Translator: Myriea_ActiasLuna Editor: Nou
Fang Xing had truly become angry; it seemed just about every random person wanted to cause trouble for him!
Li Ying couldnât understand why Fang Xing was so angry and was nearly struck in the head by the one-legged statue. He quickly dodged backwards to escape the strike and began angrily shouting, âThis is all with good intentions, why do you not recognize them? Iâve even thought of an escape route! After this, not only will we have all the spoils, there also wonât be any future problems, so what the hell are you getting mad at me for?â
Fang Xing chased after him for a hundred or so feet without catching up to him. Although this ghost kid was a couple years younger than him, his talent was unmatched and he had a very solid foundation; it would actually be quite difficult for Fang Xing to beat him up without using all of his skills, and he didnât have a good reason to do so right now. He couldnât really use his apex skill to end this so he could only stop and angrily yell out, âThe kind of people I hate the most are people like you who pins blame on others!â
Li Ying kept a large distance from Fang Xing and didnât dare to get close without a good reason. He brought his hands to his hips and cursed back, âWhereâs your face? Werenât you the first person to pretend to be Fang Xing? Not only that, youâre also one of his enemies, and who knows if heâll come back to seek revenge on you or not once he gets away from the Huangfu clan? This plan of mine is beneficial to you the most; both the Huangfu clan and that little demon will all be schemed against!
âScheme your uncle!â Fang Xing angrily cursed back while folding up his sleeves and picking up the one-legged statue to strike out again.
Li Yingâs expression shifted as he jumped another dozen or so feet away. âWhat is wrong with you? Itâs such a great plan!â he shouted. He wasnât the only one who didnât know what was going on, either; even the others were looking at Fang Xing in confusion.
â Sigh âŠ.â Fang Xing could only stow away his one-legged-man lance and quickly try to think of a way to deal with this. If those Sword Embryos were truly as mysterious and powerful as they said, it was indeed worth fighting over and it wasnât a good idea to create a deadlock for himself right now. Rather than being inflexible, it would be better to accept the proposal and then go over the details of the plan. If there was the chance, it would also be a good idea to see the bastard who was pretending to be himâŠ.
âYou think Iâm stupid?â Li Ying shouted out, âYou want to whack me again? Donât think Iâm scared of you! If Iâd activatedââ
âStop boasting! Hurry and come over, I wonât hit you!â Fang Xing called back while creasing his brows.
âIâm not afraid of you!â Li Ying was agitated by Fang Xingâs words, but he still came closer with a look of vigilance. Although heâd always been called crazy and a madman, no matter which way he looked at this situation, Fang Xing was closer to that description than he wasâand one that would pull out a giant stick to whack you from time to time, at that. It also just happened that whether it was battle prowess or evil schemes, this person was one of the top, meaning he couldnât take him lightly. He wouldnât be worried if he had his Ancient tool his father had given him in the beginning, but the tool had been taken away by his sisterâŠ.
âAlright, let me hear everything you know. Iâve thought about it and decided we can perhaps work together!â Fang Xing put away his statue and leaned against the horse carriage with his arms folded, as though ready to negotiate.
âYouâve accepted?â Overjoyed, Li Ying removed the mask on his face to scratch his nose before placing it back on again.
Han Jiazi of the western deserts looked at the blue-clothed bandit sitting at the edge of the horse carriage. âWhat about him?â The others were somewhat interested in the blue-clothed banditâs background. His rare battle prowess didnât seem much weaker than theirs at all, and he was one of the masters they wanted to form an alliance with so they were concerned about his stance.
The blue-clothed bandit smiled and did not disappoint at all. âThis is interesting. I will come and have a look as well!â
Han Jiazi, Li Ying, and the three fairies of the northern mountains exchanged satisfied looks after receiving such an answerâthe battle prowess of these three was so great there werenât many people they took seriously. The reason theyâd sought an alliance in the first place was because they were planning something extremely dangerous and difficult; if someone weak tried to join, theyâd only be a burden, not an ally.
Fang Xing was a very suitable candidate for the alliance. First, he had more than enough battle prowess, and this had already received the acknowledgment of Li Ying and Han Jiazi. Second, the Flag of Ten Thousand Spirits in his hands would become an extremely useful asset to help them enter the Sword Mound. The third and final reason was even simpler: he had a longstanding enmity with the Huangfu clan, which would ensure his loyalty to the alliance.
âHuangfu Shenji has already entered the innermost depths of the Mysterious Domain alongside four of the Bewitched Follower tribes while the Fiery Cloud, Shaken Cloud, and Black Swamp tribes have stayed behind to guard the Sword Mound. One mustnât take these three tribes lightly. Among them, the Fiery Cloudâs young leaderâHuo Linziâhas the blood of an ancient Kylin unicorn and his talent cannot be underestimated. As for the Shaken Cloud tribe, their leaderâYing Chenziâis the human form of the ancient Scaled Falcon, and he has the ability to fly into the heavens and dig into the earth, making him a difficult opponent. As for the young leader of the Black Swamp, it is said they all have the blood of the ancient Nine-headed Worm great beast, making them all exceptionally difficultâŠ.â Li Ying was trying to show off his knowledge but paused when he saw Fang Xingâs disdainful look. â Aii , donât you look at me like that! The Eight Bewitched Follower tribes that belong to the Huangfu clan normally cultivate in secret and only show themselves under Huangfuâs orders. This information was very hard to come by, and for me to have this much is already plentifulâŠâ he tried to explain.
âSo these Eight Bewitched Followers are all of Mahn blood, right?â Fang Xing did end up realizing something useful: it seemed the Eight Bewitched Followers of the Huangfu clan were all Mahnsâhalf human, half beast.
âMost are of Mahn blood, but there are also pure beast tribes and pure human tribes. Within the Eight Bewitched Followers, the Nine Songs tribe is pure human blood and ranked first just beneath the Huangfu family itself. âEight Bewitched Followersâ is just what theyâre all called.â
The lead fairy from the northern mountains spoke up, âAlthough the young leaders of these three tribes are difficult, the seven of us have enough combined battle prowess to still have a hope of entering the Sword Mound if we plan ahead. We should honestly feel relieved; Lei Jiu of the Nine Songs is the leader of the Eight Bewitched Followers and is already at mid Foundation Stage, and if he didnât belong to the Huangfu clan, his name would surely be spreading all over Jambu. He was originally one of the people guarding the Sword Mound, but since that guy named Fang Xing killed four groups of Huangfu clan ambassadors and angered them, they sent Lei Jiu after him. It is good he is not inside the Sword Mound right now!â
Further discussion and exchanges of information allowed Fang Xing to have a better grasp of the current situation inside the Sword Mound, and he suddenly realized the Huangfu clan was called the âhidden royal familyâ of Jambu for good reasonâtheir influence and power was beyond imagination. The battle prowess of their young master aside, even the young leaders of the Eight Bewitched Follower tribes were all mid to late Foundation Stage.
One had to know that there was an age limit to enter the Mysterious Domain, and everyone who entered was less than forty years old. A late-Foundation Stage cultivator below forty years, just what kind of people were these young leaders? Put simply, even Sect Master Chen Xuanhua of the Qing-Yun Sectâan old monster a hundred or so years oldâwas only at the late Foundation Stage! And these young leaders were still considered the younger generation of their fellow tribes; thinking about it this way, what kind of cultivation level would the real power of the clan all have to have? Wouldnât they have to be at least late Golden Core Stage?
It was frightening to even think about how much influence the Huangfu clan must have in order to keep late-Golden Core Stage cultivators as flunkies. Fang Xing didnât feel too concerned, however; if this was something even the three fairies of the northern mountains would dare to do, then why wouldnât he? Besides, what the hell was wrong with that Huangfu clanâs young master? Heâd sent out a bounty for his head before even seeing him, and this enmity really couldnât be pinned on Fang Xing at all. If it couldnât be resolved, it was better to have a better understanding of their actual battle prowess first.
Once the plan was decided, all four groups clapped to confirm their vows before leaving on their own. Theyâd agreed to meet up at Sword Mound, but if they left as a single large group, it would be extremely easy to run across others which would only hinder their plan.
The horse carriage began running again as it gradually moved towards the Sword Mound. During the journey, Fang Xing didnât think about needless things and only focused on two things. First, were these guys genuine about wanting to form an alliance with him? He had to be careful to make sure they didnât sell him out. Second, he was trying to figure out a way to sell them out!
After a full day had passed, Fang Xing arrived near the area of the Sword Mound Li Ying had mentioned. On the way here, heâd also noticed there were significantly less cultivators, most likely because most cultivators didnât have the battle prowess to come so deep and theyâd already left the Mysterious Domain using the altars after gaining from earlier opportunities. The opportunities within the center area were also much less frequent and very scattered about.
By lunchtime of the second day, however, Fang Xing began to notice cultivators had been arriving from all directions, that all of them seemed to be covered in a malicious aura, and they were all in an urgent hurry towards the same location. Since this was so close to the Sword Mound, Fang Xing was concerned they were all heading towards the Sword Mound just like he was and blocked one of the cultivators in order to find out some answers.
âFellow Daoist, from the looks of it, you must have entered from the outside. How can you not know about such a great opportunity?â The cultivator had originally seemed incredibly ferocious and scary, but he became far more pleasant after receiving a couple of Fang Xingâs fists.
âWhat opportunity?â Fang Xing was even more certain everyone was here for the Sword Mound when he heard this, but the cultivator unexpectedly pointed towards the northwest with some excitement. âA great opportunity has fallen from the heavens! Have you heard of a little demon named Fang Xing? This person has guts larger than the heavens and dared to oppose the Huangfu clan. The mighty Sir Lei Jiu from the Nine Songs tribe chased after him for nearly eight days and finally managed to block him inside Chaotic Stone Valley. He couldnât leave even if he had wingsâŠ.â
âFang⊠Fang Xing? Heâs been trapped?â Fang Xing was left dumbstruck; he hadnât thought this fake would actually wind up trapped by others.
Before the cultivator could reply, another voice abruptly cut in, âHas he been hurt by others?â The person whoâd interrupted was none other than the blue-clothed bandit, although it was hard to tell why he would be so anxious.
âHurt, not really. Heâs simply been trapped inside Chaotic Stone Valley,â the cultivator quickly replied. âThe valleyâs landscape is extremely complicated, and Sir Lei Jiu was worried he would manage to escape. Rather than going inside, he placed a large formation outside the valley and sent an order from the Huangfu clanâs young master than any cultivator in the Mysterious Domain is allowed to search for that little demon. Whoever catches him will be able to receive an official summons from the Huangfu clan in order to enter the Sword Mound and choose a Sword Embryo as their rewardâŠ. You tell me, is this not a great opportunity straight from the heavens?â
âWhereâs Chaotic Stone Valley?â Fang XIng and the blue-clothed bandit actually asked at the same time.