「The next day!」
Lin Yan finished practicing the Eight Desolates Dragon Elephant Force in the courtyard.
Junior Brother Zhao had left early that morning, but Lin Yan hadn’t seen him off. He had already said his goodbyes at the banquet the previous day.
Recalling what Junior Brother Zhuang had said about the Foreign Bone at the banquet yesterday, Lin Yan was lost in thought.
Junior Brother Zhuang clearly knew a great deal about the Foreign Bone, but he likely held back to avoid revealing his own secrets. Still, even the little he did share was enough for him to draw some conclusions.
’A Root Bone cultivated from a Foreign Bone can be seized, but what about mine, which wasn’t created that way?’
’My Root Bone was cultivated through the Pile Skill, and its later promotions were also due to my Main Technique.’
’Although, most of the credit really belongs to the Martial Arts Tree.’
’But regardless, I didn’t use a Foreign Bone; I cultivated it through my own efforts.’
’So, can my Root Bone be taken?’
Junior Brother Zhuang hadn’t mentioned it, and neither did the book from that Lin Family ancestor.
’Junior Brother Zhuang was trying to warn Junior Brother Zhao. If a Martial Artist could actually form a Root Bone without a Foreign Bone, he surely would have mentioned it. But neither Junior Brother Zhuang nor that Lin Family ancestor brought it up. Does that mean it’s simply impossible for a Martial Artist to cultivate a Root Bone through training alone?’
Lin Yan’s fingers tapped a rhythm on the stone table. ’If my deduction is correct, then my Root Bone is most likely one of a kind. That makes keeping it secret all the more crucial. If others were to learn I have a Root Bone, only to find they couldn’t take it, they wouldn’t let me be. They would only suspect I was hiding an even greater secret.’
Innocence is no defense for the man who holds a treasure.
’I may not be a common man, but my strength is still insignificant before a true Martial Arts powerhouse.’
’While I’m home for the next few days, I should clear out the nearby bandits and gather some Martial Arts Fruit.’
Lin Yan glanced at his Martial Arts Tree. Inside the Sword Inquiry Stone, he had spent eighty-five years cultivating the Flowing Firefly Night Illumination Sword Skill to Perfection, and now only two hundred eighty years of Martial Arts Fruit remained. It was time to replenish his supply.
Now, he just had to wait for someone to deliver the map.
A quarter of an hour later, there was a knock at the courtyard gate. A middle-aged man dressed as an Escort Master from the Seven Stars Escort Agency entered, pulled a scroll from his robes, and bowed respectfully to Lin Yan. "Young Master Lin, the Head of Escort Leader asked me to give this to you."
"Good. Thank you for your trouble."
Lin Yan accepted the scroll. The man did not linger, leaving as soon as he had delivered it.
Once the man was gone, Lin Yan unrolled the scroll. It was a map detailing the terrain of Deng State Prefecture and several neighboring prefectures. On it, numerous mountain ranges were circled, indicating bandit activity.
The Head of Escort Leader of the Seven Stars Escort Agency had drawn this map overnight, having received Lin Yan’s message the day before yesterday.
As an old escort agency that had been in Sanshan County for decades, the Seven Stars Escort Agency’s routes covered the entirety of Deng State Prefecture and several surrounding prefectures. They knew very well which areas had bandits.
Moreover, Zhang Xiuyuan had even tucked a few sheets of paper into the scroll. These pages detailed the size and strength of the marked bandit groups, as well as any powerful backers they were suspected to have.
’An elder in the house is a treasure indeed. Senior Zhang is really considerate.’
’With these papers, I won’t have to worry about bringing future trouble upon myself when I eliminate the bandits.’
Tucking the map into his robes, Lin Yan went inside to say a quick word to his aunt, then left the courtyard with Abyss, heading straight for the city gates.
Cock’s Comb Ridge.
So named because its peak resembled a cock’s comb.
Lin Yan stood at the foot of the mountain, his gaze sweeping over the peak. According to Senior Zhang’s information, Cock’s Comb Ridge was home to a group of about thirty bandits. Their leader had achieved the Third-Time of Skin Smoothing, and he had two subordinates who were at the Second-Time Skin Smoothing. This gang specialized in robbing passing caravans that lacked powerful backing, and they were ruthless; once they intercepted a caravan, they left no survivors.
’My plan to clear out the bandits begins here.’
Lin Yan murmured softly and started up the mountain path.
Halfway up the mountain, two bandit lookouts peered out from behind a tree. Before they could utter a sound, a flash of sword light streaked across their throats.
Lin Yan sheathed his sword and continued on his way. With his level of strength, the bandits of Cock’s Comb Ridge would have been no match for him even if he had marched openly up the mountain. When the gap in cultivation Realms is too vast, plots and schemes are useless.
But Lin Yan chose to proceed with stealth anyway. There was no particular reason; he was simply accustomed to being cautious.
Sounds of rough laughter and cursing echoed from within the stockade gates. A quarter of an hour later, however, those sounds ceased abruptly.
The entire mountain fell silent.
Half an hour later, Lin Yan emerged from the stockade. It had taken him less than a quarter of an hour to kill the bandits, but cleaning up the bodies had taken a full half an hour.
Eagle Beak Cliff, on the border between Guangping County and Qinghe County.
The mountain was high and the path treacherous. On one side was a steep cliff face; on the other, a rushing river. Only a narrow ridge connected the two peaks.
Easy to defend, and difficult to attack.
A group of career bandits was stationed here, a group that had reportedly existed for over eighty years, passed down through several generations.
This was the case throughout Deng State Prefecture and other prefectures as well. Bandit groups rarely lasted long. Even if a place remained a bandit stronghold, it would be occupied by a different group.
Being a bandit was a life lived on the edge of a blade, and a Martial Artist’s Qi Blood inevitably decayed with age. Most bandits got into the trade while their Qi Blood was still peaking, gathering a crew to operate for a few years, or perhaps a decade or more. Once their Qi Blood began to fail, they would disband and go their separate ways. They would take their plundered wealth, move to a different prefecture, and transform themselves from outlaws into "Martial Artists migrating with their families to escape old enemies."

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