“I underestimated that little brat!”

　　Once Chu Taishang, Prince Chu Huang, and the rest of their group returned back to the Royal Sanctuary Court, Prince Chu Huang retained his calm expression and calmly declared, “I originally believed he was merely a servant of the Myriad Beasts Sect who hid parts of his cultivation to try to gain some opportunities for himself. Who would have thought he would be able to gain Grand Elder Wanluo’s approval so quickly? It seems he does have some kind of methods—he’s not someone to be taken lightly!”

　　Chu Taishang’s expression was dark as well. “Wanluo might normally be all jokes and laughs, but he is still not someone anyone should casually offend. Since that kid has his protection, it’s best you don’t touch him for now in case it ruins the bigger picture. The most important thing at the moment is to help Ci’er get back the eligibility for her to inherit the Dragon-String Guzheng. It took a lot of effort for the old man Hu Qin to agree; we cannot let this chance slip away!”

　　Prince Chu Huang lightly nodded. “Yes, Esteemed Grand Elder. When I saw the corpses of those flunkies, I became hot-headed and thought maybe the boy had some kind of evil Ancient tool. This is the reason for my wrongdoing, but it will not happen again! But that boy must be killed. For him to insult me is fine, but for disrupting my path to Dao, his crimes cannot be forgiven. If I do not kill this person, my Dao will forever be tainted!”

　　Chu Taishang glared at the prince but did not scold him. He knew this youth had formed a golden foundation, which had a stronger and sturdier basis than his own; it was quite likely Chu Huang’s future accomplishments would be even greater than what he himself had managed. Chu Taishang was also clever, and the manner in which he went about doing things was much more thoughtful and well-rounded than even his father—the current ruler of Chufung—which spoke for itself. Chu Taishang simply nodded and said, “Do as you see fit.”

　　From her seat on the corner of a cloud, Chu Ci was able to hear some of the words from the conversation. Although she felt a particularly foul feeling in her heart towards Fang Xing and believed he was despicable enough to have him die a hundred times over, there was actually a slight sense of pity for him as well now that he’d earned her big brother’s hatred….

　　—

　　“Tell me, how can you be such a giant magnet for trouble?” Wanluo worriedly asked after bringing Fang Xing back inside the grand hall.

　　After an event like this, Wanluo’s appraisal of Prince Chu Huang had increased. Not only had he quickly calmed down in the heat of the moment for the sake of his “rules”, he’d even gone so far as to kneel down and admit to his own fault. Chu Huang was indeed someone with great future prospects, to the point even Wanluo himself was a bit intimidated.

　　Furthermore, Prince Chu Huang kneeling in front of him and admitting his wrongdoing wouldn’t affect the prince’s reputation whatsoever. Prince Chu Huang was only in Foundation Stage and no more than thirty years old; for him to kneel in front of an eight-hundred-year-old Golden Core Stage monster wasn’t something demeaning. No matter who heard of this, they would only raise their thumbs in approval and praise Chu Huang for being able to recognize his own mistakes and take action to change them.

　　Not only had this event not shaken Prince Chu Huang’s Dao, but it had actually solidified it. By contrast, his pupil who’d caused all this chaos was giving him a headache. Didn’t he tell him to sweep the floors in the Wanluo Court? Since when did he go outside and kill the Yin Servants of the royal court?

　　Fang Xing saw the old bastard Wanluo’s questioning gaze and argued, “They were the ones who wanted to rob and murder me first!”

　　Wanluo dismissively waved his hand. “Whatever. There’s no need for you to tell me all this crap. Since you already killed them, you killed them, it’s just that you need to be careful. This Chu Huang youth is the only one within the entire Chu royal clan in the past few hundred years to form a golden foundation—he isn’t someone easy to deal with. The fact you provoked him will definitely become a worrisome problem. I will do my best to finish that spell for you; I can’t look after you forever!”

　　Fang Xing smirked. “If I could only survive if you looked after me forever, how would I be worthy to inherit the grand opportunity on your behalf?”

　　Wanluo’s eyes lit up as he laughed. “That’s some good boot licking you did there. Not only did you praise me, but you also made sure you were included as well—you’re a kid with great potential. Just stay within the Wanluo Court for the time being. I’m almost done with the spell, and I’ll send you to the Court of Enlightenment to study it once I am. If you’re able to successfully master it, your battle prowess will undoubtedly become much greater; it wouldn’t be impossible to try facing this elite from the royal Chu clan then!”

　　Fang Xing snorted. “Truthfully, I won’t need to be afraid of him as long as I reach Foundation Stage tier two!”

　　Wanluo was a bit taken aback by this. “You do know Prince Chu Huang has a golden foundation, right? And he’s already at the peak of Foundation Stage tier three, only a step away from entering mid-Foundation Stage. To say he is invincible within the early-Foundation Stage would not be an exaggeration….” As he spoke on, his brows creased slightly before he continued, “By the way, I still haven’t asked you. What foundation did you form? Red or white?”

　　Since Fang Xing’s foundation was contaminated by the demonic spirit, not even old Wanluo had been able to identify it with his power. He could only roughly guess that Fang Xing’s foundation was at least a high-quality red foundation, making it enough to study the spell he was currently working on. With his help, it was even impossible to increase it to a high-quality white foundation, so he never actually checked all too carefully. After hearing Fang Xing had killed two Foundation Stage Yin Servants, however, he suddenly remembered to ask.

　　Fang Xing considered it. Although his foundation was a low-quality purple foundation, it was contaminated by the demonic spirit, so the amount of power he could utilize was smaller—about equivalent to a golden foundation. Furthermore, Fang Xing had the mentality of a bandit and believed it was always better to keep some of his cards hidden. “It’s pretty ordinary; just barely a golden foundation…” he humbly responded.

　　“Do you really need to exaggerate in front of me?” Wanluo replied with disdain.

　　Speechless, Fang Xing replied, “It really is a golden foundation….”

　　Wanluo sneered and put a hand on Fang Xing’s shoulder. “Activate your Qi!”

　　Without any other options, Fang Xing reluctantly activated his Qi. A loud crashing noise sounded out as an extremely powerful foundation power began to move, crashing towards the old Wanluo’s palm. The force was so powerful it could shatter all of the Refined Iron within a three-foot radius, yet it was easily dissolved when it touched Wanluo’s palm. Wanluo thoroughly understood its strength and responded with surprise, “The Qi is very powerful. Could it be high-quality white?”

　　Fang Xing nearly formed tears. “It really is a golden foundation!”

　　Wanluo glanced at Fang Xing’s expression and declared, “I know you’re lying with just a single glance. Don’t think your lies can get past me!”

　　Fang Xing was left speechless. Technically, he actually was lying….

　　Wanluo began to console him. “There’s no need for you to be disheartened, though. For Chu Huang to form a golden foundation, first he had luck, and second he used the powers of the Dragon’s Blood Dungeon belonging to the royal clan, which can only be discovered and not sought. In fact, a high-quality white foundation is already quite rare. Within the past hundred years, you’re the only person within all of Chufung to form a high-quality white foundation aside from that extremely talented girl from the Xiao clan. This alone is already quite a feat. I wonder who your shifu was in the Qing-Yun Sect to help you form such a solid base?”

　　Fang Xing believed his connection with his eleventh uncle was no longer really a secret, so he didn’t need to hide it anymore and answered truthfully. “It’s my eleventh uncle, Bai Qianzhang. Have you heard of him before? He’s much stronger than you are….”

　　“That person?” Surprised, Wanluo’s expression became solemn and respectful. “I met him once three hundred years ago. He is indeed profoundly powerful, and his background is also extremely mysterious. For you to receive his teachings means you have quite good luck, and for me to take you in as my pupil after him would be considered my great pleasure!”

　　Wanluo didn’t ask much about what had happened in the Qing-Yun Sect, and instead simply advised Fang Xing to be very careful in the following days. Those from the Chu royal clan were not simply cultivators. These were people who would make sure they achieved their goals through any means—be they fair or foul—and so couldn’t be treated like ordinary people.

　　Although Fang Xing just nodded with a playful grin in response, he was inwardly very thankful. Fang Xing had considered it before, but it truly seemed his cultivation level alone made him a rare find within the younger generation. The old bastard Wanluo might not necessarily be able to find anyone who could replace Fang Xing, so he had to extend his protection. Fang Xing understood how valuable he was and would’ve been an idiot not to take as much advantage as he could.

　　From another viewpoint, it could be said that old Wanluo wasn’t necessarily interested in Fang Xing himself, but on testing whether the spell he studied once before would actually be useful in resolving Fang Xing’s curse. If the old bastard Wanluo was just using him as a guinea pig, that would also give him reason to not want any harm to come to Fang Xing. When Fang Xing heard Wanluo give out warnings and advice, however, he felt that perhaps this old bastard truly did genuinely care about his safety, making Fang Xing feel surprisingly touched.

　　“By the way, my dear grand elder, this is the talisman key to enter the Court of Enlightenment, right?”

　　Things were scattered all over the place within the grand hall, and clusters of clutter were piled up all over the place. After entering the grand hall while talking with the old bastard Wanluo, he casually strolled all over the place, picking things up and grabbing them for a look. Wanluo simply thought Fang Xing was doing this because he was young and curious after seeing many things he didn’t recognize, and he nodded when Fang Xing picked up a black Refined Iron talisman piece and asked the question. “You’ve got sharp eyes. It is indeed that, it is simply too early for you to use it right now!”

　　Fang Xing then casually placed it back down before asking for some tales. Things like if Wanluo’s lovers in his youth had been beautiful or not, or who was the most powerful out of him and the other four Golden Cores within Snowy Mountain. All these questions had involved topics the old bastard Wanluo had been itching to answer, so there wasn’t a question he turned down. Only after a full hour passed did Fang Xing finally stroll out the door.

　　“That little bastard, how dare he not believe the great stories of me and the top beauty of Chufung back in the days. Jeez this makes me angry…” Wanluo muttered frustratedly to himself. In his gaze was a hint of softness, as though he was reliving the romantic affairs he’d had in the past.

　　After some time had passed, however, he suddenly felt something was wrong. After a quick sweep of his gaze across the room, he noticed that in the jade case on top of the table—where he stored the ten Melodic Ice Palace talisman keys—there seemed to be one missing….

　　“Dammit, that little bastard stole one of the talisman keys….”