Focusing all natural energy in her cultivation sea, she willed her blood to move, to flow into his eye sockets with a sinister purpose. The bandit's screams intensified as the blood invaded his eyes, moving behind his eyeball piercing through the delicate tissue from inside and destroying his vision.
Agony enveloped him as the blood continued its relentless assault, tearing through his eyeballs and rendering him blind. In a haze of pain and terror, the bandit recoiled, his grip on Mei Lin loosened.
"What have you done to my eyes?" the bandit groaned, grappling with the pain. Blinded and desperate, he began choking Mei Lin with his bare hands. Xu Yi swung his sword at the bandit's head with all his strength, aiming to free Mei Lin. It took two powerful strikes before the bandit finally released her.
Mei Lin's neck was covered in blood, but she had used her blood manipulation to reinforce the skin and muscles beneath, preventing the bandit from crushing her windpipe. However, her natural energy quickly depleted, and the reinforced layer faded before Xu Yi could incapacitate the bandit.
As the bandit attempted to rise, Xu Yi kicked him in the head, sending him sprawling to the ground. With his second stage of Body Tempering, Xu Yi's physical strength surpassed that of a wooden sword. He relentlessly beat the now-awakening bandit next to Mei Lin, who all sought to grab the crystal knife lying on the ground.
The bandit proved the quickest, seizing the knife, but Xu Yi stomped on his hand, shattering his fingers beneath the handle. Lunging forward, Xu Yi pummeled him with his bare fists, raining blows onto his bloodied face.
It was like hitting the wall. His hands were bleeding and his hand knuckles were exposed. Blood was everywhere as Xu Yi was landing his hits into his face. Mei Lin crawled to the knife and picked it up.
The bandit felt Mei Lin grab the knife and push Xu Yi towards him. Both of them fell to the ground in a tangled heap. As they struggled to get up, the bandit, blinded and desperate, began shouting at them, hoping to lower their defenses so he could strike.
"Do you think something will happen if you kill me now? Once the barrier around the caravan disappears, everyone from the caravan will die. If you tell me how we can get inside, I will inform the leader, and he will let you live," the bandit threatened, his voice filled with urgency and desperation.
Mei Lin didn't believe him, but Xu Yi, foolishly hopeful, started to ask him questions. "Will you let my father go?" he asked.
"Of course. Once we get what we want, we will let everybody go. Alright, I will tell you," the bandit replied eagerly, his tone dripping with deceit. Xu Yi cautiously grabbed hold of half of the machete, preparing himself for what might come.
Mei Lin also readied her knife, waiting to see what would happen next. Then the bandit attacked. With his eyesight gone, he had to act before they got too far away from him. Mei Lin signaled to Xu Yi to drop his machete to the ground, and as the weapon hit the floor, the bandit rushed forward. He assumed Xu Yi was unarmed and unaware of Mei Lin's crystal knife, still hidden somewhere on the ground. With the sound of the machete hitting the ground, he charged towards Xu Yi.
The bandit, now blinded and driven by pure rage, launched himself at Xu Yi with murderous intent. The sheer ferocity of his assault took Xu Yi by surprise. In a desperate attempt to defend himself, Xu Yi managed to grab the bandit's knife hand, preventing him from pulling the blade out after it pierced through Xu Yi's fist. However, this only served to infuriate the bandit further.
With his other hand, the bandit began to pummel Xu Yi relentlessly, each blow landing with brutal force. Xu Yi's face quickly became a mess of blood and bruises, the pain overwhelming his senses. Despite his best efforts to resist, Xu Yi's strength was no match for the enraged bandit.
Mei Lin rushed to help Xu Yi as quickly as possible. She held the knife in her left hand, as her right was tattered from killing the first bandit. She stabbed the bandit in the back, but without proper coordination, she couldn't deliver a fatal blow.
In response, the bandit punched Mei Lin in the ribs again. The impact wasn't as strong as before, but her already broken ribs couldn't withstand it. She coughed up blood as she fell to the ground, her strength waning.
As the bandit left some space for Xu Yi, he pulled out a knife and slashed it across the bandit's eyes, finally managing to do some real damage. Blood started flowing out as the bandit roared in pain and continued to beat Xu Yi mercilessly. Xu Yi was on the verge of death when Mei Lin, gathering her remaining strength, came up behind the bandit and plunged the knife deep into his back. The bandit tried to pull it out but couldn't.
As he turned around to finish Mei Lin, she smashed a crystal teapot over his head. To her surprise, the teapot, made from the same crystal as her knife, was much more effective than the machete, and the bandit fell to the ground.
Xu Yi had already fainted from the beating, and Mei Lin was also badly injured. She set aside the teapot and picked up the machete. Blood covered the floor, and the first floor was almost destroyed from the fight.
Mei Lin watched the bandit struggle to pull out the knife embedded deep in his back, its tip protruding from the front of his body. He was in extreme pain from his injuries, his destroyed eyes, and the knife lodged inside him. Desperate to remove the knife and heal himself, he made futile attempts to pull it out. Suddenly, he heard footsteps behind him and quickly turned around, his movements sluggish and filled with agony.
"So you're still alive, you monster! How many times do I need to kill you?!" The bandit couldn't believe someone in the early first stage of Body Tempering could survive two of his hits and prolonged choking, let alone kill someone at the third stage.