"FORMATION! THE ENEMY IS DANGEROUS!" The leader screamed.
"Too late, bitch" Rahu smirked.
He couldn't believe his mate, who was notoriously called Iron Tooth, was now dead. He didn't even have the chance to defend himself.
Well, the fool did, but he underestimated the enemy and paid for it.
The rest of the men snapped their heads in unison, drawing their weapons. They rushed towards Rahu, who was charging towards the nearest bandit. He stretched out his arm, and a thin light covered his hand; it was a dark, ominous violet.
"Diee, you bastard!" Seeing Rahu rushing towards him, the man swung his long machete at Rahu.
With a duck, Rahu swung his hands at the man's torso. The light cleanly passed through his body like butter.
With a thud, the half body fell to the ground. The bandits were horrified.
The leader, even more so," S-sword intent!? How? He isn't even carrying a damm sword!" he excalimed in disbelief.
With a side step, he dodged a blade that was aimed at his head. He twirled on his foot and slashed at the man, severing his head neatly.
"Hm, this is certainly enough for me to win the competition," Rahu mused. Even as he thought to himself, his body continued to move towards the bandits, who were all cowering this time round.
"Shit, spread out! Let the boss take care of him, he's too strong!" shouted one of the bandits. Realizing how strong Rahu was, he had lost the will to fight.
The leader, Bao, was in a dilemma. Although he had the confidence to overpower Rahu in a combat, that sword intent of his was too terrifying. He didn't doubt that he'd die if he took a hit from that shit.
"Grab the essentials and retreat, we all meet at the hideout," Bao shouted, from the top of his lungs.
"ARGHH, Get way, you fucker."
Before the men could even move to retreat, two of the bandits had already fallen dead.
Now, only Bao and two other bandits are left, who were checking the caravan.
Before long, two heads rolled near the caravan's wheels," Shit, he isn't alone!" Realization hit Bao like a freight train.
The forest's grass was teeming in blood, with corpses all over. Rahu, who just finished killing the last bandit, turned towards Bao.
With a demonic grin, he started walking towards Bao. His posture may have looked arrogant, but he was vigilant inside. Powerful or not, never lower your guard if your enemy is still standing.
"You! Why are you doing this?" Bao shouted. Taking a step back.
"Hm? You're asking now? After your seven men had died? Are you foolish or simply ignorant?" Rahu chuckled.
"Shut up! You bastard. Today, if I don't kill you, I'd write my name backwards!" shouting that Bao drew a saber, and rushed towards Rahu.
"What, is that bastard thinking?" Vivianne muttered; she was sitting on top of a caravan. Somehow, she was finding that face even more attractive, amidst the slaughter.
"Hahaha, you know I have seen foolish bandits, idiotic bandits, weak bandits, but I have never seen an ignorant bandit." Rahu laughed as the [Sword Aura] faded from his hand. A regular sword appeared, the one Vivianne gave him during their training.
Taking a stance, he swung his sword aggressively, blocking Bao's sword. This resulted in Rahu being forced a few steps back.
"Hmph, without the [Sword Intent], you're nothing, you weak bastard," Bao snorted. Although he said that, Bao was sweating like a pig inside.
Let alone a fifth-stage cultivator, even a peak Body Structuring Realm cultivator won't survive before being blasted off.
"It's all that masked guy's fault that I am in this situation! That bastard said he'd come in an hour, but he still didn't arrive!?" Bao snorted in anger.
"I have to kill him fast, before he pulls out [Sword Intent]"
Rahu shook his head; this bandit somehow reminded him of Vivianne. And no, not in that way.
Why was he doing this, you ask? Of course, because he wanted to test the strength of the average man in the Vital Core Realm. And indeed, this Bao guy was very much weaker than Vivianne.
The average kgf produced by the first stage of the Vital Core Realm cultivator ranges from about 20,000-24,000 kgf. An astonishing leap in power. This excludes other externals such as elemental prowess, soul attacks or other beastly traits and abilities.
And despite the difference, why was Rahu pushed back a few steps? Well, all the credit goes to our dear [Sword Aura], it had strengthened his muscles and bones to a terrifying degree unabling him to go toe-to-toe with Vital Core Realm cultivators.
Suddenly, an astonishing scene occurred: Bao's body began to stretch, his skin hardened, his nails grew into claws. A terrifying strength rippled from his body.
But his transformation did not end yet for his body continued to grow 180 cm, 200cm, 210, just as it seemed to stop,
Fwooosh!
Schluk!
A terrifying violet light flashed,
As Bao's head dropped to the ground, Rahu shook his head in lament. He just wanted to test his strength, yet this bastard decided to go all out! Outrageous!
"By the way, is this the power of the beast core? His strength, speed, and endurance certainly increased but–
"It was too slow, I know, but not all the cultivators' transformation is this slow; this one was a bit weaker." Vivianne completed is sentence.
Then he collected Bao's storage ring. Intending to look into it afterwards.
Rahu nodded, then he glanced towards the caravan, his eyes shining. He quickly approached the caravan to check the loot.
The three carts were filled to the brim. On the first cart, there were ores, Blue colored ones. There were at least 20kg of them!
"Damn, I can't believe your luck, they are really gravium ore. And that too in such a large quantity!"
"How much are they worth?" he asked, barely hiding his saliva.
Vivianne shook her head and answered," 1kg of Gravium ore costs about 7-8 mid-grade crystals. At least in the market of Merchant's Crescent in Divine Sword City."
"Haha, now that's what I call a haul!"
Then he moved on to other caravans; one had different types of valuable herbs, and the other contained a cage.
Rahu blinked in his eyes, surprised that a single large caravan contained only a single box or a cage that was covered with a cloth.
The cage was vibrating from time to time, as if something was moving inside. Vivianne too became curious and walked over.
Then he saw it. Inside was a creature unlike anything he had heard or seen before. Vivianne too gasped in surprise!