Chapter 9: The Fighter

  "Hmm, that must be where they hide their money."

  Xiao Yu and Jian Sheng were the first to run into the mountain stronghold to scout out the route and check the situation inside. Reconnaissance plays a crucial role in any battle, and although they weren't professional military personnel, Xiao Yu was very clear about this point.

  Xiao Yu's first place to look was definitely where they might have hidden their money. At this time, money was the most urgent thing he needed.

  "Although I now have over a hundred beastman infantry, it's not a problem to take out these four or five hundred people based on the combat power of the beastman infantry. However, if you can use strategy, you absolutely cannot hard fight, and still follow the old method, lure them out one by one and take care of them."

  Xiao Yu narrowed her eyes and made up her mind.

  Then, the Sword Saint sneaked into one of the bandits' tents again, stole something out, and then deliberately exposed himself, killing a guard before running away.

  Xiao Yu looked at Jian Sheng's performance and nodded repeatedly, but when he saw clearly what Jian Sheng had stolen, a few black lines immediately rose on his forehead.

  "That... doesn't it seem like a chamber pot? This Sword Saint is really unskilled at stealing things."

  Although it was a chamber pot, the robbers also discovered that someone was stealing things and shouted loudly, rushing towards Grom.

  Grom activated Whirlwind Step, his figure flashed and quickly rushed out of the mountain stronghold. In order to attract the attention of these people, Grom did not activate the stealth effect.

  Xiao Yu quietly followed behind these people and quickly left the camp.

  About forty or fifty people were following behind Grom, but no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't catch up with him. Grom had to run for a while and then stop to wait for them, so that these people wouldn't give up the chase.

  "What kind of person?! Daring to steal my chamber pot, damn it! Coming to our thieves' den to steal things, you've got a lot of nerve!" A thief panted and cursed as he chased after.

  Xiao Yu followed behind, with a smug expression on his face. These people were definitely going to escape their fate of destruction again. But just at this moment, suddenly a figure quickly flashed over the heads of these bandits and arrived in front, quickly catching up to the Sword Saint.

  Xiao Yu was slightly startled, and when she looked closely, she saw that it was a pale yellow face with a tall and slender figure. This slender figure wore a suit of leather armor, holding a long sword in his hand, staring steadily at Grom.

  Grom also stopped in his tracks and stared at the man with a look of astonishment.

  Grom felt a dangerous aura emanating from this person.

  "Fighter?" Xiao Yu immediately understood that the person in front of her was a fighter, someone who had cultivated their fighting energy to a certain level.

  Xiao Yu's fourth sister-in-law Xue Xia, is a first-class fighter, but looking at this person's strength, it's obviously much stronger than Xue Xia, at least reaching the late stage of the first class.

  Xiao Yu's heart sank as he worried whether Sword Saint could defeat this guy.

  Jian Sheng is now after all just level three, don't know how he compares with this guy.

  "Run, run to the forefront of the great army, and kill them with a pile of people." Xiao Yu immediately gave Grom an order.

  Xiao Yu would never consider anything like a warrior's spirit, insisting on one-on-one fights. Since this guy is quite formidable, if he were to be lured in front of the Beastman army, even if he was extremely powerful, the sheer numbers would still kill him.

  Xiao Yu didn't believe this guy could take down over a hundred beastman infantrymen.

  Grom was originally full of fighting spirit and eager to try, but after receiving Xiao Yu's order, he still chose to follow without hesitation and prepare to escape.

  Grom had a mask over his face as well, so this tall and thin figure didn't notice that Grom was an orc.

  Grom turned around and ran away, his speed was extremely fast due to the Wind Step, even faster than the slender tall man. The slender tall man hesitated for a moment, said a few words to someone beside him, then led another person to chase after Grom.

  Xiao Yu was also hiding behind and following, he didn't dare to get too close to that slender figure, because people who can become Dou Zhe have very strong spiritual power and extremely keen senses, they might discover Xiao Yu's hidden presence.

  Xiao Yu's physical strength has improved somewhat, and he possesses the skills of Gale Step, Invincible Slash, and Mortal Strike. However, when facing this person, he still absolutely lacks confidence.

  The other party is a master who has been practicing for a long time, while he belongs to the quick success, and when it comes to real fighting, he may not have much combat power.

  "Friend, hold on a moment, what did you bring me here for?" The tall and thin figure stopped in his tracks as he saw the forest ahead of him and shouted to Grom.

  Grom also stopped in his tracks, turned around and looked at this slender figure.

  Xiao Yu had by now quietly and stealthily moved to Grohm's side, also observing this slender figure.

  Over a hundred beastman infantrymen were just behind the forest, and Xiao Yu was now completely unafraid of this guy.

  Those forty or fifty robbers, because they ran slowly, are still behind; this slender and tall person also knows that if the other party has set up an ambush in the forest, it would be extremely dangerous.

  "Halt, young man! Are you the leader of this band of robbers?" Xiao Yu revealed himself at this moment, holding a golden and jade-inlaid precious sword, pointing at the slender tall figure and scolding him.

  The slender figure suddenly saw another person appear out of nowhere, and his pupils shrank instantly. With his strength, he hadn't even detected that there was another hidden assassin.

  On the mainland, only assassins can blend in with their surroundings through a special aura energy, so this slender figure also took Xiao Yu as an assassin.

  "I'm not the leader, I'm the second-in-command Hou Tong, who are you?" The tall and thin figure paid attention to the sword saint. If it were just one-on-one with the sword saint, he might still have a chance to win or lose, but at least he could escape. However, if there was another assassin of this level added to the mix, he would definitely be no match, so he immediately became alert.

  "It was actually the second one, humph, still daring to ask who I am. Let me tell you, I am the master of this territory, the lord of Lion King Territory. My name is Xiao Yu. Now, I give you two options: first, surrender obediently and offer all your wealth; second, become food for my subordinates." Xiao Yu tilted his head, hugged his arm, and slanted his mouth, looking like a thug, not at all like a lord.

  "Lord of the Lion King Territory?" Hou Tong furrowed his brow, he also knew about the lord of the Lion King Territory, but had never taken it to heart, because for them, this land was ownerless. That Lion King Territory, although nominally a lord, could never issue orders to this land.

  What's going on now? How did a lord of the Lion King territory suddenly pop out?

  "You think you can defeat us just like that?" Hou Tong looked at the forty or fifty people behind him and said coldly.

  Xiao Yu smiled and waved her hand, saying: "Of course it's not just me, but also them."

  With Xiao Yu's words, a loud rustling sound came from the back of the forest, and over 100 green-skinned, two-meter-tall beastmen with ferocious faces and sharp teeth charged out, wielding giant axes that were almost one meter long, roaring as they rushed forward.

  "Beastmen." Hou Tong's eyes suddenly widened, he was usually calm in the face of events, but seeing so many beastmen, he couldn't remain calm anymore and shouted out loud. In this era, beastmen had long been extinct, how could there be so many beastman soldiers appearing all of a sudden?

  "Give me up." Xiao Yu Ke didn't bother with courtesy, taking advantage of their momentary stun to issue the command to attack.

  Grom let out a roar at the same time, fiercely swinging his huge cloak and revealing his robust body, then grasped the sword in his hand and launched himself forward with Wind Step.

  Xiao Yu had also thought of replacing Grom's sword, after all, in the Lion King's territory, although it was already declining, finding a few good swords would not be a problem, but he was informed by the system that heroes' weapons belonged to exclusive weapons and could not be replaced, only upgraded.

  This made Xiao Yu slightly depressed.

  Xiao Yu also activated his Gale Step, entering stealth mode, holding the sword in his hand and chasing after the bandits who were fleeing in all directions.

  There is a bonus for having a swift step, although Xiao Yu's attributes are somewhat inferior, his speed is still not slow, and he will never confront any strong thief head-on.

  Without professional training in martial arts, if he rashly goes up, he is likely to be cut down by someone with one knife.

  It's not easy to get through, and now there's a Warcraft base with a golden finger. If it were to be destroyed by someone, that would be too unjust. The five sisters haven't even gotten a glimpse of it yet.

  So, Xiao Yu always sneaked up behind a strong bandit and made an invincible slash, directly slashing down with one sword, cutting a strong bandit in half.

  He didn't expect the Invincible Slash to have such great power, with one slash of light, a living person was cut in half, and fresh blood splattered all over his body and face, hot, numb, salty, fishy, a very strange feeling.

  For the first time, he had killed someone and even cut a person in half. Xiao Yu was stunned for a while before vomiting on the ground for a long time. Until the battle ended, he still hadn't recovered. Really killing people, especially with cold weapons like that, the bloodiness wasn't something a modern university student could handle.

  Xiao Yu looked up and saw that the forty or fifty bandits had all been annihilated, leaving only Grom still fighting with Hou Tong in a stalemate.

  Hou Tong's swordsmanship was extremely powerful, and the blade emitted a fiery red aura. Every strike carried immense killing power. If ordinary beastman infantry were to face him, they would likely be killed in just a few rounds.

  However, Gromm, the sword-wielding ancestor, was not at all inferior to him. Although Gromm's level is still low now, so it's a bit difficult to confront Hou Tong, but relying on his strong orc physique and the combination of three skills, he also fought with great fanfare.

  "What are you all staring at? Come on, let's take him down together!" Xiao Yu shouted, looking at a beastman who was watching from the sidelines.

  The beastman infantry received Xiao Yu's order and let out a loud roar before charging forward.

  Hou Tong saw that things were not going well and had wanted to run away, but he was caught up in Grom's whirlwind steps and couldn't escape no matter how hard he tried. Meanwhile, the orc soldiers surrounded him, over a hundred large axes falling down on him at once. At this moment, even if he were an ant, he would still be chopped to death.

  Finally, surrounded by a group of beastmen, Hou Tong was directly minced into meat sauce.

  "It's about time, what's the point of talking about chivalry? Killing the enemy without dying yourself is the most important thing. Come, help me up." Xiao Yu's legs were still a bit weak at this time.

  "Damn it, look at those heroes on TV, killing people as if they were playing, and their poses are so cool. Why can't I be like that?" Xiao Yu cursed herself for being useless, becoming like this after just killing one person.

  Xiao Yu, with the support of a beastman infantryman, led these infantrymen to return once again to the bandit's stronghold.

  At this time, Xiao Yu estimated that there shouldn't be many strong people left inside, at most one more big bandit leader who was a Dou Zhe. Their three hundred beastman infantry were up against over three hundred disorganized human bandits. If they couldn't even win against these humans, then the beastmen might as well just surrender and cut their own throats.

  "Give me up." Xiao Yu looked at the beastman infantry with a slanted gaze towards the distant gate of the camp, issuing an order.

  The beastman infantry let out a roar and charged forward with heavy footsteps.

  Once they engage in battle, the Beastmen are fearless, knowing no fatigue, fearing no wounds, only fighting until death. This is the characteristic of the Beastmen infantry.

  The guards at the gate saw a group of strange green-skinned giants rushing over early on, and when they got closer, they found out they were beastmen and immediately panicked.

  They were about to issue a warning, but a burly green figure suddenly appeared and cut them down directly.

  Then, the beastman infantry suddenly and unexpectedly killed into the mountain stronghold. All the bandits were caught off guard and fell at a disadvantage. When they saw that the killers were beastmen, they collapsed directly.

  When the morale collapses and they only know how to flee, then all they can face is subsequent pursuit and slaughter. Even ordinary soldiers can completely annihilate them, let alone the powerful beastman infantry.

  In less than 10 minutes, the entire battle was over. The robbers either fled or were killed.

  Xiao Yu narrowed his eyes and sat on a large stone in the mountain stronghold, feeling very satisfied. These mobs, when they encountered the elite beastman infantry, couldn't form any resistance at all. Even if they had the courage to resist, one beastman infantry could take down three or four of them, and their side wouldn't be at a disadvantage either.

  However, at this time he was somewhat puzzled, the experience and merit values seemed to have not increased much, what's going on? This is not even more than the experience gained from eliminating Zhao Hu and his small mountain stronghold last time.

  At this time, a beastman infantry came to report that a group of mounted bandits had arrived outside the mountain stronghold.

  Xiao Yu was taken aback and immediately ordered the beastman soldiers to hide. He and Gromm would wait here.

  Before long, a group of men on horseback rushed in quickly. When they saw the corpses all over the ground, the leader, a very dignified-looking man, suddenly shouted loudly: "Who? Who has such great audacity?"

  When he saw Xiao Yu sitting leisurely on a rock with a sly smile, the refined man suddenly roared: "Who are you? Did you kill them?"

  Xiao Yu smiled with a very sly expression and said: "That's right, it was I who killed him, what about it?"

  "You... are looking for death." The robust man's eyes flashed with anger, his rage uncontrollable.

  Xiao Yu looked at the robust man behind him, who had less than a hundred people in his team, and sneered: "I don't know who's looking for death, I'm short of merit points, you came running, it seems you're the leader here. If I don't kill you, I won't have any merit points. Come at me."

  As he spoke, Xiao Yu waved his hand and a group of beastman soldiers immediately poured out.

  This sturdy man naturally knew that there must be an ambush here, but after all, this was his foundation, and he didn't believe that everyone had been killed, so he still rushed in without hesitation.

  But he never thought that the one attacking him here was an Orc.

  "Beastmen......" Like other bandits, they immediately lost their will to fight when they saw the beastmen pouring out.

  Even the sturdy man was taken aback, but before he could react, Xiao Yu waved his hand and Grom charged forward.

  Roar...

  Grom let out a roar and unleashed an Invincible Slash, emitting a dazzling light like the sun, with a strong gust of wind, it chopped down.

  A robust Han man let out a loud roar, pulled out the knife behind his back, and hurriedly parried the attack. Immediately after, he shouted loudly, and a burst of icy blue fighting energy shot out from the knife, shooting towards Grom.

  Xiao Yu watched from the side, slightly startled. This person's strength was much higher than that of Hou Tong just now.

  Just now when fighting against Hou Tong, Jian Sheng had already gone all out. Now this person's strength is even stronger, Jian Sheng is likely to be at a disadvantage.

  Sure, here is the translation:

  As expected, it wasn't long before Grom's body was slashed with two knives by this person. Although it was only a minor injury, it had already become apparent that Grom was no match for this person.

  This person is at least a late-stage first-class warrior. Warriors are the strongest fighters in this world right now. Grom may be fierce, but his level is still too low, only third-level.

  However, as the Sword Saint, Gromm's ferocity grew with every wound he inflicted and received, and now he was shouting loudly, becoming more courageous in battle.

  Xiao Yu saw the situation and immediately entered stealth mode, waiting for an opportunity to launch a sneak attack from behind. After a while, he took advantage of the man's focus on fighting Grom and, in a moment of carelessness, quietly drew his sword and struck the man's buttocks with a fierce blow from behind.

  "Ah......" The man let out a miserable cry and immediately covered his buttocks with one hand.

  If the sword had cut into other parts, even if it was just a wound, this person might have been able to tough it out and just bleed a bit, which wouldn't be a big deal for such a fighter. But having his butt stabbed is something that would still make him subconsciously react by touching it.

  With this, Grom immediately gained the upper hand and took advantage of the opportunity to strike out with several consecutive swords.

  This man wanted to turn around and chase Xiao Yu, but Xiao Yu didn't dare to fight him, so he quickly ran away.

  The cooldown for Gust Step is 5 seconds. After 5 seconds, Xiao Yu sneaks up again and strikes once more, this time aiming a sword at the guy's butt.

  "This guy yelled: 'If you have the ability, come openly, what kind of skill is this sneaky attack?'"

  Xiao Yu laughed slyly from a distance: "Why should I come openly? You think you're some kind of noble knight, but you're just a bandit, a thief. You rob people in my territory and still want me to deal with you openly? Are you an idiot?"

  At this time, after a period of time, those more than 100 bandits had been thoroughly dispersed by the more than 100 infantrymen. Under Xiao Yu's command, they used the human wave tactic against this guy all at once.

  Although this guy was very powerful, he couldn't withstand the numerous beastmen. He tried to escape but was repeatedly caught up and finally had his head chopped off by Grom.

  As soon as the head fell to the ground, a golden light suddenly appeared on Grom's body, and he rose to level 4. At this time, Xiao Yu also gained 500 merit points from this battle, and the experience bonus also allowed him to upgrade to level 3.

  "Haha, I've leveled up and can strengthen again. I wonder what my current strength is, can I defeat that Fourth Sister now?"