped to one knee, their heads bowed low. "W-We're sorry! Boss Hao Yu!"

  Hao Yu’s hand shot up, a simple gesture that was an absolute command. "Do not worry about it," he said, his tone devoid of anger.

  "You were just wary. I appreciate you two taking your jobs seriously."

  One of them scrambled to his feet, turning to bellow at the men inside. "OPEN THE GATES! BOSS HAO YU HAS ARRIVED!"

  The abundant chatter from within the fortress died, replaced by a ripple of stunned, fearful whispers as the heavy wooden gates slowly groaned open.

  "H-Hey, is he really here?"

  "It's really him…" "

  Boss Hao Yu..!" It was a rare, almost mythical sight

  The boss rarely visited this fortress; he had always held extreme trust in his relatives, foremost his unhinged son, and then his steadfast cousin, his right-hand man.

  "Where is Hao Fu?" Hao Yu demanded the moment he stepped inside, his gaze sweeping over the assembled bandits.

  "I need to see him now! This is dire!"

  Two of the Body Tempering Realm bandit guards, the highest power within the fortress, immediately bowed before him.

  "Please await his arrival, Boss. Boss Hao Fu is on a journey with his daughter."

  Hao Yu’s brow furrowed. "Oh? What for?"

  The guards exchanged a nervous glance, a bead of sweat tracing a path down one of their temples. "W-We do not—"

  Hao Yu dug the tip of his blade into the muddy ground with a sharp, grating sound, a silent, chilling promise of violence.

  "Do not lie to me. Even if you are Body Tempering experts, I will not hesitate to cut all of you down."

  Their fear overrode their loyalty. "Boss Hao Fu ordered us not to tell!" one of them confessed, his voice a tight, panicked squeak.

  An exasperated sigh escaped Hao Yu’s lips. "Fine. I will ask him myself when he returns. For now, look for our brethren near the forests. They are all scattered, I assume."

  "Yes, Boss!" a group of bandits immediately shouted, their boots thudding on the ground as they were dispatched to search for their fleeing comrades.

  "We need to assemble and amass our numbers," Hao Yu declared to the remaining men, his voice ringing with a grim authority, "or else we will truly be wiped out."

  Far away, near the desolate lands of Hao Yifeng's territory, the sounds of burning camps were a sweet melody to one man's ears.

  His long, crimson hair flowed perfectly in the wind as he stood upon a rocky outcrop, the cheers of a small, liberated village rising up to meet him. In his hand, he held the severed head of a Body Tempering Realm bandit, its eyes still wide with a final, surprised terror.

  "Hoh? There's another batch coming in," he mused, a slow, predatory grin plastering itself on his face as he sensed a new group of bandits blundering into his hunting grounds.

  His boots sank into the earth as he prepared to move.

  That guy, he thought, a flicker of cruel amusement in his eyes, he really does uphold his promise.

  He glanced back at the cheering villagers, bellowing his voice in a caricature of a hero. "Protect yourselves while I am gone! I am going hunting!"

  Licking his lips, he ascended from the village, a crimson specter disappearing into the wilderness, eager for his next prey.