A large boulder thundered down one of the hills just as the shout sounded, crashing into the road and rolling slightly up the opposite hill before falling down and blocking the road. About 20 people were visible on top of the hills around them, three of them riding on two-meter long brown lizards that had three small knobs on their foreheads. Huang Ying felt a faint trace of energy coming from the three lizards, asking Li Jun about them just to be sure.
"Those should be Demonic beasts, no?"
Huang Ying had never actually seen any Demonic beasts, even amongst all the memories he had devoured there were only one or two containing Demonic beasts. Li Jun's response was quick, even giving a bit of information about the lizards.
"Yeah, they're called Brown-Scaled Geckos and they are amongst the weakest Demonic beast, they don't have the slightest trace of a bloodline within them. But they can control the element of wood, so they've got rather okay-ish regenerative abilities. Oh right, a bloodline is what we call it when a beast or person contains a bloodline coming from something else. A human could, for example, have an inherited or implanted bloodline from a Demonic beast or a bloodline inherited from an ancestor that reached at the very least the peak of the Nine Mountains of Immortality."
"When we say that a beast contains a bloodline we mean that its blood contains a bit of blood coming from a higher species of Demonic beast. The horses of this caravan can be used as an example, the bloodline is so diluted that they're just barely Demonic beasts, but they do contain a bit of blood coming from what I'm guessing is a Nightshroud Mare. If they didn't have this blood, they wouldn't be able to see during the night and they would have collapsed of exhaustion during the second day."
Huang Ying gave a slow nod of his head in understanding, his eyes sparkling slightly. He enjoyed learning new things like this, the feeling of his horizon expanding slowly was rather pleasurable. While Huang Ying was watching from the window in his wagon, Yang Anju and his guards, the six that Huang Ying met in the bar as well as the five they picked up in Willow's Whisper, stepped out of their wagons and faced the bandits atop the hills.
"We know that you want to avoid a battle as much as we do, just say how much we have to pay as toll!"
Yang Anju spoke directly towards the person who was clearly the leader of this group of bandits, a lean middle-aged man with brown eyes and dark blue hair. The bandit leader got down from his lizard mount and directed his gaze towards Yang Anju, directly laying out the terms, albeit with a somewhat faltering expression.
"There's no toll, not this time. We need all of you to join us, refuse and we will attack to kill."
The bandit leader's voice was grim and left no room to debate, Yang Anju's expression sinking somewhat. It seemed like the war between the two bandit groups wasn't going too well for the Willow's Grasp bandits, otherwise their leader group, the Cloud Shredder bandits, wouldn't be making such a demand to fill up their numbers and supplies. Yang Anju and his 11 guards locked eyes for a short second before nodding at each other, all of them drawing their sheathed weapons at the same time as Yang Anju called out.
"So be it, then it's a battle you will get! Kong, deal with the boulder, we'll deal with the rest!"
The bandit leader waved his hand in response to Yang Anju's shout, the 19 bandits behind him drawing their weapons and charging down the hill, clashing with Yang Anju's guards. The bandit leader brought the three geckos with him and also descended the hill, personally facing Yang Anju and the second strongest guard. The carnage quickly unfolded as the sounds of battle and the smell of blood filled the air, a warning from Li Jun ringing out in Huang Ying's head.
"The guards have the upper hand when it comes to cultivation levels, but the difference between each level in the Nine Steps of Mortality is rather low so there's no telling what might happen. The bandits also outnumber the guards so there's a chance that some of them can slip free and attack the caravan, you should escape a bit away just to be safe."
Huang Ying heard Li Jun's warning and understood why he gave it to him, but even so, Huang Ying's legs did not move, his gaze did not leave the battles unfolding in front of him. And as one of the bandits broke free from the battle and headed directly for one of the caravan wagons that was open, Huang Ying reached his answer.
"No, I don't think I will."
Huang Ying was already tired of lowering his head and backing off, he had done so for far too long already. If it were a matter of life and death he would definitely give it some thought, but right now he felt that it wasn't a matter of life or death. Not the bandit coming towards the caravan, not the lizards or the bandit leader fighting Yang Anju, not the other bandits currently fighting, none of them brought with them a feeling of death. So right now, Huang Ying would do as he thought to himself before he was killed, he would live freely and do as he pleased, and right now he wanted to resist.
Huang Ying pushed open the door of his wagon and stepped out, a seething calmness spreading throughout his body as he looked at the rather chubby silver-haired man, who carried a large two-headed axe. Huang Ying stepped towards the man and blocked his path, Li Jun grumbling and cursing inside his mind.
"Gah, you fucking idiot! I know I said that the difference between the realms in these early cultivation stages aren't large, but that bandit has just recently entered the 4h Step of Mortality!"
Huang Ying ignored Li Jun's grumbling, his eyes locked on the chubby bandit who stopped when he saw that Huang Ying blocked his path. Huang Ying raised his right arm, the corners of his mouth moving slightly upwards as he spoke.
"Alright, Fatty, come at me."
The bandit's expression sank slightly when Huang Ying insulted him, it seemed like he wasn't very fond of people talking about his weight. The bandit charged forward and raised his axe with both arms, smashing it down towards Huang Ying's head at full speed. Huang Ying's pupils shrank slightly as he quickly took a step to the side, the wind created by the speed of the axe pushing his robe against his skin.
Huang Ying quickly took a step forward when the axe smashed into the ground, his right arm punching out while his left arm stretched out to grab onto the bandit's head. But the position of his right arm changed slightly due to the fact that he stretched out his left arm, and his left arm moved slightly due to the fact that his right arm was already in full motion. This made it so that his clenched right fist only hit the very bottom and very edge of the bandit's waist while his left arm was just barely able to grab onto the man's ear, far from the result Huang Ying wanted. Seeing Huang Ying's failed attack, the chubby bandit couldn't help but sneer slightly.
"Little Children shouldn't attempt things they've got no clue about."
The man's right hand let go of the axe handle and smashed out sideways, crashing straight into Huang Ying 's waist and knocking the air out of his lungs. The man exerted his strength with his right arm to raise the axe, but Huang Ying grit his teeth and leaned forward, headbutting the man's forehead while simultaneously pulling on his ear.
The clash caused a light ringing noise to echo out inside his mind, but it at least prevented the bandit from swinging his axe and bought Huang Ying enough time to take two steps back to put some distance between them. The man rubbed his forehead a bit after the headbutt, Huang Ying taking a quick breath while commenting bitterly.
"Thick skin, should have expected that from someone who's half man and half elephant."
This was different from the first time Huang Ying was facing enemies, back then he had just finished devouring basically everyone he knew and some of their memories were still floating around in his mind, mixing with his anger. Now he was perfectly clear-headed and calm, allowing him to be more like his usual casual self even in battle.
The bandit's expression turned even darker when Huang Ying taunted him again, the veins on his hands pulsating slightly as he tightly grasped his axe and raised it again. The man once again charged at Huang Ying and swung out with his axe, slicing out in a sweeping motion so that Huang Ying couldn't just step to the side again.
Huang Ying quickly stepped back to dodge, but he didn't pay attention to where he stepped and ended up tripping over his own feet, falling back and hitting his head on the ground. He fell to the ground, but he at least managed to dodge the axe, the swing passing over his face as he fell.
The bandit quickly took advantage of Huang Ying's fall, raising his left leg and aiming a stomp at his left knee, forcing Huang Ying to quickly roll to the side to dodge. But Huang Ying rolled to the right, so the moment the man's foot stomped down he could kick out with his right leg and smash his foot into Huang Ying's waist, once more knocking the air out of him.
Huang Ying's inexperience didn't matter much back when he killed the bandits, they were so weak that a single attack of his could shatter them. But now that he was facing someone that was at the very least his equal in strength, his inexperience in combat was getting to him. There were many memories of battles and fights amongst the memories he devoured, but having the memories was different from actually utilizing the information within them. It was the same reason he had to have Yang Anju teach him about riding and the like, if he wanted to properly utilize the memories of battles, he would have to properly digest and understand them, otherwise they would just be information he couldn't utilize.
Luckily, right now was the perfect time to do just that. Huang Ying used the force of the kick to roll away from the bandit's right leg, crashing into his left leg and knocking it aside, almost forcing the bandit down into a split. Huang Ying punched upward with all his might as the man's body was in the process of lowering, his fist crashing into the man's groin and causing him to yelp in pain.
Huang Ying took this chance to push off the ground and slide through the man's legs so that he could stand up behind the man, who was gritting his teeth and heavily furrowing his brows to resist the pain coming from his groin. He let go of his axe and quickly spun around when he noticed Huang Ying's actions, his left hand forming a fist that swept right for the side of Huang Ying's face.
Huang Ying quickly ducked down and punched upward, his fist crashing into the elbow of the man, a soft cracking sound resounding from it. This was the perfect environment to digest the battle memories and learn from them, new ones flashing past his mind every second. The man grit his teeth even harder and stretched out his left leg while still turning his body, using the moment of his sweeping punch and his spin to sweep at Huang Ying's feet.
Huang Ying didn't even have to lower his eyes to see the sweep coming at him, his perception allowed him to see it the moment the man started to move his leg. He quickly took a step back, not tripping over his own feet now that he was properly using his perception to pay attention to his surroundings.
The bandit's brows furrowed slightly when he saw Huang Ying's movements, which had already gotten smoother compared to before, a quick thought flashing through his mind. Wasn't this rate of learning just a tad bit too scary? But how could he know? Huang Ying's body had been fully recreated by the devouring element, now that he actually worked on digesting all the memories, the speed at which he learned was frightening.
But even while he was learning, there were still flaws that Huang Ying didn't notice before it was too late. He put too much focus on his feet when he used his perception, preventing him from noticing that the bandit was using his right hand to launch a punch right at Huang Ying's head, which was still lowered after ducking over the previous punch.
The punch crashed directly into Huang Ying's face, a cracking sound coming from his nose as he was sent tumbling backward, blood pouring out from his nose and staining his face and robe. Huang Ying ended up lying on his back two meters away, his eyes closed as blood continued to pour out of his nose.
With his eyes closed, Huang Ying heard a thump coming from his chest. After the first thump came a second, then a third and a fourth, the thumping quickly growing more frequent, almost becoming thunderous. As he listened to the thunderous thumping of his heart, the hundreds of stars within his dantian also started to blink, even the hundreds of dim stars he couldn't access flickering slightly in tune with the thumping of his heart.
Blood stained his face and both his head and waist hurt, his heart thumping so hard that it felt like it would burst out from his chest. But even so, the corners of Huang Ying's lips started to curve up into a wide smile. He was excited, he was having fun, every cell in his body screaming in joy.
Huang Ying had only ever been in two types of situations that could be called battles. The first was while he still lived in Green Willows, three times he lowered his head and allowed a few people to beat him up, not wanting the situation to get worse by fighting back. The second was the one time he killed the four bandits after his body was first rebuilt.
But neither could really be called battle, they were more one-sided slaughter than anything else, so this was the first time Huang Ying was in a proper battle, both sides about even in power and exchanging attacks. And he found it fun, it felt like the perfect representation of the freedom he wanted, he didn't have to lower his head and just accept what came his way, he could fight back and struggle towards victory.
Huang Ying opened his eyes and stood up, smiling at the chubby bandit who had picked up his axe with his right arm, his left hanging limp at his side. Huang Ying cupped his hands on his face and wiped off the blood, sweeping his hair back with both his stained hands while sending the bandit a bloody grin,
"Come on now, Tubby, let me have some more fun!"
The eyebrows of the bandit twitched, but this time not just because of the fact that Huang Ying was taunting him, but also because of what he saw. As the blood ran down Huang Ying's hair, eyes and maws seemed to appear in the drops of blood, all of them grinning at the bandit, the sight sending a chill down his spine. He tightly grasped his axe and prepared to fight further, but the loud roar of the bandit leader drew his attention.
"FUCK! RETREAT! Get out of here, they're stronger than we first thought!"
The bandit leader had lost his right arm, a clean cut below the elbow removing everything else. Two of the geckos, as well as eight of the bandits, had also died, they would lose everyone in their group if they kept fighting. They managed to kill four of the guards, but they had still heavily underestimated the strength of Yang Anju and his guards. The chubby bandit checked his surroundings for a quick second before clicking his tongue and glaring at Huang Ying.
"Fucking brat, don't think that I'll forget this, I'll make damn sure you grovel at my feet!"
The bandit quickly turned around and ran through an opening between two wagons, fleeing up the opposite hill to get away. But as he was fleeing, he almost lost his footing and fell when he heard Huang Ying call out after him.
"Of course you won't forget this! Haven't you heard, an elephant never forgets!"
The bandit cursed out loudly but kept on running, Huang Ying watching him disappear over the top of the cliff. He honestly felt somewhat disappointed that they couldn't keep fighting now that he found the joy of it, but his gaze eventually moved to his hands, both of them clenching as his grin grew a bit wider.
The bandit had just entered the 4th Step of Mortality while Huang Ying was still only at the 1st Step of Mortality, yet he had managed to fight him evenly. Had the fight continued and he'd gotten the chance to digest more of the battle memories, coupled with the fact that he could already somewhat control the surrounding wind and earth, there was a chance that Huang Ying could have killed him. Only now that he finally fought a cultivator, did Huang Ying understand just how powerful his body was.
He tore off a part of his robe and wiped away the blood on his face and hair, returning to his wagon and closing the door behind him. Now that he understood the joys of battle, he was looking even more forward to reaching Burning Clouds city and joining the Fierce Flame academy.
No kill? Damn that was underwhelming ngl