After hearing that she didn’t need to run back and forth, Bai Qianqian tightly gripped the spirit sword Lin Xinyi had left behind.
At the thought of still having a chance to participate in the Sect Grand Selection, she no longer hesitated.
Her figure blurred as she instantly charged toward the camel caravan not far away.
“Haha, brothers, we’re rich! This camel caravan is truly wealthy. After we finish this job, I’m buying everyone drinks!”
“Boss, you’re the man!”
“It wasn’t for nothing that we crawled in this sand for an entire day to ambush someone!”
Upon the narrow sand dunes, dozens of bandits dressed in yellow robes suddenly lunged out from beneath the sand.
In an instant, they surrounded the camel caravan of dozens of people.
The leading man of the caravan saw that the newcomers meant trouble and immediately ordered his men to draw their weapons.
In just a blink of an eye, the two groups clashed in a great battle.
However, because the attack was so sudden, many people were unprepared, and several were wounded right from the start.
“These sand bandits came prepared! we can’t hold them off much longer!”
“Where is the Immortal Master? Quickly, go tell the Immortal Master in the caravan!”
The camels were loaded with valuable treasures and survival supplies for the desert.
If their supplies were stolen, everyone would die of hunger in the wasteland even if they managed to escape.
Although they had just managed to push back a few bandits, dozens more lunged out from the sand.
Some even appeared directly in the middle of the caravan.
Fortunately, a man dressed in black appeared among the ranks.
Relying on the longsword in his hand, which was coated in a layer of spiritual light, he cut down several of the sudden intruders in the blink of an eye.
The sword in his hand moved like a dancing dragon; the dozens of bandits were no match for him.
“Great! It’s the Immortal Master! We’re saved!”
“Thank goodness the shopkeeper hired an Immortal Master for protection…”
With the appearance of that man, the guards who had been retreating steadily suddenly felt a surge of adrenaline, and they repelled another wave of the sand bandits’ assault.
“Dammit, this group actually hired a cultivator!”
“This is bad. What do we do? Should we retreat, Boss?”
Seeing that the surprise attack had failed, the surrounding sand bandits began to show signs of fear.
They had thought this would just be an ordinary raid, but then everything changed.
The cultivator, who was still driving back the sand bandits, also thought this was just another routine job.
Suddenly, his vision began to spin.
To the horror of the crowd, the head of the only cultivator in the party was separated from his body.
“What are you afraid of? He was just at the early Foundation Establishment stage, and he even had to force his way into that level…”
A coarse voice echoed from behind the bandits.
Shortly after, a giant over 2 meters tall, carrying a massive axe, appeared in their midst.
“I can’t believe you can’t even handle a tiny merchant caravan. You’re all useless. I have to do everything myself!”
When the resisting guards saw the figure that had appeared, they froze in shock.
Some were so terrified that their weapons fell to the ground.
“It’s him! The Desert Butcher!”
His two sharp axes were nearly as tall as a man, and his burly body was like a small mountain.
With his appearance, the sand bandits who had been retreating were suddenly invigorated, their faces twisting into bloodthirsty grins.
“It’s over, it’s all over. The goods are lost, and we’re going to die here!”
“Excuse me, is there a route to a nearby town from here…?”
At that moment, the leader standing in the center of the caravan was looking at the giant figure in despair.
Suddenly, another dark shadow appeared in the middle of the group, startling the shopkeeper who was being protected by everyone.
“You! Who are you?!”
“Me? I’m just here to ask for directions. Could you take me with you? I… I need to go to a nearby town to handle some business…”
Bai Qianqian’s figure appeared like a ghost, yet she asked her question softly and politely.
However, when the shopkeeper heard her request, he shook his head helplessly.
“Young lady, we are surrounded by sand bandits. It’s a question of whether we’ll even stay alive…”
“Is that how it is? I will help solve that problem. So, can you take me to the nearest town…?”
Bai Qianqian’s tone was flat, as if she were talking about something insignificant.
The shopkeeper was visibly stunned for a moment as he looked at this person whose features he couldn’t quite see, but then he quickly nodded.
“You! You’re an Immortal Master, right?! If you can save my caravan, we will reward you handsomely!”
“Mhm. As long as you agree to take me to the town. Whatever, let’s solve this first…”
Bai Qianqian only wanted to see Lin Xinyi as soon as possible, so she didn’t want to waste time anywhere.
At that moment, the guards, who had lost all hope while looking at the mountain-like Desert Butcher, were all thinking of turning tail and running.
But when a figure draped in a black bamboo hat walked out from the crowd toward the sand bandits, a question mark appeared over everyone’s head.
“Can you leave on your own? I don’t want to get blood on the spirit sword my Master gave me…”
Bai Qianqian slowly drew the longsword.
The sharp blade and the flowing halo upon it were enough to show its quality.
Even the Desert Butcher could tell it was a Spirit Tool, and a look of greed flashed in his eyes.
“Judging by the voice, you’re just a little girl. I take it you’ve never heard of my title, the Desert Butcher?!”
Faced with Bai Qianqian’s threat, the numerous sand bandits didn’t take her seriously at all.
Even the Desert Butcher, with the two massive axes on his shoulders, burst out laughing.
After all, compared to his man-sized axes, that tiny spirit sword looked like a mere sliver of iron.
“I say, little lady, don’t try to be a hero here. Wait a while and the brothers will take real good care of you—”
One of the lackeys, not knowing the heights of the heavens or the depths of the earth, stepped forward.
He reached out to flip the bamboo hat off her head to see her face.
The moment his hand came within half a meter, blood sprayed as a scream was cut short.
The mocking crowd was instantly stunned.
Luo Qingyao sat atop one of the caravan’s camels, taking in the entire scene.
After all, no one could see her right now.
‘Qianqian is quite reassuring in this regard; she shows no hesitation or mercy.’
Luo Qingyao rested her chin in her hand, watching Bai Qianqian act with such decisiveness that there wasn’t even a hint of a pause.
She couldn’t help but let out a soft sigh of admiration.
At the same time, she glanced at the group of sand bandits below, a trace of disappointment inevitable in her eyes.
‘Sigh, these guys aren’t even worth being called whetstones. I won’t be able to see any results from this practice session.’
However, among the lackeys, another man began to wail loudly after seeing his comrade split in two.
“You! What did you do? My Third Brother!!”
Bai Qianqian’s sword was fast—so fast that the crowd hadn’t even reacted before the lackey was split in two from the top of his head down through his body.
Even the expression on his face still held his previous smugness.
“You bastard! You’ve successfully enraged me! I’m going to leave you without a single whole bone in your body!!”
The Desert Butcher swung his man-sized axes.
The strength contained within them was so powerful it stirred up a wave of wind.
Despite his bulky body, he wielded the twin axes with extreme agility.
In the blink of an eye, dozens of axe swings rained down, kicking up clouds of dust.
Everyone thought she would be smashed into a meat paste, but when the dust cleared, Bai Qianqian was standing right where she started.
Purple-black demonic patterns were gradually surfacing on her skin.
The butcher’s wide-reaching attacks hadn’t even broken through her outermost defense.
“So you only amount to this? It seems you aren’t that strong after all…”
Seeing Bai Qianqian’s performance, Luo Qingyao felt a bit proud.
When the cultivation realms were equal, the quality of one’s technique was the key to victory.
In this remote land, a Spirit Grade technique was already the foundation of a sect.
Therefore, among those with the same cultivation level, the current Bai Qianqian was practically an invincible existence.
The Desert Butcher, seeing that his full-strength swings couldn’t even break the defense on her skin, began to feel a sliver of despair.
“Shit, we’ve hit a hard wall! Brothers, scatter! Retreat!!!”
As soon as the order to retreat was given, almost everyone simultaneously dove into the sand.
Bai Qianqian didn’t pursue them.
Instead, she slowly raised her hand, and the Six Desires Demonic Heart Art within her began to circulate.
[Contract of Wrath]
A purple sigil condensed in her hand.
As the Desert Butcher turned to dive into the sand and flee, the sigil shot out, drilling directly into his body through the center of his back.
“What was that?!”
The Desert Butcher had clearly noticed the object entering his body, but he hadn’t been able to dodge it in time.
He stopped, his face full of terror as he looked at Bai Qianqian.
“What did you do to me!”
‘Commit suicide.’
“What are you saying? Why isn’t my body listening to me? You bastard, what did you do to me, you bastard!! Ah!!!”
The moment Bai Qianqian’s command was issued, the Desert Butcher’s eyes went blank for a moment.
Then, under the shocked gazes of the crowd, he slowly raised the sharp axe in his hand and slammed it down onto his own broad skull.
Brain matter splattered everywhere.
Seeing that the matter was resolved, Bai Qianqian slowly turned around to face the group behind her.
Not a single drop of blood had stained her clothes.
She simply brushed off the dust that had settled on her and asked the survivors with a flat gaze.
“The problem is resolved. When are we leaving?”