The next morning, Li Tan set off with the merchant caravan. Since they were transporting large quantities of goods and most members of the group were ordinary people, the pace was not very fast. However, it was still much better than traveling slowly alone. If needed, he could even request a separate horse-drawn carriage for meditation and cultivation.
At first, Li Tan indeed had such a plan, but upon seeing that the four carriages in the caravan were occupied by the elderly, women, and children, he gave up the idea and instead rode his scaled horse at the very front of the group.
“Master Li!”
The merchant caravan’s boss hurriedly rode up.
His name was Zhang Xiucai. His father had given him this name in hopes that he would study and become an official in the Daxia Kingdom, achieving success and honor. Unfortunately, although he had done well academically, he completely lacked talent in cultivation and thus this path was closed to him. Eventually, for a living, he became a merchant, traveling back and forth between the border and inland regions.
“Uncle Zhang, what’s the matter?”
Li Tan turned his head.
Zhang Xiucai pressed his right hand against his forehead to block the harsh sunlight, deliberately raising his voice so as not to be drowned out by the sound of horse hooves: “Ahead is Wushan Mountain. Perhaps we should take a detour around it.”
Li Tan looked ahead. There were two possible routes: one was a narrow trail through Wushan, flanked by cliffs on both sides with a relatively narrow path, and the other was a wider road.
Li Tan asked, “How much extra time would it take to go around through Wushan?”
Zhang Xiucai thought for a moment before answering, “About a day or more.”
Li Tan decisively shook his head, “Too long. No time to waste.”
“But,” Zhang Xiucai looked hesitant, “I’ve heard there are bandits in Wushan Mountain. Many people have come to grief there.”
Most merchant caravans traveling from Fancheng to the interior would hire cultivators at the Innate Realm level as their escorts. Yet many still suffered losses, which clearly indicated that this gang of bandits was no ordinary threat.
Nonetheless, Li Tan immediately and decisively replied, “It doesn’t matter. I’m here.”
Zhang Xiucai hesitated for quite a while before finally nodding in agreement.
The caravan entered Wushan Mountain. The atmosphere became slightly cooler, as both sides were mountainous cliffs, and looking up revealed only a narrow strip of sky. Hence, this section of the road was also known as the “One Line Sky.”
Li Tan looked up at the towering cliffs and understood why so many merchant caravans had met their fate in this place.
Most caravans had only one Xiantian realm-level escort. It would take a lot of effort for a cultivator at that level to climb to the top of the cliffs. The bandits needed only to stand atop and drop logs and stones to severely damage anyone who entered.
It was indeed a bit troublesome.
Li Tan extended his spiritual awareness, carefully observing the road ahead, especially the cliffs above. Soon, he raised his hand to signal the caravan to stop.
“What’s wrong?”
Zhang Xiucai asked with concern.
Li Tan pointed toward the cliff ahead and above, “There are bandits lying in ambush.”
Zhang Xiucai’s face changed drastically, “Then what should we do now?”
“Just wait. With me here, a few bandits are nothing.”
Saying this, Li Tan rode his horse forward a short distance, then looked up and shouted, “Stop hiding. I see you.”
The “One Line Sky” remained silent for a moment, then a rough voice echoed from above.
“How did you spot me?”
Li Tan shouted back, “Your camouflage is so poor that anyone with half a brain could see it.”
“So you’re saying everyone who came here before me were all brainless?”
“I’m not here to chat with you. This caravan is under my protection. If you know what’s good for you, clear the road now.”
“You’re their leader?”
The voice above sounded surprised and doubtful. This time, there was no response. After a moment, the tone became even more contemptuous, “What a bunch of fools. Letting a little brat be their leader. You’re just wasting food.”
Li Tan smiled faintly and replied, “You’re hiding up there to fight a little brat—you’re a coward. Aren’t you also wasting food by staying alive?”
“Haha! Well then, I’ll give you a chance, so no one can say I bullied a child.”
With a loud laugh, a tiny black dot rapidly descended from above. Soon, it became a burly man, crashing down like a meteor, causing the ground beneath him to crack instantly and sending up a cloud of dust that obscured vision.
Li Tan glanced at him calmly and said, “Now is still the time to clear the road.”
The bandit paid no heed to this at all, sizing up Li Tan with a cold gaze. “Judging by your confident demeanor, you’ve already broken through to the Innate Realm. To reach this level at your age—are you from the Earth Tiger Sect or the Broadsword Sect?”
“Neither.”
“Oh? Then Tian Lang Men?”
“Well, you could say that. Why do you ask?”
Suddenly, the bandit’s eyes flared with fury. Gritting his teeth, he spat out, “All birds of a feather.”
“What exactly are you talking about?”
“You don’t need to know. Take your pride and go to hell to regret it!”
The bandit suddenly launched forward, slamming both fists into the ground before him. With earth-shaking force, a surge of mighty qi gushed forth, directly charging toward Li Tan, flinging aside stones and soil along its path.
“At the peak of the Innate Realm?”
Li Tan slightly furrowed his brows and became somewhat serious. He activated the Maya Step to dodge to the left, but the qi from the bandit’s strike was unusually strange—it actually changed direction to follow him.
This level of qi manipulation rivaled even the elders of Tian Lang Men. Why would someone like this end up becoming a bandit?
Li Tan made several consecutive jumps, using the cliff walls to maneuver behind the bandit, thus neutralizing the attack.
“This footwork doesn’t resemble Tian Lang Men, nor Kuo Dao Pai, and is vastly different from Di Hu Men. Boy, exactly who are you?”
“You can try to figure it out yourself.”
Li Tan became slightly more serious, rushing forward while constantly shifting left and right to avoid the bandit’s qi attacks. Then, he suddenly threw a powerful punch.
“Fighting me with fists? How presumptuous!”
The bandit curled his lips into a confident smirk, unleashing his most formidable technique with full assurance and confronting the attack directly.
However, the scene he had envisioned—Li Tan coughing up blood and collapsing—never came to pass. The instant their fists collided, an overwhelmingly domineering force shattered his fist wind completely, surging through his arm and flooding his entire body. His muscles convulsed as if struck by lightning, instantly sapped of strength and wracked with unbearable agony. In the next moment, his body was sent flying backward like a broken kite.
“This is impossible! Impossible! Who exactly are you? How do you possess such an advanced fist technique?”
At the moment their fists collided, the bandit seemed to hear the roar of a dragon. The words “Earth Rank Martial Skill” flashed through his mind, and panic surged over him like a tidal wave.
Li Tan’s face was icy cold as he slowly approached.
The bandit seemed to realize something and, enduring the pain and fear, began crawling backward.
“Don’t kill me! I… I can’t die yet!”
“On the day you decided to become a bandit, your fate was sealed. Can’t die?
What a joke.”
“I had my reasons for doing this!”
“Do you think I’ll listen to your nonsense?”
“It’s not nonsense, it’s true! I want revenge—revenge!”
“Revenge?”
“I was once an outer hall elder of Kuo Dao Pai, with a wife and child.” Before he could finish, he was interrupted.
“Then your wife was raped by an inner hall elder, and your child died, right?”
The bandit was instantly stunned.
Li Tan recalled the old man he had met not long ago, and an inexplicable discomfort welled up inside him.
The bandit, like a drowning man clutching at a straw, hastily cried out, “So please, spare me! I must take revenge and kill everyone from Kuo Dao Pai!”
Li Tan’s lips twitched as he questioned, “Your enemy is Kuo Dao Pai, so why attack people from other sects?”
“They’re all birds of a feather.”
“Fine. Then why attack ordinary people?”
He pointed to the merchant caravan about a hundred meters behind him.
The bandit spoke fervently, “I’ve never killed any ordinary people.”
“No, you have.”
The bandit became anxious, “I haven’t! Who’s spreading these lies?”
“It’s me, but not lies.”
The bandit was stunned as Li Tan calmly continued, “You killed the leader they hired. Without protection, the entire caravan could only retreat back to Fancheng. These are all ordinary people. If they encounter beast attacks on the way, they will certainly die. Even if they manage to return safely, with their goods stolen by you, the big merchants may still recover, but for the small ones, it means ruin. Can you still say you haven’t killed anyone?”
“No, it’s not like that—”
“How can you even talk about revenge? If you truly wanted revenge, why take it out on cultivators who have no grudge against you?
Birds of a feather?
That’s just an excuse. You’re just too afraid to confront your real enemies at Kuo Dao Pai.”
“I…”
“Shut up, coward!”
The bandit trembled all over, his face turning pale.
Li Tan slightly moved his lips and shouted, “Leave.”
The bandit walked away, dazed and heartbroken. Li Tan waved his hand, signaling the caravan to follow. Then, looking ahead at the road, he called out to the bandit, “If you really want revenge, go to Tian Lang Men. You’ll soon have your chance.”
The caravan caught up. Li Tan mounted his scaled horse and led the group forward. From a distance, they faintly heard the bandit’s voice again.
It seemed like he was saying thanks.
An hour and a half later, the caravan exited the One Line Sky, and the road and view became wide open again. Zhang Xiucai, unable to contain his curiosity, asked, “Master Li, that fellow was evil and deserved his fate. Why didn’t you just kill him? Letting him go might mean he’ll harm others in the future.”
Earlier, they had been standing a bit too far away to hear the conversation clearly, only catching vague shouts.
Li Tan chuckled, “Don’t worry. There won’t be any more bandits in the One Line Sky.”
“Really?”
“Of course. But then again, a certain despicable fellow will soon have some trouble.”
Li Tan muttered something, yawned, and put on a tired look, so Zhang Xiucai didn’t ask any more questions.
If events unfolded as Li Tan had anticipated, the Tian Lang Sect, having secured these advantages, would soon witness the rise of numerous talented individuals. Within at most two decades, as their influence grew to an uncontrollable strength, a confrontation with the Kuo Dao Sect would become inevitable. Before that time, the addition of a peak Xiantian realm expert—one who could potentially break through to the Grandmaster level at any moment—would enable them to navigate the sect’s most vulnerable early stages with greater security.
In Fancheng, the karmic ties left by Tian Lang Men were now truly severed.
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