Seeing that all pretense had been lost, Fang Xing decided to stop his act and began savagely cursing, “So you’re Hou Qing’s bedwarmer, huh? If you want to mourn his death, then go mourn somewhere else. Don’t come and play fierce in front of your grandfather now, or I’ll kill you as well!”

　　The woman was dumbstruck for a moment after she had been hit by the slap and looked at Fang Xing in disbelief, but her gaze sharpened upon hearing his words. “I knew it. You are not as simple as you look. Hou Qing’s death was not by chance. It must be… it must be you! You had to have tricked him to his death! Tell me, were you the one that killed him?”

　　Fang Xing laughed as he heard her questions. “How dare you slander me! Hou Qing’s death only had him to blame; it has nothing to do with me, your grandfather. If you’re still suspicious, why don’t you report me to the sect! We’ll see who the sect believes.”

　　The woman suddenly released her murderous intent towards Fang Xing. “I will avenge him myself. Why would there be any need to report to the sect?” As she spoke, the woman waved her delicate hands and sent a strong suction force towards Fang Xing, trying to pull him in.

　　“You have some guts to start a fight within the grounds of the Yunyin Summit!” Fang Xing howled. He knew that the skill she had just used was [Dragon Catching], and—with a shudder of his Qi—Fang Xing brought his palms together to retaliate with the same skill. Two invisible forces clashed head-on in mid-air, gusts of wind forming as they pushed against each other. Once Fang Xing had finished his series of movements, he used a stealthy twist of his body to pull out the dagger he had hidden inside one of his boots. With a quick forward motion, Fang Xing aimed for the white-dressed woman.

　　The woman had originally believed she would be able to have the boy under her full control with a single wave of her arms, yet it had no effect even after using thirty percent of [Dragon Catching]’s potential. She was surprised by this, but she soon realized that Fang Xing had used the exact same skill to counter her. Her pupils dilated and her words became even more vicious. “You’re an outer court disciple, where did you learn this Dragon Catching?”

　　“I was born with it! Why do you care?” Fang Xing yelled back without letting even a hint of his guard down. In fact, he had already guessed that this [Dragon Catching] most likely had come from this woman’s hands. When he had found it inside Hou Qing’s storage bag, the handwriting of the copy had been rather graceful, as though it had come from the hands of a woman.

　　But of course, he would never admit to it. Not that admitting it would hold any meaning, anyway.

　　“We shall see what you say when I have both of your arms cut off, then!” The woman gritted her teeth in hatred as she waved yet another spell, and a flicker of flame like that from a candle flew towards Fang Xing’s face at a rapid speed, almost to the point of being unnoticeable.

　　Despite how difficult it was to see, Fang Xing felt a sense of extreme unease and widened the area of effect of his [Dragon Catching].

　　BOOM

　　Although Fang Xing’s [Dragon Catching] was not exactly mastered yet, increasing the radius of protection in front of him was enough, and as the flicker of flame reached Fang Xing’s front, it was immediately slowed by an invisible force. The woman was also expecting this, however, and activated the same skill to push the flame forward. As both sides ground against each other, Fang Xing’s barrier was eventually shattered and the flame rapidly picked up its speed to race towards him again.

　　SWOOSH

　　Reacting quickly, Fang Xing thrust his own body towards the cottage window and rolled some thirty feet away in a quick leap.

　　The flame reached the wooden wall that had been behind Fang Xing before he had leapt out of the cottage. Along with a loud explosion, fire flared out almost up to the roof, and the cottage was set alight. The entire night sky was brightened from the startlingly high temperature, and Fang Xing’s heart sank.

　　‘The flame was so small, yet so powerful?

　　‘If that hit me straight on my face, I would have been…

　　‘I’m going to kill you, you crazy bi*ch….’

　　The more Fang Xing thought about it, the more furious he became, and his face soon looked as heated as the flame in front of him as he let out a howl. With a swooshing sound, Fang Xing activated his [Nine Snakes’ Sword] to its maximum, the sword turning into a ray of golden light as it flew towards the white-dressed woman. The woman’s intentions to kill him had been made clear with her actions, and so Fang Xing retaliated to protect his own life.

　　The woman also walked out of the burning wooden cottage, right through the scorching flames. Surrounding her was an invisible shield that blocked off all the heat and fire as she passed by, and as the [Nine Snakes’ Sword] flew closer, she all but ignored it completely and only formed a simple hand seal before a silver light came out to block the Flying Sword’s path.

　　The silver light was indeed another Flying Sword. As the two swords collided, an ear-piercing noise erupted and sparks from the friction flickered ever so radiantly.

　　Although the woman’s cultivation tier was higher, the tier of Fang Xing’s [Nine Snakes’ Sword] was higher and both swords were forced into a stalemate. Under the night sky, the two rays of light could be seen releasing sparks and clinking noises from time to time, alongside cold glimmers of murderous intent.

　　The woman’s gaze had been fixed on Fang Xing the entire time while her sword fought against the other. Her mournful face made her especially terrifying; she looked almost like a goddess of vengeance.

　　“You sure are something. Better than any outer court disciple I’ve ever seen. Even Hou Qing. No wonder… no wonder he would die by your hands…. But… you’re going to die, too. I will personally turn you into an offering for him…” the woman muttered as she walked. Her tears had once more started to roll down while her slender fingers began to form a rather complex seal.

　　It was at this moment that Fang Xing was completely tensed. Even though the woman’s cultivation level was only slightly higher than his, there was still the difference between the two tiers. Besides, she had mastered several spells and skills that were extremely dangerous and fatal with even a single touch.

　　As Fang Xing controlled his [Nine Snakes’ Sword] to fight against the woman, he also grabbed ahold of his dagger while trying to quickly come up with a plan. The woman’s skill and abilities were clearly much higher than his own, and the only remaining option was to resort to close-range combat. Even though she had been caught off guard, for her to be hit by his slap earlier meant that physical combat skills were not a strong point of hers.

　　If Fang Xing was able to close in, he might not necessarily have the lower hand of the deal.

　　When Fang Xing saw the woman closing her fingers in together, his body stiffened even further; he knew that another, even more powerful spell was going to come at him.

　　“No fighting allowed within the summit! Who is violating sect rules?” Right at that moment, a loud and stern voice could be heard from the peak of the Yunyin Summit as an elder in a wide robe closed in. With a wave of his broad sleeves, the man was gently descending from the sky, just like that of a large bird.

　　The astonishing noise and flames of battle had drawn the attention of the elders.

　　“DIE!” Seeing the elder come to stop them, the white-dressed woman twisted her expression and sent three spectacular flames towards Fang Xing while activating [Dragon Catching] in an attempt to control his tiny body and lock him on the spot. She was determined to take him out before the elder had the chance to intervene, even if it meant harsh punishment afterwards.

　　“How dare you!” As the wide-robed elder saw the flames shoot out into the air, he released another howl and waved both sleeves of his robe.

　　SWOOSH

　　From within the elder’s left sleeve, a blue Flying Sword appeared like lightning and cut all three flames in half. Within his right sleeve, a straw rope that did not appear very long dove from the air like a snake in order to wrap around the white-dressed woman.

　　The sect elder was of the ninth tier, and his powers were well beyond what the white-dressed woman could handle.

　　SWOOSH

　　As the wide-robed elder flew lower, his blue Flying Sword immediately flew under his feet to support his slowly descending body. All the while, the two Flying Swords from Fang Xing and the white-dressed woman were brought under his control before being sucked into his sleeve. Once the wide-robed elder had confiscated both of their Flying Swords, he looked at the woman. “You’re a disciple at the Danxia Valley? What brought you here to the Yunyin Summit?” he questioned sternly; he had recognized the dress the woman was wearing.

　　“I— I’m going to kill him… I’m going to kill him…!” The woman completely ignored the question from the elder and struggled against the rope.

　　On the other side, Fang Xing looked coldly towards the woman before turning to the elder and bowing. “Dear Elder, as you can see, I have recently returned after accepting a Duty Talisman mission with Shixiong Hou Qing. During the mission, Shixiong Hou Qing unfortunately passed on in his bravery, and I fortunately finished the mission on their behalf. All three elders at the Duty Talisman Hall have investigated this matter and have deemed me at no fault—”

　　“You liar! You… you vicious little thief! You were the one at fault! If it weren’t for you…! Stop lying!” The white-robed woman was still trying her best to struggle free, but when it was shown to be impossible, she began to curse hysterically.

　　After having been interrupted by the woman, Fang Xing looked over at her once more before continuing, “This woman seems to be Shixiong Hou Qing’s lover. She suddenly came to my cottage and kept on saying that the reason Shixiong Hou Qing had brought me along on the mission was to use me as bait in order to kill the beast toad, and that since Shixiong Hou Qing had died while I lived, I must have not been a good bait. Since I am guilty of a terrible crime, she must now kill me, and use me as an offering for Shixiong Hou Qing….”

　　Due to the sounds of their battle and cries, quite a number of disciples in the Yunyin Summit had peeked their noses at it quietly from within their cottage windows and door cracks. A number of elders had also cast their Spirit Sense over the area to see what was causing this chaos. As Fang Xing loudly explained himself, it brought on even more attention.

　　After all, words like “lover” and “bait” were too conspicuous to ignore.

　　“Enough! Do not speak anymore!” the wide-robed elder commanded while cringing his brows. The elder had had no other choice but to stop Fang Xing right there, as everything Fang Xing spoke of was scandalous for a sect like Qing-Yun. All the elders might have known about Hou Qing using him as bait, but none would put it openly on the table. Even though the sect did not forbid their disciples from using certain cunning and sly methods to accumulate resources, it did not mean that they could be spoken about in the open.

　　The Qing-Yun Sect was, after all, a sect built upon the tenet of righteousness. If everything was focused on the ends without consideration for ethics and morality in the means, then what would be the difference between them and a dark sect?