"Equipment Grade: Lower Tier Heritage."
"Enhancement Level: +10."
"Attack Power: 586."
"Additional Attack Power: 338."
"+10 Additional Effect: During thrust attacks, there is a ten percent chance of a flame explosion."
"Enhancement Condition: 85 Soul Points."
Bai Yunfei stroked the crimson spear shaft, a smile touching his lips. He glanced at the large tree felled before him, then carefully stowed the spear away. Turning, he walked to a spot not far from Li Chengfeng's right side, leaned back against a tree trunk, and began to recover his expended stamina.
Over the past few days, Bai Yunfei had relentlessly studied both the Frost Thorn Dagger and the spear. In terms of grade, the spear was clearly superior to the Frost Thorn Dagger, so he had initially used the dagger for experimentation.
The most crucial aspect, of course, was enhancement. Although he felt that the "Rare" grade Frost Thorn Dagger shouldn't be as prone to destruction upon failure after reaching +8 as common equipment might be, he still deliberated for a long time before deciding to proceed with further enhancement. After all, I got it for free. If it breaks, it breaks. If other soul masters knew Bai Yunfei held such a cavalier attitude towards a soul artifact, they'd probably be driven mad with fury.
The outcome didn't disappoint. It succeeded at +9. Then, when he attempted the next enhancement, it failed—but only dropped back to +8. This single fact confirmed that "Rare" grade equipment wouldn't be destroyed before reaching +10!
When Bai Yunfei successfully enhanced the Frost Thorn Dagger to +10, he stopped. An intuition told him that another failure would likely result in destruction, similar to what happened with common equipment after failing past +8. Moreover, with the +10 additional effect appearing, Bai Yunfei was already satisfied.
(Frost Thorn Dagger Attributes) Equipment Grade: Lower Tier Rare. Enhancement Level: +10. Attack Power: 237. Additional Attack Power: 128. +10 Additional Effect: During throwing attacks, speed and power are doubled.
Bai Yunfei had also researched this additional effect. The instant the dagger was thrown, soul force was drawn into it. Its flight speed was indeed more than double that of throwing an ordinary dagger, and its penetrating power was formidable—it could pierce through a meter-thick tree trunk and fly onward for dozens of meters afterward. Once, he accidentally lodged it deep into a cliff face and had to dig alongside Li Chengfeng for three or four meters to retrieve it.
Furthermore, if he actively channeled soul force into it during the throw, both its speed and power became even greater.
Having confirmed the lack of destruction risk, Bai Yunfei enhanced the spear to +10 as well. Because the spear was entirely crimson red and became intensely hot like fire when soul force was channeled through it, a name flashed through his mind—he decided to call it the "Fire-Tipped Spear!"
......
Two days later, as dusk approached, Bai Yunfei looked up at the darkening sky and called ahead to Li Chengfeng, "Chengfeng, it's getting dark. Let's find a wooded area to rest for the night before continuing."
Li Chengfeng stopped walking, scanned the surroundings thoughtfully, and replied after a moment, "How about we push on for a bit longer? I remember there's a small village not far ahead. Once we cross this mountain ridge, we should see it. We can seek shelter there tonight."
"Well, that works too. Let's go." Hearing this, Bai Yunfei naturally didn't object. Sleeping rough every night these past few days hadn't been particularly comfortable.
They walked on for a stretch longer as the sky steadily deepened into night. Suddenly, Bai Yunfei halted, his expression tightening. "Wait... something's not right, Chengfeng. Look over there, beyond the mountain!"
Li Chengfeng, who had been focused on their immediate vicinity rather than the distance, paled as he followed Bai Yunfei's gaze. "That glow... Oh no! It's fire! For it to light the sky like that... could it be...?"
They exchanged a single glance and immediately picked up their pace, sprinting towards the mountain peak.
Moments later, standing atop the ridge, Bai Yunfei stared grimly down at a village not far below, engulfed in raging flames. Li Chengfeng trembled violently beside him.
About twenty to thirty houses were almost entirely consumed by the inferno. Strangely, few people seemed to be fighting the fire. A group clustered near the village center, but... only a handful were moving. Despairing, heart-wrenching cries of grief and anguish drifted up to them on the mountain breeze.
"It's them... it has to be them... Again! Just like before! Damnable bandits! Die... Die!!" Li Chengfeng's eyes gradually turned bloodshot, a familiar edge of madness creeping into his demeanor.
Bai Yunfei slapped his shoulder firmly. "Don't lose it yet! I don't see any bandits in the village right now. We need to get down there fast! Rescue whoever we can!"
As they entered the burning village, Bai Yunfei was confronted by a scene he would carry with him for the rest of his life.
Illuminated by the fierce flames, corpses lay everywhere in pools of blood. A dozen or so survivors stumbled frantically, tending to those among the wounded who still clung to life. Others simply sat on the ground, vacant-eyed and utterly motionless, staring at the bodies before them. Their eyes held no spark of vitality; they were like the walking dead.
A desperate cry snapped Bai Yunfei from his horrified stupor. He turned to see an old woman with pure white hair kneeling before a middle-aged man. Her trembling hands pressed down with all her might on a vicious wound in his chest that pulsed dark blood. "Da Niu... you can't leave your mother behind! If you go... how will I live? Da Niu..." she wailed, her voice thick with despair.
The middle-aged man called "Da Niu" gazed at the old woman, his eyes unfocused. With visible effort, he managed to lift a hand, grasping her blood-slicked hands pressing against his chest. He tried to speak, but only a gout of blood spilled from his lips...
This time, it was Li Chengfeng who regained his composure first. He shoved Bai Yunfei urgently. "Rescue them! Now!"
Finally snapping into action, Bai Yunfei flicked his right hand, retrieving all the medicinal supplies he carried in his spatial ring. He passed some to Li Chengfeng and then rushed towards the old woman.
"Granny, this won't work. Let me handle it. We need to treat the wound immediately; he still has a chance." Helping the old woman up gently, Bai Yunfei crouched beside the injured man and began tending to the grievous chest wound.
The old woman, startled for only a second, quickly understood. She looked at Bai Yunfei with profound gratitude but couldn't form words through her trembling, settling instead for anxiously watching his every move, her face etched with desperate hope.
Bai Yunfei wasn't particularly skilled at treating such severe injuries, but he worked meticulously. By the time he finished bandaging the wound, sweat beaded on his forehead. However, the man seemed to have clung to a fragile thread of life, his eyes weakly conveying gratitude towards Bai Yunfei.
Leaving the old woman to watch over the injured man, Bai Yunfei stood and moved towards the next victim needing aid...
After treating several more people, the sweat on Bai Yunfei's brow intensified, and his expression grew increasingly grim. A deep, cold rage began to smolder and grow within him...
"Mama... Mama... what's wrong? The house is burning... let's go outside. Mama? Why aren't you wearing clothes? Take Fang'er out, Fang'er's head hurts... Mama? Say something, please..."
A thin, childish wail pierced the crackling roar of a nearby burning hut. Bai Yunfei started—there was still someone alive inside! Seeing the structure on the verge of collapse, he didn't hesitate. He charged straight in.
A little girl, perhaps four or five years old, knelt on the filthy ground. Her hair was tied in two little pigtails that framed a face which should have been innocent and carefree. Now, it was smudged with soot and dirt. Her left cheek was grotesquely swollen, and a trickle of blood marked the corner of her mouth—clear signs of a vicious blow. Her eyes held a dazed confusion, as if she had just regained consciousness.
Before the girl lay a completely naked woman sprawled on her side, utterly still. Her pale skin was a horrifying canvas of countless cuts and gashes, as if someone had carved into her flesh deliberately with a knife. A wad of clothing—what looked like the woman's own undergarments—was shoved deep into her mouth, mute testament to the humiliation and torment she had endured while alive, unable even to scream. Her wide-open eyes were frozen, retaining the last glimpse of boundless agony and terror...
The little girl pushed weakly at her mother's lifeless body. Her child's cry held fear, incomprehension, confusion, and pure, raw pain.
Staring at this tableau, Bai Yunfei froze for an instant, his mind refusing to accept the monstrous reality before him. A burning beam crashed down beside the girl. The impact jolted Bai Yunfei back to action. He lunged forward, kicking aside a falling piece of timber aimed at the child. He ripped off his outer robe, draping it quickly over the woman's violated body. Then, scooping up the little girl with one arm and the woman's corpse with the other, he rushed out of the collapsing structure.
Handing the girl over to a nearby villager for care, Bai Yunfei scanned the fiery hellscape. It seemed no other houses harbored survivors. Those wounded who could still be helped were mostly being attended to now.
Suddenly, a commotion erupted from the opposite side of the village center. Bai Yunfei turned to see Li Chengfeng surrounded by five or six villagers, who seemed to be speaking urgently to him.
"Chengfeng, what's going on?" Bai Yunfei asked, approaching his friend.
"I'm not entirely sure," Li Chengfeng replied, shaking his head slightly, confusion on his face. "I used my strength to lift some heavy debris trapping a wounded person. They saw me do it, and then they just... gathered around me like this."
As he spoke, the surrounding villagers abruptly dropped to their knees before them! A middle-aged man whose legs and left arm bore grievous injuries cried out, voice choked with desperation, "Young heroes! Please, I beg you! Go save my sister! She was taken by those bandits! Those bandits aren't human! My sister... she'll... she'll die slowly, tortured to death... Please, save her! I kowtow to you!" Ignoring his own bleeding wounds, he began banging his forehead fiercely against the scorched earth, the sickening thud-thud-thud echoing in the fire-lit gloom, his forehead quickly staining red.
The others joined in, pleading desperately. One begged for his daughter, another for his wife—all taken by the bandits. They implored Bai Yunfei and Li Chengfeng to bring them back. Soon, a whole crowd knelt before the two young men, their faces etched with despair, their pleas merging into a desperate chorus.
There were still captives!
Bai Yunfei and Li Chengfeng stood frozen for a second, processing this horrific revelation before springing into action to help the villagers up. Bai Yunfei wasted no words. He met Li Chengfeng's burning gaze, a silent understanding passing between them. He turned back to the kneeling crowd. "Everyone! Tend to the wounded! We will do everything in our power to bring them back!"
......
According to the villagers, the bandits had left roughly three hours earlier. After quickly confirming the direction they'd taken, Bai Yunfei and Li Chengfeng set off in pursuit at breakneck speed.
They raced across the land, the scenery blurring past them, the wind howling in their ears. Bai Yunfei's face was a mask of cold fury, his thoughts churning darkly. Li Chengfeng, however, already held both daggers tightly in his hands, his eyes blazing with a mixture of rage and implacable hatred.
After nearly an hour of relentless, high-speed pursuit, a cluster of figures materialized ahead on an open grassy area. Under the clear light of the bright moon, they could see them distinctly: three or four dozen rough-looking, vicious-faced bandits, grouped around several campfires. They seemed to be roasting something.
Beside each fire, smaller groups of three or five men were clustered together, engaged in some activity. Bai Yunfei strained his eyes, focusing intently. What he saw unleashed the inferno of fury he'd been struggling to contain since the village. His right hand flashed out—the Fire-Tipped Spear materializing within it. He slammed his foot down, exploding forward even before Li Chengfeng could react.
The bandits... they were laughing raucously while violating women whose clothes were torn and disheveled!
"Chengfeng!" Bai Yunfei's voice cut through the night, cold and sharp as the spear's point. "Guard the perimeter! Don't let a single one of these scum escape! They all deserve death!"
His gaze locked on the scene of depravity, the words tore from his throat, raw and final: "Leave none alive... Kill them all!!"