Just as everything had become silent for a moment, a deep and vigorous voice boomed out, “Who is this person who dares speak such outrageous words? This deserves death!” A bolt of lightning shot forward from the distant skies, and the aura surrounding it made everyone within a thirty-foot radius feel as uncomfortable as though their very souls were being suppressed. Its speed was so great it arrived within a few blinks of an eye, whereupon a thin figure within revealed itself.

　　“It’s Lei Jiu….”

　　“The young master of the Nine Songs Tribe, Sir Lei Jiu is here….”

　　Everyone who saw the person was stunned and moved to the side.

　　The new arrival wasn’t an ordinary person. He was the young leader of the Nine Songs Tribe—the head of the Eight Bewitched Followers under the Huangfu clan—as well as the most powerful young elite of the younger generation of followers. Although he was only in his thirties, he’d already stepped into mid Foundation Stage and his name and existence was one of the top within all of Jambu. Even if his identity and status were put aside, his battle prowess was great enough for him to be considered one of the top young elites of Jambu on its own.

　　He’d originally been controlling the formation locking down the Chaotic Stone Valley since the little demon was trapped inside. When he heard Fang Xing’s long provocative whistle, however, he released the giant formation and came straight here.

　　Fang Xing didn’t have the timid expression everyone else had; he simply stomped his feet on the back of the golden crow and cursed, “Are you blind? Aside from me, who the hell here has the might to say these words?”

　　Lei Jiu’s pupils dilated as he focused on Fang Xing. “Killing the ambassadors of the Huangfu clan was already a crime worthy of the death sentence, yet now you dare speak such arrogant words challenging the royal Huangfu clan’s might; your crimes are even more unforgivable!” With this, Fang Xing’s fate had been decided. “Before your death, I will give you a burn of an incense worth of time to regret your wrongdoings!”

　　Not a single cultivator doubted his words, and all the powerful masters led by Prince Chu Huang began to circle around Fang Xing to surround him. Although they didn’t speak, their actions revealed their intentions to encircle Fang Xing and kill him. Capturing and killing Fang Xing would be a huge contribution, and it was certain they’d be given the chance to enter the Sword Mound once they handed him over to the Nine Songs Tribe. They might even receive extra rewards such as two summons as well.

　　Fang Xing looked at Lei Jiu with a meaningful gaze and snickered. “Haha, if I say it’ll be you who will be dead in a moment, would you believe me?”

　　Such words were nothing more than a joke to everyone else. Prince Chu Huang, the southern border’s King of Hell, the seven monsters of the northern mountains, and all the other top elites were all surrounding Fang Xing—it was likely he’d be captured without Lei Jiu needing to even lift a finger. No matter how vicious Fang Xing was, he was still only in early Foundation Stage, after all. To make matters worse, his mount was wounded and carrying a weak woman with a low cultivation level as well; even the closest relatives of the Huangfu clan or the elites of the eastern Videha continent would be hard-pressed to escape death in similar situations.

　　Fang Xing didn’t seem to mind at all, however, and simply smiled while taking something out and passing it to Xu Linyun. “Shijie Xu, we probably don’t have enough time to chat closely. I’ve got some big business to do here, so it’s best you leave first….”

　　Xu Linyun was taken aback by this and shook her head. “It was I who overestimated myself and got involved in this. You needn’t worry about me, just go and kill your way out. If you are worried about me becoming your burden, I can take a Hibernation Pellet to go inside your storage sack!”

　　Xu Linyun was a clever person. She knew she wouldn’t be of much help to Fang Xing right now, but she also didn’t want to become his burden. She knew he certainly wouldn’t agree to leaving her behind even if she asked him to and there was no point in bringing it up, hence she suggested taking a Hibernation Pellet to stay inside his storage sack as a possible solution. It was the only way she wouldn’t burden Fang Xing in the current situation.

　　However, Fang Xing just laughed when he heard this. “You haven’t underestimated anything; if it weren’t for the few moments you helped me obtain earlier, my wounds wouldn’t have recovered! But now that I’ve recovered, I’m not the one who’ll end up dead. Rest assured, Shijie Linyun; this bunch of flunkies and mutts isn’t enough to trap me. You keep this item for me and I will put on a great show for you!”

　　Surprised, Xu Linyun accepted the herb despite being uncertain what the purpose behind all of this was.

　　The golden crow glanced back at Fang Xing and seemed to understand what was going on. In order to ensure Xu Linyun’s good intentions weren’t wasted, he’d actively admitted to everything and it could even be said Fang Xing shouldered all the blame for the golden crow as well by playing up the idea he’d been inside the formation all along. Even then, there was something the crow couldn’t figure out: with so many powerful cultivators surrounding him, just how would this little bastard leave?

　　Fang Xing’s gaze swept out before he drew in a large breath and yelled out, “I have given Shijie Linyun a Stellar Grass. You once said that you’d do something for me in exchange for any one of the three herbs, and so in exchange for this Stellar Grass, I want you to protect my Shijie Linyun! It’d be even better if you can give her a great future as well…. This shouldn’t be too difficult for you, right?” After that, Fang Xing turned to Xu Linyun with a smile and simply shoved her off the crow, causing her to fall….

　　Xu Linyun was utterly shocked. She couldn’t understand what he was doing at all, nor did she understand the meaning of those final words.

　　The other cultivators were also rather confused when they saw this. “Is it because this brat knows his death is near and wants someone to look after those left behind?”

　　“Hmph, after angering the Huangfu clan, he’s become the enemy of all. Who dares help him?”

　　“Isn’t that white-clothed woman the only person willing to help him? Except, they’ll all die here!”

　　The cultivators watched with open disdain as the white-clothed Xu Linyun fell.

　　Lei Jiu’s brows creased and he coldly declared, “Anyone with the little demon must not be allowed to leave. All will be killed!” He didn’t personally attack because he knew such words would naturally cause people to act on his behalf, and a dozen or so cultivators truly did rush towards Xu Linyun in an attempt to capture her when she was about to land.

　　At the moment Xu Linyun nearly touched the ground, a blue shadow flew over. The shadow didn’t perform many visible movements, yet spells began to surround it and a terrifying amount of Qi was released that flung away each and every one of the cultivators who’d been rushing towards Xu Linyun. The shadow then gently caught Xu Linyun before turning into a stream of light that flew off into the distance.

　　Lei Jiu’s brows creased. “There’s actually such a powerful cultivator?” He wanted to go and stop this, but a malicious intent suddenly came pressing towards him.

　　“The Huangfu clan has offended me, so let me first kill one of the flunkies as interest!” Fang Xing yelled out before he went straight towards Lei Jiu to take the chance to attack.

　　Rumble , golden clouds formed beneath Fang Xing’s feet as his hands began to form the seal for the Yin Yang Sanding Disc—his first attack was precisely his apex skill.

　　Lei Jiu was furious. He was the young master of his Nine Songs Tribe, the young leader of the Eight Bewitched Followers of the Huangfu clan. He was an elite of the elites under Huangfu Shenji and someone who’d stepped into mid Foundation Stage before even forty years of age. And yet now he was being called a flunky someone was going to kill for interest? He was left thoroughly infuriated and insulted.

　　Even then, Lei Jiu didn’t dare take this attack from Fang Xing lightly. He recognized it as an apex skill, and seeing an apex skill come so quickly left even him rather fearful despite his mid-Foundation Stage power.

　　Rumble ….

　　As the Yin Yang power began to spin, it was like a huge grindstone rotating towards Lei Jiu. The terrifying force actually formed a powerful suction as though it wanted to pull him inside to grind him down completely into minced meat.

　　Lei Jiu felt a deep terror and didn’t even have to think about it before immediately turning to flee. When faced with someone who began their attacks with something as powerful as an apex skill, every cultivator would pick the very same, very correct choice.

　　Apex skills were often used as a last resort and it was extremely rare for someone to use one right away. It was only natural for someone to immediately try to flee and evade such an attack and return once it was finished. Although the skill itself might be very impressive, the amount of Qi required would be equally impressive and those who managed to escape would have plenty of their own Qi left to deal with the user who’d squandered their own. Apex skills were huge wastes of Qi, and the user would be considerably easy to handle once it was finished.

　　This was precisely what Lei Jiu intended to do. He believed his decision was correct, and in fact was even feeling some disdain towards his opponent. How could a top elite of the younger generation be so stupid as to use an apex skill so early and put everything on this? What he didn’t know was that when Fang Xing began performing his attack, he’d already hatched a scheme and Lei Jiu’s escape was every bit within his calculations.

　　“Don’t you run, you damn flunky!” Fang Xing yelled out while performing his apex skill. He began to give chase, and the Flag of Ten Thousand Spirits behind Fang Xing quivered as well as all while releasing all of its power. A thick black smoke covered a hundred feet in all directions, and the entirety of the area above the swamp turned into a black cloud with nearly a hundred cultivators trapped within, including Fang Xing and Lei Jiu.

　　The cultivators down below couldn’t see a thing that was happening within the cloud—they couldn’t even see a hint of any of the people inside. Regardless, they’d seen how extraordinary Fang Xing’s very first strike had been, and they’d seen how Sir Lei Jiu of the Nine Songs Tribe had turned to flee when he realized he was not in an advantageous position, only to wind up chased by Fang Xing and trapped in the black smog. The cultivators on the ground felt a sense of fear as they began to speculate, “This brat is so dangerous even the young leader of the Nine Songs Tribe is not his opponent?”