Translator: Myriea_ActiasLuna Editor: Nou
How valuable were the Sword Embryos inside the Sword Mound? Even the prince of a country or the young master of an influential sect could only receive a chance of a summons from the Huangfu clan to enter the Sword Mound, and such a summons only allowed them a pick from the ordinary Sword Embryos. Until now, Xu Linyun had never imagined sheâd have the chance to enter the Sword Mound, yet today Fang Xing was actually saying heâd gift her a Sword Embryoâone of the immortalsâ Sword Embryos, no lessâas casually as drinking water or eating food. This was simply too shocking, and even the calm and usually mild Xu Linyun was so stunned she couldnât find words to reply.
The blue-clothed bandit chuckled at this. âThe little bandit is being generous, so you should just accept it. These five Sword Embryos are indeed the embryos of the immortalsâ swords and one of the best opportunities within this entire Mysterious Domain. With it, wonât you progress by leaps and bounds in the future?â
Fang Xing squinted at the blue-clothed bandit. âDonât badmouth me; I can hear you, you know. Since weâre in an alliance and you helped me look after Shijie Linyun, I wanted to give one to you as well, but now that youâve angered meâyour grandpaâI wonât give it to you anymore!â
The blue-clothed bandit laughed. âI can guarantee you will definitely give one to me!â
Fang Xing immediately continued, âNot only are you not sucking up to me, but youâre threatening me instead? Iâm really not going to give it to you anymore!â He wanted to save a Sword Embryo anyway, so not giving the bandit one was just fine by him.
Quarrels aside, Fang Xing did know there wasnât much time before the other cultivators broke through the Sword Moundâs formation, so he quickly had both Xu Linyun and the golden crow fuse with the remaining two Sword Embryos. It was here that the blue-clothed bandit explained there was no difference in quality between the five Sword Embryos, and the maximum potential of any single one of these Sword Embryos had the power of a true immortal. The hypotheses Fang Xing and the golden crow had come up with earlier had been completely unnecessary.
Fang Xing was initially worried the golden crow and Xu Linyunâs innate talents werenât good enough to successfully fuse with the remaining Sword Embryos, but after the blue-clothed banditâs explanations, he realized this wasnât a problem at all. The five Sword Embryos were all spiritual beings, but their current state left them half awake and half asleep without true intelligence. They usually acted completely on their instincts, and their only purpose right now was to wait for a cultivator to wake them up and be chosen.
The Sword Embryos had two selection criteria: talent and frame of mind. Only a cultivator with exceptional talent and a mindset that was similar to that particular Sword Embryo would be chosen by the Sword Embryo and fused. âTalentâ was a reference to the innate talent a person was born with, without importance placed on their current cultivation level that depended upon their upbringing. As for the mindset, the Sword Embryos would determine this by forcibly reading the memories of the cultivator, as memories couldnât be falsified.
The golden crow was full of confidence and bluntly declared his innate talent wouldnât be a problem at all, which Fang Xing completely believed. This guy was supposedly the descendant of the Three-Legged Golden Crow, and considering how he grew a third leg similar to that of a human despite being just a bird, he certainly wasnât just some ordinary crow. Furthermore, after obtaining several special opportunities within the Mysterious Domain, his body was tyrannically sturdy and his talent was even more difficult to ascertain.
As for Xu Linyun, her innate talent also wasnât bad at all; why else would Qinânyao salvage her from the piles of dead people to bring her back to the Qing-Yun Sect after discovering her? Her foundation was currently an upper-red foundation, but this wasnât due to innate talent and had more to do with a lack of resources during her Spirit Stage, preventing her from uncovering her full potential when the foundation was being formed. Resources were the most important thing in the realm of cultivation and severely impacted the results and accomplishments of their cultivation.
Of course, it wouldnât be a huge problem even if her innate talent wasnât enough. The three leaders had owned four Immortalâs Blood Pellets that would temporarily deceive the immortalsâ Sword Embryos and cause them to fuse into the body. These four drops of blood had originally been for the three of them and Lei Jiu to prepare for anything unexpected, but Lei Jiu had been killed by Fang Xing and the three other leaders had swallowed one each, leaving one behindâperfect for Xu Linyun. With this, she could fuse with the Sword Embryo and any problems that might arise could be dealt with in the future rather than the present.
Furthermore, based on what the blue-clothed bandit said, the Sword Embryos didnât only choose a cultivator based upon innate talent and mindsetâthe most important element was âdestinyâ. It went without saying that all cultivators who made their way in front of these Sword Embryos had been destined to do so, and those who arrived earlier naturally had a stronger connection while those who arrived later had a weaker one. If a person were to arrive after the Sword Embryo had already chosen their master, that person would have no connection at all.
Xu Linyun and the golden crow became the first honest and genuine living beings to fuse with these Sword Embryos, so it could be considered part of their destiny. This was far more important than innate talent and mindset, so it wasnât difficult at all for them to fuse with the Sword Embryos.
âI was the one to come first and my talent isnât bad at all, so why did all five of the Sword Embryos reject me? The hell, is my frame of mind really that bad?â As Fang Xing thought about that, he couldnât help but to ponder upon the black sword that had forced itself into him. What the hell was that thing, anyway?
While the golden crow and Xu Linyun were in the process of fusing with the Sword Embryos, Fang Xing and the blue-clothed bandit didnât disturb them and instead guarded the entrance to the hall. They looked out into the empty graveyard in front of them, until the blue-clothed bandit glanced towards Fang Xing with glistening eyes beneath his mask. âYouâve taken all the other Sword Embryos?â
Fang Xing gave it some thought and smirked. âItâs good enough that Iâm giving you an immortalâs Sword Embryo. What, you want to split these as well?â
âYou are such a narrow-minded person. When did I say I wanted your immortalâs Sword Embryo?â
Fang Xingâs eyes gleamed. âYou donât want it?â Heâd been considering giving one of the five immortalâs Sword Embryos to the blue-clothed bandit since he no longer had a use for them himself. Although it hadnât been willing, the black Sword Embryo had already fused with him and he could no longer pick another Sword Embryo, and he also had many ordinary Sword Embryos he needed to deal with. His current situation wasnât the best and having a powerful ally would be a great help, so heâd decided to give one to the blue-clothed bandit to further solidify their alliance. When he heard the blue-clothed bandit didnât actually want one, however, his heart was filled with joy; such a thing was possible?
The blue-clothed bandit couldnât help but to extinguish Fang Xingâs joy after seeing how happy he was. âI donât need it because I already have a Sword Embryo Iâm currently nurturing, but you will still have to give me one of the immortalsâ Sword Embryos. I need to bring it to someone!â
Fang Xing sent a look of surprise towards the blue-clothed bandit. Sword Embryos were said to be completely extinct within the entire land of Tianyuan, so how could this bandit already be nurturing one? Regardless, there had always been a great level of mutual understanding between the pair where if one of them didnât volunteer information, the other wouldnât ask; after waiting for some time and seeing the bandit didnât seem to have any intention of explaining it, Fang Xing didnât ask further. âWhether itâs for yourself or as a gift, you still want it in the endâŚâ he sorrowfully replied.
âI am going to pass it on to another person on your behalf!â the blue-clothed bandit revealed with a smile, causing Fang Xing to be surprised once more. The bandit was about to say something else, but he sighed and looked up towards the front. âWeâll talk about this later. Seems you wonât be able to leave before all those cultivators get here, so itâs best you think of a way to deal with these angry cultivators first!â
After the bandit brought it up, Fang Xing looked up noticed it as well right before two shadows flew out from the cover of the thick fog and headed towards him at an extraordinary speed. One was riding atop a Dragon horse and wearing a long cape, with an extremely awe-inspiring presence filled with murderous intent. There was little doubt even upon first glance that this was one of the top four elites of the western deserts: the son of the Han clan, Han Ying. Next to him was another person who seemed to be racing with him, and judging from the ghostly Qi around him, it was obvious it was none other than the Ghost Prince Li Ying.
âFang Xing you bastard, I was wondering why I couldnât find even your shadow within that black smog while we were attacking the formation; youâd already snuck inside! Youâve let down everyone who came with you to attack the Sword Mound! Youâd cheat even your allies; this prince is completely and utterly disgusted with you! Wayaya, hurry and reveal the Sword Embryos or Iâm going to be taking you first!â Li Ying shouted while flying closer, his expression completely twisted in rage. This outburst of anger was quite understandable, of course; just about anyone would likely want to chop Fang Xing into pieces if theyâd been put in the same position.
It was this little bastard whoâd âsnatched the flagâ in the first place and declared everyone would attack the Sword Mound together to split the Sword Embryos, yet heâd actually used everyone else as a distraction so he could sneak his way inside through a different entrance. Wasnât this clearly planning to have others fight the battle for him only to receive nothing in return? It was like trying to get water from a well using a bamboo-weave basket and having it leak out every time. It was so infuriating even a ghost wouldnât be able to bear it!
The western desertsâ Han Ying didnât speak from atop his horse, but the malice surrounding him made it obvious he wasnât exactly pleased, either.
These two had much greater battle prowess than the others and were able to combine their strength to crack through the formation ahead of everyone else. Theyâd passed the guardian disciples of the three tribes and entered the depths of the Sword Mound a step ahead of the other cultivators with thoughts of having the highest-quality Sword Embryos for themselves, only to be welcomed by desolate emptiness without a single Sword Embryo to be found. They could hardly be faulted for their anger, and their murderous intent had even started to rise.
The two of them were both top elites within their lands, and Fang Xing would have a difficult time defeating them even at his peak, to say nothing of right now when he was in an extremely weakened state. It was painfully obvious he wasnât able to defeat them in their enraged state, and the blue-clothed bandit smirked and moved to the side when he noticed this. âThis problem you brought on yourself isnât small at all; even I would have difficulty sorting the two of them out on my own. Itâll be up to you whether you have any ways to resolve this!â From the looks of things, it seemed he purposefully didnât intend to help and instead wanted to see what Fang Xing would do.
Fang Xing looked at the blue-clothed bandit fully aware of what he was thinking, and contempt began to fill Fang Xingâs heart; this blue-clothed bastard was really looking down on him to use something like this to test him. As he thought on it, he decided there wasnât any need to retreat from the infuriated Li Ying and the son of the Han clan, so he simply approached their fury head on and yelled from a dozen feet away, âWhyâd it take so long for you two bastards to arrive?â