"Bang!"
A figure descended from the sky and crashed heavily in front of Li Qingshan.
Amidst the swirling dust and smoke, Lin Ce's face came into view.
"You, lead me to see that Heavenly King Liu."
Looking directly at Li Wenzheng, allowing no room for hesitation, he continued:
"After you lead the way, the matter of your attack on the caravan will be wiped clean, and I will not hold you accountable again."
"What about our silver?"
The woman among the three heroes of Li Garden clearly cared a lot about this.
"What silver? That's tea money for our escort team. One should know when to advance and when to retreat."
Lin Ce glanced coldly at the woman, then looked at the caravan.
“If I don’t return within an hour and a half, then you can chop these two up.”
Li Wenzheng was shocked: "Your Excellency, this..."
"That's not fair. You were the one who wanted to see King Liu. What does it have to do with us?"
The women in the Three Righteous Men also cried out.
"We came to deliver a message, but our good intentions have been met with no reward."
"Whether you are truly kind or not, no one can say for sure. So, for the sake of your two virtuous brothers and sisters, please be sure to lead the way carefully."
Before he could finish speaking, Lin Ce had already grabbed Li Wenzheng and leaped into the air.
The place where they originally stood was once again trampled into a cloud of dust.
Watching Lin Ce's departing figure, Li Qingshan frowned in confusion.
The opponent's use of light footwork just now gave him a sense of déjà vu.
At first glance, it looks a bit like my own "flying sand steps".
However, upon closer inspection, the situation was completely different.
"Flying Sand Steps" emphasizes the feeling of sand being blown by the wind and dust drifting around.
The lightness skill Lin Ce used, like him, was hard and unyielding, like a boulder launched from a catapult, lacking any beauty whatsoever.
It would be more accurate to call it "stone-throwing step" rather than "flying sand step".
"It's probably one of those martial arts techniques that has been passed down through countless hands and modified beyond recognition."
Li Qingshan ultimately came to this conclusion.
On the road ahead, Lin Ce carried Li Wenzheng and leaped forward at top speed.
His internal muscles, shaped like a large bow, generated explosive power, allowing him to traverse long distances with each leap.
Although he couldn't compare to Li Qingshan in terms of graceful movement, he far surpassed his opponent in terms of the distance and speed of his leaps.
Li Wen, whom he was holding, was ashen-faced and trembling all over.
As a ninth-rank martial artist, when had he ever had such an experience?
"Um... Your Excellency, I actually know a little about qinggong (lightness skill). If you put me down, I can..."
"No need, you're too slow."
Lin Ce refused outright, then landed and leaped forward, instantly overtaking a large number of fleeing bandits.
The fleeing thieves were terrified; if he continued to kill them, he would probably cause a bloodbath.
But at this moment, his goal was clear, and he didn't care about these lackeys.
"Does that Heavenly King Liu really possess the strength of an eighth-rank cultivator? How much stronger is he compared to the likes of Heavenly King Li?"
"Um...I...I'm not quite sure either..."
A strong wind blew into his face and into his mouth, making it difficult for Li Wenzheng to speak.
"Your strength is certainly formidable, but in my opinion, it would be best to avoid direct confrontation with that Heavenly King Liu."
Once he got used to it, Li Wenzheng's speech became more coherent.
Lin Ce's lips curled slightly; he had no intention of heeding the other party's advice.
Normally, his top priority would be escorting goods.
But this time the situation is very different.
The bandits from Tianwang Village attacked the caravan not simply to rob them.
Instead, someone paid a price to persuade them to come.
The saying goes, "It's not the theft itself that's scary, but the thief's eye on you." Lin Ce didn't want anyone to be eyeing him from behind during the rest of the escort mission.
Besides, three of the four Heavenly Kings of Tianwang Village have already been killed, so why keep the last one alive?
Are we just going to wait for the other party to realize what's happening before preparing to retaliate?
With this in mind, Lin Ce moved forward at breakneck speed.
According to Li Wenzheng, Tianwangzhai was located seventy or eighty li away from where the escort team was attacked.
At his current speed, he can arrive in less than half an hour.
"Tianwang Village is just ahead."
Standing not far from the mountain stronghold with Lin Ce, Li Wenzheng's legs went weak.
With his strength, the thought of facing that Heavenly King Liu soon made his teeth chatter.
With a determined look, he was about to follow Lin Ce and take a step forward.
Unexpectedly, Lin Ce stopped him directly.
"What are you going to do? You'll only expose our whereabouts and won't be of any help whatsoever."
"Stay here. If I find out you have any strange ideas, my big iron rod won't let you off the hook."
Lin Ce swung the massive iron club in his hand and stepped forward.
Li Wenzheng's heart pounded wildly.
He certainly knew how terrifying this giant iron rod was. When it was in the hands of Li Tianwang, it had earned a formidable reputation. In the entire Tianwang Village, only Liu Tianwang could surpass him.
Li Tianwang was born with immense strength, and he needed to ride a tall horse when he went out. Otherwise, if he tried to carry a giant iron rod on his own, he would get tired before the fight even started.
The fact that Lin Ce was able to carry such a heavy iron rod all the way here using his lightness skill shows just how strong he was.
Perhaps his strength is no less than that of the Heavenly King Liu.
With these thoughts in mind, Lin Ce, carrying a large iron rod, tiptoed towards the mountain stronghold.
Most of the thieves had gone out to attack caravans, and not many remained in the village.
To avoid being detected by the thieves at the outpost, Lin Ce launched himself forward after getting close enough to break through the thieves' heads with a few swings of his club, perfectly infiltrating before they could warn him.
The thieves collapsed, making only a faint sound.
Lin Ce was not worried that the sound would be noticed by Liu Tianwang inside the mountain stronghold.
Even at such a distance, one cannot see the slightest detail clearly, even at the eighth rank.
He continued deeper, carrying the massive iron club, and soon heard a burst of boisterous laughter.
"...Haha, why is Steward Wang so restless? Is it because you don't trust my Heavenly King Village to do things?"
"Heavenly King Liu, I paid you money to help, but you only sent three of your Heavenly Kings instead of going yourself. How can anyone feel at ease with such behavior?"
Another voice came out, making Lin Ce's expression turn cold.
This was clearly the guy who paid someone to deal with the caravan.
He was eager to see the other person's face clearly.
The voice clearly came from the stronghold's main hall. Lin Ce's heart stirred, and he flew forward.
With a deafening roar, he smashed through the wall and rushed into the hall.
At such close range, it is obviously impossible to eavesdrop silently.
Too lazy to think too much, Lin Ce simply forced his way in.
"Who are you?"
In the stronghold's main hall, a burly man sat at the head of the table, holding a cup, his eyes gleaming as he looked at Lin Ce.
Lin Ce ignored him and instead looked down at the person below.
There, an elderly man in his fifties was looking at them with a sense of panic.
"You're Manager Wang?"
In the Hall of Gathering Righteousness, besides King Liu and the old man, there were only a few maids who were trembling with fear. He shouldn't have mistaken them.
"Old Li's weapon?"
It was only at this moment that Liu Tianwang noticed the giant iron cudgel in Lin Ce's hand.
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