Yu Sanliang had shown some viciousness For the first time in his life and killed three disciples from his own sect, all using the Spirit Beast Metamorphosis Fang Xing had given to him.

　　In the depths of the forest not too far away, two black-robed men rushed through the area at an extremely fast pace. Each time they passed a Qing-Yun disciple, they’d double-check the disciple’s appearance from the shadows before quietly leaving.

　　Both of them were riding silently atop a giant black bat apiece, and coupled with their high cultivation levels—with one of them already in Foundation Stage and the other at the peak of ninth tier—any trace of their presence was carefully hidden. The likelihood of a Qing-Yun disciple discovering them was incredibly small, and Elder Qin’nyao was guarding from the air and too far away to notice of them.

　　Just as they were swiftly making their way through, the elderly man in the Foundation Stage at the front was slightly startled and turned his black bat towards the west. “Nn? Why did I just sense our Myriad Beasts’ Spirit Beast Metamorphosis?” The ninth-tier Spirit Stage man behind him was also surprised by this and followed along close behind.

　　Yu Sanliang sighed for a good while before looking at the unconscious Fang Xing. “Shidi Fang, this is as much help as I, your shixiong, am able to give you. Please don’t accuse me of being timid; all the people you’ve offended are very powerful, and both of us could be killed with a single finger. I’ve killed these people here for you, and I’ll take their corpses outside. If anyone asks, I’ll say it was you who killed them, and you fled in the opposite direction. Whether this turns out good or bad depends on your luck….” After another long sigh, he placed the three corpses into his storage sack and—with a final glance towards Fang Xing—shook his head before heading out of the cave.

　　He was actually rather terrified, himself. This had truthfully all been on the spur of the moment’s anger; before he attacked, he hadn’t expected the Spirit Beast Metamorphosis to have such power.

　　When Yu Sanliang first received the manual three months ago, he’d poured his heart into studying it. He hadn’t imagined that despite having great difficulty learning Earthen Sovereignty from the Shanhe Valley, studying the Spirit Beast Metamorphosis was extremely smooth and effortless for him, and it took him fewer than three months before his Qi had broken through into all his meridians and he’d formed the spirit form of the Ganglie[1] ¹ . According to the manual, he was considered as having mastery over the technique’s first level, but the process had been so smooth that he hadn’t had much confidence it was actually strong. It wasn’t until today’s battle that he finally realized its power.

　　After leaving the cave, Yu Sanliang gave a sneaky look around before breaking a few tree branches to cover up the cave entrance. He only managed to get a few small steps away, however, before he suddenly heard a loud noise above him and a giant bat began to descend from above. “Stop right there, fatty! Were you the one who performed the Spirit Beast Metamorphosis?” a voice rose up from atop the bat.

　　Although he couldn’t actually see who this voice belonged to, Yu Sanliang was able to feel the heavy force pressing down on him. The plump Daoist felt his legs begin to soften before he let out an “oh my god”, fell flat on the ground, and rolled into a patch of grass.

　　The person atop the giant bat curled his hand in a grabbing motion, and the plump Daoist was immediately hoisted up in front of him. It was then that the plump Daoist finally had a clear view of the person atop the giant bat: it was an elderly man in his seventies or eighties, skeleton-thin with deep eye sockets. The man’s glance glinted with what looked like ghostly flames and shone with a chilling murderous intent that landed harshly against the plump Daoist’s face. “I am asking you a question. What is your name? And were you the one who performed the Spirit Beast Metamorphosis just then?”

　　The plump Daoist was so frightened he nearly wet his pants. “I… I am Qing-Yun Sect’s Yu Sanliang…” he answered in a shivering voice.

　　“You’re Yu Sanliang?” Things might have been ok before, but these words left the elderly man thoroughly shocked, and his hand shook so much he nearly dropped the plump Daoist altogether.

　　“You’re Yu Sanliang?” a loud yell rose up from behind, coming from a muscular youth also sitting atop a giant bat. He rushed forward as he yelled, surprise and excitement in his voice as he extended his hand and caused a flash of blade light to form. “I’ve searched so hard for you!” he continued to call out right as he moved to strike.

　　The plump Daoist had subconsciously had his Qi floating within his meridians, and the surprise caused an illusion to once again form from his head into the shape of a giant wild boar—the Ganglie form he’d learned not long ago. He released a loud howl and charged straight towards the youth, but this was all a subconscious response; considering his temperament, he would have never even thought of becoming aggressive in front of the elderly man. Yu Sanliang had only just mastered this skill to the first level and didn’t have a fluid control over when it appeared, so it naturally appeared on its own in times of danger.

　　The plump Daoist was filled with regret when the form appeared. He wasn’t strong enough to be a match for either of these people, and his life was likely now in danger.

　　Unexpectedly, as soon as the form was seen, both the elderly man and the youth were filled with shock. As the blade light in the youth’s hands became even more powerful, the elderly man growled out a low “no” and placed a palm between them. In mere moments, the youth’s blade light, the elderly man’s palm strike, and the spirit form atop the plump Daoist’s head all collided against each other.

　　Most of the impact landed squarely on Yu Sanliang, and he spurted a mouthful of blood before falling unconscious. The youth had also been sent flying around thirty to forty feet away and yelled out in surprise, “Shishu, why did you stop me? Before our official mission into Chufung, the sect master ordered us to make a detour to the Qing-Yun Sect to bring back Yu Sanliang at all costs so Little Shimei’s anger can be vented. We hid amongst their sect for more than a month and still didn’t have any luck until today, and the only reason we’ve finally been able to look for that brat is because of the chaos they’re going through. Now that we found him, why aren’t we taking his head to return for a reward?”

　　“When are you going to change that impulsive temperament of yours?” the elderly man asked with growing anger. “You’re going to kill him before you even ask any questions? What if we kill the wrong person?”

　　The youth was dumbstruck and defensively replied, “He doesn’t even know who we are; why would he lie about his own name? I noticed he didn’t even think twice about it before telling us his name, so it has to be true. ‘Yu Sanliang’ isn’t even a good name, so why would there be more than one Yu Sanliang?”

　　The elderly man’s face darkened. “From what I recall, the sect master mentioned Yu Sanliang is a sly and calculating child, and the appearance he described is rather different from this person’s…. But I’m not sure, either. The sect master only casually mentioned ‘a Qing-Yun Sect’s Yu Sanliang’…. Maybe, maybe it really is him. Aiii , but even if it is him, we still can’t kill him. Did you not see the spirit form he used just then?”

　　The youth was slightly startled as he recalled what had happened. “The form he just used… was that the spirit form of the Ganglie?” he asked in surprise.

　　The elderly man nodded. “Indeed. The shape of a wild boar with a long mouth and sharp tusks, needle-like hair on its back, and bloodthirsty viciousness—it is exactly the description of the Ganglie form. Based on sect records, the ancestor of the Ganglie was a wild boar, so it seems this brat isn’t so simple if he mastered the spirit form of the Ganglie. Furthermore, the ancient spirit of the Ganglie is supposed to awaken in half a year’s time, so could this fatty be the talented genius sent by the heavens to our Myriad Beasts Sect? Either way… it might have been fine if we didn’t know, but now that we do, we definitely cannot kill him. Let’s bring him back to the sect, first….”

　　The youth shivered upon hearing the elderly man’s words and instantly felt a sense of reverence towards this fat man. He pulled out a Hibernation Pellet from his pouch and passed it to the elderly man, who then thrust it into the plump Daoist’s mouth while using his Foundation Stage force to speed up its digestion. Once Yu Sanliang’s unconscious body became stiff and his blood began to stop circulating under the pellet’s effects, the elderly man placed him inside his storage sack.

　　The elderly man sensed a dangerous presence closing in and commanded the youth at once, “Let’s go. I only broke through into the Foundation Stage last month, but that Qing-Yun elder flying in the air is in her mid Foundation Stage; I can’t afford to offend her. Since we’ve already got Yu Sanliang, we should immediately return to the sect to report on this to avoid any delays….”

　　The youth nodded, and both of them ordered their giant bats to quietly return to the forest before disappearing into the shadows.

　　Once the two had left completely, the golden crow hiding in the tree poked his head out and clicked his tongue with amazement. “One of the three main spirit forms—the Ganglie form—of the Myriad Beasts Sect? It’s hard to tell if the fatty being taken away is a good thing or a bad thing for him….” Just as he was thinking on this, the crow suddenly felt something and drew his head back in shock.

　　A person was walking amidst the mountain forests at a slow pace, his attention drawn towards the cave and its surroundings. His large sleeves fluttered in the wind, and after a quick sense, he walked directly inside, only to find the unconscious Fang Xing. His brows creased together with a frown, and he moved forward to draw his palm down against Fang Xing’s head….

　　—

　　Meanwhile, inside Fang Xing’s Sea of Consciousness, Fang Xing was filled with impatience as he loudly yelled at the Peng King, “Didn’t you say it was easy? Why is this last bit so hard? It’s like a f*cking undead that won’t f*cking die no matter how I try to absorb it!”

　　The Peng King was also showing a profound expression as he looked at the ninth demon surrounded by the burning True Samadhi Fire. The remaining eight had all been absorbed, including one that he himself had gotten. Unexpectedly, however, this ninth demon was extremely difficult; whenever a part of it was absorbed, its body soon recovered, and this demon looked like it hadn’t been touched at all even after a long time had passed. After a closer inspection, the Peng King seemed to finally understand and asked, “Does this enemy of yours have some of your True Spirit?”

　　Fang Xing was slightly surprised by this. “When I entered the inner court, I did leave a spirit lantern with the sect!”

　　The Peng King sighed. “No wonder. This demon is you, yourself! No wonder it can’t be absorbed!”

　　Fang Xing was enraged by this. With a wave of his hand, a single stream of True Samadhi Fire burned the Peng King until he was screaming again. “Bullsh*t! How am I that ugly?”

　　The Peng King was filled with sorrow. He’d finally convinced the boy to give him a demon to replenish his True Spirit, yet after being burned, his True Spirit was weakened once again. In a panic, he began to explain, “I’m not saying you’re that demon, I’m saying this demon happened to have a part of your True Spirit refined into it; in a sense, its nature isn’t different from you and it can actually draw some of the Qi from your Sea of Consciousness. Just like an undead, no matter how much you try to refine and absorb it for yourself, you won’t be able to get rid of it completely….”

　　This only caused Fang Xing to grow angrier, and he began to burn the Peng King even more. Feeling anxious and a little angry, the Peng King shouted out, “You said you wouldn’t bully me anymore….”

　　“When did I say that?”

　　“When I passed on the secret flying skill of the Giant Peng clan….”

　　Fang Xing was caught off guard by this at first, but he soon replied, “This isn’t bullying you, this is punishing you. You told me it was easy to absorb earlier….” As he cursed, the fire only grew stronger and stronger.

　　Under such treatment, the Peng King nearly felt he’d be better off dead, and in his heart he cursed all eighteen generations of Fang Xing’s ancestors.

　　—

　　Notes

　　[1] Ganglie: 刚鬣 (gang1 lie4), an ancient Chinese term for the pigs used during sacrificial ceremonies.