Like winter before spring, time passed and several days to weeks had passed, and the 4 kids had already spent an entire month learning under Xiang Xin.
Yuzhi, who had achieved the Purple Qi Channeling Realm first had stopped mainly focusing on his cultivation and started also training his body.
Before and after school he would go on long runs, do as much as possible pushups as his young body allowed, and many more fitness techniques.
This had gotten him quite some muscles, but he didn't lose the lean feeling of grace he had before.
Besides training his body, he had also had a few training sessions with Captian Yao, who had started occasionally coming after he had achieved the Purple Qi Channeling Realm.
She had also given him many tips regarding the Entangeling Leaf Web Technique, which had made his proficiency jump by leaps and bounds.
Training with Captain Yao had also given him insight into how powerful Xiang Xin was, and while he didn't know exactly what his realm was, he was sure Captain Yao couldn't compare to Xiang Xin.
Of course, there was a large age difference between them and Captain Yao still had a large part of her life in front of her.
Due to Captain Yao's training, if the Yuzhi in the White Qi Channeling Realm was an ant compared to the Yuzhi in the Purple Qi Channeling Realm. The current him would be considered a god.
He was like a caveman who realized how to control fire.
After him, Lu Wei had achieved the Purple Qi Channeling Realm, needing only 5 more days than Yuzhi.
When they were the only ones that were in the Purple Qi Channeling Realm, Captain Yap and Xiang Xin made them spar, and Yuzhi did his best to control himself and not purposely hit Lu Wei in the face.
And soon, both Lu Yin and Liang Lei had also achieved the Purple Qi Channeling Realm. And they were currently all sitting in the classroom in front of Xiang Xin.
"Today is an important day for all of you, because today, all of you will follow Captain Ming and his squad on your first mission." Xiang Xin had a very serious look on his face, much more than normal. "I want all of you to behave and show respect to Captain Ming and his squad."
"Captain Ming asked me to brief you on this mission so that tomorrow they can depart at seven, you are expected to be at the East Gate at least 10 minutes before that." Xiang Xin then started explaining the mission, and to sum it up, they would exterminate a group of bandits that had become increasingly rowdy the last few weeks.
Besides the bandit leader, who was a cultivator Azura Qi Channeling Cultivator, no more bandit was a cultivator.
But that didn't mean they were to be underestimated. Bandits usually had above-average physical strength, fighting experience, and ruthless tactics.
If it was only Yuzhi and his classmates against only 5 mortal cultivators, Yuzhi expected them to have a high chance of losing or maybe be able to win with sacrifices.
They had no real fighting experience, much less against people who fought like bandits.
But this was the perfect chance to temper them, see who could rise against this challenge, and become worthy of carrying the name of a cultivator of the Stoney Leaf Village.
Due to excitement, Yuzhi had a hard time sleeping, even considering going to his lake. But it was already much too late to go there now, so Yuzhi let this idea fall.
'It's been a long time since I have been there, when I become an official cultivator from the Stoney Leaf Village, I will go there again.' Yuzhi had promised himself to not waste any time by doing things like going to the lake as long as he was still a student.
Fortunately, Yuzhi was soon able to fall asleep, letting the gentle tranquility of the night conquer his consciousness.
The Next Day
At 6:30, Yuzhi was already standing at the East Gate, but he wasn't alone, everyone but Lu Yin was there.
And soon, Yuzhi and Liang Lei realized why Lu Yin was "late". They also realized what the pre-existing relationship between Lu Yin and Lu Wei was.
They were cousins. Lu Yin was the daughter of the famous Captain Ming (Lu Ming), who was also known as the brother of Lu Bei, the Commander Of Stoney Leaf Village.
After quickly regaining their calm, Liang Lei and Yuzhi followed Lu Wei to greet Captain Ming.
"Hello, Captain Ming." Lu Wei had taken the lead, clearly not being unfamiliar with his uncle.
"Hello Captain Ming, I'm Xiang Yuzhi/Liang Lei."
"Wei'er, your father keeps bugging me about your safety". Captain Ming then turned his attention to Yuzhi and Liang Lei.
"You 2 must be the classmates my little Yin'er keeps talking about." Captain Ming shone with warmth and kindness, the opposite of what one would expect when looking at his tough and burly exterior.
"Dad!". Lu Yin grabbed her father's sleeve. Making Yuzhi momentarily forget this wasn't his previous world but a new one where danger lurked everywhere.
"Hahaha, come, let us not make the rest of the squad wait." Lu Ming then introduced us all to the 18 other people who would also be on the mission.
They were all cultivators, their cultivation base ranging from the Indigo Qi Channeling Realm to the Orange Qi Channeling Realm.
Well, the highest cultivation base had Lu Ming, who was a cultivator in the Black Qi Channeling Realm, the highest realm within the Qi Channeling Realm.
Everyone was wearing a costume, a few like merchants, others like guards, and Yuzhi, Lu Yin, Liang Lei, and Lu Wei were dressed as servants.
Lu Ming had told them this was because they first wanted to get attacked by the bandit group, eliminating a part of the group before going on to attack their headquarters.
The biggest advantage the bandits had over them was their numbers, which ranged in the 80.
They even had several horses pull carriages, making them seem like a true caravan.
They soon set off, going on the road to Half Mountain Village, a village having fewer cultivators than Stoney Leaf Village, but business-wise they were quite bustling because it was close to Stone Frost City.
And after several boring hours, finally, something exciting happened. They could hear the sounds of horses stomping on the ground, and bandits screaming.
With the speed of strong horses, they soon reached the caravan, with countless blades, swords, axes, and spears in their hands.
"Let us see what treasures these trash have."
The bandits were like chickens walking in a slaughter factory, oblivious to what would happen to them.
Captain Ming had already given everyone's role, so everyone knew what to do.
Yuzhi was tasked with taking the left side, of course, his role was to mainly stay behind and try to help if possible, but not put himself in any danger.
Although he couldn't do much, he was able to shoot out an Entangeling Leaf Web Technique on a horse, destroying its legs and making the bandit riding it fall on his face.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
While he had the chance to kill the bandit right there, his body just froze in fear, looking down at the bandit whose face was entirely filled with blood.
Fortunately for him, someone else came and killed the bandit.
'Is it right for me to decide to life and death of someone else, even if they are a bad person.' These were the kind of thoughts going through Yuzhi's head when looking down at the bandit.
His breathing speed was rapidly increasing, his vision turning slightly black.
'Why should I care about him, I'm me and he is he. We live different lives that have crossed paths, it's his fate to die and mine to live.' From dumb and naive thoughts Yuzhi's thoughts became much darker.
He joined the fight again, and despite not being able to do much, he was still a cultivator and was able to assist.
Soon, all the bandits, which were around 15, were all killed. While on our side there were almost no losses, they were only able to destroy a few carriages, but no lives were taken, and only a few injuries but none fatal.
Soon, we went in the direction the bandits went, passing green plains and, mounting lush hills.
Before we knew it, nighttime arrived and we sat base, waiting for the sun to reconquer the moon so we could depart again.
And soon, when the moon disappeared, trembling in the might of the sun, we were already on our journey again.
Not long after, we had found the bandit nest, and the feeling of joy came over everyone.
The bandit layer was quite small, not even being able to call a village, but the structure wasn't bad, having a wooden wall surrounding it, tall enough to block spying gazes.
"Liang Zheng, you will attack from here with 4 more men, bringing as much attention as possible to you." Lu Ming had developed a strategy from being able to see their base.
He would send one of his stronger men to the North Side of the nest, where the wood used to create the wall was weaker than anywhere else.
"Next, Xiang Feng, you will open the gate on the East side, where we will all then enter."
"I will go straight to the center of the nest to deal with the leader, you, you, and you follow me."
"The rest will go all on and start attacking the left side." The plan, while not super detailed was still something that seemed to have a high chance of working.
Splitting up their manpower to benefit from the higher strength we had when compared to them.
And soon, before the moon could even reach the horizon, the attack had started.
Chaos could be heard inside the bandit nest, clearly signaling that Liang Zheng had succeeded.
The next step was to open the gate on the east side. While they could have just made a hole in the wall like on the North Side, if they succeeded in opening the gate, it would have been much easier to succeed in their attack.
And soon, the gate was opened and they stormed the bandit nest, Lu Ming and a few others going to the center of it while Yuzhi and the rest all went left.
They didn't find a lot of bandits, and those they did weren't prepared for their attack.
"Kill every bandit you encounter". The leader of their small group yelled.
Despite getting this command, Yuzhi only injured the bandits, never killing them.
He then broke open a door, expecting something like a horse stall to be inside, but the true scene shocked him.
It wasn't a horse stall, or for any other animal a place to live, but one where several tens of humans were put, living in conditions even animals would find terrible and disgusting.
The sight almost made Yuzhi vomit, he couldn't understand what could drive a human to do something like this.
He fell on his knees, hand against his open mouth, his breath spiraling into a frenzy.
'How is a human able to do such terrible things.' Tears went down his eyes.
"Kid, this is payback for killing my brothers." Yuzhi turned around and saw a man holding a bottle of alcohol and a torch. Which if combined would burn this wooden hut to the ground at incredible speed.
It was clear this man had no thoughts about surviving anymore, only wanting to bring as much pain as possible to the enemies that ruined his life.
He was a simple farmer, trying every day his best to get by, but the amount of food he had wasn't enough.
His parents had moved to a small village where there were a few cultivators, thinking they could keep them safe from the dangers mortals like them faced.
But only too late had they realized they had entered the demon's nest just to escape a tiger.
Their lives soon became much worse, not even having enough food. And to save himself, he had become a bandit.
So what if he killed, robbed them, enslaved them?
Wasn't he enslaved before becoming a bandit, wasn't he robbed before becoming a bandit, wouldn't he be killed if he hadn't become a bandit.
But now, these cultivators had again ruined his life, and even if it meant the end of him, what better use had his life to forever torment the people that had tormented him.
He threw the bottle on the ground, the torch soon following, setting the alcohol and hay near to it blazing.
A Few Seconds Ago
Yuzhi realized he didn't have many options. Shooting out an Entangeling Leaf Web would take too much time. If he ran for it, he would probably be able to leave the hut before it burned, but all the people would be killed.
Running towards the bandit would also not do much, the distance between them was too wide, and even if he used all the Qi he could, it would be too late.
He might survive, but the other people here wouldn't
'I can't abandon these people, I must, I absolutely must sa...'
'What must I absolutely do?' Suddenly, Yuzhi felt like another him was inside his head, one darker and more evil than him.
'Why should I save these people, even the thought of it makes me laugh.'
Yuzhi started feeling strong but also weak. He didn't understand it, he was a good person who just wanted to live a peaceful life.
'You act like a baby. Like you can't even remember our past life.' The evil Yuzhi said.
'My wealth was built upon the death of millions and the misfortune of even more. When have I ever considered other people before myself.' The evil Yuzhi talked like the other Yuzhi didn't even exist.
"Hihihi, finally, I'm free." Yuzhi's expression transformed into something only demons should be able to make.
He was grinning from ear to ear, his sinister laughter filling the small room. But he couldn't waste any time because...
*BRINGHGUYLIHNJDH*
...the bottle hit the ground, and the torch followed.
Yuzhi ignored the expressions of the pitiful humans, chained to the ground, and left the building by destroying the weak wood.
"Don't leave us behind lord cultivator."
"We have nothing but our lives, please."
"Please, Save us." Countless such screams filled the back of Yuzhi, the sobbing sounds of despair, the pain of flesh burning.
But Yuzhi didn't care, he was finally himself again. Not the stupid Yuzhi who couldn't even realize that he was adopted.
How could someone like him, handsome with pink hair and golden eyes be born to 2 people with both ordinary brown hair and brown eyes?
With the age his "mother" gave "birth" to him, both of them should have died.
"Xiang Yuzhi, is everything alright?"
"Thank you for asking, I only got my clothes burned." Yuzhi gave the most perfect fake smile possible, on he had trained for countless years in his previous life.
'Finally, finally, I am myself again.' Yuzhi had a hard time containing his tears, but he wasn't one to cry.