Chapter 36: A Journey of Ten Thousand Miles

The next day, the sky was still dimly lit.

Zong Ling, Tong San, Qing Shi, Kong Youyue, and others came to see off Dongbo Xueying.

“Uncle Zong, I leave the castle to your care,” Dongbo Xueying said.

“Rest assured, Xueying,” Zong Ling replied. Six years had passed, and Zong Ling hadn’t wasted his time—he had finally advanced to the Star-Level!

“Brother, be careful,” Qing Shi urged. His memories of his parents were already faint; for years, it had been his older brother who had taken care of him, and his feelings for his brother ran deep.

“Brother Xueying, come back safely,” Kong Youyue also called out.

“Haha…”

Dongbo Xueying laughed heartily while riding atop his Snow-Treader Stallion. “Gee up!”

Whoosh!

The Snow-Treader Stallion immediately galloped forward, quickly accelerating until it vanished at the distant end of the mountain path.

…

First, Dongbo Xueying went to inform Lord Si An of Yishui City. Immediately afterward, Lord Si An sent word to the Longshan Pavilion in Qinghe Prefecture, while Dongbo Xueying himself set off without delay toward the capital city of Qinghe Prefecture.

Qinghe Prefecture spanned over ten thousand miles.

The straight-line distance from Xueying Castle to the capital city of Qinghe Prefecture was estimated to be around six thousand miles. However, the official roads had to detour around large mountains, so the actual travel distance would likely exceed ten thousand miles!

“Gee up, gee up!”

Dressed in black, Dongbo Xueying rode atop his Snow-Treader Stallion, carrying a weapons case on his back.

The Snow-Treader galloped swiftly like a phantom.

The Snow-Treader, a third-tier magical beast, was among the finest of its kind—beyond it lay other magical beasts. However, these stallions were naturally gifted runners; a third-tier magical stallion’s speed rivaled that of some fourth-tier magical beasts. In fact, with Dongbo Xueying’s current Herald-Level strength, riding a Snow-Treader was somewhat “modest.” If his true power were revealed, powerful factions would likely offer him fifth-tier magical mounts, or even winged magical beasts!

“Boom! Boom! Boom—”

As the Snow-Treader galloped forward, the earth trembled faintly, and a blur of motion shot past.

In a single hour, the Snow-Treader could cover nine hundred miles. If armored and charging, even a Heaven-Level knight would dare not block its path. However, each Snow-Treader was worth as much as two thousand gold coins—twenty of them could buy a territory comparable to Xueying Domain! Therefore, ordinary families couldn’t afford them. Only after selling materials like Shadow Panther pelts in recent years had Dongbo Xueying been able to afford five Snow-Treaders.

“Halt! Halt! Ahead is Cold Qiong Mountain!” At a large canyon, a group of merchants had gathered. Seeing a knight galloping from afar, they shouted loudly.

“Friend, stop! Travel together with us through Cold Qiong Mountain!”

“Cold Qiong Mountain is dangerous!”

Many merchants and their guards shouted out.

Whoosh.

The Snow-Treader didn’t slow down at all, flashing past like a phantom.

“Crazy,” the merchants and their guards murmured in astonishment.

“Has this knight gone mad? Does he think riding a Snow-Treader is enough to charge through Cold Qiong Mountain?”

“Can anyone really force their way through a place like Cold Qiong Mountain?”

…

“Cold Qiong Mountain?” Dongbo Xueying, riding atop his mount, had an extremely keen awareness of his surroundings and naturally heard the merchants’ shouts. “Cold Qiong Mountain is a must-pass on the way to Qinghe Prefecture’s capital city. Connected to the remnants of the Destruction Mountains, Cold Qiong Mountain is said to be home to many bandits who frequently rob passing merchants and travelers. These bandits are even more notorious than the Cutlass Alliance in my Yishui City.”

Ordinarily, merchant caravans would band together, gathering enough people before attempting to pass through Cold Qiong Mountain.

But for Dongbo Xueying?

Across the entire Qinghe Prefecture, only those at the Herald-Level posed any real threat—and even then, it was uncertain who would win without a fight! As for a bunch of bandits? They were nothing but chickens and dogs!

Whoosh.

The Snow-Treader galloped like the wind, its hooves making the earth tremble faintly. Its approach could be felt from far away.

“Who is this black-clothed man, daring to charge through Cold Qiong Mountain alone?”

“Is he looking for death?”

“Boss, should we attack?”

“Forget it! Don’t risk attacking such a tough opponent. Leave it to the ‘Eight Hawks of Cold Qiong’ to deal with him.” Some bandits, seeing the lone rider from afar, chose to give up. Bandits also had to weigh risks and rewards.

After galloping dozens of miles, Dongbo Xueying had already reached the middle section of Cold Qiong Mountain’s great canyon.

On the high mountains above, a large group of bandits in azure armor gathered—barely over a hundred in total. However, their equipment was excellent; nearly every common bandit carried a massive crossbow—the Starbreaker Crossbow! Leading them were eight bandit chieftains, each exuding an imposing presence. They were the most famous group in Cold Qiong Mountain—the Eight Hawks of Cold Qiong.

Among them were three Star-Level knights, two Heaven-Level mages, and three Heaven-Level knights who had earned their places among the “Eight Hawks” through their skills.

“Haha, today’s haul is pretty good. This merchant caravan had some decent goods,” the bandits said cheerfully. Nearby were over a dozen captured prisoners—the rest of the caravan had been killed, leaving only these survivors. Among them were elders, middle-aged men, and a pair of young boy and girl clinging to each other, their eyes filled with fear and despair as they worried about their fate.

“Alright, let’s head back and rest. Let’s check who these people are—maybe we can get a bigger ransom,” the Eight Hawks of Cold Qiong, a group of particularly ruthless bandits, were infamous. Each had bounties on their heads and were known for their ruthless methods.

“Leaders, look! A black-clothed knight is approaching!”

“A Snow-Treader rider, all alone.”

Some of the underlings quickly reported.

The eight bandit leaders looked down from afar. Indeed, a lone rider was galloping through the canyon.

“Just one man dares to charge through?”

“Does he look down on us Cold Qiong Mountain? Big Brother, shall we attack?” The other seven ‘Hawks’ turned to their leader.

The leader of the Eight Hawks of Cold Qiong gazed down at the canyon below, frowning. “The Herald-Level experts in Qinghe Prefecture are few, each with a well-known reputation. I know roughly what they look like, and none of them would be so poor as to ride only a Snow-Treader. This black-clothed youth… he looks quite young, and the weapon case on his back likely contains a long spear. Who is he? I haven’t heard of him before. Could he be a Silver Moon Knight?”

“Brothers, fire arrows and test his strength,” the leader ordered. “If he proves too tough, we’ll retreat. If he’s weak, we’ll take him down!”

“Understood.”

Instantly, every bandit, including the leader, took out their crossbows or bows.

The common bandits wielded Starbreaker Crossbows, which could pierce the protective auras of Star-Level knights. Meanwhile, the leader and the other two Star-Level knights preferred to use bows. The arrows fired by Star-Level knights were powerful enough to threaten the life of a Silver Moon Knight. With these arrows… they would soon determine the strength of the black-clothed youth below.

But they had no idea what kind of existence they had just provoked.

“Fire!” the leader commanded.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh…

A dense hail of arrows rained down from the high mountains, showering the path of Dongbo Xueying as he rode.