SCREEECH!
The massive, iron-reinforced wheels of the carriages locked up instantly, throwing their weight violently forward. The sudden deceleration caused the wooden joints of the carriage to groan under immense strain.
"Ugh!" Ye Chenxue, whose reflexes were fully restored, managed to plant her feet firmly against the floorboards, but a low, frustrated groan escaped her lips as the sudden jolt disrupted the fragile equilibrium of her circulating Qi.
Lu Feng didn’t fall forward. His new Dantian inside him instantly anchored his center of gravity, keeping him firmly planted on the velvet bench. But as the carriage came to a complete, dead halt, a heavy, dark sigh of frustration escaped his lips. He had a certain premonition that popped up but he instantly dismissed it as he assured himself it couldn’t happen yet.
Outside, the air was suddenly filled with the frantic, terrified bellowing of the eight massive iron-hooved bulls at the front of the convoy.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The sharp, chaotic ringing of steel blades being unsheathed echoed down the line of coaches. From the front platform of their own carriage, the two heavily armored guards let out a pair of coarse, alarmed shouts, their heavy boots thudding against the wooden planks as they braced themselves for combat.
Lu Feng closed his eyes for a brief second, his face a mask of profound annoyance. He had hoped against hope that their journey through these lawless border regions would remain uneventful. He had hoped the professional reputation of the Grand Transport Agency would keep the scum of the roads at bay.
But his silent prayers had clearly fallen on completely deaf ears. The Heavens had no regards for his prayers.
Through the thin fabric of the carriage curtains, the dim forest path was suddenly illuminated by the dancing, orange glow of dozens of oil torches.
"Hehehe..." Rough, mocking laughter and the heavy, uncoordinated stomping of dozens of leather-booted feet began to encircle the stationary convoy.
"Bandits." They had finally located them.
The heavy wooden panels of their carriage rattled violently as a rough fist slammed against the outside door. The sudden noise made Han Lin bolt upright from her corner, her blanket slipping to the floor as her eyes widened in immediate panic.
The pot-bellied loan shark and his wife were jolted awake as well, the man let out a panicked squeak while the woman immediately clutched her expensive silk robes to her chest, her painted face twisting in terror.
"Passengers inside, lock the latch and stay down!" One of the armored guards assigned to their platform barked through the thick wood, his voice taut and breathless. "Do not open this door for any reason until we give the all-clear signal! We are preparing for battle!"
Outside, the heavy thud of boots scrambling over the dirt road echoed through the walls, accompanied by the metallic rasp of broadswords being drawn from iron scabbards. Lu Feng and Ye Chenxue remained perfectly still on their respective benches, their senses heightened by their newly awakened Dantians.
The quiet night air carried the sharp, arrogant voices of the ambushers clearly into the cabin, allowing them to track the verbal exchange unfolding between the convoy’s defense force and the attackers.
"Listen up, you government dogs and fat merchants!" a gravelly, mocking voice roared from the darkness of the tree line. "We know exactly what kind of cargo you’re dragging to Crimson Vale! We aren’t greedy men, so we’ll make this simple. Drop fifty thousand gold coins right here in the dirt, leave half your supplies, and maybe, just maybe, we’ll let you crawl away with your pathetic lives! Refuse, and we’ll burn these carriages down with you locked inside them!"
A heavy silence followed, broken only by the snorting of the frightened iron-hooved bulls. Then, the voice of the guard commander—a stern, battle-hardened man—cut through the cold air.
"Fifty thousand gold?" the commander spat heavily onto the dirt road, the sound wet and filled with utter disdain. "You wretched scum must have lost your minds in these woods. The Grand Transport Agency doesn’t negotiate with insects. If you want our cargo, it will happen over our cold, dead corpses!"
"Have it your way, old man!" the bandit leader laughed, a dark, sinister sound that carried an unsettling layer of confidence.
What the convoy guards didn’t know—what they couldn’t possibly fathom—was that this wasn’t an ordinary, desperate band of highwaymen. The local bandit group had recently expanded, pulling a rogue cultivator into their ranks to act as their ultimate vanguard.
This hidden enforcer was currently sitting comfortably at the ninth level of the Qi Condensation Stage, practically hovering at the very peak of the realm. To a group of ordinary mortal soldiers, such a being was an unstoppable calamity.
Most of the Agency’s guards were incredibly skilled swordsmen, trained in mundane martial arts, but only a precious few had ever managed to touch the threshold of true cultivation.
Among those rare few, the vast majority were stuck in the fragile, early stages of the Qi Condensation Stage. In fact, the strongest cultivator on the convoy’s payroll was the guard commander himself, who was currently a seventh-level Qi Condensation expert. He was the sole shield protecting the passengers. If he fell to the peak-level bandit, the entire line of carriages would be turned into a slaughterhouse within minutes.
The arguments outside grew rapidly heated, the shouts turning into raw, guttural death threats. Before the commander could even finish a final warning, the night was violently shattered by the chaotic, high-pitched clashing of steel weapons. Screams of agony and the heavy thud of falling bodies immediately followed.
Ye Chenxue’s dark eyes flashed with an icy brilliance. Her hands clenched against her knees, the dense, freezing aura of her Heavenly Frozen Sea Dantian pulsing naturally beneath her skin. She couldn’t sit idly by while the defenses were obliterated. She turned her gaze to Lu Feng, her voice low and tight with determination.
"Young Master Lu, the defensive line won’t hold," she whispered, her posture radiating the refined authority of a supreme disciple. "If the commander falls, these barbarians will tear this carriage apart. For our own safety and to ensure our journey isn’t halted permanently, I must go outside and aid the guards. I will eliminate them all and whatever threat they hold to the convoy."
Lu Feng looked at her, his expression perfectly relaxed, almost bored. He slowly leaned back against the mahogany paneling and gave a nonchalant nod, waving his hand dismissively as if the entire life-or-death ambush was completely beneath his notice.
To the terrified loan shark clutching his wife in the corner, Lu Feng looked like a haughty, unbothered high noble who viewed a bandit raid as nothing more than an inconvenient delay.
"Go ahead," Lu Feng said smoothly, his deep, resonant voice entirely devoid of fear. "Clean up the garbage outside. Don’t take too long; the air in here is getting stale."
"Understood," Ye Chenxue replied, her respect for his absolute composure deepening. She gave a swift nod, unlocked the carriage door, and slipped out into the chaotic, torch-lit night like a ghost of pure frost.
The moment the wooden door clicked shut behind her, the unbothered, arrogant expression on Lu Feng’s face instantly vanished.
Internally, his stomach did a slight, panicked flip. He had managed to maintain the perfect facade of a supreme master, but the reality was that he had only forged his Dantian a few hours ago. He didn’t know a single martial technique, and he had absolutely no combat experience.
Still, he mentally comforted himself, pushing the rising anxiety down. ’It’s fine,’ he thought. ’Chenxue is a Blood Condensation expert now. Her cultivation level is vastly superior to any trash in these woods. She’ll wipe them out in seconds and everything will be under control.’
Once again, the same thought arose in his mind but since the attackers had clearly identified themselves to be the bandits roaming this path, he pushed the thought aside. Ye Chenxue had also gone to assist so nothing would go wrong.
However, his comforting thoughts were violently derailed by a familiar, sharp chime in the center of his brain.
Ding!
Lu Feng’s eyes widened as a bright, blue notification box erupted across his field of vision. He let out a long, heavy sigh of frustration, realizing he had just completely jinxed himself by relying entirely on his proxy.
[Emergency Quest Triggered: The Blindside.]
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A/N: Hello dear readers! How are you all and I hope you’ve been enjoying the book so far. I would like to introduce a weekly challenge for us with bonus Chapters as rewards for meeting the challenges. Also, there’s a big reveal coming up soon.
[Weekly Goals]
200 Power Stones = 3 Bonus Chapters.
500 Golden Tickets = 5 Bonus Chapters.
1 Magic Castle = 6 Bonus Chapters.