Tzin tzin tzin ….

　　The ten-foot sword light collided with ten illusory swords, causing a large explosion as both attacks were shattered. Unexpectedly, neither person claimed the advantage!

　　Ye Gu’yin’s face changed color when she saw this. Not only was she a mere half-step away from the Foundation Stage, but she also had the benefit of her unique skills and dense Qi. Even her esteemed shifu told her that with her current battle prowess, it would be difficult to find any cultivator still in Spirit Stage who could be her opponent.

　　It was also for this reason that Ye Gu’yin hadn’t placed any importance on Fang Xing. Dealing with him should have taken no effort at all, yet a single probing attack from her immediately showed Fang Xing was definitely not ordinary. She’d only used thirty percent of her actual battle prowess, but she was certain an ordinary Spirit Stage cultivator would have difficulty defending against it; this boy, however, had not only been able to easily fend off her strike, but could even fight back.

　　The boy was only at Spirit Stage tier eight yet could accomplish such a thing. Ye Gu’yin had to acknowledge that Fang Xing did indeed have some manner of skill.

　　As Ye Gu’yin’s longsword swept forward, an undetectable force extended out from the blade towards where Fang Xing was approaching in order to block him off. Under the force’s extreme pressure, Fang Xing’s strike was suppressed as well, and he was forced a few feet backwards. ‘This harlot is really something. She almost has as much strength as I do, and she even has a higher cultivation level than me…’ he thought to himself with surprise on his face.

　　After he’d learned the True Samadhi Fire, the purity of Fang Xing’s Qi was incomparable to anyone in the same stage, and he wasn’t afraid to attack even people three or four tiers higher head-on. This is why he’d dared to attack others after leaving Qingqiu Tomb despite the presence of Foundation Stage cultivators, and it was also why he’d managed to take the lives of two ninth-tier Spirit Stage cultivators within three breaths before making a frantic escape.

　　Now, however, Fang Xing felt a sense of pressure from Ye Gu’yin’s battle prowess. This long legs was perhaps the strongest person he’d ever met within Spirit Stage; although he’d originally believed her battle prowess was similar to Xiao Jianming’s, it seemed from today that Xiao Jianming wasn’t even worth comparing.

　　“Haha, big long legs, you’ve got some skills, huh? Come come come, let your grandpa play a few rounds with you.” Despite Fang Xing’s mocking words, he was actually taking this rather seriously. During his laugh, his wings fluttered behind him to bring him up to the sky, where he began to activate a spell. The sky was instantly filled with a golden shine, and a large amount of these golden lights shot out towards Ye Gu’yin with increasing numbers. Before long, there were no fewer than seventy of them, making it appear as though they were covering all of the heaven and earth.

　　Fang Xing’s cultivation level had increased quite a bit these past few months, going from early tier seven to late tier eight. His mastery over the Hundred and Eight Thousand Swords had also improved, and the original limit of thirty-six sword lights had grown to seventy-two. Activating a few dozen sword lights was a walk in the park for him now—his battle prowess had increased significantly ever since leaving the Qing-Yun Sect.

　　Ye Gu’yin stood atop her silver spindle with a heavy expression on her face.‘Although these sword lights are formed from solidified Qi, their murderous intent is sharp and unmistakable. They’re almost no different from real Flying Swords….’ She formed a seal with her left hand, causing the giant guqin on her back to suddenly position itself horizontally at her front. She focused her gaze before lightly plucking the guqin’s strings as though picking flowers and placing chess pieces, each flawless movement causing a clear and melodious sound that slowly spread outwards.

　　Hum ….

　　An intangible but concentrated force began to spread out from the guqin as it was played. The sword lights that had covered the heavens and earth were like lightning, but they suddenly shuddered and actually halted mid-air. Then, as Ye Gu’yin plucked a string once more, the melody reached an impassioned high, as though the notes themselves had become sword force shooting into the sky.

　　Pah pah pah pah ….

　　The sword lights that had been paused mid-air were shattered into pieces, turning into glittering golden dust that scattered around her in a magnificent display.

　　“To be able to force me to use the Phoenix-Fear Zither, seems like Xiao Jianming’s death at your hands wasn’t without reason…” Ye Gu’yin lightly spoke while raising her hand and preparing to pluck the third string.

　　“High-quality Ancient weapon?” Fang Xing looked on in surprise from the air. He hadn’t paid attention to the instrument carried on this woman back before, but it miraculously turned out to be a high-quality Ancient weapon. Ancient weapons were weapons that had surpassed the power of a supreme-quality spirit weapon and could only be crafted by Golden Core stage masters. The power of such Ancient weapons were endless, and this guqin was high-quality on top of that.

　　For Fang Xing who was still in Spirit Stage right now, the power of such an Ancient weapon was beyond imagination. Even though Ye Gu’yin couldn’t bring forth its full power at her current level of cultivation, it was still more than he could handle. ‘Damn it, I can’t beat her….’ Fang Xing’s mind began to quickly turn. He was unable to deal with such an obvious disadvantage, so he decided he’d have to directly flee the scene.

　　Seeing Ye Gu’yin about to strike the third string, Fang Xing hastily yelled out, “Hey, you, the big long legs, we don’t have a grudge that keeps us from coexisting, right? How about this: I have a few Foundation Pellets I got from Qingqiu Tomb. Their value is priceless, and their rarity is even more so. I’ll share half of it with you, so let’s be friends and sit down to chat the chat and love the love. How about that?” As he spoke, he grabbed a storage sack with five round pellets inside and tossed it towards Ye Gu’yin.

　　Ye Gu’yin was originally uninterested in receiving a bribe, but hearing the words “Qingqiu Tomb” and “Foundation Pellets” startled her for a moment. Her hands involuntarily paused just before playing the third string, and her eyes settled on the pellets coming close. Just as the pellets got within three feet of her, however, Fang Xing suddenly showed a devious smirk and secretly formed a hand seal.

　　“Explode!”

　　All five black pellets suddenly flashed before going up in a violent explosion. Each pellet poured out fire with indescribable heat and power, and as the flames from all five pellets came together, they formed into a cloud of fire several feet wide that covered Ye Gu’yin completely.

　　“Haha, quick, run!” Fang Xing yelled. The golden crow spread out his wings as Fang Xing jumped onto his back, and the two became like a golden cloud that took off into the distant sky.

　　“Shameless! How dare you use such a method against me!” an anger-filled voice rose up from within the cloud as Ye Gu’yin emerged from the flames riding atop her silver spindle. A large supply of spiritual purple smoke was settled on the surface of her purple robe, and all of the flames around her were mysteriously deflected back the moment they drew within an inch of her. Not even a single strand of her hair had been curled even as the flames burned up the sky.

　　“What a pity; no matter how sly you are, it is still of the inferior path! If I were to let you escape today, I would not be Ye Gu’yin!” she coldly exclaimed. Suddenly, with a flick of her finger, a purple Spirit Stone immediately flew out and fell into a formation set on the back of her silver spindle, and the Spirit Stone’s purple Qi-imbued light began to trace along the carvings of the silver formation. Afterwards, Ye Gu’yin only gave a silent mental command and the silver spindle immediately took off towards where Fang Xing had fled, turning into a lightning-like flash of silver.

　　Fang Xing had been using Mystic Eye to keep an eye on Ye Gu’yin from the back of the golden crow, and he was shocked when he caught sight of that purple light. He knew his items, and he immediately recognized that purple spirit item for what it was. “That harlot actually used a high-quality Spirit Stone just to speed up?”

　　A high-quality Spirit Stone was equivalent to a hundred mid-grade Spirit Stones and had an extraordinarily high value. Even after plundering the Danxia, Shanhe, and Shuwen elders’ secret stashes, he only found a dozen or so. He was still reluctant to part with them, yet this woman had so callously used it just to speed up! “This big long legs is pretty rich….”

　　The golden crow was also surprised and urged in a low voice, “That silver spindle is a supreme-quality flying spirit tool that needs Spirit Stones to activate. Your Uncle Gold here is made of flesh and blood and can only fly with his own power. She’ll catch up to us eventually; you need to quickly come up with an idea….”

　　Fang Xing creased his brows. “This woman can be considered to be pretty strong, and the purity of her Qi is almost on par with mine. She’s probably one of the most powerful Spirit Stage people I’ve met. There’s also that treasure she has in her hands, which is actually a high-quality Ancient weapon! It’s extremely powerful, and I wouldn’t even qualify to be an opponent if I face her straight on. If that guqin ever leaves her hands, though, I’ll beat her like a wife!”

　　The golden crow smacked his beak. “Stop bragging; she can beat you like a mother beating a son right now! Hurry and think of something!”

　　Fang Xing laughed. “She’s behind and we’re in front. She’s the one at a disadvantage!”

　　When Fang Xing saw Ye Gu’yin closing in, however, he did not dare to joke around anymore. He stood up and muttered, “I—your grandpa—will reward you with a few more treasures.” So saying, Fang Xing threw a few jade talismans into the air that soon intertwined with spiritual power as though locking down a specific area of the sky. Fang Xing then took out a few china bottles and sprinkled their contents into the air, causing a dark mass of black smoke to soon flow along with the wind towards Ye Gu’yin like a cloud of poisonous gas.

　　As Fang Xing kept throwing out strange and rare treasures, an expression of disdain appeared on Ye Gu’yin’s face. “Hmph, you seem to have plenty of stuff, but it’s useless against me!” While still standing atop her silver spindle, she drew the guqin in front of her and—with only a few simple strokes—caused numerous waves of force with an astonishing amount of Qi to fly forward from the instrument. Within only a mere moment, the locking jade talismans were all shattered and the cloud of poisonous gas was dispersed….

　　Fang Xing was still some three hundred feet away and the intangible force of the guqin’s melody couldn’t hurt him, but the crisp notes still left him shocked. His face grew pale with fear as he looked at something so powerful. “High-quality Ancient weapons really are amazing!”

　　Fang Xing felt it was quite fortunate he’d fled without a moment of hesitation earlier; this big long legs really was arrogant, but it seemed she had good reason to be. In fact, if it had just been her actual battle prowess alone, Fang Xing would still have a chance in a battle against her, but his battle prowess wasn’t anywhere close to matching hers as long as that Ancient weapon was in her hands. Fang Xing didn’t know how he’d even defend himself in a confrontation with that weapon’s intangible power.

　　Right now, Fang Xing felt rather helpless and was nearing his wit’s end. He had plenty of unusual and unique treasures inside his storage sack, yet she needed to use only a single one to deal with everything he had. These treasures just weren’t on the same level.

　　The golden crow had also realized how dangerous the situation was and let out a long sigh. ” Aiii , there’s no other choice but to try our luck at that place….” His eyes gleamed with light as he looked on towards the southwest.