After the Sword Embryo auction, the news that Fang Xing would challenge the Huangfu clan’s young master at the depths of the Mysterious Domain within seven days spread out far and wide. Due to his usual demeanor of not fearing even the heavens and earth as well as the battle prowess that allowed him to overlook all elites, everyone who heard the news believed it. This little bastard even dared to attack the Sword Mound; what wouldn’t he be bold enough to do?

　　Even the Huangfu clan made preparations once the news made its way to the depths of the Mysterious Domain. People began to guard the God’s Bridge day and night to capture and kill the brat as soon as he showed himself, and since they also firmly believed Fang Xing’s words that he’d make his challenge at the depths of the Mysterious Domain, they didn’t send many people to the outer areas and instead had them all guarding the depths. Slacking was not permitted in the slightest—everyone looked prepared to face off against a great enemy.

　　Except…

　　One day passed, and the brat didn’t show up.

　　Two days passed, and the brat still didn’t show up….

　　Three days passed, and everyone thought the brat must have been healing so he certainly wouldn’t come so soon!

　　Even when seven days had passed, there were still no signs of the brat showing up at all. There were plenty of cultivators who thought perhaps his injuries had simply been too heavy so he had to delay in order to heal. There was still a sense of anticipation.

　　On the tenth day without Fang Xing showing up, however, all the cultivators and even the young master himself began to search frantically for him, yet no matter how hard all these people searched, not a trace of even Fang Xing’s shadow could be found. It wasn’t just Fang Xing, either; even that large golden crow was nowhere to be seen, and this caused the cultivators to start to realize something.

　　That little bastard actually fled!

　　His proclamation had been so loud and he’d done so many wild things, yet at the end of the day while everyone was waiting in anticipation….

　　He’d actually fled!

　　Was there anything more shameless than this? All the cultivators had the urge to curse. They were all experienced, and yet they were being toyed with by such a little bastard!

　　It wasn’t that no one had considered the possibility Fang Xing might run away, but everyone who saw Fang Xing firsthand had been deceived. He’d shown an excessive amount of arrogance while declaring the challenge and proclaiming how he’d go and kill the Huangfu clan’s young master at the depths of the Mysterious Domain. He’d said it with such seriousness that everyone believed it, and so one, then a hundred, then a thousand cultivators all flooded towards the God’s Bridge to wait day and night for his arrival. These waiting cultivators had affected the judgment of the Huangfu clan to a degree as well.

　　Even those from the Huangfu clan believed someone who had enough power to end four of the Eight Bewitched Followers—including Lei Jiu, the top young elite—was one of the greatest enemies for their young master. All manner of speculation and shock had caused all of Huangfu to believed Fang Xing was one of their most dangerous foes, and so they placed him at a much higher level of importance.

　　These were precisely the kind of circumstances Fang Xing wanted in order to flee.

　　“He actually ran away. He actually ran away . How could he flee?” the numerous cultivators around God’s Bridge who’d wanted to watch the battle began to curse.

　　“Fleeing… is the only correct choice, right?” Some cultivators replied with hesitation, believing it was only normal. “How many people dare to fight the young master of the Huangfu clan?”

　　“But he’s Fang Xing! The little demon! He’s done so many things we wouldn’t even dare to think of! Dammit, I’d even started to feel admiration towards him! Even if he did come and die at the hands of the Huangfu clan, I’d still admire him as a real man if he came at such a critical moment. But why did he flee? That shouldn’t be the kind of thing someone like him would do….” Countless cultivators felt Fang Xing had betrayed their expectations and started to curse as well.

　　“It’s better to be alive than dead, right?” some sighed out. “Besides, isn’t that little demon known for being sly?”

　　“But… he still shouldn’t have run away…. It didn’t even seem like he needed to do so, either….”

　　While everyone was speculating, there were naturally those who thought things through and sneered, “If this little demon didn’t flee, that would be not living up to his name as the little demon. Not only did he kill people from Huangfu including four of the Eight Bewitched Followers, he even stole the Sword Embryos from the Sword Mound that had belonged to the Huangfu clan and then exchanged them for numerous treasures. It can be said he’s already taken thirty percent of all Jambu’s opportunities, and then—even under such circumstances—he was able to deceive all of us once more to safely leave the Mysterious Domain. Is that not a talent as well?”

　　“But… failing to show up to a battle he announced himself, won’t this destroy his reputation?”

　　“Heh, reputation? When has he ever had a good reputation? Betraying his sect, sexually harassing Melodic Ice Palace disciples, which one of these things wouldn’t anger the heavens? Besides, even if he didn’t come, he’s already killed people from the Huangfu clan, plundered treasures, and safely got away; who would dare take him lightly after this? Jambu is vast and has so many elites, yet who else would dare do such things?”

　　Everyone became quiet from these words. These people weren’t stupid; after thinking it through, there wasn’t any question whether or not this little demon had taken the chance to escape. In fact, it would have been strange if he hadn’t!

　　The news that Fang Xing had challenged the Huangfu clan’s young master but decided to flee rather than show up to battle began to spread. It made its way outside the Mysterious Domain and was very quickly all over Jambu.

　　The name of the little demon Fang Xing had been somewhat well-known before thanks to his betrayal of the Qing-Yun Sect and his assault on Melodic Ice Palace’s Ye Gu’yin, the so-called top elite under Foundation Stage. He did seem to hold a certain place in the eyes of the younger generations of cultivators, but that alone wasn’t enough for the senior masters to take notice. After the events inside the Mysterious Domain, however, everyone within Jambu looked at him anew. He’d actually killed four of the Eight Bewitched Followers and led so many people into attacking the Sword Mound? This little demon definitely had enough guts to cover the heavens!

　　The Huangfu clan was like a giant towering over all the sects and clans of Jambu. It was an existence that overlooked Jambu, and no one on the entire continent—except for the Spirit Mountain Temple, which usually ignored such worldly affairs—was able to match their force and power. It might sound absurd, but the Huangfu clan could have instantly become the official ruler over all cultivators if they wanted to do so.

　　What was this little demon in comparison? He was a lone soul who’d been expelled from his sect and didn’t belong anywhere, yet he dared to come up to the Huangfu clan and slap their face? Using words like “suicidal” couldn’t even begin to describe such audacity! Yet after taking so much advantage, this kid used such a shameless method to capture the attention of the Huangfu clan in order to flee from the Mysterious Domain with ease. This surprised all of the cultivators and left them with a sense of admiration.

　　Although the method was a little shameless, the fact he was able to flee was impressive nonetheless!

　　—

　　“That bastard actually fled? I wanted to help clean up his corpse!” Near the God’s Bridge, Li Ying had to confirm the news numerous times before he was willing to admit that this shocking turn of events might actually be true.

　　Han Ying felt the same. He showed a strange expression and asked, “Did I say back then that I’d see him as my senior if he escaped being killed by the Huangfu clan?”

　　Li Ying’s expression was also peculiar. “You did say that, but it seemed to me you didn’t mean it that way, right? What you meant was if he entered the depths and fought with the Huangfu clan’s young master and was still able to escape with his life, you’d see him as your senior older brother, right? I had the same idea as you at the time, because I was sure he wouldn’t be able to escape the hands of Huangfu Shenji….”

　　Li Ying said a great deal, yet Han Ying didn’t respond. After a long while, Han Ying let out a long sigh and bitterly smiled. “He has taken advantage over us!”

　　Li Ying was even more helpless. “It’s all because you try to say the fewest words possible!”

　　—

　　“He actually fled?” A female-shaped blue bandit seated inside a golden war carriage heard the news with some surprise. After a long while, she finally showed a bitter smile and continued, “This bastard is really different from all the elites I’ve ever known….” After her mutter, she turned her bitter smile towards Xu Linyun beside her. “Can you imagine it? He actually fled….”

　　A look of relief appeared on Xu Linyun’s face. “Although I am a little surprised, when I think about it closely, this is indeed Shidi Fang’s nature!”

　　—

　　At an abnormal location within the depths of the Mysterious Domain where a forest of large stones stood, a black smog covered the entire area as though it was a type of wonderland as well as a type of hell. Within this hell were numerous powerful beast spirits guarding various locations and a stone platform in the centermost point, and seated cross-legged atop this platform in deep thought was a young man with a lotus mark between his brows.

　　“Reporting….”

　　As the voice entered the area, the black smog dispersed and revealed a small path at the back, and a purple-armored soldier began walking along the path with hasty steps. The soldier’s stature was large and an iron mask covered their face to hide their age or gender, and they when they arrived in front of the Huangfu clan’s young master, they dropped to one knee and said, “Reporting to Young Master. Orders were sent down to search all locations in the outer areas of the Mysterious Domain. We can be certain the little thief is no longer within the Mysterious Domain, however even though we have our people from the Eight Bewitched Followers layered outside the Mysterious Domain as well, we were still unable to find any trace of him. He must have used the challenge as a distraction to divert everyone’s attention and mask his escape!”

　　The young man with the gold lotus between his brows became silent for a moment before a look of derision appeared on his face. “I actually decided to take a walk to the God’s Bridge on the seventh day to annihilate him, but it turns out he’s still nothing more than an uninteresting coward. Send a message back to the clan for me ordering bounties for his death. There’s no reason to be concerned about him, but the Sword Embryos must be returned to us!”

　　“Yes…” the purple-armored soldier heavily answered before departing.

　　The young man with the golden lotus between his brows grew silent. After a long while, however, he suddenly let out a cold laugh and revealed an expression of discontent. He felt terribly uncomfortable; it was as though he’d struck out with his fist yet had hit only air….