Once the Sword Embryo auction had finished, the golden crow allowed those who’d won their bids to leave with their Sword Embryos before the initial six who’d bought theirs for cheap were permitted to leave as well. Fang Xing still had the two immortal’s Sword Embryos for Li Ying and Han Ying, but he was rather blunt in telling them he was injured and needed the two of them to guard his seclusion before he’d give them their embryos; although the three of them had become so-called sworn brothers, none of them truly trusted one another.

　　All three used the cover of the Flag of Ten Thousand Spirits to leave the Sword Mound, but some of the cultivators hadn’t quite left the outskirts. Although many cultivators had managed to purchase the Sword Embryos with money, there had been far more cultivators than embryos and those who didn’t get one would naturally harbor ill intentions. Even some of the people who’d managed to buy a Sword Embryo felt aggrieved at being forced to pay for it, so they roamed about as well.

　　Although Han Ying and Li Ying’s presence prevented ordinary cultivators from daring to come up and offend Fang Xing’s group, it still wasn’t enjoyable to be stared at by such people. Fang Xing let out a loud growl and declared, “Those who are still hanging around, go and send a message for me. Seven days from now, I will enter the depths of the Mysterious Domain and challenge that bastard of the Huangfu clan. Tell him to wait for me!”

　　This shout left all the cultivators dumbstruck, and a good number of them left in silence. These words reminded them that this little demon was someone who dared to challenge the Huangfu clan, and since they didn’t have many powerful abilities of their own, it was best not to anger them. If they continued to stick their nose in such matters without the ability to back it up, they might go to butcher a pig but wind up covered in muck instead—it simply wasn’t worth it. Only people who were at the same level could become each other’s opponents, so in a way it could be said Fang Xing was borrowing the might of the Huangfu clan by making such a declaration.

　　After intimidating away all the cultivators, Fang Xing sneered and waved his Flag of Ten Thousand Spirits to cause a darkness to engulf the surrounding five miles of land. From there, he used the black smog as a cover to quietly slip past a mountain and find somewhere appropriate for seclusion so he could heal his injuries.

　　It was very important for Fang Xing to be cautious like this. Going into seclusion to recover wasn’t a simple matter, and he couldn’t allow himself to be disturbed by anyone. If someone came during this critical moment to cause problems for him or if the Huangfu clan’s men discovered his location and revealed it to the Huangfu clan, Fang Xing would truly be as good dead. He had to be extremely careful right now.

　　Still, finding a hidden location for seclusion within the Mysterious Domain wasn’t so easy. The Mysterious Domain was filled with a variety of treasures and opportunities all throughout, and the cultivators within were heavily motivated to seek out such treasures and opportunities. Just about every nook and cranny of the Mysterious Domain would be searched. It was at this time that the golden crow mentioned he knew an extremely hidden place that could allow Fang Xing to heal in peace and solitude, and although this bird didn’t look trustworthy in the slightest, Fang Xing still trusted him and had him lead the way.

　　The golden crow led him through countless twists and turns, crossed mountains and valleys, and picked only the most secluded of paths. There were even a few detours in between, but after six hours had passed, they arrived at a location in the western part of the Mysterious Domain where the Qi was thin and there didn’t seem to be any opportunities or treasures whatsoever.

　　This place had a mountain peak that had collapsed and buried an entire valley under countless stones and boulders. The golden crow cleared out the stones at the entrance of the valley and had Li Ying and Han Ying stand guard at its entrance before leading Fang Xing, Xu Linyun, and the blue-clothed bandit inside. With how furtive he was being, it seemed this was a secret he didn’t want Han Ying and Li Ying to know.

　　Fang Xing speculated this was where the golden crow had obtained an opportunity from the Mysterious Domain, and so he became rather interested. This also reminded him that he didn’t even know how the golden crow got inside the Mysterious Domain in the first place or what sort of opportunities he obtained to make his body become so sturdy. The crow was even able to withstand attacks from an early-Foundation Stage cultivator now; it was all so mysterious, and Fang Xing hadn’t heard the golden crow reveal a single word about any of it.

　　After entering the valley, the group continued for a few more turns until finally arriving at a half-dried locust tree next to an icy pool. The golden crow pulled aside the locust tree and dug up the soil beneath, where a milky-white coffin exuding a slight coldness was revealed. Even just looking at the coffin would cause a chill to settle at the bottom of one’s heart, but even more surprising to Fang Xing was the fact it was made from Serene Ice Jade. It was the same kind of jade as what had been discovered in the Snowy Mountain, but the quality of this coffin’s jade seemed to be considerably higher by comparison. Its surface was also covered in strange and complex spells that could only be seen from time to time.

　　Fang Xing walked around this jade coffin a few times and curiously asked, “This is the opportunity you obtained that caused your body to become so powerful?”

　　The golden crow carefully looked around before replying, “You have to be careful. My path of cultivation has become twisted, and this jade coffin is perhaps my only chance to cultivate in the future. I’m only telling you about it because I see you as a true brother, so don’t tell anyone else!”

　　The golden crow’s solemn words caused Fang Xing to take this seriously as well. He asked for more details, and the golden crow sighed before explaining what he’d experienced during their time apart, leaving Fang Xing speechless. As it so happened, the crow had become the likes of a “legendary beast” of the Myriad Beasts Sect when Fang Xing left, and he’d been able to order Sect Master Ying Shihou and all his disciples around as though he owned the place. Those days couldn’t get any better, but such good times didn’t last for very long.

　　This crow was simply too despicable—he actually went and stole Ying Shihou’s very few precious beast pellets. They’d been Ying Shihou’s most prized possessions even Fang Xing wasn’t shameless enough to take when he plundered the sect, yet the golden crow didn’t care nearly as much and stole them when Ying Shihou was absent. It left Ying Shihou so enraged he stopped thinking about anything else except capturing this golden crow and chopping him up.

　　Whether it was through good luck or bad, the golden crow had no choice but to flee in the night and just so happened to arrive here in the Beast Exhausting Range. When he looked up towards the sky, he saw the stars begin to align and a dark light falling from above. That dark light was precisely the opportunity falling from the mysterious coffin, and not only was the golden crow covered in this grand opportunity, he nearly died from being struck by it so directly. Considering this, despite the large number of talented young elites from all of the four continents of Tianyuan, it was this golden crow who’d managed to be the first one inside….

　　Before the golden crow even knew what was happening, the location turned into a deep lake of thick blood. He was nearly engulfed within but while he was struggling to escape, he chanced upon an icy coffin and climbed inside as a latch-ditch effort to survive. Once inside, the blood actually began to funnel inside the coffin and he was made to suffer through a great deal of torment, so much so that he nearly lost his life several times.

　　The golden crow fortunately had three Blood Lotus Seeds thanks to Fang Xing, which he was forced to take on three occasions. Absorbing the seeds took three days and nights, and when the golden crow woke up, he was confused to find that the lake of blood had become a deep pit and his physical body had for some reason become so sturdy and powerful even someone in Foundation Stage couldn’t hurt him. Only Lei Jiu of the Nine Songs Tribe and his lightning attack had been able to wound him thus far.

　　The golden crow was rather cunning as well and immediately knew this coffin had to be a great treasure. He wasn’t able to place it in a storage sack, so he dug a hole and buried the coffin inside before placing a few things around it to camouflage it—even the collapsed mountain peak had been caused by the golden crow’s headbutt. He’d planned to come back and secretly carry this coffin away once he figured out how to leave.

　　“An entire lake of blood and the three Blood Lotus Seeds were all absorbed into your body?” Fang Xing asked with great surprise. Fang Xing didn’t know how large this lake had been since he hadn’t seen it, but the Blood Lotus Seed was famous for its powerful medicinal strength. Even a single one contained an unimaginable amount of blood essence, yet all three were absorbed by the golden crow?

　　“Exactly. When I was being tortured inside that blood lake, I was somehow able to hear a voice rising up within my mind, teaching me a scripture of some kind. I think it was named something like revered resilience…. Dammit, I can only remember this much, but I could feel nothing but discomfort. So much blood essence flowing into my body felt worse than having your guts completely fill up with alcohol….”

　　Fang Xing looked at the golden crow in disbelief. “Scripture of Revered Resilience….” Fang Xing himself had obtained two other scriptures with “revered” in their name so far. One of them—the Scripture of Revered Spirit—had been obtained from a dream and was able to help him absorb all spiritual things for himself. It was extremely effective and useful, and even now his cultivation was progressing with it hand in hand. The other was the Scripture of Revered Sense, one he’d obtained from the Qingqiu Tombs. This was a mysterious and powerful text as well, and even though he’d only practiced it once by accident, his spirit sense became so much more powerful afterwards. This bandit bird of a golden crow was actually able to stumble upon another scripture, the Scripture of Revered Resilience?

　　“Do you still remember the verses?” Fang Xing urgently asked the crow, his thoughts of recovering completely pushed to the wayside. “Tell me about it!”

　　The golden crow snickered. “Of course I remember them. Let me tell you….” He opened his mouth to recite the verses for Fang Xing… but not a single word came out. He kept it open for a long time to no avail. “Strange… why is that when I try to say it, my head becomes empty and I’m prevented from doing so?”

　　The golden crow muttered to himself a few times before taking out a jade talisman. He went to write everything out, but he ended up freezing up with the talisman in his grasp for a long time without anything coming out. His anxiousness and annoyance grew until he was nearly in tears when he tried to explain, “It’s not that I don’t want to tell you, but why can’t I remember any of it? Dammit, little bandit, stop looking at me like that! Am I the kind of bird who’d be so stingy to not tell you the verses of some scripture?”

　　Fang Xing sighed and tried to calm the crow down. “It’s ok, I’m not doubting you. I knew well in advance this kind of scripture couldn’t be passed on to anybody!” In truth, he’d also thought about passing the Scripture of Revered Spirit on to Bai Qianzhang, Xiao Mahn, and even Tie Rukuang who’d been rather good to him later on. He’d realized then that even though the scripture was as clear as crystal in his mind, whenever he tried to say it or put it down in writing, he would instantly forget all about it—his brain would become completely empty and he’d be prevented from sharing it.

　　The Scripture of Revered Sense was the same as well. Ever since he’d obtained it from the jade scroll he’d found inside the Qingqiu Tombs, the jade scroll was destroyed and the verses remained only within his mind. It could still be studied and grasped, but it couldn’t be passed on to anyone else.

　　The Scripture of Revered Resilience the golden crow obtained was probably the same. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to share, he simply could not.