The Mortal Apprentice Realm was only the second realm in the Essence Gathering path of cultivation, after the Mortal Practitioner Realm. Tian Longmeng himself was already gearing up to breakthrough into the second Body Strengthening Stage. Therefore, that meant that he would already be on par with many of the Spring Well Villa's elites.
Tian Longmeng found this underwhelmingly ridiculous and decided to cool his head off by touring the village once more.
As Tian Longmeng toured the streets of Spring Well Villa, he noticed an altercation happening by a shopping district. There seemed to be two men arguing with a young girl over some wares.
Tian Longmeng leaned in to observe the ordeal closely and surmised based on the gossips that the men seemed to be harassing the girl. Tian Longmeng also noticed that although everyone guessed the same, no one stepped in to offer justice for the girl.
Then, the bigger of the two men raised his arm and slapped the girl about 10 metres away.
Tian Longmeng's eyes shone at the spectacle. It was made clear why no one dared to interfere with the harassment.
It was because these two men were cultivators and it seemed that everyone knew that.
Although these men were Martial Practitioners and could be easily dealt with by any other random cultivator around, the crux of the matter was that there were no cultivators among the townspeople.
Tian Longmeng sighed and decided to take it upon himself to rectify the situation after seeing the men pick up the girl's bag.
"No, do not take that!" The girl extended her hand in motion to try to prevent the men from stealing her stuff. Oddly enough, this girl was still unhurt, even after being punted over 10 metres away by a cultivator.
The smaller of the two men sneered at her and tried to peek into her bag. That was not going to happen since he received a stone to his forehead that knocked him over.
"Ahh! Who the hell did that! Come out if you dare!" The smaller man was livid and was sweeping his view around the whole crowd for anybody who seemed like they wanted to test fate.
All the townspeople instantly turned blue and even took a step back in case they were wrongly accused and suffered a terrible fate. The only one who did not budge in the midst of this was a small 7-year-old child.
"It was me. I hope that the greeting was not too sudden." The voice came from Tian Longmeng, the 7-year-old who stuck out like a sore thumb now that everyone dressed back.
The two men were shocked to see the daringness of such a child. The townspeople were as well and lamented that his parents raised such a suicidal child. Tian Longmeng did not pay these cowardly townspeople any mind.
The smaller of the two men laughed before stepping up to Tian Longmeng. "Little brat, do you even know who you are dealing with? We hurt people, you know."
Tian Longmeng chuckled in response, "Who are you exactly? Just some monkey-faced idiots who do not know anything other than harassing girls and townspeople."
The smaller man became incensed and started flailing towards Tian Longmeng. "Little runt, I, Stringface of the Monkey Bandits, will personally end you."
"Pfft!" Tian Longmeng was caught off guard and missed his opportunity to counter Stringface's kick so he was sent flying 10 metres away.
"No!" The girl cried out as Tian Longmeng was knocked away. Everyone presumed him to be dead so they sighed at the stupidity of the child. Stirngface laughed at the opportunity of making a public example of what happens to those who oppose him. Even if it is a child who does not look more than 10 years old.
That pride later turned into confusion, and then shock, when Tian Longmeng rose off the ground and laughed wildly before brushing himself off. Everyone became baffled that this child took an attack that could injure any adult village man, and was able to brush it off as if nothing happened.
Tian Longmeng, on the other hand, was having the laugh of his lifetime. Tian Longmeng already thought to two men looked like monkeys, especially the smaller one who looked like a chimpanzee with his face sagging. However, he never once thought that they would actually name themselves after monkeys.
It took some time for Tian Longmeng to calm down. However, when he did the most boastful thing came from his lips. "Alright then, since you guys were so kind as to give me a laugh, I will leave you with your sorry lives."
The entire crowd was flabbergasted at Tian Longmeng's bold claim, and the bandits became so furious that veins could be seen trying to burst from their heads.
"You little-" They were so blinded with rage that they did not notice when Tian Longmeng moved. The next second, the monkey bandits found themselves in a giant crater in the ground.
Everyone stood there listless for a second before utterly freaking out.