Even if he were to slaughter every single one of them, the Life Source gained still wouldn't be enough for him to elevate the Body Forging Scripture to the fifth stage.
Having become the Liangshan Stronghold Master, he was no longer free to leave the Liangshan territory as he pleased.
This completely dashed the last remaining plan Qin Shujian had harbored in his heart.
Consequently, he was very idle right now.
Aside from practicing the Black Tiger Saber Technique and occasionally cultivating the Body Forging Scripture of his own accord, there was nothing else for him to do.
Suddenly.
Wang Tiezhu hurried in from outside with a flurried expression. Upon seeing Qin Shujian, he immediately reported, "Reporting to the Stronghold Master, a merchant caravan has entered our Liangshan territory!"
"Where are they?!" Qin Shujian instantly straightened up in his seat.
A merchant caravan!
That meant a source of wealth had arrived.
Wang Tiezhu said, "On Jingyang Road, about twenty miles east of the Liangshan stronghold."
"What is the strength of the caravan?"
"There are twenty or thirty guards. Judging by their strength, they should be about the same as our brothers," Wang Tiezhu answered truthfully.
Twenty or thirty guards—that was indeed quite a number.
But let us not forget, the Liangshan Stronghold boasted a full seventy bandits.
Therefore, the moment Wang Tiezhu finished speaking, Qin Shujian abruptly stood up and issued his command: "Pass down my orders: except for a few men left behind to guard the stronghold, all brothers are to come with me. I want to see for myself who dares to conduct trade and transport goods within my Liangshan territory without permission."
"Understood, subordinate obeys."
Following that, the entire Liangshan stronghold sprang into action.
Though these bandits possessed low intelligence, they were capable of absolute obedience where orders were strictly executed.
Out of the seventy bandits, Zhang Tieniu had taken four away, leaving sixty-five.
Now Qin Shujian left another ten behind to hold the fort, meaning the remaining fifty-five bandits would march out with him.
At the word of command, the swarm of bandits rushed down the Liangshan mountain like a hive of bees.
——
Jingyang Road.
Both sides featured slightly steep slopes overgrown with withered yellow weeds, while the middle formed a path just wide enough for people to pass through.
A merchant caravan accompanied by a dozen or so carriages was slowly driving along Jingyang Road, escorted closely by twenty or thirty guards with sabers and swords tucked at their waists.
Rumble!
Several large boulders rolled down from the slopes on both sides, blocking the front and rear paths of the caravan.
The tremendous commotion of the falling rocks immediately stirred up panic among the horses, forcing the moving carriages to come to a halt.
"Kill!"
"Kill! Kill!"
Earth-shattering battle cries came from all directions.
A group of ragged bandits wielding broadswords charged down from the slopes, surrounding the caravan tightly.
Swish! Swish!
Sabers and swords left their scabbards as the caravan guards instinctively formed a protective ring around the horses, squaring off against the bandits.
"This mountain was opened by me, these trees were planted by me. If you wish to pass this way, leave the toll money behind!"
Qin Shujian stepped out from behind the throng of bandits, gazing at the caravan before him. His Tiger-Head Saber reflected a dazzling, chilling light in the sunlight.
"May I ask which of you is in charge? Step out and let's have a chat."
As his voice trailed off, a slight commotion rippled through the caravan.
A plump middle-aged man clad in brocades and silks walked out from among the guards, cupping his fists with a beaming smile: "I am Han Jing, manager for the Chengyun Firm. I wonder if the brave heroes before me are from the Liangshan stronghold?"
"Since you know we are men of the Liangshan stronghold, why did you trespass into our Liangshan territory without permission?" Qin Shujian narrowed his eyes, speaking indifferently.
He had never heard of this Chengyun Firm.
However, just by looking at the jade rings worn on all ten of Han Jing's fingers, one could tell that this Chengyun Firm was ridiculously wealthy.
Qin Shujian attempted to peer through the other's attributes.
Yet the stealth-piercing skill that allowed him to see anyone's stats within the Liangshan stronghold proved completely useless when applied to Han Jing right now.
Not only that.
As his gaze swept over everyone from the Chengyun Firm, he couldn't make out the slightest shred of their attributes either.
This also demonstrated that only people belonging to the same faction could possibly view each other's attribute information.
Han Jing glanced around at the numerous Liangshan bandits, the smile on his face growing even broader: "I have long heard that Stronghold Master Wu Sheng of Liangshan is a renowned expert in these parts. I wonder if Stronghold Master Wu came along this time?"
"Stronghold Master Wu is not here, but Stronghold Master Qin certainly is."
Han Jing was momentarily stunned, then let out a hearty laugh: "So it is Stronghold Master Qin in person. I am truly blind."
With that, he pulled a flat, oblong wooden box from his bosom and signaled the guard beside him to hand it over.
"The Chengyun Firm is visiting these esteemed parts for the first time, and any discourtesies or improprieties are bound to happen. Please accept this small, meager token of the firm's sincerity, Stronghold Master Qin."
Taking the box, Qin Shujian opened it directly in front of everyone.
Ten gleaming silver ingots lay neatly arranged inside.
"You have obtained ten taels of silver!"
In his mind, the system notification arrived right on cue.
The entire Liangshan stronghold only possessed assets worth fifty taels of silver, so the ten taels of road-toll money Han Jing handed over could hardly be considered a small sum.
Only—
Qin Shujian looked at the dozen or so carriages of the Chengyun Firm, whose wheel axles had left deep impressions on the passing road.
Pockets of the ten taels of silver safely secured, a faint smile surfaced on his face.
"The Liangshan stronghold accepts the Chengyun Firm's kind intentions. Seeing as these falling rocks have blocked your path, why don't we help your esteemed firm clear them away?"
"There's no need to trouble you brave heroes with such a trivial matter."
"It's no trouble at all." Ignoring Han Jing's refusal, Qin Shujian directly ordered all the bandits surrounding the Chengyun Firm to go and move the large boulders blocking the path ahead.
Seeing this, Han Jing maintained a faint smile on his face, though a cold glint flashed obscurely in his eyes.
The Chengyun Firm enjoyed a reputation across the entire country, yet now a mere little Liangshan stronghold dared to demand road-toll money from them.
If word of this matter got out, it would deal a not-insignificant blow to their reputation.
Walking the jianghu in the future, I'm afraid any stray cat or dog would dare to intercept his Chengyun Firm.
However, given that the Liangshan stronghold held the upper hand at the moment, and while his side did have quite a few guards, getting into a direct conflict with them still carried massive risks.
Therefore, Han Jing had no intention of falling out with the Liangshan stronghold right now.
Once this batch of goods was delivered to its destination, he had plenty of ways to deal with a tiny Liangshan stronghold.
Just as Han Jing's mind was racing, a tremendous commotion erupted from the slopes on both sides once more.
Rumble!
A dozen or so boulders came tumbling down from the slopes, and judging by their rolling trajectory, they were squarely sandwiching the Chengyun Firm right in the middle.
"Not good!" Han Jing cried out in alarm.
The rest of the caravan guards also descended into a state of intense panic at that moment.
The horses that had been standing still suddenly seemed to sense some threat, growing restless and eager to flee the scene.
Han Jing had no time to overthink. Seeing a boulder plunging right toward his head, it was already too late to dodge. He had no choice but to unleash the full force of both palms, slamming them heavily against the boulder.
Thud! Boom!
Killing and arson bring golden belts; repairing bridges and paving roads leave no corpses behind.
Only now could Qin Shujian truly comprehend the meaning of this phrase.
The harvest from wiping out the Chengyun Firm this time was by no means small.
With such a batch of silver, the Liangshan stronghold would hardly need to worry about food for quite some time to come.
However.
Compared to this batch of cargo, another matter made Qin Shujian even happier.
And that was the 83 points of Life Source.
One could say this was the very first time in his life he had ever acquired such a massive amount of Life Source.
Had it not been for the contribution of the Chengyun Firm, even slaughtering every single bandit in the Liangshan stronghold wouldn't necessarily have yielded this much Life Source.
Most importantly.
Through this incident, Qin Shujian discovered another method for acquiring Life Source.
Namely—
When the people under his command killed NPCs, he himself would likewise obtain the corresponding Life Source.
To Qin Shujian, this point could be considered a matter of paramount importance.
It would even play a decisive role in his future endeavors.
One had to know that just to step into the Martial Entry Fifth Stage right now might require over a hundred points of Life Source, let alone what lay beyond the fifth stage, such as the Martial Entry Sixth Stage or Martial Entry Seventh Stage.
Further down the road, the improvement of each realm would undoubtedly require an astronomical figure.
Depending on Qin Shujian alone, he could probably kill until the end of time and still fail to gather enough Life Source for advancement.
Yet things were completely different now.
Not only could he gain Life Source by killing NPCs himself, but his subordinates could also gain Life Source by killing them.
Not to mention, in the future, killing players might yield Life Source just the same.
In the battle against the Chengyun Firm, Qin Shujian had only slain Han Jing himself.
All the remaining caravan guards were dispatched by the Liangshan stronghold bandits.
In other words, had he acted entirely alone, it would have been utterly impossible for him to annihilate everyone from the Chengyun Firm, nor could he have reaped this much Life Source.
At first, Qin Shujian had been vexed about becoming the Liangshan Stronghold Master, viewing it as a constraint upon himself.
But now—
Qin Shujian had completely abandoned that notion.
Being a bandit is wonderful.
Being a bandit chieftain is even more wonderful.
Right now the Liangshan bandits numbered only seventy, and their strength wasn't much to speak of, but what if this base was scaled up by double, or even tenfold? The strength of the Liangshan stronghold would undoubtedly increase by geometric proportions.
And while the strength of the Liangshan stronghold grew, it also meant he could obtain even more Life Source.
What are bandits meant for?
Plundering homes and robbing villages?
Bullying the weak?
For Qin Shujian, none of that mattered.
What mattered was that he had found a shortcut to rapidly enhance his own strength.
Today, yet another wild ambition blossomed in Qin Shujian's heart.
He was going to be the biggest bandit chieftain of all.
This didn't conflict with his original goal; rather, the two complemented each other.
"Sigh, human life truly requires goals, so that one has the driving force to push forward!" Qin Shujian's lips curled into a smile, his mood improving vastly.
Yet the most important task right now was still to elevate his own strength first.
Staring at those 83 points of Life Source, Qin Shujian fell into deep thought.
According to his estimation, he should only need another thirty-odd points of Life Source to elevate the Body Forging Scripture to the fifth stage.
Though this gap wasn't huge, it wasn't small either; bridging it in the short term would be no easy feat.
Judging from his battle with Han Jing, although external assistance had helped him seize the initiative, spoken seriously, the true cause of his crushing superiority was still that mastery-level Black Tiger Saber Technique.
Through actual combat, Qin Shujian finally understood just how much of a boost a single Black Tiger Saber Technique could provide.
"A mastery-level Black Tiger Saber Technique is already like this. If I could push it to the next level, my strength would likely soar tremendously even without raising my realm." Qin Shujian's eyes flickered, and ultimately, a thought stirred within his mind.
Aowr!
An earth-shaking roar rang out.
A black tiger, two human heights tall, bounded through the mountain forest, its every movement and stillness fully displaying the majesty of the king of beasts.
A fierce, ferocious aura instantly washed over him.
Then, the black tiger lunged forward abruptly, pouncing to slaughter what lay ahead.
...
Boom!
Qin Shujian's heart shook as a tide-like wave of comprehension surged over him instantly.
In that moment, he seemed to transform into a black tiger, roaring proudly amidst the mountain forests.
The Black Tiger Saber Technique, consisting of three moves and eighteen stances, seemed to spring to life, presenting itself one by one within his mind.