Shuwen Valley’s Shen Lo had managed to provoke the Qing-Yun disciples in an instant. There were plenty who were willing to fight to protect Fang Xing’s image, as whether Fang Xing had done it out of genuine care or had simply gone with the flow, it was unmistakable that the boy had saved them. To stand up for Fang Xing was either now or never, or else if the news were to spread, they would be seen as ungrateful. Besides, they were humans of flesh and blood, emotional animals; how could they be so heartless towards their savior? No matter how selfish they normally were, feeling gratitude in situations like this was normal. Their actions were merely the natural response to the emotions they truly felt.

　　Even Xu Linyun coldly spoke up, “Pi Junzi, are your Shuwen disciples truly as cold-hearted as this?”

　　Pi Junzi’s eyebrows creased together. Regardless of whether what was said was true or not, as the leader of his branch, it now fell upon him to explain the words of his valley disciple. In most cases, to “sacrifice one’s life in the name of righteousness” was not exactly something that was highly praised in the depths of most disciples’ minds, but it was necessary to acknowledge and praise it when it did occur. They were part of a sect built on the tenet of righteousness, and to not do so would bring shame to the Qing-Yun Sect’s name. “Shen Lo, immediately kneel and bow your head towards that valley and apologize to Shixiong Fang. If you do not, I shall punish you with the Fire Whip on our dear Shifu’s behalf. Furthermore, I will inform Shifu as to your actions today, and you’ll be on your own!”

　　Upon hearing Pi Junzi’s words, Shen Lo’s knees softened and he kneeled down towards the direction of the valley. Beneath everyone’s watchful gaze, he put on a sorrowful act and apologized to the supposedly deceased Fang Xing, “Shixiong Fang…. Shixiong Fang…. I, Shen Lo, have been rude to you. Please, I beg for mercy from your soul in the heavens. Please do forgive me….”

　　“How dare you! You dare imply that Shixiong Fang is already dead?” Qin Xing’er loudly exclaimed, her sadness replaced with anger. Her Flying Sword was already on its way towards Shen Lo.

　　“Aiii….” Shen Lo’s back was struck by her sword and he let out a desperate howl. Yet everyone watched on and no one came to help him.

　　Xu Linyun turned towards the direction of the valley as well with a soft sigh. “If only you’re able to survive. Even disregarding everything else, this action alone will land you a spot as a core disciple should you return….”

　　—

　　Of course, no one would know that the Fang Xing who had “sacrificed his life in the name of righteousness” wasn’t frightened at all. He held his giant blade in hand while surrounded by a group of beasts inside the enclosed valley. “Beast, what are you? Tell me what sort of deceitful games you are playing at inside this valley!” he yelled towards the airborne ray of gold—the “Foundation Stage” beast—above him.

　　“Hah, little bastard, you may look small, but your courage sure isn’t. Minions, go and tear him apart!” The golden light surrounding the “Foundation Stage” beast had finally worn off, and its form was revealed to Fang Xing—a crow with golden feathers.

　　All of the beasts surrounding Fang Xing were only in the sixth or seventh tiers, none of them as powerful as the Fiery-Scaled Serpent. It could be said that the most powerful beasts in this area had in fact been those Fiery-Scaled Serpents, which had already been killed by the Qing-Yun disciples. At first glance, however, it didn’t seem as though these sixth and seventh-tier beasts would have any problem at all killing the fourth-tier Fang Xing.

　　“You want to tear me apart? Haha, let me tear you apart first!” Rather than showing fear when faced with such a dire situation, Fang Xing instead began to burst out into laughter. When the beasts howled and rumbled towards him, Fang Xing held the saber in one hand while taking out a weathered-looking jade talisman in the other. As he continuously filled the talisman with Qi, he dashed straight towards the beasts.

　　Swooosh….

　　Just as Fang Xing and the beasts were about to collide, the jade talisman suddenly let out a dim ray of light and Fang Xing disappeared. When he reappeared, he was already standing behind the beasts who had missed him completely after he’d teleported approximately a hundred feet. The golden crow in the air was his target.

　　[Talisman of Shrinking Earth].

　　The talisman he had taken from Lyu San had finally come in handy today.

　　The golden crow was surprised by Fang Xing’s action, and even more so when he saw that the boy was leaping towards it. The crow initially had the urge to run away, but when it remembered that the boy was at a mere fourth tier, it decided not to worry and brandished its talons with a cold laugh. The sharp talons released a wispy golden aura, their shimmer so bright that it seemed as though they could tear even blocks of gold to shreds.

　　‘Heh, I knew it. This motherf*cker is nothing more than a pretentious twit.’ The moment Fang Xing saw the golden crow’s attack, it was as though a great weight was lifted from his chest. He swung his saber forward, the flames of the [Saber of Azure Dragon] quickly grew into a three-foot blade aura that clashed with the golden claw. During the clash, the blue malicious Qi and the golden flames intertwined like twin dragons around the saber itself before they launched themselves straight at the golden crow.

　　Clang….

　　When the auras of the blade and the claw clashed, loud metallic noises filled the air and echoed within the enclosed valley. Astonished, the golden crow yelled out, “Damn your grandmother, why is a little bastard like you so hand-pricklingly annoying?” Its body moved smoothly like a shifting fire when it spoke before—without a moment of hesitation—it turned to flee. It moved one hundred feet with a single leap, with only a golden trace left behind.

　　Its speed was astonishing.

　　“I intentionally got rid of everyone else just for you, and now you want to run?” Fang Xing had been pushed backwards after coming into contact with the claw’s aura, and when the distance between the two grew greater, he let out a loud howl and waved his left hand, summoning a snake-like black shadow. The black shadow shot towards the golden crow, and before the crow was able to flee too far, the shadow had tangled up its feet and it could not escape even after a few struggling attempts. The shadow was the [Immortal’s Snare] that had been taken from Tie Rukuang. “Now come down!”

　　The golden crow spread open its wings and tried to fly away, pulling Fang Xing along with the [Immortal’s Snare] tangled up in its talons. Fang Xing instead raised both of his legs and pushed against a nearby stone wall before pulling down with all of the strength in his arms. With the raw amount of force Fang Xing displayed, the golden crow let out an unpleasant shriek as it lost its balance and fell straight down. Fang Xing did not stop there and continued to pull upon the [Immortal’s Snare], tugging hand over hand.

　　“Mother of lord, what an obstinately annoying… hedgehog I’ve run into!” The golden crow didn’t stop screeching while one of its talons clawed repeatedly at the [Immortal’s Snare], trying to cut it away.

　　Although the [Immortal’s Snare] might look like a straw rope, it was actually one of the spirit tools Tie Rukuang used most often. It was crafted with nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine strands of Refined Iron that had each been refined ninety-nine times. Other materials included the fibers of a hundred-year-old spirit tree and the toughest hairs grown on the back of a Foundation Stage Demonic Thunder Ape. Once something had been coiled up by the spirit tool, it was unlikely for anything with a cultivation level below Foundation Stage to escape; what chance did this crow have?

　　Fang Xing had noticed at first sight that the golden crow was not as powerful as it seemed despite the Foundation Stage presence it exuded. To his [Book of Revelation], it was nothing more than a sixth-tier spirit beast with a slight irregularity in the concentration of its Demonic Qi. Aside from a hint of fire element, it was almost identical to any other sixth-tier beast.

　　Fang Xing had originally wanted to let everyone know once he’d discovered this, but he’d decided against it shortly afterwards since openly revealing it didn’t bring him any benefit. Rather than tell the truth, Fang Xing instead used the beast to scare off all of the other Qing-Yun disciples so he could have the Illusory Soulgrass all to himself. After all, so much Illusory Soulgrass was worth quite a large sum of money, and only a fool would not be moved by it. The reason Fang Xing hadn’t joined the other disciples in collecting the plants was because he had felt something wasn’t right with the valley, and he didn’t want to get involved before he was sure of what that something was.

　　In short, although it may have been a little complicated, Fang Xing had considered all manner of possible scenarios.

　　When the crow saw that it was being pulled closer and closer towards Fang Xing, it began to flap its wings to the best of its abilities, hoping to pull Fang Xing to the valley’s entrance where the two Earth Puppets had been. The Earth Puppets offered the greatest chance for it to escape and it wanted to use these golems against the boy, but it went without saying that Fang Xing wouldn’t allow this to happen; since the crow was already so close, he simply pulled the [Immortal’s Snare] once more and—using his momentum—jumped onto the crow’s back.

　　Wooosh….

　　The golden crow’s speed was extremely high and nearly shook Fang Xing from its back.

　　“Hahaha, very nice! I have a flying mount now, too! Hey, you son of a bi*ch, stop!” Fang Xing loudly laughed as he balanced himself.

　　“I am the genius proud son of the Golden Crow Clan, the most adventurous talent of the demonic realm’s next generation! Me being your mount exists only in your dreams!” the golden crow called out in monologue as it turned and twisted in an attempt to get rid of Fang Xing.

　　“All you winged beasts don’t seem to want to give up until you’ve been given a taste of suffering!” Fang Xing yelled, activating [Gravitational Force] on himself to finally regain his balance. All of this reminded him of when he’d abused Xu Linyun’s white crane and—without further ado—he took out his dagger and went to plunge it right into the golden crow’s neck, only for it to quickly be knocked back with a metallic clang. ‘Oh, these are good feathers! Very durable!’

　　Fang Xing changed his mind and drew the dagger back. Suddenly, the [Immortal’s Snare] moved to a new location, freeing the crow’s talons before forming itself into a lasso and latching right onto the crow’s neck. Fang Xing pulled the crow back, and it let out a pained shriek as it flew off course and bashed head-first into a stone wall.

　　BAM

　　Gold feathers scattered all over the place. The golden crow was left dizzy from the collision, and Fang Xing—who’d been thrown against the stone as well—was no different. When the beasts in the distance saw that both Fang Xing and the crow had landed, they began to dash towards the two.

　　Although both Fang Xing and the golden crow had been left dazed by the impact, it was Fang Xing whose mind cleared first. He immediately stomped on the ground before stepping on the golden crow’s neck. “Damn it, you’ve been caught by your grandfather and yet still try to escape? Tell these beasts to get lost!”

　　The golden crow looked as though it would rather die than submit to Fang Xing. “Why don’t you chop me up first…”

　　“In that case, I’ll start with plucking your feathers, then I’ll drain out all of your blood before slitting open your stomach and turning you into a chicken stew. You really think I, your grandpa, am an amateur?” As he spoke, Fang Xing bent down and started to pluck the feathers from the crow’s neck with large handfuls at a time. The crow let out pained cries as its eyes moistened, and it turned its head towards Fang Xing to try to peck at him with its beak. Fang Xing was prepared, however, and simply reinforced and strengthened the pressure on the crow’s neck to send another shock of pain into the bird to keep it from moving.

　　Without further delay, Fang Xing continued to pluck the feathers from the crow’s neck. Amidst the cries of pain and the golden feathers in the air, a large patch of the crow’s neck was revealed.

　　“Wahh… this is too painful! You little good-for-nothing bastard, you’ll die a torturous and painful death!” The crow’s cries continued to echo throughout the entire valley, to the point that the beasts that had come towards them were actually scared off.