Chapter Thirty: Willowwood Village

[Page 1/3]

"Instance cooldown: seven days."

"An open-world instance..."

Li Ju stroked his chin, lost in thought.

"Since all the remaining instances are being merged and the entire world of the instance is now open, the rewards should be quite generous. Besides, clearing all the instances at once saves me the trouble of tackling them one by one."

After passing the second level, the Flying Sword Chronicles, Li Ju had more or less figured out that the highest-level figures in that world were the leaders of the major powers who had reached the Minor Threefold Realm.

Now that he had mastered the Vajra Body of a Hundred Poisons and developed a method to combine the Ghost Bat Technique with it, his character within the instance had ascended to the invincible level among internal practitioners. As long as he avoided provoking those few in the Minor Threefold Realm, he could essentially do as he pleased in the martial world of the Flying Sword Chronicles.

In this situation, clearing each instance one by one was pointless for him. As long as the opponents were not in the Minor Threefold Realm, he could defeat anyone with a single blow—there was simply no challenge left.

"Based on my guess, in the original plot of Flying Sword Chronicles, I was probably fated to die during some venomous refining, or, if I survived, I would become a Vajra Enforcer under the control of the Demon Sect, ultimately being sent to oppose Wang Lu during his quest for vengeance."

"Then, Wang Lu, in his grief, would kill me, reach an epiphany, and soar in power to become the supreme martial lord."

"Unfortunately for the plot, I acquired the Ghost Bat Technique in the very first level, completely overcoming the hidden dangers of the Vajra Body of a Hundred Poisons, and even elevated my strength to near the ceiling of the Flying Sword Chronicles, which threw the storyline into chaos."

Li Ju pondered what should have been the ensuing developments of the Flying Sword Chronicles.

"Now that I'm back in reality and my strength has grown yet again, it's time to start planning my path forward in this world."

"With the second tier of the Ghost Bat Technique and the bonus of Agile Body, my current strength should be considered unrivaled among external practitioners. I'm more than strong enough to make a move on the Willow Wood Bandits from the Wild Thirty-Six."

Seated by the campfire, Li Ju plotted his future course.

"All my power comes from the skills and specialties I've acquired from the instances, so unlike other warriors, I have little need for conventional resources. As long as I can find a safe place to settle and avoid trouble, I can steadily grow stronger by clearing more instances. Once my strength in the real world is sufficient to roam unhindered, it won't be too late to explore the world further."

"But for now, the first thing to do is to claim just enough wealth from the Willow Wood Bandits to support my family in the county town."

[Page 2/3]

Crackling...

At night, only the sound of burning firewood remained.

The next morning.

"Father, Yan, stay here for a while. I'll be back soon."

Inside a hollow of a tall tree, Li Ju spoke to Old Li the carpenter and Li Yan.

He was going to take action against the Willow Wood Bandits, so of course he couldn't bring his father and sister along. He had no choice but to find a safe spot in the forest to let them wait until he returned.

The previously safe earthen cave was no longer an option, since it had already been exposed to the mysterious group in Yangyuan County. He simply chose a tree hollow that seemed secure enough for now to shelter his family.

"Ju, you must come back safely," Old Li urged again and again. Li Yan, too, looked on with deep concern.

Both of them knew Li Ju was a martial artist, and in the eyes of ordinary people, martial artists always risked their lives in their line of work.

"Don't worry," Li Ju nodded. His figure flickered and vanished on the spot.

After he left, Old Li and Li Yan exchanged anxious glances, then obediently stayed put in the hollow, not daring to wander about.

...

Outside the Shimen County town stretched the vast expanse of the Great Wilderness. Its territory was large enough to encompass several county districts like Yangyuan. Within this broad wilderness, numerous mounted bandits thrived, leveraging their mobility to raid passing caravans and evade the authorities. The officials in Tianmen County had launched several campaigns to eradicate the bandits, but all had failed in the end.

Among the many mounted bandit gangs of the Great Wilderness, the most infamous and formidable was the Wild Thirty-Six Bandits.

[Page 3/3]

The Great Wilderness, Willow Wood Mountain.

Because this mountain was not far from the great forest outside Yangyuan County, Li Ju arrived swiftly.

Willow Wood Mountain was a low, barren, stony hill. Though it was daytime, Li Ju, being a skilled martial artist, easily slipped past the bandits—who were just ordinary men—and quietly entered the mountain.

The mountain was not large, and a handful of fortifications made of timber and stone stood out conspicuously. Li Ju recognized the buildings, and, based on the information provided by the fourth leader, located the spot where the Willow Wood Bandits kept their treasures. He moved toward it.

He was not here to wipe out the Willow Wood Bandits—he only wanted to take some of their stored wealth. Therefore, he aimed to accomplish his task quietly, slipping in and out with the treasure without raising an alarm.

Besides, he remained wary of the strength hidden within the Willow Wood Bandits.

According to the confession he had gotten from the fourth leader, only the first leader of Willow Wood Mountain was an expert in external martial arts. Still, Li Ju was not about to let his guard down—after all, in these times, anyone surviving on the fringes of society surely had some tricks up their sleeve.

Take, for example, Zhuge Huang from the Flying Sword Chronicles. Everyone said he was the weakest of the Demon Sect's Four Evils, yet when he revealed his true power, he shocked the entire martial world.

In this age, there were no true fools left in the martial world. Anyone truly naive had been devoured by cunning old hands as soon as they set foot in the rivers and lakes. Those who managed to survive despite their apparent foolishness only did so for one of two reasons: either their background was too powerful for the veterans to provoke, or their own strength was so overwhelming that no one dared to cross them.

The treasure vault of the Willow Wood Bandits was a cave carved into the rock by the mounted bandits. Outside the cave stood a heavy iron gate, guarded by more than a dozen sturdy, iron-armored, disciplined bandits—clearly the elite of the Willow Wood gang.

"All seasoned old hands, well-equipped..."

"Although these men pose little threat to me, figuring out how to deal with them silently will take some careful planning."