Xu Linyun was already waiting mid-air atop the white crane, and she felt a little helpless when she noticed that Fang Xing had yet to return. She knew that flying beasts could be very wild and proud, and beasts with these traits were extremely difficult to tame; it would not be easy for Fang Xing to tame that golden crow. However, when she decided to see if the boy wanted to give up, a sudden laugh rose up as Fang Xing flew out with the golden crow beneath him.

　　Seeing this left Xu Linyun surprised. ‘Did he really tame the beast successfully?’ What she didn’t know was that even though normal beasts were wild and unintelligent and thus difficult to tame, this golden crow was familiar with deception and playing games to the point he might even be smarter than some humans. There wasn’t any need for “taming”; a deal would be struck as long as both parties agreed upon the conditions.

　　Xu Linyun glanced at Fang Xing as the golden crow flew in closer. The boy had changed into a blue robe of superior quality and wore a pair of knee-length boots made from beast skin. His black and white-colored hair had been tied neatly into a ponytail with a metal ring, and his face was clean while showing clear excitement. Within his hands was a saber twice his size placed horizontally over his knees. All in all, it was quite impressive to the eyes.

　　The crow he was sitting upon was covered in golden feathers, which was also a rather impressive sight. However, there were a few locations where there were no feathers at all, making it appear somewhat odd.

　　“You’re not using the Immortal’s Snare. Did you really tame it?” Xu Linyun asked with slight curiosity.

　　Fang Xing laughed. “Of course! I melted his heart with this warmth of mine!” The golden crow could only give Fang Xing a stare filled with derision, which Fang Xing also returned.

　　Xu Linyun smiled slightly and did not ask any further. “Let’s go. I’ve already asked them their location.” Then, the white crane let out a clear cry and flew forward at a rapid speed.

　　Fang Xing was very excited and in high spirits, as this would be his first official ride on the crow. He had been in a rush to run for his life the first time, and he hadn’t had any time to experience it for real. When he saw that Xu Linyun had already flown out around a thousand feet ahead, he slammed the saber against the golden crow’s bottom and yelled out, “Giddy-up!”

　　The golden crow anxiously cried out, “Your uncle isn’t your horse….”

　　“Yes, yes, I’m so sorry. You’re my bird!” Fang Xing quickly appeased.

　　The golden crow was furious. “Sh*t, I’m gonna fight you for this!” Despite being airborne, the crow wanted to turn around and tackle Fang Xing.

　　“Trying to rebel?” Fang Xing had also become infuriated, and he raised his fist to start fighting the crow.

　　Pow, poff, paa. In a single chaotic moment, the boy and crow began to have a mid-air brawl.

　　Xu Linyun had already flown off some thousand feet away. When she noticed that Fang Xing hadn’t followed yet, she turned back and saw that he and the crow were fighting. She lightly shook her head and muttered to herself, “I did say earlier that flying beasts are not that easy to tame….”

　　—

　　The Qing-Yun disciples did not immediately go to the seal location, and instead had been traveling across all of Mount Desolation in order to slay beasts. This couldn’t be helped, as before they had left for the mission, all of the chief elders had said that the trip was not only a part of their training, but also an opportunity for them to obtain their personal resources. The sect wouldn’t collect any of the beast cores or herbs they found or harvested, and so the disciples could keep it for themselves.

　　Simply put, this was an opportunity the sect was giving to them. The exact amount each individual would obtain, however, would be up to their personal luck and ability.

　　Atop a small hill was a red-scaled Scorpion-Tailed Lion. It had a lion-shaped head, a tail that was like that of a scorpion, and a thirty-foot-long body that was akin to that of a giant elephant’s. It was a seventh-tiered beast, and—judging from the bloody stains on the side of its mouth—it seemed to have just finished a meal. It was about to return satisfied to its own cave, but its fur suddenly stood up like needles atop its neck.

　　It was also at this moment that someone let out an abrupt command: “Ready your swords!”

　　Woosh woosh woosh….

　　Amidst the scattered forest of rocks, dozens of sword lights flew out like a net and stopped the Scorpion-Tailed Lion in its path.

　　“Beast-Locking Chain!” that same voice rose again. Four shadows holding two red chains immediately darted out and began to circle the lion to tie it up. Red light shimmered along the chain, and the lion’s skin instantly began to burn along with a sharp sizzle. The Scorpion-Tailed Lion released a pained cry and angrily swept its tail towards a group of people on its left.

　　“Crossbow of Spirit Machine…” that same voice hastily yelled. With a ‘swoosh’ sound, three white rays of light flew out from the rocks in the back and were immediately embedded into the Scorpion-Tailed Lion’s body.

　　After another pained cry, the Scorpion-Tailed Lion struggled a few more times before falling onto the ground. In that same moment, a sudden scream was heard from one of the disciples on the left side. A black hole had appeared on his right arm, and black-colored blood was oozing out of the hole without stopping, to the point that it had covered his clothes. His face was filled with panic and he could not stop yelling. The Scorpion-Tailed Lion had managed to deliver a sting before being shot down by the crossbow.

　　Someone jumped out from the collection of scattered rocks, and on his honest and unsophisticated face was nervousness and anxiety. Once this person arrived in front of the panic-stricken man, he first held him still by the right shoulder before—with a ray of sword light—the stung disciple’s right arm was severed off. The man quickly placed medicine against the wound. “Shidi Liu, my fault. It was all my fault…” he spoke with clear remorse.

　　The excitement of the successful hunt immediately faded as everyone watched the scene in a daze. This group of people was the Duanzhen disciples, and the person who had been commanding just now had been Wu Xiangtong.

　　Fang Xing’s wounds hadn’t healed yet and he was in seclusion with Xu Linyun as a guard. Wu Xiangtong had originally wanted to wait with the Duanzhen disciples at the cave until he was out, but he had been lightly scolded by Xiao Jianming—they could not hold up the entire party for a single person. Since their primary mission was to strengthen the beast king’s seal, the Duanzhen disciples had no other choice but to continue on ahead with the rest of the group.

　　However, Xiao Jianming and the rest of the party hadn’t gone immediately to the seal location. Instead, they’d taken a detour and had been slaying beasts while inching ahead at a very slow pace. The Duanzhen Valley disciples didn’t have any disagreements with this—they weren’t very rich to begin with, and they would have an additional income if they slew these beasts—but thanks to Fang Xing and his actions, the group that had Xiao Jianming as a leader seemed to crowd out these Duanzhen disciples.

　　With this, even when it was a team effort to slay the beasts and even if the Duanzhen Valley disciples contributed to it, they would usually end up with very little reward to none at all. After this happened a few times, even someone with a calm and collected temperament like Wu Xiangtong couldn’t handle it anymore, and he had thus gathered all of the Duanzhen disciples with him in order to hunt apart from the main group.

　　Without Fang Xing’s help, these disciples chose to use traps as their preferred hunting method. Through the coordination of their spirit tools, they would be able to kill before the beasts even realized what was happening. Yet no matter how careful they had been, deaths and injuries were inevitable. This disciple who had lost a limb was the third one to be injured, and one of them had been killed by a beast’s counterattack just yesterday.

　　Wu Xiangtong bandaged the disciple who had just lost his arm and let out a light sigh. “If only Little Shixiong Fang was here….” It was during times like this that the difference between having and not having someone with high battle prowess was obvious. If Fang Xing were here, with his perception and strength, it was likely that this disciple’s limb would have been spared. It was even possible that as soon as he saw this beast, he would have jumped out and killed it in a single slice; the power he’d used to kill that sixth-tier beast so easily was not merely for show, after all.

　　The Scorpion-Tailed Lion was obviously heavily wounded and drawing its final breaths. Once Wu Xiangtong had finished bandaging the disciple, he was about to order someone to deliver the final blow and bring its beast core before a figure suddenly appeared not very far away. Sword lights danced about and immediately struck against the Scorpion-Tailed Lion, and as the beast released its final breath, the figure loudly laughed, “Hahaha, another seventh-tier beast core….”

　　Wu Xiangtong turned. The person who had summoned the Flying Sword was none other than Shen Lo, and he wore an expression as though he had just accomplished something grand. A large smile hung upon his lips, and he looked towards Wu Xiangtong in a provocative manner while sheathing his sword.

　　Anger appeared on Wu Xiangtong’s face. “Shen Lo—Shixiong Shen—what is the meaning of this?”

　　Shen Lo smiled. “When a beast appears, it’s only natural that anyone is able to kill it! It’s all based on who has the greatest ability! The strong feast upon the weak; whoever kills the beast gets its core!”

　　Wu Xiangtong was so angry that his words were initially choked off. “But we were the ones to wound it!” he finally exclaimed.

　　Shen Lo coldly laughed. “There are so many Qing-Yun disciples that have come to this area of scattered stones. We all work as one to slay beasts; who knows who actually helped? Shixiong Xiao Jianming already set the rules, and in order to avoid fighting amongst each other, whoever kills the beast has ownership over it. I may not know much, but I know that with this particular seventh-tier beast, I—Shen Lo—landed the final blow!”

　　As the words “Xiao Jianming” were spoken, Wu Xiangtong was immediately infuriated.

　　These past few days, although Xiao Jianming had never done anything directly to the Duanzhen Valley due to his status, there were a few disciples—led by Shen Lo—who had been using Xiao Jianming’s name to humiliate and bully the Duanzhen disciples. When Xiao Jianming was present during times like these, he would simply use the excuse of “For the sake of the larger picture”, which would suppress the Duanzhen disciples’ complaints and cause them to be bullied for no reason at all.

　　Wu Xiangtong had let it go the first few times. Xiao Jianming was not someone he dared or wanted to offend, after all. This time, however, the Scorpion-Tailed Lion had required Shidi Liu’s arm as a sacrifice; how would he be willing to hand it over so easily? “In order to kill this beast, our Duanzhen Valley disciple Shidi Liu has lost one of his arms. Shixiong Lo, please do not push this with us!” Wu Xiangtong coldly demanded. He forcefully calmed his flames of rage and hoped that Shen Lo would back down on this matter.

　　Shen Lo was startled at first, and then he began to show hesitation. Just at this moment, the disciple who had lost his arm earlier was clearly upset and yelled out, “Shen Lo, bullying us like this, aren’t you afraid that Little Shixiong Fang will avenge us all when he returns?”

　　“Little Shixiong Fang?” Shen Lo showed a sudden glimmer of hatred and spoke with a foreboding tone. “He hasn’t caught up in the past three days, and who knows what kind of wound he has? Besides, he already offended Shixiong Xiao Jianming, and what kind of good ending would that bring? Heh, yet you guys don’t even know how to repent. Since you guys are viewing that brat as your savior, I’m going to have the beast for certain now. Why don’t you all get him and come take it from me!”

　　As Shen Lo spoke, he took large steps towards the Scorpion-Tailed Lion.