In truth, Fang Xing had already found one of the herbs the blue-clothed bandit was looking for, but he’d hidden it to use as leverage in case the blue-clothed bandit happened to betray the alliance and band with others against him. The blue-clothed bandit had been very loyal thus far, however, and Fang Xing was beginning to have second thoughts.

　　As Fang Xing thought on it more, he realized he still didn’t know what this hatred and desire for revenge came from and so decided to keep the Stellar Grass for now until he learned more. “Come come come, let’s split the haul….” Fang Xing took out the golden pellets and Foundation Cleansing Pellets instead, but the blue-clothed bandit glanced at the two types of pellets being offered and shook his head without much interest. “I don’t need the Foundation Cleansing Pellets. As for the golden pellets, it’s called a Nine-Turn Lucidity Pellet, and although it contains divine power, its medicinal properties are too strong and it can’t be taken directly. If it’s melted and dissolved into snow, however, the liquid can be used as a great catalyst for pellet crafting, allowing one’s pellets to have a thirty percent increase in quality. It is an excellent treasure and extremely rare.”

　　“What are you showing off for? You think I didn’t know that? Here, take two!”

　　“How come you’re only giving me two? Didn’t we agree on half and half?” the blue-clothed bandit asked in surprise.

　　“Yeah, but there’s only a total of five. Unless you want to actually cut one in half? You can think of it as me borrowing that half a pellet from you!”

　　The blue-clothed bandit recognized those words as being the very same Fang Xing had told Li Ying and was rendered speechless. He wasn’t actually bothered by it, however, and simply smiled before taking a single golden pellet and Foundation Cleansing Pellet. “Look at how stingy you are! Ah well, I was just joking; truth is, I’ll just take these two and you can keep the rest.”

　　This actually caused Fang Xing to feel rather embarrassed. “How could I do that? How about you take another Foundation Cleansing Pellet…” he shyly offered.

　　The blue-clothed bandit was struck completely speechless for quite some time before he let out a long sigh. “No need. In fact, I don’t plan on using these two pellets, I’m simply going to take them back to closely study their materials. Hehe, you really think these pellets and herbs are what’s most precious in this Mysterious Domain? It’s these pellets’ properties and the spirit herbs’ seeds that are most precious! My esteemed shifu once said that for a master alchemist, a completed pellet is the same as a recipe and a spirit herb is the same as a seed. What’s valuable is using them to make more later; the effects from consuming them aren’t nearly as worthwhile.”

　　Fang Xing didn’t bother listening to the blue-clothed bandit’s theories or reasons. ” Aii , whatever you do with them is up to you. Consuming them is more than enough for me….” With that, he reached out to collect everything and threw it all into the horse carriage.

　　Once all the chores were finished and Fang Xing was preparing to leave this place, a ghostly silhouette suddenly darted towards him. Its speed was as fast as lightning, and its height wasn’t that tall at all. The person wore a pair of red-colored trousers that were too large for him, with a bare chest, hair that was clean shaven at the sides, and a single ponytail that pointed straight up from the center of his head.

　　“Nn? Ghost kid? Why’d you come back?” Fang Xing laughed when he saw this person and waved the one-legged-man statue in his hand. “Are you still unconvinced you lost?”

　　The person was very fast and arrived in front of Fang Xing within only a few breaths. “Brother, I am not Li Ying,” he replied in a cold voice, “I have taken a liking to your abilities and so have come to ask to form an alliance with you in order to seek a great opportunity together….”

　　“Ghost kid, you’re not sick, are you?” Fang Xing asked in surprise.

　　“I f*cking said I’m not Li Ying! are you deaf?” the person answered back in a muffled voice, clearly growing annoyed.

　　Such a response left Fang Xing annoyed as well and he pointed at the top of their head. “You think I can’t recognize you just because of that stupid mask of yours? That thing on your head is standing up as straight as the thing between your legs. You really think I’m blind….”

　　“F*ck! What vulgar language, you think this prince doesn’t dare to teach you a lesson?” Li Ying was so angry now that ghost Qi began to spread out around him as he prepared to throw himself at Fang Xing.

　　At the same time, a click clack sound rang out from afar as someone riding atop a horse drew closer. The person in question rode a black-scaled horse, and the horse’s two wings closed inward as it began to descend towards the ground. This was nothing less than a Dragon Horse, and the person riding atop it wore a white cape that gave him an awe-inspiring appearance while at his waist was a ten-foot-long lance as thick as a goose egg. The newcomer wore a white veil on his face that hid everything except a pair of long, sharp eyes.

　　“The mute is here as well?” Li Ying muttered in surprise when he saw this.

　　The rider drew closer and reined the horse once he was thirty feet away, where he crisply declared a single sentence: “I want to form an alliance with you in order to seek a great opportunity together!”

　　Fang Xing didn’t know what the hell was going on. He looked towards Han Jiazi of the west before staring at Li Ying again, only to become utterly confused. These two bastards had obviously left already, so why had they come back now? And they’d both done some kind of minor adjustments to cover up their appearances… but these attempts were utter failures!

　　Before Fang Xing had the opportunity to curse out, however, he saw three pink silhouettes descending from the air. Three women wearing grey-colored hemp clothing sat atop their butterflies, with a very specific scent that could be detected even at a distance. If these three women who were clearly the three fairies of the northern mountains said they weren’t, Fang Xing swore he’d take out his own eyes.

　　‘Even the three fairies have come. Are they unconvinced as well and want to band together to kill me?’ Fang Xing wasn’t afraid of them; he simply picked up his one-legged-man lance and sneered towards the three groups in front of him. Before Fang Xing could speak, however, Li Ying turned towards Han Jiazi and asked instead, “Oi, are you here for the thing inside the great hall?”

　　Han Jaizi gazed at Li Ying without speaking, his silence one of clear assent.

　　Seeing this, Li Ying stopped asking any more questions and turned to the three fairies of the northern mountains. He didn’t even have to ask before the woman in the lead smiled and said, “I was considering it back then. How would you have such a good temper to say you were leaving and then simply leave? I thought about it closely, and I saw only one reason. The two of you swallowed your pride and came back to join in as well, right? We’re not too late, are we?”

　　“Seek your uncle! Even if I want to go, I won’t be doing it with you guys…” Fang Xing immediately cursed out without even thinking, on full alert. Were they trying to play him like an idiot? Did they think he’d leave with them for any random opportunity?

　　Li Ying grew angry and cursed back, “How dare you curse me!”

　　Fang Xing flourished his one-legged-man lance in response. “Do you think I won’t bash you for trying to show off in front of me?”

　　“Come come come, since we’re all free right now, let me show you some of my might!” Li Ying yelled out in anger.

　　Just as it seemed the two were about to go at each other like a pair of fighting cocks, the quiet Han Jiazi suddenly exclaimed, “Sword Mound!”

　　“What did you say?” Fang Xing asked in surprise, his attention shifting completely to Han Jiazi.

　　“What he said,” Li Ying added in annoyance. “It’s the great opportunity we wanted to give you. It’s a grand hall named Sword Mound.”

　　“I didn’t ask you!” Fang Xing’s gaze fixed firmly on Han Jiazi while ignoring Li Ying.

　　Li Ying choked back his words and his face became so scrunched up in rage it couldn’t even be recognized as human.

　　After speaking those two words, however, Han Jiazi suddenly went as silent as the dead while sitting atop his horse. Fang Xing had no other choice but to turn back to Li Ying and say, “You can speak now!”

　　Li Ying raised both his arms and yelled out in rage. “Why should I speak when you say I can speak and not speak when you tell me not to speak? I’m not going to speak now….”

　　“Whatever, up to you; I will find out myself. Who said I had to form an alliance with you guys?”

　　The fairies of the northern mountains smiled this time. “If that opportunity could be obtained so easily, we wouldn’t have so eagerly come to form an alliance with you, either. To be honest, not a single one of us has enough battle prowess to make our way inside the Sword Mound, but if all seven of us were to form an alliance—along with that flag of yours—we do indeed stand a chance of getting inside the Sword Mound for the Sword Embryos….”

　　Li Ying gave a sideways glance towards Fang Xing once someone else had volunteered the answer. Li Ying looked positively certain this would be enough to move Fang Xing, yet Fang Xing simply became confused. “What the hell is a Sword Embryo?”

　　Li Ying gave a confident smile. “See how much knowledge you lack? Let me tell you: a Sword Embryo is the seed of a divine sword that has existed since ancient times. There were once specific techniques and skills focusing on nurturing battle cultivators by placing the spirits of the gods inside their bodies. These spirits were called Sword Embryos, and they are able to increase their own power as the cultivator’s cultivation level increases. A nurtured Sword Embryo can be used to defend or attack with only a flicker of spirit sense, and its strength isn’t any worse than an apex skill…..

　　“Legends say the modern-day Flying Sword was modeled after the abilities of the Sword Embryos. With a single movement of the mind, it would slice apart their enemies from over a thousand miles away. Just how overbearing is that? As for the Flying Swords we use today… hehe, they are nothing more than some low-quality spirit tools with plenty of limitations of their own. Not many people continue using them after reaching Foundation Stage!”

　　“With a movement of the mind, it would slice their enemies over a thousand miles away?” Fang Xing was even more surprised at this. “Really?”

　　Upon seeing Fang Xing’s expression, Li Ying looked as satisfied as though he’d just eaten a whole ginseng fruit. He let out his bizarre laugh again and continued, “There actually is something you didn’t know! Let me teach you, the ability to strike an enemy over a thousand miles away cannot simply be activated through cultivation level—it is a special property of Sword Embryos. Its power is limitless, and the many cultivators of ancient times who focused their study on using one had extremely high battle prowess. It’s just that when the path to enter the upper realm was cut off, the skills using a Sword Embryo gradually stopped being taught….”

　　“Stop with the cliffhangers and hurry it up! How did it stop?” Fang Xing anxiously urged Li Ying while continuing to listen.

　　Li Ying became even more arrogant and cleared his throat. “I’m thirsty. Lend me a sip of your wine to moisten my throat first!”

　　Fang Xing pointed towards Li Ying’s nose in annoyance. “Do you think I won’t bash you if you leave me with a cliffhanger?”