The outbreak of war brought the greatest suffering to the common people.
Countless people were displaced by the war.
Correspondingly, countless people who could no longer survive became outlaws or joined the forest, becoming bandits.
Li Qi's small village was in a dire situation.
It used to be a place of peace and prosperity, where people lived and worked in peace. Occasionally, those who prospered could trade with other villages or simply sell their surplus grain in the city for money.
But in recent years, with the continuous fighting.
There were more and more bandits on the roads.
If one ventured out alone, it was uncertain when they would encounter bandits on the road.
Losing money and supplies would be a small matter, but losing one's life would mean losing everything.
The villagers' faces were no longer filled with relaxed smiles, but with worry.
The village chief was squatting at the village entrance, sighing.
The grain harvest was poor this year, and the animals in the mountains seemed to have become more cunning. It had become commonplace for the village hunters to return empty-handed two out of three days when they went into the mountains.
The most crucial thing was that they had heard news of a group of horse bandits appearing nearby recently.
Those horse bandits were fierce.
A few days ago, a village not far from theirs had already been robbed by horse bandits.
Many men who resisted were directly killed with swords.
Some beautiful women were directly abducted.
"Bastards."
Robbing some supplies was one thing, but why would they kill people?
"How can we live in this world?"
The village chief sighed, but he had no good solution.
Should the entire village flee?
Where would they flee to? To become refugees?
Or should they just wait here for the horse bandits to rob them?
The village chief did not know what to do.
The villagers now lived day by day, hoping for the best.
On the edge of the village, in front of a small hut, a girl of sixteen or seventeen, wearing a floral dress and with a ponytail, looking somewhat timid, arrived at Li Qi's door.
"Hmm, Little Hua, is something the matter?"
The girl in front of him was called Little Hua, the daughter of the village hunter, Old Zhang.
"Brother Li, I want to buy some wound medicine. My father was injured by a wild boar yesterday while hunting."
Li Qi frowned slightly at this and took out a small porcelain bottle from his house.
"Hunting is important, but why are you so careless? Take this."
"I can't help it. Father said he hadn't caught any prey for several days, so he was a little anxious."
Zhang Xiaohua's face turned slightly red as she took the small bottle and took out some money from her embrace to give to Li Qi.
"Thank you, Brother Li. Here is the money."
Li Qi waved his hand.
"No need, we're from the same village, there's no need to be so polite."
Li Qi's refusal was firm, and Zhang Xiaohua finally gave up on paying.
However, she still said that she would cut a piece of the wild boar meat caught by Old Zhang and send a piece to Li Qi later, which Li Qi could not refuse.
After seeing off Zhang Xiaohua, Li Qi continued to sit leisurely in front of his small hut, basking in the sun.
It had been seven or eight years since he first moved to this small village.
His strength had naturally broken through to the second level of the Golden Core realm.
A surge of power rose from his heart.
Li Qi calculated that at his current pace, reaching the peak of the Golden Core realm within a hundred years should not be a problem.
If he could obtain more attribute points then, he might not even fear those Nascent Soul cultivators.
Just then, a scream suddenly rang out from the village entrance.
"Horse bandits are here! Hurry and pack your things and run!"
Instantly, the villagers became anxious and scrambled to pack some of their belongings to flee.
Unfortunately, the horse bandits had come too suddenly.
Before the villagers could even run out of the village.
The sound of hooves echoed.
Then, dozens of horse bandits armed with weapons charged over from a distance, encircling the villagers.
"Heh heh, still trying to run? Stay where you are!"
The leader was a burly man, two meters tall with bulging muscles. He sat on his horse, his sharp eyes scanning the villagers coldly.
Then, his eyes lit up as he saw Zhang Xiaohua, who was in her prime, among the crowd.
"A pretty girl, come here."
Hearing this, Zhang Xiaohua's face turned pale.
Beside her, a man with a pale face and a bandaged arm also looked grim.
This was Zhang Xiaohua's father, Old Zhang the hunter.
Old Zhang gritted his teeth and stood in front of Zhang Xiaohua.
"My lord, please spare my daughter. If you need money, I still have some."
The bandit leader let out a cold laugh.
"Hmph, ridiculous. In this situation, both your lives and your property are ours!"
"Don't block my way, get lost!"
With that, the burly man kicked out with a swift foot, sending Old Zhang flying several meters away.
Old Zhang, who was already injured, collapsed on the ground, unable to even stand.
"Father!"
Zhang Xiaohua called out with a pale face.
The villagers beside them also looked enraged.
But looking at this group of horse bandits, who were all strong and armed.
If they truly resisted, they would all likely die here soon.
"Come here, girl."
The burly man laughed heartily and reached out with his thick palm towards Zhang Xiaohua, intending to grab her and pull her onto his horse.
Zhang Xiaohua was so terrified that her face lost all color.
Just then, a piece of gravel broke through the air and shot out with incredible sharpness, directly towards the hand the burly man was reaching out to Zhang Xiaohua.
"Bang!"
"Ah!"
A scream rang out, and the burly man's hand instantly became bloody, with bone visible within.
This sudden turn of events exceeded everyone's expectations. The villagers turned their gazes towards where the stone had come from.
They were instantly stunned.
There, Li Qi stood quietly.
Was it Li Qi who had just repelled the horse bandits? He had never displayed such immense power in the village during these seven or eight years.
At this moment, the burly man, whose hand was injured by Li Qi, looked at Li Qi with fear in his eyes.
He was a cultivator of the First Viscera Body Tempering realm.
Yet, he couldn't even block a pebble thrown from such a distance by Li Qi.
"Sir, I did not know of your existence in this village before. We will retreat immediately and will never encroach upon this village again."
Saying this, the burly man hurriedly called his followers, intending to leave.
But at this moment, Li Qi's voice slowly sounded, making the burly man's scalp tingle and his heart turn cold.
"No need, all of you, stay here."
The next moment, terrifying pressure emanated from Li Qi. The burly man felt his heartbeat falter for half a beat.
"Sir, you cannot kill me. We are from Green Mountain Stronghold, and our Great Chieftain is a cultivator of the Fifth Viscera Body Tempering realm..."
But before the burly man could finish his words.
An overwhelming pressure swept through, and merely the oppressive aura from Li Qi directly caused the internal organs of the horse bandits present to explode, killing them instantly.