The blue-clothed bandit didn’t tried to force Fang Xing nor persuade him in any way after hearing his answer, and her calm and indifference appearance even implied she’d expected him to say such a thing. She let out a long sigh. “Although your rejection looks extremely foolish to me, it brings me relief for Xiao Mahn as well; it is far better for two people to act foolishly together than for someone to act foolishly alone. Enough, I’ve said everything that needed to be said. Since you’re unwilling to come with me, I shall wait for you in Videha. Good luck!” The blue-clothed bandit placed her hand beneath the mask as though about to take it off, but she eventually let go.

　　Fang Xing smirked. “So our alliance has ended?”

　　The blue-clothed bandit showed a gentle smile. “I am not going to help you against the Huangfu clan. It’s embarrassing to admit, but I formed an alliance with you for the sole purpose of borrowing your viciousness. Videha is strong, but it’s inconvenient for me to attack others while in this area for Jambu cultivators; if I were too unrestrained, the monks from the Spirit Mountain Temples might come to cause trouble for me….” She paused for a moment and lowered her voice, “I will take Xu Linyun with me, which can be considered me honoring my promise to you earlier in exchange for the Stellar Grass. As for you, I can only wish you the best of luck and hope you won’t actually go into the depths of the Mysterious Domain to challenge the Huangfu clan’s young master….”

　　Fang Xing waved his hand. “I’ll go and chop him up for sure!”

　　The blue-clothed bandit released a light laugh and shook her head before flying out of the cave.

　　Before long, Xu Linyun entered the cave to bid her goodbyes. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity and although she was kind-hearted, she wasn’t the type to be concerned with each and every small detail, so there were things that didn’t need to be said. The fact she’d stood up for Fang Xing in front of everyone had already caused a great deal of trouble for her, and the Huangfu clan certainly wouldn’t overlook her if they intended to capture Fang Xing—it was best that she left now to avoid negatively impacting her sect. When the two were parting, Fang Xing gave her a golden pellet and four Foundation Cleansing Pellets. She didn’t refuse these gifts, and rather than giving words of gratitude when she received them, she tightly cupped her hands and left.

　　Fang Xing was feeling some disappointment and frustration after seeing off the blue-clothed bandit and Xu Linyun. After some thoughts, he walked out and saw Li Ying and Han Ying guarding the entrance of the cave for him, which caused the two of them great surprise. They’d believed it would take at least one or two weeks to heal rather than the three short days between then and now, yet not only were all of his wounds healed, the amount of Qi he had seemed to have increased as well and there was the vague impression he’d raised his cultivation level.

　　The same thought appeared in both of their minds: ‘What a freak!’ The two were a bit cautious as well and believed Fang Xing might try to cheat them of the Sword Embryos he’d promised now that his cultivation had improved further, but—to their joy—Fang Xing fortunately didn’t do so and simply gave them the promised Sword Embryos directly. The action was so straightforwardly the two even began to feel they’d been unfairly judging this sincere bandit’s heart with their own cruel measures.

　　“With your abilities, I’m sure you’ll be able to find the Sword Embryos inside their bodies. As for how you’ll split the Sword Embryos from them, I don’t care; it’ll all be up to you. Now that I’ve given them to you, it can be said that I’ve honored my promise!”

　　Han Ying and Li Ying exchanged glances before picking up the young leaders and placing them into their storage sacks. “Um… nn, uh… th— tha….” Li Ying stuttered out; he wanted to say “thank you”, but was so utterly inexperienced he couldn’t do so. Han Ying, on the other hand, was far more direct and simply asked, “Are you going to challenge the young master of the Huangfu clan at the depths of the Mysterious Domain?”

　　“That is certain. I’ve already announced it, after all!” Fang Xing proudly replied.

　　“I can’t help you,” Han Ying responded, before Li Ying also chimed in with, “I can’t help you either!”

　　Fang Xing looked at them in disdain. “It’s merely a young master of the Huangfu clan. Your little grandpa doesn’t even need your help!”

　　The two of them were struck speechless and left unable to respond. Describing the young master of the Huangfu clan with “merely”… this person who had enough guts to cover the heavens was perhaps the only one who dared to do so.

　　Han Ying composed himself and cupped his hands with an extremely solemn expression on his face. “If you can truly survive through everything, there will be no issue in me calling you my older brother.”

　　“Since I’m young anyway, I don’t lose out no matter what I do so I’m the same as him!” Li Ying declared as well, his thoughts the same as the son of the Han clan.

　　“In that case, I’ll have two more little brothers soon!” Fang Xing smirked with confidence. “I wouldn’t be sharing this secret of mine with you if you hadn’t said that today, but it shouldn’t be a problem since you’ll soon be under my wings….” With that, he had the two of them come closer before he whispered the secrets of the Nine-Turn Lucidity Pellet, leaving the pair completely in shock.

　　“Swallowing the golden pellet raw…. You’re not joking, right?” Li Ying was completely dumbstruck. Swallowing the pellet raw sounded utterly absurd. In a way, swallowing a pellet like that was akin to suicide!

　　Fang Xing simply sneered. “I’ve told you my secret; whether you believe it or not and whether you dare try it will be up to you.”

　　Both Han Ying and Li Ying showed extremely serious expressions. It was obvious in an instant that they couldn’t make up their minds, but they didn’t dwell on this problem and Fang Xing didn’t bother trying to prove it, either. Fang Xing felt he didn’t need two subordinates who didn’t dare to take any risks, but the fact they would be calling him their older brother in the future meant they were as good as his subordinates in the present, so he naturally had to display some arrogance in front of them.

　　After some hesitation, the three of them and the golden crow sat down together while Han Ying took out a glass of wine in a white vase. He took a drink from it and placed it on the ground before cupping his hands and jumping onto his Dragon Horse to fly away. His departure was direct and efficient.

　　Li Ying snatched the wine and took a gulp before cupping his hands. It seemed as though he wanted to say something, but Fang Xing impatiently interrupted to shout, “Hurry and get the hell out of here now!” Fang Xing was filled with disgust at the thought of drinking wine from the same vase as someone as ugly as Li Ying, but the wine Han Ying took out simply smelled too good. It was so powerful and smooth, and a single sniff enough to leave someone drunk; rather than drinking it all at once, Fang Xing wanted to savor it as long as he could.

　　Li Ying became angry at being cursed at by Fang and started cursing right back, but he wound up utterly defeated. He wasn’t as good at Fang Xing in verbal spats in the first place, and now that Fang Xing had the golden crow beside him as a helper, Li Ying and his slow tongue was no match. He couldn’t deal with even the golden crow alone, so how could he compare to the two of them together? After growing angry with himself, he finally gritted his teeth in indignation and left.

　　Once everyone had gone, only the golden crow and Fang Xing remained amidst the desolate wind and solemn atmosphere.

　　“So you’re going to kill that arrogant young master of the Huangfu clan?” the golden crow asked in a grave manner, but his voice was filled with the will to battle.

　　The young master of the Huangfu clan was certainly terrifying. Not only was he already in late Foundation Stage despite being only thirty-five years old, he was the leader of Jambu’s hidden royal family who had all the resources they needed along with even more powerful weapons and talismans. It was without question the young master had powerful helpers on top of everything else, and even if Fang Xing had the same cultivation level, it would be difficult to find someone who truly believed Fang Xing could be an opponent for the Huangfu clan’s young master.

　　The golden crow, however, was also someone who had enough guts to cover the heavens. He was someone who feared a world without enough chaos, and his desire for battle only rose when he heard Fang Xing say something like challenging the Huangfu clan. He couldn’t let Fang Xing down at a moment like this! You only live once, so why not go crazy now? By now, his battle lust was ignited completely.

　　“Of course—” Fang Xing replied in a solemn manner when he heard the golden crow’s question, “—I won’t f*cking go. You think I’m an idiot? That bastard is already late Foundation Stage and I’m only early Foundation Stage. What, do I go and get myself killed? If there were treasures involved, maybe, but if it’s just to leave a name behind… whoever wants it can go get it. I’ve already earned plenty of precious treasures. We’ve gotta flee while we’re still under the radar and they haven’t realized what’s happened!”

　　The golden crow was completely flabbergasted. “What? Didn’t you say you were going to kill that bastard of the Huangfu clan?”

　　“Just boastful talk! You really want to kill him? Then just wait until my cultivation surpasses his!”

　　The golden crow wasn’t sure how to respond to this. “But you know, if we leave now, it just feels…” he hesitated for a bit, “it doesn’t feel like the right time!”

　　“We’ve killed people from the Huangfu clan, plundered the Sword Mound, and taken advantage over them. If we don’t leave now, when do we leave?” Fang Xing disdainfully replied.

　　The golden crow wasn’t able to find an argument against Fang Xing’s rather reasonable-sounding words. After stuttering for a long time, he finally got out, “Then… then why did you say those things with so much passion in front of so many people? Even I believed you!”

　　Fang Xing clicked his tongue. “How can I scam others if I can’t scam even you? While all those bastards think I’ll be going to the depths to kill that bastard of the Huangfu guy, it is exactly the perfect chance for us to flee. Do you really think it’ll be that easy to get out of this Mysterious Domain otherwise?”

　　With that, Fang Xing stopped speaking with the golden crow, folded his hands behind his back, and went back into the valley to prepare for his departure.