“You are a cultivator?” The young man assigned to my carriage as my servant asked. I mentally sighed. Was this how all my tutors felt when being asked questions they didn’t want to answer? “Yes,” I replied. This place had horses, but they weren’t common. The cost to upkeep a horse wasn’t cheap. In the entire caravan, I was the only one who had a carriage. The young man was named Shao. A minor detail I did not need to know. I was near the front of the caravan looking out one of the side windows as Shao sat with me. Once we stopped he would handle getting me food, preparing my bed, and anything else that I might want. I was the VIP of the caravan. While I could do that kind of stuff myself, I was not about to object to being assigned a servant. My hat covered my face, and my hands were folded into the sleeves of my robes. “Everyone is talking about the bandits, but they say you will kill them all with your metal sword,” Shao said. He clearly had some kind of connections to get hired for this job and bothering me. “Quiet, I wish to think,” I said. Thankfully that was enough to silence him. The carriage shook and jostled with each bit of movement. Since metal was highly limited, there were no springs. Without springs the ride was bumpy. The road was well paved, but it was no asphalt road. It used concrete flagstones. These people built their infrastructure to last and be quite durable. I guess the Kingdoms or at least Wu didn’t want to have to go back and rebuild the road or a city after a century. It would be too much of an expense. I did note that the buildings outside Port Farsight were made of wood with concrete foundations. Not as durable or as nice as the buildings in the city, but that made sense. Wealth flowed towards cities, not towards farms. There were fifty wagons that were part of the caravan, a hundred soldiers, a hundred baggage handlers, fifty archers, and one cultivator. Then there were the twenty or so wagons from independent traders who were striking out hoping to start making money and to use our caravan as a shield against bandit attacks. “You look like you are about to burst. What is it?” I asked Shao. “Can I see your sword?” he asked. It was resting on the seat next to me. I lifted it up and partially unsheathed it. “Amazing.” I then put my sword away back on the seat. My mind considered how cultivators would actually cultivate in this environment. There had to be some kind of treasure that had energy. The worst part was that the people didn’t die instantly. They lived long enough to scream and plead before they bled out. It was horrible. This was why mortals were helpless against a cultivator in a fight. At a certain point the difference in ability was just too big to overcome. While those two swings used up a tenth of my total energy reserves, these bandits did not know that. The bandit army was beginning to move away as I continued my advance. I heard a horn blow behind me. The soldiers and the archers from the caravan began to advance in my wake. Since I had clearly crushed the initial attack and was about to split the bandit army. I thought for sure they were going to retreat after taking such losses. Losing around 80 people, or around 4% of their army without dealing any damage to me had to be shocking. Several arrows flew in my direction. I easily deflected them with my sword, mid-air before they could strike me. “Spread out and attack! He can’t keep it up! With me!” One of the bandit leaders shouted and rushed forward. More people rushed forward as well, spreading out to try and reach me without being cut down first. Why couldn’t they just retreat? I had warned them, and they had seen how I had killed their comrades. I didn’t like fighting. This was just a massacre, there was no way they could resist me. I easily deflected several more wooden arrows headed at me and let out a sigh. Three bandits rushed at me from the front, while more spread out behind them and to the sides, but far enough away not to be worried about. I could strike at a greater distance, but I would use more energy than I wanted to. Kicking off the ground, I darted forward and then to the side and then forward once more in a zig zag pattern. If these people blinked it would appear as if I had reappeared on the other side of the three people rushing at me. They took a couple more steps forward and then their heads separated from their bodies. There were more screams and more of the bandits rushed at me. That was when arrows began to rain down from the archers that had been with the caravan. Now I had to watch behind me as well as all around. I kept moving forward and cutting down anyone in front of me. It didn’t take long for me to leave a trail of corpses right through the center of the bandit army. Turning around and checking the situation behind me, it was going very poorly for the bandits. The soldiers had made a shield wall. With their superior equipment and training, they were easily cutting down the bandits in front of them. Soldiers on the sides armed with spears on horses, were able to guard the flanks. The entire time the archers behind the shield wall kept firing arrows up into the air to fall into the mass of bandits. They were still attacking. It was complete and utter madness. They were willing to throw away their lives? It was clear they couldn’t harm me, and the soldiers were too well prepared and organized. Any kind of regular army should have broken. Even crazy fanatics should have broken after losing a quarter of their entire army without dealing any serious damage in return. Was the number disparity that much to offset such a massacre? I let out another sigh as more bandits kept rushing at me from the rear of their army. They had been split down the middle, now they had to divide their attention in two directions. Their morale was unbreakable apparently. “You can’t win!” I shouted out. I just got war cries in response. My heart sank at that. There really was no other option. These people were going to force me to kill them. Kicking off the ground again, I began to cut a swathe through the bandit army. One after another they fell. I felt sick at what was happening, but they just wouldn’t retreat. I knew this place only had the option for surrender between professional armies, but they could still retreat. I focused on killing the bandits rushing at me, but there was always more. There was a brief lull in the bandits rushing at me as I caught my breath. Over half of them had been killed. The entire area was coated in blood and corpses. Still the bandits threw themselves at the soldiers. The shield wall had turned into a shield circle. The mounted scouts were on the outskirts picking bandits off. The archers had run out of arrows and were Discover more novels on NovelHub - your gateway to endless stories. “Are you people crazy!?” I yelled out in exasperation. The only response was five more bandits breaking off from the encirclement and rushing towards me. They were more like zombies than human beings with how relentless they were in throwing away their lives. I advanced once again, moving towards the encircled soldiers, cutting down the bandits. Once I got close enough I swung out with a projected slash once more, killing around forty bandits and relieving the pressure at one point on the shield wall. The soldiers cheered. That was when the bandit army finally broke and began running away. The soldiers surged forward cutting down the fleeing bandits. The mounted scouts were particularly effective. I didn’t bother with chasing down the fleeing people. I just made my way back to the caravan. “That was amazing,” Shao said with a big smile once I returned. It wasn’t amazing, it was horrible. For people to throw away their lives like that, when they knew it was pointless, left a bad feeling in my gut. The fact that I had killed hundreds didn’t help either. “Why didn’t they retreat?” I muttered out loud. It was a rhetorical question as Shao handed me a canteen of water to drink from. “They will fall prey to other bandit groups. A lack of food. Desperation. They are bandits, why does it really matter?” Shao asked. “They lost two thirds of their army before they retreated. Do they not fear death?” I asked. “To die under the Life Light, is to send your soul back into the cycle of reincarnation,” Shao replied. Desperation and religion, it still didn’t make any sense. “It was the Kylo weed. Highly illegal, but the bandits grow it,” a caravan trader who was nearby commented. I looked at him. “Ah, my thanks honored Cultivator for saving us all.” “Kylo weed, what is that?” I asked. “A plant that removes inhibitions. It is illegal in the Flame Empire, except for very specific and regulated trade. Grows about everywhere too. Used on unsuspecting maidens and the truly desperate before a battle. Once you take it, you do not fear anything. Or at least not easily. Enough of them died, that they finally realized the battle was lost.” “They didn’t realize that at the start?” I asked with a bit of shock. Even with a drug, I had made it clear I was unbeatable. “That’s why it is highly illegal. You get crazy people who fight to the death like that. They know, but they don’t think they will die. It removes the fear of death. Once some bandits started running, it quickly became a logical issue where they didn’t have the numbers. As long as the possibility of victory was still there, they would fight until the end.” “This isn’t in the histories I read,” I said to the merchant who was explaining all of this to me. “It is not something Kingdoms would want to talk about. After the battle a tenth of those who took that drug, their minds will break forever. Either they will become comatose and waste away, or become rabid animals. Professional soldiers will fight until the end without it, since that is what they are paid for. But bandits, they have to use the Kylo weed to have the courage to fight and die in such numbers.” “Why even take it in the first place?” I asked. “They might not know. Or think it only boosts courage, not removes the fear of death. People talk, but there are a lot of stories about the drug.” “Thank you for explaining, I am Cultivator Yuan Zhou,” I introduced myself. “Trader Wei,” the merchant gave his introduction. “I would have you join me for dinner, your knowledge has impressed me,” I said. The main reason was that I wanted to get my mind off the massacre of starving druggies. While no blood had landed on me, the screams of the dying still sounded behind me where the battle had taken place. “I would be honored,” Trader Wei said. “Prepare tea for two and then dinner,” I told Shao and handed back the water canteen. “Of course,” he rushed off. “I must admit, I have never seen a cultivator in action. I have heard the stories, but you were incredibly impressive out there,” Trader Wei said. “Perhaps, but killing weak people is not something I enjoy or take any pleasure in.” “I should be grateful for that.” “So, what do you trade?” I asked the man. “Gems, mostly sapphires from the oysters collected from the Sapphire Ocean. Hence the name. Here is one of the gems.” He pulled one out of his robe and handed the small gem to me. I looked at the cut bright blue gemstone. “It is pretty. Deep color as well,” I replied and then handed it back. “Any practical use or just ornamentation?” I asked. “Mostly jewelry and ornamentation. But there are some alchemical uses. That deep blue color is unique to the Sapphire Ocean and the oysters that make the gems there. That is a major export of cities along the coast,” Trader Wei explained as we made our way back to my carriage where Shao had set up a table and two chairs outside the carriage. “I am guessing the Emerald Ocean is similar?” I asked. “Indeed. There are professional gem smiths that can make whatever you desire. I am only a gem trader unfortunately.” “Just one wagon?” I asked. “The oysters have to be fished out of the water. Only one out of every ten thousand has a sapphire gem inside. I buy up all the gems from the fishermen that are collected. My one wagon is a huge investment. Once I reach Port Nearsight, I will take a ship to the capital. From there, I can sell the gems over the next decade while my son takes over purchasing more gems in Port Farsight. I will return with money, and the process will repeat.” “That is quite impressive, and thank you for sharing,” I replied. “It is an honor. If you don’t mind, why are you so curious? I would not think a cultivator would concern themselves over gems.” “To take my mind off things and I always enjoy hearing about trade. Perhaps in another life I would have been a trader. But I am a cultivator instead. Do you know of any goods cultivators trade in?” I asked.