Chapter 55. Blood cultivators are strong.
Chapter 55: 55. Blood cultivators are strong.
The first few bandits who charged forward never even had the chance to scream.
One moment they were charging with weapons raised.
The next, they were nothing more than dried skeletons collapsing onto the bloodstained ground.
The horrifying sight shattered what little courage the others still possessed.
"We can’t beat him!"
"Run!"
"Get out of here!"
The charging formation instantly fell into chaos.
The bandits were not fools.
They had become bandits because they wanted to survive, not because they wished to throw their lives away.
Watching one companion after another reduced to nothing but bones was enough to break the will of even the fiercest among them.
Without anyone giving the order, dozens immediately turned and fled into the forest.
Then dozens more followed.
Bandits had never been loyal to their leader.
They obeyed only because they had no better choice.
Charging toward certain death had never been part of that choice.
The bandit leader’s face turned pale.
"Stop!"
His furious roar echoed through the battlefield.
"Get back here!"
Unfortunately, not a single person listened.
Even he could not hide the fear rising within his heart.
Only moments earlier, he had been thinking about taking Lin Xuan’s flying sword for himself.
Now, he wished he had never been tempted by such greed.
Just then, a calm voice sounded beside him.
"Don’t run."
"We can kill him together."
The bandit leader quickly turned his head.
Standing beside him was an ordinary-looking bandit dressed no differently from everyone else.
There was nothing remarkable about his appearance.
If he had been standing among the crowd, no one would have given him a second glance.
Yet the moment he spoke, the bandit leader instinctively calmed down.
This unassuming man was the second Golden Core cultivator hiding among the bandits.
More importantly...
He was the true leader of the entire bandit army.
The burly man who had been shouting orders from the front was little more than a figurehead.
Without this man’s strength and leadership, gathering more than three hundred bandits under a single banner would have been impossible.
A force of that size could no longer be called a mere bandit gang.
It was an army.
The bandit leader took a deep breath and the panic in his heart gradually subsided.
He knew the man before him was right.
No matter how powerful a single cultivator was, spiritual qi was not limitless.
As long as enough people attacked at once, even a Golden Core cultivator could eventually be exhausted.
The ordinary-looking man slowly stepped forward.
His cultivation, which had been concealed until now, surged outward without restraint.
A powerful pressure swept across the battlefield and the fleeing bandits instinctively slowed their steps.
Many of them turned around in disbelief.
"Boss..."
The ordinary-looking man swept his cold gaze across them.
"Anyone who runs now will die by my hand."
His calm voice sent chills down everyone’s spine.
The bandits immediately froze because none of them doubted his words.
Over the years, countless bandits had tried to flee.
Every single one of them had been personally executed by the man standing before them.
For a moment, everyone hesitated.
The choice before them was equally terrifying.
Facing the madman wielding the crimson spear almost certainly meant death.
Running away also meant certain death.
The bandits exchanged uneasy glances.
After a brief moment of hesitation, a handful still chose to flee into the forest.
The rest remained where they stood.
They all reached the same conclusion.
He is only one man.
If all of us attack together, he cannot possibly kill everyone.
Sooner or later, he will exhaust his spiritual qi and fall.
Moreover, both of their leaders were preparing to join the battle themselves.
With two Golden Core cultivators leading the charge, their chances of victory were no longer hopeless.
Seeing that most of the bandits had stopped fleeing, the ordinary-looking man gave a satisfied nod.
"Good."
He slowly drew the saber hanging from his waist.
Its blade reflected the afternoon sunlight, sending a cold gleam across the battlefield.
He then turned his attention toward Lin Xuan, who still stood surrounded by dried skeletons.
"I admit that I underestimated you. You possess enough strength to force me to reveal myself."
The bandit leader also stepped forward.
Although his hands still trembled slightly, the appearance of the second Golden Core cultivator gave him much-needed confidence.
Together, the two Golden Core cultivators released their spiritual pressure without holding anything back.
A crushing aura swept across the battlefield like a tidal wave.
The surrounding bandits immediately felt their confidence return.
They now had two Golden Core experts.
Their opponent stood alone.
The advantage had finally shifted back to their side.
One after another, the remaining bandits tightened their grips on their weapons and slowly turned toward Lin Xuan once more.
Their fear had not disappeared, however, with both leaders standing at the front, they finally found the courage to move forward again.
Before long, more than two hundred pairs of eyes were locked onto a single figure.
Lin Xuan stood alone amidst a field of dried bones.
He calmly rested the blood-red spear upon his shoulder, while the corners of his mouth slowly curled into a faint smile.
"Are you Huang Guangzhou?"
The man’s expression did not change in the slightest.
"I have no idea what you’re talking about."
Lin Xuan gave a slow, gentle nod.
"I see."
Before another word could be spoken, more than two hundred bandits charged forward once again.
Their battle cries shook the forest as they rushed toward Lin Xuan with renewed determination.
As they drew closer, he immediately noticed something unusual.
The bandits’ eyes had become noticeably bloodshot, while the killing intent radiating from their bodies had grown much stronger than before.
They no longer looked like ordinary bandits fighting for survival.
Instead, they resembled wild beasts driven into a frenzy.
"Blood cultivators..."
Lin Xuan gritted his teeth.
Without taking his eyes off the charging horde, he suddenly shouted toward the caravan behind him.
"Shuhao! Stay alert! Keep an eye out for those who already ran away. They’ll come back."
Lin Shuhao’s expression immediately turned serious.
He had no idea why the Patriarch had reached that conclusion, but he trusted his judgment without question.
He quickly turned toward the merchants.
"Everyone, form up! Watch the forest!"
The ordinary-looking man raised an eyebrow before a faint smile appeared on his face.
"Hoh. You are not as inexperienced as your appearance suggests."