“I can’t stand it anymore! This damn girl has already taken the Blood Lotus Seed and I’ve reconnected her bones. Her life isn’t in danger anymore, so why is she still unconscious? What exactly went wrong? Plenty of zombies have been lured here, though, and they’re getting more powerful. I entered this Mysterious Domain with such great ambition, yet all I’m doing now is playing with zombies all day….” Fang Xing let out heart-wrenching sobs while sitting in front of the cave.

　　The Peng King couldn’t tell if he felt more amused or annoyed when he saw this. “Who told you to pick this graveyard-like place to cure this girl’s wounds?”

　　“I just happened to find it and it’s rather spacious like a cave, so what’s wrong with staying here!”

　　The Peng King gave a cold snort. “Then stop complaining about it. This graveyard has always been a place of evil, a gathering spot for all those zombies and evil demons. Not only did you take over their home, but the girl is also covered by this thick scent of blood; it’s no wonder zombies are coming to attack you one group after another. Heh, zombies are the lowest form of corporeal spirit, but since the Mysterious Domain is covered with such abundant Qi, it’s only natural they’ve become stronger. This Mysterious Domain truly is such a wondrous place that even a lowly being has been changed into a naturally precious thing….”

　　“Who cares? When do you think the girl will get better?”

　　The Peng King laughed. “You’re too impatient. Do you know how heavy her wounds were? Her ribs were broken and her internal organs were destroyed—even her heart was split in half. That girl from the Jing clan intended to take her life, and you’re lucky you had the Blood Lotus Seed to keep her from dying. Without it, even a Budding Soul Stage cultivator might not have been able to save her!

　　“Her bones have mended, but her organs haven’t completely healed yet. We can only wait until the enormous amount of blood essence from the Blood Lotus Seed completely absorbs into her body and turns into Qi to nourish her internal organs. At the earliest it will take seven days before the organs mend back together, and it’ll take a bit longer after that to completely heal—at least two weeks. Her current state is already a miracle; you think it’s that easy to salvage a life from the brink of death?”

　　Fang Xing could only cry invisible tears at this. “Do I just wait here, then? All the treasure’s going to be taken by others….”

　　“Then stop worrying about this girl and go deeper to fight for your fortune?”

　　Rather than reply to this, Fang Xing just squatted down and started drawing circles on the ground.

　　The Peng King released a helpless sigh and didn’t bother with him any further. He turned and retrieved three red pellets that had been placed around Chu Ci’s body before placing them in his palm in front of Fang Xing. Fang Xing took out five milky white pellets in response, which the Peng King placed around Chu Ci once more.

　　These kinds of zombies were unique to the Beast Exhausting Range. The Beast Exhausting Battle had been too harsh, causing this place to become a rather demonic placed filled with zombies and evil spirits all around—it wasn’t even wrong to call it a corpse pit. After the Mysterious Domain arrived and covered the area, the zombies within were nurtured by the abundance of Qi and experienced a huge increase to their battle prowess.

　　Of course, no matter how strong these zombies were, they were still only on the Mysterious Domain’s outer perimeter and couldn’t threaten Foundation Stage cultivators like Fang Xing at all; Fang Xing had simply gotten bored after killing so many waves of them. These pellets Fang Xing had retrieved from the defeated zombies were called Corpse Cores and they functioned as a kind of low-grade medicinal ingredient. The Peng King had taken an interest in them and asked Fang Xing to collect them from the zombies he killed, which he would then place in front of Chu Ci for some unfathomable purpose.

　　“This is the thirteenth one already, what exactly are you doing?” Fang Xing curiously asked.

　　The Peng King gave a disdainful snort. “Let me tell you something so you know my title as Golden Core Beast King wasn’t for nothing. These Corpse Cores are actually a kind of medicinal ingredient. After being nurtured inside the poison-filled body of a zombie where Yin and evil is it at its most potent, its opposite—Yang and goodness—begins to grow as well. It is a rather rare medicinal antidote used to heal wounds and detoxify the body. This girl’s cultivation level is still low and time is necessary for her to recover, so things like the Blood Lotus Seed with such high amounts of blood essence aren’t really necessary and it’s all overflowing. I’ve been using the overflowing blood essence to nurture these Corpse Cores, and after combining them with a few other herbs, I’m able to craft a number of pellets for curing wounds and detoxification. This medi—”

　　“Is it valuable?” Fang Xing interrupted just as the Peng King was excitedly explaining the miraculous uses of these Corpse Cores.

　　The Peng King nearly choked on his own breath before he waved his sleeve and cursed, “You’re hopeless!”

　　—

　　Despite their estimations, it took only five days for Chu Ci to heal enough to regain consciousness and for the Peng King to declare she’d finally passed through the most critical juncture and could leave together with Fang Xing. The only stipulation was she wasn’t able to use Qi, let along actually fight—she was still not completely cured and needed to be carried on Fang Xing’s back.

　　Now that he had the chance to leave this graveyard they’d stayed at for five days, Fang Xing ran forward with quick short steps that bounced her up and down on top of his back.

　　“Brother Jiu… you’re running so fast. Where are you going?” Chu Ci found it a bit odd to call him something she’d never called him before and her cheeks became flushed. Fang Xing didn’t even notice this and simply kept on running as he replied, “To get my fortune back!”

　　“Get your fortune?” Chu Ci asked with surprise.

　　The Peng King’s voice rose up from the flag behind Fang Xing. “Girl, it’s best you try to understand what’s going on. While you were healing, he nearly died from cabin fever. If he hadn’t been worried about your wellbeing, he would’ve been running about like an unleashed wild hare….”

　　“The saying is an unleashed wild horse!” Fang Xing angrily scolded the Peng King.

　　The Peng King just laughed. “You do have some knowledge!”

　　“Of course! I’ve read a few books with my fourth uncle for a few days before. He said if I didn’t read any books, I wouldn’t even know if someone was cursing at me!”

　　“A few days?” This left the Peng King surprised.

　　“It was four or five whole days!”

　　The Peng King let out a dry cough and no longer said anything.

　　Of course, Fang Xing wouldn’t mention the awkward truth about the incident. After his fourth uncle lured him into reading Chunhwa books for five days straight, Fang Xing got fed up with it and climbed up a tree. When he refused to come down, his fourth uncle ended up having to use a bow and arrow to force him down, and then his other eight uncles took turns holding a knife to his neck for a full year until he learned how to read, giving him just enough proficiency to recognize the characters.

　　Chu Ci settled against Fang Xing’s back while giggling quietly to herself. After a long while, she leaned her small head up against Fang Xing’s back and let out a breath of satisfaction. Although she’d been in deep slumber these past five days, there’d still been a few moments where just enough consciousness returned for her eyes to open. Every time she opened her eyes, she’d see Fang Xing either anxious or worried, and sometimes she’d also hear the loud cries of zombies outside. Those broken and fragmented pictures in her mind had transformed themselves into an unforgettable memory….

　　Who could be dissatisfied while leaning against someone like this?

　　No matter where one looked within the Mysterious Domain, there were spirit veins or gardens far beyond what would be seen in the ordinary realm. This area was originally the Beast Exhausting Range where not even weeds cared to grow, yet after the Mysterious Domain formed, it was like a utopian fairyland where spirit herbs and fruits could be seen growing even on the side of the road. Unfortunately, all the spirit herbs and fruits on the Mysterious Domain’s outer perimeter had already been picked by others and only empty branches were left behind. Fang Xing’s heart ached when he saw this and his pace picked up even faster, but he unfortunately had to run with small steps to maintain his balance; Chu Ci was on his back and her body wouldn’t be able to handle it if he went any faster.

　　In the far distance where tall and steep mountains converged, an immortal’s hall—standing as a symbol to an endless amount of grand opportunity and fortune—could be found. Fang Xing ran a dozen miles using those quick, short steps before arriving at a valley, where he found a group of people coming from inside the hall. The person in the lead—a young master in his thirties wearing a rather luxurious robe—began to curse, “Dammit, we’re too late. Aside from that single Green-Magenta Grass, nothing else is left. I heard there’s much more stuff deeper inside the Mysterious Domain; we have to hurry….” He jumped up onto a horse carriage as he cursed, but a loud voice rose up just as he was about to leave.

　　“Stop right there! This is a robbery!”

　　All the cultivators were shocked, and twenty or so pairs of eyes looked towards the voice in unison. There they saw a beggar-like person with a single one-legged-man statue in the form of a bronze lance in his hand, a little girl on his back, and a large flag behind the pair. The boy ran up to them with quick short steps and stopped them in their tracks.

　　The young master in the embroidered robe looked out from the window of his horse carriage and confusedly asked, “You… you’re going to rob all of us on your own?”

　　This beggar-like youth was naturally Fang Xing, and as drew closer, he placed Chu Ci on the side of a hill and yelled out, “Yes; this is a robbery!”

　　“Hahaha….”

　　“Is this kid insane?”

　　“Someone wants to rob all of us alone? Who does he think he is, the child of the Huangfu clan?”

　　Everyone began laughing uncontrollably, and within their laughter was a subtle murderous intent as they activated their weapons.

　　“This is a robbery, so take it seriously! If you want to keep your life, then give me everything you’ve obtained from the Mysterious Domain!” Fang Xing yelled with an extremely vicious demeanor. He smacked his lance like a hooligan and started moving closer with broad steps.

　　The young master with the embroidered robe showed a cold smile. “Kid, who are you? How dare you come to rob me?”

　　Fang Xing sneered before responding with pride in his voice, “I am Fang Xing. What, am I not supposed to rob you now?” It felt so good to finally be able to use his name again, and he believed it wouldn’t be difficult for him to rob people anymore now that he’d mentioned it—the infamy of killing four groups of young elites should be enough to terrorize plenty of people, after all. He still remembered the golden words his first uncle had taught him: “Killing a fat lamb and taking their stuff isn’t very impressive, what’s impressive is merely speaking your name and having the fat lamb willingly give up their things in response!” In Fang Xing’s mind, he’d now reached such a stage.

　　Contrary to what Fang Xing had thought, however, as soon as the group heard him say “Fang Xing”, everyone was at first shocked before they let out loud laughs in unison.

　　“Hehe, he said he’s Fang Xing!”

　　“You really think we’re so easy to fool? You think anyone can come up and tell us they’re Fang Xing?”

　　“Haha, Fang Xing is currently battling the cultivators from Blackwater Lakeside within the Mysterious Domain. Why would he come out to the border to rob us?”

　　“Grab this kid! Show him the consequences of trying to scare us!”

　　Amidst all the laughter, Fang Xing was the one who was shocked and tried to explain, “Stop f*cking laughing, I really am Fang Xing….”