182: Chapter 182 Recruiting Mountain Bandits (2)

Not long after Yang Juncheng entered the bandit stronghold, a burly man blocked his path.

The burly man pointed at the patrolling bandit and demanded loudly, "Wang Er, who is this person?"

Hearing the burly man's words, the patrolling bandit immediately responded, "Third Chieftain, this is Yang Juncheng, the Battalion Commander of the Zhenbei Army Militia Battalion. He has important matters to discuss with the Chieftain, and I am currently taking him to see the Chieftain!"

As soon as the patrolling bandit finished speaking, a vicious glint flashed in the burly man's eyes. He shouted coldly, "A lackey of the Zhenbei Army has no right to see the Chieftain. It would be better to just slaughter him!"

After speaking, the burly man stepped forward, clenched his right hand into a fist, and smashed it toward Yang Juncheng's head with terrifying force.

The burly man was a Martial Artist in the Bone Refining Realm, possessing the strength of ten thousand jin. A single punch from him could easily shatter a person's skull.

The burly man's actions clearly indicated he intended to smash Yang Juncheng's head and kill him on the spot.

"You're courting death!"

Facing the burly man's attack, a vicious glint flashed in Yang Juncheng's eyes. He let out a cold snort and waved his hand. A bolt of blood condensed in the Void Realm and easily pierced through the burly man's throat, causing blood to splatter as he died on the spot.

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"

Seeing the burly man killed by Yang Juncheng, the surrounding bandits' expressions changed drastically, and they began to shout loudly.

However, although these bandits were shouting, none of them dared to approach Yang Juncheng, let alone launch an attack against him.

After all, these bandits were not fools. Knowing that Yang Juncheng could kill a Martial Artist in the Bone Refining Realm in seconds, how could they possibly go up and throw their lives away?

Amidst the shouting of the bandits, one after another, bandits poured out from every corner, surrounding Yang Juncheng, yet they never dared to launch an attack.

Soon, the Chieftain of the stronghold, having heard the commotion, arrived at Yang Juncheng's side with a group of elite bandits and said loudly, "I am Sun Xiaofei, Chieftain of the Heishui Bandit Stronghold. Who are you, and why have you come to our Heishui Bandit Stronghold?"

Looking at the Chieftain of the stronghold not far away, Yang Juncheng said with a calm expression, "I am Yang Juncheng, Battalion Commander of the Zhenbei Army Militia Battalion. I have come specifically to incorporate your Heishui Bandit Stronghold and give the bandits of the Heishui Bandit Stronghold a chance to turn over a new leaf!"

"Give us a chance to turn over a new leaf? Are you joking?"

"It's not impossible to incorporate our Heishui Bandit Stronghold, but please defeat us first!"

Hearing Yang Juncheng's words, Sun Xiaofei snorted coldly and mocked him with a look of disdain.

Afterward, Sun Xiaofei waved his hand, and the hundred or so elite bandits behind him raised their blades and spears, rushing toward Yang Juncheng.

These hundred or so elite bandits were the elites and backbone of the Heishui bandits, as well as Sun Xiaofei's trusted aides. Each of them possessed cultivation strength in the Skin Refining Realm, was very experienced in combat, and had extremely strong comprehensive combat power.

Watching the hundred or so elite bandits rushing toward him, Yang Juncheng's expression did not change. He moved his body and proactively greeted them.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Amidst the crisp sounds, Yang Juncheng's hands formed fists, carrying terrifying power as he struck the bodies of the elite bandits, easily inflicting heavy injuries on them. They collapsed helplessly to the ground, emitting shrill wails and losing their combat effectiveness.

As for the blades and spears in the bandits' hands, they could not attack Yang Juncheng at all, let alone cause any substantial damage to him.

In a moment, all hundred or so elite bandits were knocked to the ground by Yang Juncheng, emitting painful wails.

At this time, Yang Juncheng cast his gaze toward Sun Xiaofei and said in a calm tone, "Can we now talk about the issue of incorporating the Heishui Bandit Stronghold?"

Hearing Yang Juncheng's words, Sun Xiaofei glanced at the hundred or so elite bandits wailing on the ground and hurriedly nodded in response, "My Lord, our Heishui Bandit Stronghold is willing to submit to you, serve you, become the blade and sword in your hands, and slaughter all enemies for you!"

Seeing Sun Xiaofei's somewhat fawning face, Yang Juncheng smiled slightly and entered the Great Hall of the Heishui Bandit Stronghold with Sun Xiaofei to discuss the reorganization of the Heishui Bandit Stronghold.

Not long after, Yang Juncheng left the Heishui Bandit Stronghold and galloped toward the direction of other bandit strongholds.

Sun Xiaofei gathered the stronghold's warriors, announced the reorganization of the stronghold, and began preparing for battle.

Time passed quickly like flowing water, and in the blink of an eye, a week had passed.

In the past week, Yang Juncheng traveled through the various Bandit Camps of the Qingxuan Mountain Range, relying on his powerful martial strength to easily conquer and incorporate one bandit force after another.

Among them, one bandit force was too vicious; there were no ordinary commoners, and it was entirely composed of a group of ruffians, bandits, and thugs who had committed countless evils and were notorious.

Regarding this bandit force, Yang Juncheng did not incorporate it but relied on his powerful personal strength to wipe it out.

The hundreds of bandits inside were all killed by Yang Juncheng, with none surviving.

This terrified the other surrounding bandit forces that had submitted to Yang Juncheng, and they secretly rejoiced that they had joined Yang Juncheng; otherwise, they would have ended up like the annihilated bandit force, slaughtered to the last person.

"In this week, I have subdued a full eighteen bandit forces, with a total population of around two hundred thousand, among which about fifty thousand are bandits capable of fighting. This is temporarily enough!"

After taking stock of the bandit forces he had subdued, Yang Juncheng muttered softly and began to have those eighteen bandit forces select elite warriors to gather near Heishui City.

Soon, more than thirty thousand elite bandit warriors gathered in the forests near Heishui City, quietly waiting for Yang Juncheng's orders.

"Our mission today is very simple: to capture Heishui City and completely eradicate all the major aristocratic families and wealthy clans of Heishui City!"

"Beyond capturing Heishui City, apart from the major aristocratic families, wealthy clans, and rich merchants in the city, other ordinary merchants and commoners are not our enemies. As long as they hide in their homes and do not come out, and do not attack our warriors, you are not allowed to harm them!"

"I will dispatch a law enforcement team of about a thousand people to patrol inside Heishui City. If anyone dares to violate my orders and attacks the commoners and ordinary merchants in the city at will, they will all be executed on the spot as a warning to others!"

Yang Juncheng looked at the leaders of the eighteen bandit forces and said in a cold tone.

"My Lord, rest assured, our people from the Heishui Bandit Stronghold will definitely obey your orders and will not kill the innocent indiscriminately!"

"My Lord, our stronghold's people will also obey your orders; we will only kill the aristocratic families, wealthy clans, and rich merchants, and will not kill ordinary commoners and merchants!"

"……"

As soon as Yang Juncheng finished speaking, Sun Xiaofei and the other stronghold chieftains expressed their stance one after another.

After receiving affirmative answers from Sun Xiaofei and the other chieftains, Yang Juncheng nodded slightly. After discussing the specific details of attacking Heishui City and how to act after capturing it with Sun Xiaofei and the other chieftains, he put on a mask, rode a warhorse, and galloped toward the direction of Heishui City.

More than thirty thousand elite bandits also gripped their weapons tightly and, under the leadership of Sun Xiaofei and other stronghold leaders, followed closely behind Yang Juncheng, galloping toward the direction of Heishui City.