Chapter Forty-Four: When the Fierce Bandit Meets the Ruthless Robber

As soon as the two Langma returned to the main camp, they eagerly reported, “Boss, we’ve discovered an incredibly delicious spirit core!”

The Langma chieftain’s interest was instantly piqued. He urged, “An incredibly delicious spirit core? Where? Tell me, quick!”

“Boss, that fellow is right at the foot of the hill. We took a shortcut back.”

The Langma chieftain smacked his lips, eyes gleaming with excitement. “Ha! Isn’t this just our lucky day? He’s practically delivered himself to our door!”

“Brothers, come with me!” With a single command, the Langma chieftain led a hundred of his men charging out of the main camp.

As the most notorious bandits of the Deer Plains, wherever the Langma chieftain went, he always mobilized his entire force. Once their target was set, not even a blade of grass would remain. This was why the Langma inspired such terror among the spirit creatures.

“The king sent me to patrol the mountain, so I’m taking a spin around the Spirit Realm...” Even from a great distance, the Langma chieftain could hear Qin Chuan’s wailing, ghostly song.

“Damn, isn’t that the guy? Singing so terribly and so loudly!” The two Langma from before recognized at a glance that it was Qin Chuan, sitting serenely atop the Drowsy Worm.

“Yes, boss, that’s him!”

“Brothers, surround them! Don’t let him escape!” With a wave of his claw, the Langma chieftain sent his bandits charging forward, encircling the sword and the worm completely.

“Stop! Quit your howling! You’re surrounded—surrender now!” The two Langma appeared before Qin Chuan again, utterly changed from their earlier timidity. Now they were brimming with swagger.

Qin Chuan, unruffled, replied, “Didn’t I warn you already? Next time you see me, you’d better steer clear. Why are you being so disobedient?”

“Haha, are you stupid? We were just pretending to be scared at first, and you let us go like a fool.”

“Look at us now, we’ve brought all our brothers. We could drown you just by spitting!”

“Why should we avoid you? Looks to me like you should be the one on your knees begging for mercy!”

“That’s right—kneel down, hand over your spirit core, and maybe we’ll leave your corpse intact!”

“If not... heh heh... we’ll tear you to shreds!”

Watching their antics, Qin Chuan couldn’t help but be amused. Their back-and-forth was like a comic duo.

“Are you two finished?”

“If you are, then get ready to regret it.”

Qin Chuan jumped off the Drowsy Worm’s back, his tone turning cold. Since they’d all come, it was time to harvest.

“Brother, did you hear that? He asked if we were done talking and said we’d regret it?”

“Haha, is he stupid again?”

“Haha! Brothers, look, there’s a real idiot here!”

The bandits burst out laughing. It was their habit to toy with their victims before slaughtering them.

At the back, the Langma chieftain crossed his arms, eyes full of ridicule. “A level-15 Coldsteel Sword—looks pretty good. I don’t know about the quality, but the spirit core must be delicious!”

Amidst the jeers, Qin Chuan struck.

A piercing sound—his skill, Stream Strike, locked onto a Langma ten meters ahead.

With a sickening thud, the system chimed, “Killed level-16 mid-grade Langma, gained 750 experience points. Over-level kill, 100% bonus experience. Congratulations, host, 1,500 experience points obtained.”

The Langma, still frozen in laughter, was felled by a single stroke.

The other Langma’s jaw dropped in terror. “What?! Brother! What happened to you?” In the blink of an eye—killed from ten meters away—what kind of move was that?

“You can go too.” Qin Chuan’s icy voice sounded in his ear, and in a flash of sword light, the deed was done.

“Ding!...”

“What’s going on? Why are they dead?”

“They vanished in an instant—was I seeing things?”

The Langma rubbed their eyes in disbelief.

Qin Chuan returned to his original spot as if nothing had happened, though the two cold corpses left no doubt that it was real.

A flicker of shock and astonishment crossed the Langma chieftain’s face. He snarled, “Don’t just stand there! Get him!”

A ragged cry went up. “The boss has given the word! Everyone, together!”

“Kill him! Avenge our brothers!”

The bandits surged forward, forming a circle ten meters out, wary after seeing Qin Chuan kill from a distance. Such tactics were their own bread and butter.

Sensing danger, the Drowsy Worm burrowed underground once more. “Boss, be careful! I’m outta here!” The worm wasn’t worried about Qin Chuan’s skills, but it feared for its own safety.

Qin Chuan could only roll his eyes. “You have attack skills, yet you’re still such a coward.”

By now, nearly a hundred Langma were circling at high speed, forming a spinning ring from a distance.

“Interesting,” Qin Chuan mused.

Suddenly, eight shadows shot forth from all directions, pouncing at him with lightning speed—Langma in attack mode, all fours on the ground, swift as shadows—clearly a movement-type skill.

“We’re the wind of Deer Plains—untraceable and unseen!”

“Die!”

“Shadow Claw!”

Shadow Claw: Stage one, unleashes a claw shadow, three-meter attack range. Stage two, after the shadow is launched, the user follows, striking with a frenzied rending claw.

Frenzied Rending Claw (passive): Stage one increases sharpness by 30%, stage two at level one adds 5% speed, lasting three seconds.

The Langma were a warrior breed, their power multiplying in combat. But today, they faced Qin Chuan—a monster with absurdly high sharpness and multi-stage movement skills.

The eight Langma attacked almost simultaneously, and as they did, another eight shadows burst from the spinning circle.

“Damn, that’s fierce!” Their tactics were indeed ferocious, able to unleash a dozen seamless waves of attack.

The Langma chieftain broke into a smug smile. “Enjoy the feast we Langma have prepared for you!”

Yet Qin Chuan showed not a hint of panic. In the face of absolute sharpness, all else was illusion.

“Blink!” In an instant, he vanished from his spot, leaving the eight Shadow Claws swiping at empty air.

“Agh! Ow!” The eight Langma, following the claw shadows, collided face-to-face, chest-to-chest.

“You’re truly close brothers—what camaraderie!” Qin Chuan seized the moment, sweeping his sword across all eight. Where the blade passed, none survived.

“Ding!...”

“Haha! A high sharpness stat is wonderful—eight heads in one stroke!”

With his monstrous sharpness, ordinary movement-type Langma were utterly helpless. Killing them was as easy as slicing melons.

In the blink of an eye, the second wave of Langma was upon him. By now, Qin Chuan’s position had changed significantly, so the timing of their attacks was staggered.

“Come, let me show you the power of a king of basic attacks!” Qin Chuan accurately predicted the next Langma’s landing spot, stepped forward, and finished it off with a simple attack.

“Ding!...”

“Mmm, not bad—my speed is top notch now too!”