Fang Xing’s angry shout shocked both Li Ying and Han Yin and prevented them from attacking him on sight. The two weren’t idiots, however, and they glared at Fang Xing while waiting for him to explain.

　　Fang Xing became even angrier before he emptied a storage sack onto the ground, causing the three tribe leaders to fall out. “These three bastards stopped guarding the entrance to the Sword Mound to come here and escape with three of the five immortal’s Sword Embryos. You’re lucky your little grandpa here was able to see through it to come in advance and stop them—if we’d waited for you guys to break in, not even a feather would be left behind. You still want my Sword Embryos even then?”

　　The pupils of Han Ying and Li Ying dilated when they saw the three young leaders of the Fiery Cloud, Shaken Cloud, and Black Swamp tribes. “These three people wanted to take the Sword Embryos?” It was obvious now why assaulting the Sword Mound had been extremely difficult early on but had felt much easier later: these three leaders had given up on guarding the entrance and intended to flee with the Sword Embryos instead. It had been such a dangerous situation! If they’d spent so much effort to break inside only to find all the Sword Embryos had been taken away, everyone would’ve felt an irreversibly great loss.

　　Li Ying gave it some thought before discontentedly asking, “Why did you not notify us first before sneaking inside?” He and Han Ying weren’t stupid, so they naturally didn’t easily believe Fang Xing had come inside so early for the purpose of stopping these three people from escaping with the Sword Embryos. They guessed this bastard had most likely wanted to clean out all the Sword Embryos for himself and had only accidentally run into the leaders in the process.

　　These two’s thoughts were quite accurate, of course, but Fang Xing acted as though he’d received some sort of great insult and instantly cursed back, “I’m going to f*ck all eighteen generations of your ancestors, you ghost kid!”

　　Li Ying jumped in surprise at the shout. “Why would you curse all eighteen generations of my ancestors for no reason?”

　　“Because you’re doubting me! Dammit, I actually saved an Immortal’s Sword Embryo for each of you, yet not only are you not thanking me, you’re here questioning my integrity? What gives you the right to question your little grandpa? I was the one who gathered all the cultivators to attack the Sword Mound, I was the one who gave the speech that moved everyone, and you two simply joined in on the chaos I created. I was the one who did most of the work, yet you’re all acting as though you’ve contributed so much! Now tell me, ghost kid, don’t I have a reason to curse all eighteen generations of your ancestors?” Fang Xing’s words were so full of righteousness and reason that even Li Ying began to feel a sense of shame in response.

　　Fang Xing’s words weren’t completely true, of course. When he first revealed his true identity, he’d already told Li Ying he planned to snatch the flag and attack the sword mound and Li Ying had been tasked with riling up the emotions of everyone else. As the scene became more and more chaotic, however, it was the son of the Han clan—who was typically mute and said very little—who became the first person to break the silence and respond to Fang Xing’s call. Rather than Li Ying, Han Ying was the first to enter battle alongside Fang Xing. Han Ying’s actions had been entirely voluntary, though, and since it hadn’t been discussed with Fang Xing in advance, he couldn’t really claim any credit for himself.

　　Simply put, Fang Xing was indeed the primary reason for this attack on the Sword Mound, but he wouldn’t have been nearly so successful if it weren’t for the help from Li Ying and Han Ying. Receiving credit became a matter of how thick one’s skin was, and Fang Xing directly placed all the credit squarely on his own shoulders while making sure to trample any credit Li Ying and Han Ying might have had, even going so far as to make them feel ashamed.

　　The two of them had clearly heard the words “I actually saved an immortal’s Sword Embryo for each of you two” as well, filling them with intense excitement. The sole reason they’d worked so hard to attack this place was for the sake of one of the immortals’ Sword Embryos in the Sword Mound’s depths. They’d originally thought they might have to fight with the other cultivators to get their hands on one, yet this little brat had already prepared one for them? The two didn’t bother arguing anymore, and Li Ying anxiously asked, “Where are the Sword Embryos?”

　　Fang Xing showed a cold smile. “These three bastards have them. A complete immortal’s Sword Embryo will be yours after you separate it from them with secret spells. You can check them first if you don’t believe me. Of course, whether you can separate it from them or not will be up to your own abilities; that is more than I care to worry about!”

　　Han Ying and Li Ying were both overjoyed at those words, and they looked towards the three leaders in unison with gleaming eyes. Li Ying was impatient and moved to directly grab one of them for a closer look, but Fang Xing moved in front to block his path with a cold smile. “Wait. Not only did you two bastards question my integrity after not contributing much, now you want to so effortlessly receive an immortal’s Sword Embryo?”

　　At this, the expressions on Li Ying and Han Ying’s faces became complicated and they even prepared to attack. Li Ying in particular had an unmatched talent in spirit sense and was even stronger than Fang Xing in this regard, and he could sense Fang Xing was currently in a terrible state right now. It might even be possible for either of the two to take Fang Xing down alone to say nothing of attacking together, but it wasn’t good to simply attack and steal it away in an atmosphere like this.

　　Fang Xing naturally saw through them and three Flying Swords abruptly flew out from another storage sack. A simple movement of his mind caused each of the swords to point at the young leaders’ foreheads while Fang Xing sneered and continued, “Don’t you two bastards do anything stupid now; if I let go of my swords, it will take their lives. The Sword Embryos will flee if they die, and you guys will be left with without so much as a feather….”

　　Li Ying and Han Ying’s faces froze. Neither of them dared to act hastily anymore, and the atmosphere quickly became frozen and stern.

　　It was Han Ying who broke the silence and asked, “How then will you give it to us?”

　　Fang Xing smirked. “It’s not a habit of mine to share such good stuff with people who barely contributed, but since your little grandpa here is a virtuous and kind-hearted person and I find you guys rather likeable, I won’t be stingy. How about this: the three of us will use soil as incense while the heavens and earth witness a bonding of brotherhood?”

　　Such words caused the other two’s eyes to nearly fall out as they looked to Fang Xing in shock.

　　Fang Xing smiled. “After we’ve sworn our brotherhood, we’ll be family, and it would only be a matter of course to share the Sword Embryos with you regardless of whether you’ve contributed or not. Of course, this also means we’ll share all fortune and misfortune in the future….”

　　Li Ying’s head was shaking like a rattle drum even before Fang Xing had finished speaking. He showed a sly smile and replied, “To speak truthfully, when I first saw fellow Daoist Fang, I felt a great closeness, as though you were even closer than my real brother. To become sworn brothers is something I’m more than willing to do, but swearing it now might be a little rushed. Why don’t we do it after we leave the Mysterious Domain? At that time, I’d be sure to invite fellow Daoist Fang for a visit to our southern lands and have many of our seniors witness this great event….”

　　Li Ying wasn’t stupid; why would he choose to become sworn brothers with Fang Xing at a moment like this? Once news spread that the Sword Mound was attacked, Fang Xing would become the mortal enemy of the entire Huangfu clan, and it went without saying the Huangfu clan would do their best to capture him and possibly anyone who had connections with him as well. This little brat was a huge magnet for disaster; removing the connections they had with him even just now would take some effort, so why would they choose to become his “brother” at a time like this? If something were to leak and the Huangfu clan started asking questions, just how would the two of them survive? It wasn’t just Li Ying; even Han Ying slowly shook his head without accepting.

　　Fang Xing became angry at this. “I’d originally wanted to give you something good, yet you two bastards dare to look down on me? Well, since you’re both looking down on me and don’t want to become my sworn brothers, let’s keep it strictly business. Since I have no relationship of any kind with you, why should I give you the immortals’ Sword Embryos? You can all piss off now. Even if I have to destroy them, I won’t allow these Sword Embryos to fall into your hands….”

　　Han Ying and Li Ying’s gazes chilled, and their minds quickly began to turn with plans to attack once more.

　　“Hehe, I may indeed not be your opponent now, but do you two really think you can take me down?” Fang Xing asked with a sneer. “If I decide to flee after killing the three of them, who’d be able to stop me?”

　　When they thought of the might of the Flag of Ten Thousand Spirits and the speed of the golden crow, the expressions on Li Ying and Han Ying’s faces fell. They realized if they were to attack right now, Fang Xing would assuredly call back his Flag of Ten Thousand Spirits, and adding in the extremely fast speed of his bird mount as well as the abilities of the blue-clothed bandit who hadn’t said anything to them since this reunion, there was still over a fifty-percent chance Fang Xing would escape regardless of his current state. If such a thing happened, they would be left with nothing and all their hard work would have been for naught, so they restrained themselves once more. Although the situation had seemed so simple before, it had become considerably more problematic when all these variables were taken into account.

　　A loud rumbling noise suddenly rose up and the earth began to shake. A black cloud began flying over from the southeast, and a spiritual light shone on the Sword Mound from all directions as a strange wind began to blow. The giant formation surrounding the Sword Mound had been completely torn away, and all the cultivators and the Flag of Ten Thousand Spirits had started to rush towards the Sword Mound’s depths. It was as though a great army with an endless amount of power at its disposal was on the move.

　　Seeing that the other cultivators had started rushing inside, Fang Xing grew steadily calmer and showed a half-smile towards Li Ying and Han Ying. “There’s not much time. You don’t want to become sworn brothers but still want the Sword Embryos, so how about showing some of your sincerity?”

　　“What do you mean by ‘sincerity’?” Han Ying bluntly asked.

　　Fang Xing’s answer was also extremely straightforward: “One thousand Spirit Essence for each immortal’s Sword Embryo!”

　　“One thousand Spirit Essence?” Li Ying yelled out as though bitten by a stray dog.

　　“This is an immortal’s Sword Embryo, after all,” Fang Xing coldly laughed, “You think it’s too expensive?”

　　Li Ying was left speechless. The value of an immortal’s Sword Embryo couldn’t be measured— let alone one thousand Spirit Essence, even ten thousand wouldn’t be considered too expensive—but even if it was just this much, it was still a huge fortune. Just where in the world would he get so much money? He might just barely have enough to exchange if he took out everything he owned, but why would he willingly hand over everything he’d found in the Mysterious Domain all for a single Sword Embryo?

　　Li Ying understood now: the reason this little demon had gone through so much trouble was because he wanted the two of them to pay for the Sword Embryos. If Fang Xing had mentioned it in the first place, the two of them would have definitely attacked him immediately and without a second thought, but the two of them no longer had it in them to attack after he’d delayed for so long; the two of them just wanted to resolve the issue by this point….

　　The cultivators in the distance flowed forward like a tidal wave. As for Fang Xing, he was calm and casual, completely unconcerned about this.

　　While Li Ying was grappling with the anxiousness in his heart, Han Ying suddenly declared, “I don’t have a thousand Spirit Essence, and even all the collective fortune of the Han clan does not add up to a thousand Spirit Essence. Since I cannot afford the price, I will swear brotherhood with you!”