[Your group of several dozen people entered the mountains and forests, which quickly led to an encounter. Twenty bandits, having entered the mountains earlier and being familiar with the environment, ambushed and killed two of your men on the spot.]

[You sensed their ambush and used your energy to deflect a throwing knife. The blade was a deep blue, not from your energy, but from being poisoned.]

[Thump, thump, those third-rate martial artists who had been hit by the flying knives but were not dead collapsed one after another within ten seconds. Two of the second-rate martial artists also sat down cross-legged, fully circulating their internal energy to expel the poison.]

[But a poison that can cripple a third-rate martial artist in just over ten seconds—you don't think you can withstand it either. As for those two second-rate martial artists, they're just prolonging their own time.]

Although the bandits succeeded in their sneak attack, killing seven of your men first, they didn't expect that one of their attackers was a top-tier expert. With the combined efforts of you and another top-tier martial artist, He Yi, the Mind-Observing Spear Master, nineteen of the twenty bandits were killed in less than a hundred breaths, leaving only one survivor.

[A second-rate martial artist teammate: Fang Chi volunteered to join the team, saying he had some knowledge of interrogation techniques. You and He Yi decided to let him give it a try.]

Sure enough, within three minutes he had extracted a great deal of information about the bandit gang. Just as you and He Yi were about to take action, Fang Chi waved his hand and said, "This is fake. Let me interrogate them again."

[As expected*2, after only ten minutes of brutal torture, the surviving bandit changed his tune and gave completely different information. It turned out that the first piece of information given was false, and believing it would only lead to falling into a trap set by the bandit gang in advance.]

"Wait, that's also a lie. Let me interrogate him again," Fang Chi interrupted. You and He Yi exchanged a glance and decided to trust the professional's judgment.

[As expected*3, what a cunning bandit, setting up a double trap! You and He Yi grit your teeth in anger.]

During the third round of interrogation, the robber did not change his story and still insisted on his second version of events.

Fang Chi sneered: "Still being stubborn, but I have many more tricks up my sleeve!"

[During the fourth round of torture, the robber wept bitterly, begging them to kill him quickly and give him a quick death.]

Fang Chi's eyes gleamed: "If we press him any further, he'll tell us the truth!"

[During the fifth round of interrogation, halfway through, the robber's head lolled to the side, and he stopped breathing.]

Fang Chi: "..."

"I didn't expect him to be so weak; he told the truth on the second try." Fang Chi chuckled awkwardly to cover his embarrassment.

Ignoring his dark little quirks, you began your advance towards the bandits' lair.

Soon, you discover that these bandits, having moved here less than two months ago, have already built the basic structure of their stronghold: fences, wooden houses, a main hall...

[They didn't do it themselves, because you saw a group of men and women, dressed in rags, worse off than beggars, mechanically constructing a wooden building structure, with several robbers guarding it not far away.]

In one corner of the mountain stronghold stood a cage resembling a pigsty, and directly above it hung a pile of mutilated corpses and heads...

[You also noticed the half-built watchtower, thinking to yourselves thankful you arrived early, otherwise we would have been exposed prematurely today.]

After dealing with the dozen or so bandits patrolling outside the stronghold, the bandits inside were also alerted. They swarmed out, numbering sixty or seventy, each looking menacing.

[You've been caught in a chaotic battle. The bandits outnumber you, but they have fewer second-rate warriors—only six or seven—and just one first-rate warrior.]

[With similar numbers of fighters, the proportion of highly skilled individuals will be terrifying, and the difficulty in this operation to eliminate the bandits lies in the fact that the top-tier martial artist leader's stats are simply too high!]

Its blood energy surged and roared, as if facing a colossal beast. Only through your combined efforts and those of He Yi could you withstand it and overpower it.

[You suspect he has already internalized his strength to the bone. For a bandit who looks to be around forty years old to possess such martial arts skills, he must have been a martial arts prodigy in his youth.]

The top-tier experts are locked in a stalemate, while the second-tier warriors, outnumbering you by a factor of two, are gradually gaining the upper hand, especially against the bandits' poisoned weapons (the bandits don't possess many poisoned weapons in total).

The wind gradually shifted in your favor, and the bandit leader's situation became increasingly dire. Suddenly, he turned and ran, abandoning his many henchmen.

[You and He Yi couldn't catch up in time, so you had to turn back and kill the remaining bandits who were still putting up a stubborn resistance.]

The bandit raid didn't end perfectly; the biggest one was missed. However, Donglin City says: "Missing even one is still impressive (thumbs up).jpg"

[A single bandit is no match for him, and having lost his henchmen, he will likely leave Donglin City soon for somewhere else, so there's no need to worry.]

[Two weeks later, you are practicing the martial arts technique you won in your first competition, "Heart Piercing Strike," in your courtyard. Suddenly, you sense chaos in the streets; large numbers of guards and soldiers have taken to the streets, and every house is locked up tight.]

[You almost thought the Wu Kingdom had attacked, but after asking around, you learned that the city lord had been cleaved in two in front of everyone in his mansion!]

The strongest guards present were only two second-rate martial artists, and the murderer, based on the later descriptions, was the bandit leader whom the city lord had said was "not a cause for concern."

【You: "..." Damn it!】

The murderer hasn't left the city yet. According to intelligence reports from various places, he's still roaming Donglin City. As a first-rate martial artist, he can easily leap over walls and scale buildings with a single bound. Without the suppression of someone of equal strength, he's practically invincible in the city—until his stamina and energy are exhausted!

【One man is the enemy of the city! 】

[You also set out, employing the "Heavenly River Flow" light-foot technique. With each step, pure blue light spots emanated from the soles of your feet, and your speed increased dramatically from 30 meters per second at full speed, typical of a first-rate martial artist, to 50 meters per second!]

[Spanning 100 meters in two seconds!]

You head straight for He Yi's residence. The fact that the bandit leader would murder the city lord right there shows how vengeful he is; you fear you might be next.

From afar, you could already see the large courtyard that He Yi had rented in the city. When you reached within a few dozen meters, the gate opened.

The bandit leader, carrying He Yi's head, looked at you as you rushed towards him.

[...]

You took off running, but after only a few breaths, you sensed something was wrong. You turned around sharply, only to see the robber's back receding into the distance.

[“He has almost no energy left!” Realizing this, you immediately turned around and began chasing after the bandit leader.]

You chased each other across several main streets, and along the way you even had the soldiers help you hold off the bandit leader, but the result wasn't ideal.

"Boiling Point Soldier, you're wasting my energy shouting."

[The bandit's horse—no, the bandit's lightness skill isn't as good as yours, so even though he's stronger than you, the distance between you hasn't increased; in fact, it's constantly closing in.]

Finally, in a wealthy residential area, the bandit leader stopped atop a gable roof (an ancient roof style) of a mansion, facing you with a look of dread in his eyes.

[You know, his energy is only enough to sustain him for the final battle. If he continues running, he won't even have the strength to fight back once he's caught up. So this is a battle to the death!]

Can we win?