The Black Wind Mountain Bandits

Another day had passed.

Qin Yan traversed the unknown mountain forest, the evening glow painting everything before him in hues of gold, while the incessant chirping of insects and birds filled the air.

In this world, cultivation generally progressed through stages: Qi Condensation, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, and Soul Transformation.

Reaching the Golden Core realm allowed one to cultivate flying arts. Though Qin Yan was only at Foundation Establishment, he possessed a flying artifact gifted by his master, albeit one that consumed an immense amount of spiritual energy with each use.

Thus, he would fly for a period, then walk for a period, conserving his strength.

‘Surely, if Xiao Miao grows stronger in the future, she won’t harbor too much resentment towards me, for I have already done everything within my power, acting with utmost benevolence,’ Qin Yan mused inwardly.

“Stop!”

Just then, a woman’s voice rang out, abruptly shattering Qin Yan’s thoughts.

Snapping back to reality, he saw a woman who had suddenly burst forth from the foliage before him, wielding a great saber and clad in coarse linen garments.

Not only that, but women began emerging from all directions, one after another. At a rough glance, there were easily dozens of them, each brandishing a weapon of varied and eclectic design.

‘Were they bandits? Or perhaps…’

Qin Yan halted his steps, silently observing the woman with the great saber.

“Stranger, with the day drawing to such a late hour, what brings you to the territory of Black Wind Mountain?”

The woman with the great saber, propping the weapon casually on her shoulder, questioned Qin Yan with an air of bold informality.

‘Are they mountain bandits?’

Qin Yan pondered inwardly.

However, the woman’s words didn’t strike him as overly crude; perhaps a dialogue could be initiated.

“I am an outsider, unfamiliar with this region,” Qin Yan stated, cupping his fists in a gesture of respect. “I apologize for any disturbance and shall take my leave at once.”

“Oh, ho! A man, no less!”

Upon hearing Qin Yan’s words, the woman with the saber, her eyes sparkling, observed him beneath his bamboo hat, from which only his distinctly chiseled jawline was visible.

Judging by his features, he was likely a handsome man.

“All travelers from afar are guests here. Our Black Wind Fortress, nestled on Black Wind Mountain, is a prominent stronghold within a hundred-li radius. With night drawing in, it would be dangerous for a lone man to traverse these mountains. Why not come to our fortress, rest a while, and resume your journey tomorrow? Wouldn’t that be splendid?”

The woman with the saber continued, advancing towards Qin Yan as she spoke.

‘If he were to enter her so-called Black Wind Fortress, would he ever emerge? It would be no different from a lamb willingly entering a tiger’s den.’

Qin Yan deliberated inwardly, observing the increasing number of mountain bandits surrounding him. All were women, varying in height, build, and weight, now numbering over twenty.

‘It seemed this situation would not end peacefully.’

With a touch to his right ear, Qin Yan produced a small, wooden-skewer-like object. With a flick of his wrist, it instantly transformed into a formidable, sharp long spear in his grasp.

This was Qin Yan’s soulbound weapon, known as the Wind Thunder Spear.

Its shaft was forged from thousand-year-old lightning-struck wood, while its spearhead was crafted from Wind Profound Iron. At the base of the spearhead, a cluster of blue spear tassels fluttered, rumored to be woven from the feathers of the mythical Kunpeng.

It was precisely due to these Kunpeng feathers that the spear possessed the ability to alter its size at will.

The martial art cultivation technique Qin Yan practiced was called the ‘Thunderfire Spear Art.’ With fire fueled by wind, wind augmenting fire’s might, and the addition of dual thunder, this technique, paired with the Wind Thunder Spear, was truly overwhelmingly potent.

As for the saber-wielding woman approaching him, Qin Yan extended his spiritual sense, feeling a surge of surprise: she was also a cultivator, though only at roughly the third level of Qi Condensation.

Observing Qin Yan suddenly conjure his long spear, a flicker of astonishment crossed her face as well. Nevertheless, having already committed to the confrontation, she cast aside all reservations, raising her great saber and shouting:

“Sisters, attack! Capture this handsome man and present him to the Fortress Master to be our ‘Husband of the Fortress’!”

No sooner had her words fallen than the surrounding crowd surged forward, shouting battle cries!

“You court death!”

Qin Yan roared.

Apart from the saber-wielding woman directly before him, all the others were mere mortals. Though Qin Yan was only at the late Foundation Establishment stage, dealing with them posed no challenge.

Following the adage of ‘capturing the leader to capture the bandits,’ Qin Yan activated his Thunderfire Spear Art. Flames immediately surged along his spear, intertwined with golden bolts of lightning.

By now, the sky had completely darkened. In the heart of the forest, Qin Yan stood like a miniature sun, radiating an otherworldly glow. This sudden phenomenon struck terror into the hearts of the surrounding mountain bandits.

The saber-wielding woman, utterly incredulous, cried out:

“You… you’re a cultivator too?!”

However, no sooner had her shocked words escaped her lips than a long spear pierced through her throat, and her entire body was engulfed in fierce flames, quickly reducing her to a charred husk.

As Qin Yan withdrew his spear, the woman’s lifeless body crashed heavily to the ground.

Qin Yan swept his spear in a wide arc before him, and where the spearhead touched, the grass and vegetation withered, forming a distinct boundary line on the earth.

“Anyone who dares cross this line will be slain without mercy!”

His declaration sent shivers through the surrounding bandits, freezing them in their tracks, while some, already terrified, turned and fled.

Soft-heartedness was not in Qin Yan’s nature. After all, if others sought to kill him, there was no need for hesitation. He possessed the strength to retaliate, even if his opponent was a woman.

In this world, chivalry towards women was not the prevailing principle; quite the opposite, in fact.

Having issued his warning, Qin Yan prepared to retrieve his flying artifact and depart from the area, for he had no idea what other formidable figures might reside within Black Wind Fortress.

“A fine declaration of ‘slay without mercy’ indeed!”

Just then, a voice, booming like thunder, reverberated in Qin Yan’s ears.

In the distance, a cloud of dust billowed, moving rapidly in Qin Yan’s direction. In mere moments, a towering figure materialized before him.

This, too, was a woman, but her frame was powerfully built with bulging muscles, and her height easily surpassed two meters. Standing there, she exuded the aura of a veritable tyrant.

She was not alone; two more figures, both women, followed closely behind her.

One was clad in white robes, a longsword clutched in her hand. The other, dressed in green, walked with her hands clasped behind her back.

At the sight of them, the surrounding bandits seemed to find their pillar of strength, converging towards the trio while shouting, “Big Boss! Second Boss! Third Boss!”

Qin Yan scrutinized the three sudden arrivals, extending his spiritual sense, yet he found himself unable to discern their true strength or cultivation.

‘There were two possibilities: either they cultivated some art to conceal their cultivation, or their cultivation levels were comparable to his own, naturally allowing them to block his spiritual sense.’

‘Troublesome!’

Qin Yan held his spear horizontally before him, reining in his aura, poised like a leopard ready to strike its prey.

“Fellow Daoist, why did you feel the need to slay my sister from Black Wind Fortress? My sister was merely outspoken; as the saying goes, ‘a fair maiden seeks a handsome gentleman.’ You could have simply refused her advances, so why take her life?”

The towering woman, who resembled a tyrant, spoke first, her gaze fixed on the charred corpse on the ground as she addressed Qin Yan.

‘This was clearly an attempt at forceful abduction, not mere courtship!’

Though Qin Yan inwardly scoffed at her words, he remained silent, his intention to keep the trio guessing, to make them hesitant and wary.

In that moment, the air grew thick with unspoken tension, bristling with the threat of imminent conflict.