Translator: Myriea_ActiasLuna Editor: Nou
âI canât stand it anymore! This damn girl has already taken the Blood Lotus Seed and Iâve reconnected her bones. Her life isnât in danger anymore, so why is she still unconscious? What exactly went wrong? Plenty of zombies have been lured here, though, and theyâre getting more powerful. I entered this Mysterious Domain with such great ambition, yet all Iâm doing now is playing with zombies all dayâŠ.â Fang Xing let out heart-wrenching sobs while sitting in front of the cave.
The Peng King couldnât tell if he felt more amused or annoyed when he saw this. âWho told you to pick this graveyard-like place to cure this girlâs wounds?â
âI just happened to find it and itâs rather spacious like a cave, so whatâs wrong with staying here!â
The Peng King gave a cold snort. âThen stop complaining about it. This graveyard has always been a place of evil, a gathering spot for all those zombies and evil demons. Not only did you take over their home, but the girl is also covered by this thick scent of blood; itâs no wonder zombies are coming to attack you one group after another. Heh, zombies are the lowest form of corporeal spirit, but since the Mysterious Domain is covered with such abundant Qi, itâs only natural theyâve become stronger. This Mysterious Domain truly is such a wondrous place that even a lowly being has been changed into a naturally precious thingâŠ.â
âWho cares? When do you think the girl will get better?â
The Peng King laughed. âYouâre too impatient. Do you know how heavy her wounds were? Her ribs were broken and her internal organs were destroyedâeven her heart was split in half. That girl from the Jing clan intended to take her life, and youâre lucky you had the Blood Lotus Seed to keep her from dying. Without it, even a Budding Soul Stage cultivator might not have been able to save her!
âHer bones have mended, but her organs havenât completely healed yet. We can only wait until the enormous amount of blood essence from the Blood Lotus Seed completely absorbs into her body and turns into Qi to nourish her internal organs. At the earliest it will take seven days before the organs mend back together, and itâll take a bit longer after that to completely healâat least two weeks. Her current state is already a miracle; you think itâs that easy to salvage a life from the brink of death?â
Fang Xing could only cry invisible tears at this. âDo I just wait here, then? All the treasureâs going to be taken by othersâŠ.â
âThen stop worrying about this girl and go deeper to fight for your fortune?â
Rather than reply to this, Fang Xing just squatted down and started drawing circles on the ground.
The Peng King released a helpless sigh and didnât bother with him any further. He turned and retrieved three red pellets that had been placed around Chu Ciâs body before placing them in his palm in front of Fang Xing. Fang Xing took out five milky white pellets in response, which the Peng King placed around Chu Ci once more.
These kinds of zombies were unique to the Beast Exhausting Range. The Beast Exhausting Battle had been too harsh, causing this place to become a rather demonic placed filled with zombies and evil spirits all aroundâit wasnât even wrong to call it a corpse pit. After the Mysterious Domain arrived and covered the area, the zombies within were nurtured by the abundance of Qi and experienced a huge increase to their battle prowess.
Of course, no matter how strong these zombies were, they were still only on the Mysterious Domainâs outer perimeter and couldnât threaten Foundation Stage cultivators like Fang Xing at all; Fang Xing had simply gotten bored after killing so many waves of them. These pellets Fang Xing had retrieved from the defeated zombies were called Corpse Cores and they functioned as a kind of low-grade medicinal ingredient. The Peng King had taken an interest in them and asked Fang Xing to collect them from the zombies he killed, which he would then place in front of Chu Ci for some unfathomable purpose.
âThis is the thirteenth one already, what exactly are you doing?â Fang Xing curiously asked.
The Peng King gave a disdainful snort. âLet me tell you something so you know my title as Golden Core Beast King wasnât for nothing. These Corpse Cores are actually a kind of medicinal ingredient. After being nurtured inside the poison-filled body of a zombie where Yin and evil is it at its most potent, its oppositeâYang and goodnessâbegins to grow as well. It is a rather rare medicinal antidote used to heal wounds and detoxify the body. This girlâs cultivation level is still low and time is necessary for her to recover, so things like the Blood Lotus Seed with such high amounts of blood essence arenât really necessary and itâs all overflowing. Iâve been using the overflowing blood essence to nurture these Corpse Cores, and after combining them with a few other herbs, Iâm able to craft a number of pellets for curing wounds and detoxification. This mediââ
âIs it valuable?â Fang Xing interrupted just as the Peng King was excitedly explaining the miraculous uses of these Corpse Cores.
The Peng King nearly choked on his own breath before he waved his sleeve and cursed, âYouâre hopeless!â
Despite their estimations, it took only five days for Chu Ci to heal enough to regain consciousness and for the Peng King to declare sheâd finally passed through the most critical juncture and could leave together with Fang Xing. The only stipulation was she wasnât able to use Qi, let along actually fightâshe was still not completely cured and needed to be carried on Fang Xingâs back.
Now that he had the chance to leave this graveyard theyâd stayed at for five days, Fang Xing ran forward with quick short steps that bounced her up and down on top of his back.
âBrother Jiu⊠youâre running so fast. Where are you going?â Chu Ci found it a bit odd to call him something sheâd never called him before and her cheeks became flushed. Fang Xing didnât even notice this and simply kept on running as he replied, âTo get my fortune back!â
âGet your fortune?â Chu Ci asked with surprise.
The Peng Kingâs voice rose up from the flag behind Fang Xing. âGirl, itâs best you try to understand whatâs going on. While you were healing, he nearly died from cabin fever. If he hadnât been worried about your wellbeing, he wouldâve been running about like an unleashed wild hareâŠ.â
âThe saying is an unleashed wild horse!â Fang Xing angrily scolded the Peng King.
The Peng King just laughed. âYou do have some knowledge!â
âOf course! Iâve read a few books with my fourth uncle for a few days before. He said if I didnât read any books, I wouldnât even know if someone was cursing at me!â
âA few days?â This left the Peng King surprised.
âIt was four or five whole days!â
The Peng King let out a dry cough and no longer said anything.
Of course, Fang Xing wouldnât mention the awkward truth about the incident. After his fourth uncle lured him into reading Chunhwa books for five days straight, Fang Xing got fed up with it and climbed up a tree. When he refused to come down, his fourth uncle ended up having to use a bow and arrow to force him down, and then his other eight uncles took turns holding a knife to his neck for a full year until he learned how to read, giving him just enough proficiency to recognize the characters.
Chu Ci settled against Fang Xingâs back while giggling quietly to herself. After a long while, she leaned her small head up against Fang Xingâs back and let out a breath of satisfaction. Although sheâd been in deep slumber these past five days, thereâd still been a few moments where just enough consciousness returned for her eyes to open. Every time she opened her eyes, sheâd see Fang Xing either anxious or worried, and sometimes sheâd also hear the loud cries of zombies outside. Those broken and fragmented pictures in her mind had transformed themselves into an unforgettable memoryâŠ.
Who could be dissatisfied while leaning against someone like this?
No matter where one looked within the Mysterious Domain, there were spirit veins or gardens far beyond what would be seen in the ordinary realm. This area was originally the Beast Exhausting Range where not even weeds cared to grow, yet after the Mysterious Domain formed, it was like a utopian fairyland where spirit herbs and fruits could be seen growing even on the side of the road. Unfortunately, all the spirit herbs and fruits on the Mysterious Domainâs outer perimeter had already been picked by others and only empty branches were left behind. Fang Xingâs heart ached when he saw this and his pace picked up even faster, but he unfortunately had to run with small steps to maintain his balance; Chu Ci was on his back and her body wouldnât be able to handle it if he went any faster.
In the far distance where tall and steep mountains converged, an immortalâs hallâstanding as a symbol to an endless amount of grand opportunity and fortuneâcould be found. Fang Xing ran a dozen miles using those quick, short steps before arriving at a valley, where he found a group of people coming from inside the hall. The person in the leadâa young master in his thirties wearing a rather luxurious robeâbegan to curse, âDammit, weâre too late. Aside from that single Green-Magenta Grass, nothing else is left. I heard thereâs much more stuff deeper inside the Mysterious Domain; we have to hurryâŠ.â He jumped up onto a horse carriage as he cursed, but a loud voice rose up just as he was about to leave.
âStop right there! This is a robbery!â
All the cultivators were shocked, and twenty or so pairs of eyes looked towards the voice in unison. There they saw a beggar-like person with a single one-legged-man statue in the form of a bronze lance in his hand, a little girl on his back, and a large flag behind the pair. The boy ran up to them with quick short steps and stopped them in their tracks.
The young master in the embroidered robe looked out from the window of his horse carriage and confusedly asked, âYou⊠youâre going to rob all of us on your own?â
This beggar-like youth was naturally Fang Xing, and as drew closer, he placed Chu Ci on the side of a hill and yelled out, âYes; this is a robbery!â
âIs this kid insane?â
âSomeone wants to rob all of us alone? Who does he think he is, the child of the Huangfu clan?â
Everyone began laughing uncontrollably, and within their laughter was a subtle murderous intent as they activated their weapons.
âThis is a robbery, so take it seriously! If you want to keep your life, then give me everything youâve obtained from the Mysterious Domain!â Fang Xing yelled with an extremely vicious demeanor. He smacked his lance like a hooligan and started moving closer with broad steps.
The young master with the embroidered robe showed a cold smile. âKid, who are you? How dare you come to rob me?â
Fang Xing sneered before responding with pride in his voice, âI am Fang Xing. What, am I not supposed to rob you now?â It felt so good to finally be able to use his name again, and he believed it wouldnât be difficult for him to rob people anymore now that heâd mentioned itâthe infamy of killing four groups of young elites should be enough to terrorize plenty of people, after all. He still remembered the golden words his first uncle had taught him: âKilling a fat lamb and taking their stuff isnât very impressive, whatâs impressive is merely speaking your name and having the fat lamb willingly give up their things in response!â In Fang Xingâs mind, heâd now reached such a stage.
Contrary to what Fang Xing had thought, however, as soon as the group heard him say âFang Xingâ, everyone was at first shocked before they let out loud laughs in unison.
âHehe, he said heâs Fang Xing!â
âYou really think weâre so easy to fool? You think anyone can come up and tell us theyâre Fang Xing?â
âHaha, Fang Xing is currently battling the cultivators from Blackwater Lakeside within the Mysterious Domain. Why would he come out to the border to rob us?â
âGrab this kid! Show him the consequences of trying to scare us!â
Amidst all the laughter, Fang Xing was the one who was shocked and tried to explain, âStop f*cking laughing, I really am Fang XingâŠ.â