It did not take long for the bandit to stop. Ryker had expected them to stop in a cave, or maybe even in a large tree. What he did not expect is for them to get near a stone wall before opening a door into the ground.
What surprise him is the fact he could not even detect the said door, showing how much attempt had been put to conceal the place.
He observed as they entered the passage. He plan to wait a bit longer but to his surprise, the passage seem to disappear. Even with his Soul Sense, he could barely sense it. Not wanting to test if he could find the entrance after it's disappear or not, Ryker dove into the passage, letting his body merged with the shadow.
He easily past through the passage, slowly reaching what he guess to be the main hall on the hideout. As he entered the main hall, he could feel burst of darkness hitting him.
Surprise by the sudden strike, he almost used one of his defensive technique only to stop at the last second. He silently followed the trio. With how dark the inside of the hideout is, it is easy for him to remain hidden, though it is hard to see.
He followed the three bandits, wondering where they are heading.
"We are close enough to that experts's corpse. If we can get more power from him, then we can kill the bastards that kill the rest of our brothers!" one of them said, the other merely nodding like little ducklings.
Ryker wanted to cut them down and be done with it but forced himself to be patient. After all, there should be some secrets that is likely hidden and would take longer if he killed them all.
Though, he do wonder what expert's corpse they are talking about.
-x-
After almost 10 minutes walk, the bandits had walked inside a passage that lead to somewhere, they finally stop. At the moment, Ryker is glad he did not kill them so quickly. If not, it would be harder for him to find the passage, as it is also obscured from his view.
When the bandits finally stop, he took a peek at what is in front of them, though surprise is an understatement to what he felt.
"W-what on earth?" he muttered, toning his voice down in fear of them hearing it. As the object in front of the bandits is a corpse. Judging from the residual might, the corpse should be at the Noble Realm when he die.
From how the corpse constantly emit dark qi, he is an expert specializing in the Law of Darkness.
"No wonder," he exclaimed, seeing how the bandits lowered their bodies and absorbed the Darkness qi greedily. At the same time, a glow appear on the corpse forehead, no doubt enlightening the bandits with his Technique.
Ryker has a lot of question, but now, he should destroy the threat. As they are focused in their cultivating, though Ryker loath to call what they are doing that, he took out a sword and slashed their neck, killing them with out them knowing how they died.
After he finished the bandits, Ryker looked at the corpse and was filled with the temptation to absorb the Darkness qi. After all, if he manage to absorb all he could, reaching the Elementary Understanding would be possible, if not inevitable.
However, he is also wary. After all, his parents had regaled him of how powerful cultivators could be killed but left a residual soul inside them. If someone find their corpse and tried to do anything, the residual Soul will strike and control the one who found them.
"I have to take the risk," pushing aside his concern and wariness, Ryker took a step towards the corpse before sitting, preparing for a cultivation session.
As he absorbed the Darkness qi be shivered, feeling the coldness washed over him. However, he did not stop, as he continue to absorb the Darkness qi, refining it with Absolute Darkness Art.
He prepared himself, for no doubt the session would be a lengthy one.
-x-
"That was quicker than I expected," Ryker exclaimed. He had thought he would have to spend a few hours, maybe even half a day next to the corpse, but to his sheer surprise, he manage to reach the Elementary Understanding in the Law of Darkness in 2 hours, maybe even less than that.
He moved his fingers as traces of Darkness qi emerged from it.
"I should see what else inside," he muttered. After all, though the mission asked for the termination of the bandits, it never said anything about the vast treasures keep by them.
He rubbed the his palms together, greed can be seen in his eyes as he prepared to scour the hideout in search of the treasures inside. Though, he could not forget one of the best if not the greatest treasure inside the hideout.
Taking out a storage being with large space, he put the corpse inside it, in case he need some enlightenment.
-x-
"This is worth the search," Ryker whistled, looking at the loot he procured. The Illusive Bandit Group had been a presence near Alten City for nearly half a decade. The amount of loot they manage to garner had reach a staggering level.
After all, a bandit group in the outskirts of the Barony manage to grab several hundreds worth of gold coins, what is to say a group next to one of the Mariz Barony's biggest city.
After a thorough counting, he determined the amount of treasures he get. From the coins alone, there is just so many iron and silver coins he decide to just lump their values to gold coins just to make it easier for him.
His net value have reach a staggering 1 000 000 gold coins, and that is just the coins. There are tons of other treasures from weapons and items, to pills and materials. If he had to guess, the net value of all the items combine would be around 3 millions to 5 millions gold coins.
Considering how the bandits are only at the Genesis Formation, it show how effective they are in stealing and looting.
"This make things a lot easier," he exclaimed before heading outside, after all, he need to prepare for the auction.