Each of the three snakes were focusing their full attention on Xu Linyun; they didn’t have time to spare for the likes of a small fry like Fang Xing, who seemed to have only a small amount of Qi. Furthermore, there was not much time between when Fang Xing arrived and when he swung downwards, so the snake was left without the opportunity to react. When the snake saw that it was unable to avoid the strike, it decided it wouldn’t attempt to dodge and instead tightly clenched its fiery scales to turn them into a hard armor of poisonous flames. The snake believed with its simplistic mind that doing so would be more than enough to take Fang Xing’s strike.

　　Even the nearby Xu Linyun was left speechless by Fang Xing’s action. “How would you kill this snake? You might be able to injure it with an attack, but it will only come chasing after you with even more powerful strikes afterwards. How are you going to handle it then?” At that moment, she was ready to save Fang Xing at any time.

　　However, things played out a little differently than what she had imagined.

　　Psssssssh….

　　Fang Xing’s blade landed directly on the snake’s neck. During the movement, neither the malicious energy of the azure dragon nor the golden flames appeared. Fang Xing did not activate either of these two seals, and instead simply used as much strength as he could in order to cause the greatest possible physical impact.

　　When the saber’s edge made contact with the fiery scales, the scales lasted only a mere third of a breath before the immense raw strength was released from the giant saber. The saber’s edge was chipped, but the impact completely crushed the scales of the snake beneath it, revealing the beast’s blood and flesh before the saber’s momentum caused Fang Xing to take a few more spins in the air.

　　Woooooosh….

　　Once the strike was completed, all of the strength Fang Xing had gathered was used up and his body began to turn and drop.

　　BAM

　　With the saber held in both hands, Fang Xing landed on one knee with enough force to form a large pit in the ground around him. Above him, the snake that had taken the full force of his strike froze for a short moment before its head began to slide off its body. Blood spurted everywhere before the head landed directly to Fang Xing’s left, causing a large pit that was only slightly shallower than Fang Xing’s own. The snake’s body twisted and swayed nonstop, a dense smoke rising up along its body before it began to fall as well. It landed straight into the lake and sent up waves of water fifty feet high.

　　When the other two snakes saw that their companion had been killed, they began to hiss nonstop, wanting to come down and kill Fang Xing in revenge. Xu Linyun recovered quickly from her initial shock and hurled her sword at the snakes to keep them back where they were. Throughout the process, she couldn’t help but to send a surprised look at Fang Xing below.

　　A seventh-tier beast, beheaded with just a single strike.

　　Even if it had been a sneak attack, how could this be possible? In that moment, everyone was left without words; no one knew what to say.

　　“You all think I’m afraid of dying?” Fang Xing rose back up to his feet with the saber once again on his shoulder as he swept his gaze across all of the Qing-Yun disciples. Those who met Fang Xing’s gaze all subconsciously avoided it, and even Pi Junzi and Feng Qingwei were no different. Finally, his gaze landed on Lin Qinxue. “I am actually really afraid of dying. That is also why I’ll make sure that if someone wants me dead, they die.”

　　Lin Qinxue looked at Fang Xing at first, but when their glances met, she felt some kind of pain in her eyes. She finally avoided his gaze, feeling that she might even go blind if she were to continue staring. At the exact moment she moved her gaze away from him, she also felt a sense of unease deep down within her heart. It was as though her heart was being harshly clenched, and she was so full of regret that she felt she could puke anytime now.

　　For the first time in these three years, a sense of extreme fear began to rise from the depths of her heart. Why was the boy so strong? Since when had this insect—so small and insignificant—become so much stronger than her?

　　Lin Qinxue sat on the ground, and before she came back from her thoughts, Fang Xing suddenly made the first move. He opened up his palm and activated [Gravitational Force], immediately pulling her into his hand, holding her sleeve above his head.

　　“No, let Shimei Lin down….”

　　“Put her down, don’t do something stupid!”

　　Everyone was astonished, trying to persuade Fang Xing to stop.

　　Even Wu Xiangtong urgently yelled, “Little Shidi Fang, killing disciples from the same sect is a huge offense!”

　　No one had expected Fang Xing to actually try to kill Lin Qinxue. They had believed that once Fang Xing showed his killing intent, he would control it and scheme up some other method to get rid of her. The Qing-Yun Sect was a sect of righteousness, after all; killing those from the same sect was strictly forbidden. If it was done quietly without anyone knowing, it was possible to avoid consequences, but to do so in front of so many witnesses in broad daylight would make a harsh punishment inevitable, even if the perpetrator had managed to help the sect achieve something of great merit.

　　It was because of thoughts like these that no one had the forethought to prevent Fang Xing from taking Lin Qinxue into his hands.

　　“You have no evidence. How would you dare to kill me?” Lin Qinxue muttered with hatred. Fang Xing stared coldly back at her, and she used all of her courage to return that stare. When her poison pellet was seen through, she had made the most correct decision by swallowing it. Although she knew the pellet would give her extreme abdominal pain, it was all for the purpose of destroying the evidence. She firmly believed that under these circumstances without any evidence, Fang Xing still wouldn’t do anything to her unless he had plans to betray the entirety of the sect!

　　Fang Xing and Lin Qinxue stared at each other for a good while before Fang Xing suddenly laughed. “Who said I’m going to kill you?” He then returned his [Saber of Azure Dragon] to his back. “I’m only trying to retrieve the evidence!” As soon as he finished speaking, he placed his palm against Lin Qinxue’s abdomen while activating [Oversense] to see the precise locations of all of her organs. Then, as his hand shook, a short dagger with brass inlay appeared in his hand. Before anyone was able to react, the sound of ripped fabric was heard and the front of her dress was slit open; even her red undergarments had been split. In moments, Lin Qinxue’s snow-white stomach and a pair of soft breasts were exposed in the open.

　　“What are you planning to do!” Everyone panicked as they yelled, trying to stop this nonsense. There were also people who summoned their Flying Sword and leveled it towards Fang Xing. They believed the boy had gone crazy and was preparing to do immoral things, like that of a beast.

　　Yet Fang Xing was faster. As soon as he had slit open her dress, the dagger went a step further and slashed open her stomach before he picked out a bloody black pellet using the dagger’s tip.

　　Swish….

　　Throughout the process, his feet had never stopped moving and he evaded three Flying Swords and two people trying to capture him. He snatched up the bloody black pellet and quickly flicked it towards one of the Danxia Valley disciples. “The evidence is here, go and examine it. If it isn’t poisonous, is there something wrong with admitting to the offense of wounding someone from the same sect? However, if it is indeed a poison pellet, I expect a good explanation from you, Danxia Valley!” Fang Xing then let go of Lin Qinxue and returned his dagger before dusting off his hands, soon standing to the side with his hands folded on his back as though nothing had just happened. Those who had prepared to stop Fang Xing froze, all of their expressions held in complicated astonishment.

　　Hadn’t they said there was no evidence? Then he’d show them evidence!

　　To determine whether the pellet crafted by Lin Qinxue was poisonous or not required only a quick examination, but it had become much more complicated after Lin Qinxue swallowed it. As for how to solve this issue, Fang Xing’s method was even more straightforward.

　　She swallowed the pellet, so he’d retrieve it by cutting open her stomach!

　　Before he did this, he had chosen to help Xu Linyun finish off one of the three Fiery-Scaled Serpents. This was first because he didn’t actually want Xu Linyun to be injured; the woman might be proud and cold but she did keep her promises, and so Fang Xing saw her as a good person. Second, by killing one of the snakes with a single move, it would shut the mouths of those who had been criticizing him, such as Lin Qinxue.

　　Of course, he would also face less obstruction once people had seen what he was actually capable of. If he had done this exact same thing before slaying the beast, it was inevitable that the other disciples would rally against him. Even if the pellet from Lin Qinxue’s stomach was proven to be poisonous, it was likely that everyone would have still poured their anger upon him.

　　Now it was different.

　　Lin Qinxue’s face was drained of color as she held onto her stomach and rolled on the ground, shrieking in pain. Everyone else looked pale as well, and no one was able to speak.

　　Perhaps no one had anticipated that this boy would be so brutal as to dare cut open another person’s abdomen for the sole purpose of retrieving a pellet. Perhaps even Lin Qinxue hadn’t considered this possibility, or else she would have never chosen to swallow the pellet in the first place.

　　What Fang Xing said wasn’t wrong. Even if the pellet was not poisonous, he would have only wounded someone from the same sect. Something like this would not be considered murder; the vitality of cultivators was much stronger than an ordinary person, and having one’s stomach cut open would certainly not cause death. With the help of some medicinal herbs, a full recovery would only require ten to twenty days, and there wouldn’t even be any scars if they were able to get their hands on some high-quality medicinal herbs.

　　Although most people could probably realize this method, those who would choose to actually carry it out were certainly not in the majority. How could such a delicate, pretty, and even somewhat likable boy do such a nasty thing?

　　Everyone remained silent, and even those that had spoken up for Lin Qinxue all changed their expressions. A few of the female disciples that had shown looks of contempt towards Fang Xing even began to shiver in fear.