Since confinement meant a lack of freedom, Fang Xing decided he may as well use this time to increase his cultivation; he only had half a year left, after all, which definitely wasn’t long. Within this half-year, not only did he have to break through from the sixth tier into the seventh, but he also had to study the beast tribe’s Ancient technique of “Hundred and Eight Thousand Swords” up to at least basic proficiency. Fang Xing would only have a chance of fighting Xiao Jianming and avenging his nine uncles of the Guiyan Valley if he reached this level before Xiao Jianming broke into the Foundation Stage.

　　After probing Xiao Jianming’s battle prowess at Mount Desolation, Fang Xing had some idea of what he would be facing. Xiao Jianming was no ordinary cultivator; he was a Battle Cultivator—and one in the ninth tier at that—with a high level of proficiency in Qing-Yun Nine Swords. People like him were extremely terrifying once they broke into the Foundation Stage. Furthermore, if Xiao Jianming’s uncle wanted to help take him down, Fang Xing felt his life would be in grave danger unless he fled from the Qing-Yun Sect.

　　“You’re going to master an Ancient technique to the level of basic proficiency within half a year?” When the golden crow heard Fang Xing’s plan, he rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Impossible. Even if it was the premier genius of the Chufung Kingdom, this would not be possible, and you don’t exactly seem like a genius!” the golden crow said with certainty.

　　This was the reality of the situation. Ancient techniques were powerful and mysterious, this was something everyone knew. However, it was precisely because of that power and mystery that they were so much harder to master than many other techniques. When it came to ordinary people, even someone in the Foundation Stage would require at least a year to master an Ancient technique to the level of basic proficiency, and it could require up to three. Yet Fang Xing—only in the mid tiers of Spirit Stage—wanted to achieve the same thing in only half a year? This was nearly impossible.

　　“Nothing is impossible. The bold die full, the timid die starving[1],” Fang Xing replied, full of confidence.

　　The golden crow rolled his eyes. “How does being bold matter?”

　　Fang Xing pulled out his saber and placed it against the golden crow’s neck. “Your grandpa says it matters, so it matters….”

　　“Fine! Whatever you say!”

　　At first, Fang Xing had been well-behaved and would practice cultivation all day, every day inside the Valley of Hidden Dragon. To others, it seemed as though he was earnestly meditating, but he was in fact inside his Sea of Consciousness patiently asking the Demonic Peng King the meaning of each line of the Hundred and Eight Thousand Swords. Fang Xing was abnormally serious, which had given the Peng King quite a scare; it was even to the point he felt that as soon as Fang Xing mastered this, the boy would immediately kill him off.

　　Once seven days had passed, Fang Xing stopped entering his Sea of Consciousness. All three hundred and forty-two lines detailing the one thousand and eighty different methods of activation had been memorized by heart, without a single point of confusion.

　　Once the preparations were complete, Fang Xing swaggered across to the valley’s entrance, where two regulations disciples from the outer sect sat to watch over Fang Xing. To keep watch over an inner court disciple like Fang Xing, the sect would typically send disciples with higher cultivation levels or even set restrictive formations, but the whole sect knew this confinement was nothing more than a show and so only these two regulations disciples had been sent over. Although they were supposedly there to guard and keep an eye on Fang Xing, it might have been more accurate to say their purpose was to serve him for the time being.

　　Fang Xing thrust his saber into the ground before throwing two mid-grade Spirit Stones next to it. He then squatted in front of the regulations disciples while pointing to the [Saber of Azure Dragon] and asked, “Do you know what that is?”

　　Both disciples were a little confused, and the one of the left replied, “This…. This is your weapon, Shixiong….”

　　“You are correct!” Fang Xing then pointed to the Spirit Stone and asked, “Do you know what this is?”

　　The eyes of the disciple on the right lit up now as he answered this time, “Yes, mid-grade Spirit Stone. One of them can be exchanged for one hundred low-grade Spirit Stones!”

　　Fang Xing nodded. “Very smart. If I were to ask which one of these you’d choose, which would you pick?”

　　Both disciples looked at the Spirit Stone in unison. This was a no-brainer!

　　Fang Xing smiled upon seeing their gazes. “I need to go somewhere now. If you dare to stop me or snitch, I will fix you up right away. If you are good and pretend not to see anything, these two stones will be yours. Understand?”

　　Both of the disciples wore difficult expressions and—after some hesitation—the one on the left took out a yellow talisman. Recognizing it as a Message Talisman, Fang Xing believed the disciple was going to tattle on him and immediately became angry, grabbing hold of his saber.

　　The disciple abruptly spoke, “Please don’t misunderstand, Shixiong; this talisman is for you. If anything happens here, we’ll let you know so you can come back as soon as possible!”

　　Fang Xing was dumbstruck for a split second before he began to smile. “Haha, good idea. I will reward you when I return!” He then grabbed the Message Talisman and hopped atop the golden crow to fly deep into the forests on the Valley of Hidden Dragon’s eastern side.

　　“Shixiong He, haven’t we broken sect rules by doing this?” the disciple on the right hesitantly asked once Fang Xing had left.

　　The disciple on the left released a sigh. “Shidi Ye, don’t say I didn’t warn you. Sect rules? Haven’t you heard the rumor going around the sect right now, about how one would rather offend Shixiong Xiao Jianming or Shijie Linyun than offend this guy?”

　　Shidi Ye was quite shocked. “Are you sure? Even Shixiong Xiao Jianming and Shijie Linyun are not as good as him?”

　　Shixiong He smiled bitterly before answering, “No matter whether it is Shixiong Xiao Jianming or Shijie Linyun, both would still listen to your reasons and justifications; however, this little demon child won’t listen to any reason at all. Everything is fine if you listen to him, but if you don’t, he’ll seriously try to kill you….”

　　Suddenly understanding, Shidi Ye began to feel glad he hadn’t stepped in to stop him. “Haaaah, Shixiong He is right….”

　　—

　　The Valley of Hidden Dragon was located on the Qing-Yun Sect’s east side. The valley’s entrance was on its west side and led to the Qing-Yun Sect, whereas the east side led into the depths of a forest overgrown with trees and bushes that had formed over tens of thousands of years.

　　Every so often, cultivators could be seen crossing the forest by flying atop the trees, but—within the past tens of thousands of years—people rarely traveled to this place. It was filled with mysterious scenery and strange mountain peaks, but all of the Qi had been drawn away towards the Qing-Yun Sect, so there were no beasts within.

　　But Fang Xing wasn’t after any beasts; he was looking for a suitable place to practice his cultivation.

　　Three or four days later, Fang Xing discovered a giant waterfall a hundred or so miles away from the Qing-Yun Sect. It was three hundred feet wide and stretched up to a thousand feet high, with silver flower-like waterdrops falling as though from the nine heavens to pound and splash against solid moss-covered rocks in a terrifyingly deep pit. Seeing something like this would naturally create a sense of fear.

　　“This place should do. Ol’ Goldy, go and carry these rocks!” Fang Xing declared while pointing at a thousand-pound stone for the golden crow to carry.

　　“You’re kidding, right? You really think I—your uncle—am one of those beasts that can carry giant stones?”

　　Fang Xing’s eyes widened and the [Saber of Azure Dragon] appeared in his hand. “You dare talk back?”

　　“I strongly protest your method of using violence when we’re just having a conversation!” The golden crow angrily cried out.

　　Fang Xing snickered. “This is the best method for a rascal like you. But don’t get me wrong; I won’t force you to do the hard labor for nothing. That flying skill I taught you from the Giant Peng Clan is based on the concept of ‘tempering’. You may have mastered it, but if you keep on being lazy like you are now, your speed will never increase. Your grandpa here is helping you improve; you’re going to thank me later!”

　　‘But right now I only want to curse you…’ the golden crow thought to himself when faced without a choice. However, his eyes soon lit up. “Is this true?”

　　“Definitely true!”

　　The golden crow firmed his heart and answered, “Fine. Seems like choosing you was not in vain. This stone is something your uncle Gold is going to carry!” As he spoke, he extended his wings and flew before lifting the moss-covered rock onto his back and placing it on the side of the waterfall. Then, according to Fang Xing’s instructions, he continued to transport around seven or eight giant stones—each up to eight thousand pounds—over to form a line. By the time he’d finished, he was exhausted and squatting like a dog on the side of the waterfall, his tongue sticking out while he heavily panted. He was determined to never do this again.

　　Seeing that it was about right, Fang Xing removed his upper clothing and slowly walked down towards the waterfall. The rocks remaining beneath the waterfall were slippery, and as soon as he’d gotten closer towards the waterfall, he was astonished by what looked like a lake of silver flowing from the heavens. The waterfall fell from a thousand feet up, and its force was potentially no less than ten thousand pounds. Even the waterdrops that bounced up from the stone would hurt, like being attacked by some hidden weapon.

　　After a short moment of silence, Fang Xing ignored all of that and suddenly took a step forward.

　　CRASH

　　Fang Xing settled himself directly beneath the waterfall, and the force of the heavy water splashed against his body, nearly turning him into human mincemeat. Under such a terrifying and vigorous flow of water, it felt as though his flesh and bones were going to be lacerated and torn away from from his flesh.

　　However, for such things to happen was nothing more than a fantasy. Concentrating one’s Qi while having an unusually strong physique was just enough to handle this waterfall’s force.

　　It was impossible to take a breath from beneath the waterfall, so Fang Xing had to use a great deal of effort to use what few breaths he had. Once he’d grown accustomed to the waterfall’s force, he suddenly gathered some Qi. “Now drop that thousand-pound stone down!” he ordered the golden crow atop the waterfall.

　　This left the still-panting golden crow in shock. What sort of joke was this? A thousand-foot-tall waterfall was frightening enough; who’d want to have the stone dropped down as well? A giant stone weighing a thousand pounds falling amidst the waterfall’s current, what sort of force would that be? Not even a blow from a Spirit Stage tier nine cultivator would have more force than that!

　　The crow momentarily thought this was a dream, that he was in fact going crazy with desire to smash Fang Xing dead. However, an urgent voice rose up once more, reaffirming to the golden crow that this was actually happening, “Hurry up….”

　　The golden crow hesitantly yelled back, “Are you sure? Your uncle Gold still wants to pull a big haul with you. You shouldn’t go and kill yourself here….”

　　“F*ck your grandmother! If you don’t drop it down, I’ll come up there and f*cking kill you!”

　　“Ah sh*t, you can go to hell!” The golden crow angrily flapped his wings and pushed the thousand pound stone to fall alongside the torrent.

　　—

　　[1]The bold die full, the timid die starving : Chinese idiom (撑死胆大的,饿死胆小的). Regardless of whether someone is bold or timid, the end is the same—death. Since that is the case, may as well take the more productive/satisfying route (i.e. to die full and satisfied vs. to die starving and dissatisfied).