“Fellow Daoist Hu Qin, there were only two of them within the valley. The Dragon Blood Pellets cannot disappear on their own, and only five have been found, that means there are still five others we haven’t located. Even if you plan on taking this girl in as your fourth pupil, what’s wrong with me wanting to question her on the details to see if any clues can be found regarding this event?” Chu Taishang coldly questioned while restraining an entire stomach full of anger.

　　“That’s a completely separate matter,” old man Hu Qin indifferently replied.

　　“Nn? What do you mean?”

　　Old man Hu Qin smiled at Ying Qiaoqiao. “You’ve found one more Dragon Blood Pellet and have thus won this trial. From today onwards, you will be my fourth student and successor of my Dragon-String Guzheng. Are you willing?”

　　As soon as these words were spoken, everyone glanced to Hu Qin in surprise, unable to speak. Chu Taishang and his group of people—who’d been certain this was their guaranteed win—were particularly surprised; they were so blown away by such a sudden change they were rendered speechless.

　　After a short moment of being in a daze, Ying Qiaoqiao quickly nodded her head with force. “I do!” With that, she kneeled down and performed three loud kowtows.

　　Hu Qin nodded. “After your kowtow, I will be responsible for you. From today on, all your studies will be taught by me, your future path will be guided by me, and your safety will be protected by me….” As he spoke, he looked to Chu Taishang and his group before continuing, “If someone of the same stage bullies you, I shall gift you with Ancient weapons and teach you techniques so they are unable to do so. If there are seniors who bully you, no matter who they are, no matter how high their cultivation level may be, I am willing to risk the destruction of my entire body and soul to fight them to avenge you….”

　　As he spoke, Hu Qin’s old and frail hand settled atop Ying Qiaoqiao’s head, causing an aura to reflexively extend outwards that soon shot right into the nine heavens above. The sky over the Snowy Mountain was typically covered with thick, dense clouds releasing snow to the land below, but the clouds actually parted at this moment to allow a ray of sunshine to fall over Ying Qiaoqiao’s head.

　　It was as though the heavens and earth were serving as a witness to the vows between a teacher and their student. Ying Qiaoqiao kneeled on the ground, her white porcelain-like face already filled with tear streaks.

　　As for Chu Taishang, his expression became extremely dark when he saw this. He of course knew Hu Qin was doing this with the express purpose of demonstrating his attitude towards them.

　　The Chu royal clan had spent a huge fortune this time to help Princess Chu Ci obtain the chance to succeed the Dragon-String Guzheng. The number of shady methods they attempted weren’t lacking, either, and they’d finally forced the old man Hu Qin to let it go—hence this trial.

　　It could be said this trial had been merely a formality. Chu Ci’s victory had been certain, yet something had happened at the most important moment to prevent this—the wild goose that was captured and in hand actually managed to fly away! As for Hu Qin, he’d borrowed this opportunity to emphasize and set in stone the teacher-student relationship between him and Ying Qiaoqiao. Chu Taishang wasn’t able to make a large deal out of this matter anymore, or else it would be trying to harm the student of Hu Qin, and even he—the grand elder of the royal clan—might not necessarily be able to handle it if he truly angered the most powerful cultivator within Chufung.

　　“Go find whoever interrupted these trials! We must find out who it is!” Chu Taishang yelled. His Golden Core power surged, causing the snow along the ground to be picked up and whirl with the movement as though a small blizzard.

　　Right now, he was filled with complex emotions and knew something had to be wrong. The Falling Snow Valley was protected by a formation, so how could anyone else dare to come and go as they please? Furthermore, the location of these trials hadn’t been revealed to anyone else, so who would have enough information for something like this to happen? Who would have entered the Falling Snow Valley and stolen the Dragon Blood Pellets used for the trial? In his heart, he’d already started to form suspicions towards the old man Hu Qin.

　　Hu Qin had never liked what the Chu royal clan had planned and done in order to get their hands on the Dragon-String Guzheng, and the only reason he’d allowed the Chu royal clan this chance was because of the grand opportunity ahead of them. Chu Taishang believed the old man Hu Qin had secretly planned for someone to enter the Falling Snow Valley and muddle this trial so he’d be able to publicly reject the Chu royal clan and take Ying Qiaoqiao as his fourth student. In this manner, the Chu royal clan wouldn’t be able to publicly say anything and could only acknowledge they’d run out of luck

　　Chu Taishang was too annoyed and frustrated to accept such a result, however. If Hu Qin had truly put such schemes into motion, then he had to find the person he’d used so he could destroy the reputation of this old bastard and recover the Chu royal clan’s own!

　　Just at this moment, Prince Chu Huang suddenly spoke up in a cold voice, “Grand elder, that person who has five Dragon Blood Pellets won’t be able to hide!”

　　Chu Taishang nodded with a cold expression. “Bring out the Dragon Lotus Platform!”

　　Prince Chu Huang nodded and took out the same lotus platform he’d used to cleanse Chu Ci’s blood earlier and placed it in front of Chu Taishang. Chu Taishang held up his hand for Chu Ci to hand over the two Dragon Blood Pellets, only to then use his fore and middle finger to crush one of the pellets into a fine powder and scatter it over the platform.

　　From Chu Taishang’s lips, a faint but heart-shaking sound began to rise up. “Blood of its child; forming rain and moving clouds; look favorably upon its people; the ruler overlooks his domain….” At first his voice was clear, but it became steadily more muffled until the words could no longer be understood. A peculiar power—excessively mysterious and indefensible—rose up from the Dragon Lotus Platform before shooting into the nine heavens before gradually beginning to spread across all of Snowy Mountain.

　　The three Dragon Blood Pellets inside Ying Qiaoqiao’s storage sack suddenly began to vibrate at a great speed. Three spirit essences shot up into the sky, visible even to the naked eye like three strands of smoke that could be clearly seen even from a hundred miles away. It was also at this time that five more strands of smoke-like dragon blood essence shot upwards from the northeast, although these immediately disappeared.

　　“It’s there….” Chu Taishang stowed away the Dragon Lotus Platform. His gaze was dark and cold as—whether intentionally or not—he sent a glance towards the old man Hu Qin. “How dare this person disrupt our trials! This is unforgivable!” he coldly declared. “No matter who they are, they must be captured and flayed!”

　　Chu Taishang’s silhouette flickered before he suddenly took Prince Chu Huang and they were both in the air. Another flash later and they were already over ten miles out, with a speed almost faster than lightning. They chased quickly towards the northeastern direction, their malicious intent steadily rising higher and higher.

　　Ying Qiaoqiao was astounded and her earlier joy quickly wore off, her heartstrings beginning to tighten instead. She had a premonition: Big Brother Xiaojiu had gotten himself into big trouble this time….

　　—

　　Fang Xing knew he’d just gained a huge fortune, and he’d immediately taken off the moment he left Falling Snow Valley. These Dragon Blood Pellets were simply too valuable—even he felt it was an unexpectedly grand fortune.

　　After fleeing nonstop for a few hundred miles and seeing no one chasing after him, he finally let out a sigh of relief. He believed since he’d gotten so far by now, even a Golden Core Stage cultivator wouldn’t be able to seize him using their spirit sense and thus it could be said he’d truly escaped. If someone were to interrogate him in the future, all he had to do was deny everything and nobody would be able to do anything to him. The more he thought about it, the prouder he became, and he couldn’t help but to start singing his song, “Within a village lived the widow Xiao Hua—”

　　Woosh ….

　　At that precise moment, a storage sack hanging around his waist began to violently shake right before shining purple lights shot up into the sky.

　　“F*ck, what the hell?” Fang Xing was incredibly startled. The storage sack was a spatial spirit tool completely isolated from the outside world. All the spirit pellets and items he’d placed inside effectively no longer existed in this realm, so how could it now break such isolation and shoot its spirit essence up into the sky?

　　Acting quickly, he immediately took the storage sack and wrapped the entire thing in his Flag of Ten Thousand Spirits. He knew something outside his expectations had occurred and he didn’t dare to take it lightly, so he utilized the flag’s black smoke to shroud the spirit essence in dense malice.

　　As for the five Dragon Blood Pellets, although he didn’t understand why or how, their spirit essence was like soaring dragons trying to fly into the sky. The Peng King was only the broken remains of a beast spirit, after all; even though he used all of his power to seal them, these pellets still didn’t quiet down and continued trying to push through into the outside world in their bid for freedom, as though able to bypass all barriers. There was even the faint howl of a dragon as they did so.

　　“Dammit kid, these pellets are filled with draconic power and incredibly bizarre. I’m just a broken spirit, I can’t hold them back for long…” the Peng King sternly declared.

　　“I’m done for. Do I really have to throw away these five precious pellets?” Fang Xing muttered to himself. He knew these pellets couldn’t suddenly have such a strange reaction for no reason and someone powerful was going to search for them before long. The smartest thing to do now was to throw away all five of these Dragon Blood Pellets and flee the scene.

　　Yet, no matter what, Fang Xing couldn’t just let them go. Throwing away such valuable treasures was perhaps even more painful than slicing away flesh from his body. As he hesitated, the pair of wings on his back flashed like lightning and carried him off towards the Wanluo Court. He was hoping to find the old bastard Wanluo who’d come up with a way to get out of this, but it was obvious he didn’t have enough time.

　　Not too far away, sword lights suddenly rose up surrounded by spirit movement—someone seemed to be in a battle. What made him most excited was that although the sword light above was like that of a dragon, glimmering lights would appear from time to time below, seemingly belonging to a formation. Fang Xing was immediately overjoyed and turned towards that direction. The muddier the water, the easier it was to escape; it would all be so much easier if he involved more people.

　　As he came closer, he heard a male voice screaming from below, “Great Aunt Xiao Xue, no, you’re my real grandmother, please just let me go….”

　　In the air was the fairy-like Xiao Xue in a white dress. “Hou Guimen, if you’re a man, come out and fight me like a man!” she ferociously yelled down. “Don’t hide inside your formation like a woman!”

　　The man below called back, “I’m not coming out! If you’re a woman, why are you so vicious? Why don’t you leave to sew some clothes and play some music?”

　　Xiao Xue grunted. “I don’t like sewing, nor do I like playing music! I adore only the sword and fights making use of them! Be straightforward and come out for a duel; we will battle to determine who the winner is!”

　　“You think I’m stupid?” the man yelled out. “You don’t even care about how much power you use against your opponent! Who am I going to go to if I’m accidentally killed by you and your sword? Grand Aunty Xiao Xue, I bow to you, now can you please let me go? I’ve only just formed the foundation….”

　　“Didn’t I seal two tiers of my foundation before coming here to battle you? This shouldn’t be considered me bullying you, right?”

　　“I still won’t come out! Everyone knows you only speak with your sword, and I’m not proficient in battle spells….”

　　“Hmph, if you don’t come out… I’ll make sure you regret it after I break this damned formation of yours!”

　　” Aii , I don’t want to hear you say that about my formation! If you’re so strong, just go ahead and break it, then! If you do, I’ll make sure to battle you until you’re satisfied!”