Chapter 2: Fortune Favors the Bold — Behold My Thunder Bomb!

In the shadows at the end of the alley, three men had cornered a young girl.

The one leading the group looked to be around twenty-seven or twenty-eight, while the other two were slightly younger.

All three wore stiff, washed-out gray close-fitting work clothes, thick leather bracers wrapped around their wrists, and bulging waistbands from which protruded the handles of wooden blades wrapped in coarse cloth strips.

It was the typical getup of street fighters in this part of town.

Yet their steps were unsteady, their postures slack, their cheekbones jutting out and their eye sockets sunken.

One glance was enough to tell they were street thugs — the kind who knew a few moves and only ever picked on the weak.

But even if they were just thugs, they were still far beyond what Bai Chen could handle right now.

Bai Chen tucked in his neck, lightened his footsteps, and began quietly slipping away along the wall.

Better to avoid trouble than invite it. Other people's business was none of his concern.

As he slowly turned to retreat, the young girl trapped in the corner spoke up.

"You were clearly the ones blocking the way — how dare you blame me for bumping into you?"

The lead thug let out a sneer. "You bump into us and can't even say sorry? Quite the attitude on you, little missy."

"Apologize?"

The girl looked as though she'd heard the funniest joke in the world. She lifted her chin high and raised her voice.

"You think you're worth an apology from me? Do you even know who I am?"

The three thugs burst out laughing.

"I don't care who you are. You bumped into us, so either pay up — hand over everything valuable on you — or come have a little fun with us boys. Either way, we'll call it even."

The girl's face flushed red with fury, and her voice took on a sharp, dangerous edge.

"Shameless! How dare you harass me?! I've already memorized all three of your faces! My great-uncle is Feng Yang, Elder of the Dan Peak of Hexu Sect! When I go back and tell him, he'll skin you alive, rip out your tendons, and throw what's left to the demon beasts of the demon domain!"

Bai Chen, who had already slipped to the corner of the street, couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth.

What was wrong with this girl's head — had it been soaked in water?

Street thugs like these feared nothing more than retaliation from sect cultivators.

They had no backing, no connections. Once a cultivation sect set its sights on them, there was no way out.

If she had just quietly handed over some money earlier, these men might have taken advantage of her a little, but they would have thought twice about going too far inside Shunhe Quarter.

But now this girl had gone and told them she'd memorized their faces and was going to have her great-uncle come after them.

She probably wasn't going to make it out of this alley alive today.

Bai Chen hid behind the street corner, then couldn't resist his curiosity and snuck another glance back.

Sure enough, every trace of mockery had vanished from the three thugs' faces.

The greed in the lead man's eyes had been replaced by a cold, ruthless gleam.

His voice dropped low, already carrying the unmistakable weight of killing intent. "Your great-uncle is Feng Yang, Elder of the Dan Peak of Hexu Sect?"

The girl still hadn't sensed the danger. She tilted her chin up arrogantly. "That's right!"

"No matter how skilled you three are in martial arts, you're still just ordinary men. How dare you block my path? Kneel down right now and kowtow three times, then get out of my way — and I might just spare your lives!"

These words only hardened the three thugs' resolve to silence her permanently.

This girl clearly hadn't formally stepped into cultivation yet — otherwise, with her temperament, she would have made them suffer the moment they crossed her.

No cultivation was a good thing.

As long as they moved fast enough, they could deal with her and escape before Shunhe Quarter's patrol team arrived.

By then, with such a vast world to hide in, who would ever know it was them?

Killing intent surfaced in all three men's eyes as their hands closed around the iron swords at their waists.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the alley, a fierce internal debate was raging in Bai Chen's mind.

Save her, or not?

He hadn't formally begun cultivating yet — he was just an ordinary person.

Against three armed street fighters, he had virtually no chance of winning.

The first rule of survival in a cultivation world: mind your own business.

Keep your head down and you'll live to see the ending.

By his own nature, he should just pretend he hadn't seen any of this.

But that girl had said her great-uncle was Feng Yang, Elder of the Dan Peak of Hexu Sect.

He didn't know what her talent was like, but with her great-uncle being an Elder of Hexu Sect, and her showing up right now at the foot of Hexu Sect's mountain — as a blood relative, she almost certainly had decent talent herself.

At the very least, she should have a Green quality Talent Trait.

The gates of Hexu Sect were opening the day after tomorrow, and he still hadn't managed to copy a suitable Trait yet.

If this girl had even one fitting Trait he could copy, it would be a windfall.

There were only three opponents, and none of them were cultivators.

Even if he couldn't beat them, he might still be able to run.

And besides, he had a secret weapon.

Bai Chen patted the cloth sack on his back.

Inside was a massive "double-bang firecracker" he had made before leaving home — as long as an entire arm.

After transmigrating here, he had secretly tinkered with gunpowder for his own safety.

The formula or technique must have been off, though, because the best he'd managed to produce was something closer to a firecracker — nowhere near enough destructive power to actually hurt anyone.

But what it lacked in lethality, it more than made up for in noise.

He had no real skills to speak of, and wandering around alone always called for something to protect himself with.

If it couldn't kill, it could at least scare — and with enough smoke and chaos, it could serve as a cover for escape.

Those three weren't cultivators. If he could stun them for just a few seconds, he'd have a chance to grab the girl and run.

The thunderous boom of the double-bang firecracker would also be sure to draw Shunhe Quarter's patrol team over.

All he needed was to keep running with the girl for one minute.

One minute…

Bai Chen glanced at the road behind him.

The very first thing he'd done upon arriving in Shunhe Quarter was memorize every street and alley. He didn't need to close his eyes to navigate — running through here for a few minutes without getting caught should be no problem.

If things got truly desperate, he could always toss the girl out as a distraction. His odds of escape were at least eighty percent.

That should be enough.

While Bai Chen was busy brainstorming, the three thugs had already closed in on the girl.

The girl still hadn't grasped the urgency of the situation and was still berating them.

"I'm warning you — don't try anything funny! You'll regret it!"

The lead thug's face twisted into a vicious grin. He suddenly drew his sword and thrust it toward the girl.

At that critical moment, a figure burst out from the shadows at the mouth of the alley!

Bai Chen had already torn a strip of cloth from his lapel and wrapped it around most of his face, leaving only a pair of bright, clear eyes exposed.

He planted his feet against the base of the wall and launched himself upward with a powerful kick, bellowing at the top of his lungs: "Hey! Behold my Thunder Bomb!"

A lit double-bang firecracker the size of an arm was hurled with a whoosh straight at the three men.

The three thugs were already on edge — the moment they heard the words "Thunder Bomb," their hearts seized!

They watched as a thick, arm-sized rod came hurtling toward them with a sharp hissing sound!

Had Shunhe Quarter's patrol team arrived?

That fast?!

Was this rod some kind of Magical Artifact from Hexu Sect?!

Hexu Sect's people were using a Magical Artifact on a bunch of ordinary men like them?!

Have they no shame!

In the span of a lightning flash, a thousand chaotic thoughts raced through the three men's minds.

The lead thug reacted fastest. With a low growl, he raised his iron sword and slashed at the incoming "Thunder Bomb."

Whatever this thing was, whether he could block it or not — he'd deal with it first!

But before his blade could connect, the flying "Thunder Bomb" exploded in midair.