Grand Elder Jing Guang’s expression was dark and his thoughts continued to race. Traveling unhindered through the western deserts for hundreds of years required more than just a high battle prowess and a violent temperament. He wasn’t someone without a brain; he knew how to weigh what was important against what was not, and this brat had truly hit his weak spot this time.

　　The formation pivot entrance was only open for around a burn of an incense of time and most of that had already passed by now. If this opportunity was missed, not only would the lives of all the disciples inside be put at risk, but the disciples still outside would also be delayed. He wouldn’t be worried if someone else had done something like this since he could have just sent Jing Fu or Yuan Shenglian to go inside and kill them, but this boy just happened to be rather difficult to deal with.

　　Considering the boy had killed his flunkey Hong Shou, his battle prowess couldn’t be low. Furthermore, with that powerful large flag in his hand, even if Jing Fu and Yuan Shenglian were to fight him together, they still might not have a guaranteed chance of winning. If even one of them wound up injured or dead, he would have lost too much.

　　“There’s not much time left, Old Jing Guang. If you continue hesitating, this group of disciples here won’t be able to keep their lives any longer!” Fang Xing coldly reminded while looking towards the sun rising in the east.

　　“Fine, I won’t hesitate any longer. What is there to lose by giving ground from this formation pivot?” With that decided, the old monster Jing Guang coldly said, “Having a kid like you as my enemy is not something I would’ve wanted anyway. I will move aside from the formation pivot, but as for you, will you accept this as compensation to dissolve any animosity between you and my descendant? However, you’ll have to make a vow: once everyone has entered the Mysterious Domain, you cannot cause trouble for my group of disciples.”

　　“Not a problem, not a problem at all!” Fang Xing laughed. “I promise not to cause them trouble!”

　　Jing Fu, on the other hand, became agitated. “Grand Elder, with your status, how can you speak conditions with such a brat?”

　　Pah ….

　　Before Jing Fu had finished speaking, Grand Elder Jing Guang suddenly turned and landed a heavy slap against her face. “If you hadn’t been so blind as to annoy such a problematic boy, I wouldn’t have to do this.”

　　Yuan Shenglian quickly moved to grasp her hand and signal for her to not further incite the already-furious old Jing Guang.

　　Grand Elder Jing Guang glared coldly at Fang Xing before suddenly yelling towards the forest, “Enough, you group of trash! Someone helped you take over the formation pivot, so all of you get the hell inside!” His voice was like a tidal wave surging out mile after mile.

　　Everyone within the forest was filled to the brim with joy; this was like being given life while at death’s door! In an instant, everything became a chaotic mess as countless people dashed out from the forest to hurriedly rush towards the small stone bridge. Most of them stopped once they reached the edge of the bridge to look timidly at Grand Elder Jing Guang, but after the first person bravely crossed without the grand elder making any moves, everyone quickly began to follow.

　　“Thank you, dear brother….”

　　“I will never forget your kindness, dear brother….”

　　“What is dear brother’s name? I will make sure to return this favor….”

　　In mere moments, everyone started to cross the bridge and cup their hands in a show of appreciation.

　　Fang Xing laughed. “What’s the use in saying thank you? If you really want to thank me, you should give me something valuable!”

　　Everyone was surprised by this and immediately became silent afterwards.

　　“Shenglian, if I were to give you my Golden Dragon Infant Bagua, how much confidence do you have in getting rid of that kid?” Grand Elder Jing Guang asked Yuan Shenglian in a low voice while everyone was busy entering the Mysterious Domain.

　　Yuan Shenglian was initially surprised before growing overjoyed. “As you may know, Grand Elder, that boy’s battle prowess is likely nothing more than average. He’s only in Foundation Stage tier two so there’s not much to worry about there, it’s just that large flag is extremely dangerous—I imagine that flag is the reason Uncle Hong got himself in trouble. I’m not trying to boast, but with my battle prowess, killing that boy would require a mere wave of my palm if Grand Elder is willing to give me that Ancient tool!

　　“Nn….” Grand Elder Jing Guang nodded before taking out a small golden plate from his sleeve and secretly passing it to Yuan Shenglian.

　　This left Jing Fu quite anxious. She knew Grand Elder had become famous thanks to this Golden Dragon Infant Bagua, and although she’d assumed it would be passed down to her one day, it seemed the grand elder intended to give it to Yuan Shenglian instead. The grand elder must’ve believed she wouldn’t be that brat’s opponent even with an Ancient weapon, and although such a thought caused her to instantly become angry, she’d just received a harsh slap and didn’t dare to speak up.

　　Filled with frustration at seeing Yuan Shenglian excitedly accepting the golden plate, she turned her head and reflexively happened to catch sight of a rather familiar figure. She suddenly recalled something and yelled out, “Grand Elder, seize that girl!”

　　Grand Elder Jing Guang was surprised and looked towards Jing Fu.

　　“She’s together with that little brat!” Jing Fu screamed, nearly in panic.

　　Grand Elder Jing Guang’s head slowly turned. His gaze grew cold as he looked towards where Jing Fu was pointing.

　　Fang Xing had also heard Jing Fu’s yell. He suddenly felt a sense of urgency and quickly stood up before yelling out towards the black-robed Daoist, “Hurry and send the girl inside!”

　　Chu Ci had slightly altered her clothing and covered her face to keep Jing Fu from recognizing her and causing trouble, yet who would have thought Jing Fu would manage to see through it all despite such efforts?

　　Regardless, there was still some chance. The black-robed grand elder was closer to the small stone bridge; considering his cultivation level, he should be able to send her onto the small stone bridge if he gave her a light push.

　　Grand Elder Jing Guang suddenly yelled out, “Dammit you old Daoist, you want to be my enemy?”

　　The black-robed Daoist’s heart quivered, and although he’d already placed his hand on Chu Ci’s shoulder, he didn’t put any strength into it while his mind began to race. As intimidating the old Jing Guang was, he hadn’t been able to do anything to the black-robed Daoist as long as he hid in the forest and didn’t show himself, but now he was front and center. If he pushed this girl inside, he would have thoroughly offended the old Jing Guang and there wasn’t any guarantee the red-browed and blue-robed Daoists would help him fend off this old monster….

　　Looking around, the black-robed Daoist noticed most of his Taixuan Sect disciples had already entered the Mysterious Domain—his primary purpose had already been achieved. The rest would be between the old monster Jing Guang and the kid, so why not avoid bringing unnecessary problems on himself? With thoughts like these in mind, that push never came.

　　Chu Ci began to realize just how dangerous the situation truly was. Although she was surprised, she picked up her dress and began running towards the small stone bridge.

　　“Heh….” Feeling satisfied, the old monster Jing Guang sent his hand forward and an invisible force reached out to drag Chu Ci into his grasp.

　　“Jing Guang you old bastard, if you dare hurt a single hair of that girl, I’ll kill off all your disciples!” Fang Xing grew furious and black smoke began to billow out from the top of the Flag of Ten Thousand Spirits, covering everyone who stepped onto the stone bridge. Even those from the Taixuan Sect and those belonging to the red-browed and blue-robed Daoist weren’t an exception, causing the expressions of all three to instantly change.

　　Grand Elder Jing Guang captured Chu Ci in his grasp. When he saw how anxious Fang Xing seemed to be, he knew this girl must be rather close to him and began to laugh. “Haha, you can kill them if you want! I have forty-three disciples, and even if you kill all those inside, twelve are still out here. Considering how there’s only one of this girl, I think we can both see who’d be worse off.”

　　Chu Ci was unable to escape from Grand Elder Jing Guang’s grip and looked towards Fang Xing in terror, her gaze timid and weak.

　　“Uh….” A little dumbstruck, Fang Xing suddenly laughed, “Why would you do that? It’s all human lives, where’s the fun in killing here and killing there! Esteemed Senior Jing Guang, don’t say I never let you know; that girl in your hands is the little princess of Chufung. She has a grand elder named Chu Taishang, and he’s a rather vicious one as well. It would be pretty bad if you hurt this girl and that old bastard came looking for trouble!”

　　Grand Elder Jing Guang sneered. “If you’re going to make up stories, make up one that’s actually believable. Calling just any little girl the princess of the Chu royal court?”

　　“But she really is the little princess of the Chu royal court…” Fang Xing hurriedly replied.

　　Grand Elder Jing Guang’s face dropped. “I’m not going to waste any time bantering with you. I will count to three! You kneel before me, or else….”

　　Fang Xing’s expression changed as well.

　　Grand Elder Jing Guang opened his mouth, his voice as cold as his expression. “One!”

　　Fang Xing immediately dropped to his knees. “What’s with wasting all this time? It’s just kneeling; you should have said so earlier!”

　　This actually caught Grand Elder Jing Guang by surprise. He’d originally planned to do this in order to see how much importance the boy placed on this girl so he could delay the time to execute his next step, but he hadn’t expected the boy to immediately drop to his knees at the count of one. It was as though the boy didn’t see kneeling before someone as anything at all, and it made Jing Guang a bit uncertain how to continue with his plan….

　　As for Chu Ci, her eyes had already become muddled with tears. She’d seen a great battle between her royal big brother and another powerful cultivator, and at the end, the requirement was for the opponent to kneel in front of the other and accept him as his master. In the end, the opponent would’ve preferred losing his life than kneeling in such a manner, so her royal big brother ended up killing him. Pride was very important to a cultivator and kneeling was a harsh affront to it, yet this Fang Xiaojiu hadn’t hesitated to kneel for her sake. Such a rare thing to see….

　　Of course, Chu Ci likely never would’ve imagined that Fang Xing had always been someone without the need for anything like “pride”. If it solved the problem at hand, let alone kneeling, even kowtowing would all be fine. It’s not like he lost any flesh or blood from doing this, and he’d still be their grandpa after he killed them later!

　　As time ticked on, the closure of the formation pivot was within sight. Grand Elder Jing Guang didn’t have much time to think about it and coldly commanded, “If you want this girl’s life to be spared, it’s simple. Since you killed the flunkey of my Jing clan, I want you to willingly wear the Spirit Lock Circlet and vow you will be my Jing clan’s flunkey while inside the Mysterious Domain. You will fight for the opportunities and fortunes on my behalf, and once the Mysterious Domain is over, you will regain your freedom. How does that sound?”

　　“Spirit Lock Circlet?” Although a bit surprised, Fang Xing immediately answered, “Sure!”