After landing on top of the jade altar, Fang Xing believed he’d finally escaped from the danger and raised his head. This was when he saw the plump Daoist, and he gave an excited greeting that inadvertently broke the man.

　　The plump Daoist had been wondering to himself whether that little bastard Fang Xing would appear once more and help him from this situation like he had so many times before, but who would have expected the boy to fall from above? “You… how….”

　　Before the plump Daoist could finish his question, Fang Xing’s face suddenly changed and he immediately jumped up again. He could feel a sense of danger rising up from the purple smog above, as though the ghost thralls had continued giving chase. “Oh help me, friends…” he yelled out while dragging the golden crow with him towards the confused Myriad Beasts sect master, Ying Shihou.

　　Ying Shihou’s cultivation level was naturally higher than Fang Xing’s, but the Qingqiu Tomb was just too daunting for him; when he saw Fang Xing fall from the tomb’s interior, his great surprise was accompanied by a rather powerful and restraining fear—he did not dare to attack. When Fang Xing rushed his way, Ying Shihou simply shifted his body slightly to the side while cautiously observing, but Fang Xing didn’t have any intention of attacking either and simply moved to hide behind him.

　　Just as Ying Shihou was about to question this confusing turn of events, he also sensed of a number of extreme dangers behind him.

　　Hummm ….

　　Without much time to think, Ying Shihou immediately turned and extended his hands outward. An illusion of a nine-headed lion appeared above his head, forming into something like a barrier that howled towards the sky while blocking his front.

　　At that moment, a white-dressed woman suddenly appeared from within the purple smog. Her attention locked on to Fang Xing behind Ying Shihou, and she thrust herself forward while clawing at the boy.

　　She wasn’t a living being who knew how to adapt depending on the situation, and so even though Ying Shihou was in front, she still went straight forward. It looked as though she was aiming herself at Ying Shihou, and when he sensed the terrifying aura around her, he let out a loud cry and used all he had to defend himself.

　　Hummm….

　　The white-dressed woman thrust her claws towards Ying Shihou’s chest, but it was also at this moment that her skin began to split and turn to ashes swirling through the air…. In fact, such changes had already begun from the moment she’d left the protective cover of the purple smog; after losing the smog’s protection, her body had begun to rot bit by bit until it broke down into ash.

　　Just as Ying Shihou was about to experience the ghost thrall’s fatal touch, a loud bang rang out and her body turned completely to ash. Although that purple smog was a poison to cultivators and extremely difficult to fend off, it was like a sanctuary for thralls like her. After leaving the purple smog and coming into contact with the open air, her body had been unable to handle it and crumbled to pieces.

　　In that short span of time, she’d already clawed open the barrier in front of Ying Shihou and only a mere finger of distance had separated them. Ying Shihou was a proud Foundation Stage cultivator, but his terror was so great that his body had a layer of sweat and even his soul quivered in fear. Elder Moye nearby was astonished by what had just happened, and he rushed forward to see if the sect master was injured.

　　Woosh woosh woosh woosh ….

　　Unlike the very first ghost thrall that had come out, the remaining thralls seemed to sense something wasn’t right; although they didn’t have any intelligence, they were still able to experience an intuitive fear. They all returned to the purple smog, and the smog soon began to violently surge with white dresses looming just beyond the edge.

　　While everyone was panicking, Fang Xing—the cause of this mess in the first place—wasn’t panicked at all. He knew the trouble had passed when he saw the ghost thralls retreat back into the purple smog, so he looked away and decided to flee amidst the chaos.

　　Fang Xing didn’t expect that even though there was such mayhem around him, not everyone had missed his presence. In fact, he’d caught someone’s attention the moment he appeared. “It’s… you! Elder Brother Zhaoyang, hurry and come catch him!” Ying Qiaoqiao was the first to call out while pointing towards the valley entrance where Fang Xing was trying to flee.

　　Those who didn’t know who Fang Xing was were still stupefied. They’d seen how Fang Xing had fallen down from the purple smog, and so kept their distance out of a sense of fear. Chu Zhaoyang, on the other hand, had seen Fang Xing before, and he immediately recognized Fang Xing as that little monster from Mount Desolation thanks to Ying Qiaoqiao’s yell. With a cold snort, he soon gave chase.

　　Qi Heng had never seen Fang Xing before and didn’t know who he was, but seeing this person fall from the purple smog had left him incredibly shocked. When he noticed Ying Qiaoqiao calling out so urgently for Chu Zhaoyang to capture the boy, he thought that perhaps the boy had some important secrets that Ying Qiaoqiao wanted to help Chu Zhaoyang get, just like she’d helped him before. With this in mind, Qi Heng quickly jumped forward to be the first to take Fang Xing down.

　　Fang Xing himself was shocked by all of this; he hadn’t expected that even though the two Foundation Stage cultivators hadn’t considered capturing him, two young disciples would decide to come at him with such viciousness. He’d seen Chu Zhaoyang before during his times in Sea Beast City, and he immediately recognized Qi Heng as well because he’d asked around about his appearance. In fact, these two were the same people he originally intended to kill, so Fang Xing was actually filled with happiness. He let out a cold shout and turned to strike.

　　Fang Xing’s hands had been empty when he first turned, but as he struck out, the Saber of Azure Dragon appeared in his grasp. Malicious energy and an eye-blinding golden flame covered the saber in mere moments, and its maddened force covered the entire area as he cut fiercely towards Chu Zhaoyang.

　　Stunned, Chu Zhaoyang extended his palms to defend against this strike. “How did this brat become so strong?” he growled out low in surprise.

　　BOOM

　　As the forces collided, the air between the two was torn and pulled apart in what resembled an explosion. Chu Zhaoyang was left so shaken that he couldn’t help but to continue stepping back while his blood surged in turmoil, shocked to the core. He could have easily taken down the mid Spirit Stage Fang Xing back at Mount Desolation, and never would he have expected the boy’s cultivation to increase by so much in less than half a year. The boy seemed to somehow be at around the peak of tier eight, and the strike just now was so powerful that not even he dared to take it directly.

　　Qi Heng was only slightly slower than Chu Zhaoyang, but he was immediately shaken when he saw what had happened and quickly pulled himself away.

　　“Die!” Fang Xing released a cold laugh as a pair of golden wings appeared on his back, and a dozen sword lights flew out in front of Qi Heng just as he’d decided to flee. Tnd the disciple was so terrified the only thing he could do was use all his energy to form a barrier to defend himself, but—faced with the blows of the Hundred and Eight Thousand Swords—the barrier was of no use and shattered into pieces.

　　Swoosh ….

　　No fewer than seven sword lights pierced through his body and flew out from his back before disappearing. Qi Heng looked down at his own wounds in dismay; he hadn’t thought things would go downhill so quickly, faster than the blink of an eye.

　　What he’d been rushing to get before Chu Zhaoyang… turned out to be death!

　　Fang Xing didn’t so much as glance at Qi Heng any longer. With another flicker of his wings, he sent his entire body airborne, flying nearly as fast as its peak. Within the blink of an eye, he arrived in front of Chu Zhaoyang alongside so many sword lights it was as though all the heavens were falling upon him. Chu Zhaoyang could only let out a low growl while hastily backing away and activating all sorts of Flying Swords, talismans, and barriers to defend himself.

　　However, none of these were of any use before the powerful attacks of this Ancient technique. Whatever came into contact with those sword lights was shattered, and those sword lights were as sharp as broken bamboo as they pierced through everything Chu Zhaoyang tried to use.

　　Woosh ….

　　Once all of the defenses had been broken through, Fang Xing showed no hesitation and immediately dropped down from the air with a sweep of his blade. Chu Zhaoyang had been using all of his focus just to fend off the sword lights, and before he even realized what was going on, he felt a chill against his neck.

　　Suddenly, everything around him began to twist and turn as though he was flying. It was impossible to tell just how many turns he made in the air until—at last—he was captured in a pair of hands. The last thing he saw was the terrified expression of his little shimei, Ying Qiaoqiao.

　　“Zhaoyang…. Qi Heng….”

　　All of this had happened in a mere two breaths.

　　The Myriad Beasts sect master—Ying Shihou—had momentarily been low on Qi because he’d used all of it to fend off the ghost thrall, and the only other Foundation Stage cultivator present was Elder Moye, who’d been busy rushing over to check on the sect master’s injuries. Using a quick check with Qi, Elder Moye determined that the temporary loss of Qi was because Ying Shihou had activated the beast spirit too quickly and because the white-robed woman had shattered the barrier. It was only after his diagnosis that he had time to glance back at Fang Xing.

　　Just as Elder Moye turned his attention, he saw Fang Xing removing Chu Zhaoyang’s head.

　　A quick movement of his gaze, and he also saw the stiff-bodied Qi Heng fall to the ground covered in blood and severe injuries.

　　Such a dramatic turn of events left even the Foundation Stage Elder Moye unable to breathe. After a moment of surprise, he let out a loud growl and brought out his Foundation Stage force to strike out towards Fang Xing in his rage.

　　Fang Xing had just sliced off Chu Zhaoyang’s head with a single strike, and he laughed while spreading his wings to ascend towards the golden crow. The crow understood what was going on, so he spread out his wings to slow himself down while tugging on the Immortal’s Snare in his claws to pull Fang Xing closer. Yet, no matter how fast the two were, it was not as fast as Elder Moye’s palm strike.

　　Boom ….

　　Elder Moye’s palm strike passed through the air and landed heavily against Fang Xing’s back. Fang Xing had just become airborne, but his body suddenly started to fall directly forward like a kite with a broken string. Just as Elder Moye’s strike landed, however, an ever-so-faint golden shine appeared in front of Fang Xing’s chest and rotated once around his body before disappearing.

　　“Wahhh, kid, you’re not gonna die, right?” the golden crow called out in surprise. Without taking any time to check on Fang Xing’s injuries, he immediately grabbed the snare and tried to flee with him.

　　The plump Daoist had seen this from afar and was extremely shocked, and the spirit form of the Ganglie appeared atop his head in his moment of panic.

　　After seeing the blow, Ying Qiaoqiao was also shocked at first, but she was quickly overcome with joy. To receive a strike from a Foundation Stage cultivator so solidly against his body, this little monster… should be dead, right?

　　After the moment of startled delay had passed, the golden crow flew towards the valley’s entrance with Fang Xing hanging in mid-air, suspended from his claw by the Immortal’s Snare.

　　The corpse-like Fang Xing who’d been hanging in the air suddenly laughed. “Hahahaha, old man, I—your grandpa—will remember this strike of yours. One day, I’ll reward you with a couple of the same….” He jumped up onto the golden crow’s back and they flew away.

　　When the Myriad Beasts disciples realized the boy had taken a solid blow from Elder Moye without any injuries, all of them suddenly erupted in an uproar. Those who hadn’t seen Fang Xing before now already had some fear towards this youth who’d fallen from the sky, but they were completely terrified after this.

　　To fall from the sky, commit murder in front of two Foundation Stage cultivators, then escape so insolently….

　　Was this… an immortal demon?

　　A strange and terrifying feeling assaulted Ying Qiaoqiao’s heart, and she suddenly burst into tears.

　　At that moment, a calm voice rose up to ask, “Who is this person?” It was Ye Gu’yin.