32 The Mastermind

"What happened? Who dares to attack our mountain stronghold?"

At this moment, a middle-aged man walked out of a rather luxurious stone house.

The middle-aged man looked at the mountain bandits who were running away in a panicked state and frowned.

"Second commander, there's trouble. Powerful cultivators are attacking our mountain stronghold!"

When the bandits spotted the second commander, they quickly gathered around him as if they had seen their savior.

When the second commander saw this, he could not help but squint his eyes. Very quickly, he saw three women wielding sharp weapons, quickly reaping the lives of the bandits.

"What beautiful girls!"

When the second commander saw Yue, he immediately revealed a lewd expression. However, his expression quickly changed.

The strength of the bandits was not weak. However, this group of women were easily taking their lives. It was obvious that these women were strong.

"Brothers, quickly go back and get your weapons. Let's capture these three girls!"

The second commander roared angrily. He then returned to the stone house and took out a sharp long knife.

"Follow the second commander and capture the girls together!"

Under the second commander's lead, the bandits instantly became more confident. They rushed toward Huang Ling and the others with long sabers, sticks, and other weapons.

However, their expressions soon changed.

The cultivation levels of these three women was extremely powerful. They could not even get close to them before being cut into two by the sharp sword qi.

Shua!

As a terrifying sword qi flashed past, a stone house not far away suddenly split into two and instantly exploded.

"Damn it! These girls are so powerful!"

The second commander saw this scene and narrowed his eyes.

It was obvious that these three women had not used their full strength earlier, which caused him to misjudge their strength!

The strength they were showcasing now indicated that all three of them had definitely reached the true essence state.

Although he was not weak, he was only at the first level of the true essence state, and not very strong either. Any core disciple of the major sects who was at the same cultivation level as him would be able to easily crush him.

These three women were so young, but their cultivation levels had already reached the true essence states. They had to be genius cultivators from one of the top sects. Given their strength, the bandits were no match for them.

Therefore, he had to seize the opportunity to escape with his life.

"Brothers, hurry up and kill them. Don't be afraid!"

The second commander roared angrily and urged the surrounding bandits to charge toward Huang Ling's group. However, the very next second, he stopped and suddenly ran in the other direction frantically.

"Hmph! Can you escape?"

Seeing this, Yue's eyes gleamed with a cold light. The sword in her hand shone brilliantly. In an instant, she had blown away more than a dozen bandits and was charging toward the second commander.

"Damn it!"

Seeing this, the second commander's expression could not help but change. The long blade in his hand then released his true essence energy, chopping off a rock that weighed thousands of jin which smashed toward Yue.

He wanted to use the power of the huge rock to hinder Yue's pursuit.

Shua! Shua!

However, he was destined to be disappointed. The sword in Yue's hand shone with a bright light. The sharp sword qi instantly crushed the huge rock into pieces.

Whoosh!

With a flash sword qi, the second commander's body was bisected.

Such a large commotion had taken place in the stronghold, so the first commander naturally noticed it.

However, after seeing the power Huang Ling and the others displayed, he immediately decided to retreat. While the second commander and the others were fighting against Huang Ling, he quietly used the stronghold's secret passage to escape.

Had it only Huang Ling and the others, the first commander might indeed have been able to escape quietly. Unfortunately, there was still Ye Xuan, who had reached the golden core state.

The next second, a pressure that caused even the first commander's soul to feel fear quietly spread out.

His footsteps suddenly stopped, and his body could not stop trembling. Most importantly, he found that he could no longer move.

There was no helping it. The difference in strength between the two sides was too great.

A mere third-level true essence state commander was like an ant in Ye Xuan's eyes.

Ah…

Swish...

Rumble!

Within a short period of time, all the bandits in the mountain stronghold had been eliminated.

Ye Xuan, who was standing on top of a huge rock, stretched out his hand and gently made a grabbing motion. The secret passageway in the mountain stronghold immediately burst open, and then a terrifying invisible force grabbed the first commander's neck and pulled him out.

The first commander's eyes were filled with despair. He wanted to kneel down and beg for mercy, but not only could he not move, he could not even speak.

Ye Xuan could not be bothered to listen to him. His powerful spiritual sense directly invaded the commander's soul as he used the simplest and most violent method to find the information he wanted.

"Okay! Let's go!"

After finding the information he needed, Ye Xuan gently patted the first commander's body and it immediately exploded.

Ye Xuan then turned around and looked at Yue.

"Master, I..."

Seeing this, Yue's hand that was holding the Qingyun sword could not help but tremble slightly.

She naturally knew what Ye Xuan implied. Her master had already found the whereabouts of the group of bandits who had massacred her village two years ago.

It was true that Ye Xuan had indeed found the whereabouts of those bandits from the memories of the first commander.

Coincidentally, not only did the first commander of this mountain stronghold know what had happened two years ago, but he also knew some information related to the Xuanyin sect.

The reason why the bandits around Yunhei City were so brutal was indeed related to the Xuanyin sect.

Those cultivation practitioners from the Xuanyin sect were actually commanding those bandits to slaughter the villagers. Their purpose was very simple; they wanted to collect enough qi and blood essence.

"The Xuanyin sect really deserves to die!"

At that moment, there was a cold gleam in Ye Xuan's eyes.

Although the memories of the first commander indicated that he did not know whether those cultivation practitioners were from the Xuanyin sect at first, after Ye Xuan saw the martial techniques displayed by the other party, he knew the identity of the other party.

Moreover, it was clear from the first commander's memories that the massacre in Yue's village had something to do with the Xuanyin sect.

Were it not for the instruction of those cultivation practitioners of the Xuanyin sect, that group of bandits would not have massacred Yue's village. At most, they would have plundered and stolen the wealth of the villagers.

At first, that group of bandits only plundered the wealth of the village. However, under the instruction of the cultivation practitioners of the Xuanyin sect, they returned and massacred all of the villagers in Lin Shi village.

The reason for this was simple. The Xuanyin sect had agreed to give them cultivation methods, medicinal pills, and weapons as long as they massacred all the villagers.

The Mountain Wonder Stronghold, where the first commander was located, also received similar benefits from the Xuanyin sect.

Under the instruction of the cultivation practitioners of the Xuanyin sect, the first commander and the others had massacred three villages.

Whether it was an old man with a foot in the grave or a newborn child, they had all been slaughtered!