As a result of Fang Xing’s actions, six Golden Cores ended up in combat on the third day after the second immortal’s coffin had landed. The powerhouse of the western deserts—Grand Elder Jing Guang—was chased over ten thousand miles by Chufung’s Wanluo and the grand elder of the Chu royal court, Chu Taishang. The two from Chufung pressured Jing Guang to perform the Dismantled Demon spell, forcing him to sacrifice half of his cultivation levels before fleeing back to the western deserts with a crippled body. For this reason, Chufung and the western deserts became enemies and a battle between Golden Cores seemed right on the horizon. It was at such a critical moment that the Huangfu clan hidden in the Blackwater Lakeside came out to mediate to avoid such a large scale battle between the two lands.

　　Such a series of events left all of Jambu shocked. Grand Elder Jing Guang was infamous and well-known throughout the entire southern continent of Jambu, and the fact he’d been put in such a disadvantageous position when the Mysterious Domain opened was surprising to say the least. The name “Fang Xing” also returned as a topic of everyone’s conversations, as the fact a single person had killed four groups was incredibly stunning.

　　Since his past actions including blemishing Ye Gu’yin’s purity were also dug up by the gossipmongers, some had begun jokingly referring to him as the “lewd thief”. Others called him the worst rat-dung disciple in all of Jambu and focused on what had happened during his time studying at the Qing-Yun Sect, where he’d ended up killing the sect’s top core disciple and bombing the Qing-Yun Valleys. When the Fuyao Palace from eastern Videha arrived, he even got himself involved with them as well and nearly caused a battle between Fuyao Palace and Spirit Mountain Temple. Now—after just entering the Mysterious Domain—he’d killed nearly all the young elites of four different clans and sects. Wherever he passed, a storm was sure to follow!

　　As Fang Xing’s name became widespread, misfortune began to show as well. The Huangfu clan was concerned about how dangerous things had become now that the Mysterious Domain had appeared, so they wanted to mediate this problem between Chufung and the western desert and set a rule of “no fighting between Golden Core Stage cultivators”—all revenge or hatred would be resolved through the youngsters in the Mysterious Domain. Furthermore, the Huangfu clan master clearly stated his distaste towards the kid who’d killed so many young elites of the four groups; he felt the boy had sinned too much through murder and it would not go well for Jambu if he was the one to obtain the grand opportunity.

　　On the fifth day of the Mysterious Domain’s opening, old monster Wanluo and Chu Taishang returned to the shrine where the other Golden Cores had gathered. Both of their expressions were filled with dissatisfaction, and Chu Taishang didn’t speak with the others in detail before simply walking inside the hall alone.

　　The old man Hu Qin looked towards Wanluo and calmly said, “The moment you saw this, you knew he’d killed too much and had certainly drawn the ire of some people. That’s why you dragged Chu Taishang to chase after Jing Guang, hoping to draw everyone’s attention away and towards the battle between the Golden Cores to reduce the impact of that kid’s murders. You didn’t expect the Huangfu clan to interrupt it all….”

　　A cold smile appeared alongside Wanluo’s annoyed expression. “Ever since the beast extermination battle, the Huangfu clan made themselves right at home in Jambu and gave themselves the title of “hidden emperor”…. They’re really acting as if they have actual authority behind Jambu?”

　　Demon God Valley’s Zhang Daoyi let out a long sigh at this. “The five of us came together at the Snowy Mountain and are close with the Spirit Mountain Temple, so it’s likely the Huangfu clan already views us as a threat. This time, perhaps they did this intentionally to suppress us!”

　　Wanluo sneered. “What ‘perhaps’? He made it clear he’s giving us a warning, saying we need to look at the larger picture and cannot act so hastily. If they want to mediate, fine, they can do that, but he just had to say Fang Xing has done too many notorious deeds and gone too far murdering these four groups of elites to be forgiven. I’ve tried to reason with him, saying Fang Xing is Fang Xing and Fang Xiaojiu is Fang Xiaojiu, how they are two clearly different people, and how it was clearly that old bastard Jing Guang who heard wrong, but he then said even if Fang Xiaojiu isn’t Fang Xing, he’d still need to be taught a lesson to serve as an example for anyone else in the future….” As Wanluo spoke on, a cold shine began to appear in his gaze. “Hmph, such arrogance, does he really think he’s the emperor of Jambu? If it weren’t for old Chu being there, I really would have liked getting a taste of their Script of Ravaged Tapestry!”

　　Mu Longyin’s expression turned solemn as he replied in a low voice, “That boy admitted his identity, how is that something you and I can hide? Even if the Huangfu clan went along with it, I doubt they’d actually believe it. Aii , if the Huangfu truly want to interfere, that boy will be in danger….”

　　“If it’s just him and a heavily wounded girl, of course he’ll be in danger,” Wanluo replied, “but he is still considered a disciple of the Snowy Mountain. Once he joins up with the other five and their battle prowess is combined, who will be able to do anything to them?”

　　Mu Longyin and Zhang Daoyi were both a bit surprised when they heard this and grew quiet. Some things didn’t need to be spoken aloud, but they were still calculating it all in their minds: even if Fang Xing joined up with the other five Snowy Mountain Foundation Stage disciples, was that not simply bringing trouble onto others? Would it make it even more difficult for their individual disciples to seek out the grand opportunity?

　　Wanluo naturally knew what was on their mind so he let out a cold laugh. “Whether he is Fang Xing or Fang Xiaojiu, he is still my disciple, and therefore a disciple of Snowy Mountain. If you do not want to accept him, you will have to first expel me from the Snowy Mountain!”

　　Troubled looks appeared on Mu Longyin’s and Zhang Daoyi’s faces. Neither of them dared to speak too casually on the topic, and after a long while had passed, Mu Longyin spoke up to say, “This is too important. This should be decided together by all five of us.”

　　Wanluo sneered before looking at Hu Qin. “Old Hu Qin, what do you think?”

　　Hu Qin didn’t even seem to think the matter through before proclaiming, “He is a disciple of the Snowy Mountain!”

　　Both Mu Longyin and Zhang Daoyi looked at him in unison with surprise. Even the old Wanluo was caught off guard.

　　Hu Qin didn’t explain in detail and instead could only show a bitter smile. “I owe him a favor.”

　　Everyone was even more surprised by that; how could a proud Golden Core like Hu Qin owe him a favor? However, the old Wanluo didn’t dwell on why the old Hu Qin had supported him so easily and instead showed a wide smile towards Mu Longyin and Zhang Daoyi. “What do you two bastards have to say?”

　　Zhang Daoyi creased his brows. “Isn’t there still old Chu? The Mysterious Domain prevents messages from being sent between here and there; if we need to give them counsel, we’ll need the old Chu and their Chu royal court’s secret blood spell. We cannot exclude him!”

　　“His granddaughter is in that kid’s hands,” Wanluo replied. “Does he have a choice?”

　　As Wanluo spoke, however, Chu Taishang returned with his own brows tightly creased. “I sent my message over to Chu Huang using the dragon blood spell. It seems they have already arrived at the middle section of the Mysterious Domain. I told him Ci’er is in the hands of that despicable Fang Xing and is heavily wounded, and he should double back to find Ci’er to prevent something unpleasant happening….”

　　Mu Longyin was dissatisfied by this. “This is such a large matter; why did you not discuss it with us first?”

　　Chu Taishang’s eyes became wide. “My granddaughter is in the hands of that son of a bi*ch, do I even have a choice?”

　　Mu Longyin was left speechless while Wanluo began to laugh loudly from the side.

　　“So what happened?” Hu Qin suddenly asked.

　　Chu Taishang became quiet at this. After some time had passed, he let out a light sigh and answered, “He refused.”

　　Everyone was thoroughly stunned. Nobody spoke….

　　……

　　…

　　—

　　“So the servant of the Myriad Beasts Sect was that infamous little monster….” In a place filled with mist inside the Mysterious Domain, Prince Chu Huang sat above a platform with a small dragon cauldron placed in front of him. The cauldron was filled with twinkling golden liights and soft vibrations, and thanks to his unique constitution containing dragon blood, he was able to understand the meaning within the vibrations. They told him his sister had entered the Mysterious Domain and had been heavily wounded, but after sitting in silence for some time, Prince Chu Huang gave a stern refusal: “That girl didn’t follow the rules, so let her fate decide whether she lives or dies!” After that, he placed his palm on top of the dragon cauldron, causing the golden flickers of light to twinkle before the cauldron was destroyed….

　　Now that the cauldron was destroyed, no one—no matter who they were—was able to send him any messages or disturb his concentration. He looked towards the center of the Mysterious Domain with a firm gaze. “I must enter the immortal’s hall and leave my name on the list. No one may disturb me!”

　　A woman with a flowing white dress stepped from beneath the platform to rise on top of it and speak with Prince Chu Huang in a calm voice. “During the earlier battle with Ghost Kingdom from the southern borders, Leng Ziyan was hit with zombie poison. I’m afraid he won’t recover anytime soon….” The woman was none other than Xiao Xue.

　　Prince Chu Huang’s gaze grew cold. “It was only one of the four servants serving the prince of Ghost Kingdom, yet he ended up with such a huge loss. Such battle prowess… he’ll have to pull through on his own. Tell him the deeper we go into the Mysterious Domain, the more dangerous it will be. With battle prowess like his, let alone grasping opportunity, it’s likely even his life will be lost. If he has enough self-awareness, tell him to stay here with the Wanluo Court disciple!”

　　Xiao Xue’s gaze chilled. “You’re going to abandon them?” she coldly asked.

　　Prince Chu Huang became quiet. After a while, however, he pointed towards the deeper portions of the Mysterious Domain and asked, “Do you not want to go inside?”

　　Xiao Xue was a bit surprised by this, her pupils shrinking slightly from desire.

　　—

　　Right now, Fang Xing didn’t know about any of these events caused thanks to him and Chu Ci. He was someone who didn’t really pay too much thought to what had happened between him and the groups with Grand Elder Jing Guang; in his mind, he’d simply been angry and killed some people, then left after he was done. He didn’t even think just how many ripples his action had caused, and his mind right now was completely preoccupied with frustration towards Chu Ci’s wounds.

　　Although Chu Ci’s life was no longer in danger, that was only to be expected—even wounds ten times worse wouldn’t have been a problem after taking a Blood Lotus Seed. The damage done to her bones and internal organs still required Fang Xing to repair them, however, and to make sure there weren’t any lingering problems, he first had to go through and fix each injury one at a time. Once that was finished, he’d have to force the Blood Lotus Seed’s blood essence to seep throughout her meridians so she’d recover at a faster pace.

　　When everything was resolved, it was possible Chu Ci would benefit from such a disaster and find her extremely good foundation improved even more thanks to the Blood Lotus Seed, but she was still unconscious right now. Her entire body was covered in a layer of blood smog, and although her life was no longer in danger, she was still completely unconscious.

　　ROAR ….

　　Another terrifying roar rose up from an evil demon outside the cave.

　　“Dammit, you’re here again!” Annoyed, Fang Xing grasped his one-legged-man lance and went outside. Before long, the loud sound of cracking bones and the cries of zombies and evil demons could be heard coming from outside the cave.

　　In less time than a burn of incense, Fang Xing picked up his bloody one-legged-man lance and returned to the cave. “It’s been four days already, why is this stupid girl still not awake? Old Peng, should I just take this damn girl and go deeper? You know, the spirit fruits and herbs around here aren’t going to last, and it pains my heart to even think about how much has already been taken by other people earlier! If we continue like this, I’m not going to get through one day without either being annoyed to death by those damned zombies outside or dying from heartache…. Those are spirit fruits and herbs, you know!” Fang Xing sat in the front of the cave and sighed, nearly in tears.

　　The Peng King was shaped like an ordinary old man like a moment, shrouded in black smoke that floated all over the cave. He strolled around inside and checked on Chu Ci’s wounds from time to time while expressing disdain towards Fang Xing’s frustration. “Feel free to take this girl outside if you want to have her die!”

　　“My god….” Fang Xing could only cry invisible tears as he banged his head against the wall. “What the hell was I thinking when I kidnapped a girl like her…?”