Proving Yourself

The slaves were locked in cages. The bandits had assembled a little further away from the camp. Ou Yu was not with them again. It was up to Yun Ying and Lan Xifeng.

Huan Wei watched as they each took out a talisman. "The more you kill, the bigger your share," Lan Xifeng said before activating the talisman.

All the bandits were ready. Everyone had drawn their weapons. Huan Wei looked at the broken sword in his hand. "Xin Hai, the bastard..." he thought. "He would have died if he had given me a proper sword."

The Bright Forest was glowing again at night. Fireflies flew everywhere, while moonlight illuminated the forest. Yun Ying and Lan Xifeng activated the talismans in their hands.

After the papers ignited and disappeared, Huan Wei felt strange. The Qi in the area they were in felt slightly different. This was something he had never experienced before. He had never been in the area of effect of a talisman that attracted natural monsters before.

The bandits stood at the ready. The Talisman of Attraction attracted natural monsters according to the power of the talisman. It was often used by cultivators involved in hunting. It was a bit expensive. But when used in a place where natural monsters were abundant, it was sure to make a profit.

No one was making a sound. Lan Xifeng had already prepared her light daggers. Yun Ying was also holding her hands like claws. She was sure to grasp the first monster she came across.

Huan Wei was going to use this opportunity to get stronger. The people in Bitter Sea Town had almost forgotten the way to cultivate by fighting. None of them would go into the forest, they only took pills. Huan Shanyuan hung out and fought in the Bright Forest. His strength was obvious. Huan Wei, too, had been saving up all this time just for pills. Now he had discovered a much better way and he wanted to make the most of it.

He felt the earth trembling. He lowered his head and looked down. The bandits had felt it too.

"They are coming from below," Xin Hai said. He raised his scimitar and stood at the ready.

Just then a brown worm burst out of the earth, its mouth filled with several rows of fangs. It was a meter long.

When it opened its mouth and lunged at Xin Hai, making high-pitched noises, it was cut in two by the scimitar that landed on its head. Its green blood splattered in many places, causing smoke to rise from the spills.

"Their blood is acidic, be careful."

Huan Wei gripped the broken sword tighter. When he saw the earth beneath his feet split open, he immediately stepped back. The Earthworm leapt up to bite him, but it couldn't reach him.

Huan Wei rushed forward and swung his sword. He sliced the earthworm in two horizontally. Blood poured out of the pieces as they fell to the ground, releasing steam. Grass and flowers were melting.

One of the bandits groaned in pain as a thorn pierced his back. He turned his head and saw the Living Roots breaking away from the trees and running towards them. The tree creatures were throwing their sharp thorns at them.

Yun Ying lifted one of the Living Roots off the ground and severed its head. The creature's lower body began to grow into a sapling. Meanwhile, Lan Xifeng was shooting them with light daggers. They were also careful not to get hit by the thorns.

The other bandits fought the Earthworms. Huan Wei was among them. The acidic blood of the worms didn't seem to do much damage to the metal. The sword was still not melted. Huan Wei remembered the kitchen knife that melted when it stabbed a demon. Demons were superior monsters. These were simple things.

Yet he knew the real reason why they were so simple. The bandits were strong and experienced. If they had escaped with the slaves and been caught by these creatures, they would probably all have died. And Huan Wei, together with Cao Jingguo, could not kill them all.

He thrust his broken sword into the head of another worm. At the same time, he avoided one of them that tried to bite his leg and raised his foot to crush its head. He used his sword to make a deep cut on the writhing worm.

The sword... Even broken, it was the noblest of weapons. It had been used since the ancient era. It was the companion of many a great warrior. A metal that brought death to the living. A cold blow and the sending of the soul into the cycle. It was the same for humans and monsters. Broken or whole, it was the same.

Huan Wei saw a crystal inside the body of the withered one he had cut. Its shape was different from the crystal he had found in the Living Roots. It looked like a square. It was covered in acid, so it was hard to see its color.

Huan Wei focused on the battle instead of paying attention to the crystal. He was constantly circulating the Qi in his whole body. He wanted to get the maximum out of it.

After killing the monsters that attacked him, he ran to the other bandits. Everyone was competing with each other. There were vapors from the acidic blood all over the battlefield. Meanwhile, Yun Ying and Lan Xifeng were taking care of the Living Roots.

Huan Wei saw Xin Hai cutting down everything that attacked him. He ran to his side and started attacking his attackers.

"What do you think you're doing, slave!? Get lost!" Xin Hai pushed him away, but Huan Wei wouldn't go. He sliced another worm in half as it came up from the ground. He made a deep cut in the body of another.

Blood gushed out of the cut and landed on Xin Hai, making him groan in pain. "You bastard! I told you to get lost!"

Xin Hai, red and blistered from the acid, swung his machete at Huan Wei. The young man leapt back and dodged him, ducking and dodging a thorn coming at him.

For a moment, Xin Hai felt like attacking him again. Yet he looked back at Yun Ying and continued to attack the monsters. Huan Wei went over to the other bandits and began to slaughter the monsters they were going to slaughter.

"Fuck off!" The others started to chase him away. But at the same time they kept killing each other's targets. Everyone was trying to increase their share.

The battle lasted almost several hours. When the talisman wore off, they killed the last remaining monsters. Now they were surrounded by a pile of monster corpses from which they could collect loot. The bandits were pleased.

"Good job." Yun Ying looked at the corpses. "Is any fool hurt?"

Huan Wei looked at Xin Hai to see if he had anything to say. He was looking very meaningful. Xin Hai saw that. But he didn't say anything. He was already humiliated enough by the fight. If he tried to complain here, he would be more humiliated. Yet he had no intention of letting Huan Wei get away with it.

"I killed 20," said one of the bandits.

"Hah! I killed 24."

"Losers, I killed 28."

"How many did you kill, slave?" They looked at Huan Wei, laughing. "I hope you killed at least five."

Huan Wei gave a disdainful look. "I killed 29." The bandits' laughter grew louder.

"Yes, yes, I bet you killed 29."

"Then I killed 300. Hahhahhahahahahhaha!"

Huan Wei continued to look at them. "It is your fault that you killed less than me. Are you laughing instead of feeling sorry that I beat you?"

The laughter slowly died down. Xin Hai came up to Huan Wei. "I've killed 42. What about it?"

Huan Wei raised his head and looked into his eyes. "Good for you. Do you want cookies too?"

Xin Hai's brows furrowed. Lan Xifeng was laughing again with one hand over his mouth.

"Back off, Xin Hai," she said, laughing. Then she turn to the bandits. "You'll fight better next time. If one of the slaves can kill more monsters than you, what good are you?"

All the bandits were demoralized. Lan Xifeng clapped his hands. "Come on, get to work. Take out the crystals. Remove the worms' teeth."

Xin Hai turned to Huan Wei with a smile. "Let's get the crystals out, Huan Wei."

The young man looked at the corpses of the worms. They were still smoking from the acidic blood. The crystal was also in this blood.

Xin Hai pushed him over to one of the corpses. "Take out the crystal."

"Don't you have a tool for this?"

"Yes. But only one of us can use it. Now, take out the crystal."

"Give me the tool so I can take it out."

"Okay."

Xin Hai grabbed Huan Wei's left wrist and forcibly pressed his arm against the monster's corpse. The young man cried out in pain as the acid burned his entire arm.

All the bandits turned toward them. They saw what Xin Hai had done, yet they didn't care. "Don't dawdle, Xin Hai," Yun Ying called out.

"Yes, boss."

He let go of Huan Wei's arm. The young man fell backwards and lay on the ground, shaking his arm and writhing. The skin was peeling, the flesh blistered. Every part of his arm that touched acid was wrinkled.

He gritted his teeth in pain as he looked down at his smoking arm. The Oak Body was not strong enough to withstand this kind of acid. Xin Hai looked at him.

"Is it still funny, Huan Wei?" he asked and began to remove the crystals. He was using a pair of pliers. The young man stared at him with angry eyes as smoke steamed out of his arm. This was going to leave a scar.