Starting as a Grandmaster, all of my cultivation techniques are at max level.

The burly man's deep words reached the ears of Xia Jin and Shen Jinghan, who were hiding in the shadows.

A glint flashed in Shen Jinghan's eyes, and the corners of his mouth turned up slightly.

"As expected, I guessed right. These guys are here because of some treasure."

A slightly sly smile appeared on his usually honest, round face.

Xia Jin's expression turned somewhat strange upon seeing Shen Jinghan's demeanor. This Senior Brother Shen usually seemed honest and unassuming, but it turned out he was quite cunning.

Sure enough, Shen Jinghan leaned close to Xia Jin's ear and whispered, "Junior Brother Xia, I've thought of a brilliant idea! If we can drag the Thirteen Bandits into this mess, we'll really muddy things up!"

Upon hearing this, Xia Jin's eyes darted around, and she instantly guessed Shen Jinghan's intention.

"Senior Brother Shen, do you mean... to impersonate someone from the Wrathful Soul Hall, frame the Wrathful Soul Hall for this, and get the Thirteen Bandits to cause trouble for the Wrathful Soul Hall?"

"Hehe, that's exactly right!" Shen Jinghan laughed until his eyes narrowed into slits.

"But even if the two of us try to impersonate people from the Hall of Wrathful Souls, they might not believe us."

Upon hearing this, Shen Jinghan not only did not suppress his smile, but instead laughed even more smugly.

He raised an eyebrow, mysteriously raised his right hand, and the storage ring on his finger glowed slightly. The next second, two sets of black robes appeared in his hand.

The two robes were entirely black, with dark silver threads trimmed at the collar and cuffs. On the chest of the robes, three small characters were embroidered in gold thread: "Hall of Wrathful Souls".

Xia Jin's eyes flashed with surprise when she saw the two sets of robes.

Shen Jinghan chuckled and lowered his voice, saying, "Hehehe, Master had already thought of everything for us when we came down the mountain."

As he spoke, he unfolded one of the robes and held it up against himself.

"Junior brother, you should change too!" Shen Jinghan said as he quickly put on the black robe.

Xia Jin said no more and quickly changed into another set of black robes. The two exchanged a glance, only their eyes were visible, and if one did not look closely, they really did resemble members of the Wrathful Soul Palace.

"It's still not quite there." Shen Jinghan pondered for a moment, then took out two more jet-black tokens from his storage ring and handed one to Xia Jin. "This is a counterfeit identity token of the Wrathful Soul Hall. Although it can't withstand close scrutiny from an expert, it's enough to fool anyone at a glance from afar."

Xia Jin took the token; it felt heavy in her hand. The front was engraved with the words "Wrathful Soul," and the back had a series of numbers.

He clipped the token to his waist, took a deep breath, and seemed to transform his entire demeanor.

Just as the two finished their disguise, a series of hurried footsteps suddenly came from the city.

"Found it! Found it!" A lean bandit rushed out from deep within the city, carrying a wooden box about half a foot long, his face beaming with excitement. "Brother, we found it!"

Upon hearing this, the burly man with a face full of scars immediately gleamed with a sharp light in his triangular eyes. He rushed forward in three steps and snatched the wooden box away.

The burly man held the wooden box in both hands, examining it carefully for a moment. After confirming the contents, a smile finally appeared on his rugged face, the first one he had shown since entering the city.

"Hahahaha!" The burly man laughed heartily, his laughter filled with a sense of relief. "Good! Good! Good! Thank goodness the stuff is still here, otherwise I really wouldn't know how to explain it to the leaders!"

He carefully tucked the wooden box into his robes, patted his chest, and waved his hand dismissively: "Brothers, we've got it! Let's go!"

Upon hearing the order, the scattered bandits returned from all parts of the city and, within a few breaths, all gathered around the burly man. Their faces beamed with joy, clearly indicating that the mission had been accomplished quite smoothly.

However, just as they were about to mount their horses and leave,

Two dark figures suddenly appeared.

Xia Jin and Shen Jinghan attacked at the same time. Shen Jinghan kicked the big man in the lower back. Although the big man was not weak, he was caught off guard and fell forward. The wooden box in his arms flew out of his hands.

Xia Jin reacted quickly, scooping up the wooden box in mid-air and catching it steadily in her hand.

"Who goes there!" The burly man fell heavily to the ground, a sharp pain shooting through his lower back.

He suddenly looked up, his triangular eyes fixed on the two black-robed men who had suddenly appeared before him, his pupils contracting sharply.

"The Hall of Wrathful Souls!" The burly man saw the tokens on Xia Jin and the others' waists and squeezed out these three words through gritted teeth.

Shen Jinghan's face was covered, only his eyes were visible. He looked down at the burly man on the ground: "Hmph! Thirteen bandits? You dare to compete with my Wrathful Soul Palace for something? You have no sense of mortality. Luckily, the item is still here, otherwise I would have slaughtered you all today!!"

After saying this, he pressed his heavy aura directly onto the other party until the other party's face began to turn pale, and then slowly withdrew his aura.

"Go!!" He and Xia Jin exchanged a glance, and the two of them simultaneously rose from the ground, disappearing from each other's sight in a few leaps.

"Damn it!" The burly man struggled to his feet, veins bulging on his forehead.

He wanted to chase after him, but as soon as he took a step, a sharp pain shot through his lower back, causing him to gasp and stumble.

That kick, though seemingly casual, possessed a power far exceeding his expectations. His opponent's cultivation level was likely far above his own.

"Brother! Brother, are you alright?" Several bandits hurriedly surrounded him, helping the burly man up.

"Get out of my way!" The burly man shoved away the man who was helping him, his triangular eyes fixed on the direction where the two dark figures had disappeared, his chest heaving violently.

He took a few deep breaths, forcibly suppressing his surging blood and qi. A few breaths later, he slammed his fist into the broken wall beside him. The half of the wall collapsed with a crash, kicking up a cloud of dust.

"What a wicked Soul Palace!" The burly man's voice was filled with venom. "Did they really think the Thirteen Bandits were pushovers?"

He turned his head, his gaze sweeping over his trembling subordinates, his eyes filled with malice: "What the hell are you all standing there for! Go back! Go back and report to the leaders immediately! Tell them that the people from the Wrathful Soul Hall stole our stuff and even injured me! This isn't over!"

"Yes!" the bandits responded in unison, daring not to say another word, and quickly mounted their horses.

The burly man, enduring the pain in his lower back, climbed onto the fiery horse and glanced back at the dead city before departing.

"Giddy up!" He flicked the reins, and the fiery horse neighed loudly, leading the dozen or so riders as it galloped back the way it had come.

Far away, behind a hill outside the city, Xia Jin and Shen Jinghan stopped.

The two removed the black cloths covering their faces, revealing their true features.

"How about it, Junior Brother Xia? Isn't my idea brilliant?" Shen Jinghan chuckled, patting Xia Jin on the shoulder. "We've effortlessly thrown dirty water on the Wrathful Soul Hall, letting the Thirteen Bandits cause them trouble. Let the dogs fight it out; we can just sit back and watch!"

Xia Jin didn't speak. Instead, she looked down at the wooden box in her hand. There was a yellowed talisman on the seal, which could probably be easily torn off.

What treasures could be inside a wooden box that would attract such attention from those thirteen bandits?

"Senior Brother Shen, aren't you curious about what's inside?" Xia Jin raised the wooden box in her hand and looked at Shen Jinghan.

Shen Jinghan leaned closer, examined it for a moment, but showed no intention of opening it.

"I'm naturally curious about this thing too, but Junior Brother Xia, it's best if we don't open it."

"Why?" Xia Jin asked, somewhat surprised.

Shen Jinghan narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked at the still-faded characters on the talisman. He said seriously, "Think about it, what could be an ordinary object that would make the thirteen bandits go to such lengths to retrieve it? If it's a treasure, that's fine, but if it's something unclean, opening it like this and getting it on us would be a huge loss!"

"In my opinion, it would be better to take it back to the mountain gate and let Master decide. Master is very knowledgeable and experienced, he will surely be able to recognize what is inside."

Xia Jin thought for a moment, then quickly frowned: "Take it back to the sect and hand it over to Master? We've only just come out; do we have to go back again?"

"Of course not! Who said we have to make the whole trip to deliver something? Hehehe, this is a piece of cake, watch me handle it!!"