While cultivators across the various cities and towns gossiped about Fang Xing’s wicked doings and gritted their teeth with the desire to slice him into a million pieces, the boy himself was openly sitting inside the grand hall of the Myriad Beasts Sect with the golden crow sitting across from him, both drinking. The Myriad Beasts disciples had vowed to find and kill this little monster, but while they were searching all over the place outside for him, their sect master was standing right next to Fang Xing and filling his cup from time to time with a resigned expression.

　　The golden crow saw that defeated look and showed a faint smirk. “Heh heh, hehehe…. Sect Master, pour me a cup as well…” he said while holding out his cup with his claws.

　　A year ago, the golden crow had stolen the Beast King Cauldron and had been chased into hiding, yet now he was drinking out in the open inside the grand hall of the Myriad Beasts Sect. It was to the point he could even ask the sect master to pour wine for him….

　　The golden crow felt the twist and turns of life were just too exciting! At the same time, his sense of admiration towards Fang Xing continued to grow!

　　The golden crow had been rather sneaky as well. He waited in the ruins of the beast city after Fang Xing fell into the Yin Prison Abyss, and he quietly hid himself when the Myriad Beasts disciples came searching. He hadn’t hidden himself too far away, however, and followed every moment within the ruins, intent on seeing if there was any chance to save the boy if he somehow managed to escape from the prison alive.

　　The crow hadn’t expected Fang Xing to become so strong before escaping the prison. By the time the crow caught wind of what was happening and caught up, he saw the boy already taming the Myriad Beasts sect master into the likes of his own slave, startling the golden crow with joy. He then found out Fang Xing had already formed his foundation, causing the crow’s admiration towards the boy reached its peak and for him to follow along to Sea Beast City with an eager step.

　　Despite all of the gossip that had boiled up outside the past few days, the pair had been eating and drinking as much as they pleased inside Sea Beast City. They were living the high life.

　　” Aii ….” The defeated sect master held up the wine jug and filled the golden crow’s cup before looking at him with restrained bitterness.

　　The golden crow had already returned to his original form, and the sect master had naturally recognized him as the exact same bird who’d pretended to be suppressed by his Beast King Cauldron before stealing the cauldron and taking off when he let down his guard. However, just when had this bird gotten together with this little devil? Of course he didn’t dare to ask, but he still felt as though he was just too unlucky these days.

　　Thinking on something, Fang Xing then turned to Ying Shihou and asked, “Has that big long legs left by now?”

　　Ying Shihou answered immediately, “Fairy Ye already departed yesterday. She’d originally planned to wait until everything was prepared and ready before leaving with Qiaoqiao, but after having experienced… many things, she left by herself after only leaving behind a single Black Ice Order for Qiaoqiao to use to join the Melodic Ice Palace. There has been a lot of gossip lately, and she doesn’t seem to be in a good mood….”

　　‘Heh, it would be strange if she was in a good mood….’ The crow sneered before winking at Fang Xing. “So, did you actually… do it ?”

　　Even Ying Shihou’s ears stood up when he heard this.

　　Fang Xing glared at the golden crow. “Am I that kind of person?”

　　The crow rolled his eyes at that. “I think you are!”

　　Fang Xing looked at him with disdain. “You are looking down on me. Let me tell you this: I—your grandpa—steal everything except that. My fourth uncle wanted to teach me how to be a flower thief ¹ when I was young, but just as I was about to learn, my ninth uncle came and told me my fourth uncle did this because he was too ugly for any woman to want him. Someone as handsome as me will have plenty of women in the future, so why would there be a woman I can’t have? There is no need to do something so unambitious.”

　　The golden crow was surprised. “You believed him?”

　　“Of course I believed him. Have you ever seen anyone more handsome than me?” Fang Xing proudly replied.

　　“Handsome your *ss!” the golden crow ridiculed.

　　Angered, Fang Xing turned towards Ying Shihou and yelled, “Tell me, Sect Master: am I handsome?”

　　Sweat formed over Ying Shihou’s forehead. “Very handso— you are like a jade tree in the wind… your appearance cannot be matched…. Beautiful like the flowers…” he declared, all while thinking to himself, ‘Handsome your *ss!’

　　“No wonder you’re a sect master; you indeed have great taste!” Fang Xing’s pride only grew as he patted Ying Shihou on the shoulder. “By the way, have you prepared what I asked for?”

　　Ying Shihou’s pupils shrank before he somberly replied, “Everything is ready….” He then took out a set of clothing and placed it in front of Fang Xing.

　　Fang Xing sighed and changed into this outfit that had once belonged to a servant disciple of the Myriad Beasts Sect. “So ugly. I’m really going backwards. Can’t believe I’d actually have to be your daughter’s servant now…” he muttered while looking around.

　　Ying Shihou was left speechless at this. It was Fang Xing who’d forced him into accepting this; if anyone should feel wronged, it should actually be he himself.

　　After changing outfits, Fang Xing extended his hand in front of the golden crow. Although the golden crow was reluctant, he still passed over a black mask, the same mask Fang Xing had given to him before: the Mask of Wanluo. He adored this aura-and-appearance-changing treasure almost as much as his own life, but he’d still resigned himself to part with it after hearing Fang Xing’s plans. The boy’s life was still more important than the mask, after all.

　　Fang Xing decided to check the mask once more after it was given back to him. Now that he was in Foundation Stage, the information he received through his appraisal was different from before, showing its materials and even the formations inlaid within crystal clarity. Even then, he was still unable to see through the mask completely; although it was only a mid-quality spirit tool, its abnormal creation allowed it to fend off the spirit sense of even a mid-Foundation Stage cultivator.

　　Now that Fang Xing’s cultivation had improved, his pool of knowledge seemed to have widened as well. He was able to tell that the creator of this Mask of Wanluo must have been a top-level master smith, and he couldn’t understand why it had wound up in the “junk” pile at the Qing-Yun Sect’s Pavilion of Spirit Tools before he found it. Inside the mask, the characters “Wanluo” were printed in small font where the brows would meet, perhaps the name of the master smith who’d crafted this.

　　After some more examination, Fang Xing placed the mask over his face and instilled it with Qi, causing the mask to disappear and Fang Xing to become someone else. Although he was still in his mid-teen years, his lips became thin, his eyes became long and narrow, and his physique was thin with a pale face. Such an appearance was extremely ordinary, but the glint coming from his eyes still looked sly and devious.

　　Fang Xing raised his head. “How do I look?” he asked Ying Shihou with pride.

　　Ying Shihou was surprised to see Fang Xing’s new appearance, and he nodded only after a long time had passed. “If I didn’t know beforehand, I really wouldn’t see any flaws…. In fact, even though I know it’s you, I still can’t see any flaws whether it be in the aura or appearance; this ability of yours is really extraordinary…. Oh, yes, you’d need to tone down that look in your eyes a bit.”

　　“Your eyes show too much deviousness. I bet if someone was familiar with you, they’d recognize it in an instant!” the golden crow interrupted.

　　Fang Xing sighed. “That’s the distinctive characteristic of a hero like me. It’s hard to change!”

　　Ying Shihou wasn’t in the mood to listen to the pair’s joking and sighed. “Mister Fang, the person you are imitating is called Xiao Jiu. He is a servant at the Spirit Beast Department, and one of the five servants who will follow Qiaoqiao to the Melodic Ice Palace. Once Qiaoqiao has successfully joined the palace, he will remain with her to serve. Although it ensures you’ll be able to get inside, his status is rather low; it may not be very helpful for what you intend to do….”

　　Fang Xing smirked at this. “There is no need for you to worry about that. I have my own plans!”

　　“Understood….” Ying Shihou paused for a moment before continuing, “However, Esteemed Little Senior Fang, Qiaoqiao is my only daughter. I beg you… no matter what you do at the Melodic Ice Palace, please don’t get her caught up in it….”

　　Fang Xing laughed. “Don’t worry, I might even help her if she’s lucky!”

　　Bitter-faced, Ying Shihou could only pray his daughter would be safe and join the Melodic Ice Palace without any problems. He didn’t want Fang Xing to help her with anything at all.

　　As it so happened, Fang Xing had formed an idea after he heard Ying Qiaoqiao would be joining the Melodic Ice Palace. He had to urgently solve the problem of his foundation’s contamination, but—as Sect Master Chen Xuanhua had said before—the only person in all of Chufung who might be able to resolve this problem would be Hu Qin from the Melodic Ice Palace. Before Fang Xing had even been able consider the best method of bribing or persuading this old man to help him, however, Fang Xing had already established a grudge with Hu Qin’s favorite pupil. It was a hard fight but he’d won pretty handily in the end, so this grudge was surely set in stone.

　　Although Fang Xing had shamelessly obtained a “favor” from old man Hu Qin in the Yin Prison Abyss through Hu Qin’s manifestation, Fang Xing still wasn’t fully confident such a Golden Core Stage powerhouse would truly do as he’d promised. It was only natural he wouldn’t knock on their front door out in the open like an idiot. What if Hu Qin were to back out of the promise, forget about this “favor”, and decide to take his life instead? Wouldn’t that mean Fang Xing was simply walking right into a trap?

　　Since going right up to the doorstep was deemed foolish, Fang Xing came up with a different idea. He intended to take advantage of the moment Ying Qiaoqiao was joining in order to enter and search the Melodic Ice Palace for a method to help him resolve the demon spirit problem he had.

　　He’d already discussed everything with the Peng King. Assuming the old man Hu Qin truly had a way of resolving his demon spirit problem, there were only two possibilities: one of his disciplines was unique with the ability to restrain demon spirits, or he owned some sort of treasure for the task. Fang Xing’s plan was simple: if there was a discipline or technique that could resolve it, he would steal the manual; if there was a treasure that could fix the problem, he’d steal the treasure.

　　This trip to the Melodic Ice Palace was absolutely necessary, but the palace had plenty of Golden Core Stage masters that still had plenty of lifespan left. They were the largest sect in all of Chufung, and their power and influence were incomparable to sects like the Qing-Yun and Ephemeral Butterfly. Let alone stealing a treasure from them, even just sneaking in wasn’t going to be easy—finding a specific identity for the task was incredibly important. It was here that Ying Shihou happened to fall into his hands and such a plan emerged.

　　Under the forceful persuasion of the Peng King, Ying Shihou had already left a seal behind on the Flag of Ten Thousand Spirits. Since his spirit sense had been combined with the beast spirit, having the beast spirit’s seal on the flag was the same as having full control over Ying Shihou as well, so Fang Xing wasn’t afraid he would dare to do anything to sabotage him. In return, Fang Xing left the Nine-Headed Lion spirit with Ying Shihou and didn’t forcefully take it away.