The outlaws' archers, bringing up the rear, saw Teng Qingshan charging down like a tiger descending a mountain, mowing down sixteen men with unstoppable force before lunging toward their leader, which made them jump in alarm. "Shoot him dead!" the handsome young man urged frantically.

"Whoosh!" "Whoosh!" "Whoosh!" "Whoosh!"... Arrows rained down upon Teng Qingshan as if they were locusts.

Teng Qingshan had drawn the enemy's attention, greatly easing the pressure on the other clansmen. Seeing this, Teng Yongfan, Teng Qinghu, and the others panicked.

Teng Qinghu roared, "They're surrounding Qingshan! Everyone charge together!" "Kill!" The men of the Teng Clan had fire in their eyes.

Years of training took effect; they instantly formed ranks, their long spears a dense forest thrusting toward the charging bandits. …… "Hmph." Teng Qingshan completely ignored the incoming arrows.

With a mere flick of his bintie spear, imbued with a strange, potent force, every arrow that neared him was swept aside. Spear Technique—Hunyuan Yi Qi!

The fierce bandit leader sneered, "Kid, you're courting death!" Instead of retreating, he roared and brought his heavy-backed broadsword sweeping in an arc, whistling sharply as it cleaved down toward Teng Qingshan's head. The bintie spear in Teng Qingshan's hand seemed alive; its tip touched the flat of the broadsword.

"Such immense strength." The fierce bandit leader's face drastically changed. "My blade..." As soon as his broadsword made contact with the spear tip, he felt as if it had plunged into a vortex, uncontrollably veering to the side.

"Hmm?" Teng Qingshan also sensed that deflecting the broadsword had slightly warped the trajectory of his own spear. He smoothly spun the spear, maintaining his speed, and drove it directly toward the bandit leader's throat.

The speed was like lightning! "Whoosh!" Watching the spear point rush toward him, the bandit leader panicked.

"How is this possible?" The bandit leader was confident in his strength. Even if the opponent’s spear managed to block his strike, the spear should have been knocked aside.

How could the spear tip pivot and continue its thrust with almost undiminished speed? He would never comprehend the profound mystery contained within that turning motion of the bintie spear.

The true secret of the 'Following Shadow' Spear Technique lay precisely in this 'pivot.' This 'pivot,' more accurately described, was a burst of spiraling force. The 'Following Shadow' Spear Technique evolved from the Five Elements Fist's 'Crushing Fist.' As a master of Xingyi, Teng Qingshan still spent years perfecting the transformation of the Crushing Fist into the 'Following Shadow' Spear Technique.

The Crushing Fist is like an arrow; the first characteristic of this Spear Technique is speed! Fast as an arrow, fast as an illusion!

The second is that the long spear itself inherently carries a spiraling force. Even if an enemy attacks with a saber or another spear, Teng Qingshan’s weapon can effortlessly parry the blow.

Using the spiraling force, he redirects the enemy's momentum aside, while his own weapon proceeds virtually unimpeded toward the vital point, killing the opponent. Killing the enemy requires only one move!

This seemingly simple move tests many aspects, such as 'Hearing Force' (Ting Jin)—perfectly perceiving the opponent’s momentum and using it to redirect their force aside, allowing one's own weapon to follow naturally and strike the vital point. Mastering this single move requires achieving the realm of 'Man and Spear as One.' Second, one must achieve an extremely high level in spiraling force to be able to deflect the enemy’s weapon aside.

Only a master of the Crushing Fist, who has attained the state of 'Man and Spear as One,' can perfectly execute this move. In a real battle, killing takes but one move.

Yet, this move, which appears simple, actually demands years of dedicated study and contemplation. "Ah!!!" Facing certain death, the fierce bandit leader roared and lunged to grab the tip of Teng Qingshan's spear with his left hand.

"Tsssk!" The bintie spear pierced the bandit leader’s palm. Affected by the hand, the spear tip ripped through muscle and bone, skewering the bandit leader's shoulder, causing blood to gush forth.

"Hmph!" Teng Qingshan pressed down with the spear tip, forcing the leader to the ground, widening the shoulder wound. Withdrawing the spear, the tip pointed directly at the bandit leader's eye.

"Stop!" Teng Qingshan roared. In the deserted fields, the fighting bandits watched this scene in shock.

Their leader's life was now in the hands of a youth. Instinctively, the bandits retreated and stopped fighting.

The bandit leader's shoulder wound throbbed in pain, but a flash of savage madness crossed his eyes. Lying on the ground, he violently swept his broadsword with his right hand—"Whoosh!"—cleaving toward Teng Qingshan's thigh.

"You're asking to die!" Teng Qingshan roared, his right leg shooting out like lightning to kick the bandit leader's right wrist, unleashing inner force. Smack!

The sound of shattering bone echoed! The broadsword flew up, landing some distance away.

The bandit leader's right arm hung limp, its bones utterly pulverized into dust. "Move again, and I will skin you alive!" Teng Qingshan fixed the bandit leader with an intense gaze.

Though inwardly raging, the bandit leader was struck by a sudden terror from Teng Qingshan’s eyes. He clearly sensed that if he moved, this youth would pierce his skull with the spear without hesitation.

In a daze, the bandit leader felt... that this spear-wielding youth resembled Master Hong the Fourth of the White Horse Gang.

Master Hong the Fourth, young in years, had roamed the world with three sworn brothers, earning the infamous reputation of the 'Four Hong Brothers.' He had taken countless lives; ordinary thugs would turn weak-kneed just from one of Master Hong’s glances. Teng Qingshan’s aura and gaze now inspired the same terror in the bandit leader.

"Father, are you alright?" Teng Qingshan asked. Teng Yongfan and the others rushed over, tending to the wounded clansmen.

Teng Yongfan shouted from afar, "The others are mostly fine, but..." Teng Qingshan scanned the scene and saw one clansman with his entire right leg severed, already crudely bandaged with strips of cloth, and another with a deep gash across his face, blinding him in one eye, the wound ragged and gruesome. Almost every clansman was stained with blood.

Fortunately, they had helped each other, forming spear arrays; no one had died. If Teng Qingshan hadn't subdued the leader early, it would have been normal for several clansmen to have perished.

"Hmph, Qingshan, we killed a few of them too," Teng Qinghu said. Teng Qingshan breathed a small sigh of relief.

The exchange had been extremely brief; thankfully, he had neutralized the leader right at the start before things escalated. Teng Qingshan looked down at the defeated bandit leader and demanded, "Tell me, why did you attack us?

Lie, and I'll give you another taste." "We are bandits; of course, we rob," the fierce bandit leader shouted back defiantly. "Splat!" The spear blurred, and the bandit leader cried out in agony.

Teng Qingshan’s spear had pierced his right shoulder socket, and blood erupted. Withdrawing the spear, blood sprayed out.

"Damn it, do you take us for fools?" Teng Qinghu roared nearby. "I've been to the city so many times and never encountered bandits targeting us hunters!

Damn it! Confess, or if my brother doesn't kill you, I'll stab you alive myself." Teng Qinghu rushed over, holding his spear.

The Teng clansmen knew well that hunters were usually poor but fierce; bandits generally avoided them. The Teng clansmen had deliberately detoured through the fields, yet these bandits still attacked.

Clearly, the bandits had been lying in wait specifically for them. What could possibly have made these bandits target a group of mere hunters?

The Teng clansmen immediately thought of the ten thousand tael silver note! Only ten thousand taels would be worth such a risk for these robbers.

"Release our leader," the other bandits pleaded anxiously. "Quiet," Teng Qingshan swept his gaze over them.

Teng Qingshan's previous efficiency in killing them—like mowing down grass—had completely intimidated the bandits. Even their leader had fallen in less than one exchange.

They dared not challenge him now; they were only anxious, not daring to speak. Many shot fierce glares at the man with the triangular eyes.

The man with the triangular eyes also felt a wave of panic. He had never imagined that among the thirty-one hunters, the youth he had looked down on the most was the most terrifying killing god.

"I'll talk," the fierce bandit leader finally yielded. He turned to stare at the man with the triangular eyes in the distance.

"It was him, Ergouzi! Damn it, his bastard brother works for some rich salt merchant.

Tell me, you have ten thousand taels in silver notes! Both my hands are crippled because of that Ergouzi!" The bandit leader naturally hated the man with the triangular eyes.

With both hands crippled and both shoulders pierced, his life was ruined. "As expected," Teng Qingshan showed no surprise.

Besides his own clansmen, only people connected to the salt merchant knew about the ten thousand tael silver note. "That fellow is named Qin San!" Teng Qingshan clearly remembered the cavalry leader's name from the scene at the Yangzhou Commercial Association.

"It must be him." "Who is Ergouzi?" Teng Qingshan shifted his gaze to the other bandits. "Ah!" The man with the triangular eyes’ face drained of color, and he tried to turn and flee.

But a bandit beside him viciously kicked him in the rear, sending him sprawling face-first into the dirt. "Still trying to run?" The handsome young man among the bandits grabbed the man with the triangular eyes, dragged him over to the Teng clan members, and threw him down beside Teng Qingshan.

The handsome young man cupped his hands toward Teng Qingshan and said, "Brother, we only listened to Ergouzi's word that there were fat sheep here, so we brought our men. Now that we've run into you, the brothers of Tiger Mountain Hill admit defeat!

Please spare my older brother, and we can discuss terms!"