The scene was quiet for about two breaths.
All the bandits on the scene couldn't believe that this seemingly ordinary patrol officer had actually twisted and broken the Bone Severing Broadsword!
Is this even humanly possible?
The bandits were shocked. One of them immediately stepped forward and respectfully asked Chen Xia, "Sir, we don't know which hero you are in the Jianghu. Please forgive our ignorance and accept our apologies for the offense. Please spare us, and we will certainly compensate you afterwards!"
Chen Xia flicked his finger on the hovering Bone Severing Broadsword in front of him, causing the blade to tremble violently. A small crack appeared in the middle and quickly spread out like a spider web until it reached the entire blade.
With a crashing sound, the Bone Severing Broadsword shattered into pieces like broken glass and fell to the ground.
The burly man was stunned, having never seen such brutal power before. He was at a loss for words.
It was obvious they had kicked an iron plate this time.
The bandit who had just spoken hurriedly said again, "Warrior, we brothers were originally border troops. We deserted because of serious injuries from the battlefield and didn't want to die. That's why we fled here. It took us a long time to recover from our injuries, and we only wanted to take some money to return home. We didn't intend to harm anyone. Please warrior, spare us. We have a lot of valuables hidden in the mountains. As long as you spare us, we'll take you to get it all."
Chen Xia looked over the man. His refined clothing and frail build suggested he was likely the strategist among the bandits.
This kind of person was the most despicable, as the worst ideas usually came from him.
The burly leader then spoke up, "Let's talk this through. I have a brother in the Jianghu just ten li from here. His name is Zang Hua Shou Yang Gang. You must have heard of him."
Chen Xia frowned and cautiously asked, "Is he very powerful?"
The burly man nodded and quickly replied, "He can smash rocks barehanded and break through walls with his fists. His palms can stop flowing water!"
Chen Xia blinked twice and continued asking, "That's it?"
When his Strength reached 2, he could easily accomplish those feats.
Seeing that Chen Xia didn't look surprised at all, the burly man immediately felt something was wrong. But before he could say more,
Chen Xia suddenly stretched out his hand, striking as swiftly and fiercely as the most venomous snake.
But he didn't hit the burly man's head. His hand stopped next to the man's ear.
The burly man's heart tightened, then relaxed, thinking his brother's reputation had worked.
But the next moment, a huge gale exploded right by his ear, instantly rupturing his eardrums. The force continued surging towards his brain!
In less than three breaths,
the burly man bled from all seven orifices and collapsed to the ground, gradually losing his life.
There was dead silence. The bandits' eyes were wide with shock and disbelief.
Only then did Chen Xia turn to face them. He tidied his robes that had been ruffled by the night wind, smiled, and said,
"Let me introduce myself again. I'm called Chen Xia. I'm the outstanding patrol officer who has consecutively won Tail Creek Town's top honors for four terms. You can call me Patrol Officer. Of course, don't worry if you can't remember. You'll forget after you're reincarnated anyway."
His implied meaning was that none of the bandits present would live.
"Spare us, warrior! Spare us!" The strategist-looking bandit immediately knelt before Chen Xia pleading for his life.
Chen Xia flicked his toe, and a small pebble shot out with a piercing sound, instantly drilling through the man's skull and ending his life.
"Forget about pleading. You can try resisting or running away."
Chen Xia indifferently murmured as he stepped towards the group of bandits.
"Charge! Brothers, fight this damned dog!"
One of the bandits yelled ferociously and hacked at Chen Xia with his saber.
Chen Xia slapped the blade away, then caught the falling blade and casually flung it back, drilling straight through the man's skull.
It only took two breaths to kill a bandit.
Moreover, Chen Xia killed them casually as he walked. It was done with the utmost ease.
"Run! This guy's a monster we can't beat. Run!"
One bandit's mind collapsed. He could no longer endure this. He leapt towards the courtyard wall, heedless of the spikes on top.
But he didn't get far before Chen Xia kicked a pebble to kill him.
In less than ten minutes, Chen Xia had killed all twenty-some bandits, including the blacksmith.
He didn't have a single drop of blood on him, not even on his hands.
Inside the window, Zhen gaped at this incredible side of Brother Xia she had never known before.
"Little Zhen?" Chen Xia called into the room.
Zhen immediately opened the window and waved, "Brother Xia!"
Seeing that Zhen was unharmed, Chen Xia felt relieved. He stood guard in the yard to wait for the town chief in the morning.
Zhen sat with Chen Xia on the railing, completely unafraid despite the dozens of corpses before them. She chatted and laughed with him.
The next morning...
Early rising villagers discovered horseshoe prints and immediately alerted the whole town in fright.
The residents grew cautious, arming themselves with kitchen knives and farming tools to search. Soon they found Zhen's broken front gate, with blood inside.
Their hearts thudded. This was bad. They hurried in to check.
The scene was even more shocking than they imagined.
Over twenty bandit corpses were haphazardly strewn about, all with the same cause of death - a hole through the skull.
Zhen was sleeping soundly, leaning against the doorframe and covered in an officer's coat.
Chen Xia sat holding a notebook, recording the number of bandit bodies. Sensing people arrive, he looked up, saw the tool-wielding crowd, and waved his hand.
"It's fine. Go get the town chief."
The residents' hearts shook with shock. They hurriedly went to fetch the town chief.
When the chief arrived, he carefully inspected the scene against the wanted posters from the city. He nodding decisively, "There's no doubt. These are the bandits from outside on the city's wanted list."
The crowds were astounded. So the bandits really had entered the town last night!
But what shocked them even more was that all the bandits who entered were dead, with only Chen Xia present.
Could Chen Xia have done this alone?
Seeming to sense their doubts, Chen Xia smiled and explained, "I've trained in martial arts since childhood, and was even passed down teachings from Jianghu masters when I was young. Killing a few bandits is nothing."
In simpler terms, he meant:
I've been super powerful since I was a kid. Killing a few bandits is like killing chickens.
At least that was how the residents interpreted it. They now looked at Chen Xia with awe.
"Oh right. The blacksmith was privately working with the bandits, so I executed him too." Chen Xia added.
The crowds nodded. That blacksmith was always up to no good, and had no family. It wasn't surprising he would work with bandits.
Some had even suspected him of being the bandit's insider in town, just lacking evidence.
The town chief carefully examined the bandit corpses. When he saw the leader, he suddenly froze but said nothing. After everyone left, he called Chen Xia over and worriedly said,
"Xia'er, the leader of these bandits you killed, Yang Li. Do you know he has a brother named Yang Gang?"
Chen Xia thought for a bit then nodded. "I think he mentioned that. Why?"
The town chief shook his head. "There are things you don't know. His brother is an infamous local tyrant within dozens of li. Relying on learning some martial arts, he bullies men and assaults women. I heard he even got involved with an Immortal Sect in the last two years!"
"Immortal Sect?" Chen Xia asked in confusion. Scenes of the cultivator annihilating the city with one hand on his first day flashed through his mind.
If it really was that kind of cultivator, then forget fighting. They'd have to negotiate an evacuation of the whole town!
The town chief explained, "The sect is over a hundred li from here. It rose to prominence in the last two hundred years. Its founder was a disciple of an outer realm Immortal Clan. It's said he has the terrifying abilities to sever rivers with one hand and conjure fire and water."
Oh, so just a disciple of an Immortal Clan. From the chief's description, he didn't sound too impressive, certainly far from the cultivator who could raze a city with one hand.
The town chief continued, "Yang Gang had some talent and was accepted by the sect as a disciple. He left to cultivate two years ago. There's no telling when he'll be back - ten years, twenty years..."
"Cultivation in the mountains is unpredictable. But when he returns to avenge his brother Yang Li..."
Hearing this, Chen Xia felt a bit more at ease instead. So it would take decades? Then there was nothing to fear. He could slowly increase his points over time.
By then, who knew who would beat who when Yang Gang returned.
The town chief sighed and shook his head as he looked over Chen Xia. He advised, "Why don't you take the bandits' reward money and flee somewhere else to live in peace, Xia'er?"
"No need." Chen Xia declined and gave an unarguable reason.
"I'm very powerful!"
————
After resolving the bandits, Chen Xia got credit for merit and was promoted to Patrol Captain, the sole patrol officer.
He would likely become town chief after the current one retired.
Zhen had grown up too. But she didn't care for the feminine arts of zither, chess, calligraphy and painting. She wanted to learn martial arts.
Perhaps inspired by watching Chen Xia kill the bandits that day, Zhen now dreamed of becoming a warrior like him. She even pleaded adorably for Chen Xia to teach her.
"Brother Xia, teach me please? I want to learn some self-defense too. You won't always be by my side, you know."
It was hard to imagine the usually shy Zhen saying such things. She must have grown quite close and comfortable with Chen Xia.
Chen Xia could only shrug helplessly. He obviously couldn't increase Zhen's points.
Left without a choice, Chen Xia passed a basic military boxing style to Zhen, telling her to practice whenever free to temper her foundation and strengthen her body.
Zhen actually believed him. Every morning she would practice one set, then press down with both hands to sink her energy to the dantian, looking quite professional.
Time passed leisurely like this.
Chen Xia would always add his points into Strength, until it reached 10.
The eleventh year...
Chen Xia made an unusual decision.
He stopped adding points to Strength.
Instead, he added them to Luck.
As everyone knew, Strength and magic power could be obtained through cultivation. While not easy, the prerequisites were simple.
The matter of luck is the most ethereal of the ethereal. Throughout history, those with great luck have been few and far between, which shows just how rare it is.
Previously, Chen Xia had added points to his strength because he urgently needed more power, but that urgency has passed and he can take it slowly now. Naturally then, he should add points to his luck.
【Luck +1 added successfully】
With this prompt sounding out, the point had been added.
Nothing strange happened, everything was the same as before without any change.
Chen Xia lifted his arm and found there really was no change. He shook his head, thinking that something like luck didn't really have any tangible changes, he would have to wait and see.
From that day forth, Chen Xia frequently found money on the ground. Just going for a stroll he could pick up several silver coins, and the money he found in a week added up to more than his monthly salary.
Most crucially, no one came to claim this money.
And it wasn't just finding money, when Chen Xia went fishing, as soon as he cast his hook and it hit the water before the float even came up, the fish would already be biting eagerly.
In less than 10 minutes his wooden tub for holding fish was full, leaving the old man fishing next to him staring blankly in shock.
Most ridiculous was that later Chen Xia didn't even need bait on his hook, just throwing it in the water still got fish biting.
The old men fishing were completely baffled, asking if Chen Xia was the reincarnation of the Dragon King, he was so amazing?!
Aside from fishing, there was also hunting. As soon as Chen Xia drew his bow, rabbits, deer, foxes and more in the forest would eagerly run out to meet the arrow.
Chen Xia even managed to shoot two animals with one arrow. In less than half an hour he had caught what the other hunters usually got in a year, and only stopped when he got bored.
The other hunters were left sweating in fear.
It was lucky he didn't hunt these animals to extinction.
Chen Xia's luck had reached the level of influencing nature.
And now his strength was also formidable. With 10 points added he could easily smash boulders with one punch, and flick his finger to tear through the air, creating a vacuum.
Xu Zhen was now 23, already a spinster, long past the age when she should be considering marriage, yet she had not been betrothed.
Matchmakers had come to her door several times but Xu Zhen always refused, not saying what type of man she liked, only that the time wasn't right and there was no hurry.
Chen Xia did not interfere with this, leaving it up to Xu Zhen herself.
Only as Xu Zhen grew older did she become more fond of sticking close to Chen Xia, often following him on patrols and frequently visiting his home.
Chen Xia was now in his mid thirties but did not look old at all, still having the same appearance as before.
"Brother Xia, I made this steamed fish, try it and see if the taste is good?"
"Brother Xia, let's go fishing together. Last time you finished it all yourself and I didn't even catch one."
"Brother Xia, how come you're still so young? This won't do, what if I get old and you're still young, that would be awful, definitely no good!"
Time passed by in Xu Zhen's cries of "Brother Xia".
It was probably the 13th year when Xu Zhen finally received news of her father's death, which had occurred years ago with no body recovered.
That night Xu Zhen cried until her eyes were red, sobbing for a long time.
Chen Xia just stood by her side silently accompanying her.
"Brother Xia, do you think there is anyone left in this world who truly cares about me?" Xu Zhen stemmed her sobs, looking at Chen Xia sorrowfully with red eyes.
"Mm." Chen Xia nodded. "There is."
"Who?" Xu Zhen dried her teary eyes with her sleeve and asked.
"Me." Chen Xia answered plainly.
Xu Zhen lowered her head slightly, wringing her hands together. She was not surprised by this answer but still felt somewhat flattered. She pondered briefly before suddenly looking up boldly with one hand on her chest.
"Brother Xia, actually...actually...I..."
A dazzling light suddenly rose up in the town, shining exceptionally bright.
Xu Zhen's confession of "I like you" was forced to stop as she and Chen Xia walked towards the light.
Before they even got close, they first heard a loud...
"The Immortal Master is taking disciples!"