50: Chapter 50: Utter Crushing Victory, Identity Badge!

The bald man saw Chen Ran gripping his blade, and the mockery on his face deepened.

"What? A passing peasant, and you still want to play the hero saving the damsel?"

He carried his nine-ring broadsword on his shoulder and spat.

"I will teach you today: in your next life, don't meddle in other people's business!"

He waved his hand, signaling his two subordinates to attack.

The two bandits grinned hideously and raised their blades to strike.

The wind of the blades whistled, heading straight for Chen Ran's face.

Chen Ran did not retreat; he only slowly raised his head.

"Don't you bandits know how to assess your opponents before attacking?"

The Aura he had restrained to the extreme suddenly exploded at this moment.

A cold, murderous wave of True Qi surged outward from him as the center.

The surrounding snow was kicked up by the invisible wave of energy, swirling chaotically into the air.

A dense Aura condensed behind him, eventually forming the phantom image of a fierce tiger.

The mockery on the bald man's face froze instantly, and his expression shifted slightly.

"This Aura... something is wrong!"

Swish!

Just as the blade was about to touch Chen Ran's forehead, he moved.

The speed was too fast.

Everyone felt a blur before their eyes, and a gray afterimage suddenly elongated.

"Pfft!"

The dull sound of blades entering flesh rang out.

The two bandits' movements froze in mid-air.

Before the hideous grins on their faces could fade, two pillars of blood sprayed simultaneously from their necks, and their bodies fell to the ground with a thud.

Chen Ran flicked the blood off his blade, his expression calm.

The entire scene was deathly silent.

The smile on the bald man's face froze completely; his eyes stared fixedly at the two corpses on the ground, and his Adam's apple bobbed with difficulty.

He hadn't even seen how the other party drew his blade, and those two brothers who had been licking blood off the edge of a blade with him for years were just gone?

It took only one strike.

The two fierce bandits were decapitated.

This speed was simply shocking; it was impossible for him to be an ordinary person.

"Attack together!" the bald man finally reacted and roared sharply.

The remaining twenty-plus bandits gave up besieging the guards and pounced on Chen Ran like wolves and tigers.

Chen Ran sighed.

"So noisy."

He stomped his foot, and the ground instantly caved into a giant pit; he shot into the crowd like a cannonball.

Bang!

The moment he landed, it was like a wolf entering a flock of sheep.

As the blade turned, it brought up sprays of blood.

Each strike carried a piercing sound of breaking air, and every blade stroke precisely took a life.

Severed limbs flew about, and blood stained the snow red.

Screams rose and fell, only to stop abruptly in an instant.

In less than half a cup of tea's time.

All twenty-plus bandits were wiped out.

Only the bald man was left standing alone in place, his legs trembling like a sieve.

He looked at the corpses covering the ground, then at Chen Ran walking slowly toward him, and the nine-ring broadsword in his hand dropped to the ground with a clatter.

"He-Hero, spare my life..."

Chen Ran walked up to him without a word, raising his hand and dropping the blade.

A head rolled onto the ground.

"Be more careful in your next life."

Chen Ran casually threw the chipped long blade onto the ground and brushed the dust off his hands.

The surroundings were terrifyingly quiet, with only the sound of the wind and snow howling.

Zhao Gang clutched his wound, which was deep enough to see bone, his mouth wide open, forgetting even the pain in his body.

He was a dignified 7th Grade Peak Martial Artist, and he had been in mortal danger just dealing with this group of bandits.

Yet, this young man before him, who had even picked up his weapon casually, had wiped out everyone like chopping melons and vegetables? Such strength, he must be at least a 6th Grade expert or higher!

Such an existence was far beyond their ability to handle.

The remaining Su Family guards gripped their weapons, frozen in place, their eyes filled with awe and an unhideable trace of fear as they looked at Chen Ran.

Such decisive, ruthless methods were even more terrifying than those desperadoes.

No one knew where this passing youth in gray clothes came from.

He killed without blinking, and his martial arts were outrageously high.

What if he was also coming for the Young Miss?

Zhao Gang forced himself to stand up, blocking the front of the carriage, his voice dry and filled with a hint of caution.

"Many thanks to Your Excellency for your help. May I ask for your honorable name? The Su Family will certainly reward you heavily."

Chen Ran glanced at him.

"Just a random act, no need to thank me."

He turned to leave.

"Young Master, please stay."

The cold, clear voice of Su Qinghe came from inside the carriage.

The carriage curtain was lifted, and Su Qinghe stepped down from the carriage, supported by her maid.

She looked at Chen Ran, her eyes widening slightly, and her fingers gripping the book tightened involuntarily.

The person opposite wore a bamboo hat, making it impossible to see his face clearly, but judging from the lower part of his cheeks and his voice, he should be a young man.

"Young Master's strength is immense; I have made a fool of myself."

She had thought this was just an innocent commoner who got dragged into this, and had even considered having her guards risk their lives to protect him.

Who could have imagined that this seemingly unremarkable passerby was actually a hidden martial arts expert.

In this chaotic world of demons, someone with such strength was definitely no ordinary person.

"I cannot repay the debt of saving my life. This is my personal token; if Young Master encounters trouble in the capital, you may come to the Su Family to find me with this token."

She handed over a jade token, on which the character "Su" was engraved.

Chen Ran had wanted to refuse. On second thought, the Su Family had significant influence in the capital, and he might find it useful later.

He reached out to take the token and tucked it into his robes.

"Fine, I'll keep that in mind."

After saying this, he walked into the wind and snow without looking back, his figure disappearing from the spot.

Su Qinghe had just wanted to say something else, but saw that the person opposite was already gone.

She could only sigh helplessly: "What an eccentric person; I wonder if we will meet again."

Watching Chen Ran's disappearing back, Zhao Gang breathed a sigh of relief.

"Young Miss, this person's martial arts are unfathomable and his background is unknown; will there be any risk in giving him the token?"

Su Qinghe shook her head.

"If he wanted to harm us, he wouldn't have acted earlier."

"Such a person is definitely not someone who will remain in a small pond."

"It's a pity; the summoning by Wenxin Hall is imminent, and there is no time to befriend this expert." Su Qinghe sighed softly.

She turned and returned to the carriage.

"Clean up and get on the road as soon as possible."

...

Chen Ran wandered around in the mountains for half a day and finally found a hidden cave.

The entrance was covered by vines, and the space inside was quite spacious.

It was perfect for a Breakthrough.

Just as he walked into the cave, a foul wind rushed toward him.

In the darkness, a pair of scarlet eyes lit up.

Accompanied by a deafening roar, a massive brown bear stood up on its hind legs.

This bear's body was nearly twice as large as an ordinary one, almost touching the top of the cave, and the Aura on its body was extremely sinister.

This was a brown bear that was about to become a demon.

It was used to running rampant in the mountains, and seeing a stranger intrude now, it was naturally furious.

It waved its basin-sized bear paw and slammed it toward Chen Ran's head.

Chen Ran's expression was calm; he clenched his right fist and punched toward the bear paw.

"Bang!"

The dull sound of the impact echoed within the cave.

The brown bear's massive body flew backward like a kite with a broken string, crashing heavily against the rock wall before sliding down.

Its chest was caved in significantly; the once majestic brown bear demon had turned into a cold corpse in the blink of an eye.

Chen Ran casually kicked the brown bear's corpse outside and found a spot to sit cross-legged.

He looked toward the spot where Su Qinghe had last disappeared; his Aura gradually surged, and the black hair behind him moved without wind.

"Demons are running rampant, occupying mountains as kings, evil cults are rising, Wenxin Hall..."

"The capital is getting more and more chaotic; it is time for a Breakthrough."