Chapter 45: The Reflex of the Cautious Wayfarer (Seeking Continued Reading)

“There are no fewer than seven distinct auras, and many among them are already at the late stage of Qi Refining...”

Li Guanzhuan’s expression grew grave. He hadn’t the faintest clue what had transpired ahead, but the moment he spotted three black specks in the distance, his ingrained instinct for caution compelled him to have Qin Jiyue turn around and flee without a second thought.

After all, Shanggu City was a trade hub, bustling with merchants coming and going, and their presence naturally attracted many cultivator-bandits to linger nearby.

The bandits here were nothing like the penniless rabble haunting Qing’an City.

Anyone daring enough to prey near Shanggu City usually had a few handy magical artifacts at their disposal—otherwise, they’d be little more than walking treasure chests for others to plunder.

Also, it was rare for a Foundation Establishment master to stoop to banditry.

Cultivators at that level could make a fine living wherever they pleased, with no need to resort to murder and robbery.

Should a Foundation Establishment master ever take to banditry, they would act alone, never in a pack, and their sights would be set not on passing peddlers, but on the vaults of powerful families.

That was the only way to seize the greatest spoils.

The cultivators skulking in the wilderness, preying on travelers, were almost always at the Qi Refining stage.

Having weighed all this, Li Guanzhuan glanced back at the three shrinking black dots, murmuring to himself, “Three tier-one flying shuttles...”

He heaved a sigh.

His cautious ways had clouded his judgment.

Thinking back, though several of the auras had indeed been at late-stage Qi Refining, most were only at the seventh or eighth layer, none had reached the ninth.

Even if a ninth-layer bandit had been present, he could have sent the Explosive Kid to trade blows, one for one or even one for two, and then loot the corpses...

That would have amply compensated for any loss.

Ah well, it was too late now. Since they had already fled, there was no point dwelling on it.

Better to err on the side of caution when traveling abroad.

Let go of what’s lost, lest you fall into a deeper trap.

Noticing the look on Li Guanzhuan’s face, Qin Jiyue eyed him strangely and said, “You weren’t actually thinking of robbing those bandits, were you?”

“I did have such a thought just now,” Li Guanzhuan admitted with a sigh. “After all, our tier-two flying shuttle could’ve rammed right through them. Why bother running?”

He patted the Explosive Kid by his side and narrowed his eyes. “With a tier-nine Xuanjin Flying Puppet, why should we fear a dozen Qi Refining bandits?”

“Shall I slow down and see what happens?” Qin Jiyue was tempted herself.

“No need. Let’s just keep going at our usual pace. We’ll head straight for Shanggu City. If any fools block our way, we’ll sense their cultivation—if they’re weaker than us, we’ll kill them outright.” Li Guanzhuan smiled.

He was no longer the man he once was.

In the past, weak in cultivation, he had to cower at home and dare not venture out.

Now, at Qi Refining, he was nearly invincible. Unless he encountered a Foundation Establishment master, his talismans and puppets could wipe out any group of Qi Refining cultivators.

Caution was still necessary, but when trouble came looking for him, it was better to cut it off at the root.

What else was the point of increasing one’s strength?

“Good!” Qin Jiyue’s beautiful eyes shone with excitement. She now found her husband not only prudent, but also decisive and resolute.

Soon, with renewed vigilance, Qin Jiyue piloted the shuttle toward Shanggu City, alert for any unforeseen trouble.

“Husband, it’s them again, blocking the way,” she said, narrowing her eyes at the three familiar black dots ahead.

“Ram straight through,” Li Guanzhuan replied with a faint smile. “No wonder they’re so bold—one at the eighth layer, two at the seventh, all with tier-one shuttles. They probably have plenty of magical tools, which is how they dare rob travelers in the sky.”

He quickly had the Explosive Kid stand at the prow of their shuttle. Bathed in sunlight, the puppet gleamed with dazzling golden light, radiating an aura of sacred invincibility.

“Sister, you steer the shuttle. My husband and I will take care of them,” Qin Jiyue said with a mischievous smile.

She had always been a born warrior; had Li Guanzhuan not kept her in check these past years, she’d have long since returned to her old ways.

“Alright, alright,” Wen Rongxin answered without flinching. Though a homemaker by nature, she knew well the cruel realities of the cultivation world.

Sometimes, you had no choice but to act.

“Stop! We only want your money, not your lives. If you don’t—what the hell, that’s a tier-two shuttle! Get out of the way, now!” shouted the eighth-layer bandit leader, eyes nearly bulging from their sockets as he recognized the grade of the approaching vessel.

His tone turned panicked as he desperately piloted his shuttle downward.

The two seventh-layer bandits beside him, terrified, followed suit, plunging their shuttles toward the ground.

Everyone aboard the bandits’ shuttles trembled in fear.

A tier-two flying shuttle!

It could smash all three of their tier-one shuttles to splinters in a single charge!

With a whoosh, the tier-two shuttle flashed past overhead. Every bandit looked up, hearts pounding, cold sweat beading on their brows.

That was close...

If they hadn’t backed down, they would have been smashed to pieces.

The eighth-layer bandit leader, feeling as if he’d just escaped death, patted his chest and let out a long sigh of relief, finally setting his mind at ease.

Then, unable to contain himself, he cursed, “What kind of lunatic is that? You’ve got a tier-two flying shuttle—what the hell were you running from? Had me thinking I’d landed myself a fat, gullible sucker!”

Bang!

Even as the words left his mouth, a radiant golden puppet crashed onto their deck, causing the shuttle to lurch and sink; fortunately, the leader managed to steady it in time.

“Who’s there?!”

The leader spun around, only to see a metal fist the size of a cooking pot. Before he could react, it crashed down on his head—

With a sickening crack, his skull exploded like an overripe watermelon, red and white matter splattering across the deck.

A metallic hand reached out, snatched the storage pouch from his robes, and with a stamp of its foot, the puppet soared skyward, flying off into the air.

The entire episode took less than ten breaths.

All the bandits saw was a golden puppet dropping from the heavens, landing on the deck, and then their leader, for some reason, greeting the puppet’s fist with his head—before his skull burst apart.

With the shuttle spinning out of control, the bandits snapped out of their daze and realized—their leader was dead!

“Hurry! Stabilize the shuttle!” someone shouted in terror, channeling spiritual power to regain control.

“What do we do now... Should we avenge the boss?”

“Avenge him? Are you mad? That was a tier-nine flying puppet and a tier-two shuttle—how would we ever catch up?”

“Even if we did, we couldn’t beat them!”

With the two seventh-layer “bosses” refusing to pursue vengeance, the rest of the bandits fell silent. No one dared bring up the matter again.

As for the dead leader...

He was the boss while alive. Now, he was just another corpse.

...

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