Up on the punishment platform, the three bolts of lightning had finished and the three sword strikes were set to begin.

　　Although Tie Rukuang was already an old man, all the bones in his body were as rigid as steel. The torment he’d been forced to endure while being struck by lightning had been unbearable and all he could do was curse to distract himself from the pain, but he only needed to clench his teeth without making a sound when the swords struck. The bloody wounds carved into his body were quite shocking to the eyes, and some of the less resilient observers had to avert their gazes to avoid seeing it head-on.

　　At the foot of the Qing-Yun mountain, Fang Xing silently watched the sword lights at the peak of the mountain with a chilling gaze. “Huangfu, as long as I—Fang Xing—am not dead, I will make sure I don’t leave a single one of you behind in this world.” He slowly closed his eyes, only to open them after a long time had passed. “Goldy, let’s do it!”

　　The golden crow’s eyes widened at that and he whispered back, “Okay, let’s discuss where to enter.” He’d discussed this matter with Fang Xing when they’d first arrived as well: although nothing seemed strange with the Qing-Yun Sect on the surface and the protective formation over the mountains had been turned off, it was in truth nothing more than a giant trap. They’d be locked inside the moment they entered, and even their extremely fast speed wouldn’t allow them to escape. Not even tools or weapons for teleportation would work, as it’d just get countered by the Golden Core Stage cultivators.

　　When Fang Xing heard the crow’s question, however, he calmly replied, “We don’t need to go inside!” before letting out a long sigh and secretly sending a command of spirit sense to the Peng King.

　　After enough time to complete a cup of tea had passed, a large black cloud could suddenly be seen at the northern end of the Qing-Yun Sect. Its speed was as fast as lightning, and it bore down with an unrivaled might as it headed straight towards the peak where the punishment platform was standing. Everyone looked up towards the cloud in confusion at the sudden change while thinking to themselves, ‘The little demon was unable to hold back after all and has finally come to rescue his teacher?’

　　As the black smoke drew closer, the Golden Cores who’d been hiding among the other five peaks all opened their eyes and looked towards the phenomenon. They didn’t know precisely what was going on, so they didn’t do anything just yet and only attempted to confirm that the little demon was truly inside the black smoke. He’d entered their view, after all—they weren’t worried he’d be able to escape….

　　At the same time the five Golden Cores’ focus was gathered on the black cloud, another cloud quietly rose up into the air at the southern end of the Qing-Yun Sect. Within the cloud, Fang Xing raised a bow, nocked an arrow, and aimed it at Tie Rukuang on the purple copper pillar. His face showed no expression, but he was filled with murderous intent that collected on the bow and arrow in his hands. He instilled the bow with a vast amount of Qi, and the arrow began to shine with a spiritual light….

　　The bow and arrow in his hands was called the Bow of the Fallen God, and it was one of the broken weapons he’d obtained from the Mysterious Domain.

　　The Sword Embryo auction within the Mysterious Domain had indeed brought him a large number of good stuff. Aside from the fruits and spirit herbs, there were also some peculiar items that Fang Xing sorted out using the Book of Revelation based upon the items’ value or usefulness, and this Bow of the Fallen God was one of the more useful ones. Its strength was limited—the power of a shot would only be around one of Fang Xing’s close-combat blows—and it required ten times the Qi for that level of power, but its arrow would fly forward like a meteor that could travel ten miles within a single breath, making it extremely difficult to avoid.

　　Using his spiritual sight, Fang Xing saw Tie Rukuang who’d been tortured so much he wasn’t even recognizably human. His face remained devoid of expression even though his heart started to twitch, and with that he released the string. The arrow disappeared from the bow with a swoosh sound, and when it reappeared, it was already in front of Tie Rukuang. The speed of this arrow was so great it left a thin trail along its path.

　　The Huangfu medic let out a light laugh from the base of the purple copper pillar. “Hehe, you are indeed a tough man, but there’s still plenty of time. There’s still two more months for you to endure; no need to rush!” He shook his head and turned to walk down the platform, but a warning suddenly flashed through his mind and he began to turn. He didn’t even manage to turn completely before he saw that instantly-appearing arrow of light, and he immediately called out, “There’s—” right before a bloody hole appeared in his chest.

　　He was a mid-Foundation Stage cultivator, but due to his focus on medicinal studies, he was weak when it came to martial ability and defense. The arrow appeared and pierced a hole through his chest far too abruptly for him to even understand what had happened, and that arrow didn’t seem to delay even a second as it continued straight towards Tie Rukuang.

　　Tie Rukuang seemed to have sensed something as well. He did not look towards the arrow of light, but instead gazed out in the direction it had come from. His wounds were too heavy for him to see Fang Xing from over ten miles away, but he knew it had definitely been that little bastard who came to help him. It felt as though a great stone had been lifted from his chest, and he quietly cursed to himself, “That little bastard, he really wouldn’t let anyone down….”

　　This was the only way Fang Xing could help without giving the Huangfu clan what they wanted. Soon after the arrow pierced the medic’s chest, it continued on its path and struck right into Tie Rukuang’s heart. At this moment, Tie Rukuang didn’t feel any pain and only felt a sincere relief from the bottom of his heart.

　　“Hahahaha….” At the moment his spirit was about to fly from his body, Tie Rukuang used all of his remaining strength to let out a loud laugh. “Nice kill! Little bastard, I’ll be waiting in the netherworld for the news you’ve avenged me! If you do not kill enough of them, I’ll be cursing you for the next million years down there!”

　　Tie Rukuang’s life ended amidst his maddened laughter, yet his smile remained.

　　“No! It’s a diversion!”

　　The black smoke coming from the north was so abnormal even the five hidden Golden Cores couldn’t easily see through it, but these were all monsters who’d lived for a very long time and they could sense something was wrong. After a quick movement of the mind, they were able to sense the faint murderous intent at the south and—newly alarmed—they spread out their spirit sense like a tidal wave. “You’ve finally appeared, little demon!” With that loud exclamation, the Huangfu clan’s Golden Cores at the top of the peaks turned into strands of light all streaking towards the Qing-Yun Sect’s southern skies.

　　After releasing his arrow, Fang Xing didn’t hesitate to stow away his bow and command the golden crow beneath him. “Leave!”

　　The golden crow had been prepared in advance. He shot up into the sky and tore off his disguise, revealing the dark gold of his beast body underneath. He flapped his wings and an unimaginable amount of strength began to stir up the wind and clouds, enough so that two crazed streams of air shot out that were visible to the naked eye. He took off at an incredible speed and carried Fang Xing off into the distance.

　　Swoosh ….

　　Fang Xing activated the very last charge of the Ten Miles Teleportation Talisman Tie Rukuang had given him so long ago and shredded it as they flew.

　　Fang Xing and the golden crow disappeared in an instant, and the next time they appeared they were already ten miles away. There were still five golden rays shooting towards them like bolts of lightning, however, and they were moving so quickly it even seemed as though they were flashing. Spirit tools like the Ten Mile Teleportation Talisman were useless in the face of a Golden Core, as they were able to use a teleportation skill as well that allowed them to move tens of miles in a flash. What actually mattered was the golden crow’s extreme speed and the formations Fang Xing had placed in advance.

　　The Flag of Ten Thousand Spirits didn’t hold back any of the blood essence it had accumulated from the Mysterious Domain, and in an instant half of it was used to form a great black smoke to cover over one hundred miles. Its purpose wasn’t to fight off the Golden Core cultivators, however—Fang Xing and the Peng King both knew for a fact that the Peng King wouldn’t be able to fend off their vicious powers even if he’d recovered his powers to their peak—but to prevent the Golden Cores from locking on to Fang Xing and teleporting over directly. The Peng King used the black smoke to give off a restrictive sense of fear to the Golden Cores, making them unwilling to pass through the black smoke directly.

　　Borrowing this chance, the golden crow activated the secret spell he’d learned from the Scripture of Revered Resilience. He began burning his own blood essence and a blood-red flame began to form over his dark gold body.

　　BOOM ….

　　The golden crow flew straight up into the sky. His beast body now moved at a speed that wasn’t any slower than a Golden Core’s, and he was able to flee a hundred miles in only a few moments.

　　The golden crow’s cultivation had been based on the special techniques of the Peng clan, which was known for its speed. Even in Spirit Stage his speed was no worse than that of a Mid-Foundation Stage cultivator, and after he’d obtained the Scripture of Revered Resilience within the Mysterious Domain, his body was so durable as to defy imagination. He’d known this trip was extremely dangerous, so he’d studied the Peng Bird tribe’s secret flying skill as thoroughly as possible on the way over, increasing his speed by another great amount. He’d started burning his blood essence now as well, and—combined with his secret skills—his speed pushed even further beyond. It was nearly impossible to even see him as he flew, leaving behind only a string of dark red blood that floated in the air along his path—remnants of his burning blood essence.

　　By the time the five Golden Cores had overcome the black smoke and broke through the formations Fang Xing had placed, Fang Xing and the golden crow had already flown hundreds of miles away….

　　“Chase after them!” Despite this, they were still resolved to continue the chase and began following after the traces of blood.

　　Despite having managed to successfully flee, Fang Xing sat on the golden crow’s back without any joy or excitement—instead, he was filled only with extreme grief. He simply couldn’t control himself, and he soon began to cry, his loud sobs filled with regret, pain, and hatred, his voice so high it could be heard a full ten miles away.

　　The golden crow let out a sigh when he heard Fang Xing’s mournful cries and further increased his speed. ‘Huangfu clan, do you even know what kind of enemy you’ve made for yourself?’