Realising this was the case, they fixed their gazes back at the enemy before them and took up stances, including Jia Yan.
Their cauldrons burst into existence behind them as well. It was time for them to fight!
****
When Boss Bao saw their cauldrons, his expression changed. 'Two medial grade cauldrons and… i-is that a high-grade cauldron!? I've never seen one before! Unbelievable! Its pressure is incredible as well!'
What amazed Boss Bao, even more, was that all three disciples didn't show any signs of advancing their cultivation at all. This meant that they were not finished refining their current cauldrons. They wanted to bring it further!
'To think we'd find such rare geniuses here. Too bad they won't get the chance to grow up.' As he thought this, he stole a glance at Long Di who kept his eyes on the fight. 'When my men kill your friends, I wonder what kind of face you'll make?'
The Boss was banking on Long Di's pride to prevent him from making a move since the latter set the conditions himself.
Normally, he wouldn't risk his life on something like this even though there was easy money to be made, but he could see that Long Di had already decided not to act for these kids, so he and his men could have some fun while they were at it.
Before long, the injuries that plagued the three disciples began to heal at a speed visible to the naked eye. Long Di's brow rose when he saw this. "Interesting."
Most of the bandits, in particular, were startled as well.
"Don't be surprised!" Boss Bao Shouted at the bandit that was facing off against them. "Their one cauldron each is refining and circulating their somatic essence at a faster speed than several of yours. With the somatic essence they're building from this, they're able to heal from injuries fairly quickly. You need to use somatic essence to land true damage!"
When Boss Bao advised his subordinate to use somatic essence, he looked to Long Di to make sure the latter didn't react to this as well. As expected, his face remained deceased, no matter what.
'To recover from those injuries so quickly, even if they were only from normal blows. Their physiques must be of a high grade. It really is a shame to kill them.'
The bandit recovered from his shock after hearing his boss's advice. He squared off against the kids once more.
Buzz!
His cauldrons trembled as an invisible pressure pressed down on the disciples. The bandit initiated the use of somatic essence and was going to do his best to break them. How fun would it be to break geniuses!? They would never get this chance again!
Boom!
He shot off from his original position even faster than before, heading towards the group at breakneck speed!
Though they were afraid, they held their stance and kept their eyes on their opponent.
Long Di nodded when he saw this. "Good stuff. Just like my father taught me. Turning your back to an opponent during an attack to run will only quicken your death. Stand to face the attack and decide the best move to take from there."
As the bandit arrived rather fast, the dodge that they all employed, though much better than before, was still a bit clumsy, and it allowed the bandit to grasp a small opening to target one of them.
He turned towards Jia Yan who was still recovering from the earlier blow to fully cripple him.
"Die for me!"
Jia Yan's eyes widened in despair at the incoming strike. The air screamed in protest to the speed of the bandit's attack!
Suddenly, his attack stopped as he felt a burning sensation in his back.
"Aargh!"
Turning around, he saw Tie Lang's claws dripping with blood.
"Leave Jia Yan alone, you big bully!" Tie Lang was truly angry!
You could do many things to him, but you couldn't bully his friends!
The bandit couldn't believe that someone below his realm was able to harm him.
"You piece of shi—"
Bam!
Before he could finish what he was about to say a somatic essence-empowered punch to the jaw sent him reeling some distance away!
Boom!
He landed with a crash into the ground.
Feng Yu's hand glowed with the somatic essence she generated when she landed that blow!
"How was Tie Lang able to harm him that easily? I know his physique is good but his opponent is a few cauldrons above him. The cannon fodder's body should be stronger, shouldn't it?" Long Di asked the Destiny Scale behind him.
'Take a look at the boy's claws and you will know.'
Long Di looked down at Tie Lang's hands and could see where his claws were now crystalline while flashing with a cold glint.
Long Di could swear he even saw the blood vessel within shining like veins of rubies.
"Since when did the boy get in touch with a manicurist? And more importantly, why didn't he bring me?"
'I don't know what heaven-defying occupation would allow a person to attain such a thing by 'getting in touch with them,' but this is a natural divine ability that the boy himself awakened.'
"Oh, really now? So he was special all this time. That explains so much… the special part, I mean. Still, he doesn't even seem as if he even realised what he's done."
'Oft-times we look at ourselves save for when we care for another. That care commands our attention and allows us to go beyond our limits.'
"What kind of divine ability is it anyway?"
'It's a species that has faded into obscurity within the demon race. He is known as a Yu Lang Demon.'
"Yu Lang? Yu Lang as in Bright Light? Not gonna lie, I've met the boy, he's not particularly bri—"
'Yu Lang as in Jade Wolf, you insufferable cur! Oh! I apologise, I mean keyholder! My apologies for my slight!'
Boom!
The mound of rubble that covered the bandit blew apart, revealing the sorry state of the latter.
His jaw was dislocated and swung loosely like a swing set gone awry. He held his jaw and quickly snapped it back in place.
"You brats will pay for this!"
The bandit shot off again. His target this time was Feng Yu who punched him. How humiliating was it for a 7th Duan Martial Disciple to be manhandled by a 1st Duan Martial Disciple!?
He had to redeem himself.
"Wait!"
Boss Bao's shout stopped the bandit in his tracks.
"Boss?" The bandit looked confused as he wondered what his boss was up to. The latter then looked to Long Di with a profound gaze.
He hesitated for a while before he said. "I have a proposition for you."
"No."
"Wha… you don't know even know what I was going to say!" Boss Bao was incensed at being shut down like this.
"Is it smart or dumb?"
"Huh? Uhm, yes?"
"If this were TFS, and I were a certain someone's father, you would have a hole in your chest right about now."
"I don't quite under—"
"Fine.. let's give this a shot then," Long Di relented with a sigh. "What's your proposition?"
"Give me one of these kids. Now, hold on, let me explain!"
"Oh no, please go on. I have no intention of interrupting." Long Di gave him the signal to continue.
"Oh… okay." Boss Bao was glad the talk started so easily. "W-Well, let's be honest. My men can easily kill your disciples, or are they your friends? Well, regardless, they're having so much trouble fighting one of my men. Forget killing him, they can't even beat him."
He saw that Long Di was nodding in agreement with him, and this bolstered his confidence. "If by some miracle they scrape by, it won't be through his death and then my other men will certainly destroy their confidence."
He didn't want to say he was trying to kill them. This was the original intention, but he suddenly became ambitious and thought against it.
"Rather than destroying their confidence or having some other accidents happen. You can give me one of them only for a time. With this, we can forget the matches and even the whole paying me and my men the spirit stone."
Seeing that Long Di still said nothing, Boss Bao added. "A-As I said, it's not permanent. It's only for a time. We can say a month or two and then I give them back to you, only if they'd like to go back. After all, we don't wanna restrict their freedom."
Boss Bao's intentions were all too clear to Long Di and, quite frankly, it was a bit pathetic. What Boss Bao wanted was to poach one of the disciples from Long Di, since he appreciated their talents.
He probably thought it would be easy to change their mindsets towards the life he and his men had built up so as to indoctrinate them. He saw their innocence, and it was this innocence that was the easiest to mould once broken the right way.
Boss Bao walked over as he spoke. "So what do you think? Do we have a deal?"
"I see, so you chose to be unapologetically dumb." Long Di blinked especially slowly to enunciate the unapologetic part.
Boss Bao's expression changed to one of displeasure when he heard this.
Long Di ignored this and went on. "However, I'll play along with you. And if I say no?"
"Then your disciples will die."
Snap!
Sh-Shu! Shu!
At the snap of Boss Bao's fingers, his bandits suddenly surrounded the disciples!
"What are you—"
"SHUT UP!" One of the bandits shouted.
Long Di only afforded them a quick glance before he refocused on Boss Bao. "So what? You're gonna ransom them from me? You want me to give you money? Or do you really want them? And what happens when I kill you?"
"Now don't get crazy. I will kill them if you make any movements right now! All I want you to do is swear on your dao to do what we want, and then we can proceed from here. Unless you do so, we'll kill them right here, right now."
Long Di's brow rose at this. "My dao?"
Long Di knew what this meant. Having any cultivator swear on their dao was a nightmare!
A cultivator's martial dao wasn't a trivial thing. If one were to swear on it, then to not blaspheme against their own dao, they would follow through on that promise lest they be inflicted with a heart demon that would sever their dao and end their path.
For many cultivators, having their dao path end was a fate worse than death, especially for the geniuses.
This was why Boss Bao wanted a supreme genius like Long Di to do this. The greater the genius, the greater the pride in themselves and their path. They would never dare to go against such a vow once made.
Boss Bao stared at Long Di as if he already won.
Would Long Di allow them to die? No, he obviously cared for them.
To use such an extravagant treasure on them signified the care he had for them. If possible, he would use this situation to take both the treasure and the disciples from him.
"First of all," Long Di finally started. "I have no shame nor pride in myself. I can swear on my dao and feel nothing because I refuse to be indoctrinated by this world and because I am broken myself."
Boss Bao stepped back in fear when he saw the lifelessness in Long Di's eyes. For some reason, he believed that Long Di didn't put much stock in his dao and ironically this would allow his dao path to continue unimpeded.
"Second of all, they are not my disciples, they are my friends… ish, the only friends I have ever had save for a cat that, based on what I heard, could kick your ass. I could swear on my path right now and kill you in cold blood so they can be free… but I won't."
"Huh? W-What?" Boss Bao could feel cold sweat running down his back at the moment, when confusion suddenly took over. What did that last phrase?
"I won't kill you because it is the job of my friends to kill you and your group." Long Di advised.
"B-But, they can't even beat us. How can they kill us!?"
"They don't have to defeat you. Their only job is to kill you."
"Then who's going to defeat us, if not you?" Boss Bao asked.
Long Di pointed to where the bandits surrounded the disciples. "Her."
"What?" When Boss Bao turned around, what he saw sent a chill down his spine.