Informing Jessi, Li Shenrong quietly left the sect without alerting anyone. He looked at the sky, there was three sun shining above with dazzling brilliance.
"Three suns, huh… that means the merging of the continents is complete," he murmured. "The spiritual Qi has increased tenfold as well."
Previously, the world was separated and spiritual Qi was depleted. Cultivation became harder with the depletion of Qi. Now the world is complete, so the spiritual Qi was abundant. But the current situation of the world was extremely chaotic.
The merging of continents, caused distortion in space time, many rare natural disaster became frequent. Seas and abysses became more dangerous than the past as powerful mutated beasts rampaged. These changes gave an uprise to the fiendish cultivators, seizing every chance to flourish.
Also, there were internal struggles of power within the continents along with external danger of being invaded by cultivators from other continents.
Sword Sea Continent was the weakest because it had suffered the most calamities. Even though the continents merged together and world became complete once again but humans didn't.
Li Shenrong was very clear about the current situation which was why he came out with a certain thought in mind.
"Hey, brother! It's going to be dangerous at night, why are you traveling alone?" A man shouted from behind.
Turning his head, Li Shenrong saw a large caravan approaching. A man stood at its front, flanked by guards. The man didn't move closer, clearly wary of him.
Amid the rugged mountain ranges, fiendish cultivators and bandits ran amok. It was only natural for travelers to be cautious. From afar, seeing a lone young man on the road, suspicion was inevitable. Unable to suppress his curiosity, the caravan leader called out to probe.
Li Shenrong understood their thoughts and replied loudly. "I'm travelling to the Eastern coast City."
The caravan leader's eyes flickered with uncertainty. His guards glanced around, scanning for signs of ambush.
"You can go, i'll just stand here." Li Shenrong laughed inwardly and shook his head.
The caravan leader hesitated for a moment, then gave a slight nod. Slowly, the caravan rumbled forward again. It was a large procession at least two hundred people, all of them had tense expression written on their faces.
Li Shenrong yawned and leaned casually against a tall pine tree. Only after the caravan had disappeared into the distance did he start walking again.
Not long after, he paused. Ahead, the caravan had stopped. His brows furrowed slightly in curiosity, and he resumed his steps.
A few moments later, the caravan leader came walking toward him.
"Hello, young friend. You can call me Shen Shou, a humble merchant from the Middle Territory. The roads are perilous these days. I hope you don't mind our earlier caution." Shen Shou cupped his fists with a broad smile. When he spoke, the fat on his face shook and vibrated which looked very funny.
"It's understandable," Li Shenrong replied with a faint smile, returning the gesture. "After all, we're in the middle of nowhere."
"Young friend, since you're traveling alone, why not join us? There's safety in numbers." Shen Shou extended the invitation with a warm tone.
"Then I shall thank the caravan leader for his kindness." Li Shenrong nodded and accepted.
He was given a small space within the caravan, enough for one person to sit comfortably. Settling down, Li Shenrong closed his eyes in quiet meditation.
Not far away, the guard chief approached Shen Shou and asked in a low voice. "Lord, why did you invite that kid with us?"
Shen Shou's small eyes gleamed shrewdly. "Have you ever seen someone walking alone through such a dangerous region? Especially someone that young? Either he's confident in his strength… or he has a powerful background."
The guard frowned. "But, my lord, what kind of background could he possibly have in this remote region?"
"Hmm… I'm not sure," Shen Shou admitted. "But even if he doesn't, there's no harm in bringing him along. And if we leave him behind, who knows what danger he might face? I couldn't bring myself to do that." He sighed heavily.
The Guard Chief chuckled, "Lord, your compassion overflowing again huh!"
"What do you know! Go clean up the horse shit!" Shen Shou yelled, rolling his eyes.
The guard chief instantly shut up, fearing that the fatty might actually make him do it.
After a while he couldn't help but say, "Lord, what if he harbours ill intention? Or a fiend cultivator?"
"If he really does harbours ill intention then that means my judgment is getting dull over the years." Shen Shou replied without looking.
The guard chief said no more.
Thunder rumbled across the heavens as a light drizzle began to fall. The scent of wet soil drifted through the air, bringing a fleeting sense of calm. But the caravan people were in no mood to enjoy such atmosphere because such weather was perfect for the bandits to lie in ambush without being detected.
The caravan numbered over two hundred people, yet most were mere mortal servants tasked with tending goods and beasts. Among the true fighters, there were forty Bone Tempering cultivators, twenty at the Spirit Accumulation Realm, nine at the Physique Foundation Realm, and Shen Shou himself, a Heaven Congregation Realm expert leading them. Some were from the Shen family, while others were hired mercenaries from the Eastern Territory.
Standing at the very front, Shen Shou's expression turned grim. His ears twitched slightly, and his face hardened.
"Enemy ambush!" he bellowed. "Everyone, take cover!"
The moment his words fell, countless arrows rained down through the drizzle, whistling sharply as they tore through the air. Each one carried deadly force and frightening penetrative power. Fortunately, the caravan's defensive formation activated just in time, repelling most of the barrage. The rest were deflected by guards, sparks flew as steel met steel.
"Lord! The formation's barrier is weakening! It can only withstand two more waves at most!" Someone hurriedly reported.
Shen Shou's face was dark and gloomy. "This time, I underestimated the bandits. Never thought their arrows would be this powerful."
"Prepare for a drawn out battle!" he ordered solemnly.
The mercenaries and Shen family guards were veteran as they quickly adapted themselves. The servants hid themselves inside the caravan, trembling nonstop in fear.
Meanwhile, Li Shenrong remained seated in silence, eyes closed in meditation, untouched by the chaos. His calmness drew curious and uneasy glances from those around him.
"It's coming!" Shen Shou's voice roared once more.
A second wave of arrows screamed through the air, even denser than before. Thunder rolled overhead, but its rumble was drowned out by the storm of deadly shafts. The heavy rain and darkness made it almost impossible to see clearly, but with his cultivation, Shen Shou could faintly discern numerous shadowy figures lurking within the darkness.
"We're completely surrounded…" he muttered, his voice was low. With a flick of his wrist, he blasted away an arrow that flew straight toward him.
Then, with a crisp crack, the protective formation shattered. At that instant, a chilling voice echoed from the darkness.
"Kill!"
"Prepare for a head on clash!" Shen Shou roared, leaping high into the stormy air like a huge balloon.
Despite his plump frame, he moved with startling agility, his entire body shrouded in a faint golden aura.
Figures cloaked in black robe lunged forward one after another. Some were Bone tempering realm, some were spirit accumulation and some were at Physic foundation. Both side collided fiercely.
Shen Shou's eyes fixated on a burly figure not far away. Through the flashes of lightning which lightened up the surroundings, the face of the burly figure became visible for split second.
In that moment, Shen Shou's pupils expanded as his expression changed drastically. "You! A fiend cultivator!" His voice wasn't loud but everyone heard it.
"What? The bandit leader is a fiend cultivator?" The mercenaries and guards felt their blood running cold in fear. They felt death was imminent which plummeted their morale. Under the intense assault of the bandits, it became harder to hold on.
Fiend cultivators were notorious, infamous and extremely violent. Their methods were crooked and gruesome. They never considered others as humans at all. They are no different from devils.
Shen Shou regretted coming to eastern territory more than ever. Facing a fiend cultivator of the same realm he knew chances of escape was dim. And falling in the hands of a fiend cultivator was fate worse than death.
"No wonder the bandits were so ferocious from the beginning…."