Bags...bags of Yao Gass? Officer Jie sucked in a cold breath, and all the men felt a shiver down their backs. Am I even seeing this right? That much... "This is a huge wealth...and they have so few men transporting it?" Immense greed shone from the men's eyes, and their hearts filled with a crazy desire to jump straight off the cliff and onto the treacherously thin path below. "Thanks to officer Kai we have discovered a monumental treasure, and there is NO way we are letting this slip through our fingers" Officer Jie spoke hurriedly under his breath, but the men could all hear him clearly from so close. They all felt incredibly grateful that Xing Kai had came along with them during this mission, or a golden egg would have just went right past them, without them even realising! "With this much Yao Grass...well you know how incredible this could be in the right hands. So you should all be aware that for this huge haul...the guards won't be of average quality. Most likely all 8 men are of the peak Blood condensing Stage, and perhaps there is even a Soul condensing expert among them." Officer Jie's grave words sobered all the men up from their wild fantasy dreams, This line up was horrifying to the extreme, and could destroy their entire squad in no time. "But we have the advantage. If they have a Soul condensing expert then we need to act quickly before he senses us." The whole squad followed officer Jie as he led them further down the valley. Preparation was going to be key in this battle, as they simply couldn't pull the bags out of their hands and run. Officer Jie would stack every single advantage he could against these men to ensure victory. "Archers prepare your bows, and the rest of you find boulders. After you find every stone you can see...dig up the ground and push it towards the edge of the cliff." Xing Kai and a few men went to gather heavy rocks. Although these orders were demeaning to their status as top militiamen, they could roughly see what the plan was. However, as Xing Kai was searching for boulders, he came across quick sand, deep mud, and dry patches of sand. There was likely a natural phenomena which had created these strange changes, but it was not entirely surprising or important. This mud...yes...this could work Xing Kai abandoned searching for rocks, and instead began pushing huge amounts of mud, and sand to the cliff. He placed all this earth a little further along the cliff edge which the men found even more bizarre. Surely everyone attacking the same location would have the greatest effect? Why was Xing Kai all the way over there? But the men were working like their lives were on the line, so they didn't spare another thought about Xing Kai and his strange pile of mud and sand. Unnoticed to the black masked men a large welcoming party was waiting for them. Lines of hefty boulders had been arranged, and 500 arrows were soaked in urine. The men forced out every drop they could, and cursed the arrows with every disease they could think off, hoping that it would make even the lightest wound sting like the men had been bitten by a war bee! The masked men carefully stepped along the narrow ledge on the cliff...directly below the waiting men. "Now" Officer Jie's whisper began the greatest treasure heist in the Nalan town's history. Twanging sounds were quickly smothered by the sounds of arrows whistling through the air, and raced down onto the masked men. With around 20 archers each shooting several arrows a second onto a single person below, it really looked like a black pillar descending from the night sky. "AARRGG" Howls blasted out into the deep valley. The tens of arrows had focused on 3 men at the back of the group, who carried none of the bags. These men would be the most tricky to handle as they had no burden in their hands, so officer Jie had arranged for them to be eliminated with the very first exchange! However these arrows were all bouncing off the men. It appeared the men were wearing fine armour, but the impact was still causing blunt force damage to their organs. "Small wave" Officer Jie waved his arm with a bit of anxiousness. He had hoped that the arrows would take care of at least one man, but the armour was truly to strong. A heart beat after officer Jie's command, several heavy boulders were hurled over the side...and knocked the enraged men off the edge. In the first 2 seconds 3 men had died. 3 peak Blood condensing Stage cultivators had fallen several hundred meters to their likely deaths...this was a waste in Xing Kai's eyes. So much Heart's blood... Xing Kai felt like a poor man watching a noble throw away a whole roasted pig because he didn't feel hungry anymore. This was an utter waste...the squad simply had no idea how valuable these bodies were to him, yet they were literally pushing them over the edge! Xing Kai swallowed his regrets, and watched the true wave of attacks. One of the black masked men screamed orders at the others to retreat, but all of a sudden a huge boulder fell and destroyed the path they were going to retreat on. There was no way to climb across, up or down the cliff face so the men unsheathed their weapons and fended off the black rain of arrows. "Keep firing, but don't use too many arrows. Somebody take care of the spears and polearms. When your free gather more rocks from the cliff face itself." Officer Jie whispered out a few quick orders, which officer Di being the only other peak Blood condensing Stage cultivator, carried out. With such a rapid rate of fire the arrows would soon run out. However they were fortunate, as all the men had carried armfuls of weapons so they wouldn't run out of arms to soon... A few of the archers dropped their bows and joined officer Di on the cliff edge with spears raised. The spears were then thrown like bolts of lightening in the night. Xing Kai still waited and watched. With his young age and short time in the militia, his incredible achievements were not enough for him to be recognised completely by the men. Xing Kai may be strong, and incredibly talented ,but they didn't know him so they ignored him slightly. Plus, the men didn't really have much of an appreciation for talent. They were used to the older men being the most powerful. This allowed Xing Kai to wait and bide his time. Stone flew and shattered while arrows were deflected and spears dodged. The ledge the men were standing on was quickly becoming even more dangerous to stand on, and the attacks were far to focused for them to escape them. They were getting tired and mistakes were being made! It should happen very soon...they'll make a run for it Xing Kai waited for half a hundred heart beats, and predictably the arrows decreased in numbers until only swords and stones were being thrown down at the masked men. Suddenly the man leading the group dashed forwards along the path, and with tacit understanding the other 3 followed behind him. "Final wave" Officer Jie dropped his bow and pulled a black sleek javelin out of the ground beside him. He drew his arm back and with a mighty roar, hurled it at the masked man in the lead. This man was carrying 2 bags in one hand, while his other blocked the falling projectiles with his skilful sword techniques. Fast! This attack is very fast Xing Kai could make out the flying javelin tearing through the sky with horrifying speed, like a flash of hard lightening. The javelin flew true and straight, heading for the man's temple, yet with incomprehensible accuracy, the masked man deflected the blow with his sword. The masked man had not even needed to turn around to deflect such an incredibly fast attack! "Soul condensing Stage" So Soul condensing really does allow you to extend your inner sense like this... Xing Kai and the entire squad cursed in their minds, but the men returned their attention to attacking, with renewed ferocity. As the 4 remaining men continued their perilous dash across the rough ledge, more hefty stones were sent toppling down the face of the cliff. Yet with incredible strength, the leading man sliced the stones apart or deflected their fall away from the ledge. However, the tall and powerful officer Jie would not let them off so easy. He sent another 2 javelins flying through the moonlight night, down the valley cliff. Both of his attacks meet their mark. 1 of the 4 men toppled slowly off the cliff, with a spear going through his shoulder and his neck. One of the plump black bags was in his hands, as he refused to release it even with a javelin bursting through his shoulder. Now the defending party numbered only 3, with 4 bags between them...and one of these was a Soul condensing Stage expert; a cultivator who could change the power of a whole town on his own! Now! Xing Kai pushed the sand pile he made with a large piece of slate he found earlier. With a sliding, rustling sound the course, brown sand flew over the edge as a black shower. It billowed out over the ledge and into the deep valley below, forcing the masked men to suddenly stop. The leading masked man looked up at Xing Kai and snarled. The Nalan militiamen turned to Xing Kai, who was standing alone on the cliff edge above the masked men. They all felt that Xing Kai really wasn't an ordinary person...and it occurred to the men with a sudden shock, that Xing Kai was only 13 years old! 13 years old, and challenging peak Blood and even Soul condensing cultivators! "Brilliant strategy, now we can definitely trap them here. Getting the bags is the only concern left" The men cheered in their hearts and their faces flushed with blood. With barely contained excitement, the men threw pebbles and stones down at the men. A pebble in the hands of men who could lift several tonnes, was a lethal weapon not losing out to arrows in some respects. Plus the supply was endless, while the arrows were not... Another masked man fell over the side as he was attacked by all the men together. Since their path back was useless, and the path ahead too hazardous until the sand settled, the masked men were bound to tire and fall. However, with the Soul condensing expert's incredible skills, the bag did not fall over the edge. He whipped his arm out and pulled the bag of Yao Grass out of the man's hand while letting the body fall over the edge. Now he clutched three bags in his hand, while his sword flashed across the air, reducing all of the stones to powder. Step 2...if this works I could reap a humongous reward The sand had not entirely cleared, but the 2 men could risk traversing the hazy path. Without glance towards Xing Kai, the Soul condensing expert ran forwards as fast as his balance could allow him, with the three bags dangling over the edge. As soon as the men had ran into the sandy area of the ledge, Xing Kai pushed the dark, black mass of mud and quick sand over the edge of the valley cliff. The thick, heaving mud hammered down the cliff face almost creating a land slide, due to it's prodigious momentum. This is it The militiamen watched with utter shock as Xing Kai jumped over the cliff brandishing his small sword, covered with black mud. A fierce grin of intoxicated excitement could be seen on his face.