Five days passed in the blink of an eye.
To Ian Song’s disappointment, Lone-Blade Gideon hadn’t come looking to settle scores—instead, he just seemed to quietly lie low and drop the matter.
However, two days ago, Henry Dunn sent word to Blue Dragon Stronghold, demanding that Lone-Blade Gideon hand over Gavin Loneblade.
Robbing the county treasury is no small matter—if the imperial court investigates, not only the magistrate but Henry himself will be in serious trouble.
So, after a quick discussion with the magistrate, they decided to keep quiet for now—while secretly working to replace the lost goods and investigating who actually pulled off the heist.
Back when he first saw the seven characters inside the treasury, Henry felt they looked familiar. After several days of digging, he finally discovered that Gavin Loneblade was actually Lone-Blade Gideon’s foster son.
After multiple failed attempts to attack Blue Dragon Stronghold—not only coming up empty but losing men in the process—Henry felt his pride had taken a serious hit.
Even though he doubted Blue Dragon Stronghold was really behind the treasury robbery, with no other leads, he needed a scapegoat—and Blue Dragon was the perfect target.
That’s why Henry sent his men to deliver an ultimatum, ordering Lone-Blade Gideon to hand over Gavin Loneblade.
But who exactly is Lone-Blade Gideon?
He’s the dragon-head chief of all 108 bandit strongholds in the Blackwind Mountains—if he obediently handed Gavin Loneblade over to the authorities, what would happen to his reputation?
So not only did he refuse, he even savagely humiliated the officials who came to deliver the message.
That drove Henry Dunn mad—he wanted to march his troops up and flatten Blue Dragon Stronghold right then and there. But Blue Dragon was easy to defend and hard to attack, and after several failed attempts, he had zero confidence left.
Lone-Blade Gideon, for his part, was thoroughly confused—why on earth did Henry suddenly want him to hand Gavin over?
So he called Gavin Loneblade in for questioning, asking if he’d somehow offended Henry Dunn.
Gavin was even more baffled—he hadn’t left the mountain in a month, so how could he possibly have provoked Henry?
Getting nowhere, Lone-Blade Gideon had no choice but to send scouts down to the county to investigate.
As the saying goes, there are no secrets that don’t leak out. Even though the magistrate and Henry gave strict orders not to breathe a word about the treasury heist, the news still got out—and spread like wildfire.
Especially the part about the inscription on the treasury’s inner wall—‘Gavin Loneblade Was Here’—which became the talk of the town and sent Gavin’s reputation soaring in the county.
When the scouts brought back the news, Lone-Blade Gideon called Gavin over again and had the scouts recount everything they’d learned.
After hearing all this, Gavin couldn’t help but panic. “Foster Father, I didn’t do it! I haven’t left the mountain in over a month!”
“I know it wasn’t you!” Lone-Blade Gideon replied grimly. “You wouldn’t even have the skill to clean out the entire county treasury. The real question is, who’s so malicious that they’d leave your name behind?”
Thinking about it made Lone-Blade Gideon’s teeth ache. Suddenly, a certain figure flashed through his mind—could it be him?
So he told his scout, “Go check out Clearwind Stronghold again. If anything’s off, report to me immediately.”
It was midday at Clearwind Mountain, Clearwind Stronghold.
Ian Song lay comfortably on a handmade lounge chair, sunbathing. The day after he rescued Eve Autumn, he’d sat down for a serious talk with her.
That conversation gave him a much deeper understanding of this world.
First off, this world is called the Eastern Continent. There are three countries here: the Grand Zhou Empire (ruling thirteen provinces), the Great Han Empire (fifteen provinces), and the Great Chu Empire (twelve provinces).
The three empires stand in a tense balance—there are occasional wars, but for the most part, the world is at peace.
As for the martial world, there are the Three Great Holy Lands and Nine Great Sects, plus plenty of smaller sects and clans.
The Three Great Holy Lands are Clearheart, Battle-War, and Jade Pool—each absurdly powerful, to the point that even the three empires tread carefully around them.
The Nine Great Sects aren’t weak either, with plenty of Innate-level martial artists among their ranks. They’re deeply entangled with the empires, since many imperial generals are actually disciples of these sects.
There’s also the matter of the Three Holy Lords’ cultivation—a point that puts Ian Song on alert. According to Eve Autumn, all three have surpassed the Innate realm.
All things considered, this world is dangerous, but not overwhelmingly so.
So after his talk with Eve Autumn, Ian decided to ramp up his quest progress.
The system had given him three quests: First, become the number-one bandit in the world. Second, turn Clearwind Stronghold into the world’s top bandit lair. Third, pull off two hundred different types of robberies—all within three years.
No matter how you slice it, the first two quests can’t be completed quietly. Knowing how the system works, he figured he’d have to rob all three empires and the Three Great Holy Lands to qualify as the world’s top bandit.
The second quest wasn’t too hard—he just needed to find the strongest bandit lair on the Eastern Continent, outgrow it, then take it down to complete the objective.
The third quest, though, was a headache—two hundred different kinds of robberies, each with a unique twist. That was going to be tough.
That night, Ian lit a bonfire in the clearing outside the stronghold.
That afternoon, Ian had gone into the mountains and caught a few wild chickens and rabbits. The main reason was that the camp cook’s skills were lacking—after a few days, he felt his mouth was about to go bland from boredom, so he wanted to whip up something tasty for himself.
Naturally, as soon as he started grilling, Old Stick and Sam Wu shamelessly came over to join him. Not long after, Burt "Bull" Bolton showed up too.
Soon enough, Lily Qi arrived as well—now promoted to an ordinary maid—and they all stared hungrily at the two roast chickens and two roast rabbits in his hands.
Just as the meat was nearly done, Valerie Loneblade was drawn over by the aroma. Even the other bandits in the camp couldn’t resist—they didn’t have the guts to crowd close like Old Stick and the others, but watched from a distance, hoping the chief might toss them a chicken leg if he was in a good mood.
After all, Old Stick and Burt "Bull" Bolton had spent days bragging to them about how delicious the chief’s roast meats were.
“There’s not enough to go around!”
Ian was at a loss—he’d only caught two chickens and three rabbits, after all.
In the end, he tossed one roast rabbit and two chickens to the rest of the camp, keeping a rabbit and a chicken for himself and his little group.
Once the meat was gone, Ian waved his hand: “Alright, that’s enough—go on, scatter!”
Then, strolling leisurely back to his room, he made up his mind—next time, he’d never grill meat in the camp again.
Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks and looked sharply up at the sky, a hint of shock in his eyes.
Tonight, the sky held neither moon nor stars—it was pitch black. Yet Ian could sense that something indescribable was happening somewhere above.
Just then, a terrifying pressure swept forth—and at the same moment, a light brighter than the sun appeared, dazzling enough to illuminate the entire Eastern Continent, turning night into day.