Xu Linyun’s last words had come from a certain spell that she performed so that only Fang Xing could hear them. For the rest of the onlookers, no one knew exactly what had happened aside from the fact that Xu Linyun had actually gone and made an entire furnace of pellets for him. All of their faces were filled with astonishment and disbelief. ‘Xu Linyun really crafted pellets for this little bastard? Has she gone mad? If she hasn’t, then I must have!’

　　When Fang Xing caught the white vase, he also looked somewhat surprised. “I think I’m starting to really like you, Shijie Linyun. It’s hard to tell, but not only are you so beautiful, you’re also a man— woman of her word!” he praised, taking back his usual smirks and snickers for once.

　　All of the disciples looked as though they had just been punched when they heard this. Was this really how a person normally praised someone? “Starting to really like you”? Was his admiration really of any importance to Shijie Linyun?

　　Yet, no matter how strange this exchange had been, no one dared to speak any longer. If there was one thing they were now certain of, it was that there had to be some sort of relationship between Shijie Linyun and this boy.

　　Of this, they were certain!

　　“Come the f*ck over here, you bastards from the Duanzhen Valley!” Fang Xing yelled as he twisted open the lid on the vase, not showing even a single trace of politeness, and the Duanzhen disciples all rushed over around Fang Xing without much more delay. They understood that he was now handing out the Mind-Cleansing Pellets, ones that had been personally crafted by none other than Shijie Linyun on top of that. This was not something that even money could normally buy!

　　“What happened to your manners? Get in a line!” Fang Xing yelled once more when saw that the disciples had all just huddled around him, much to the Duanzhen Valley disciples’ amusement. How ironic it was that the person here with the least amount of manners was the one who had just spoken out in favor of them. But for the sake of the pellet, they all quickly formed themselves into a neat line.

　　“Hands!” Fang Xing commanded, causing the first disciple in line to immediately hold out both of his hands. As soon as Fang Xing plopped out a single pellet for the disciple, he exclaimed, “Now get lost! Next!”

　　“Thank you, Little Shixiong Fang….” The first disciple was so excited that he didn’t immediately place the pellet into his mouth, but instead placed it carefully inside a small bottle he had been carrying. He would hate to part with a pellet crafted by Xu Linyun’s hands so soon. As for Fang Xing, he didn’t care about what the disciple did with their pellets; his job was just to make sure that everyone received their share.

　　The disciples of the other branches suddenly felt as though the pellet they had received had become hard to swallow. Their own pellets were like that of trash when compared to those Xu Linyun had hand-crafted and given to the Duanzhen Valley.

　　As for the Duanzhen Valley disciples, Fang Xing had suddenly become much more pleasing to the eye. They had regained their confidence and pride in front of the disciples from the other branches.

　　Xu Linyun did not care for what others might think and did not offer any explanation. She merely observed the proceedings for a short while before descending to the ground in order to discuss the upcoming trip with Shanhe Valley’s lead disciple, Feng Qingwei. Once they had discussed the options, she then called Fang Xing and Shuwen Valley’s Pi Junzi over as well. “We’ve just had a discussion on the available routes. There are two options: one is closer with only half a day of travel before we reach the sealing point, the other will require a total of three days but is much safer. Let’s make a decision together.”

　　Shuwen Valley’s Pi Junzi spoke first, “We’re going in already? Aren’t we waiting for Shixiong Xiao Jianming to join us first?”

　　Xu Linyun’s answer was calm, “He said he’s been delayed for a day or two. Besides, we’re also here for the purpose of putting our skills to the test, so we should really only be relying on our own abilities to get to the sealing point. It’s not going to make a huge difference whether he comes or not!”

　　Pi Junzi was slightly startled. “In that case, let’s go with the shorter route. Since we’re here to test our skills, we shouldn’t try to intentionally avoid danger.”

　　Feng Qingwei smiled. “That is also what I had in mind!”

　　Xu Linyun looked emotionlessly to Fang Xing and asked, “What about you?”

　　“I’ll choose whatever you choose!” Fang Xing grinned. In response, both Feng Qingwei and Pi Junzi took a quick look at Fang Xing and thought the same thing: ‘So this boy is nothing more than a boot licker!’

　　Xu Linyun faintly smiled. “I had originally wanted to propose going with the safer router, but if I did that, it’d be two versus two and we cannot split into two teams either. In this case, we’ll all go with the shorter route. Let’s prepare to depart!”

　　Although Mount Desolation used to be a giant mountain peak, a large-scale battle some three hundred years ago had caused the mountain itself to collapse into the basin-like shape it now was, even though its name had never been changed afterwards. The entire basin was covered with clouds of highly concentrated Demonic Qi, making it extremely dangerous. Large and rigid spirit vessels could not freely travel within, and the disciples were forced to travel by foot with a Mind-Cleansing Pellet under their tongues and their spirit weapons close.

　　Within the basin were deadly swamps and vicious beasts, but these were not the greatest concern. Some of the locations within had been engulfed by Demonic Qi that was so concentrated that anyone who accidentally entered would immediately be infected by it. Even if someone managed to survive such a thing, it was likely they would lose at least half of their life before managing to escape. It was fortunate that the Shanhe Valley disciples did not only focus their studies on formations and trigrams, but they were also well-trained in identifying danger by studying the geography and the forms of land surrounding them. With this, they were able to alert the rest of the group before any possible danger arrived.

　　The Qing-Yun Sect’s four valleys and their specializations were not merely there for show.

　　If the two had to be compared, the beasts on Mount Desolation were perhaps ten times stronger and more numerous than those from Mount Miasma. Before the disciples had managed to travel for even ten miles, a fourth-tier Bear of Ferocity roared and crashed into the group. All of the disciples had completed Duty Talisman missions before and so didn’t descend into panic at the sight, however, and the half-dozen disciples that were closest to the bear simply summoned their Flying Swords in unison. The bear roared and dashed away in the opposite direction.

　　Seeing the bear act in such a manner, the Qing-Yun disciples all let out laughter of amusement. There was also someone who then went ahead and ended the bear’s life with a clean, graceful slice before taking the beast core with him. Others congratulated that person, and the atmosphere between the disciples lightened up quite a bit.

　　As for the bear meat, it was left behind. Fang Xing, on the other hand, had his eyes glistening with excitement as he cut off both of the bear’s paws[1] and placed them into one of his empty storage sacks. Although there were others who noticed Fang Xing’s actions, no one said anything and only thought poorly of such base desires.

　　As they made their way closer to the center of the basin where the seal was, the journey had them take on individual beasts in the same manner. This was a gathering of no fewer than forty Qing-Yun Sect disciples, making them likely the current strongest force within all of Mount Desolation. Although there may have been the odd one or two beasts that were rather strong in comparison, not only were they scattered throughout the basin, but they were also no match for such a large force; such beasts were unable to present any danger to these disciples.

　　When the beasts were killed, the disciples would all split the useful items—such as cores, fangs, and claws—with those who had killed it while leaving its remains untouched. Fang Xing would also join them in collection, except his idea of “useful” might have been just a little bit different compared to everyone else. The tail from a Hook-Horned Antelope, the trunk of the Golden-Armored Elephant, the p*nis of a Blazing Tiger… no one knew why he would want to collect such things.

　　Fang Xing naturally wouldn’t tell them that these were actually the most delicious parts of these beasts.

　　It was only when night had fallen that the disciples decided to rest next to a river bank. Those from Shanhe Valley formed a protective formation around the resting spot, while most of the disciples then sat down inside. Some took out their “Pellet of a Hundred Herbs”—used to relieve hunger—before meditating to recover from the full day’s travel. Fang Xing, on the other hand, was different; he ordered a Duanzhen Valley disciple to pick up some dry firewood for him before setting up a bonfire.

　　At first, people showed signs of disdain towards such behavior. As cultivators, most would have given up on the consumption of meat because they needed to consume the spiritual forces of the world in order to cultivate. Eating meat at the same time would only increase the impurities within one’s body and hinder the absorption of Qi, so most would avoid meals altogether if they could and use replacements such as the Pellet of a Hundred Herbs to relieve their hunger.

　　When the mouth-watering smell began to spread, however, some people could no longer control themselves and looked towards Fang Xing. ‘What is he roasting? Why does it smell so good?’

　　“Haha, this one is good….” Once Fang Xing had finished roasting one of the bear paws, he took out a brush made from red sandalwood and wolf hair to carefully brush honey along its surface. Complimenting himself, he then held the bear paw on a stick and walked towards the area where the Danxia Valley disciples were resting. “Shijie Linyun, are you hungry? Would you like some roasted bear paw?”

　　The rest of the Danxia Valley disciples looked at him with distaste; why would Shijie Linyun accept such a thing? If it wasn’t for Xu Linyun’s unexpected act of crafting pellets for Fang Xing—casting some doubt as to their connection—these disciples would have already started scolding him.

　　Yet, events proceeded against everyone’s expectations once more. Xu Linyun opened her eyes with a trace of surprise at Fang Xing and his gesture, a faint curl forming on her lips as she actually accepted the bear paw. She took a bite before nodding. “Bear paws are still best roasted over time with low heat, but seeing that you were able to make it to this degree with that bonfire of yours, it’s still considered a rather good job!”

　　Fang Xing laughed at this. “Yes, yes. I’ve practiced this for three years. Take the entire paw!”

　　Xu Linyun shook her head. “No need, I only just wanted to taste what you’ve roasted. Xiao Mahn mentioned countless times about how the frogs you roasted was the best food she has ever eaten.”

　　Fang Xing was dumbstruck for a second before he smiled again. “She had been starving for three whole days, of course she’d think anything was a delicacy!”

　　Although Xu Linyun gently nodded her head, the rest of the Danxia Valley disciples were surprised. They hadn’t thought that Fang Xing would know their little genius shimei as well.

　　Leaving the Danxia Valley resting area, Fang Xing held his bear paw and called out to his Duanzhen Valley disciples, “Come, come if you want to eat some!” There was some hesitation at first, as it did not fit the image of a cultivator, but it didn’t take long before someone could finally no longer hold in their temptations and came over for a large piece. After eating it, the disciple couldn’t help but to offer praises for how great it was, and the tempting smell coupled with the disciple’s words soon caused the rest to huddle over. It even started to seem more like a picnic than a mission.

　　With such a lively atmosphere, no one noticed two flaming eyes atop a mountain peak some four or five miles away. The eyes glimmered with wicked intentions towards the group of unknowing youths, and it revealed a smile after a short while. “How funny that none of you know you’ll be dead very soon. Since you’re all having so much fun right now, I shall help make it even more exciting for you!” As he spoke to himself, he summoned a peculiar, tattered cauldron, which began to spin on its own after he allowed a few drops of his blood to drip inside. A short moment later, a few shadows flew out of the cauldron and scattered themselves hundreds of miles into the forest.

　　“Off you go. If you can’t kill them, you’d better frighten them off. Don’t let them come in and ruin your grandpa’s happy occasion!”

　　—

　　[1] bear’s paws: A traditional Chinese delicacy typically eaten by the extremely wealthy. It is said to have great health effects when consumed. Can also be seen used in traditional Chinese medicine.