Chapter 132: A Sudden Turn of Events

Chen Bo walked silently, only to suddenly feel the ground trembling in rhythmic pulses. From afar, the dense sound of countless footsteps reached his ears. The tiny pebbles on the ground were constantly bouncing and vibrating. Chen Bo knew his target had appeared, but why did the momentum feel so much more overwhelming than he had imagined?

At this moment, Chen Bo finally realized something was amiss. Logically speaking, ordinary bandits could never have caused such a massive commotion from so far away.

The situation seemed to be exceeding his expectations. He feared that this operation was not going to be as simple as he thought, and furthermore, Chen Bo sensed a faint whiff of danger in the air.

"What on earth is that?" Chen Bo furrowed his brow slightly, gathering every ounce of his focus. He was fully prepared for a battle to the death, and equally ready to flee at a moment's notice.

"Hurry! Hurry! I see that brat! Catch him and get his storage pouch! We absolutely cannot let those bastards from the other mountain stronghold beat us to it, or I'll hack every single one of you to pieces!" Chief Guo took the lead, riding astride a primal beast of unknown breed that looked precisely like a giant-sized rat.

"What the hell!"

Hearing the deafening commotion, Chen Bo whipped his head around, and a harsh curse burst from his lips. Less than two hundred meters behind him, dozens of ferocious-looking bandits were charging towards him brandishing heavy machetes and roaring wildly.

The scene carried an unmistakable vibe of a Hong Kong gangster film—as if a mob of street thugs was on the opposite side, and he was nothing more than an extra in a cinematic chase being hunted down for a beating. The only difference was that the leader of these bandits was a "cavalryman," and the mount he rode was a primal beast—a creature that Chen Bo currently stood no chance of fighting against.

If even the mount possessed such terrifying strength, just how formidable must the bandit riding on its back be? Half-step Xiantian? Or had he already reached the Xiantian realm?

He realized that he had been showing off a bit too much today; things had completely spiraled beyond his expectations. However, none of that mattered anymore. The only thing he needed to do right now was run.

Yet before Chen Bo could take more than a couple of steps, a heavy blade flashed through the air, grazing his cheek and burying itself deep into a massive tree beside him, piercing straight through several thick trees that required multiple people to encircle.

The bandit riding the primal beast was none other than Chief Guo. By now, he had closed in to within ten meters behind Chen Bo, looking at him with a cold sneer. "Brat, go ahead and try running another step. I can't guarantee that the next blade won't pierce straight through your skull."

When someone puts it that way, what else can you do? Chen Bo offered a bitter smile and had no choice but to halt his steps. This time, his arrogance had truly dug his own grave.

Facing this bandit felt even more helpless than facing the giant python within the replicated domain. Chen Bo had no doubt that the slightest twitch of an unusual movement would leave his head severed from his body.

Chief Guo stared with glowing eyes at the pile of primal stones Chen Bo was clutching, and then shifted his gaze to the storage pouch tied around Chen Bo's waist.

However, he had no idea that this so-called storage pouch was actually just an ordinary, tattered bag filled with nothing more than useless sand, rocks, and other worthless debris.

Yet, blinded by the immense temptation of profit, Chief Guo failed to notice anything amiss with the pouch. He simply assumed it was a genuine storage pouch packed with a massive hoard of primal stones.

"Brat, quickly hand over the primal stones and the storage pouch in your hands!" Chief Guo demanded viciously.

"What storage pouch? I don't know what you're talking about! Who are you people? What on earth do you want? Do you minor thugs even know who I am? If you dare lay a finger on me, you'd better watch out—my father will wipe all of you off the face of the earth!"

Chen Bo feigned panic as he spoke, needing to stall for time as much as possible to see if he could come up with a way out.

Chief Guo clearly lacked such patience. He snatched a heavy machete from a lackey beside him and snapped, "I don't have time to chatter away with you here. You think a third-rate little family behind you can wipe us out? Hahaha! That has got to be the greatest joke ever told!"

With that, he twirled the blade in a dazzling arc and continued, "Since you've already uttered such harsh threats, I can't afford to let you live today. Go to hell!"

The moment his voice fell, the heavy machete morphed into a silver, crescent-shaped flash of blade-light, slashing directly towards Chen Bo's neck.

"Damn your ancestors!" Seeing this, Chen Bo could not help but curse aloud. He channeled the Nine-Fold Asura Fist to its absolute peak, threw himself into a miserable, rolling dive across the ground, and narrowly managed to dodge Chief Guo's casual strike.

"Oh? Interesting. It seems you really do have quite a few good treasures on you!" Chief Guo was exceedingly surprised to see that Chen Bo had actually managed to evade his attack.

He could tell that just a moment ago, Chen Bo's strength was merely at the late stage of Flesh Refining, but now his aura had instantly surged to the Marrow-Bone realm. There had to be some trick to this; the brat must possess some mysterious martial art capable of instantly boosting one's personal combat power.

Such martial arts existed in the Barren Continent, but they were excruciatingly rare—so rare that even the Guo family possessed no such technique. Chief Guo's mind began to race with crafty thoughts. Originally, he had intended to kill Chen Bo and simply take his primal stones, but now, he wanted him alive!

The value of a martial art capable of instantly enhancing strength was by no means inferior to primal stones; in a certain sense, its value was even higher.

After all, primal stones could always be earned, whereas such unimaginably rare martial techniques were matters of pure serendipity. If he were to present both the martial art and the primal stones to the main family, his standing within the Guo family would undoubtedly skyrocket. He might even leap to become one of the primary decision-makers of the Guo family, and one day perhaps even succeed to that ultimate seat of power!

A seed called "ambition" began to sprout and spread within Chief Guo's heart, and the look in his eyes as he gazed at Chen Bo grew increasingly bright.

"Brat, consider yourself lucky today!" Chief Guo spat a mouthful of saliva onto the ground and instructed the lackeys nearby, "Go on, tie that kid up for me. Don't hurt him—I want him alive. If anything goes wrong, I'll have your dog heads!"

They were stunned. Everyone was stunned, including Chen Bo, the person directly involved.

Only a moment ago, this very Chief Guo had looked murderous and determined to cleave Chen Bo in two with a single strike. Why had he suddenly changed his tune?

Even so, Chen Bo let out a quiet sigh of relief. All things considered, his little life had been preserved for now.

Chen Bo cast a cryptic sideways glance at Chief Guo, a trace of hidden killing intent lurking deep within his eyes. Although the fellow had spared him for the moment, he had nearly lost his life just now.

Therefore, this bandit had to die! However, executing that outcome would require a thoroughly detailed plan—a plan lethal enough to kill with a single blow.

Yet, before Chen Bo could even formulate his plan, a sudden change occurred—