Annihilation of the Bandit Gang - Part2

From the words of that Great Swordmaster, I learned that this bandit gang was indeed disguised by Carter's army, and there was a leader above him.

Considering the bandit gang had just headed up the mountain, it occurred to me that their hideout might be in that very mountain.

Determined, I started running towards the mountain. Since I knew there was a leader, I naturally had to deal with him too, to prevent any more tragedies like the one in the village.

I regretted killing all the bandits earlier. If I had left some alive, I could have interrogated them about the location of their hideout, sparing me this needle-in-a-haystack search.

However, growing up in the mountains made me very familiar with forests. If the bandits had a camp on the mountain, I could easily detect any anomalies from the nearby birds, animals, streams, and plants. Besides, the fact that those bandits were still around so late meant their hideout wasn't far.

With my speed, I was sure I could find it quickly.

So, I began a meticulous search of the nearby mountain range, leveraging my extraordinary speed.

I knew their hideout must be in a hidden place. Searching from the sky wouldn't work; otherwise, Karen's aerial scouts would have found it already. So, I abandoned aerial searches.

I spent the entire night searching.

At dawn, Little Feather, the Paradise Bird, finally woke up, poking its fluffy little head out of my chest. It wasn't actually sleeping but absorbing the qi I transmitted to it for hatching. That's why it didn't wake up despite my constant movement.

After searching all night, I wasn't tired, but continuous searching had made me a bit impatient. It had a good night's sleep yesterday and now it was its turn to do some work.

Little Feather never imagined that the first thing it would face upon waking was being commanded by its 'brother' to fly high and monitor the nearby mountains, ruining its good morning mood. Initially spirited, it became dejected, showing a look of protest.

"Protest invalid!" I declared firmly. Having recognized its master only a day ago and already being bullied, Little Feather lowered its head, mourning its future life.

Amused by its dejected look, I said, "Go on! I'll start grilling meat for you right away, and you'll have it soon!"

The gluttonous Paradise Bird immediately perked up, flew up high without further ado, and began monitoring the surroundings.

Despite being just a day old, it could already fly higher than most birds on Earth, as it was a sacred beast.

With Little Feather as my 'biological radar', I could finally relax.

Although aerial searches were ineffective, as long as it could spot any human activity, I could find the bandits' hideout. With the Paradise Bird's eyesight, it could survey everything within hundreds of miles on flat ground. Even in such mountainous terrain, it could detect movement within dozens of miles.

The entire night of searching had significantly narrowed the area to monitor. I believed that if my judgment was correct, their hideout was within Little Feather's range of vision.

Lying in wait might be a dumb method, but sometimes it was very effective.

So, my most urgent task now was to comfortably grill the snake meat to reward Little Feather, then continue searching for the hideout.

The whole day was spent grilling meat to reward Little Feather and constantly searching.

As night fell again, and Little Feather had to sleep to absorb qi, I finally discovered the bandit gang's location.

It was a very hidden valley, completely covered by dense forest, making it hard to spot even from directly above.

The valley was filled with crude wooden huts, housing the remaining 300 bandits.

The trees seemed to be felled from nearby, and I found this hidden place because of the many tree stumps I discovered.

Finding the bandits' base made things much easier.

After confirming their identities from the guarding bandits, I charged in. For these bandits who took pleasure in slaughtering innocent villagers, I had nothing to say but one word: kill! So, swinging my wooden sword, I continuously harvested the bandits' lives.

Despite bandits continuously rushing out of the huts, they all met the same fate as those I encountered on the road. Their ultimate destiny was to fall under my sword.

"Stop!" a loud voice came from the largest wooden hut. Immediately, three swordsmen and two mages emerged from the hut.

I twirled my sword and stood solemnly, looking at the five with contempt, remaining silent.

They were dismayed to find that despite my halt, the bandits around me continued to fall. In the moment I heard the voice, I had already killed them all.

From the moment I charged into the valley until now, I had killed over a hundred bandits. Despite the bandits here being stronger than those I killed on the road, meeting me made no difference.

Leading the five was a swordsman with a sword and shield on his back. He was burly, nearly two meters tall, though not considered tall on this continent. He seemed around sixty, though people here lived over a hundred years, so his age wasn't accurate. However, I could tell he was at the level of a Sword Saint.

Unfortunately, after easily dealing with the Golden Thread Sea Frog, Sword Saints no longer interested me. His sword, however, did. It was a one-handed sword, different in style from my wooden sword but similar in length, and a Sword Saint wouldn't use trash.

"Who are you and why are you slaughtering our bandits?" the swordsman behind him asked loudly.

With a cold smile, I said lightly, "Nice strength. One lower-tier Sword Saint, two Great Swordmasters, and two Magisters! But..." I paused and continued, "With such strength, what right do you have to ask my name!"

The five were shocked. They weren't wearing their profession badges, yet I could identify their strength at a glance. This alone proved I was at least a Sword Saint, and my arrogant tone surprised them even more.

However, the Sword Saint's confidence grew, seeing the 200 bandits behind him.

"No matter who you are, you must pay for my nearly hundred dead brothers. Attack."

"Haha, if you can, come on!" I laughed.

Human wave tactics might be effective against Sword Saints or Sword Gods on this continent, but they were meaningless to me.

Typically, a Sword Saint could barely handle five Great Swordmasters, so with this bandit gang's strength, even a higher-tier Sword Saint would flee.

Unfortunately, I was not just a Sword Saint. The bandits' attacks were ineffective against me due to my exquisite Xiaoyao movement technique.

While dou qi had advantages in attack and defense, I surpassed the people on this continent in skill.

Moreover, while human wave tactics could deplete a qi expert's energy, they couldn't deplete my qi. So, sending his men against me was just giving me free targets.

Of course, if he had a few thousand men, it would be a different story.

In truth, the battle was over as soon as it began. My skills far surpassed even the Sword Gods, making it hard to find opponents among humans. So, half an hour later, all the bandits, except the Sword Saint, were dead.

The Sword Saint kept chasing me, unleashing qi slashes, but compared to my nimble movements, he was too clumsy. He watched helplessly as I killed all his men, unable to do anything.

I spared him to practice. Otherwise, his powerful qi wouldn't withstand a few of my heavy strikes.

After engaging him, I found it quite uninteresting. His sword moves were exquisite, but with my agility and superior speed, I could land heavy blows anytime.

His powerful moves were useless if they couldn't hit. However, his sword's freezing ability intrigued me, and I had already decided to take it. So, its unique ability just made me happier.

I didn't know this Ice Sword was an artifact gifted by the King of Carter, one of the few artifact-level items in Carter's treasury.

Soon, I lost interest in sparring with him. My rain-like attacks fell on him, and even sacred beasts couldn't withstand them, so neither could he. He died with his heart shattered.

I took the sword and was lucky to find a ten-square-meter spatial ring on him. Inside were magic crystal cards worth over two million gold coins. With such gains, no wonder the King of Carter sent his army to disguise as bandits. But now, it was all mine.

"Great wealth comes unexpectedly," indeed.

After collecting my unexpected fortune, I headed to the only occupied hut. My strong senses ensured no bandits escaped. I didn't want the story of me single-handedly annihilating the bandits to spread. Although they might not find me, it would still be a hassle. This time, I hadn't altered my appearance like when I entered the small city.