Danwu Refining Spirit

Chapter 89 Night Raid

Under the hazy moonlight, the notorious bandit, Gu Yifeng, and his dozens of brothers endured hardship in a valley.

A Gust of Wind is a notorious bandit in the Southern Wilderness, known for his cruelty and bloodthirstiness. More than ten years ago, when few people were active in this area, he began to frequent it, specifically targeting lone hunters who came to hunt wild beasts.

At that time, his cultivation level was not as high as it is now. He was just a martial arts apprentice who had just stepped into the threshold of martial arts, and the targets of his robberies were all insignificant characters.

More than a decade has passed, and with the resources he has acquired through robbery or exchange, his cultivation has gradually improved. He has now broken through the Martial Apprentice realm and entered the Martial Life realm.

Of course, his martial arts training had no lineage; he was a self-taught individual. His ability to reach the Martial Student realm was largely due to the accumulation of resources and a ruthless, reckless spirit. But this was already the pinnacle of his skill.

Without any extraordinary or serendipitous encounters, there is absolutely no hope of advancing to the next level in this lifetime, becoming a samurai or a martial artist of an even higher realm.

Fortunately, Gu Yifeng's ambitions were not high. Over the course of more than ten years, he went from being a lone thief to becoming the leader of dozens of bandits, and he was quite content with that.

He spent his days eating large chunks of meat, drinking large bowls of wine, gambling, and playing around with women. If he could afford to mess with someone, he'd pull off a heist; if he couldn't, he'd never step in. A gust of wind thought this kind of life was quite comfortable.

The recent surge in the exploration of spiritual veins in the Southern Wilderness presents a golden opportunity for Guzhenfeng to make a fortune.

Those who came here were mostly small local forces, and very few of them were truly powerful figures. Therefore, a gust of wind scrambled to seize everything from those who were exploring the spiritual veins.

In order to better understand the situation of all parties, Yizhenfeng specially sent his second-in-command, Tiger, with a group of men to infiltrate Tiannan Town to gather information and collect protection money.

Tiger was very successful. After spending a lot of gold and silver treasures, Hengshan, the ruler of Tiannan Town, turned a blind eye to Tiger's bullying of the good people.

Sometimes, when Tiger encounters someone he can't handle, Yokoyama will intentionally or unintentionally act as if he's very close to Tiger, making people mistakenly believe that some of Tiger's actions are at Yokoyama's behest.

Originally, Yizhenfeng was quite satisfied with this situation. One of them was plundering money in Tiannan Town, while the other was committing murder, arson, robbery, and theft outside. They were making a fortune and earning a lot of money every day.

But just over a month ago, Tiger sent back bad news from Tiannan Town—he had been robbed, and after collecting protection money for a long time, he was left with nothing overnight.

What kind of behavior is this? Snatching food from a tiger's mouth! Disrupting the very order! A gust of wind is very angry; the consequences will be severe.

There's not much to say; the only way to vent this anger and recoup the losses is to take action against the other party.

Therefore, ever since Xiao Chong led his men to discover the spiritual vein, Gu Yifeng has been constantly thinking about killing and robbing treasures.

However, there was a martial arts master in the Xiao family's pioneering team, which gave Yizhenfeng a big headache. He could only send people to monitor him day and night in order to find an opportunity.

After keeping a close watch for more than a month, just when Gu Zhenfeng was about to lose patience and give up, the opportunity finally arrived.

In the morning, after learning that the Xiao family's martial arts masters had left the mine to escort the mined spirit stones back to Tiannan Town, Gu Yifeng made up his mind to take action that very night.

Although most of the spirit stones may have already been transported away, there will always be some valuable items left behind. Even if there aren't any, as long as everyone can be killed, even if only a cloud boat is seized and sold, its value will far exceed the losses Tiger suffered in Tiannan Town.

To increase the chances of success, Yizhenfeng sent the most clever and stealthy bandit, Shanmao, to conduct a second reconnaissance of the Xiao family's mine, while he and his men stayed in the valley from dawn till dusk, waiting for news.

The valley is about ten miles away from the Xiao family's mine, not too far, but very secluded, so there's no risk of being discovered by others.

However, this valley was close to the wind, and apart from himself, most of his brothers were ordinary martial arts practitioners. After staying in the valley for a day, their faces were blue and purple from the cold, and they kept shivering.

As darkness fell, a bandit who was usually highly regarded and had a slight limp approached Gu Zhenfeng and said with a hint of worry, "Boss, Lynx has been gone for so long and hasn't returned yet. Could something have happened to him?"

"Why don't we stop waiting and just charge in? It's freezing cold, and I'm afraid the brothers' morale will be dampened."

A gust of wind glanced anxiously at the sky, then at his men shivering in the cold wind, before finally shaking his head and saying, "Lynx is always clever; I don't think there will be any problems. You should let the brothers wait a little longer. If there's still no news from Lynx in half an hour, then it's not too late to set off."

"Yes, Chief." The lame bandit was about to say something, but seeing Gu Yifeng's expression, he didn't dare to persuade him any further and could only convey Gu Yifeng's message.

Time passed slowly, and the sky grew darker. Seeing that the lynx had not returned, Gu Yifeng grew increasingly anxious and secretly worried about the lynx.

The lynx was unaware of the wind's anxious mood. Under the cover of night and moonlight, he had already transformed into a very faint figure and sneaked to Xiao Chong's house.

"According to the news from Tiannan Town, this Xiao is just a martial arts apprentice, but the chief is being far too cautious."

Although his cultivation level is slightly higher than mine, one of us is in the open and the other is in the dark, so it's not impossible for us to secretly deal with him.

"Hmm, once I take him out without anyone noticing, maybe the big boss will be happy and the second-in-command position will be mine..."

As the lynx thought smugly, he drew a short sword as thin as paper, gently unlatched the door, and slipped inside.

Inside the room, Xiao Chong was fully activating his divine sense, drawing upon Sirius to allow wisps of stellar energy to enter his body and temper the eighteen acupoints that had already been opened.

After more than a month of arduous practice, the first transformation of the "Nine Transformations of the Stars" technique had become extremely familiar and smooth, no longer as difficult to execute as it had been when he first obtained the general principles.

Moreover, since obtaining that drop of essence blood from the cauldron spirit, Xiao Chong's physical strength seems to have changed as well.

In the past, every time I received star power into my body, I would feel soreness and pain all over my body. After a while, I would feel as if I was about to be torn apart.

But now his body is like a bottomless pit. No matter how hard he tries to absorb star power, he no longer feels any discomfort.

Strands of starlight poured down from the night sky, continuously seeping into Xiao Chong's body, causing every cell in his body to sing joyfully. The immense pleasure quickly brought him into a state of complete absorption, oblivious to everything around him.

Lynx was now standing in a small hallway inside the house, holding his breath. He felt a little nervous, but even more so, a hidden excitement.

The door to the inner room was ajar. Through the crack, he saw Xiao Chong facing outwards, his eyes closed, sitting casually on a stone bench with a relaxed expression on his face.

What's going on? Is he cultivating? But this casual sitting posture doesn't seem like it. Or is this kid having a wet dream? Otherwise, why would his expression be so interesting?

The lynx cautiously pushed open the door without making a sound. Looking again, he saw Xiao Chong still sitting motionless, his expression incredibly complex.

Not so great! The enemy was right in front of you, and you didn't even notice. How is that like what Tiger said about you being a master among masters?

It seems Tiger was exaggerating. Either he embezzled the money, or he suffered some loss somewhere and is trying to find someone to take the blame.

Lynx believed that as long as he assassinated Xiao Chong, he would likely be able to take over Tiger's position.

It is said that if you don't take what Heaven has given you, you will suffer the consequences. Since that's the case, then there's no need to hesitate any longer. The lynx, holding a short sword, moved step by step toward Xiao Chong.

Xiao Chong was now completely immersed in the joy of cultivation, oblivious to everything around him. His heartbeat and breathing became slower and more steady, gradually reaching a frequency that matched the flickering rhythm of Sirius in the night sky.

Starlight rained down, seeping into Xiao Chong's body. At first, it was just wisps and strands, but as the frequencies of the two synchronized, the speed at which the starlight fell suddenly increased, like river water crashing against a dam, constantly washing over his body.

The previous pleasure vanished instantly, replaced by boundless pain. Stellar energy surged through his meridians, causing them to expand wherever it passed, as if they were being torn apart.

The acupoints within the body began to swell, with stellar energy raging inside, threatening to burst them. The continuous impact caused even some previously unopened acupoints to show signs of loosening.

Pain! It hurt like hell! Immense pain enveloped Xiao Chong, and even though he was oblivious to his surroundings, the pain within his body distorted his face.

The lynx had successfully gotten within a foot of Xiao Chong, and was just about to draw its sword to stab him when it was stunned by the sudden change in Xiao Chong's expression.

What kind of expression is that? Does everyone else dream of beautiful women, but this guy dreams of man-eating demons? How extreme must his taste be?

The lynx raised his sword to his chest, but inwardly shook his head.

Stop thinking about it, at such a crucial moment. How could I possibly have such nonsense in my mind? The lynx was about to thrust out the short sword.

The starlight in the night sky grew even brighter, especially Sirius, whose stellar energy grew increasingly intense, gradually forming a beam that shot straight down towards the house where Xiao Chong was. The surrounding air seemed to vibrate, emitting a barely audible hum.

How could this be? Could having erotic dreams trigger celestial phenomena? Could this kid have gone mad? Or did he do something he shouldn't have in his dream and is being punished by heaven?

Startled by the strange phenomenon in the sky, Lynx hesitated, worried that he might be affected. In that instant, a very ominous feeling arose in his heart.

But the arrow is on the string and must be fired.

Seeing the beam of light in the night sky getting faster and faster, Lynx didn't have time to think and plunged his sword into Xiao Chong's heart.